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Chapter 23
Oliver
After recovering from my shock at hearing Miranda Miles’s distinctive voice here in Longdale, I realize I have to pull away from Sophie. I so don’t want to. And I’m still holding the spoon. It’s bent and scratched, but I’m struck with a huge sense of nostalgia and longing.
Miranda is dressed in a black and white business suit that reminds me of something my mother would wear. That makes sense since she’s a childhood friend of my mother’s. She twists her mouth to one side and glances down at the spoon. Neither Sophie nor I have said anything yet and it’s getting a little awkward.
I start gesturing with it. “Miranda? It’s good to see you. What brings you to Longdale?”
Sophie takes a step away from me. One hand is kneading her side.
“My assistant didn’t call you?” Miranda shudders and groans. “Well, I did fire him shortly after I told him to reach out, so maybe he didn’t do it.”
If memory served, Miranda had a habit of going through personal assistants like breath mints.
“No. I didn’t hear anything from him.” I pause. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“I realize this is very late in the workday, but I had a last-minute trip to see my parents in Sacramento, so I thought I’d take a jaunt up here and meet with you in person.” She holds up a satchel, which I’m assuming contains real estate stuff.
Real estate stuff. For my residence in Capri.
I turn to Sophie. “Sophie, this is Miranda Miles. She’s one of the real estate agents we work with. Miranda, this is Sophie Lawson, a dear friend.” I wish I could introduce her as my girlfriend, but we still haven’t defined what we have.
Miranda laughs. “One of? My, you like to try to humble me, huh, Oliver?” She extends her hand to shake Sophie’s. “Oliver’s buying a house in Capri. I’ve narrowed it down to a couple and need his feedback. Real estate there is extremely competitive and done mostly by word of mouth.”
I stammer, my head growing full of heat and confusion. “I asked Miranda to start looking there for me a couple of months ago,” I tell Sophie. “She’s an expat living in Europe.”
Miranda nods, and places a hand on a hip. “It’s so exclusive, you can’t buy your way into Capri. You have to ease your way in, you know?”
“Ifit ever comes up.” I shrug, willing Sophie to understand that things have shifted for me. I can see the wariness in her eyes. “And most people who live there want to pass their property on to a family member rather than sell. You were saying a lot of wanna-be buyers lose interest in the process before they even get anything.”
“But not Oliver Tate,” Miranda assures. She turns to Sophie, but her gaze keeps going to mine. “I think what makes the Tates so good at business is they are patient.”
“Sounds like she knows you guys really well,” Sophie says, opening her car door again and placing her bag in the front seat.
“I guess so, but I may have had a change of plans, Miranda—” I start, not sure what I should do, or even what I should think. Things are so tenuous with Sophie.
“I say we order some food and go over all of this tonight,” Miranda says.
I glance over at Sophie, wanting more than anything to tell Miranda I can’t. “Miranda, why don’t we get you set up in a room at the resort for the night. We’re not fully operational yet, but we do have some comp rooms.” I shift my attention to Sophie, hoping Miranda will take the hint and leave. “Sorry, just a second,” I tell Sophie. “I’ll ask Sebastian about a room for you before I go home, Miranda. The real estate can wait until business hours tomorrow.”
Miranda shakes her head. “But by the time we meet tomorrow and discuss everything, their business day will almost be over. It’s in the middle of the night there right now.” She yawns and places the back of her hand over her mouth. “I’m exhausted myself. But we have to get a jump on this, so they see your offer first thing.”
Before I can respond, I hear Sophie’s driver’s side door close. She’s behind the wheel, and her stiff smile about does me in. She rolls down the Corolla’s passenger side window. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Oliver. It was nice meeting you, Miranda.” And before I can stop her, she’s driving away.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. I was supposed to thank her for saving that spoon and tell her she’s my world. Everything else that I thought was my world before just took a backseat.
My insides chill. Miranda made it sound like I’ve got one foot in the door in Capri—like it’s only a few formalities until I have a house there.
A dream I’ve had for years—of having a house there—tastes like ashes on my tongue now. As excited as I used to be about that prospect, now I only want it if Sophie’s there with me.
Chapter 24
Sophie
I’m at my kitchen table, staring at the last three designs I’ve sketched over and over again. Nothing is turning out quite right. I’m so out of my league here.
I decided to work on the resort library project at home tonight instead of Oliver’s fancy set up he made for me.
