Page 45 of Never Finished

I finally got my lips to work as I asked in sheer confusion, "I don't get it, Dad. You’ve never tolerated that kind of behavior from a client before, especially towards me. I'm shocked you're reacting this way."

"Grow up Emma. You can't hide behind your mother's skirt forever. You’re playing with the big dogs now and your feelings are going to get stomped on—you can't afford to be too sensitive. Besides, there's no way I'm killing this deal. The stakes are just too damn high."

"But Dad…"

He cut me off. "Is this the only reason you called so late at night? I should've guessed. Listen to me, I want you to put your game face on because tomorrow you're going to salvage what you can of this deal and I'll see what I can do with the old man from here. Goodnight," he sneered, hanging up before I could answer.

For the second time in not so many days, I had the urge to throw my phone across the room. But this was a different kind of anger. My heart was breaking because I realized I’ve lost my father. He was no longer in my corner, protecting me and wanting the best for me.

So I did something I probably shouldn't have—I didn't tell anybody what happened. I didn't phone Caroline to rant. I didn't talk to Jaime and admit I was in over my head. I didn't even make the effort the following morning to go for a hike to clear my head and talk to my mom.

Something in me shut down after the call with my father. I knew I should at a minimum talk to Caroline and Abby, but I wasn't ready to say the words out loud because then it would be true. My father had betrayed me and he’s betrayed the memory of my mother.

I just wasn't ready to accept it.

So I locked myself away, and fixated on it, shutting myself off from those who could help me.

Jaime

Ishould've called Emma after everything settled down with my mother, but by the time I finally got her to sleep, it was so late I didn’t want to wake her. So I just sent her a quick text goodnight and fell into an exhausted stupor.

Despite the difficult ending to the night, when I woke the next morning, my mom seemed to be in better spirits and I let my mind wander to the evening I shared with the woman I loved the night before.

But as soon as I walked into work, I was greeted by a very concerned Charlie.

"Do I want to know? Did Ashley show up late again? Or did Joey forget to prep the fruit?"

Charlie just looked at me and then nodded to my office behind the bar. Once inside, he closed the door behind him and a knot of worry formed at the bottom of my stomach.

"Listen, man, you know I'm not anybody's keeper and I definitely don't like to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, but something kept me up all night, and I feel you need to know."

"Okay," I said, drawing out the two syllables. "Don't leave me in suspense. What’s up?"

He relayed what happened in the lobby with Emma and her business associate, Andrew.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I growled.

"No, I'm not. I couldn't decide whether I was going to tell you, but when you came in whistling, I figured you must not know. I wanted to throw the guy out, but she insisted he just needed to sleep it off. Kinda blew my mind that he’d lay a hand on her like that. This is not good, bro."

I nodded in agreement. "I’m not sure how you want to handle it, but if you need backup, I'm here," he offered.

"Thank you, man. I appreciate it, and I’m really thankful you were here to help Emma."

He shook his head. "No problem. But you’ll probably want to check on her. She said she was fine, but she looked pretty shaken up."

Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door.

I didn't want to deal with whoever it was, but reluctantly I said, "Come in."

It was Ashley, one of the servers.

"Sorry to interrupt, but did you know there are surveyors behind the resort?"

The word surveyor made the knot of worry in my stomach grow exponentially. The Lounge bar and restaurant faced the back of the resort, and the land belonged to Emma now that her mother was gone.

It remained untouched, exactly the way her mother wanted it. At least, that's what Emma explained to me when I asked her why she felt so loyal to the family business and Pine Crest. She needed to protect her mother's legacy, and her legacy was that land. Knowing that surveyors were there made ice trickle down my spine.

"No, I hadn’t heard, but I'm going to find out what's going on" I said, quickly weaving my way through the back of the bar with Charlie hot on my heels as I went out the back exit and found two men with surveying equipment.

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