Sorry. Something’s come up. I had to head home. I’ll catch up with you later.
It was the coward’s way out, and she hated that. She was a face-it-head-on kind of woman, but right now she had to step away from the scene of this crime to even decide how she felt before discussing it with him. She left the note next to his phone and quietly left, shutting the hotel room door with a significant click.
Where the hell was she? Ryan looked around the small room for a minute before seeing the note on the bed. Something’s come up? He hoped it wasn’t serious. Or something having to do with Chloe. He dialed Emily’s phone, but it went straight to voice mail.
“Hey, it’s me. I hope everything is okay. Call me back when you can.”
Room service knocked on the door, and Ryan resigned himself to eating alone. He was tempted to go over to Gigi’s house just to make sure everything was all right. Why hadn’t she at least knocked on the bathroom door to tell him she was leaving? Unrest swirled in his gut.
They’d just had a really good time together, right? A really good time. They’d been enjoying each other’s company for weeks now, and each time he saw her, he wanted her more and more. He thought he’d made that abundantly clear.
So why the abrupt departure? Why leave without saying goodbye? He read the note a few more times, but it was nothing much to go on. He looked around the room, searching for clues, but nothing caught his eye. It was just a regular hotel room with all his regular stuff. His suitcase, his clothes, his computer and computer bag, the stack of papers and the drawings from his dad. Nothing unusual to explain why she might have left here.
There was nothing much he could do about it from here, and odds were good that it was nothing more serious than Chloe being legit upset about something minor or Gigi needing somebody to make her a martini. Emily would call him later, or she would call him tomorrow.
He ate his dinner, and then he ate hers, and he wished she was there. In fact, he pretty much always wished she was there. All the time. If she moved back to this island, well, that wasn’t terribly convenient. Truthfully, neither was San Antonio if he lived in Sacramento. And he couldn’t leave Sacramento. That was his home. It’s where his brothers were and his friends. He didn’t want to leave all that behind. Sure, he traveled more days than not, but it was still home. Then again, maybe home had less to do with location and more to do with who you were with. And all he knew right now was that whenever Emily was in his arms, that felt like home to him.
Chapter 30
Emily slumped over the kitchen table nursing a martini that Gigi had made for her. It was bitter and harsh and suited her mood perfectly. She’d left Ryan’s hotel room and gone straight to Bridget O’Malley’s house to ask about the sale of her little pink cottage. Now Emily almost wished she hadn’t.
“So, just so I’m clear,” Gigi said, “Ryan told Bridget O’Malley that his company purchased her land to build a bed-and-breakfast there, and they intend to call it the O’Malley House?” Gigi was on her second martini, but being a professional drinker, it didn’t seem to alter her personality that much. Emily, on the other hand, was feeling the effects from just a few sips. Maybe that was because Ryan had never fed her. The liar. The trickster. The bastard.
“Yes, Gigi. Mrs. O’Malley even showed me the drawings, and they were almost identical to the ones I saw in Ryan’s room.”
“Do we need to talk about what you were doing in Ryan’s room?”
“I’d rather not.”
“I thought as much. Well, nonetheless, are you sure he mentioned the Mahoney sisters? Bridget would never sell anything to them. I once saw her refuse to sell April a rice crispy treat at a bake sale.”
“Yes, I distinctly heard him mention the Mahoneys. Ryan told me that lots of their clients like to remain confidential to avoid situations just like this, so I have to imagine that’s why June hired them. She knew Bridget O’Malley wouldn’t sell to them, and she also knows that putting a three-story building in that spot will completely ruin the view from your rental cottage. This is a double-whammy from those dia-fucking-bolical Mahoneys.” Emily was finally starting to understand her grandmother’s extreme dislike of them. She was feeling an extreme dislike of them, too. And an extreme dislike of the Taggerts as well. “I just can’t believe Ryan wouldn’t mention it to me when I said we were thinking about buying the house for you. He never breathed a word of it.”
“Why don’t we just tell the Taggerts not to build on it?” Chloe asked, peeking her head around the corner. Emily really did need to talk to her daughter about eavesdropping, but the kid came by it naturally.
Emily stood up and hugged her instead.
“We could try that, honey, but money is very important to men like the Taggerts. Ryan and his brothers are dedicated to making it and keeping it.” She sat back down with a depressed thump. “I guess the one bit of good news is that Jewel called me earlier to say the closing for the San Antonio house is the day after tomorrow. Gigi, if you don’t mind keeping an eye on Chloe for a few days, I’ll fly to San Antonio on the next available flight.”
“Of course I don’t mind. Chloe and I will have fun. We’ll take some selfies.”
“I just feel like we don’t have all the information we need, Mom,” Chloe said. “I mean, how did you find out about this deal anyway?”
Secrets. Secrets. Secrets. At least Chloe wasn’t asking why she was in Ryan’s room. She must not have heard that part. “Um, I was with Ryan and I heard him talking to his brother on the phone, and then I saw the drawings he made.”
“But did you ask him? You should ask him.”
Chloe was probably right. Emily should ask him, but right now she felt angry and hurt. It just seemed like he could have told her he was working for the Mahoneys somewhere between the Hi, I’m Ryan, and the I just have to kiss you.
Gigi stood up, draining the last of her martini. “Well, my darlings, we can talk about this some more tomorrow. I need to get my beauty rest.” She leaned over and kissed Chloe on the forehead, and then she came around to the other side of the table to kiss Emily’s forehead, too. “Don’t worry about this too much, honey. Things have a way of working out, and I’m sure this will, too.”
Emily’s phone buzzed for the third time since she’d left Ryan’s hotel. Same text message, slightly different wording. He’d left her a voice mail, too.
Hey, I’m kind of worried. Hope everything is okay. Call me back.
She didn’t want to talk about this on the phone, and she didn’t want to have the conversation by text, either. She just wanted to ignore him.