CHAPTER 39
Victoria
I rewrite the email to my office four times. I’ve managed to set up a hot spot on the pier at the lake, and I’ve been working all afternoon on my laptop with my feet dangling in the water.
I’ve worked my entire career with an eye to a partnership and a corner office, but this pier has got a corner office beat a million times over. The lake is smooth as glass, so still that it mirrors the surrounding mountains, as if the jagged peaks grow up from the water.
The air has turned chilly, and I shiver as the breeze hits my face and blows hair into my eyes.
I twirl the strands around my fingers and knot them on top of my head, then take another crack at the email.
It’s addressed to our chief of asset acquisitions, a man who prefers bad news if it’s given to him straight.
Trent,
The Yosemite Ranch acquisition has hit an unmovable barrier. The owners have refused the sale of Sulfur Springs, despite the sweeteners we discussed prior to my departure. In fact, the family is unanimous in their desire for us to withdraw our attempts at purchasing. I recommend that we step away.
I delete that last sentence and try again.
I recommend we pursue opportunities in the neighboring state of Idaho, where several properties can satisfy the majority of our development needs. I have attached those locations for your consideration.
Most sincerely,
Victoria Backlund
Associate, Asset Acquisitions
I reread the email a few more times to be sure it’s what I intend. I know that the instant I hit send, the shit will hit the fan. My father will unleash the hounds of hell upon my head. I’ll have to face a whole new level of ugliness from him.
I’m ready. I can stand up to him. I can be professional and respectful while refusing to do his bidding.
It’s not a mystery to me why I suddenly feel strong enough to face my father’s wrath. It’s Cal. His family. This place. I’ve been accepted for who I am here, despite what I came to do. I like the Victoria I’m seeing lately. I’m proud of her.
I don’t remember the last time I was happy. The last time I felt like myself. I wonder if it was that summer of apples and carrots in the horse barn, before I made avoiding my father’s ire my life’s work.
I don’t want to lose my father. He is all the family I have. But I am no longer willing to sacrifice myself for his comfort. That’s not how any relationship is supposed to work. But that may not be my choice.
If we do maintain a connection, I may never tell my father what’s happened with Cal.
He might not approve. He might not understand.
My father has kept his private life far away from me for as long as I can remember.
Never once did a lady friend join us for dinner.
Never did he introduce me to anyone in his life.
His life is his work. I thought that’s all I needed for myself, as well. I was wrong.
It strikes me as sad that my father, who is very much alive, is more of a ghost than Stella MacLaine is to the family she left behind.
I hit send. It’s done.
I close my laptop and head back to the house. I’m tempted to turn off my phone. I don’t want to speak to my father. I don’t want to be harangued. I don’t want to listen to him try to convince me that I have no idea how to live my own life.
But I don’t turn it off. Hiding is not what I wish to do. If he wants to talk, I’ll answer.
I climb the stairs to the back deck, where I pass by the hot tub on my way to the guest room. It’s powered on, though Cal’s not in it. The water is inviting, steam rising into the cool evening air. The hot water would feel delicious after being chilled by the lake breeze, so I decide to enjoy it.
I strip down and step into the water. Holy crap—this is fabulous. The warmth seeps into my muscles and bones, and I moan with pleasure. My body begins to loosen. It occurs to me how a few nights with Cal has worn me out.
Rode hard and put away wet.
I giggle to myself. If Cal and I stay together, I never have to go to a gym again. He’s the best workout I could ever get. And so much more pleasurable.
The hot tub has a large control panel, and I scan the buttons. With one push, the bubbles roar to a frenzy, and with another push, Hozier’s sensual voice slides from the outdoor speakers, warning anyone who’ll listen not to fuck with his baby.
Leaning back, I close my eyes and relish the moment, letting my hands float in the rolling bubbles, until I almost fall asleep. I decide I should get out. I open my eyes and see the deepening sunset, on fire with pinks and reds and golds.
“Beautiful.” Cal has come to stand by the hot tub. He’s smiling down at me.
“Isn’t it?” I agree. “The sunsets go on forever here. I know that it’s the same sky and the same sun I see in San Diego, but everything is bigger and better here.”
“I wasn’t talking about the sunset.”
“Oh.”
“I saw you working on the pier, but I didn’t want to bother you. You were very focused.”
I nod. “I took care of something important.”
“Do you miss your office?”
“What?” I laugh, taken aback by the question. “Not particularly, but I could use a printer and a stapler if you’ve got them lying around.”
His face darkens. “I know we don’t have all the creature comforts of the big city here.”
“Creature comforts like a stapler?” I turn and rest my folded arms on the side of the hot tub so that I can look up at him. I’m not sure what he’s getting at.
“You’re probably chomping at the bit to get back to your place.”
“And my staplers?” I laugh. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Of course not. But I’m sure you miss your place, your routine, your designer wardrobe.”
“What woman wouldn’t miss my wardrobe? My walk-in closet’s bigger than my bedroom.”
This makes him smile, which is a relief. He’d been so serious that it was making me nervous.
“You do have a nice wardrobe,” he agrees. “You’re wearing the sexiest bathing suit I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m not wearing a bathing suit.”
“Exactly,” he says, stripping down.