CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
R OBERT
“I screwed up,” I said, and dropped my head in my hands.
“You sure did,” Morgan replied from across the table. We were in the dining room of the elegant Hollow Hills Country Club. When I called that morning, she’d been kind enough to invite me to the property for a meeting. Now we were ruminating over club sandwiches and Arnold Palmers. The space was busy with members, and I was grateful she’d made room in her schedule to talk to me. She certainly didn’t have to. “Also, Anya can be stubborn.”
“I like that about her.”
“Me too, but that also means she doesn’t always see things when they are right in front of her.”
“I tried once.”
“How could I forget?”
“I just... I had to see her again, and I didn’t know what to do.” I ate the first bite of my sandwich. The food at the club was great, and prepared by a meticulous executive chef, but it still tasted like cardboard in my mouth. Probably because I’m so focused on fixing this mess.
“She had a right to be angry at you.”
“And you should have been pissed that I showed up too. It was your bachelorette party.”
Studying me, she sipped her drink. “I was honestly so drunk I had no idea what was happening. For all I knew, you were randomly at the same club as us. Hyde is popular.”
“I thought a grand gesture would do it. But she won’t even talk to me now.”
Morgan put her glass down on the table. “Still can’t believe she didn’t come to the bookstore opening. Everybody was there.”
I nodded. Everybody was there, and while I considered the night a triumph, and I’d been so happy about the community response to the new business, it still felt so empty and meaningless when I thought about all the other things that had happened. Going to Miami had been such a stupid idea. Sure, my mom had a point about how hard it could be to run a business but leaving everything I had invested just to hightail it to South Florida and chase more money had been a bonehead move. I deserved what had happened since—because it turned out I could be stubborn too.
Stubborn and pigheaded.
Why had I come to New Burlington in the first place? For community. For a place to be myself. For a chance to have a life that felt totally different from the empty existence I felt in New York. The move had never been about money. It had always been about something better.
And better included Anya. There was no doubt about that. We had chemistry, and everyone saw it. In a lot of ways, the viral video proved it. In the last few weeks, I’d watched it countless times on my phone, on my laptop, I always saw the same thing.
We belonged together.
“Do you have any idea how I can repair our relationship?” I asked. “I really care about her, Morgan.” I took a deep breath. “I’m even falling in love with her.”
Morgan’s eyes widened. “You are?”
“Yep.” I thought about it for a moment. “I am in love with Anya Post.”
Morgan gasped.
I spread my hand, relief coursing through me. It felt great to say it. Morgan was the first person I’d said that to, but it was the truth. I was in love with Anya, and the distance between us had only made my feelings about her stronger. I was borderline desperate— I have to make this up to her, and I’ll do anything.
“I want to show Anya how sorry I am,” I added. “Maybe she’ll forgive me.”
Morgan cocked her head, and I could almost see the thoughts traveling through her mind. “I have an idea,” she said.