Page 99 of Operation Sunshine
Ben rubbed at his temples, frustration burning at the edges of exhaustion.
Why am I doing this?
Because you can’t stay where trust has been so easily broken. Because you need to protect yourself. Because it’s the right choice.
Under that neat list of reasons, something else gnawed.
What happens if Franco comes back?
He’d been so sure Franco wouldn’t. Three months in Florence would be the beginning of something new for him, a chance to step into a life beyond Ben. But what if hedidreturn? What if he walked back into the restaurant, eager, expectant… only to find Ben gone? Would Franco see it as abandonment? Proof that what they’d shared had been as fragile as a soufflé that collapsed the second the oven door opened?
Ben swallowed hard, staring at the untouched documents on his screen. He told himself he’d made peace with the possibility of never seeing Franco again, that it was better not to hope. But the truth pressed in, undeniable: he wanted Franco to come back. He wanted the chance they hadn’t taken.
That made the decision to sell feel like betrayal, not just of himself, or the staff, but of Franco too.
Hours slipped by, measured only by the changing light outside the office window. He didn’t move. His stomach grumbled but he ignored it. He couldn’t eat. He couldn’t summon the will to doanything but sit there, staring at nothing, caught in a loop of regret and longing and stubborn self-preservation.
When a knock came at the door, he almost didn’t answer. His voice was rough when he managed a gruff, “Yeah?”
The door cracked open, and Willow’s face appeared, pale and hesitant. She lingered there, her eyes uncertain. “It’s late,” she said quietly. “We finished up an hour ago. And you haven’t eaten all day.”
“I’m fine,” Ben muttered.
She stepped in, holding her hands together in front of her as though she wasn’t sure what to do with them. “Ben… we need to talk. All of us. Please. Just… come out for a bit.”
He met her gaze, and for the briefest moment he saw her not as part of “the staff” who had betrayed him, but as Willow, the woman who had fussed over his meals, who had laughed too loud at his terrible jokes, who had stood beside him through the chaos of running this place.
His chest tightened. He didn’t want to go out there, to hear their excuses, their apologies, their guilt. But he also knew hiding out in this office forever wasn’t an option.
He pushed the laptop closed with a long, weary exhale. “Fine.” His voice sounded flat, but Willow gave the smallest nod of relief.
As he rose from the chair, the thought struck him again like a blow.
Franco should be here. He’d know what to say, how to make this easier. He’d know how to reach me.
But Franco wasn’t here. And Ben had no idea if he ever would be.
Ben stood behind the counter, his arms folded tight across his chest, his shoulders hunched. The kitchen felt too small, the air thick with nerves as the staff crowded in, everyone shifting from foot to foot.
Lexie was the first to speak, and for once her fire was nowhere to be found. “Ben… we’ve been talking.” Her voice was quiet, hesitant. “We screwed up. Operation Sunshine… It was supposed to be harmless, a stupid way to distract you, to lighten things up. But we crossed a line. You didn’t deserve that.”
Ben’s jaw tightened. The words he’d been swallowing since the day before burned to get out. “You treated me like a… like a joke.”
“I know.” Ollie stepped forward, his cheeks flushed, his usual charm stripped away. “And I’m sorry.Allof us are. We thought we were helping, but we weren’t thinking about how it would feel for you.” His Adam’s apple bobbed sharply. “About what it would do to you.”
Willow wrung her hands, her eyes glistening. “You’ve always cared about us, Ben. You made this place a family, and we almost ruined it. We don’t want to lose that. We don’t want to loseyou. Please…” She gave him a beseeching glance. “Let us try to make it right.”
Ben let out a long breath, his throat tight. “It hurt,” he admitted. His voice came out steadier than he felt. “Not because of Franco, but because I trusted all of you. I trusted this place. And when I found out… it felt as if that trust didn’t matter.”
A heavy silence settled.
Lexie nodded, her gaze fixed on the floor. “We get it. And we want to earn it back, step by step, however long it takes.” She raised her chin and looked him in the eye. “Whatever you need from us to make this work.”
Ben looked at them, regret written plain across their faces, and for the first time since he’d overheard Willow and Lexie, he let himself believe they meant it. The hurt was still there, sharp and real.
Too sharp. Too real to be ignored.
“I need to think about this,” he said at last.
