Chapter Seven #2
“I’m named after Dad’s favorite hotel in Memphis. My sister is named Raleigh. My brother is Houston.”
Knox studied my profile. “Ward Hotels is not a small company.”
“No, it is not.”
It was a privately owned multimillion-dollar business. The real estate holdings alone were worth a fortune.
And I’d traded my thirty-million-dollar trust fund for a fourteen-dollar-per-hour housekeeping job.
Maybe it had been a reckless decision driven by betrayal. We didn’t have much in Quincy.
But we were free.
“You’re cleaning toilets,” Knox said.
I raised my chin. “There’s nothing wrong with cleaning toilets.”
“No, there isn’t.” He gave me a small nod. “What did you do before you came here? You worked for Ward?”
“I was a marketing executive for the company. My brother is being groomed to take over for my father, but my sister and I grew up knowing we’d always have jobs with the company. We were expected to work there. I started the day after I graduated from college.”
“Where did you go to school?”
“I have a degree in sociology from Princeton. Not exactly useful, but it was interesting.”
Knox was silent for a long moment, then he laughed. “Princeton. Why did you choose to work at The Eloise? Why not find something that paid more?”
“Hotels are what I’ve always known.” And though I probably could have found a cushy resort and worked my way into a general manager position, Dad had required his executives, including his daughters, to sign a ten-year noncompete.
“It seemed like the easy choice,” I said. “Not that the work is easy. It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had. But with so many other changes, I wanted the familiarity of a hotel. Even if I’ve never cleaned a room in my life.”
He blinked. “Seriously? You’ve never cleaned before this?”
“I had a maid,” I admitted. “I watched a lot of videos on YouTube before I started.”
“Well . . . according to Eloise, you’re doing a hell of a job.”
“Thank you.” I was glad it was dark so he wouldn’t see me blush.
“I won’t be a housekeeper forever, but I was never given the chance to choose my own path.
When I’m ready, I’ll find something that pays more.
That leans on my education. There aren’t a ton of opportunities in a small town, but I’ll keep my eye out. For now, I like where I’m at.”
“You could have picked any other town.”
I shook my head. “I chose Quincy.”
This town was mine.
It was hard to explain how I’d become so attached to this place in such a short time.
But every time I drove down Main, it felt more and more like home.
Every time I went to the grocery store and my favorite cashier—Maxine—complimented me on having such an adorable baby, I felt my heart settle.
Every time I walked into The Eloise, I felt like I belonged.
“My parents would hate it here.” I smiled.
“Part of its appeal?”
“At first.” I dropped my gaze to my lap. “I know how all of this sounds. It’s part of the reason why I haven’t told anyone. Poor little rich girl gives up her fortune, moves to Montana, and lives paycheck to paycheck all because she was sick and tired of her father ordering her around.”
Saying it aloud made me cringe.
“I didn’t turn my life upside down to spite anyone. I did it for Drake. Because I believe in my heart of hearts, this is a better life. Even if it’s hard. Even if we’re alone.” We’d been alone since the beginning.
“Would they have made your life miserable in New York?” Knox asked.
“They would have controlled it. They would have ripped the decisions out of my hands, especially when it came to Drake.” He would have had a nanny and been shipped away to boarding school at age ten. “I don’t want to live by someone else’s rule simply because he pulls the strings with my money.”
“I can appreciate that. So what happens when you turn thirty? When he’s not in charge of your trust fund?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’m not going to hold out hope that the money will be there. I expect my father to find a way to take it himself. Probably buy another hotel in another city.”
“Can he do that? Is it legal?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I always have the option to fight. To hire an attorney and go after it. In a few years, maybe I’ll feel differently, but at the moment, I don’t want any part of it.
I had enough money saved up to buy my car.
Once I get ahead, I’ll see what my options are for buying a house.
Right now, it’s more important for me to count on myself than anyone else.
My family was supposed to be there for me, but on the first-worst day of my life, they let me down. So I’ve let them go.”
His forehead furrowed. “You keep track of your worst days?”
“It’s silly, but yes.”
“What was the first?”
I gave him a sad smile. “The day I had Drake. It was also the first-best day of my life.”
“I get why it was the best day.” He splayed his fingers across Drake’s back. For whatever reason, he didn’t seem ready to put the baby in his crib. Knox simply held him, ensuring that my son slept. “Why was it the first-worst day too?”
“Because I was alone. My brother and father are cut from the same cloth so I hadn’t expected much from them, but I thought my mom would at least show at the hospital for the birth of her first grandchild.
Maybe my sister. But they all ignored my calls and didn’t respond to my texts. I was in labor for seventeen hours.”
The crying. The pain. The exhaustion.
That was the day Old Memphis had died. Because she’d realized that the life she’d lived was so shallow that not a single person had come to simply hold her hand. No family. No friends.
“The epidural didn’t work,” I said. “The doctors finally told me that I had to have an emergency C-section. I woke up a day later after almost dying from a postpartum hemorrhage.”
“Fuck,” Knox muttered.
“Drake was healthy. That was all that mattered. We camped in the hospital for a couple of weeks, and when they sent us home, I was already planning an exit from the city. When Dad called to tell me that I had to move out, I simply escalated my departure date.”
Thankfully, he hadn’t fired me until after Drake was born.
Or maybe I’d quit. Considering I’d resigned and he’d fired me during the same phone conversation while I’d been in a hospital bed, I wasn’t exactly sure how Human Resources had processed that one.
All I cared about was that my insurance had still been active, so it had covered my medical bills.
Dad must have thought that after Drake was born, I’d change my mind. That I’d bend to his iron will. Maybe had he shown up at the hospital, I would have.
“I chose Quincy. I applied at the inn. I bought the Volvo, and after Eloise offered me a job, I started searching for rentals here. When I couldn’t find one after a week of looking . . . well, here I am.”
“Here you are.” There was something in his voice. A fondness where irritation had once been.
Knox and I sat on the couch, eyes locked through the dark.
Now he had my story, or most of it. Some pieces were mine and mine alone. One day, they might be Drake’s but that was a worry for the future.
There were pieces to my tale I loathed. Parts of the story where I’d failed. But mostly, I was beginning to feel . . . proud.
Coming to Quincy had been the right decision.
“You’d better get some sleep.” Knox stood from the couch in one fluid movement, taking Drake to his crib. Knox laid him down, brushing the hair away from his forehead, then stood and walked to the door where I waited to see him out.
“Thank you.” Like I always apologized when he knocked, I thanked him before he left.
Knox bent to pull on his shoes, then he stood tall and nodded, reaching for the door’s handle. But he paused before stepping outside and into the night. He turned to me, a tower at over six feet tall. In my bare feet, I was only five four.
“You’re not alone. Not anymore.”
I opened my mouth but no words came out. He was hugging me again, holding me so tight with those invisible arms that I couldn’t speak.
Knox lifted his hand to my cheek and tucked an errant lock of hair behind my ear. Just one brush of his fingertips and every nerve ending in my body sparked. My breath hitched.
“Good night, Memphis.” Then he was gone, closing the door behind him as he retreated to his house.
A smile ghosted my lips. “Good night, Knox.”