CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
One Week Later
The early December afternoon sun was dipping westward.
The cemetery staff had removed all the chairs except for the row where Amelia remained.
She wasn’t ready to leave Hailey and Jonathan’s grave site yet and hadn’t wanted company.
She’d even asked Camden to leave.
Time crept by. Long shadows reached to her with heartache, clinging to her in the steady chilly wind as it cut into her soul.
Nothing would be the same again, yet Amelia’s heart didn’t ache with the unknown.
“I wonder if you learned how to sneak in and out of buildings from those nights we were sneaking out as kids.” The memories stuck, familiar yet so long in the past. She dug the heel of one shoe into the grass.
“I wish you would have told me what you did.”
Maybe Amelia could have helped Hailey and Jonathan.
Surely, they could have used Events and Occasions for sneaky situations.
Hell, as Amelia thought about it, she figured she’d probably organized events with spies milling about.
The thought sent hollow laughter rattling in her chest. Covert assignments at glitzy galas might be the only thing that held her interest in her business since she’d had a taste of the adventurous lives others around her had lived.
The wind picked up. She ducked her chin to her chest. The drying tear streaks on her cheeks burned as though grief had left painful marks on her skin—but she had to laugh.
Covert assignments? “I’m glad you kept your kinky secrets to yourself.” It would’ve made movie nights weird if she’d thought Jonathan was waiting to tie Hailey up.
Amelia tilted her head toward his grave.
“No offense.”
That levity was enough for her to take a deep breath.
Laughing made her less alone.
She had Camden, after all—even if he would be all the way on the other side of the world.
What was she going to do without him?
“I fell in love, Hails.” Her throat ached.
That time, the razor-sharp pinpricks were for him and their upcoming separation.
“I wish you could have known him.”
“Amelia?” Veronica called, approaching from several graves away.
“Can I join you?”
She wiped her cheeks and pushed her hair behind her ears.
“Hey. I didn’t know you were still here.”
“I left after the services but thought I might find you here still.” Veronica sat next to Amelia.
They faced the grave site for a long moment before Veronica wrapped an arm over her shoulder.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” Amelia rested her cheek on her business partner’s shoulder.
“Though you killed it without me.” That was something to think about.
Veronica seemed to love the corporate side of owning a business.
She didn’t dread things like running payroll and understanding profit-and-loss statements.
Veronica squeezed Amelia.
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
The real world was calling.
She wasn’t ready to answer, but always responsible, she did.
“Do you want to go somewhere and talk?”
“No. I just wanted to give this to you.” She untucked a manila envelope from her large purse.
“I wanted to let you think about it, and then we can touch base later.”
Amelia’s stomach dropped.
Surely, Veronica wouldn’t quit on her, especially not at Hailey’s grave.
She eyed the legal-size manila envelope in Veronica’s hand.
“Please, please, please don’t quit.”
Veronica snorted.
“Quit? Of course not.” She lifted the envelope.
“I brought this here because I thought it might be a family decision.” Her gaze shifted to the graves.
“I know you started your company to support Hailey.”
Her eyebrows arched, and Amelia took the proffered envelope.
Her fingers hesitated at the flap, not ready for what lay inside.
“Go on,” Veronica pressed.
“It’s not going to bite.”
She held Veronica’s gaze for another moment before opening the envelope.
Papers inside were official looking and somewhat densely worded.
“What is this?”
“An offer.” She raised her shoulders shyly.
“I want to buy you out.”
Her mouth fell open.
The world tilted on its axis like an amusement park ride.
“What?” Her gaze moved to the top of what was now clearly a legal document.
The header read: Agreement of Purchase and Sale of Business Assets.
“Are you kidding me?”
Veronica rolled her lips together.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Well, now that I know my phone was tapped and people were chasing you, and that was the reason you couldn’t reach out to me.” She fidgeted.
“But even before that, I thought you wanted to… I don’t know. Have another life.”
She had wanted another life at one time.
She could have figured that out after Hailey found her professional footing and settled down with Jonathan, but Amelia had been terrified of giving up the stability her business offered.
Everything she’d done since their parents died was to make life as predictable as possible.
Now, she couldn’t look away from the legal jargon.
The script blurred, and all she could imagine was that she was holding onto an escape hatch that led to a life she couldn’t have dreamt of fleeing into.
What would another life even look like?
Could it involve Camden?
Her pulse picked up.
“It’s a good offer,” Veronica said.
“I appreciate everything you’ve built and—”
Her eyes dropped to the offer amount.
Oh my God . “That’s a big, not-fooling-around number.”
“I applied for a loan and was approved.” She blushed.
“It’s not exactly fuck-you money, but it’s pretty good.”
“It’s more than pretty good, Veronica.”
“It’s definitely enough to let you have space and time to figure out what your future looks like.”
A different kind of tears burned in her eyes, a hopeful kind.
In the past few months, Amelia had cried in fear and frustration.
She’d sobbed in grief.
Her tear ducts were overworked and exhausted.
But these were shocked, grateful tears.
“Veronica, I can’t—”
“If you’re not ready to leave, then that’s one thing. If you’re unsure about what to do, then take your time. There’s no expiration date on the offer.” Veronica gripped her hand with both of hers.
The warmth in her hold matched that in her voice.
“But if you’re saying no in an automatic, unthinking reaction, then stop . Give it some time. Let it marinate before you make a decision.”
Amelia clutched the sales agreement.
Her fingers pressed into the thick paper as though the bite of pain could give her clarity.
“This is…” She tried to reread the offer, but tears blurred her eyesight.
“A lot.”
“That’s what your business is worth. It’s a fair offer. One that you deserve.”
Amelia thought about the insurance company that had recently contacted her.
She apparently had been the beneficiary of Hailey and Jonathan’s life insurance.
She was also going to receive proceeds from their home, which would be put on the real estate market.
The money had felt icky, as though she had unknowingly entered a cruel lottery and was winning prizes for their deaths.
But Veronica’s perspective was a new one.
Even if Amelia hadn’t wanted it, loss could also offer possibility, opportunities, the ability to invent a new life—one that wasn’t tied to where she lived.