Rescue Me(47)

There it was.

He had sent the financial statements to her directly instead of through Katrina. And even though she'd not had a single desire to look at numbers again until Monday, she found herself opening the attached file and scanning it excitedly. How could she hate looking at stuff like this every single day, but couldn't wait to dive into it when it was from the resort?

She knew the answer, but it made her sad. This was her pet project, something she'd put her heart and soul into, and her knowledge in the financial arena made her the ideal person to handle it.

After a thorough perusal of the week's finances, she did what she'd been putting off for too long and picked up her work phone to call her brother.

"Brandon Jacobs," his voice boomed through the receiver.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Meredith," he exclaimed warmly. There was a scuffling noise and voices on the other end of the line and she wondered if she'd called at a bad time.

"I can call you later if you need to go," she said hurriedly.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm just finishing up with Cole. Hang on." Her heart leaped as she realized the other voice was Cole's. Even though they were miles apart, the fact that he was right there on the other end of the line had her sitting up straight, her pulse pounding out an erratic rhythm.

"Okay, all done," Brandon said. "How are you?" His voice was full of concern.

"Busy," she replied. What else was she supposed to say? Anything indicating she was doing well would be a lie. "This new job is insane."

"Do you like it? Are you happy? What have you been up to?"

"Whoa, whoa," she said with a laugh. "What’s with the third degree?"

"I'm just happy to hear from you. Mere, I can't say enough how sorry I am. I was wrong for what I did and I’ve had the space and the clarity to see that now. I really hope you won't hold it against me forever."

Her heart softened at her brother's words. "Thank you. And of course I won't. You're my family." She cleared her throat because it had become suddenly difficult to speak. Time to change the subject. "But that's not why I called."

"Oh." He sounded surprised. "Well I want to hear it, but first I need to know, are we okay?"

"We're okay," she whispered. At least she'd always have him. She swallowed and dove into the reason for her call, going over all the specifics of the statement he'd just sent her.

"Well, you're all business. That's okay, we have time to catch up later." Catch up? Was there something she needed to be caught up on? She shook her head, trying to stop her imagination from running away with her. He probably just wanted to hear more about her job.

"So things look like they're headed in the right direction, but I have a few suggestions that could get you there even faster," she said.

"Let's hear them."

She detailed all the things that had come to mind over the past few weeks as she'd reviewed the statements, surprised to find herself feeling more alive than she had since coming home. She seemed to enjoy using her expertise when it was geared in the right direction.

Looking at the stack of files piled high on her desk, she grimaced. Not in that direction. Suddenly it hit her. Why hadn't she seen it before? She had the perfect solution, both for her and Brandon, but it was going to take some work to pull it off.

"Brandon, listen," she said hurriedly. "I have a lot of things I want to talk to you about, but I need to get a few more details in place. Let me figure it out and I'll get back to you."

They said their goodbyes, and she ended the call, feeling the first bit of happiness in weeks.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN



A week later Meredith was standing outside her brother's office, nerves mingling with anticipation. She'd come straight there after arriving at the resort, leaving her bags with the concierge to be taken care of later. This could go one of two ways, but she hoped against hope that her brother would accept what she'd done.

She lifted her hand to knock briskly and pushed the door open when he called out for her to come in.

"Meredith!" He jumped up from his seat in shock. She was probably the last person he expected to walk in. She looked around the office, relieved to find they were alone. She'd been terrified she'd run into Cole before she got a chance to see Brandon. That was one thing she wanted to put off as long as possible.

She ran into his open arms, meeting him halfway around the desk, and he squeezed her into the tightest bear hug she'd had in a very long time. Just when she thought she was about to pass out from a lack of oxygen, he released her, staring at her as if he couldn't believe she was actually in front of him.

"What are you doing here?"

She chewed her lip nervously, worried all over again at how he would receive her news. And her proposition.

"I quit."

He blinked. Shook his head. Blinked again. Meredith had to laugh at the confused expression on his face. Finally he choked out, "You did what?"

"Quit. Resigned. Handed in my notice. Whatever you want to call it. I no longer have a job."

"I don't understand," he said, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. She took the seat next to him.