Page 11 of Could Have Been Us
Instead of allowing my brother to actually . . . do his job . . . Dad spent a lot of time around there, watching over the refurbishing. Which translates to him spending time with a new girlfriend. I can only imagine what has Gray going out there.
“It’s either I hang Ollie out to dry or I go help. Which would you rather?”
“I’d rather none of us be saddled with his piss-poor decision making.”
“Yes, well, that’s not an option, Stella, so . . .”
I get it, we do what we can with the options we have. “I know. I’ll keep Melia. It’ll be a fun weekend and we’ll do all kinds of girl things.”
He kisses my cheek. “Thank you.”
“While you keep acting like you’re not a complete and total mess about Jessica, which is why you volunteered to go instead of letting Josh or Alex, who don’t have a kid or any responsibility, handle it.” I add that last part on for good measure. Grayson may be using Dad as the reason he’s going, but I’m not an idiot.
“That’s not why I’m going,” Grayson denies.
“Oh?”
He glares at me the way that only older brothers do. “It’s not.”
I raise my hands. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
“You sure do.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re annoying as fuck?” Gray asks with a note of admiration under the words.
“Only my four older andstupidbrothers.”
He laughs and then hoists the bag onto his shoulders. “Yes, I’m in love with her. Yes, I’m pretty sure she’s in love with me, but we won’t work, Stell. We are two different people who want different things. I have to think about Amelia.”
“Who is madly in love with her,” I point out.
“Yes, she is. She loves Jess and asks about her daily, which is why I need to keep my distance.”
I touch his cheek and press my lips into a thin line. “Oh, Gray, you’re a wonderful dipshit. You and Jessica can’t stay away from each other any more than two magnets. But I admire the effort. Go kick my twin’s ass and tell him I miss him.”
He looks away. “Don’t let Melia eat KitKats for dinner.”
I shrug with a playful smirk. “You won’t be here, and you can’t stop us.”
He groans and then heads out the door.
I gather Melia’s things, making sure I have enough clothes for two nights, and then bring the bag to my house. I’ll pick her up from daycare that she goes to once a week later because I have learned all too well that one does not remove that girl early.
She loves her friends and her food and doing art after nap time.
I rank rather low on her list of priorities come to think of it.
I head into work, smiling at everyone as I walk through the front grounds.
The Park Inn is a five-star in a town of nothing but twos. When I took it over, it was already great, but Grayson and I made it into a diamond. There have been small renovations to the interior that keep with the charm but add to the opulence, but it’s the outside that is the showstopper.
We’ve worked relentlessly to make the views stunning.
The biggest improvement we made was to the staff. Our chef is renowned, making this a perfect location for a date night or a corporate event. We hired a new gardener, who has made this place gorgeous, and we brought on a new activities coordinator who gave us more appeal to families.
My office faces the back of the property with a tree line and mountain views for days. I spend the next six hours going over paperwork, addressing complaints, and doing some billing. It’s a nice day, filled with very few issues thanks to Jessica.
