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“So what?” she shrugs. “After you finish your work here, you’ll just end up leaving, and I’ll just be some girl in Florida you used to know. Those New York girls will be all over you again and I’ll be a memory of that one summer in that tiny little town.” She casts her eyes down at the clipboard in her hands, as if hearing her own words broke her spirit even more.
“I know you can’t stand me but I need you to hear me when I say this,” I start, keeping a firm tone of voice that catches her attention. “Don’t ever think of yourself like that ever again. You’re not just some girl in some town.”
“But you’ll still have to leave,” she insists.
“It doesn’t have to be that way.” I shake my head.
“You’re right. You don’t have to buy the inn.” Her gaze shoots up at me. “And then we can live happily ever after, right?”
“Meg.”
“You can’t fix this,” she says. “I know I can’t get you or your family to change your minds, so just do what you have to—but don’t pretend you can have both. You can’t buy the inn and have me without hurting me more than you already have. I won’t let that happen.”
I start to feel defeated again when she gathers the folded towels in her arms and retreats to the back storage room. But before I can start calling myself an idiot and asking what the heck I thought was going to happen, I realize something.
I’ve learned where I can grab her attention. I didn’t think she’d take much notice that I remember the little things about her, but there was a glint of surprise in her eyes that neither of us could deny.
When I insisted she was not just another girl that I would easily forget, she didn’t know what to say. I still can’t believe that she can see herself as something so small and insignificant, or worse, forgettable. Her smile and laugh are contagious no matter how hard I try to hold back. There’s never a dull moment with her. She always has something to say, whether it’s insightful, funny, or inquisitive.
And on top of that, she’s absolutely stunning without even trying. I get so easily lost in those eyes and I just want to feel her kiss on my lips again. If she wasn’t amazing in every way, why the hell would I be spending time trying to win her back?
How can she not know how absolutely extraordinary she is?
That’s it! That’s my ticket to winning her back. I need to show her.
Chapter twenty-three
Meg – Everyone’s on Edge
As cliche as it sounds, I feel my heart flutter when I see the small bouquet of sunflowers sitting on my front porch after work. It’s beyond my control!
This man doesn’t know when to quit. The note is addressed to me, by Drew of course, with the same party line he’s been saying for days. Please let me make this right.
“Sure. How about listening to what I said earlier and forgetting about buying the inn to flip into a cold-hearted franchise?” I mutter.
Despite my determination to remain numb to his attempt at heartfelt gestures, I can’t help but warm up to him again—a little.
I get so frustrated with Drew when I see his personality hiding more and more behind a cold and guarded demeanor. But then something happens and he warms up again. I just can’t put my finger on why that affects me so much.
It drives me crazy, coming home to this after seeing him walking the grounds with my grandfather, putting on his best negotiator face to close a deal he knows will only hurt me and the entire inn in the end.
He keeps running hot and cold like that now. I see him attempt a kind smile but when I don’t return it, his cold, guarded demeanor returns as if it never left. I guess I can’t blame him. It is always a bit frustrating not getting what we want.
It’s odd seeing the cold side of him. He’s not laid back and relaxed like he was on our beach dates. Instead, he’s dressed in professional work attire despite the heat. My guess is that he knows it’s a psychological trick to get people to believe in what you say. It makes closing deals easier when you look the part.
He’s even holding himself differently. It’s like he’s intentionally taking up more space by standing up taller, but it’s only by a little bit. He’s trying to make himself seem more important than before. He’s not just a guest, he’s an executive wanting to close the deal.
Even the employees have started acting differently when he’s around. I guess he was telling the truth when he said he needed to pretend to be a tourist when he first arrived.
None of them are pleased with the idea of a buyout, but despite their objections, they put on their best service-with-a-smile attitude. That makes me so proud of them.
More so, everyone is on edge. They know layoffs are coming if this buyout goes through, but I keep telling them not to think like that. It’s not happening, plain and simple.
I’m out of earshot when I see Drew motioning with his hands in big gestures as he walks around the inn with my grandfather. In my head, I can hear him saying how he’d change the paint here, flip this space here, change the way the rooms look from this to that. If he gets his way, Seaside Inn will be completely unrecognizable.
“Grandpa is just humoring him,” Mia whispers from behind me. “He won’t even consider it.”
“Drew seems pretty convincing from this angle,” I admit.
