Page 9
The real me.
The boy who got laughed at his entire childhood for being too sensitive. Who spent his lunch breaks in art class by himself, nose buried in comic books and fantasy novels. That’s where Lola found me. And when she did, she didn’t make fun of me. No, she sat next to me and asked me what I was reading and let me bore her with stories about vampire slayers. I don’t understand what she saw in me that day. Why she felt benevolent enough to listen to a kid she didn’t know instead of having fun outside with her friends and simply ignoring me like everybody else did back then.
All I remember from our first encounter is the hope and fear that raged inside me. I didn’t know if I was making a friend for the first time in my life or if it was the start of being someone’s laughingstock once more.
But she hasn’t left me since. She’s always by my side, my fiercest protector and the sister I never had.
“Earth to Oliver,” Lola says, and I focus on her scrutinizing navy eyes. “Are you going to tell me what you were doing in your woodshop?”
I pull the blanket closer. Everything has changed in the span of a week. And so fast. It’s a lot to wrap my mind around.
“I spoke with Donna last week,” I tell Lola. “She asked me to come to Vancouver out of the blue and told me that Wild Planet will be partnering with Movie Night Live to film a docuseries on the Great Bear Rainforest. A journalist from the Toronto office will be flying here, and she asked me to act as the Vancouver liaison since I know the place well. We’ll stay in Pine Falls for a night since it’s right at the border of the rainforest and head there the next day.”
Lola’s mouth hangs open. “You’re shooting a series for Movie Night Live?”
I can tell what she’s thinking, and she’s not wrong. “Yes.”
“How is that going to work for you? You hate attention.”
I rub the five o’clock shadow that’s been dusting my jaw for the past week. “Technically, I won’t be in front of the camera. I’ll just be there to make sure everybody is safe, guide them through the rainforest, and help the WP journalist with her storytelling if she needs me. Not my usual role at WP, but Donna saw a way to save money and took it. But Lola,” I lean in and lower my voice, as if my next words will be so scandalous they shouldn’t be uttered too loud, “I’ll triple my annual salary just for the two weeks of filming. Do you understand what that means? I’ll have enough to buy the restaurant back. I honestly don’t care about what I’ll have to do if I do end up needing to be in front of the camera. I don’t care if I hate every second of it. Because I can buy it back.”
I can pinpoint the exact moment realization dawns on my best friend’s face.
“So that’s why you’ve been in your shop,” she murmurs, putting two and two together. “The project is back on!”
I laugh at her excitement and nod. “Yes, it is. I was working on the chairs when you showed up. I haven’t felt this hopeful about it in a long time. It’s like I can almost touch it, you know? I don’t see how Rob can turn me down now. The place is rightfully mine. Jerry’s made this town famous. Pine Falls is what it is today because of the sweat and tears my grandparents poured into this place. Rob knows that.”
Lola’s nose scrunches up at the mention of Pine Falls’s mayor. “He might know that, but I see the dollar signs in his eyes every time that Oscar asshole from Lakeside Resorts comes to town with his shiny suits and that awful smirk. You need to tread carefully with this, Ols. He won’t go down easily.”
I sink deeper in my chair. “Maybe. But I have the money now. There’s no way Rob can turn down reopening Jerry’s. As attractive as Oscar’s suitcases of money may be, nobody will book that hideous hotel if there’s nothing to come here for.”
“I know,” Lola agrees, patting my knee. “Just make sure he knows that too.”
I bring the mug to my lips as a gust of wind blows through the leaves and ruffles Lola’s long black hair, sticking it to her face. I smile. “Trust me, I will. Oscar might play to win, but I won’t give up easily either. Actually, I just won’t, period. That building is my birthright.”
And none of this would be happening if I had the money to keep it in the first place.
“So you won’t be on TV,” she says pensively. “That would have been fun, though.”
“Not from what I’ve read in my contract. Mostly supporting the Toronto reporter and acting like the local guide and medic. And I won’t be reachable for two weeks. I signed a pretty airtight NDA.” Which reminds me. Fuck. I whip my head in Lola’s direction. “You cannot tell a soul about this, you hear me?”
She makes a show of zipping her lips and throwing away the imaginary key. “Not even James and Matt?”
I shake my head. “Not even James and Matt. Please.”
“What am I supposed to tell them when they ask where you disappeared to?”
I shrug. “Say I’m off for work. Just don’t go into details.”
“I can’t believe you, of all people, have been chosen to do this. Only to you, Ols.” She shakes her head, amused. “That shit only happens to you. Do you know who the other WP journalist is?”
“Not yet. Hopefully, they’ll send someone with a bit of experience with nature. I don’t think I can handle a city jerk.”
Lola snorts. “I would pay good money to see you rip your hair out and bite your tongue if they come in high heels or in jeans.”
I drop my head against the chair and close my eyes. “God, this is going to be two long weeks.”
Two weeks of pushing past my safe and isolated bubble to be with complete strangers twenty-four hours a day, and probably putting up with more than I can endure.
