Slipperless Series (Book #4)(20)

And so, in an uncharacteristic change of mind for me, I decided we would continue to work on it as a team and let it be ready when it was ready.

As far as Fiona and I were concerned, things weren’t quite as cut and dried.

For whatever reason, Fiona didn’t trust me enough yet to share all the problems she had in her personal life. If it weren’t for the absolute necessity she had to tell me about what happened to her family on the boat, I doubted she would have shared anything with me.

Although it was a frustrating realization, the truth was that aside from the couple of days we spent together on the island, she and I had not been alone together for an extended period of time.

So, to some extent her reluctance to share the truth about what was going on with her grandmother and the mountain of debt associated with it was understandable. There would be time for us to sort things out, but one way or another she was going to have to learn to trust me. I saw no reason why she shouldn’t. I’d done nothing but good things for her.

On the morning of fourth day, I made my way back from my self-imposed isolation and returned to my suite.

Before I turned on my phone or my laptop, I grabbed a much-needed shower and put on a fresh change of clothes. After being on the beach for a few days, it’s amazing how good something as simple as a shower can be. It was just another reminder of how I ought to be looking at things in my life.

I had to find a way to appreciate the simple things as well.

There was no need to be so driven and utterly intense all the time.

After I finished, I picked up my phone and switched it on for the first time in several days. In all likelihood, it would be filled with messages and any number of fires I’d have to put out. Yet, with my new attitude firmly in place, I didn’t worry about it. I’d already made up my mind there was literally nothing that was going to get me upset.

As it flickered to life, it beeped and vibrated, confirming my suspicions. For nearly an hour, I steadily worked my way through each message and each problem, handling them with no impact on my relaxed state of mind.

That is, until I received a message from Mrs. Jameson in Human Resources. She’d informed me Fiona had taken an indefinite leave of absence. I bit my lip as I listened to the message. It seems not only had she told Mrs. Jameson something she wouldn’t tell me, namely that her grandmother was dying, but she completely abandoned her responsibilities as team leader.

I raked my fingers through my hair as I reached the end of her message.

“God dammit,” I muttered. “You have got to be fucking kidding me. What in the hell was she thinking?”

Just then, I threw my phone down, slamming it on top of the mattress in my bedroom. All of the time I’d spent in self-reflection—the peace I’d enjoyed—began to dissipate from my being. I could not believe what she had done, especially after everything I’d given to her.

I snatched my phone off the bed, nearly crushing it in my grip as I did. Swiping it on, I dialed Fiona and prepared to give her a serious tongue lashing. But after the third ring, the call went straight to voicemail.

I hung up and called her again.

The same thing happened.

I shook my head and thinned my lips, making up my mind right then and there about what I had to do. I’d be on the first plane back tomorrow morning and straighten out this fucking situation once and for all.



FIONA



I wasted no time rushing to my grandmother’s side after informing Mrs. Jameson about my intention to take a leave of absence.

For his part, Gabe had been more or less relentless as he tried to get hold of me in the past day or so. Sooner or later I would have to deal with him and the consequences of my choice, but for now I’d been able to successfully avoid it.

Even though she was gravely ill, my grandmother managed to regain some awareness in recent days. So much so that in fact, one evening I sat in her room at the hospital and shared dinner with her.

Difficult though it was, neither of us chose to acknowledge the inevitable truth about her situation, even though we both knew it was just a matter of time. Still, she’d pulled through in so many similar situations in the past, a very small part of me held out hope that somehow we’d get through this as well.

Anyway, at least for tonight, she was present with me in both mind and body.

Of course, now that she’d regained consciousness, my grandmother wanted to know all about my trip to St. Barth’s. I left out most of what happened, only because it would bring up a number of questions that didn’t really matter. All I cared about right now was spending as much time as I could with her. My grandmother hardly ate a bite of her food, and perhaps because of that, I only picked at my dinner as well.