Page 82 of Silver Fake

She smiles brightly, and her face lights up a bit more than I expected, not that I thought she wouldn't be happy for me for sharing. I want more meaning out of my work, but the enthusiasm in her eyes is more than I thought even she would show.

"I think that's a great decision," she says. "I've been where you are now. Deciding between work that I already knew was reliable and would keep my bills paid and food on the table and pursuing something that brought me joy. It takes courage to follow our hearts sometimes, but I haven't regretted it for a minute. Meeting Bill and running this hotel with him has been the best decision of my life. Plus, it gave me the sons I may never have had otherwise."

She doesn't have to say his name, but my chest aches just the same. Despite the pain, I felt the last time I saw him and how hurt I was that he assumed the worst. I miss him. Denise was right. I didn't stop loving him that day. I'm not sure I ever could.

"Speaking of the hotel," I point towards the front, "I saw a sign out front that said new management. I know you were worried you wouldn't find a replacement for Wyatt, but I guess you finally found someone who maybe comes close."

She smiles again, and her eyes light up like before. She leans in like she has a secret, so I do the same and lean closer to her. "Don't tell Wyatt, but I think we might have found a solution for managing this place that's even better than he was."

My eyes grow wide as I take her in. Her smile is more mischievous now. "But you loved Wyatt," I say.

She nods. "We still love him, but sometimes change works out better than we could have ever imagined." She points to me. "Keep that in mind while you figure out your next steps."

"I will."

"I'd love to introduce you to the new management," she says.

"Really?"

She nods. "Of course. Make sure you see the same potential in them as Bill and I do."

I laugh. "I'm not sure how good I'd be at helping judge their ability to be the fit you need for the hotel, especially in comparison to you or Bill's judgment, but I'd like to meet them. I am always up for meeting new people."

"Great," she says, standing up.

"Oh," I put my fork down and stand. "You mean right now."

She winks. "I may have told them to stay available because I had someone important coming into town to visit me today that I wanted to introduce to them."

Now I know something is up. I'm not very surprised she wants to introduce me to the new manager, but how much joy it seems to bring her that I agreed is surprising. It reminds me of when we first met.

The joy I saw in her when John introduced me as his girlfriend.

It's one of the reasons I didn't rat him out for his fib and why I agreed to keep up the act. Nancy's joy is infectious and made me love her within minutes at that very first meeting.

I follow her inside, and she takes me past the reception desk, where guests are being checked in, towards the back area, where the manager's office is off to the side. The door to the office is shut, but she opens it and walks right in, taking my hand and ushering me in with her. I see Bill first, and he leans in to hug me.

"It's good to see you," he says.

I smile at him. "You too."

Then he steps aside, and the chair behind the desk spins around, and I stop breathing as I stare into John's bright blue eyes.

My heart is pounding, and I swear somebody must have sucked all the oxygen out of this room because I can't seem to get enough air no matter how hard I try. I don't know if anyone is saying anything because I can only hear my own heartbeat.

He's here.

I have been so angry and hurt. It's kept me from talking to him for weeks but staring at him now, I can't seem to find an ounce of that anger left in me. There is still some hurt buried below the happiness at seeing him. But my anger seems to be gone. It seems like Denise was right. I just needed time to let the anger heal itself so the forgiveness could begin to grow and heal me.

I'm not sure how long we stand there just staring into each other's eyes, but his parents don't interrupt our moment. At least if they do, I don't hear them, but I doubt I'd hear a trombone over the quiet moment between John and me. After a few moments, my mind returns to me, and I realize something. I turn back to Nancy.

"Wait," I point to John, "he's the new manager?"

She's smiling so wide that I know her cheeks have to be hurting. "He's part of it."

My brows draw together, and I look at Bill, who is smiling like Nancy. Then I turn back to John, and he's rubbing the back of his neck like he's nervous, which doesn't make any sense. This is his family's hotel. If he wants to help his parents run it now that Wyatt is gone, that's wonderful.

Maybe he is just as surprised as me and didn't know I was who his mom wanted to bring in to see him today. Or maybe he's embarrassed because our first time seeing each other after our big fight is in front of his parents.

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