Eighteen #2
I’m wrapped up in my own drama, but hearing about hers is surprisingly cathartic.
I pencil myself in for a few shifts and give her the schedule back.
For the first time in a long time, I’m eager to get back to work, not for the sake of the hotel and lending a helping hand, but because I need an occupation to ground me in the wake of everything that’s happened.
And if serving Old Fashioneds to women in white pearls is all I’ve got, I’ll gladly take it.
I say goodbye to Julie and pass by the reception area on my way to my father’s office.
“June.”
I halt when Martha, our most senior employee, gets my attention from behind the reception desk.
“Yes?”
“I have a note for you.” She shuffles around her desk.
“Oh, where is it?” A few seconds later she produces a folded letter and slides it over the counter.
“Kase McCasker came by this morning. He wanted to see you. In fact, he was pretty adamant about it, but your father said no one was to disturb you this morning. He went to go speak to Mr. Bell himself.” She grimaces slightly.
“I don’t know what was said, of course, but Mr. McCasker told me to give this to you before he left. ”
I grab the letter and walk away with it before she can say more. I hold it to my chest and find a quiet hallway. Tears spring from my eyes nearly the moment I unfold it. Kase’s script is jagged, like he was angry when he wrote it. The words are few.
No matter what happens, I will never stop loving you.
Does yesterday have to change all the moments between us? Does the truth about the past have to change our future? I drag in an uneven breath and reread the line over and over again. I want to believe it. Every cell of my being wants to believe our love is true and nothing’s changed between us.
I fold the note and put it in my pocket. Brushing away the tears, I go to my father’s office. I’m relieved to find him there but unsettled that he appears so calm. My world is in tatters, and he’s back to work as if nothing has changed. Maybe for him, nothing has. He’s always known…
He looks up, his expression morphing from surprised to solemn.
“June.” His eyes evade mine, furthering my unease. “How are you feeling?”
“What happened?” I skip right past the niceties. I’m tired and heartbroken and confused, and he knows it. “What did Kase say? Why didn’t you let me see him?”
My voice is froggy, heavy with the heartache I feel. There’s no use pretending Kase doesn’t have the effect on me that he does. I’m in love with him. Hopelessly.
“He wanted to see you. I didn’t think you needed to be bothered with anything this morning.”
I drop into the seat across from his desk and stare until he looks up with a guilty look in his eyes.
“You’re still trying to come between us, aren’t you? You won’t let this rift with the McCaskers go. Even now.”
He shakes his head slightly. “That’s not it.
I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I’m sorry, but the father in me figured you needed at least a day to process everything that happened yesterday.
I had no idea what interactions you had with him, but I figured if it was upsetting enough to make you pack up and come home, he could wait. ”
I only half believe him.
“I was happy there, you know.” I brush away another errant tear that slips down my cheek.
“Until you showed up all angry, until you sent Edwin back home and he turned my world upside down, I was happy. With Kase, at the farm, just being with him. It was simple, and it felt like home in a way I’ve never experienced before.
Don’t you dare try to take it away from me again. ”
He’s silent a moment, his lips pressed tight. “Fine, June. I won’t. But the deal is done now. You need to accept that.”
I wince. “No. It’s not. I came back. That means it’s off.”
He pauses like he’s bracing himself for my outrage.
“When Kase came in here asking for you, naturally, I asked him what he wanted to do about that land.”
Seconds tick by. My stomach locks into a tight ball in anticipation of what’s coming. “And what did he say?”
“I didn’t pressure him one way or the other, June.
He was angry, I could tell, but he stated in very clear terms that the deal was to be done.
I spoke with my attorney this morning, and we’ll be ready to close next week or sooner.
As soon as the investor funds clear, this can all be over.
I’ve let Edwin know, and honestly, I think he’s looking forward to this being all said and done too. ”
I shake my head viciously. “Daddy, no. You can’t do this. You can’t just destroy it all.”
“They’ve seen the plans. They know what the development will entail. They’ve had plenty of time to come to terms with it. There’s no halfway on this.”
I stand up. “But you don’t understand because you’ve never spent time there. There are things worth saving. Hidden treasures.”
“Like what?” He throws up his hands, like he can’t possibly imagine there being an acre of the McCasker farm worth saving.
“Like… Like the orchard. And the pasture is beautiful. The views are incredible. They rival some of ours. And the farmhouse. It’s small and needs a remodel, but Kase and his family have lived there for five generations. You can’t just tear it down without a second thought.”
He clenches his fists but speaks calmly and slowly.
“June, this is not the time to get sentimental. All right? The McCaskers have made their choice now. There’s been a lot of time and money put into all this planning.
Architects and engineers. Legal fees, damn it.
Why do you think I was so furious when it all fell through? It came out of my pocket, not theirs.”
“That’s not why. You wanted to erase the McCasker name from this town.”
He’s silent, and in that space I know what I’ve said is true.
“You’ve kept this hatred alive too long. You all have,” I say.
“Maybe I have, but the farm is in financial trouble. Did they tell you that when they were touring you around the Garden of Eden down there?”
“Yes, they did, and something needs to change. I get it. But this plan…” I stamp my finger in the middle of one of the blueprints scattered across his mahogany desk. “This plan isn’t the answer.”
“Hell.” He mutters the curse under his breath. He sinks back into his chair and tosses his pen on his desk. “That boy is smarter than I gave him credit for.”
I blink rapidly. “What does that mean?”
“If all this were up to you, June… If you had the final say in it, you wouldn’t let this sale happen, would you?”
“No,” I say firmly. “Not the way you have it now.”
His lips wrinkle into a frustrated grimace. “Great.”
“What? What aren’t you telling me?”
He sighs and runs his palms down his face. He’s beginning to look as worn out as I feel. Finally.
“Daddy, what’s going on?”
“Before you left to stay at the farm, Kase came to me and we talked about his proposal. He had a few conditions. You were to stay at the farm, uninterrupted, for two weeks. Edwin was to stay here, under the auspice of a vacation that could maybe turn into semiretired employment. And the third condition was that if and when the sale came about, there would be three required signatures on the purchase and sale. Edwin’s. Mine. And yours.”
“Mine? But I wouldn’t be an owner. Nothing’s in my name as it is.”
“For this, you would be. He wanted your name on the deed. He reminded me of that condition this morning, in no uncertain terms.”
Silence settles between us, feeding my spinning thoughts and highlighting my father’s obvious disappointment. He looks down at the blueprints with a tired sigh.
“Like I said, he’s a lot smarter than I gave him credit for.”