Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
TRACE
I didn’t need a map to recognize the James’s land. It had been such a massive part of my teenage years that I could walk the entire thing with my eyes closed. Considering that I’d spent most of the time there staring at the beautiful girl walking beside me, I may as well have.
I should feel guilty for trying to force her to meet with me, but it had been a day since I gave her my card and she still hadn’t called.
This was Delaney! The only girl who ever saw the real me and accepted me as a person and not access to a family fortune I never wanted.
After all the history, all the memories, didn’t we at least owe each other a conversation?
I dropped the papers back on my desk and ran my hand through my hair to push it off my forehead for what felt like the millionth time of the day. It was past the point of needing a cut, but my life was such a mess that the everyday life tasks were piling up, and I couldn’t bring myself to think about them.
The whole thing with Chelsea was a massive shit show. Ethan had charged her, and yet she’d somehow been out on bail the same day. She had the balls to tell the judge that I’d given her the key to the house, and he’d believed her. When the prosecutor tried to deny it, he’d looked at me like I was the devil. Fuck me, I guess. There was no way I was getting that restraining order without indisputable evidence, and the video evidence from the cameras hadn’t been enough. Chelsea had spent most of her life manipulating the people around her. Hell, I might not have been in love with her when we got married, but I’d still thought she was a decent enough person to legally chain myself to her.
But the cameras didn’t have sound, and she’d argued that I was the one to start the argument. That I goaded her into throwing the glass, just like I always did. By the end of her little speech, I was pretty sure the whole courtroom believed I was an abusive ex-husband who had stiffed his wife in the divorce, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Either way, the gossip mill in this town was about to kick into full gear, so not only was my reputation about to be trashed, but I’d have to deal with my mother as well.
My gaze fell back to the papers now spread across my desk. The James’s land was exactly what we needed to get this deal off the ground. Yet something about it didn’t feel right. The pond I’d shared so many moments with Delaney at glared at me from the plans.
That was our place.
It shouldn’t be part of some development. But without it, the town wasn’t going to survive. This was a sacrifice I needed to make to save the place I’d come to love so much.
Of course, there was another reason I hated absolutely everything about this. As soon as the deal was closed, Delaney wouldn’t have a single thing tying her to Willowbrook, and I didn’t know how I’d survive knowing there was no chance she’d ever come back.
The intercom buzzed on my phone, and I glared at it like the sullen teenager I was starting to regress into. There was nothing redeemable about today. I just wanted to go home, clear up the mess I’d avoided in the kitchen, and go to bed. Preferably with a large pizza and a beer.
Instead, I pushed the button because I was a goddamn adult and also because it meant I could avoid the kitchen for even longer. “Yes.” Even I heard the defeat in my tone. I really needed to pull it together.
“Erm, Tra…Mr. Farrington…Miss James is here to see you?” Rosie, my assistant, sounded so unsure.
And I was about to make it even worse because, rather than saying anything, I leaped out of my chair and ran for the door. I didn’t even try to play it cool and walk through to reception. I charged in there like someone had lit my ass on fire.
As soon as my shoes hit the smooth tile of reception, I lost my traction and skidded, the soles of my shoes screeching as I did.
Rosie turned to look at me in shock, the phone still against her ear. She laughed, then coughed to try to cover it up before gently putting the phone back on the receiver.
“Miss James is here to talk about the James family property,” she said slowly. She did pretty well, considering the smirk on her face.
“Yes…yes! Miss James…Delaney.”
And there she stood. The light filtered in through the office windows behind her, lighting her up like a halo. She’d always been the most beautiful girl in the room and that hadn’t changed now that she’d gotten older. My gaze roamed her face, trying to catalog all the changes, but it was impossible to get my brain to work past the shock that she was actually here.
I opened my mouth to speak, and nothing came out.
Holy shit, I felt like I was having an aneurysm. Wait, did you have an aneurysm? Did I mean stroke?
Why wasn’t my brain working?
Fuck, I was staring at her now like an idiot.
“I can come back later.” She took a step back as she spoke, and it was like the pull of her drew me forward as my body fought the possibility of any distance between us.
“No! No. I mean, it’s fine. I’m not busy. The only thing on my schedule is the project which would include possibly purchasing your land. Why don’t you come through to my office, and we can look through the paperwork together?”
I shoved my hands in my pocket, trying to make it seem like I wasn’t nervous as fuck, but that just made me rock back on my heels, and the creak of my shoes echoed around the obnoxious tiled reception my father had insisted we put in. Considering he was never in the office, it made no sense, but it made him happy and meant I didn’t have to listen to yet another business lecture about something that didn’t matter.
“Ooooo-kay.” Delaney moved closer, eyeing me like a rabid dog that was about to attack her.
I didn’t even feel slightly ashamed of it. Because she wasn’t leaving, she was coming into my office, and we were going to sit down and talk.
It had been ten years since I’d last spoken to her, and there was so much that I needed to say.
As she drew level with me, Delaney came to a stop and looked up at me. My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn’t look away. I stared into the same hazel eyes that had mesmerized me as a teenager and was flooded with memories of a better time.
“I…erm…don’t know where your office is,” she pointed out, and I snapped back to reality.
When had I lost the ability to act like a person?
“Of course. Sorry. It’s this way.” I swept an arm toward the corridor I’d just run down, and Delaney stepped around me, keeping a reasonable distance like a normal person would. I would have given anything to feel her body brush up against mine, but I clenched my fists at my side instead. Hopefully, the bite of pain from my nails digging into my palms would center me back into reality.
As I looked up, I caught Rosie’s amused look. “You can head out for the day if you want. This is the last thing on my calendar, and then I’ve got to head home and deal with some issues Chelsea left behind for me.”
The mere mention of Chelsea’s name was enough to change the expression on Rosie’s face, and she frowned in anger. “Will do, boss.”
Rosie turned back to her computer, and I made a mental note that she deserved a bonus this year. The fact that she didn’t pry where most people would have made her the best assistant I’d ever had. How she was able to answer all of my father’s probing questions about me without actually telling him anything, made her invaluable. Essentially, I wouldn’t have survived this long without her.
When I turned back to my office, I found Delaney standing outside the door looking unsure of herself.
“I wasn’t sure if this was the right one.”
“It is. Please.” I swept an arm inside, and she moved inside to take a seat on the couch in the office.
It took nearly all the self-control I had not to sit beside her, and instead, I grabbed the papers from my desk that I’d been looking at earlier. When I took the seat on the other side of the coffee table, I busied myself shuffling through the sheets of papers while I tried to figure out what I wanted to say.
“My lawyer tells me that you’re interesting in purchasing the farm,” Delaney finally said when she could take the silence any longer.
“Yes. We’re looking at building a luxury hotel and golf course in the area to increase our tourist draw for the town.”
She frowned at that, and I knew it wouldn’t be the first time I’d see that expression. Most of the town wouldn’t like the idea of this. Once we had a town meeting and laid out the issue, hopefully, they’d see reason. There wasn’t much they could do to block the project. The council would never say no to my parents, and unfortunately, they knew it.
“We’d like to get a survey of the property, and we’re happy to offer an extra five percent on top of the property value,” I added quickly.
“You don’t need to do that.” A flash of determination filled her eyes, and I could have sworn I saw her grit her teeth. Something about that was pissing her off, and I had absolutely no idea what.
“It’s a generous offer—” I started.
“I don’t need your generosity. I just need to sell the land.”
Delaney stood up, and I could tell she was getting ready to storm out. What the fuck was going on? I knew parting with the land would be hard for her. It had been in her family for generations, but I’d assumed she’d want the money and to make a clean break from this place.
Did she not want to sell? Was Delaney using this as an excuse for me to ask her to stay?
I mirrored her movement and stood in confusion. She couldn’t leave just yet. There was so much we both needed to talk about. I just didn’t know how to say it. I couldn’t let her walk out that door and know I’d missed my only chance.
“We can go and look at the parcel now if you want, and I can take some preliminary notes.” What the hell was I saying? I couldn’t be further from the truth.
For a moment, Delaney said nothing. She stared at me like she was trying to come to some kind of decision. I waited, not wanting to spook her by saying the wrong thing. Eventually, I saw the tension leave her body, and she nodded slightly.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
I could see then how tired she was, the exhaustion that she was trying to hide, and I felt like an absolute ass for not considering it before. She’d just lost her father. Barrett had been such a huge part of Delaney’s life. There was no way that any of this was easy for her.
When Delaney had first left Willowbrook, Barrett hadn’t looked twice at me. It had hurt at the time because he was more like family to me at times than my own parents had been. I’d respected the man a whole hell of a lot. It had taken years for him to even speak to me again, and while we weren’t anywhere near as close as we had once been, I’d still checked in with him from time to time. It was more than I could expect, given what had happened. I didn’t think he’d ever forgive me. But the thing about Barrett James was that he was the best person I’d ever had the fortune to meet, and he was working his way to the forgiveness I didn’t deserve.