Into the Tide (Cottonwood Cove #1)(89)

“Hi, Mr. Schneider. How are you?” I asked, walking around the side of the building where it was quiet.

“I’m doing well, Lila. Boy, are we ready for you. Our cross-country superstar who’s going to lead this company’s younger new hires and show them how we do it. You model the work ethic you had here before, and we’ll have this place running like a fine-tuned machine.”

I forced a chuckle because honestly, nothing about that sounded appealing to me.

“Sure,” I said.

“So, the reason I’m calling. I know you have a summer job out there, and you aren’t scheduled to come back until next week.” He paused, and I heard him asking someone for a coffee with no sugar and extra cream. “But Mr. Hopkins, the president of True Solutions, is coming into town in two days. He was really hoping to meet you in person, and he’s leaving the country next week for two months.”

“Oh,” I said, my stomach twisting in knots.

“I know we had your ticket booked, but I wondered if you could move that date up? We’d fly you back here tomorrow, late afternoon, give you time to get settled in your new place tomorrow night, and then meet with him the following day. We’ll even fly you first class, and then we’ll obviously pay to have your car shipped back along with your things, which we already had scheduled. We’d just move it all up.”

Tomorrow.

“I, um, I could probably make that work.” What was I supposed to say? The thought of leaving tomorrow had me breaking out in a sweat. I’d need to say goodbye to the girls. Go see my dad, my brother and Shay. Everyone at Reynolds’. Roddy, who’d been so good to my father. Alana and Bradford and Cage and Gracie. I’d text Georgia, Brinkley, and Finn as they were back in the city. We were supposed to all have Sunday dinner together the night before I left.

But that wasn’t the reason my heart was pounding.

Hugh.

A lump formed in my throat. I’d known I was leaving, but I wasn’t prepared for it to happen so soon. I wasn’t ready.

“Listen, we can fly you home in a couple months to see your family again, since we’re rushing you out here. But it would be an effort that would not go unnoticed by Mr. Hopkins and myself.”

“I understand. Just text me the info, and I’ll be on that plane tomorrow.” Look at me, already back to being robotic and getting into work mode. Desperate to please whoever I needed to impress.

“We’ll send a car to pick you up at your address, so just send that to me, and we’ll also have a car waiting for you when you land in Chicago.” Wow. He had it all figured out. My head was reeling with all I had to do.

And all I wanted to do was run straight to Reynolds’ and beg Hugh to tell me not to go.

To ask me to stay.

“Okay, I will see you tomorrow,” I said, but he’d already hung up the other line.

I walked back inside, and all three girls stopped talking when they saw my face.

“Who died?” Sloane asked.

“My summer.” I shrugged. I should have said my freedom. My joy. It had all just vanished with one phone call.

A text came through with the flight info. The man wasted no time. I sent him my address so he could send a car, and he’d already changed the plan, because my flight was leaving first thing in the morning.

I filled the girls in, and everyone sat there looking like we’d just lost out on Taylor Swift concert tickets.

“I’m not ready for you to leave,” Rina whispered.

“Yeah. That was too short. Your pubes have probably not even grown back in your bikini area,” Sloane huffed, and I couldn’t even laugh because I was overcome with emotion.

Del didn’t speak. Her eyes welled with emotion, and she shook her head. “Well, you came, and you conquered.”

Now tears were streaming down my face just as they started running down her cheeks.

“I love you all so much. Thanks for making this the best summer of my life.”

“Look at you. You came here a boring virgin who never had any fun—and now you’re all sexed up from your out-of-town lover, who we oddly have yet to see,” Sloane said, raising a brow as she looked between me and Del. “You’ve skinny-dipped, taken shots, had sex, rehabbed your father, and you even have Hugh Reynolds smiling and relaxed because you’ve got his restaurant running so smooth—if that’s really the reason that hunk of a man is smiling all the time.” She smirked.

I didn’t question her. Maybe they suspected something was going on. We were together all the time. But I didn’t really care at this moment because I would have to say goodbye to him now, and I’d be gone by this time tomorrow.

The door opened, and Travis walked in. He paused at the counter and placed an order before turning and seeing us there.

I flung myself into his arms, and he wrapped me up, just like he used to do when I was young.

“Hey, what’s going on?” His voice was soft and kind. This is the side of my brother that I’d missed.

I pulled back and filled him in on the call that I’d just received.

There was a weird mix of sadness and relief in his gaze. I swiped at my tears as my friends pushed to their feet.

“Hey, why don’t I call Shay and tell her you and me and her are going to sleep at Dad’s tonight? Wouldn’t that be a perfect last night for you?” he asked. Travis had actually seemed impressed with my father’s sobriety, as he was going on two months between his six weeks in the program and his first week home.