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“Now grab your laptop and anything else you’ll need for the next two months.”
Bash was stunned. “Why? We’ve got plenty of time to decide.”
Gray ignored him, grabbed Bash’s soft-sided leather satchel off the sofa, and set it on the desk in front of him. “Quite the contrary. We are out of time. Fontana sent me an email a couple of hours ago notifying me that he will be flying here to meet with you at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. Didn’t seem to care what prior engagements you might have. You and I have a meeting with Bryan and Alex in thirty minutes at an undisclosed location to get this all moving.”
“Holy shit,” Bash breathed, throwing anything he might need into his briefcase. As they walked out the door, he turned to Gray and asked, “Why do you think he has singled me out?”
Gray shook his head. “I honestly have no idea. Maybe he likes your books. Could be an ego thing to have a bestselling author write his life’s story. Or he has a hidden agenda. That’s why we are taking it seriously, Bash. It doesn’t make sense.”
Bash felt a chill run up his spine. “Why didn’t you just tell me about Fontana’s plan to show up here tomorrow when you first walked in?”
“Yeah.” Gray snickered. “Like that would have worked.”
Chapter Two
Morgan Skylar breathed a sigh of relief when she read the sign announcing her arrival in Guntersville, Alabama. Although she had visited multiple times during summer vacations with her best friend, Beth Worthington, and her family, who owned the property, this was the first time she had driven by herself. The pouring rain made it difficult to find familiar landmarks, and the fact that her GPS did not recognize the roads only compounded her frustration. Her attempts to reach Beth for the past three hours had gone to voicemail. With non-stop thunderstorms, she was also running late. Beth, whose drive from Nashville was much shorter, should already be safely tucked in the cabin with plenty of food and wine for their week-long vacation. It took two stops to find someone who could give her directions to the Worthington’s lake house.
The magazine cover-worthy home sat in a secluded cove on a hill overlooking the shimmering water. Being included in the Worthington’s vacations over the years had been some of the best times of her sheltered life. As she pulled up to the main driveway, her cell phone rang. Beth’s face popped up on her screen. Morgan knew it would take all her concentration to maneuver down the steep driveway in the torrential rain, so she pulled over to the side of the road and stopped.
“Hi! I’ve been trying to get you for hours. I was about to pull in the driveway.” She was met with silence. “Beth? Are you there? Did I lose you?” More silence. “Doggone, I lost her,” she muttered to herself and was about to end the call when she heard a heavy sigh.
“I’m here,” Beth said, sounding hesitant.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Did you have an accident? Do you need me to come get you?” As a kindergarten teacher, she could not help when her worst-case scenario instincts kicked in, mostly because with small children, it often was.
“I’m fine, Chip. No accidents. No skinned knees, runny noses, or lost erasers.” Chip was her nickname, and Beth was always playfully poking fun at her job.
“Whew. You had me worried. That’s great! We’re going to have the best week ever! I’m so excited!” Not even a little rain was going to dampen her spirits.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’m just going to say it. Chin and I got married! We were so sick of our parents trying to hijack our wedding plans that we decided to mutiny. The only people who really matter in the wedding drama are Chin and me. When he suggested we hop a plane to Los Vegas, we jumped in the car with no luggage and caught the first flight!” She finally took a breath.
“That’s wonderful! I’m thrilled!” Morgan said with exaggerated enthusiasm, trying not to reveal her disappointment over their lost time together. Beth had been her best friend since her freshman year of high school. They were both in their second year at Emory when Beth met Chin and fell in love. There was no way she was going to allow herself to feel let down. There was so much to celebrate. “Have you told your parents?”
“Not yet. You’re the first person we’ve called.
“Hi Chip,” came a male voice.
“Congratulations, Chin. I love y’all, and I’m so happy.”
“Thanks. Don’t be mad at Beth. She feels terrible. I made her do it,” he laughed.
“Go order us some more champagne, and let me talk to my BFF,” Beth scolded him good-naturedly.
“I really am sorry I didn’t call you last night. We got so caught up in the craziness of the whole thing I totally forgot about our week together. Now you’re stuck there by yourself, and I feel awful. Especially after you lost Pops. He was everything to you. Your only relative, and now I’ve abandoned you.” She began to cry.
Morgan felt tears seeping from the corner of her eyes and shook her head to force them always. “Please don’t be upset, Beth. Even if you had called me last night, I would have come anyway,” she lied. “It’s so beautiful up here, and it’ll give me plenty of time to destress for the week in your family’s beautiful home.”
“Well…there is another thing,” she choked out. Morgan held her breath, unable to think of what could be worse than spending a week alone. “Dad forgot we were staying in the lake house this week. Or at least that’s what he told me yesterday. He doesn’t usually start the winter rentals until next month, but somebody paid him an ungodly amount of money to stay there for the next two months, so he couldn’t say no. I figured we would stay in the old caretaker’s cottage my brothers use. It’s much closer to the water. Even has its own pier. I know it’s not as fancy, but it does have a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a decent bathroom. Dad says it’s still in good shape. What do you think? If you want to turn around and go home, I’ll pay for you to stay in a motel tonight and for the gas you wasted. I feel horrible that I’ve done this to you.”
Morgan was familiar with the cottage. It was built by the previous owners so their caretakers could live on the property. The Worthington’s never saw the need, and over the years, it became a party shack for Beth’s brothers. She remembered sneaking over at night to a few of those parties.
Morgan inwardly sighed but reached for her perky, glass half-full voice. “I remember it. It’s precious. Yellow with white shutters. It’ll be great, and I don’t need much room.” She hoped her voice was full of the sunshine she did not feel.
“When I looked on the weather radar before I called, I saw you are under a severe thunderstorm warning for the next five hours with an expected three inches of rain. The driveway to the cottage isn’t paved. It can be a mess when it gets soaked, and I was supposed to bring the groceries. Do you think you can find the grocery store? If it rains for too long, you might not be able to get your car back up the hill from the cabin,” her voice broke.
The more Beth thought about missing their vacation trip, the guiltier she felt, and Morgan wasn’t going to let her ruin the happiest day of her life fretting.
“I know exactly where the grocery store is. I had to stop for directions, so I picked up a few things. No worries. I’ve got enough to last me until the roads dry out.”
