Page 70 of You Know You Wanna

Settle? It’s hardly settling if it’s a million fucking dollars, but okay.

I turned to Declan. I wanted to invest in this place. I really did. I was enjoying my time here and so was Laurene. Plus, there was Birdie to think about, but two million dollars seemed excessive. Not undoable, but a lot.

As I looked at Declan though, he simply shrugged, clearly enjoying the showdown as he flashed me a tiny grin and gave me a nod. I frowned at him, but he didn’t seem bothered in the least about whether we gave the old man a couple million dollars.

It was too much. I knew it was too much, but I also knew that with Dec having opened on one, Alan had us by the short and curlies. It was either give him the two million or walk away, and I really fucking hated losing.

Extending my hand toward him, I held his gaze until he finally smacked his palm into mine. “Congratulations, Alan. You’re about to have the best golf course on the eastern seaboard.”

We shook on it and just like that, it was game, set, and match. Dec and I had done it. We’d convinced the stubborn old man to take more money than I’d have paid to buy the entire resort outright, but I’d done it. I’d achieved what I’d come to Blue Pines to achieve.

Declan and I now owned a stake in the two best resorts in the Smokies. I should’ve been over the moon about it. Two million dollars was too much, sure, but it wouldn’t even make a dent for us financially. Hell, it wouldn’t even leave a scratch.

What it meant, however, was that technically my business here was done. Technically, I could head back to the resort right now, grab my kid and my stuff, and hightail it back to Manhattan. It’d been a while since Laurene had complained about being here instead of the Hamptons, but I was sure she’d still enjoy meeting up with her friends there for a few weeks.

Yet, instead of being over the moon and on my way back to my suite to pack, I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Leaving here meant leaving Birdie, and I couldn’t do that. I knew I would have to eventually, but the prospect of doing it today just did not appeal to me.

Not at all, and the whole truth of it was that I doubted I was going to want to do it in a couple weeks from now either. Shit. I’m fucked. I’m so, so completely fucked.

36

BIRDIE

Gracie and I sat in the sun in the outdoor area of the resort beside the swimming pool. Laurene and Cassidy, who had ridden her bike here from town, were running between the pool and the woods, playing their hearts out and seemingly having the time of their lives together.

I smiled as I watched them race past us and take flying leaps into the water. They came up laughing and sputtering for air. Gracie chuckled, her gaze on Laurene as the girls’ laughter carried to us on the breeze.

“How is she?” Gracie asked as we watched them swim to the side and heave themselves out. “She seems better now than she did that first time we saw her at the diner. More like a kid and less like a sour adult.”

“That’s because she is more like a kid and less like a sour adult now,” I said. “These last few weeks have changed her. When they got here, I was hoping she’d get to experience this. Just being a kid and playing like she’s never been able to before. Letting loose in the great wide open. I’m glad.”

“So am I,” Gracie replied. “Every kid deserves this, to run around in the sunshine to their heart’s content and not have to worry about anything. It always breaks my heart to see them walking around like mini grownups when they should be carefree and happy.”

The girls blew past once more, leaving puddles of water in their wake as they ran back to the “shelter” they’d made in the woods. A little more comfortable talking about this now that she wasn’t within earshot, I shrugged. “I’m not sure she’s really going to be happy, what with the whole going to school in London thing still hanging over her head, but at least she’ll leave here happier than when she arrived. That’s a win, right?”

“Sure,” she said easily. “A big one, considering how very miserable she looked when they got here. Poor kid. She’s still being shipped to London in the fall?”

I exhaled heavily, pulling my knees up to my chest and looping my arms around them. “It sounds like Remington might not be able to get her out of it. I don’t know. The whole situation with his ex sounds pretty awful. Apparently, she doesn’t even want to talk to him about Lulu at the moment, which makes it pretty hard to try to change the plans they already made for her.”

Gracie flinched, profound sadness creeping into her eyes. She turned to look at the girls in the distance. “I’ve seen that with some of my kids at school. The parents get divorced, and suddenly, no one cares what the kid wants anymore. They just get told how things are going to be and that’s the way they are. It’s terrible. Parents should be forced to communicate effectively when it comes to their kids. I don’t know why, but it always breaks my heart when the kid suffers just because a relationship didn’t work out.”

“I know,” I agreed. “I feel the same way. It sounds like Remington has tried talking to her, but she’s so wrapped up in whatever it is she’s doing overseas that she’s just not really interested in finding out what’s happening over here.”

Gracie sighed. “Let’s hope they can sort it out sooner rather than later. Maybe Lulu will get lucky and her parents will do right by her, divorce be damned. You never know. It could happen.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” I wasn’t so sure, though.

From where I was sitting, I wished I could pin Jacqueline down and make her listen to her daughter. On the other hand, I also wanted to pin Remington down and keep him here, but neither of those things were going to happen, and I was just going to have to learn to live with it.

“Whoa,” Gracie said, her eyes narrowing as she cocked her head at me. “What just happened to you? You look like you’re about to burst into tears.”

“I feel like it too,” I admitted, an ache starting in my throat as I tried to hold back said tears. “They’re going to be leaving soon.”

“What? Why? I thought they were here for the summer.”

“No, they are, but the summer isn’t going to last forever.”

Understanding dawned in her eyes, and she moaned, planting her face in her hands. “Please don’t tell me this means what I think it means.”