“Oh, please.” Ingrid laughs. “As if you won’t already be breaking the rules on your own. You should have gotten a two-bedroom so I could stay. Who’s going to keep you from smoking while I’m gone?”
I gape at her in mock offense. “I’ll have you know I haven’t smoked in ages.”
“About time.” Her eyes turn glossy. “So…I guess this is it, then.”
I frown at her. “Stop it. This isn’t goodbye. You’ll be here soon enough to chase summer, as always.”
She hugs me, and I squeeze her back. When her ride arrives, I walk her to the door. “I expect full reports on everything back home. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” She salutes me before shutting herself in the vehicle.
My mother calls me, almost like clockwork, as soon as I’m inside. I answer the phone. “Don’t worry. I just sent Ingrid on her way, and I’ll start packing this weekend. You’ll have your precious lake house back in no time.”
“Sebastian…” Her voice sounds softer than normal.
I frown. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She sighs. “We, um, we watched your fight. I didn’t want to, but Ingrid said she’d never come back home if we didn’t. And…well, you did really well.”
I’m speechless.
Something rustles on the other line. And then my dad speaks next. “I thought so, too, son. Well done.”
I clear my throat against the emotion clogging it. “Does this mean…?”
“We’re still not happy about you fighting, Sebastian,” my mother finishes. “And we still wish you’d come home and finish what we trained you for. But that doesn’t mean we’re not proud of you.”
“Both of us,” says Dad.
“Thank you. That means a lot,” I say.More than they realize.“I love you both.”
“We love you, too,” says Mum. “We’ll see you in June.”
When I hang up, it feels much too quiet. I’m still in disbelief that their phone call even happened, but the positive feeling floating through me is proof of it.
They’re proud of me.
Thank you, Lord.
When I’m finally done replaying that conversation over and over, I busy myself by looking up the local newspaper,The Meadow Beeand anything I can find about Elena Ferrera, which isn’t much.
I also try to find out what kind of questions she might ask so we’re prepared. Because most likely, Romilly will be nervous. So if I can, I want to keep things running smoothly. It’s almost as if my entire life has prepared me for this moment. All those times I’ve had to delight buyers at auction houses.
And here I am. Sebastian, the charmer, once again.
Chapter Thirty
ROMILLY
The first thingI notice about Elena Ferrera is that she means business. I don’t know if it’s her firm handshake or the way she gazes directly at me through the stylish glasses on her button nose. There’s a self-assuredness about her that makes me instinctively stand a little straighter.
“The Meadow Beeis so happy to have you. Paige spoke highly of you for our Small Business Spotlight. And she was right. This place is great.” She snaps a photo of me standing in the lobby with no warning.
The sharp click of the camera makes me flinch, but I recover quickly. I paste a smile on my face in case she continues taking photos—the smile that’s won a dozen pageants and mollified countless customers. “Thank you. I’m honored to partner with you.”
She snaps another photo. The flash bounces off the glass counter behind me, leaving me momentarily blinking. “I’m going to photograph the interior if you don’t mind, and then I’ll let you know when I’m done.”
“Of course.” I nod and gesture toward the grooming stations, but she’s already moved on, her camera lens trained on theteal-and-pink accent wall. Her efficiency makes me feel slightly breathless, like I need to catch up.
