The Summer Getaway: A Novel(65)

But when she opened the email, she discovered he wasn’t chiding her. Instead he’d sent paperwork officially rescinding any interest in purchasing the company.

“What?”

Harlow stared at the email, then printed the attachment and scanned it.

“I don’t get it,” she said aloud. She walked into her father’s office.

Cord was just hanging up the phone.

She waved the paper in her hand. “We’re no longer interested in buying the company?” She couldn’t believe it. “What happened? You never said anything.”

Her father’s expression turned peevish. “Dammit, Harlow, what did you expect? That I would buy it?”

“Why are you mad? I’m asking a legitimate question. I sat in this office with you, and we talked about this for hours. I spent my senior year coming up with a business plan, forecasts and even an evaluation. I ran everything by you. You said it was a great idea.”

He sighed heavily. “Look, it is a great idea. For a college project.”

“But you’re not buying the business?” She genuinely didn’t understand.

He swore. “That business costs two hundred thousand dollars. You think I have that kind of money just sitting around here? Where? In a drawer?”

His derisive tone made her feel she’d done something wrong. “You said you wanted to do it. We had a plan. You said you were fine with it.”

“I said what you wanted to hear. Listen to yourself, Harlow. You think I’m going to spend that kind of money for some crap rental place just so you can learn to run it? You want to take over this company someday, learn it from the ground up. I’m not buying you a business to practice on. Jesus, kid, get real. I’m willing to give you a fancy title and overpay you because you’re my daughter. That’s how it works in a family business. But there are limits.”

She flushed at his assessment. The attack seemed to come from nowhere, and she couldn’t think of a defense.

“Why didn’t you say any of this before?” She tried to keep her voice steady. “Why did you make me think you were really interested?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t want to disappoint you. I didn’t think you’d move forward so fast. I thought you’d lose interest. You didn’t, so I shut it down.”

“You lied to me.”

He glared at her. “Don’t start. I didn’t lie. I let you believe it was going to happen because I didn’t want to disappoint you. I’m not the bad guy. You’re the one with unrealistic expectations.”

But he had lied. He’d let her think he supported what she was doing. He’d let her think it was real when the entire time he hadn’t been interested in buying the business at all. He’d seen her as foolish and entitled. A spoiled brat who expected her daddy to buy her a business.

Humiliation and shame rushed through her as she realized that description wasn’t far from the truth. She had expected that, just like she’d expected her mother to keep a house she couldn’t afford so Harlow could have her dream wedding.

“I wish you’d told me sooner,” she said.

“I’m telling you now. It’s done.”

“I see that.”

She returned to her office. Once she sat, she became aware of the tremors radiating out from her core. She ignored her shaking hands and scanned her email, making sure she’d handled all the charter requests. Then she logged out and shut the computer down.

She got her bag from the locker room, then went to her car. Once she was home, she could deal with everything that had just happened.

She made it about a mile before she started crying. She had to pull into a drugstore parking lot to wait out the tears. If they would ever stop. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

She’d been so sure, she thought, struggling for breath. She’d thought she was doing something meaningful. She’d been proud of the hard work she’d put into her business plans. The cash flow had been great. She’d figured it would take two years to recoup the cost of buying the business, with a growing profit every year after that.

Only her father had never been interested in her plans. Worse, he saw her as some entitled kid who expected things handed to her. No, that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was that she had been that person, and apparently she still was.

She found a couple of napkins in the console. She wiped her face, blew her nose, then leaned back.

Nothing made sense. She and her father had always talked about her coming to work for him. She’d take over while he sailed off to the Bahamas. They’d had a plan—they were going to be a team.

She’d started working at the company when she was fourteen. She’d gone out on charters, had learned everything about managing the business that he would teach her. She’d shown up early and stayed late. She’d majored in business because it had made the most sense. She’d been so sure this was what she had wanted that she’d never bothered to interview anywhere else. She loved the company. She thought she belonged there. Now she wasn’t sure of anything.

Did her father even want her working with him? She flinched as she remembered him saying she was overpaid with a fancy title. He was the one who handled payroll, so she didn’t know. Was she getting more than the other captains?

Too many questions and no answers. Harlow looked out of her car, not sure where to go now. She didn’t want to go home—Kip would already be there. Yes, he should be the person she should want to run to, but things were weird between them right now. Enid was working, and her mom and Austin were gone. She was all alone.