Page 112 of Merging Wright

“Laying in the sun with a cabana man bringing me a margarita sounds relaxing to me.” Lindee laughs.

“What if we visit areas we haven’t seen in the U.S.? Places we haven’t been to but want to visit?” The idea excites me, although I have no idea where the suggestion comes from. I haven’t had a vacation in years, and the prospect of wandering somewhere—anywhere—sounds refreshing.

“Sounds like a plan,” Mae says, lifting her mug of spiced wine for a sip.

“What’s a plan?” Garrett enters the screened-in porch and takes a seat next to Lindee. He wraps an arm around her and knuckles her head like she’s four instead of forty-one. We all share brown hair in varying shades. Garrett has dark eyes, though, compared to the blue us Fox sisters inherited from our mother.

“What the heck?” Lindee laughs.

“What’s the plan?” Garrett asks again.

“We’re going on vacation. A girls’ trip unless you want to join us.” Mae looks at Garrett, willing to include him when girl time sounds better to me.

“I think I’ll pass on cabana boys and margaritas.”

“Hey, were you listening?” Lindee punches Garrett’s thigh.

“You’re still so loud. I think they heard you down in Blue Ridge.” Garrett scoffs.

Lindee crosses her arms and pretends to pout. How have I stayed away from these people? This is my family.

Mae offers Lindee a comforting smile, but Garrett is watching me. “I thought you meant you had a plan for what you’ll do next.”

There is something I’ve been toying with, but the idea is so foreign, so unique from what I’ve been doing, I’m not certain if it’s a good decision for me. Then again, I wear the crown as the queen of poor choices, especially when it comes to men. Why would this situation be any different?

“I’m still considering my options.”

Garrett grows serious and sits forward, balancing his elbows on his thighs. “If it’s money, I can help you.” My brother has more than he knows what to do with.

“It’s not money. It’s more . . . what will make me happy.”

Mae sits beside me and lifts her mug again, smiling behind the rim like she understands.

“You were happy in Wrightwood,” Lindee says. “You told me you were starting to love the town.”

My brows pinch. Why would she mention this? “I can’t go back there.”

“But you have unfinished business there,” Garrett adds, always thinking about bottom lines and anything related to finances.

“I’m certain Mach can handle it.” I lift my mug of spiced wine and inhale the rich cinnamon fragrance. Then I take a hearty drink as the once-warm wine has cooled and hardly washes Volde-Mach’s name off my tongue.

“But Mach wasn’t handling it. According to Tucker, you were doing almost everything.” Mae lowers her mug to her lap and stares at me.

Ready to retort how I’m the best damn employee, I bite my lower lip, instead. I was handling most things because I wanted to be in charge. I thrived on taking control of the project, and I fell in love with the client—the entire town.

“I have to say, I’ve never known you to be a quitter. It’s so spontaneous of you.” Mae’s teasing voice matches her wiggling brows. She doesn’t mean to offend me, but I’m on the defensive.

“I didn’t quit.”

“Well, you did quit Impact,” Lindee reminds the room.

“And you left Wrightwood.” Garrett narrows in on me.

This is rich coming from him. He left our small hometown and never looked back. Then again, we’d all done the same thing. It didn’t mean we were runners. We didn’t abandon things—people—like our father left us.

But I had left behind people.

Tanza. Stella and Kirk. Knox and Georgia. Dex and his brothers. Landon and Camilla. Myles.