Page 181 of Brighter Together

“As in go somewhere?”

“That is generally how they work.”

Despite everything, I laugh.

“Tommy, you barely make time for lunch.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.”

I stop laughing.

He looks serious.

“I’m going to offer Sheila the General Manager job,” he finally says

“What?” I ask because that’s the only word that pops into my head.

“When Mr Sinder owned Greenview, I was the General Manager. He still made the big decisions, but I handled the day-to-day running.”

Tommy shifts closer.

“There is no reason I have to be the owner, general manager, emergency plumber, receptionist cover and the person everybody finds when a guest thinks their bathrobe is insufficiently fluffy.”

“That happened once.”

“It was a very long twenty minutes.”

I smile.

“You’re serious about Sheila,” I say.

“Completely.”

“Because of me?”

“No.”

His answer is immediate.

“This started before any of this happened. Manchester made me realise how much of my life I hand over to work without even questioning it.”

He looks down at the duvet.

“I’ve been working since I was sixteen. The last few years, I’ve barely had proper time off. I cancel on the lads constantly. I tell myself the hotel needs me, but half the time it probably just needs me to let somebody else do their job.”

I reach for his hand.

“They understand when you cancel.”

“I know they do.”

He squeezes my fingers.

“That doesn’t mean I want to keep doing it. They’re my family. I want to actually be there.”

Then his eyes meet mine.

“And I want time with you.”