Page 103 of Meant to be Mine

“You look like hell.”

“Didn’t sleep much.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just pre-event jitters.” The lie came easily.

I spent the next hour going over every detail. The whole time, I kept glancing toward the entrance, waiting for Kensey to appear. The event would be kicking off in a couple hours. The smell of coffee and pastries wafted from the food trucks. Early birds were already gathering on the sidewalk, phones out, taking pictures of the setup. A few influencers I recognized were doing their thing, posing in front of the Blackwell backdrop by the entrance to the plaza.

Still no Kensey.

I pulled out my phone and texted her again.

Nothing.

My stomach twisted. What if she wasn’t coming? What if last night had been too much and she’d decided to cut her losses and go home? Back to New Jersey and her real life, away from the mess I’d created. I shoved my phone in my pocket and headed inside the store. I needed to check on something. Anything. I just needed to move, to do something productive instead of freaking out.

The main floor was pristine. The staff was in position, dressed in the black and white uniforms we’d chosen for the event. Everything gleamed. This was it. This was what months of work had built toward. And I couldn’t even enjoy it.

I looked around for Edith. I was hoping to talk to her before the rest of the clan descended and things got crazy. I hadn’t seen her though, which was odd. She should have been here an hour ago. Edith was never late. She was the kind of person who showed up fifteen minutes early just to be safe.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my messages. Nothing from her. No call, no text, no email explaining her absence. This was a reaction to last night. It had to be.

Guilt crashed over me. Edith didn’t deserve to walk in on that. No one did. She’d been nothing but professional, nothing but dedicated to making this store succeed, and I’d repaid her by putting her in a situation where she had to see something she could never unsee.

I should have locked the door. I should have taken Kensey home. I should have done a thousand things differently. But I hadn’t. And now Edith was gone and Kensey wasn’t answering her phone and I had an event starting that required my full attention.

I watched Briggs walk through the front door, and my heart dropped straight into my stomach. The family lawyer.

“Briggs,” I said, forcing my voice to sound normal. Professional. Like I wasn’t internally panicking. “Didn’t expect to see you this early.”

He shook my hand. “We all flew in last night. The rest of the family is relaxing at the hotel until later, but I wanted to stop by and talk to you about something.”

My pulse thundered in my ears. “Sure. What’s up?”

He pulled out his phone, scrolling through something. “I received a strange email this morning. From Edith Rhodes, your assistant manager.”

I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry. “Yeah?”

“She resigned.” Briggs looked up from his phone, studying my face. “Effective immediately. No notice, no explanation beyond a very brief statement that she could no longer continue in her position here.”

“Oh.” My brain scrambled for something to say, some explanation that wouldn’t make this worse. “That’s… unfortunate.”

“It’s more than unfortunate. She was excellent at her job from everything I’ve heard. Callum spoke highly of her when she was first hired.” He slipped his phone back into his pocket. “So I have to ask—is there something else going on here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Drew.” The name alone made me feel like I was in an interrogation. “A few days ago, you sent me an email asking about the possibility of stepping back from your position here and now your assistant manager has suddenly resigned without explanation.” He paused, letting that hang in the air. “Does Edith’s resignation have anything to do with your question? Is something happening here that I don’t know about?”

I felt the walls closing in. Briggs was too smart, too good at his job. He was already connecting dots I desperately needed to keep separate.

“It’s complicated,” I said finally.

“Un-complicate it.”

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to organize my thoughts. I could lie. I could make up some story about Edith getting a better offer somewhere else. But Briggs would see through it. And if this was already heading toward a legal situation, lying to the family lawyer was the worst possible move.

“Something happened last night,” I said quietly. “Something I’m not proud of.”