Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
MATT
O h, I fucked up. I really fucked up.
Guilt rushes through me faster than a torrent mid-hurricane.
I could have been a tad nicer, and maybe not started a riot. To be fair, people got angry very easily.
I suppose, in a sense, that’s good. Now I won’t have to work to convince anybody to vote against that shitty hotel.
But damn, I wouldn’t have wanted to be in her shoes up there. She didn’t deserve the level of ire thrown her way, regardless of what she came here to do. She went through the wringer, and yeah, yeah, I know, I started it. I’m the one to blame.
I always tell Daphne to lead with kindness and expect the same of the people in her life, and yet there I went, pulling a stunt like that in front of my sister . I’m gonna have some explaining to do later, because, of course, I taught her about accountability too.
Shit.
I glance at the doors Zoey bolted through a minute ago. Maybe I can still catch up with her and apologize. There’s a good chance she’ll rip my head off, but it’s probably worth the risk, right?
Would it be weird if I drove to Oli’s and knocked on her door? Again? Flashes of her sweaty skin under my fingertips pop into my mind, but I shove them away quickly. Not the place, not the time. Not anymore.
I push through the exit doors just as she backs out of her parking spot.
“Zoey, hey.” I jog into the road and stand in front of her car.
When she realizes it’s me, her entire face closes off. “Move,” she mouths through the windshield.
Bravely—stupidly?—I set both hands on the hood and lean down, meeting her eyes. “Can you give me a minute?”
Damn. The steering wheel is getting an aggressive treatment. The way she’s gripping it? Pretty sure her fingers will leave a permanent imprint.
After an eternity, during which her eyes narrow more than once, as if she’s considering the pros and cons of running me over, Zoey kills the engine and lowers her window. “I’m feeling benevolent. You have thirty seconds.”
I walk around the car and rest my forearm on the frame, leaning in. “I’m really sorry about what happened in there. You have every right to be mad at me.”
“Thank you for your approval,” she says, derision dripping all over her tone. “Is that all?”
“I messed up. I’m sorry.” I drag a hand down my face. “You have to understand—”
“Oh, I have to understand. Do I, now? After you couldn’t give me that same courtesy in front of the whole town? What else do you have to teach me, Matt, huh?”
I deserve it. No denying that. “All I’m saying is that nothing I mentioned in there was personal.”
She exhales loudly. “Oh, okay. Now I’m relieved. Thanks for clearing that up.”
She glares out the windshield, though when she peers back at me through her lashes, the pretense has been dropped. There isn’t a trace of sarcasm left on her face. No mask, no fake smile. Just Zoey and the hurt I caused.
“I didn’t even have time to present my idea.
You jumped on me like a starving hyena as soon as I opened my mouth.
What if I actually had something good to say?
Maybe, just maybe , I don’t have any ill intention when it comes to this town.
Is it so unbelievable that I could have thought long and hard about finding the best solution to your problem? ”
She turns the engine back on, my sign that my seconds are numbered.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have interrupted you.” My shoulders sink, the weight of shame pulling me down. “We’re a sensitive bunch when it comes to our town, Zoey. It doesn’t excuse my behavior, but I meant it when I said it wasn’t personal.”
I don’t expect her to understand. Belonging to a community and caring for the well-being of others isn’t something people who live in big cities are very familiar with. But still. I need her to know it’s bigger than her. It’s about our town’s identity at its very core.
Her grip around the wheel relaxes an inch. I have no idea whether my explanation resonated, but I’ll take it.
“Noted,” she says. “Good night.”
Facing forward again, she presses the button that raises her window, and I have just enough time to retreat a step before she drives away.
“Who’s up for a hot cocoa?” I turn the key and the lock clicks open, Daphne squealing next to me.
“Do you have something stronger?” Lola asks, following my sister inside.
James raises a six-pack. “Don’t worry. After that shit show, I stopped at Sue’s.”
“Thank god,” I mumble. “Okay, Daph. Go hop in the shower while I get the cocoa ready, please.”
My sister takes the stairs two at a time and slams the bathroom door shut.
“Someone’s excited.” With a chuckle, Lola sits at the kitchen table. “You don’t seem too out of your depth here, Matty.”
Side-eyeing her, I pull mugs and glasses from the cabinet. “Glad I make it look easy.”
“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. Daph told me earlier that she loves spending time with you.”
I open the fridge and grab the gallon of milk.
“The feeling is mutual, but I don’t think I am.
It is a lot of pressure. I’m not a parent, and suddenly I’m in charge of her education and her well-being, and I also have to make sure I don’t fuck her up while she’s staying with me.
And after tonight, I’m not off to a great start. ”
Lola throws me a pointed look. “You mean the first week with you is worse than living with a mother who can’t even accept that she has an autistic daughter?”
Sighing, I place the saucepan half full of milk on the stove. “At least she has my dad.”
“And she has you.” James opens a beer and offers it to me, then sits next to Lola. “Tonight was nothing. Daphne probably didn’t even notice. She had her headphones on the whole time.”
“She notices everything.” Even if she didn’t say a word on the way back, I could see the wheels turning. Once James and Lola leave, the questions will come pouring in.
I dump two spoonfuls of cocoa into a mug, then take a swig of the beer. “What a shit show. People really went at her.”
“To be fair.” Lola drags out the words with the same careful tone she uses when she’s about to drop a truth bomb that nobody wants to hear. “You were kinda leading the charge.”
“The little she was able to say made sense,” James adds.
The muscles in my shoulders tense, and I turn away from the stove. “Okay, whoa. Did you guys consult before ganging up on me? I know I screwed up. I apologized to her afterward, but she was having none of it.”
“You did humiliate her in front of the whole town not even an hour ago,” Lola says.
“I think it’ll be a few days before she can entertain the idea of hearing you out.
” With a shrug, she snags a beer for herself.
“Why do you care anyway? It wasn’t your finest moment, but she’ll probably move on to something else. Saved her some time.”
“They slept together,” James whispers.
Lola’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “ What ?”
I breathe in through my nose, bracing myself, and nod. “We did.”
Lola whips her head back and forth, studying James, then me. “ When ?”
“The night she arrived.” I take a small sip of beer and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “It’s not a big deal. It was a one-night kind of thing, that’s all.”
Lola bursts out laughing. “You? A one-night stand? Please. Since when ?”
I pour the hot milk over the cocoa powder and stir. “Since I’m tired of being alone. Since I’ve officially realized that over-complicating everything has not brought me a lot of success.”
Lola’s face softens, but she doesn’t say anything else.
Next to her, James is quiet, scrolling his phone, as if he’s been mulling something over.
I don’t like Analytical James. He makes me queasy.
I’m not great with silence or thinking everything through.
But when James gets super into his thoughts, he can stay like this for hours and not say a word about what’s going on in his brain.
As I add a generous amount of whipped cream to Daph’s cocoa, Lola moves behind me and clasps my shoulder. Before I can set the can down, she snatches it from my fingers.
“Hey, leave some for Daph,” I say. “She loves that shit.”
She gives me a thumbs-up with the bottle already turned upside down in the direction of her mouth, then presses on the plastic tip.
James finally glances up from his phone, his gaze hazy, like he just woke up from a fever dream. “Did you look Zoey up online?”
I frown. “No.” Should I have? The less time I spend on social media and company, the better. “Did you?”
He nods and holds up his phone, her LinkedIn profile pulled up on the screen. “She’s the business development head for Oscar’s group, Imperial Excellence. They have chains all over the world.”
“Not surprised,” I scoff as Lola peers over my shoulder. “Exactly who I thought she was.”
“But if you look closer at what she does,” James continues, his voice steady, “it says here: ‘Zoey Delacroix is better known for her work founding the Traveler’s Lodge chain, an affordable eco-friendly accommodation experience that’s been revolutionizing the hotel industry.
These lodges partner with businesses in their area, from coffee suppliers to exclusive activities, and give them much-needed economic boosts. ’”
A pit forms in my stomach. Okay, so she’s had one great idea.
Doesn’t make up for the fact that she works for a massive conglomerate that is no doubt responsible for the disappearance of hundreds of small businesses, the wildlife essential to maintaining our ecosystems, and the spread of tourism to the detriment of local communities.
So what if she’s helped a few of them along the way? I’m sure I can easily find disgruntled companies and towns that would have a lot to say. One single article doesn’t mean shit to me. It doesn’t tell me how the people of those communities felt when her organization came in and took over.