Authors: Kori Roberts
“No” — he smiled at her — “it’s not.” He gestured toward the chair next to his desk.
“Please, have a seat.”
“If it’s all the same to you, sir, I think I’ll just stand.” Rylee was practically holding her breath as she waited for him to speak.
Jeff looked at her for a moment, a ghost of a smile still on his face. “Very well,” he finally said.
“I made a recommendation — which was readily accepted — that you be promoted to General Manager of the Western Region. As you know, that’s one of our largest regions, and includes six states and more than fifty hotel chains.”
“On second thought, I think I’ll take that seat now.” Rylee practically collapsed into the chair. She sat there with her mouth hanging open, staring at Jeff, but not actually seeing him.
Her mind swirled as his words sank in.
“I-I-” Rylee stuttered. She was completely unable to form a coherent thought. General Manager. God, that was just so incredible, so unbelievable, so…far away.
“Aren’t the Western Region headquarters located in Seattle?” Rylee asked. “Yes, that is the one downside to this whole thing.” Jeff sighed. “Listen, Rylee. I know that Seattle is a long way from Chicago, but I think this is a great opportunity for you. I’ve known you since you started working for this hotel — hell, I hired you.” They both chuckled.
“I’ve watched you grow from a hardworking employee to an even harder-working
manager,” Jeff continued. “And — Friday’s incident aside — you’ve always led the staff of this hotel by your exemplary example. There’s no doubt in my mind that you have earned this promotion.” The smile Jeff gave her was filled with embarrassment. “It probably should have happened years ago. You were just doing such a great job here, and I was too selfish to let you go. But I know that you are more than ready to step into this position.”
Rylee still couldn’t believe it. This moment was the reason she’d worked so hard the last ten years. And now that it had finally arrived, she didn’t know if she was happy or sad.
Six months ago, she would have jumped at the opportunity. But that was before she met Nick and Noah, and she realized that all the professional success in the world didn’t make up for the lack of happiness in her personal life.
This accomplishment should have made her feel wonderful and excited. Instead, she felt hollow inside, because she didn’t have the two men she loved sharing it with her. In spite of what happened between them, she wasn’t ready to give up on them just yet.
“Thank you, Jeff. I really appreciate this opportunity. But…can I think about it?”
“Absolutely.” Jeff’s face was full of understanding. “I know this is a big decision that you can’t make easily.” Jeff chuckled and shook his head. “I remember making a similar decision when I came to Chicago fifteen years ago. I never regretted it, and I don’t think you will either.”
Regrets. That’s what Rylee was worried about. She knew she couldn’t commit to this position until she was certain that there was nothing left of her relationship with Nick and Noah. “I have a small request.” Rylee waited for Jeff to nod before she continued. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to take the rest of the day off to think about everything.”
Jeff silently scrutinized her, his gaze seeming far too knowing. “You go right ahead, Rylee. Take the time you need, and I hope you find the answers you’re seeking.”
“I do, too, sir.” Rylee shook Jeff’s hand and left his office. She kept going until she was in her car and heading to Wisconsin.
*
“They’re not here.” Rylee was just about to knock on Nick and Noah’s door again,
when the sound of their mother’s voice behind her made her spin around.
“And even if they were here, they wouldn’t want to see you.”
“Really?” Rylee tilted her head and scrutinized the other woman. “Is that what they told you, or just what you want to believe?” Caroline had the decency to blush.
“It doesn’t matter.” Caroline lifted her chin and glared at Rylee. “It doesn’t change anything. You still don’t belong here.”
“Whether I belong here or not isn’t your decision to make — it’s theirs.” She stalked toward Caroline, and she could feel all of the anger and hostility she felt toward the woman simmering just beneath the surface, threatening to explode at any second.
“You think just because you’re their mother, it gives you license to run their lives?
Well, I’ve got news for you, lady; in case you haven’t noticed, your little boys aren’t so little anymore. They’re grown men, and they’re perfectly capable of making decisions about their lives, and who they want in their lives.”
Rylee stood in front of the other woman. “You want to stand here and pass judgment on me because you disagree with how I live my life? That’s fine. If it makes you feel better to believe that I’m some old whore who corrupted your babies, you go right ahead.” She stepped into Caroline’s personal space, their bodies mere inches apart. “Because quite frankly, your opinion doesn’t mean shit to me — and neither do you. What you think about me will never change what’s in my heart. I’m going to love your sons whether you hate me or not; whether they hate me or not. And, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
She walked past Caroline, toward her car. She opened her door, but Caroline’s voice stopped her before she got inside.
“I believe you love them, Rylee,” Caroline spoke softly. “But, I love them, too. In spite of what you think, I’m not trying to run their lives. I just want what’s best for them.”
Caroline walked over and stood next to Rylee’s car.
“They each deserve a woman of their own to love; someone to have a family with, to grow old with — not someone who has already experienced all those things that they have yet to even discover. If you were a mother, I think you’d understand how I feel — in fact, I think you’d agree with me.”
Rylee got in her car and drove away without responding. A few miles from the house, she dialed her boss’s number.
“Hi, Jeff. This is Rylee. I…I’ve decided to accept the position…I do have a request…I’d like to move immediately, if possible…yes…I’m sure…I can be ready by the end of the week… thank you, sir.”
Rylee managed to disconnect the call before she released the tears she’d held since she’d left Nick and Noah’s house.
Rylee sat in the food court of the airport, staring into a cup of coffee as she waited for her flight.
“You know you don’t have to do this, right?” Drew asked. She looked across the table into his concerned face. Rylee glanced past Drew’s head to the clock on the wall. She had twenty more minutes before her plane would begin boarding.
Please, God, help me hold it together until then. “Yeah” — she forced a smile — “I do.
It’s for the best.”
Mya reached across the table to take her hand and squeezed it gently. “Honey, are you sure it’s over between the three of you?” she asked.
Rylee just nodded, not trusting herself to speak at the moment.
“But how do you know for certain?” Mya insisted. “You said yourself that you never even saw them when you went to Wisconsin. Maybe you should wait until you talk to them before you do this.”
“Mya’s right,” Drew added. “I’m sure they can wait a few more days in Seattle until you —” “Just stop!” Rylee interrupted her friends as she desperately struggled to keep her composure. “A few more days won’t make any difference. They don’t” — she took a shuddering breath — “they don’t want me anymore.” Rylee internally cringed at the way her voice broke as she said those words. Her throat was so tight, she felt like she was going to choke.
Drew and Mya stared at her in silence, and Rylee blinked back tears as she looked away from the pity she saw in their eyes.
“Listen,” she finally said. “My flight’s going to board soon. Why don’t you two walk me to my gate?”
They walked through the airport in silence until they reached the security checkpoint, where Rylee turned to her friends. Drew stood looking at her with watery eyes, and Mya made no attempt to hide the tears that flowed freely down her face.
“I’ll call you as soon as I arrive.” Rylee hugged Mya, then Drew. “I love you both.” She turned away without waiting for their response and went through security. She walked toward her gate, never turning around to look at her friends again, hoping with everything in her that she could make it to the plane before she broke down and cried like a baby.
“Zeus, come!” Nick watched the Doberman race toward him, his smooth, black coat glimmered in the sunlight as his powerful body moved across the yard with incredible grace and speed.
Once Zeus reached Nick, he sat down in front of him. Nick waited for a few moments before he held out his hand and revealed the treat inside, which Zeus eagerly ate from his hand.
“Good dog!” Nick petted him as he finished his treat.
“You and Noah were always so great with the animals.” Nick tensed at the sound of his mother’s voice behind him. “Your father loved training dogs, but he never had the natural skills and abilities with them, like you boys.”
Nick didn’t bother to respond as he continued to pet Zeus.
“Zeus is an amazing animal. He could easily sell for —”
“Zeus is not for sale.” Nick cut her off.
He heard his mother sigh. “Yes, I know. He was Rylee’s favorite, wasn’t he?”
Nick turned to his mother without answering her question. “What do you want,
Mom?” “I want you and Noah to be happy, but obviously, neither of you are.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I…I think I made a mistake.” She spoke quietly. Her eyes were sad as they stared back at him.
“I thought that once Rylee was out of your lives, you and Noah would move on and find some other women your own age to occupy yourselves with for a while, like you’d always done before you met her. But I underestimated just how deeply you two felt for her.”
Nick stared at his mother in silence and waited for her to continue.
“I did the same thing to Rylee that people did to your father when we first met. I refused to believe that a woman her age could possibly be interested in you and Noah for anything other than the obvious.”
Nick saw her eyes well up with tears. “And, I did the same thing to you and Noah that people once did to me. I just couldn’t accept that the two of you weren’t kids anymore, but grown men, who were old enough to recognize true love when you found it — even if it was with the same woman.”
“What are you saying, Mom?” Nick’s heart ached. He was torn between the anger he felt at his mother for the way she’d treated Rylee, Noah, and him; and the pain he felt as he looked into her eyes that were filled with so much sorrow.
“I’m saying I was wrong.” She sniffed. “I was wrong about a lot of things.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “She came by to see you.” She spoke so softly, Nick almost didn’t hear her.
“Who came by?” Nick and his mother both looked up to see Noah in the doorway.
“Rylee…she came by to see you last month right after the breakup, and I sent her away.” Her voice cracked. “I was wrong. I’m so sorry.”
“You did what?”
“And you’re just telling us now?” “You had no right!”
Nick and Noah were talking at the same time, their angry words clashing. The
anguished sound of their mother’s sobs stopped them instantly, and they stared at her in shocked silence.
Nick didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t seen his mother cry like that since his father died.
“Mom, please…don’t.” Nick’s words seemed to make her cry even harder, and he
looked at Noah helplessly.
Noah walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her in comfort.
“I’m sorry that we yelled at you. But…” Noah sighed. “You really should have told us.”
“You’re right.” She nodded, and her body trembled with emotion. “I thought I was helping, but I realize now that I only made things worse for everyone.”
She reached up to stroke Noah’s cheek. “I just wanted you to be happy. I won’t pretend to understand it, but I can accept the fact that Rylee is the person that makes you happy.”
She turned to Nick and gave him a tremulous smile. “That makes you both happy.”
*
After they locked up Zeus and checked on the other dogs, Nick and Noah walked their mother home. They sat and talked with her for a while before they headed back to their own house.
Nick knew that it was still going to take some time before their relationship with their mother returned to normal. But it was a lot better than it had been in a long time.
When they got home, Nick looked at Noah. “Should we try and call her?”
Noah shook his head. “I think she changed her number. She hasn’t answered her home phone in weeks.” “Yeah, she must have changed her cell phone number, too. The old one is disconnected.”
“I see I’m not the only one who’s been trying to reach her,” Noah commented.
“Yeah, well, as pissed off as I was about what happened, I still didn’t like how things ended between us.” Nick sat on the couch and put his head in his hands for a moment.
Finally, he looked up at Noah.
“What if we got it wrong, man? What if it was no big deal, just like Rylee said? What if we were the ones who screwed everything up, and not the other way around? We never even heard her side of the story, never gave her a chance to explain herself. We just walked away.”
“You’re right.” Noah shook his head, his expression filled with self-disgust. “If she doesn’t hate us already, she probably should.”
“So,” Nick said quietly, “what do you want to do?”
Noah’s determined gaze locked with his, and he confirmed what Nick already knew. “I want to go and find our redhead.”
“I’m sorry, sir. Ms. Putnam no longer works here,” the front desk clerk said.
“What?” Nick and Noah’s shocked responses sounded at the same time. They stared at the man in disbelief.
“Since when?” Noah demanded.
“I’m sorry…I’m not at liberty to say,” the clerk said apologetically.
“Does she still live here?” Nick pressed.