Chapter 38
thirty-eight
. . .
Emilia
The last three weeks had been a roller coaster of emotions. I came off quite possibly the worst Valentine’s Day of all time and then spent two days in bed crying and grieving someone who’d never really been mine. But then I got to work on my design proposal for Sylvia Carson to keep myself busy.
When life gives you a pile of shit, you can either get the pooper scooper out, or you can give up.
A few days after I’d submitted my proposal, Sylvia called to let me know that the team loved my design ideas and my presentation.
They wanted to move forward with me as the designer for the project.
So, Henley and I had jumped on a plane to Los Angeles to meet with them at their corporate offices.
They all wanted to meet me in person and sign the contract.
Henley insisted on tagging along so she could review the contract for me.
And I would now be designing vacation homes for a large real estate investment company. I’d still prefer to design individual homes, but this was a stepping stone that worked for me. One that felt right.
The pay was far more than I would have imagined.
But most importantly, I’d be doing what I loved in the town I loved.
And I was the one who’d made it happen.
My heart still ached whenever I thought of Bridger.
He texted me the same thing every single morning. It was the first thing I saw when I woke up.
Don’t give up on me. I’m working on it.
I didn’t know what it meant, and I had yet to respond.
It wasn’t my job to fix Bridger Chadwick.
I loved him exactly how he was. For who he was. I hadn’t tried to change him or ask him to be anything he wasn’t. I loved him unconditionally.
It was real and it was raw.
And if he couldn’t love me back, then that was up to him to figure out.
Henley, Lulu, and Eloise knew everything that had happened, and they’d rallied around me.
I’d made an effort to avoid him. If he wanted to see me and try to fix the fucked-up mistake he’d made, he knew where to find me.
It didn’t help that my heart ached in a way I’d never experienced. So for now, I was just surviving. I went to work, and I came home right after.
I wasn’t in the mood to socialize or pretend that I was okay.
But today, I was changing up my routine and meeting my parents at their office to discuss the Vintage Rose.
We’d barely spoken since the night we had dinner at their home.
The night Bridger had called out my mother for the way she’d treated me.
I’d had time to process everything, and I was ready to have a difficult conversation.
“Hey, Emilia, nice to see you,” Caroline said. She’d run the office at the Rosewood River Review since I was a kid.
“Hi, Caroline. It’s great to see you as well.”
“I know you have a meeting with your parents,” she said. “They should be finishing things up very soon.”
We made small talk for the next few minutes, and then the door to my father’s office opened, and both of my parents walked out. My eyes nearly bulged out of my head when I saw who was beside them.
Cami. Freaking. Rogers.
My ex-friend. My high school bully.
My parents knew how much she’d hurt me back in the day.
Why would they be meeting with her?
“Hey, Emilia. Long time, no see,” she said. “Wow. You look great.”
“Hey.” It was all I could manage.
“Loved seeing you all again,” she said as she waved at my parents.
Again?
What the actual hell.
“Hey, sweetheart.” My father wrapped his arms around me. “I’ve missed you. Come on in.”
I followed them into the office, and Dad moved around the other side of his desk to face us as my mom took the seat beside me.
“Why is Cami here?” I asked.
They shared a look, and then my mother spoke. “It’s just business. Nothing important. We’re more interested in why you scheduled a formal meeting with us and didn’t just come by the house.”
I knew my mother well enough to know when she was trying to avoid something, and she definitely didn’t want to talk about Cami.
Fine. That would make this conversation even easier.
“I’m here to discuss the Vintage Rose.”
She groaned. “For God’s sake, Emilia, you are really dragging this out. Your brother called us, and he’s using all sorts of legal jargon and insisting we take half of his ownership and transfer it to you. You and your boyfriend have really blown this out of proportion.”
“Margaret.” My father’s voice was harsher than I’d ever heard it, and she looked at him with surprise. “There are reasons this is coming up, and we’re going to discuss them with our daughter.” This was new. “Emilia, we’ve clearly made some mistakes. We want to make things right.”
He’d never stood up to my mother in all the years I’d been around. She looked as shocked as I probably did.
“Great, that’s what I’m here for. But I don’t want to take Jacoby’s piece of the business. He does the books, and I feel like you gave him a fair deal. He doesn’t take a salary, after all, and instead he has a stake in the company.” I shrugged.
“I’m glad someone is thinking rationally.” My mother glared at my father, a smug look painted on her face.
“Don’t get excited, Mother. This is the deal I’m here to offer you.
I’ve run the flower shop for years, and I’ve poured my heart into it.
I’ve increased the annual income every single year since I’ve taken over.
” I paused and looked at both of them. Really looked at them.
My parents. The people who should always have my back.
But they hadn’t, and it was time to let them know that wasn’t okay.
I loved them, but I wasn’t going to be their doormat anymore.
“And we’re very, very proud of you for that,” Dad said, smiling at me with that dimple in his left cheek.
“Thank you, Dad. But honestly, if you were proud of me, and really valued what I’ve brought to the business, you would have come to me and offered me a deal like you did with Jacoby,” I said, holding my hand up when my mom started to interrupt.
“It’s not something you need to defend, because it’s actually indefensible.
You took advantage of your own daughter, and I don’t want to deep-dive into why you would do that.
But I’m here to correct it. So let me tell you how this is going to play out. ”
“Oh, so you get a rich, fancy boyfriend and now you think you’re calling the shots?” she hissed.
I hadn’t even told them that we weren’t together. Because they weren’t the people I went to when I was hurting. But she was correct about one thing.
Bridger Chadwick had made me realize my worth. Not that I was better than anyone, but that I was worthy and deserving of much better than what I’d received.
He’d empowered me to find my voice. To speak up for myself.
I was grateful for that.
“You know what, Mom? I met a man who sees my worth and my talent. So if you think that means I’m calling the shots, then that’s your problem. I don’t think I’m better than anyone, but I don’t think that I’m less than, either. So I’m here to make you an offer.”
“An offer? As if you have the power now?” my mother snipped.
“Margaret, I’m going to ask you to stop talking, and if you can’t do that, then I’m going to insist you leave the office and let me conduct this meeting on my own,” Dad said, and by the look on my mother’s face, she was completely stunned. “Please continue, Emilia.”
“My interior design business, Vintage Interiors, is doing very well. I just signed a contract to renovate and design several vacation rentals for a large corporation.” I blew out a breath.
It felt good to get this off my chest. “I feel the best option is for Beatrice to run the flower shop full-time. She can take over my salary, and I will instead take an equal part of the business to what Jacoby has, as I will still oversee the daily operations and step in when I’m needed. ”
“You think you deserve to have what Jacoby has?” My mother said it like I’d asked for her head on a platter.
“I wasn’t finished, Mom.” My gaze locked with hers before I continued.
“I’ll take over the back office and work Vintage Interiors out of there, so I’m on site when needed.
I’ll still do all of the ordering, marketing, and the window design.
I’ll hire new employees when needed, and I’ll continue to have the meetings with distributors.
But Beatrice will be the person behind the counter daily, and I’ll be in and out, depending on what’s going on with my business.
I do feel the twenty percent is more than fair, as that will give Jacoby and me each an equal-equity piece of the business, and you and Gram will each get thirty percent instead of forty percent. ”
“And if we say no?” she asked.
“If you say no, that’s fine with me, but I will walk away entirely.
I will not be there to pick up the slack and to make sure everything is running smoothly.
This deal offers you thirty percent ownership of a business that you never step foot in.
But if you want to get involved and start working there, then you have my blessing, and I’ll show you everything that I do now so we can transition it all over to you smoothly.
I’m not here to fight you. I’m here to make a fair deal. Take it or leave it.”
“We’ll take the deal,” Dad said, his gaze softened as he looked at me. “It’s more than fair.”
“Bart!” my mother shrieked. “We need to discuss this.”
“We don’t need to discuss this, Margaret.
We haven’t been fair, and you know it. Just apologize and agree to give our daughter what she deserves, and has deserved for a long time.
This is nonnegotiable for me, and as an equal-stakes holder, I will fight you on it.
And Jacoby is in agreement with me, as I’m sure your mother would be as well. ”
Mom looked away, and then nodded. “I’m sorry if we’ve been unfair. I just didn’t want to hand you everything on a silver platter.”
A silver platter? I wanted to laugh. But I wasn’t here to make things worse. So I forced a smile.
“I appreciate the apology. Thanks for meeting with me. Jacoby said he’d draw up the new contracts, and we can all sign them.”
“Is that really necessary?” she gasped.
“Unfortunately, I think it’s very necessary at the moment. But hopefully with time, I won’t feel that way down the road.”
My mother looked stunned by my words, and I stood up as they did the same. We hugged goodbye and agreed to meet for dinner next week.
I wanted to fix things with them.
But I had boundaries now, and they’d need to respect them.
I made my way to the Honey Biscuit Café. Eloise was in town, since they had a break in their hockey schedule, and Henley, Lulu, and I were all meeting her for dinner.
I gave Oscar a quick hug, and he patted my shoulder. “Don’t you ever settle, Emilia Taylor. You deserve the best.”
It was probably the sweetest thing he’d ever said to me.
I guess people had grown used to seeing me and Bridger together, and they were quickly figuring out that something had changed.
“Thank you. You’re very observant,” I teased.
“Not at all. That mopey ex of yours looks like someone ran over his puppy. He was in here the other day, and when I asked him about you, he said he hadn’t seen you in a while.
When I told him he was a fool to let you go, I thought he’d get mad.
” He shrugged as he led me to the table where the girls were seated in the back.
“And did he get mad?” I pressed. Why was I asking? Why did I care so much?
“Nope. He just looked me dead in the eyes and said, ‘Biggest mistake of my life.’”
My chest squeezed at his words.
Bridger hadn’t come to talk to me, outside of the one text that he sent every morning.
I nodded. “Thanks for letting me know, Oscar.”
He winked and walked off as I slipped into the booth with the girls.
“I have a surprise for you,” Lulu said, reaching into her shopping bag. “I know you’ve been down since your breakup… but this just might help.”
She pulled out four advanced reader copies of the next book by Hannah Chase. It wasn’t due out for several months.
“How did you get these?” Eloise shrieked, and then covered her mouth and looked around to make sure no one had been offended by her outburst.
“My mom has a client who works at the publishing house, and she got us each a signed copy.” She handed them out and then wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I figured you could use a nice escape.”
“You have no idea,” I said.
And that was the damn truth.