Chapter 23
The day after Denise returned to Oklahoma City, she sat on her dad’s backyard patio recounting the events of the FunDaze conference, along with her observations about Middle Waters and the surrounding area as it related to his plans for the new park.
Although she’d been exhausted from having barely slept the night before she’d left the resort, she’d been unable to sleep the next night either. Thoughts of her conversations with Maddox and vivid memories of their hands all over her skin had kept her from fully relaxing.
So, she’d gotten out of bed and used the time to write out her thoughts from the retreat.
Since he was still stuck at home, her dad had asked Denise to come to his house for breakfast to talk everything over.
When she finished reviewing her notes with him, her dad flashed her the full-toothed grin he normally reserved for the Farrington Fall Fest Days TV spots he did every September. “That’s phenomenal work, baby doll! Phenomenal! I knew you’d knock this out of the park!”
Denise was so weary and relieved to be done with this debriefing that she didn’t even cringe at being baby dolled like she normally did. “Thanks, Dad. I’m just glad it went off without any major hiccups. That was mostly thanks to the resort staff, though.”
She’d sprinkled Middle Waters praise all throughout her review, but it couldn’t hurt to give them one last boost, could it?
He nodded. “Of course. Facility staff always cooperate best with competent event leadership.”
Denise hummed in vague agreement. That was probably true in ordinary circumstances, but the situation with her at Middle Waters had been so far outside the ordinary in ways she couldn’t and wouldn’t ever tell her dad.
He leaned forward and rapped his knuckles on the top of the patio table strewn with juice and pastry remnants from their breakfast, making the plates and glasses rattle.
“But I’m more impressed with your acute insights about the resort.
Excellent work. Yes, ma’am! Everything you learned will be a major help, and I know Darby will be able to use it in finalizing the offer and buyout negotiations. ”
Denise’s fatigue fled, and she jerked upright in her chair. “Darby?!”
“Well, certainly!” her dad said. “This falls under her department, after all.”
“The day-to-day details of the expansion, sure. B-but not the acquisition, right?” Denise stammered.
“You’re not going to handle it yourself?
I mean, this is a big deal, isn’t it? Our first out-of-state buyout you’ve been working toward all this time, and you’re going to let Darby make the negotiations? ”
Her dad raised a bushy eyebrow and stroked his beard for a second before continuing on in the same enthusiastic tone as before.
“Yes, it’s our first out-of-state buyout, and we shouldn’t drag our feet!
We need to get moving, and I’m still not in the condition to travel yet. So Darby will handle it.”
Denise’s pulse was pounding in her ears now. “You’re giving her all the direction though, aren’t you? She’ll be making an offer you’ve already written up or approved?”
“Now, you know I don’t micromanage like that,” he said in a chastising tone.
“Dad, I know that’s how you feel most of the time. But this is special. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I think Darby can handle it,” he interrupted.
“It’s time I started trusting her with bigger things now.
I won’t be able to be in the middle of things forever.
This silly leg mishap has shown me that, if nothing else.
I need to offload some of the responsibility.
And, well, with you gone…she’ll be the only one I can really do that with. ”
“Right.” Denise bit her lip hard as her thoughts swirled.
“Oh, I need to take this,” her dad said, picking his phone up off the table. She’d been so preoccupied, she must have missed hearing it ring.
“Yeah, okay.” She started to stand, but he held up a hand to stop her.
“No need to get up. I’ll hobble inside and take it there. I really need the exercise,” he said with a chuckle. “You stay out here and enjoy the day.”
Denise stayed put as he made his way through the patio door, keeping half her attention on his movements to make sure he didn’t lose his balance on the threshold.
Once the door closed, Denise jumped to her feet and paced the patio. The sky was cloudless blue above and the temperature a perfectly mild seventy-four or five, but she couldn’t enjoy it, as her dad had suggested. Not with her stomach churning.
Darby was going to handle the buyout? She’d be going to Middle Waters and negotiating with Oliver? There were so many problems with that.
Her cousin was a ruthlessly bottom-line type of person.
Would she make the kind of offer the resort deserved?
If she low-balled Oliver, he could refuse, of course, but only if he was in the position to do so.
If he was desperate to sell, he might accept less than he should.
And what if Darby steamrolled the deal? Made him sell and lay off everyone immediately just so the company could move ahead with the development plans as soon as possible.
But the even larger issue was that Darby would actually be at Middle Waters.
She’d be there around Maddox; someone she’d gotten fired seven years ago.
As if Denise showing up hadn’t complicated their life enough, now they were going to have to contend with Darby?
There’s no doubt they would remember her.
She hadn’t changed the way Denise had. Would Darby remember Maddox?
Would she make things hard for Maddox again, or would she realize they weren’t a threat to anyone after all this time?
Denise could try talking to Darby ahead of time and asking her to leave Maddox alone, but that would mean digging up the past and maybe even discussing some of how she’d connected with Maddox during the conference.
Everything inside Denise shuddered at the thought. She clenched her fists, finding her palms had started to sweat.
No, she couldn’t do that.
But neither could she stomach even the possibility that Darby might make trouble for Maddox.
Denise’s heart rate picked up as her mind came to a decision. It would be far from ideal, and she wasn’t even sure she was equipped for it. But she could probably get help at least.
The patio door swung open, and her dad ambled outside. “Sorry about that. Where were we?”
Denise halted her pacing and returned to the table to angle her dad’s chair so he could access it better with his crutches. Once he was settled, she straightened to her full height and faced him. “Dad, I want to be the one to handle the Middle Waters buyout.”
He paused with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth, and a slight gleam entered his eye as he slowly set the cup back down.
“But I thought you wanted to move on now that your two years are up. The negotiations could take weeks or even longer. I’d hate to ask you to get into something that involved when you’re ready to move on.
I asked for two years, and you did that. I’m a man of my word.”
Darcy pursed her lips. I can’t believe I’m doing this.
“I know, Dad. But you’re not asking. I am.
I can move on with my plans later. Right now, I want to take the lead on this.
Now that I’ve actually been to the site and looked around, I think I’d be the best one.
The owner already knows me. And I have the family name, right? ”
“Now, those are excellent points, yes.” He nodded firmly. “Strategically, it would make more sense for you to do this than Darby.”
“So, you’re okay with letting me do this?”
He took a long swallow of his coffee, as if he needed the extra moment to consider. But it felt performative. She knew what he’d say even before he grinned and said, “Okay, Denise. You’ve made a strong case for this. I think it would be great if you took point on the Middle Waters deal.”
Internally, she rolled her eyes. Oh, so I get to be DENISE now.
Now that it was all unfolding, she had a strong sense that she’d been played.
Her dad probably suspected she’d refuse any more direct attempts from him to keep her at Farrington longer, so he’d found a way to make it seem like her idea.
Of course, in his mind, he’d probably thought he’d stir up her latent ambition or maybe even jealousy by suggesting he’d give these responsibilities to Darby. When all else fails, nothing motivates quite like a good rivalry, right?
Little did he know her primary motivation had nothing to do with her career and everything to do with a certain dark-haired, brown-eyed resort manager who’d quickly taken over her thoughts.
That was a problem Denise was going to have to deal with at some point. But not now.
When Denise had taken over the FunDaze conference, she hadn’t had the time to find expert help on how to run it best. She’d basically been winging it. But fortunately, this wouldn’t be the case with the buyout negotiations.
As soon as she’d made up her mind to ask her dad to let her take this on, she’d remembered Jeremy.
Back when she’d helped him and Derrick resolve their workplace romance dilemma, she’d reviewed his resume to see where else in the company he might fit.
That’s when she’d noticed he’d helped with buyouts for a regional restaurant chain prior to working at Farrington Parks.
Once she’d arrived at the office after leaving her dad’s house, Denise had pulled Jeremy aside and asked for his help with the Middle Waters offer. He’d happily agreed, assuring her he owed her the favor.
Denise’s satisfaction at having a semblance of a way forward fizzled out when she opened the door to her office to find Darby seated at her desk.
She was leaning back in the desk chair, reading from a notebook Denise kept for handwritten notes about her nonprofit plans, although most of the important parts were on her personal computer.
The notebook was normally in a desk drawer, but Darby had clearly rifled through the drawer to get it.
“Very interesting,” Darby drawled as she flipped through the pages, but it wasn’t the syrupy pecan pie drawl she normally affected.
“Darby,” Denise greeted her, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. She didn’t bother asking Darby why she was there or going through her things. That’s probably what Darby wanted her to ask.
Once Denise had closed the door, Darby shut the notebook and threw it on the desk. “Tell me something, cousin. Was all this talk about wanting to start your own nonprofit even real? Or was it just another way for you to play at being Daddy’s sweet little angel like always?”
Denise approached the desk but remained standing. “Darby, I’m sure you’re upset about—”
Darby cut her off. “All you’ve done these past two years is act like you’re too good for this place and have bigger, better, and holier things to do with your time than work in an office job like a mere mortal.
And that’s despite the fact that your dad put you in charge of an entire department as soon as you got here.
You kept counting down the days until you could leave.
So why don’t you leave? Hm? What happened?
Did you finally decide to get your head out of your ass and realize the real world is scary, and people don’t get handed careers like this every day? ”
Denise swallowed around the uncomfortable lump that formed in her throat at the last question.
For all her overthinking tendencies, she’d never really considered how spoiled and entitled she might have sounded by expressing her eagerness to turn away from the family business with professional opportunities many people could only dream about.
“And now you want to handle the buyout when I’ve been working toward this for years,” Darby seethed.
“I do plan to leave, Darby,” Denise said in an even tone. “Once we’ve secured the Middle Waters deal, I fully intend to move ahead with my plans. The expansion will be all yours. I’m sure it will be great. But I just…I really think I should be the one to handle this part.”
Darby sneered. “With you handling it, I doubt we’ll even make the deal.”
That stung, but Denise tried not to let it show. She and Darby both knew Denise didn’t have the expertise or experience for this, and Denise was trying to fix that by getting Jeremy’s help. But she wasn’t about to share that with her cousin.
Squaring her shoulders, Denise met Darby’s eyes and said, “We’ll see. Now, if you’re finished snooping through my stuff like an immature adolescent, I’d like my chair so I can get back to work.”
Darby’s eyes widened. Clearly, she hadn’t been expecting Denise to show this much nerve or attitude. And frankly, Denise wasn’t expecting it either, but she was determined to hold her ground.
After another moment of heated silence, Darby stood, smoothed her tight skirt down over her slender hips, and sashayed toward the door.
But before she left, she turned to Denise and sent a critical, sweeping gaze from her feet to her head and smirked.
“You’ll be sorry you crossed me like this, cousin. I guarantee it.”