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“Oh, sure,” he smiled agreeably. “Let’s go.”
Autumn watched as they left, her arms folded tightly across her chest. All the adrenaline shooting through her veins seemed to evaporate, making her body feel leaden and achy. She collapsed into a chair, frowning as she tried to work out how the day had morphed from triumph into disaster.
She should have been up front with her dad about the pier not being for sale. It was her own stupid fault that this had happened.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Autumn asked him.
“Because I wanted to surprise you.”
She wasn’t going to hit something. Not even if her fists were aching to feel the wood of her desk. “You should have called. You’ve just wasted twenty-four hours for nothing. And I haven’t even gotten started on Josh being here. Why the hell have you involved him in this?”
“Because he has good contacts, and he wanted to help. He feels bad that you bought this place while you were drinking away your sorrows.” Her dad frowned. “You should have told me all about that from the start, by the way. I could have stopped the sale.”
“I didn’t want you to. I wanted to buy the pier.” She blew out a mouthful of air. “And I’m glad I did, because it brought me back to life again. Made me realize I can make it on my own. Without Josh and our business. And without your help.”
His face fell, and she winced. That hadn’t exactly come out right.
“If you don’t sell, it’s going to be impossible to manage this place from New York. Which means you’ll have to employ somebody to do it for you, and that’ll eat into your profits even more.” He leaned forward and cupped her face. “Think about what you could do with the money if you sell. I’ll help you set up a new business if you want.” He blinked at her expression, hastily pulling his hand away. “Or I can let you do it yourself,” he added quickly. “But it’ll give you the freedom to choose.”
She took a deep breath, steeling herself. “I don’t know that I want to come back,” she said, not quite able to meet his eye. “I like it here.”
He didn’t respond for a full thirty seconds, and her nerves felt every one of them. She could hear the blood rushing through her ears, matching the beat of the music from the stage.
“Is it about that man?”
“Why does it have to be about a man?” She shook her head. “It’s about me. What I want. What makes me happy.”
“You left because of Josh. And now you want to stay here because of this captain. That doesn’t sound like you’re using your business sense to me.” He sat on the edge of the desk in front of her. “You’ve had a hard couple of years, sweetheart. I know how tough the divorce was on you. Plus losing the business. And I can see the lure of escaping somewhere new and leaving all your troubles behind. But if you stay here, you’ll wake up one day and realize what a huge mistake you made. You’re my daughter. I know you better than anybody does.” His voice quieted. “And I really want you to come home. I miss you.”
Her eyes welled up. “I miss you, too.”
“Then sell the pier. You could fly home with me tomorrow, and leave all this behind. Let me take care of this for you.”
Her stomach dropped at the hope she saw in his eyes, because to her the situation felt hopeless. No matter what she did, somebody was going to get hurt. Her dad, Griff, and even herself. She hated that thought.
“I can’t,” she whispered, giving him a watery half-smile.
“Why not?”
“Because I love Griff. I want to stay here with him.”
Her dad shook his head. “That’s not love. It’s infatuation.”
“How would you know? You haven’t even met him.”
“I don’t need to. I know you, sweetheart, and that’s enough. I know how ambitious you are. Or how ambitious you used to be, before you came over here and seemed to give up. I know how much you loved working in Manhattan, how much you enjoyed running a big business.” He leaned toward her, and touched her face again. “The Autumn I know would never be happy living here for the rest of her life.”
“Then maybe you don’t know me at all,” she said softly, a tear sliding down her cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand and stood, looking at the door. “I need to get back out there and check that everything’s okay.” And she wanted to talk to Griff, too. “You can stay here if you want, or come and enjoy the charity day.”
“I’ll come.”
“Okay then.”
It was almost a surprise the pier was still full of people when she stepped outside. It felt like she’d been in the office for hours, long enough for the sun to go down and come up again. Lydia was leaning on the rail, her face serious as she caught Autumn’s glance.
“You okay?” she asked, looking warily from Autumn to their father.
“Yeah.” Autumn gave a quick nod. “Um, where did Griff go?”
