“I’ll tell you what it is. It’s scary,” Mr. Braithway said, almost annoyed, his mustache twitching as he looked back at the tree. “After I lost my wife, I never thought I’d date again, but my daughters insisted I try. It’s been almost twenty years, and I met someone who makes me feel absolutely alive.”
I nodded and laughed. “I think that’s what they say."
Braithway looked at me and said, “William is the one who encouraged me to stick with it. He said if I found a love that made me feel this alive, I should do whatever I could to keep it.”
“That’s good advice,” I hadn’t heard from William in four months. I wondered if he’d moved on. I swallowed hard and asked, “Is William in Atlanta for the holidays?”
Braithway shook his head. “He’s spending the holidays with his mother this year. They were overdue to have a holiday together.”
Mr. Braithway shifted his weight as if he were about to leave. I realized this was my one chance to find out something that had been tormenting me for months.
I took a deep breath and said, “Mr. Braithway, I have to ask you something.” He looked at me curiously, then I blurted out, “Was William’s promotion contingent on my family selling our land to Braithway & Randall?”
Mr. Braithway tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms over his chest. He smoothed his beard with one hand. “Not necessarily. William was given the assignment to come to Creekstone and earn the trust of the people he was working with. He was told to strike a balance between what was good for the company and what would truly help Creekstone avoid total ruin.” Braithway paused. “I needed to know the next CEO was going to be someone who wanted to help communities. Not someone who was driven by the bottom line like Meredith, and not someone who just wanted influence and power like Charles. Both are amazing at their jobs, but we need a balance in the CEO position. I needed to know William could come to a place like Creekstone and do his job in a way that would benefit the community.”
I turned back toward the tree. “Do you think he did that?”
“Absolutely. The work he’s done here has been phenomenal. It’s on a very small scale, but William has helped the new mayor usher in some economic changes that will totally revitalize Creekstone for generations to come. He prioritized acquiring land that would help the community if it were developed, rather than land that would only serve narrow investment interests. Creekstone was a dying town, and now there will be growth. Young families will want to live here again. William showed great instinct and demonstrated his ability to foster community engagement, but the sale of your land wasn’t left up to William. He came to me in the spring and told me he had a conflict of interest and couldn’t represent the company in the land deal. All my employees sign an NDA and non-compete, so I wasn’t worried that he’d double-cross the company. Hewould never risk that, but that’s why I sent Charles to negotiate that deal.”
“He did?” I asked almost in a whisper and as I tried to fight back tears. “I didn’t know that.”
Braithway’s eyebrows twitched as he examined me. “Did that have something to do with your breakup?”
I didn’t answer.
Braithway sighed. “This all makes sense now. William tried to back out of the CEO position in July. He claimed to be too broken-hearted.” Braithway didn’t look at me. He kept his eyes on the tree. “No one knows that except for me. He came to me in July. He said he had a shift in his priorities, and he resigned. Wanted to give the job to Meredith.”
“Wha..What did you say? What happened?” I couldn’t hide my shock. I felt my heart beating faster, my face flush.
“I refused his resignation,” Braithway said as if this should be obvious. “I’ve been preparing William for this job for five years. I’ve invested quite a lot in him. We’ve created entire management structures that play to his strengths and personality. He’s going to have to tough it out.”
Tears finally broke free and streamed down my cheeks. Braithway looked a little flustered. “Was it something I said?”
“No,” I shook my head. “I just realized I jumped to conclusions because I was hurt and feeling defensive. I should have stayed and tried to work it out. I’ve really ruined everything.”
“Look, I’ve had my heart broken before. When I lost my wife, I was destroyed. It’s not quite the same, but one thing that doesn’t change is how impossible it is to think straight when you’re broken-hearted. When William asked to resign, I told him to wait a year. If he still felt the same after some time had passed, then he could submit his resignation to the board. Until then, I wanted him to give it more time. A lot can happen in a year.”
He said more gently, “I have four daughters, and I’ll tell you what I’d tell them, when people are hurting, they can do things that make sense in the moment, to stop the pain. But it doesn’t usually lead to actual healing. Everyone deserves a little grace when they’re hurting.”
I blew a puff of air out of my mouth and turned back toward the tree. “Well, William really wanted that job. I’m glad he didn’t quit.” I wiped a tear from my cheek.
“I should be going,” Mr. Braithway said quietly. “Merry Christmas, Kit.”
“Thanks, Mr. Braithway. Merry Christmas to you, too.”
I headed back to the house. I waited in my car for a minute before going in. I sighed and looked at the house. Aunt Rita had decorated with garland across the banisters and a beautiful new wreath on the front door. Every window in the house had a candle in it. I looked to see if the light was on in William’s room, but it wasn’t. I couldn’t help but feel some disappointment.
Did William really recuse himself from participating in the purchase of the land? Had he been telling the truth all along? Had William really tried to quit his job? Why didn’t he tell me? But I realized the answer as soon as I thought of the question. I wouldn’t have listened. I wouldn’t even take his phone calls. How could he have told me?
I went inside was immediately hit with the sounds and smells of home during the holidays. The crackle of the fireplace and the smell of fresh baked cookies. No one was in the front room, so I hurried into the kitchen. The kitchen island was covered in a sight I never expected to see. There were delicious serving platters of food. Usually, I cooked for Aunt Rita, so I was slightly skeptical when she insisted on making dinner at home, but maybe she had learned how to cook while I was in D.C.
Aunt Rita was standing by the back island, beaming. I walked over and gave her a huge hug. “Where did all this food come from? Did you cook this?” I was amazed.
“Well, we wanted to do something special since you were going to be home tonight,” Aunt Rita said.
“This is awesome,” I said, “But did you cook all this? Did your fiancé cook all of this?”
“Actually,” Aunt Rita said slowly, “Bonifacia cooked it.”
