Chapter 32
DESMOND
Five days had passed since I’d heard anything decent from Ava. She hardly responded to my messages, and our paths never crossed even though I made every excuse under the sun to visit the café.
On the fifth day of not speaking with Ava, I walked into work, feeling an odd sense of foreboding.
Today was the day my team would tell me the results of their evaluation of The Galley’s financial prospects versus a new Luxe Hotel.
The day I was supposed to break the news to Ava.
How Bianca had gotten wind of this information was beyond me.
Bianca Rutherford had sent me her article for approval. She had been true to her word and not published anything incendiary about me or Ava in the article even if her words during that meeting had triggered our fight.
The memory of that angered me. Why had Bianca been so out to get me for the past year?
I made a call that afternoon to Bianca. I told her that if her current animosity toward me was due to a past failed interview with me, she was sorely mistaken.
I hadn’t known about her current relationship with one of my employees when I turned her down after that interview.
She heard me out and was quiet in contemplative silence for a few moments after.
“I know this won’t be the end of your critical reporting on me,” I said finally, punctuating the silence with my words, and she hummed in agreement.
“But perhaps I can find a middle ground,” she offered up.
“You mean, fewer mentions of me as a snarky bastard?” I asked in a dry voice.
“I think that sounds fair,” she said in a calmer voice.
And that was that. She also gave me a clue about who had leaked information to her about my plans for The Galley. I didn’t know how to deal with that person just yet.
I was stepping out of my office, and my eyes fell upon Thomas coming up to me.
“Ah, Thomas, what news do you have for me?” I asked, seeing him look serious.
I’d asked him to run the numbers on Ava’s mom’s restaurant and to give me an update.
“The finances aren’t looking good,” he said, his voice heavy. “I’ve emailed you the numbers, and while that place is a good spot for a Luxe Hotel, it doesn’t look good for The Galley.”
I placed a hand on the back of my neck, trying to find a sense of stability in this very rocky situation.
Losing my mother at an early age had affected me in ways I hadn’t predicted. It’d made me a person who wanted to protect the people around him at all costs. Even if it meant holding back information that I knew could hurt them, until I was very sure there was no other way.
Because I had known very early on that there was no way I’d raze Ava’s mom’s restaurant to the ground unless it was my last resort.
Until I’d met Ava, I’d thought that scoring my team’s touchdown at football was the best high I could get all day.
I didn’t realize I could score that touchdown and still be waiting—looking at the clock, willing the game to get over—for her to run up to me for a kiss.
Her kisses gave me such a high that a man with a terrible voice like me wanted to sing.
That last year in high school had ruined me.
Now that I’d run into her again, a rebellious streak I hadn’t known I had in me reared its head, making me think I could get over my fears. That I could date the woman of my dreams and that my fears of losing everyone close to me were unfounded.
I wanted something more from Ava. Something more than just a fling. And that wasn’t easy, considering that everyone I’d ever really cared about ended up dead, gone, or suffering somehow.
I needed to be honest and to trust Ava. Instead, I’d lied to her.
The woman who’d placed so much blind faith in me that she trusted me to handle her mom’s restaurant.
The woman who’d trusted me enough to give me another chance at being together.
The woman who knew of milestones in my career from the years we never spoke to each other.
The woman who always made me feel special, even when we were working on different floors. I didn’t want to let her down.
I needed to come clean with Ava about what was going to happen with her restaurant. One step at a time.