Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
Sam
“ S am, can I get a minute?”
My head turns at the sound of Ben’s voice from the doorway of my office. I’m just packing my stuff up and getting ready to head out after putting in a solid half-day. Now that I know the resort can run just fine without me, I may be taking a few more of these now and then.
It doesn’t hurt that there’s now going to be someone waiting at home for me, either.
“Sure, man. Of course. I didn’t realize you were still on the island. What’s up?”
He remains leaning on the doorframe, tall and dark, looking more business casual than usual in black shorts and a short sleeve button up. Ben recently found love himself and it looks good on him. We don’t see him down here as much as we’d like, as his world mostly revolves around his New York office, his son who’s in college up there, and now his lovely Pilates instructor fiancé. Still, once every other month or so is more often than most people get to escape to the tropics, even if he is working quite a bit when he’s on island.
“Upstairs. In the conference room,” he replies.
My eyebrows go up, but I remain firmly seated in my chair.
It’s not that I don’t love a good meeting, but the last time I got pulled away for one of these mysterious meetups by one of the owners, it didn’t go so well for me.
Ben sees my hesitation and softens. “Nothing painful, I promise. Just got some paperwork laid out up there.”
Leave it to one of your best friends to know your weaknesses.
I’ll never say no to some good, old-fashioned paperwork.
He holds the door to the third-floor conference room open to let me enter ahead of him.
I have to hold back my surprise at the crowd gathered in the medium sized room.
Avery, of course, with Fran tucked under one arm. Reina and Victoria, Ben’s fiancé, share the loveseat along one wall. Our HR manager and her staff are standing beside them, as well as most of the department managers from the resort. I see Daniel from the spa and Marcus from Reef. I nod in greeting to our real estate agent, Karen, and Mackenzie, the local import/export boss.
After glancing around the full room, my eyes fall to the table where, indeed, there is quite a bit of paperwork laid out. As curious as I am about the cohort of people assembled here, I’m even more interested in the papers. I can see copies of the original purchase agreements for the resort. I see the legal documents Ben drew up for our new corporation, one where we would all be partners in this crazy venture.
I’m just taking a step forward to examine them closer when the door flies open once more, hitting the wall behind it and making the room jump collectively.
“Sorry I’m late,” Dom says, “Naomi was up at the house and we got talking.”
I watch as his face transforms. I’ve been getting more and more used to seeing emotion on the hard features of my most closed-off friend when he looks at his bride to be, but this is different.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say the guy’s been crying.
“It’s no prob?—”
I start to reassure him, although it’s hardly my place to do so, considering I have no idea what he’s late for, but he silences me with a massive hug.
“I’ve missed her so much.”
I let the words and their meaning settle over me and slowly bring my arms up to hug him back. I can’t think of anything to say, so I just hold him for a long moment.
When he pulls away, he’s indeed wiping his eyes.
“I probably would have died not ever knowing Naomi as a person. I never would have backed down from that old shit. I would have died on my damn hill, waiting for her to be the first one to call. But you,” he pins me with the intense stare I’ve gotten used to holding my ground under over the years, “you’re going to keep her here, on my island, where I’ll get to know her. Sam, I never could have asked for that. I never would have thought to suggest it. Never would have taken a step back and looked at myself long enough to know that having her in my life was even what I needed. But that’s the Sam magic.”
He takes another step back and Ben comes up to stand beside him, one hand resting on his shoulder supportively. I watch as Avery takes up his other side.
“You just fix things. Things no one else even realizes need fixing. We all just slog along, putting up with whatever bullshit we’ve thought up for ourselves. But one look from you, and you fix it all. Take the weight off our backs without bringing it onto your own. Have any of you ever known anyone else who could do that?”
He looks around the room and I follow his gaze, watching heads shaking one by one.
“We put out the word that we were looking for a few employees and islanders to come and tell you what an impact you’ve made on their lives, and I don’t know what we were thinking. We actually thought all the people who wanted to share their appreciation would fit in one damn room.”
I feel myself start to blush a little and glance around the room once more, nodding my own appreciation to the people they clearly gathered here for this very purpose.
“Not these people. I mean, yes, these people, but also,” he takes me by the shoulders and turns me, pushing me ahead of him until we cross the conference room and stand facing the large, ocean view windows. “But I’m talking about all of these people.”
He pulls the shade to the side and a soft, surprised laugh escapes my lips as I look out over the crowd in amazement.
The pool patio below is filled with people. They fill the steps leading down to the beach and the beach itself. Employees and locals and people I can’t identify from here standing shoulder to shoulder, all looking up at the window.
Dom reaches over me once more to release the latch and swing the large window open and everyone cheers.
I laugh once more as I lift a hand to wave at the crowd, causing them to cheer louder.
I can hear shouts of “thank you” and “we love you, Sam.”
“Everyone in the whole resort wanted to come. And half the damn island.”
I turn back to him and shake my head. “Shouldn’t these people be working?”
Dom just laughs. A big, loud, genuine laugh that I have to pause and absorb for a moment. I can’t remember the last time I saw the guy this happy. This open and present.
I feel arms snaking around me from the other side and look down to see my girl, Naomi, tucking herself into my side. I lean down and kiss her on the forehead. “Did you know about all of this?”
She shakes her head.
“There will be plenty of time to greet everyone later, Sam, But you were promised paperwork, and paperwork you will get.” Ben draws our attention back to the long table in the center of the room where he and Avery are already sitting. I slip away from Naomi, giving one of her soft hands a quick squeeze. She heads over to curl onto the small sofa next to Reina, who pulls her in close.
I cross the room and take the seat to Avery’s left, just like I did that day over a decade ago, when we started this whole adventure.
Dom sits down next to me and the real estate lawyer who’s been with us all this time takes his seat across from us.
“It’s come to my attention that we need to revisit the old contracts. I’ve gone ahead and printed up a new copy for all of you.” Our lawyer taps each stack of papers to straighten them before sliding one set in front of each of us guys.
I drag my hands down my face before turning to look at Dom, then over at Ben and Avery. “You guys didn’t have to do this.”
Dom huffs beside me. “Apparently we should have done it sooner if you thought you could just walk away from this resort and it would go on functioning without you.”
“There’s a lot more to this contract than money, Sam,” Ben says. “And, if you remember, no one would even be here if you hadn’t found this abandoned resort on Zillow and somehow convinced Ave, Dom, and me to take the leap. You started a new chapter in our lives. And not a single one of us, not a single person in this room or outside that window, will ever forget that it was you who gave this all to us.”
I’m still shaking my head, trying not to get too emotional when Avery starts in on me.
“This place was the first home I ever had, Sam. And I’ve lived a thousand places. But you turned this little slice of paradise into a safe space for me. For all of us. A place we could work hard and be appreciated and feel supported enough to find ourselves. I know I did. I found myself, I found Fran, and I found a purpose for my life. And it didn’t just start with these papers.” He lifts his own stack and taps the ends before tossing them back on the table. “It started that first day in fourth grade when you took one look at me, hanging back from the rest of the guys. Do you remember what you said to me?”
I don’t answer, but he goes on. “You said, I really liked your owl poster. The stupid poster board project I’d done for science class. That was the first moment I realized something wasn’t right about my home life. Because no one had even looked at my poster before I turned it in. No one had ever told me I did a good job at anything. But you? You never stopped telling me. You showed up at all my games and both graduations, even when I didn’t invite you. You dragged these guys along, too. You showed me what it looked like to have a family, Sam. You were the first real family I ever had.”
“You showed us all,” Dom says from my other side.
I want to look over at him as he speaks but I’m right on the edge of too much emotion, the feelings threatening to swallow me whole. Instead, I look down at my hands as he continues.
“We all grew up in a different world than you, with different families and different values. And people think all that money is what we should be striving for. That’s all bullshit. Money ruined each and every one of our families and most of our childhoods.”
I’m crying now, there’s no stopping it. Dom’s eyes are misty as well, although he keeps wiping them with his hands to try to hide it as he goes on.
“Do you remember my Yankees jersey? The one I got signed by Donnie Baseball at that game for my tenth birthday?”
I nod, unsure of where this is going.
“Do you remember when I tore the side of that shirt crashing my bike? And my dad called up the owner of the team and ordered me another jersey with the same signature. And grounded me for a month when I threw a fit about not wanting a new jersey. About just wanting my old one. He threw it away and yelled at me for being ungrateful. Do you remember what you did?”
I huff out a soft laugh. “I’m pretty sure I snuck onto your estate and pulled it out of the trash.”
“But that’s not all,” Dom says and takes a deep breath. “You had your mom sew it up for me.”
I laugh again, remembering. “Yeah, I guess I do remember that. I’m surprised you remember, honestly. You had so many signed jerseys from all the players.”
“Yeah, but what I didn’t have was a mom who would help me fix what I broke. All I had was a father who threw money at me like I was a problem he wanted to silence. Who never took one second to try to understand why I was upset in the first place. You, though. You had a great mom. Still do. That’s what we were all missing. Someone who cared enough to show up with time and attention, rather than just sending gifts from afar. You learned that from her, and you gave it to us. I show up now in my own life, for my fiancé, for my employees and my friends, because of you. Because you showed me how. And shit, Sam, if you ever didn’t know that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you’ve been thinking you don’t contribute to our lives because you don’t have the same sized pockets. Without you, I would be my father.”
“Same,” Ben calls from down the table.
“Oh, hell yes. I would absolutely be that asshole,” Avery agrees with a full body shudder.
“You guys,” I start but I get silenced by all three of them standing to pull me into a group hug. It’s just as well, because I have no words to describe how much this all means to me.
I’ve lived the better part of my life feeling like I owe them something, when the whole time they were feeling the same way about me. I make a mental note to speak up in the future when I’m having doubts about my worthiness. I have spent years building trust in my friend group and in this community. I would be a fool not to lean on that support when I need it.
When we all finally pull away, I glance around the room, where there’s not a dry eye in sight. I smile at the sight of my entire management team and extended business partners all in one room together sharing a cry.
A soft throat clear brings our attention back to the table and we retake our seats, turning to the lawyer who is still wiping his misty eyes. I feel a hand on my shoulder and look up to find Naomi there, red eyes glittering lovingly down at me.
“We,” the lawyer pauses to cough once more to settle his voice. “We are here this afternoon to go over the original contracts and to sign and get notarized a new amendment Mr. Adams has brought to the table.”
I glance over at Ben, who gives me an encouraging eyebrow raise.
“The original papers are what you remember, of course. I’ll have you turn to the signature pages at the end of the corporate contract.”
He pauses while we get there. Ben finds it first and shows Avery the page number. When we’re all staring down at the black, photographed copies of our decade old signatures, he goes on.
“There seems to be some misunderstanding about the structure of the corporation, so we’re here today to work that out. The purchase contract was drawn up here on Faraday, making the sale a foreign transaction, owned jointly by the four of you, as we can see on the signature page of that contract. The privately held company, however, is registered in New York. Subject to New York law, the four of you each hold twenty-five percent ownership of the corporation, and you also make up the entire board. To be clear, the purchase agreement, and the investment of funds decided by that agreement, is a completely separate entity from the corporation itself. The purchase agreement can in no way be used by any of the owners to claim a majority share of the corporation nor can it be used to gain additional voting power over the other board members.”
I nod to the man, understanding why we’re all here. I suppose I could have looked these papers over myself and come to these same conclusions, but having it spelled out in black and white by a lawyer does make me feel all that much better.
“That being said,” the lawyer goes on. “At the time of creation, you four, the board members, did not elect to assign yourselves titles. As you can see on the final signatory page, each of you was named as Partner only. And that is what we’re here today to change. If you’ll turn now to the new documents below the original contracts.”
I flip alongside the guys until we’ve all reached the new documents. They carry the letterhead from Ben’s firm back in the States.
“These documents have been drawn up to assign titles to the four board members. You can all turn to the last page where you will sign under your new assigned role to accept. We have a notary on hand today to finalize the paperwork.”
I glance to my best friends and co-owners on either side of me, none of whom are in any hurry to get to the last page.
They already know what they’re going to find there.
With a sigh, I flip to the end and find my own name, and the words underneath it, right above the blank signature line.
President.
I scan quickly to find the other assigned roles and find the titles. Dom is Vice President. Avery is Secretary. Ben is Treasurer.
“Does this mean we’re going to start having board meetings?” I joke quietly to the guys beside me.
“We already have board meetings, Sam. The four of us meet to make decisions about the resort every other month. Now they just have an official title. And we all have official roles. We should have done this at the beginning, but we were young and dumb. Better late than never.”
I look back at the papers in front of me. “President?”
“You’ve always been the damn boss, Sam, just sign the papers.”
I toss Dom some side eye as I pick up the pen. “This means a lot more knocks on my office door when there are problems, huh?”
Dom huffs. “This means we’re removing your office door. As if we could ever solve a problem around here without you.”
I’m smiling as I sign my name on the line.
I didn’t need this title, but I’m certainly not turning it down. This resort means the world to me, and the knowledge that my place here is safe gives me a sense of freedom and security that I didn’t realize I was missing until this point.
I was ready and willing to gamble everything for love, but now I know I don’t have to. I can stand in my power, with my partners, friends, and my woman by my side.
I feel unstoppable. I feel calm and proud, and ready to tackle the next decade of resort ownership and life with all its ups, downs, and sideways.