Page 76 of The Layover

I went through the motions when I got to the worksite, but fortunately everything ran smoothly. It seemed without Curtis trying to sabotage the project, we had a lot fewer errors.

So much of this was my fault. Daria was wrong. Me being involved with this project caused this problem, and threatened one of the sweetest souls in existence.

When I got back to my cottage that night, I politely shrugged off Daria’s attempts to distract me, slipped in my earbuds, and spent the evening writing up instructions for Diego and Raul.

I saved the message as a draft, nauseated both at the thought of sending it and the thought of having to sit on it any longer, and called Kandace. We exchanged pleasantries. I was grateful she didn’t know about the events of the day, because I wasn’t sure I could handle that kind of heavy conversation.

Not that I could avoid it. “I-can’t-stay-here-to-see-this-project-through-to-completion.” My words ran into a single blur as I forced them past my lips before I could hesitate.

“I— Oh.” Kandace went silent. The empty air stretched on longer than I cared for. “Is everything all right?”

“The project is fine. Fantastic. I should’ve said that up front. The guys are fantastic.” In fact, they were almost perfect. “But…” How much should I tell her? All of it. As little as possible. I had no idea.

“But what?”

I fiddled with the edge of my notebook, picking the corner of the cover until the layers of paper started to fray. I should’ve planned this call before I made it, but I needed to operate on momentum so I didn’t question everything I was doing. “My ex-husband approached them—Diego and Raul—after they pitched you but before the deal was final. He may have been interested in their project, but he’s also interested in my involvement in it. He’s already caused problems.” So many horrific scarring problems. “And my being here is making things worse.”

His being in jail would hopefully stop them, but we could have that part of the conversation when I got back to The States.

“Carly, I—”

“Daria can manage this one. I’ll give her whatever she needs. Work with her on all of it. The guys are good, and they can be trusted to work with a remote project manager. Please.” I didn’t mean that last word to come out sounding so desperate.

But I was.

“Okay.” Kandace sighed. “I trust you on this. Are you heading home in a few days then?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Oh. Wow. Okay. Well, we’ll talk when you get back. And Carly?”

“Yeah?

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

I didn’t know how long until I would be. “Totally fine.” I hung up before she could question me further.

When I told Daria I was heading home with them, she just frowned. “Are you sure?”

No. Not even for a second. “I’ve never been more certain.”

“Okay.” She pulled me into a hug, and my heart fractured at her acceptance.

I sent the men an email the next morning, as I was waiting to board my plane. Thanked them for the great trip, told them again I was sorry, and said they could contact Kandace if they needed anything.

And I turned off my phone, so they couldn’t call me and protest. It was time for me to go home.

27

Diego

I thanked God over and over that Eloise was all right. In fact, she seemed better than all right—it was as if nothing had happened to her. I was pretty sure Raul and I wouldn’t be sleeping well for a long time, though.

The day off was a blessing as well. We weren’t ready to let Eloise out of our sight. Even the next day, we weren’t willing to leave her with someone else. Raul agreed he could keep an eye on her during the day if she came to the worksite with us.

We discussed what to do with Ariana, and were torn. In the end we gave her the rest of the week off, but Eloise loved her, so we weren’t ready to let her go.

When we got to the church, I was surprised that Carly wasn’t already there.

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