Overstayed Welcome
Jordy
“Dear, stay at our place.” Bec places a hand on my shoulder before I can pick up my bags.
I refrain from brushing her off, even though I’m still angry with her.
With all of them. I didn’t ask for any of this by coming here.
I wish I’d never come at all. It seems my life has been catapulted into one drama after another, from Alexander’s bad business dealings to their family issues—and none of it is my doing.
But even still, I love Bec. Despite the way she turned her back on me—just like everyone else in this goddamn town—I love her.
I can’t forget all the ways she’s been kind to me over the past few weeks, starting with giving me—a stranger—her daughter’s room, and continuing with all the ways she cared for me.
In many ways, she’s been more of a mother to me than my own mom.
But then she took Alexander’s word without caring about mine.
I don’t hate Bec. I’m devastated.
“No, thank you.” I feel her hand slip away, and I pick up my bags with one hand, my shoes in the other.
By now, this dress I’m wearing feels like one huge joke, and there’s no way I’m putting those stilettos back on.
Not with this dirt road. Lord knows my feet will be black by the time I reach the airport.
“There’s room at the hotel,” Bernie says.
“No offense, Bernice, but I know Alexander is staying there, and I won’t stay within a hundred yards of that man. As soon as I reach New York, I’m…”
I’m what? Because what do I have to go back to? I’ve been working for Alexander for most of the time I’ve lived in the City, hoping to make a name for myself. But so far, my only real connection is him. Without Alexander, I have nothing.
“It’s late,” Griffin says, taking my luggage from my hands and placing it in the backseat of my car.
“Alexander is on the top floor,” Bernie says, “in the penthouse.”
Griffin rolled his eyes, laughing. “That old room? You’re still calling it the penthouse?” He turns to me. “That used to be my playroom when I was a kid because no one rented it out, then it became storage.” He looks at his mom. “Even for that asshole, I can’t believe you gave him that room.”
She shrugs. “He insisted, and I felt bad about it before. But now, I’m not so sure.” She looks at me. “I can place you in a modest room on the second floor. He won’t even know you’re there, and I’m not telling him. But it’s much too late to leave. Besides, we need you.”
“You don’t need me,” I say, though I’m softening.
I’m exhausted. Maybe everything will feel easier with a good night’s sleep.
“Fine, one night. But in the morning, I’m headed to the airport, and I’m never coming back.
You all can figure out this mess on your own.
I didn’t cause any of it, and I’m sure as hell not getting more involved than I already have. ”
“Fair,” Bernie says.
I wake up the next morning with a feeling of heaviness and dread I cannot name.
Yesterday’s events wash over me as the sleep leaves my body, and I sigh heavily into the quiet of my room.
I open my eyes, not yet ready to move and in serious need of some coffee.
When I finally rise to sitting, I feel the weight of a thousand pounds on my shoulders.
Even though I’m not a part of Alexander’s horrible plan to take over Lahoma, Ashton still hates me.
I’m devastated for the town, and I wish with all my heart I could fix it.
Now that the ink has dried, I’m not sure how.
More than anything, I wish Ashton would look at me again the way he’d looked at me before.
Leave it to Alexander to ruin one more good thing.
I go to the bathroom, then look in the mirror when I’m done, grimacing at what I see—yesterday’s makeup with black smudges under my puffy eyes, my hair all over the place, and my lips chapped from not enough water. I’m a wreck.
My phone vibrates on my bedside table, and I cross the room to see Nina’s face on my screen. I think about ignoring it. But more than anything, I need a friend.
“Hello?”
“Oh, there you are, stranger. I was getting ready to send the brigade out.” Nina’s voice is perky for the morning. I imagine she’s already had several cups of coffee, and I desperately need to catch up.
“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks,” I say, standing up to stretch. I look around the room for the coffee pot, but I’m interrupted by a knock at the door. “Hold on a sec, kay?”
I set the phone down and cross the room. Bernie is on the other side of the door, a wheeled tray in front of her. “Coffee and breakfast?” she asks, then rolls it into the room. She lifts the lid to the plate, revealing a simple meal of eggs, bacon, and toast with jam. It looks absolutely perfect.
Where was this woman weeks ago?
“Bernie, you’re a lifesaver.” I go for the coffee pot, but she waves me off so she can pour a cup for me. Then she sets everything up on a table next to the window.
“You can return the favor after breakfast,” she says as she opens the curtains.
“I’m leaving after…”
“Tut tut,” she interrupts. “You can leave later today, but we can’t do this without you. Eat your breakfast, then meet me at the front desk when you’re ready.”
“But Alexander. I don’t want to see him.”
She thinks for a moment. “You’re right, meet me at Charred. It’s closed, so just knock on the door.”
Once she’s gone, I dive for my phone on the bed. “I’m sorry about that.” I sit down at the table and rest the phone against the coffee pot while I eat.
“No worries. It really has been busy, hasn’t it? Want to Facetime?”
“Sure,” I say. “But you’re going to have to watch me eat.”
I switch the phone to video, and there’s Nina. Then her eyes widen at the same time I realize how awful I look.
“Oh man, I’m sorry. I just woke up. I was so tired last night, I didn’t even wash my face.
” I glance out the window, peering down at Timeless.
There’s a delivery truck outside, and I realize the watches have arrived.
Alexander appears just then, emerging from the shop. I duck, even though he can’t see me.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
I straighten, feigning a laugh. “Sorry, I just thought I saw someone.”
Nina’s expression lets me know she’s not fooled.
“Jordy Gallo, you’ve barely talked to me for weeks.
You look like death warmed over. You told whoever was in your room that you don’t want to see Alexander, except that he’s your boss and the whole reason you’re in New York instead of here where your family is.
Now you’re acting like a scared little girl.
The Jordy I know faces her fears head on.
She doesn’t hide behind curtains or fail to say what’s bothering her.
So tell me, what’s going on? The truth.”
I let out a breath, feeling the full weight of this past week pressing on my chest. I’m without an ally.
Even if Bernie is being nice by letting me stay in the hotel, I don’t have a friend here.
More than anything, I need someone on my side—someone who knows all the good and bad parts of me and still loves me.
I need my family. Fuck this NDA.
“Alexander isn’t who I thought he was,” I say, sinking on to the bed against the pillows.
I told her everything, starting with the decorating job and going on about the picketing, being blackballed by the whole town, then staying with the Felixes.
I tell her briefly about Ashton, but it feels too sad to talk about him.
I end with the party, which was sabotaged by Alexander’s bombshell.
“I’d never even heard of a corporate town before this, but it’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s going to strip this whole town of everything that makes it special, and I can’t help feeling responsible.”
“You’re not, though. Jordy, you had no idea.”
“I know.” I move the eggs around on my plate. They’ve already grown cold, but I keep taking occasional bites, knowing they came from someone’s farm here in town.
“Where are you, exactly?” she asks.
I swallow a bit more egg, then wrinkle my nose. “Uh, Lahoma Springs?”
“Wait, is that in California?”
I nod. “In Northern California,” I say. “North of San Francisco.”
“You’ve been in California all this time, and you didn’t tell me?”
But she’s not mad when she says it. In fact, she looks elated. “We’re coming to see you,” she says.
“No, Nina. You can’t, you have the baby.”
“Exactly, and she needs to meet her favorite cousin. Come on, tell me where you’re staying and we’ll hit the road this morning and be there by tonight.”
I shake my head. “You’re crazy, you know that? I should be driving to you.”
She tilts her head. “Okay.”
“Okay what?”
“Okay, you can drive to us. You can stay in one of the cabins that wasn’t rented out this week. We’ll have it ready for you by the time you get here. If you come early enough, you might even get some BBQ.”
Barbecues at the Salt and Sea Ranch are some of the best food to be had. My mouth waters just thinking about it.
“Okay fine. I was going to go back to New York anyway, but there’s not really a reason to rush, right?
” I glance out the window again, and this time I see Bernie heading down the street to Charred.
My heart lurches when I see Ashton’s truck outside.
“Listen, I have a meeting I need to attend. But once I’m done, I’ll text you to let you know I’m on my way. ”
I manage to reach Charred without seeing any sign of Alexander.
I’m more than nervous knowing that Ashton is inside, and that this is likely the last time I’ll ever see him.
I don’t even know why I’m meeting everyone here.
It’s not like I can do much. Still, I press on, rapping my knuckles on the glass door while looking over my shoulder.
If Alexander sees any glimpse of me now, it doesn’t matter if I kept to the NDA, he’ll likely assume I’m breaking it.
As it is, he probably assumes that anyway, and I’m in danger of losing everything.