Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
Avril
I’ve been in the office since five. I’ve been awake since three. I woke up in near panic with a niggling feeling that I can’t ignore. I go through the spreadsheets yet again to check that I haven’t missed anything.
Nope. However I look at things, Poppy’s model is watertight. The Boston hotel is always more profitable than New York, whatever way you cut the cake. That’s why Worth is still entertaining the idea of the Boston hotel when it makes more practical sense to open a second site in New York.
“I hate that you’re so good at your job,” I say.
“And good morning to you, little sister.” She slides a coffee onto my desk. “You were up and out early.”
“I wanted to go over these financial models again before the meeting with Worth.” Now that we’re in touch with the owner of the Boston hotel, we’re having a meeting to discuss what our offer should be.
Our previous offer clearly wasn’t attractive enough to keep him interested, so I wanted Worth to look at what his maximum investment could be.
But after spending the last four hours going through the spreadsheets, everything’s changed.
“Is there anything you need clarity on?” she asks, hanging up her coat and heading to her desk.
“I think I’ve worked it out.” I don’t have the financial background that Poppy does, but I can figure my way around a spreadsheet when I need to.
But I don’t need to, because Poppy is so good at what she does.
Worth knows it. He never questions her. I was stupid to think I’d actually find some errors to make the New York option more appealing.
“Anything you want to talk about?” she asks.
I shake my head and, lucky for me, Worth arrives before Poppy can ask me any more questions. I want to talk to them both together. There’s no point in having the same conversation twice.
Worth arrives with more coffee for us all. We’re all going to be bouncing off the ceiling by the end of our meeting. We laugh and hug and chat about our weekends and file into the conference room.
“I can’t wait to hear about your meeting with Patrick O’Leary,” Worth says. “I can’t believe we actually know his name now. Do we understand why it was such a big secret?”
I shrug. “I have no idea. He’s a lovely man.”
“So tell us about your meeting,” Worth says. “I told you Ben East was the man to help us with this.”
“You certainly did,” Poppy says, while she beams at me. “And what a help he’s been.” She tries to stifle a giggle, and I glare at her.
“What am I missing?” Worth asks.
“Nothing,” I snap. “Let’s talk about Boston and Fifth Avenue.”
“Are we still talking about the Fifth Avenue property?” Poppy asks. “I thought we were going to talk about Boston.”
“We’re here to talk business,” I say. “We need to compare the two options.”
“Haven’t we been doing that all along?” she asks. “We know that Boston comes out as a better investment.”
“Except we now need to increase our offer. So that will change things.”
“We have quite a lot of flex in the model before New York becomes more profitable,” Worth says.
My heart sinks. He’s right. Patrick O’Leary is sharp, but he’s not stupid. If he wants to sell his building, he’s not going to ask for anything that would make New York more profitable than Boston. The room rates are just so much higher than New York and the real estate is so much less expensive.
“Right,” I say.
“Isn’t that good news?” Poppy says. “You’ve worked really hard at getting the seller back to the table because you want the Boston site over the Fifth Avenue site.”
I nod. She’s absolutely right. I’ve had my heart set on Boston since we started discussing a second hotel. I knew I wanted a place far enough away from my siblings that I could have autonomy, but not so far that I’d have to move. Boston was the perfect place.
Except it’s not anymore.
Everything has changed.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I say.
Worth and Poppy just stare at me like I’m about to morph into a sea creature or start vomiting donuts or something.
“Patrick O’Leary won’t accept the number we offered him before, now that he’s back at the negotiating table.
We all know that. We could waste months and months negotiating and still end up with nothing.
He might pull another disappearing act. He’s an unknown quantity.
Fifth Avenue is a safer bet and someone else might offer on it if we spend all our time and attention on Boston. We might end up with nothing.”
Silence sits heavily between us all.
“Have you heard about the offer on the Fifth Avenue hotel?” I ask eventually. I can tell Poppy is staring at me, but I won’t look in her direction.
“Not yet. My realtor was going to follow up today.”
“Did you end up offering the amount you said you would?” I ask.
“Ten percent less,” Worth replies.
“So they’re taking their time to respond,” I reply. “They don’t want to seem too keen. But they didn’t say no right away, so I think that sounds positive.”
“Why the change of mind on Boston?” Worth asks.
There’s a one-syllable answer to that—Ben.
I have to be the one person who doesn’t want something from him, or he’ll just see me as another person who’s using him.
Another person to do a deal with. He won’t understand that what we have—or could have—is bigger than all of this.
It’s different. And it’s special. I need to show him what he’s worth to me.
I need to show him I’m willing to give up everything for him.
“I don’t think it makes sense logistically,” I say. “New York makes more practical sense.”
Poppy tries unsuccessfully to cover up a gasp. “Are you serious?”
“Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along, while you’ve been adamant about Boston? What’s changed?” Worth asks
“Everything,” I say.
“Tell me,” Worth says. “I want to hear it.”
I can’t tell him I’m changing my mind because of Ben. Because my feelings for him are deeper than I could ever have imagined. He’s never going to trust me on another business decision.
But…I also can’t lie to him. He’s my brother, I can’t do that.
“Worth, you’re the best big brother a girl could ever hope for,” I say.
“I second that emotion,” Poppy says.
I give Poppy the side eye. “Thank you, Smokey Robinson.” I turn back to Worth. “I haven’t been honest with you.”
“Tell me everything, Avril, and do it quickly.”
“I think I might be in love with Ben East. I don’t want to pursue the deal with Patrick O’Leary because Ben thinks everyone wants something from him—which is true. I want to be his exception. The woman who gave up everything for him. I want to be the woman who wants nothing more than him.”
I brace myself for Worth’s reaction. I don’t know if he’ll accuse me of being weak or undisciplined or just a little bit pathetic.
Not that he’s ever accused me of anything like that, but there’s part of me that wonders if I’m making the right decision.
I don’t even know Ben’s real feelings. But I never will unless I make this sacrifice.
“Go on,” Worth says. “I have a feeling there’s more.”
“Are you not going to tell me I’m stupid already? You want more evidence?”
Worth looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
I knew it.
He’s going to think I’m his silly little sister for the rest of our lives.
“How can I think you’re stupid for putting your happiness above business?” Worth asks.
I freeze in shock. That’s not the reaction I was expecting.
“You don’t think giving up Boston for some guy whose feelings I have no idea about is crazy?”
He sighs. “I don’t think you’re crazy at all. Love does strange things to all of us.” He grins, and I just know he’s thinking about Sophia.
“And anyway,” Worth continues, “Poppy and I wanted the Fifth Avenue site all along. I never really understood why you pushed so hard for Boston. I know it looks good on paper, but that’s not the only consideration.”
“I wanted to prove to you that I’m not a freeloader.
I wanted the Boston hotel because I knew you and Poppy wouldn’t leave Manhattan often, and I would be the person who went up there all the time.
Because of geography, I’d end up responsible for the success—or failure—of the entire place. That’s what I wanted.”
“You wanted to make life difficult for yourself?” he asks.
“No, I wanted you to know I was capable.”
“Avril, I would have fired you by now if you hadn’t been capable,” Worth says.
“Yes, I agreed to establish Hotel on Ninth Street because of your pleas, but I agreed because I believed in you. I believed in the idea of us all having something positive to bring us together—but I wouldn’t have said yes if I thought you were going to fuck it up.
I wouldn’t have put that much money on the line if I didn’t think you could make it work.
Yes, you’re my sister, but you’re also clever and determined and like a dog with a freaking bone when you want something.
Okay, so you have a rich brother. But I choose carefully where to invest. And I decided to invest in you.
Because of your strengths, not because you’re my sister. ”
“But you’ve always had to save me, Worth.”
He shakes his head. “No, Avril. That’s not true.
Yes, I made sure there was dinner on the table and your clothes were clean and ironed when you were younger, but that’s just practicalities.
Your mental strength saved you. I could have done all that and you still might have turned out very differently. ”
“I’m a college dropout.”
“You hated your major, which I pushed you into. You’re not a flake. No one who knows you thinks you are.”
“Really?” I ask him.
“Have you ever known me to lie?” He looks me dead in the eye.
“Never.”
He shoots a look at Poppy. “Did you know how she felt?”
“Not all of it.”
“Do you feel the same way?” he asks.
Poppy pushes her lips together, and takes a beat before she answers. “I feel like I owe you an extraordinary debt. If it hadn’t been for you, I’m not sure where we would have ended up.”
Worth pulls in a breath. “But we ended up here. A family. We’re okay.
There’s no debt to pay. There’s no need to be afraid that we’re going back to that place.
We don’t need to worry that you’ll have to skip school when it’s Christmas sweater day because I can’t afford to buy you a sweater you’ll only wear a few times.
And you don’t have to not tell me your shoes are too tight because we can’t afford new ones.
And I don’t have to pretend I don’t notice. Those times are behind us.
“We all had our part to play in those days. I happened to be older, but both of you worked hard at school to not bring social services calling. You didn’t complain about having the same three meals on repeat because that’s all I could cook. It was bad. For all of us. And now it’s not.”
A mixture of emotion rises in my chest. It’s grief that I didn’t have the childhood I read about in books, it’s gratitude that I have a brother like Worth who had the determination and dedication to get us through those times, and it’s pride that we did it together.
He’s right. We all had our part to play.
“I’m proud of you,” he says. “You too, Poppy. And I’m proud of me. We make a great team, which is part of the reason this hotel is as successful as it is.”
“Does this mean I can trash the Boston spreadsheet?” Poppy asks. “Are we set on Fifth Avenue?”
“Hang on,” Worth says. “Let me check if I’ve heard…” He pulls out his phone and scrolls through his messages. A grin unfurls on his face. “Well, well, well. We have a counteroffer.”
“Why do you look so happy about a counteroffer?” Poppy asks. “Didn’t we want them just to accept your offer?”
“I lowballed them. Their counter is twenty percent less than the asking.”
Poppy and I exchange a look. “Twenty?” I ask. “Are you sure?”
“We got ourselves a bargain,” Worth says. “And for the record, Avril, given this counter, I would never have agreed to Boston.”
I groan, but it can’t cover up my grin. “So I didn’t need to spill my guts after all.”
The fact is, I wish I’d gone to Worth with all my anxieties a long time ago. It would have stopped a lot of wasted effort looking for the seller of the Boston hotel. I would have never made a drunken agreement to live with a stranger to get him to help.
“So there’s only one thing left,” Worth says. “You need to speak to Ben East—and then I need to threaten to throw him off the Brooklyn Bridge if he breaks your heart.”
“Let’s just stick with the first part of that plan for now.”
“I’m going to have that talk with him, Avril. I’m always going to be your big brother.”
I smile at him. I couldn’t have gotten a better one.