Page 26 of The Life We Left Behind

“Yes…yes! Miss James…Delaney.”

And there she stood. The light filtered in through the office windows behind her, lighting her up like a halo. She’d always been the most beautiful girl in the room and that hadn’t changed now that she’d gotten older. My gaze roamed her face, trying to catalog all the changes, but it was impossible to get my brain to work past the shock that she was actually here.

I opened my mouth to speak, and nothing came out.

Holy shit, I felt like I was having an aneurysm. Wait, did youhavean aneurysm? Did I mean stroke?

Why wasn’t my brain working?

Fuck, I was staring at her now like an idiot.

“I can come back later.” She took a step back as she spoke, and it was like the pull of her drew me forward as my body fought the possibility of any distance between us.

“No! No. I mean, it’s fine. I’m not busy. The only thing on my schedule is the project which would include possibly purchasing your land. Why don’t you come through to my office, and we can look through the paperwork together?”

I shoved my hands in my pocket, trying to make it seem like I wasn’t nervous as fuck, but that just made me rock back on my heels, and the creak of my shoes echoed around the obnoxious tiled reception my father had insisted we put in. Considering he was neverinthe office, it made no sense, but it made him happy and meant I didn’t have to listen to yet another business lecture about something that didn’t matter.

“Ooooo-kay.” Delaney moved closer, eyeing me like a rabid dog that was about to attack her.

I didn’t even feel slightly ashamed of it. Because she wasn’t leaving, she was coming into my office, and we were going to sit down and talk.

It had been ten years since I’d last spoken to her, and there was so much that I needed to say.

As she drew level with me, Delaney came to a stop and looked up at me. My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn’t look away. I stared into the same hazel eyes that had mesmerized me as a teenager and was flooded with memories of a better time.

“I…erm…don’t know where your office is,” she pointed out, and I snapped back to reality.

When had I lost the ability to act like a person?

“Of course. Sorry. It’s this way.” I swept an arm toward the corridor I’d just run down, and Delaney stepped around me, keeping a reasonable distance like a normal person would. Iwould have given anything to feel her body brush up against mine, but I clenched my fists at my side instead. Hopefully, the bite of pain from my nails digging into my palms would center me back into reality.

As I looked up, I caught Rosie’s amused look. “You can head out for the day if you want. This is the last thing on my calendar, and then I’ve got to head home and deal with some issues Chelsea left behind for me.”

The mere mention of Chelsea’s name was enough to change the expression on Rosie’s face, and she frowned in anger. “Will do, boss.”

Rosie turned back to her computer, and I made a mental note that she deserved a bonus this year. The fact that she didn’t pry where most people would have made her the best assistant I’d ever had. How she was able to answer all of my father’s probing questions about me without actually telling him anything, made her invaluable. Essentially, I wouldn’t have survived this long without her.

When I turned back to my office, I found Delaney standing outside the door looking unsure of herself.

“I wasn’t sure if this was the right one.”

“It is. Please.” I swept an arm inside, and she moved inside to take a seat on the couch in the office.

It took nearly all the self-control I had not to sit beside her, and instead, I grabbed the papers from my desk that I’d been looking at earlier. When I took the seat on the other side of the coffee table, I busied myself shuffling through the sheets of papers while I tried to figure out what I wanted to say.

“My lawyer tells me that you’re interesting in purchasing the farm,” Delaney finally said when she could take the silence any longer.

“Yes. We’re looking at building a luxury hotel and golf course in the area to increase our tourist draw for the town.”

She frowned at that, and I knew it wouldn’t be the first time I’d see that expression. Most of the town wouldn’t like the idea of this. Once we had a town meeting and laid out the issue, hopefully, they’d see reason. There wasn’t much they could do to block the project. The council would never say no to my parents, and unfortunately, they knew it.

“We’d like to get a survey of the property, and we’re happy to offer an extra five percent on top of the property value,” I added quickly.

“You don’t need to do that.” A flash of determination filled her eyes, and I could have sworn I saw her grit her teeth. Something about that was pissing her off, and I had absolutely no idea what.

“It’s a generous offer—” I started.

“I don’t need your generosity. I just need to sell the land.”

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