Page 43 of His for the Holiday

My texts remained unread, my calls went unanswered, and any attempt I made to see her were simply thwarted. I’d waited for her outside the school a few times, but I’d long since suspected that she used to be on the lookout for me and that she’d gone out the back if I had been waiting at the front.

In a town the size of Portsmouth, I had thought I would run into her at some point, but I hadn’t. The only explanation had been that she was actively avoiding me, and it had been at that point that my ego had kicked in. I’d stopped chasing.

To my teenage mind, I’d done nothing wrong and she had been the coward who’d decided to ghost me instead of telling me to my face that things were over between us. In retrospect, I saw where I’d gone wrong but at the time? I’d been a fool.

I blinked away the memories and focused on my sister. She was still sitting on the couch, taking sip after sip of her beer and staring off into the distance while jamming her hand repeatedly through her hair. Obviously, she was having a hard time getting her head wrapped around my proposition. I wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t trust me to actually step up or if she just didn’t understand why I’d be willing to do it.

“You’re right,” I said, leaving the laundry for a minute and going to sit down on the coffee table in front of her. With my knees now only a few inches from hers, I nudged her foot with my own and waited for her to look at me again.

Once she did, I tried to explain. “I did work my ass off to be given an opportunity to get out of here, but that was a long time ago. I don’t regret leaving, sis. If I’d never gone, I wouldn’t have had the ability to help the town now, but I do.”

I held her intent gaze, hoping like hell that she trusted me enough to believe what I was saying. “I know you’re scared that I’m going to disappear again. You have every reason to be, but I’m not going to let this fall on you. Gold Star is an international shipping company now, Em. I’ve got people whose people have people. There’s a whole army of ‘em. Frankly, I could retire today and the company could go on without me.”

Her head tilted slowly. “Do you want to retire?”

I chuckled. “No. I’m just trying to say that what I’m suggesting here isn’t impossible. I could relocate. It would probably be part-time at first. I haven’t worked out all the logistics yet and I’m not going to give up my lease where we’re headquartered right now on a whim, but I can do this. We can do this.”

“Dad isn’t just going to let you take over, Hawk,” she said quietly, but at least it finally looked like she was starting to come around to my plan. “It’s hard enough for him to give me even just the amount of control I need to make sure the business doesn’t sink immediately.”

“You do his books,” I said. “Can he afford not to let me take over?”

She hesitated for a beat. “No, not really. Neither can anyone else.”

“Exactly.” I inhaled through my nostrils. “Dad doesn’t have much choice anymore, Em. If he only has a few years left, he should be spending them in the retirement he’s been wanting for so long instead of slaving away trying to keep his business afloat.”

“Let me think about it,” she said, finally even flashing me a smile. “What you’re suggesting is exactly what almost everyone in town has been praying for, but I’m not sure how Dad is going to react. I need some time before I can give you an answer.”

I nodded slowly and went back to the laundry. Ultimately, there was nothing my dad could do to stop me from moving back to town and enacting my plan—with or without acquiring his company in the process. I just didn’t want to give my family even more of a reason to hate me by simply doing it.