Page 41 of Bloom and Burn
“It doesn’t matter what you say when it’s so easy to go back on those promises the moment I give you what youwant. You are not going to win. My wife and I will not sell the Orchid’s share to you. You can take your money and use it to ruin some other town.”
Panic and annoyance seethe inside me, making it hard to retain my professional expression. Why are they so bull-headed even with the evidence right in front of them? It’s literally in the folder Emily and I put together. I get it that they are disillusioned with the system, I am too, but I don’t care about lining my pockets with more money. All I want to do is give people like Emily the chance to walk again!
“There is no downside to what I’m offering!” I try, barely managing to reel in the need to groan at the dismissive look he gives me. “The town will benefit from the facility and so will Ryan’s business from the new location. It’s all in the data.”
His frown deepens. I don’t think I’m getting through to him. I need a new fucking plan, this is a disaster. I can’t fathom why they are so against me and what I want to do when there is no downside to it, only positives. But I also can’t do shit about it and at this rate, I might need to look at some of the other options we have for the facility’s location. Emily will hate it and, fuck, I hate it too because I care about Ryan. It happened so fast, but when it’s your person, you just know. I’m confident we could make it work if I live in the state, but if they won’t sell to me, we’d have no other option but to go for one of our other suitable locations. Ryan has the shop and his life here, so I can’t just expect him to be willing to move for me.
Before I manage to recuperate and try to convince Mr. Sherwood again, he leans forward, fire blazing in his eyes. “We are done here. You might be rich now, but youare still the same no-good bully you were back then. Stay away from my son.”
What?
I gape at him, my brain trying to make the logic jumps it needs to make so it can comprehend why he’s saying that. Warning me off his son is one thing, and expected, but why is he bringing up my past? And what does it have to do with Ryan?
A sudden wave of disappointment and hurt surges through me. Did Ryan tell his parents what I confided in him? Why would he?
Confusion jumbles my thoughts. I narrow my eyes at Ryan’s dad, seeking an answer in his gaze. He studies my face as if looking for something, then gives me a full-on, evil smirk.
No way. Ryan wouldn’t have told them. I know him. He has no reason to, and even if he did, he knows that the person I was when I was a kid is gone. I hate that part of my life, and I’ve worked hard to make amends.
“You don’t remember him, do you?” Mr. Sherwood says with glee.
My stomach twists with panic and fear. I don’t remember Ryan? Does he mean I should? “What are you talking about?”
He hums, pleased. “Did my son not tell you how you and your friends used to bully him in high school?”
“What?” There is no way that can be true, Ryan would’ve told me!
“Ooh, I see now,” he chuckles, the sound rumbly and dark. He relaxes back in his office chair. Self-satisfaction pours off him, suffocating me with its intensity.
I can’t sit still. What is happening here?
“That’s impossible. Ryan would’ve said something.”
“Oh, but it looks like he didn’t, did he?” He opens a drawer and takes out a photo book. Flicking it open, he shows me a photo of a boy with bracers, young Ryan, holding a bouquet next to Margaret. It takes me a moment to recognize why he looks familiar. Holy shit, I remember him! It’s the boy with the plant encyclopedia that Greg liked to make me pick on.
“Remember now?” Mr. Sherwood prompts, the smirk even wider. “Looks like he’s got you good, son. I’m impressed how well he played you. But now that the cat is out of the bag, I say let’s put an end to both his and your games. Pack your things and leave Estacada. There’s nothing for you here.”
Standing up, he points at the door. I stare at him, dumbfounded, as my heart threatens to rip my chest open. I think I’m in shock. This did not go how I expected it to.
On autopilot, I make it out of his office and then the building. Between my failure to convince Estacada’s mayor and the forgotten memories of the boy I used to make fun of, I don’t know what to think. My mind is a mess as I just sit in my car and squeeze the steering wheel and try to make sense of things, but fail. And among the chaos, one question is louder than the rest: Why didn’t Ryan tell me who he is?
15
Jack
I’mamess.Thereis no hope of winning over Ryan’s parents, and I don’t know what to think of him either. I can’t believe he’s someone I used to bully, but he didn’t say anything. Why? What’s the point of hiding that from me if he recognized me?
I haven’t moved for the past fifteen minutes, still sitting in my car in the town hall’s parking lot. My failure to convince Mr. Sherwood means I can’t build the facility in the timeline I wanted… and if we have to change locations, which seems more likely with every moment that passes, then that means even more delays.
“Fuck!”
I failed Emily. She loves it here, but now we’ll have to move on top of pushing back the Go date for the treatment. There’s no other fucking way. I should have never let her convince me to come back here.
Grinding my teeth, I let go of the steering wheel and fish my phone out of my pocket. I unlock it and inhale sharply at the text from Ryan. It’s a bunch of emojis and ‘you got this’. I immediately grin, the reaction involuntary and countered a millisecond later as knives stab me in the heart. I think I’m in love with him, but I’m not sure if he feels the same.
If it was thirty minutes ago, I’d state without a hint of doubt that he was my person. But I don’t know what to think anymore as his dad’s words keep replaying in my mind. I hate that I’m letting him get to me, but I hate it even more that I had to hear from him that Ryan and I knew each other once.
Why? Why did Ryan have to keep that from me?
