Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
Harrison
Icall Delaney immediately after my last meeting ends, and it goes to voicemail. I hang up. What do you even say in a message after something like this?
As soon as I’m able, I grab my things and leave. Once I’m in the car, I try calling again.
“Can we talk?” I ask her voicemail.
When I get back to our property, Delaney’s car isn’t at the cabin. I’m not sure where she’s gone, but I guess I’ll give her some space until she’s ready to talk.
Instead of heading home, I turn around and go to the office. When I arrive, everyone else is gone for the day. I take the stairs to our floor, thinking I’ll bury myself in work for a bit.
When I walk past Delaney’s desk, it strikes me that the only thing she has on it, besides her monitor screen, is one of those tiny air plants. Nothing else to personalize it. It’s how it always looks, but something about it makes me feel uneasy tonight.
A moment later, I stand at my desk, staring at two white envelopes. One is mine, and one is Henry’s. Henry’s is open, and his chicken scratch on the front reads: Call me when you’re back so we can talk about what to do.
I open the envelope and pull out a piece of paper.
Dear Henry,
It is with deep regret that I must resign my position effective immediately. My sincere apologies that I did not give notice. Please let your brothers know.
Sincerely,
Delaney Larson
I hold the paper in my hand and stare at the words on the page.
I don’t know what to do or think. This is all my fault.
Unless she’s stealing from us. But I know she’s not.
As soon as I took a few minutes to calm down, I realized I didn’t believe she’d do it.
I didn’t even bother to check the catalog envelope she gave me at the cafe. I didn’t need to.
I pick up the envelope with my name on it, and it’s heavier than Henry’s. I open it and think I’m going to be sick when I pull out a wad of cash. There’s $800 here. Money that I know she worked hard for and can’t afford.
There’s a sticky note on the front of a bill that reads:
This is for my tires. If it’s not enough, please send me an email with how much more I owe you.
I can’t fucking believe she’s paid me back for the tires. I want to rip up every one of those hundred-dollar bills until they’re in shreds. But I won’t because she’s going to take them back if I have anything to say about it.
I stare at the folded piece of white paper accompanying the money for a solid minute before I gather the nerve to pick it up and unfold it.
Harrison,
I’m not like her. I should not have to prove it to you, and the fact that you needed to ask me to, makes it clear to me that this—us—is not right.
Delaney
I grab the letters and the money, and I race out of the office, not even bothering to turn off the lights. Five minutes later, my heart races as I punch in the code to unlock the cabin door. When it opens, I knock loudly.
“Delaney? Are you here?”
I don’t know why I even ask because I know she’s gone, and it’s my fault. When I turn on the light, I’m correct—there’s no sign of her ever having been here.
I walk over to the bar and pour myself a glass of whiskey—a heavy pour—because it’s going to be one of those nights. I take a seat, and I pull out my phone and text Henry.
She’s gone. Not just from work, but from the cabin, too. I’m here now, and it’s desolate.
Henry
Are you okay?
I don’t answer Henry’s text for a few minutes, but when I do, I can’t lie to him.
No. I’m not. She’s gone, and it’s my fault. I don’t want to talk anymore tonight.
I should have known that Henry wouldn’t let it go. He texts a few more times, and I ignore them. A few minutes later, the entry keypad beeps, and I watch the door, expecting to see Henry enter, but he doesn’t.
It’s Hayden.
“What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same of you.” He heads straight for the bar and pours himself an even larger glass of whiskey than I poured, then walks over and tops mine off. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay. But you know Henry is gonna make you.”
I say nothing and stare into my glass. After a few more minutes, Henry walks in the door.
“Where’s Holden?” he asks.
Hayden shrugs. “I think he was on some kind of weird date. Well, I think he might think it’s a date, but the mystery woman he’s talking about might not.”
“Huh, maybe we should talk about that instead of my disaster of a love life,” I say.
“Nope. Tonight’s about figuring your shit out. We can unpack Holden’s drama later. We all know that whatever it is he has going on will probably only hold his attention for one or two dates, anyway.”
Henry goes to the kitchen and returns with a soda. When Hayden lifts an eyebrow at him, he says, “What? Not all of us live within walking distance.” He turns his attention to me. “Harrison, I assume you know why Delaney quit. Why she left?”
“I have an idea,” I deadpan.
“Well, she was everyone’s employee. Do you want to share it with us?”
I’m annoyed, but he’s not wrong.
“She was supposed to be at an appointment this morning. Instead, I saw her out in the city… with Cassandra.”
“Cassandra? What the hell were they doing together?” Henry asks.
“That was my exact question. I watched from a distance, and I was seeing red. So, I approached them.”
Henry sighs and grabs his forehead. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
“I wish I could. I really wish I could.”
“So that’s it?” Hayden asks.
I shake my head.
“Fuck. All right, well, give us the rest of the story, or we can’t help.”
“You can’t help anyway. I-I accused her of being in cahoots with Cassandra.”
“Cahoots for what?” Henry asks.
“To scheme money out of us again.” My jaw clenches.
“Phew,” Hayden says.
I know it’s bad. Really bad.
“Jesus Christ, Harrison.” Henry shakes his head.
“It gets worse.” I look at each of them and then return my gaze to my glass of whiskey. “I basically accused her of being a gold digger.”
Henry groans and tosses his head onto the back of the chair. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
“Because I saw her with Cassandra, and she gave Cassandra an envelope like the one she took out of my office a few days ago. She said they were names she was going to input into our invoicing system at home. Then Leah and I caught her probably coming out of Leah’s office by herself the other day.
She said she had to talk to Leah later.”
“Then what happened?” Hayden says.
“She left. That was it. Now I don’t know where she is. She could be anywhere.”
Henry leans forward and stares at the ground. “I don’t know. I’m not sure… Never mind.”
“No, say it.”
He lifts his head, and his gaze meets mine. “I’m not sure this is fixable.”
“Yeah, neither am I.”