Chapter 25
I t’s raining the next morning when the big black SUV that the Bolt Hotel Group sent for me pulls out of the winding drive away from the inn.
I am in the back seat. I managed to dodge Miss Guin.
She got away from Donny when he was loading my suitcase into the back of the car.
I did get to pet her, however. To tell her goodbye.
I smell a little goat-y now, but I don’t mind.
The drive to Vermont is long, but it will give me plenty of time to go over all the plans for the Bolt event again. I never deleted them. I just put them in an archived folder.
This is it. This is what I worked for, the last seven years. I’m going up to Vermont, and I’m going to ensure the Bolt Hotel Group’s new brand launch next weekend is the most spectacular thing anyone has ever seen. I spent my entire summer planning it. I deserve this.
And I am not afraid of success. Or at least if I am, I am choosing to overcome it right now.
And this was obviously what the tarot cards meant when they told me I’d have a big choice to make.
It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, to walk away from Aiden last night, but I had to.
I had to. I’d live the rest of my life with regret if I hadn’t taken this job.
I thought about asking Aiden if he wanted to try a long-distance relationship. But that wouldn’t be fair to him. He deserves someone who’ll be there with him every night in his cute little house with the white picket fence. Argos deserves a full-time dog mom.
Of course, I didn’t leave without a scar.
A big one. There is an open wound where my heart should be.
And I know I won’t be the same again. I cried last night.
Out in the orchard, Aiden pulled me into his arms, and I cried against his strong shoulder, my body shaking with sobs.
And then he walked me to the apartment, where I went to sleep.
My brain was too scattered to make any decisions right then.
But when I woke up early this morning, I knew what I had to do.
I have no idea how it’ll be with him the next time I visit the inn. The cowardly part of me hopes Mom and Dad will sell their part to the Bolt Hotel Group. They’ve been talking about taking a Caribbean cruise for years. Now is their chance.
At least I was brave enough to tell Aiden to his face. He was up making coffee when I pulled my suitcase out of the bedroom this morning. I stopped short when I saw him. “I’m sorry,” I told him, hugging him like I never wanted to let him go. “I have to do this.”
He nodded and squeezed me tight, resting his chin on the top of my head. I tried to memorize the feeling of being in his arms even though I knew I had no right to.
He gave me a to-go cup filled with the pumpkin-spice coffee, and Donny’s knock on the door saved us from any further awkwardness. Honestly, it also saved me from bursting into tears again.
It’s painful. And it sucks. But this is for the best. I know it. Aiden and I were great together. In more ways than one. But I cannot turn down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I just can’t.
My heart will stop hurting... someday.
Won’t it?
***
It’s Saturday.
Because I am a magician and damn good at my job, everything has fallen back into place over the last six days. Since Monday, I’ve been able to get all the plans I’d made back on track. The Bolt Hotel Group event is going to go off without a hitch today. Just like I always envisioned it.
I am standing in the two-story glass dining room of the Barn and Branch Inn in Vermont.
The white gourds and small white pumpkins are artfully arranged on the tables.
The farmhouse flowers are perfectly posed in their milk jugs.
The pumpkin-and-cinnamon-scented votives in tiny glass holders have filled the air with the scent of fall.
The thick off-white tablecloths and gold flatware are on point.
The entire dining room feels like a cornucopia from an autumn harvest. The pesto-encrusted broiled salmon entrées and the apple-crisp bread pudding topped with semi-melted white chocolate chips are being prepped in the kitchens as we speak.
Just the way I planned it.
It’s all here. It’s all pristine. It’s all gorgeous.
So why can’t I help but think about how there are no old-fashioned hay bales or rickety apple barrels? Or an old red truck that makes me nostalgic? There isn’t a goat around to knock anyone over or a chonky little pug sporting orange PJs. And there’s definitely not a yellow Lab wearing a beret.
And despite being given a lot of free rein, I still had to check in with the executives throughout the week on my progress. I can’t help but miss the feeling of being in charge—well, as in charge as I could be with Aiden looming over my shoulder.
A sad smile curls my lips.
My phone buzzes, and when I look down, I realize that I was hoping it was Aiden. Just like I’ve been hoping every text I’ve gotten since I left Harvest Hollow would be from Aiden. But this one isn’t from Aiden either. It’s from Mom.
You left your wool coat in the apartment. Aiden found it. I’ll ship it to you once you’re settled back in the city.
I heave a sigh. Those words are perfectly normal.
Right, even. It’s nice of Mom to offer. But I can’t help but think that she didn’t say that I can pick it up at Thanksgiving.
Or even Christmas. Because she knows I won’t be there.
Because I haven’t been there. I can’t even use the excuse that they might sell the inn anymore, because she already told me earlier this week they turned down the Bolt Hotel Group’s offer.
“What would we do with all that money?” Mom asked. I was tempted to ask her if she wanted me to write a list, but I knew what she meant. It’s the same thing Aiden meant. Money isn’t the most important thing to everyone. Some people just want to be happy. I do too.
I honestly haven’t thought about the holidays yet this year. With the festival and then this new job, I’ve been too busy to think about them. But now I am obsessing over them. If I go back, I’ll see Aiden. Half of me wants to go early. Half of me wants to make an excuse to stay away.
All of me is picturing Aiden pulling my wool coat out of the closet. I am hoping it will smell even vaguely like his aftershave and am wishing I’d stolen one of his T-shirts.
I glance down at the text again. I think about how Mom asked me to stay.
I told her I’d think about it. And I did.
But she knew how important this opportunity is to me.
She hugged me that last night in the barn.
Told me she was proud of me. And the morning I left, she brought me some of Sera’s apple cider donuts and hugged me again.
Dad kissed me on the top of my head. “Go get ’em,” he said.
My eyes water. I shake my head. I need some air.
I push open one set of latticed French doors and make my way around the side of the barnlike building. The grounds are perfectly coiffed. It’s peak leaf season here, and the landscape is filled with oranges, reds, and yellows.
I kick through them, smiling a little as I make my way up a small set of stone stairs to a balcony that overlooks the inn’s currently covered pool area.
I stop in front of the stone balustrade and lean over it.
I look across the parklike grounds and can’t help but think how much it reminds me of home. Because of the fall-ness of it all.
I sigh. My chest is heavy, and I don’t feel right. It’s no surprise. I’ve been under a ton of stress the last two weeks. I got dumped, fired, ostracized, planned one huge event, and then rescued another. It’s been a lot .
And then there was Aiden...
“Tell Henry that if they don’t agree to that price, there’s no deal,” comes a confident female voice from somewhere nearby.
I frown and turn around to see who is talking.
Laura Bolt is just coming around the corner of the inn.
As usual, she’s dressed in a slay-all-day power suit, and she’s pressing a button on her cell phone.
Clearly, she just hung up a call. She stops short when she sees me, before giving me a smile.
She makes her way to my side and leans on the balustrade next to me.
“Hi, there,” she says.
“Hi,” I say. I’ve spoken with her a handful of times this week and she’s always been friendly, but she’s also the billionaire owner of a major US corporation, so she’s clearly not someone to trifle with. She intimidates me a little when she’s nearby.
“I hope I didn’t bother you with my phone call,” she says.
“Oh, no. Not at all.” I smile. “I just hope Henry agrees to the price. I can tell you mean it.”
Laura Bolt chuckles. “I do mean it.”
There are a few moments of companionable silence between us before she says, “The venue looks fantastic, Ellie. I told my people the minute they hired that other guy that it was all going to fall apart. They didn’t listen.” She sighed. “Sometimes you have to let your people make mistakes.”
I nod. “ I’d listen to you.” And I mean it. I’m not just blowing smoke. She’s a smart lady who clearly knows her stuff.
She gives me a half smile. “I certainly didn’t get to where I am without understanding who the real talent is when I see it.”
“Thank you,” I say, inordinately pleased with myself for garnering praise from this impressive person.
“And without learning a few hard lessons,” she continues. She points her cell phone toward me. “Between you and me... sometimes it takes a woman to see another woman’s talent.”
“Now that I know is true,” I say. Though I have no intention of expounding any further. Geoff and Steve may have thrown me under the bus, but I won’t do the same. I won’t stoop to their level. They can have their bro code and their inside frat jokes. I’m taking the high road.
“Hey, where’s your boyfriend?” she asks next. “Did he come up with you?”