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He didn’t deserve her. He probably never had.
A stronger rumble from the oncoming storm shook the apartment. Louie climbed onto Isaac’s lap and stretched across his chest. The weight was somewhere between slightly suffocating and comforting, and Isaac clung to him like a child would to a giant stuffed animal. He just wished it would make the ache in his chest go away.
Sure, he’d known leaving Delaney would be hard but never dreamed it’d affect him like this. He couldn’t sleep, barely ate, and struggled to keep focused at work. Heck, he’d nearly missed his subway stops twice last week, lost in daydreams of what could have been.
And though a week had gone by, keeping her off his mind wasn’t getting any easier. Hard to do when everywhere he looked, something reminded him of her: silver pickups, the beer in his fridge, advertisements for diners, ice cream stands, pizzerias. If he didn’t do something to shut these memories off, he worried he’d lose his mind.
Even worse, he’d not heard a peep from her. In all fairness, being the chicken he was, he hadn’t reached out to her, either. Plus, the fundraiser was less than a week away—he could only imagine how busy they all were with the preparations.
That lame excuse only made him feel worse; he should have been there, helping.
Maybe knowing that she was doing okay would help ease the pain. Surely, if she could find the strength to move on, so could he. Isaac grabbed his phone and scrolled to find her number, then stopped to think. A text out of the blue could be misinterpreted—he didn’t want to give her false hope that he was coming back. If he’d learned anything this past week, it was that him being away had left a much bigger void in M&M’s leadership team than he’d realized. As of yesterday, he’d managed to put out the biggest fires, but there were still several dozen more, smoldering and in need of his attention.
So, no, he didn’t want to mislead her any more than he already had…which had him instead choosing the only other name and number he’d kept from Bourbon Falls: Brooklyn. It took him several tries before settling on a message that sounded harmless enough.
Hey, B. You guys all ready for the big event next weekend?
Yeah.
He sighed. Teens today.Glad to hear, hope it’s a huge success.
She responded with “thanks.” Definitely not giving him much to work with. Time to stop beating around the bush.
How’s your aunt doing?
This time, her response took longer to arrive.Are you asking because you feel bad or because you still care?
Blunt as ever, but both fair questions.
Both.
Then why did you leave?
Ouch. And again, fair.Because of work.He thought for a moment, then added,
And because I’m an idiot.
That’s what she said.An emoji followed, the winking smiley face with its tongue sticking out.So what are you going to do about it?
Isaac stared at Brooklyn’s question. There it was, the fork in the road. He could either stay the course and be miserable for the foreseeable future or choose a different path in the pursuit of happiness. And man, being miserable sucked. But could he really step outside the rigid lines he’d lived within all these years and chase after what his heart wanted instead of what his mind said was right?
Wait—his heart?
Warmth that had nothing to do with Louie spread through his chest. All these years he’d been so focused on his career and getting their company off the ground that he’d never really given the notion of a serious relationship much thought. Now, it was all he could think about.
Delaneywas all he could think about.
But could he really do this? Could he find a way to strike the perfect balance between work and play? Between work and…love?
To win back a certain blue-eyed beauty in Bourbon Falls, he was willing to give it a try.
I’m going to find a way to make it right.
It was time to fight for what he wanted—forallof what he wanted. But to make it work, he would need to think outside the box, to come up with an entirely new strategy. Something that wouldn’t just help him find his way back to Del, but benefit his entire company, too.
He hadn’t just spent the last year doing everything he could to save M&M only to walk away and abandon it now.
A plan began to form in his mind, one he hadn’t considered before. One that could revive their business, correct some of their current pain points, allow for employee advancement, and position them for nationwide growth. He grabbed a notepad and pen, diagramming it out.
