Page 75 of Just One Chance

"That sounds perfect."

Beck appeared in front of us. "I'm glad you made it. You want to sit with everyone? They're at the back table."

"We'll make our way back there," Boone said, leading the way through the crowd. He kept a tight grip on my hand so that we wouldn't be separated. When we reached the table, he took my coat and hung it on an empty chair.

I waved when everyone said hello at once.

"How was dinner?" Clara asked.

I touched my chest with my hand. "It was so good. Malcolm sent a little of everything on the menu. Probably one of my favorite meals of all time."

Clara grinned. "Always nice when you don't have to choose just one thing."

Her words rang a bell in my head. What if I didn't have to choose between Miami and the Harts? What if I didn't have to choose between my business and Boone? What if I could have it all? But I knew what the statistics said; people thought they could have it all, but it never worked out. It was too much, and someone was always unhappy. I'd heard plenty of stories about how difficult long-distance relationships were, and Boone said he didn't see himself in Miami.

When I sat down, Clara moved over a chair to sit next to me. "I heard you got a carriage ride here?"

"Another thing planned by Malcolm. He wants to ensure we have a great night," I said as Boone sat on my other side.

He was talking to Callum, who was to his right, but he rested his arm absentmindedly behind my chair. I wondered if it was intentional or his way of saying that we were together. Not in a traditional sense but that we were spending the evening together. As far as anyone else knew, we were coworkers. Not anything else.

"When do you leave?"

I sighed. "My proposal is ready. I just need to meet with Judy and Raymond one more time. Then I can go at any time."

"What are you planning to do next?"

"Usually, I plan a few days or so at home to recharge, and then I'll take that time to choose my next job."

"Do you have a lot of options?"

"More than usual. I think word is getting around that I'm here. There is already buzz about the snow room going around online."

"That's great, then," Clara said.

I smiled. "It really is. I dreamed of this when I started out, and I wasn't sure it could really work. But it is."

"I'm so glad we booked you before you got too big for something like this." She gestured around at us.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to have missed this." It truly was something special. It was possible that everything in my email was larger hotels in cities. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but I'd come to love this area. I glanced over at Boone. I'd come to love him as well.

How was I going to leave him and everyone else behind? I'd promised to visit, but how feasible was that when my schedule was only going to get busier, and I wasn't sure I could visit Boone? Would he be happy to see me, or would he move onto someone else?

"You have big things ahead of you. I can feel it," Clara said with a smile.

Boone's arm stiffened on the chair.

Had he heard what we were talking about? "I hope you're right."

Clara gave me a look. "Girl, you were made for big things. You own a condo on a beach in Miami. You're too grand for this."

My heart ached because I didn't want Boone to think that I felt too big for him or his family's property. I was falling more in love with the land and him every day.

21

BOONE

I'd heard Kennedy talking with the girls about the online buzz surrounding the snow room and the emails that were pouring in with business owners wanting to work with her.