Page 14 of Heartless
“It’s time to face the music, bro.” Ryan took a sip of his bourbon. “Things change. Evolve. Accept it and move on.”
My best friend was lying on my couch in The Blue Diamond, balancing his glass on his chest, barely using a hand to prevent it from tipping over. The stains his shoes would leave on the tapestry concerned me more, though.
“I don’t want to change anything.”
That wasn’t entirely true either. I hated the life I had, but I hated potential change even more.
“Annie’s too important. You can’t say no.”
“I know.”
“And there is no point in making it hard for Madison, too. If something goes wrong, it would put our reputation on the line.”
“Those fucking weddings will cause me too many problems.”
“Or they will solve the ones you have now.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s getting harder and harder to give our guests the privacy and the security we promise them. Have you noticed we have had more security breaches this year? And it’s not even over yet.”
That was true. It was early October. We had three more months to go until January and the number of breaches was already higher than all of last year.
“The wedding business would solve this problem.” Ryan waved a hand. “You just have to change the concept. Instead of running a resort for celebrities, you would run a luxurious wedding venue.”
“Weddings? That’s a completely different business, Ryan.”
“True. If only there was a wedding planner lurking around…”
“I don’t trust her. The Gemstone is too important for me to risk it with someone I don’t trust.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “You just want to control her and she’s proven to be a pain in the ass.”
“That too. But she’s not an employee. I can’t let her roam the property and do whatever the hell she wants.”
“Maybe you should buy the cow even if she offers the milk for free.”
I turned my head, my gaze bouncing between his face and his drink. “Are you drunk? Are you calling Madison Hartley a cow?”
And more importantly, could I make him call her that to her face? It would be hilarious.
“As per your deal, she has to plan five weddings for free. She comes and goes as she pleases and you have zero control. But,” he paused fora moment, “if you hire her, you will control her. You will hold her accountable.”
That made sense, but it wasn’t an instant win for me.
“I don’t know. It’s too much change.”
“Yeah. A pretty wonderful change, if you ask me. People get crazy around weddings. It’s a gold mine. It will also reduce the number of clients and staff. And you will have more free time.”
“And what would I do with more free time?”
“Shit. I don’t know. Get a hobby. Travel.” He looked me dead in the eye. “Live a life. You’re human, after all, even if you like to pretend that you’re not. Madison wants to fulfill her part of the deal. Does she have an agenda? I would say yes. Do you need to know what it is? Not really. Her reputation will be on the line too, so I don’t think she would do something that would damage The Gem. You can hire her to plan the five weddings you agreed upon last year. Our potential brides and grooms have the finances to pull off fast weddings, and our calendar is wide open. She will be out of here pretty soon. You just have to let her do her thing while you…figure out yours.”
Ryan was right. Madison could be gone for good pretty soon. And after wedding number five, if people still wanted to get married at The Gem and I liked the business, I could replace her with a more pleasant and manageable version. I would have some experience by then, right? If not, we could always go back to being a luxurious retreat.
The facts spoke for themselves on this one. I couldn’t say no to Annie Foster and this entire idea of turning The Gem into a wedding venue was what I had promised to do. I had been avoiding it for personal reasons, but it was the right move for the business.
“That might be the best idea you had ever had,” I said.
