Page 47 of A Quick Stop in Paradise

“Don’t drag her into this. I booked a room at a different hotel altogether.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Grandma said, and she looked at Allison again. “Have her room canceled and bring her things back to her own room.”

“Grandma, it’s at adifferent hotel,” I said incredulously, and of course, Stella was raring for a fight, because she stepped in too.

“You literally want her to get pushed back in with her cheating ex-boyfriend? Force her to go share a room with him?”

Grandma frowned, like she was the one being targeted right now. “What are you talking about? I’m trying to keep this family together, Stella. This is ridiculous.”

Mom put a hand up, starting to look almost chagrined. “Mom, please, it’s all right. It’s not the 19thcentury. We’re not forcing Ryan to share a bed with the man we’ve picked out for her.”

Grandma glowered at her. “She’s ruining this family vacation, Elizabeth. And after all the work you put in!”

“She’sruining it?” Stella said, and I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Everybody—”

Stella turned to me. “Look, forget them,wecan go explore the island together or something—”

“Oh, no need,” Grandma said tartly. “Apparently she’s got afriend.”

Stella raised her eyebrows high at me. “You made a friend here?”

Oscar laughed. “Ryan knows how to make friends.”

“Everybody,” I said, putting my hands up, raising my voice louder, clearer—it actually worked this time, if only because I never raised my voice like that with my family. “I’m here to set expectations clearly and lay out what I’m doing. I’ve been deeply disappointed with the response I’ve gotten from some of my own family members, and I’m hurt in a way that will take time to heal, and I am not going to be the one to initiate that healing, either. That said, I know also that a lot of people have been looking forward to this family vacation, and that a lot of people, my mother especially, have put a lot of work into making it happen. And I’m sorry that this happened now, and I don’t want to ruin that. I’m not pulling away to punish anybody. I’m going to be more comfortable taking this vacation at my own pace with my friends here, and I want everybody else to enjoy the vacation too. So let’s please put this whole thing aside until after the vacation, and all of you can enjoy your trip, and please don’t worry about me, don’t feel guilty over me, but don’t try to force me to come back either. We can address this… whole thing… in more detail once we’re back from vacation. Is that something we can all do?”

Oscar spoke up before the last syllable had left my mouth. “I think that soundsveryreasonable,” he said. “Ryan’s a grown-ass woman who can do what she wants.”

Mom gave me a teary-eyed look that, before all of this, would have broken my heart and made me want to do whatever she was asking me for. “Sweetheart, I just want the family to be all in one place, to all be together. Is that too much to ask for?”

“Yes,” I said, “actually. If you count Shane as part of the family still, then yes. I won’t be in the same place as him. So I think I’ve made it clear that you have to choose which one of us to have around, and as far as I can tell, you’ve chosen him.”

“It’s not that I’ve chosen him—” she started, but Stella cut in with a fiery look her way.

“You absolutely chose him.Whyare you giving grace to her cheating ex-boyfriend instead of her? You’re taking his side in this whole thing—”

Grandma sighed pointedly, and once again, she turned to poor Allison for help. “Miss, can you please just give me the details for Ryan’s new room so we can get her out of this?”

“Grandma,” I said, pushing through every word, “it’satanotherhotel.Allison doesn’t haveanysay in the matter.”

Allison, for better or worse, had had enough, because she went red-faced, and she said, “I wouldn’t tell you anything anyway, Ryan is my friend.”

Grandma looked like she’d just been slapped across the face, blinking at Allison before she slipped into the most passive-aggressive patronizing smile her way. “Look, sweetie, that’s not how business works. Okay? I understand you have a lot of feelings, but you have to do as the customer says, or you could lose your job.”

“Grandma—” I started, but Allison was out for blood, I guess.

“You know, if you’re going to get me fired, go for it,” she said. “I’m still Ryan’s friend.”

Stella cut in next to me, stepping between the two of them. “Grandma, I swear to god, if you harass the managers to get this poor girl fired, I will literally never talk to you again.”

Grandma went pink. “Stella, you’re being ridiculous.”

“I’mbeing ridiculous,” Stella said. “You’re the one who doesn’t even understand different hotels are run by different companies!”

“Everybody, please,” I said. “I know you all have your brunch reservations and the matinee today. Go ahead and make them and let’s stop fighting.”

“That sounds great,” Oscar said, but Stella shook her head.

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