Page 118 of The Mistakes I've Made
“If she stays here, you’ll lose her. For good. She’ll give up everything, including her legacy. Her dreams.”
“So, by buying my property, you’re being the bigger man?”
“I’m simply giving her a chance.”
“No,” he argued. “It seems I am the one doing that, Mr. Sutherland. You’re just breaking her heart.”
“Will you give her the project or not?”
“The Chicago project will be hers,” he confirmed. “It would be nice to not have Rebecca traveling back and forth so much.”
I shook my head. “Happy doing business with you.”
Jackass.
It was painful, more painful than I could comprehend, to know she’d be leaving this island, hating me. But, at least now, I knew, when I watched her go, she’d go with her dreams intact and her whole life ahead of her.
So, was I in?
Yeah, I’d always be in when it came to her.
But it sure as hell didn’t feel good.
Especially since she hadn’t spoken a word to me in nearly six hours.
We rolled up to the hotel that was the meeting place for many of the people in town during an evacuation. It brought a sense of peace to those who didn’t have family to visit, and we could huddle together as a group while we prayed over our town and waited for the all clear to return.
“You going to buy this one, too?” Lani asked the second I parked, giving the well-known hotel name a once-over.
“Funny,” I said through gritted teeth.
Guess I deserved that one.
Reaching back behind the seat, she grabbed her duffel and pushed open the door handle.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.
“To get a room,” she said. “Did you think I’d be staying with you?”
Honestly, yeah, I’d kind of hoped.
“Make sure you give them the right name,Pookie Bear,” I said with a bite.
“Oh, don’t worry,” she answered. “I wouldn’t want to be confused with a snake. Oops, I mean a Sutherland.”
I watched her leave, headed for the hotel lobby as I pounded the steering wheel with the palms of my hands.
Repeatedly.
It didn’t help one bit to dampen my frustration.
But it passed the time, and by the time I was done beating the shit out of my car and headed into the lobby, Lani was on her way up to her room, doing her best to ignore me in the process.
Check-in was quick, and soon, I had a room of my own.
I took the elevator up to my room, trying to forget the last time I had been in one. I remembered thinking, as I’d held Lani in my arms, her tears soaking my shirt, there was no possible way I could ever hurt someone like her father had hurt her.
And yet, four weeks later, here we were.
