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Much to my surprise, she pulled the tissue paper out, looked inside, and froze. My heart was pounding in my chest as I waited for her to respond. Would this do it? Would she finally start talking to me?
“Why did you get me this?”
“It reminded me of you.”
Rhea pulled the stuffed praying mantis out of the bag, shifted her eyes between it and me several times. She swallowed hard and rasped, “I… I have to get home, so I can get to work on time.”
It hadn’t exactly been the reaction I was hoping for, but that edge of vulnerability was enough for me to believe I’d made some progress. “Right. Right, sorry. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
She offered a curt nod in return, allowed her gaze to linger on me for a moment, and turned around to get in her car. I didn’t get into mine until she drove off.
One week.
I’d made it through one week of being patient, meeting Rhea for a run every morning, and getting absolutely nowhere on the expansion project front.
Even if I was finding myself enjoying every second of the time I had with her throughout the week, I still needed to give my brothers an update.
Earlier this morning, following my run with Rhea, I got myself to work, did a few things in my office, and decided to head over to The Westwood Hotel, where I’d just learned Cooper was.
He wasn’t going to be the least bit thrilled with this news. Then again, whenever there was anything that happened within the company that didn’t go smoothly, Cooper was rarely a delight to be around. I wouldn’t go so far as to say my brother was perpetually angry, but he certainly became irritated when stuff happened that would delay him completing the work he needed to get done.
It was about an hour before lunch when I walked into the hotel, and it took me a matter of seconds to spot Ivy behind the front desk. Though my sister technically hadn’t graduated from college yet, she had managed to work her schedule so that she’d have a class first thing on Friday mornings, and nothing again until Monday. It worked out great, because the hotel was busiest on the weekends, and since the hotel was going to be Ivy’s sole responsibility once she graduated from college, it was a good thing she was getting the practice now.
Ivy spotted me not long after I’d started moving in her direction, lifting her hand to wave at me.
Not wanting to block the way for guests to be able to check in, I moved toward the end of the desk and waited for my sister to finish what she was doing. Westwood’s had staff all over the campus, and the hotel was no different. So, once Ivy finished up with a guest, the other staff members took over, and she moved in my direction.
“Hey, Wyatt. What’s going on?” she greeted me.
“Not much. How was school?” I asked.
She groaned. “Mostly just a formality at this point. I have seven weeks and two days left, and I’m so ready to be done with it.”
“The time is going to fly,” I promised her. “Then you’ll be here full time, dealing with all the headaches that come along with having a job in the real world.”
Ivy cocked a brow. “Headaches? Is there something I need to know?”
I shook my head. “No. I was just speaking in general terms.”
Not buying my explanation, she noted, “And yet you’re here in my hotel instead of in your office across the campus.”
She didn’t miss a beat. Of course, it wasn’t as though I intended to keep anything from her. “I heard Cooper was over here working, and I need to give him an update on the expansion project delay.”
A worried look washed over her face. “I heard about the response you got on that. Are you making any headway on it?”
I inhaled deeply and sighed. “Maybe. But it’s not happening as quickly as I’m accustomed to.”
“Really? What’s the holdup? Is there anything I can do to help?” my sister questioned me.
In any other situation, I might have welcomed Ivy’s offer. This was one of those instances where I was positive less was more. If I showed up at Rhea’s ice cream shop with my sister, any progress I might have wanted to convince myself I was making would have gone right out the window.
So, I shook my head again and answered, “No. I think I’ll eventually be successful, but this one just happens to need a bit more time to finesse. Rhea’s guarded, so I need to be careful how hard I push, and I can’t do it too quickly.”
“Rhea? You’re on a first name basis with this woman?”
I shrugged, trying to brush it off. “I’m not sure it’s any different than any of the men I’ve worked with.”
Ivy sent a look my way that indicated she didn’t believe a word coming out of my mouth. “Really? So, is this Rhea the matriarch of the Marks Dairy Farm?”
