Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Senior staff. I sit a little taller as pride washes over me.
“Do you know what my favorite thing about you is, Pippa?”
“No.”
“You don’t take any shit. You know what you want and aren’t scared to go for it. No one better get in your way.”
Really? “Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say.”
My mind scans through all of the things in my life that haven’t felt that way at all.
Choosing to forgo med school. Telling my parents. Telling Greg. Taking a job with a matchmaking company even though I had no background in the field and it didn’t pay extremely well.
Moving to Kismet Beach and into a small apartment that needs more work than I can put into it. Putting myself out there with the project proposal at work.
The fear of giving things with Jess a try.
I don’t know who Bridgit thinks I am, but I have to disagree.
“Have you confirmed the details for the retreat?” she asks.
“Well, yes and no. I’ve talked to my ex-husband, and he’s willing to give it a try.”
She grins.
I turn toward my computer screen. “I’ve been playing around this morning with different options to see what makes the most sense.” I open a spreadsheet and enlarge it. “The leading contenders are Silver Springs, like we talked about, or this little place outside of Miami.”
“What are you leaning toward? I personally liked Silver Springs. It’s centrally located and there are a lot of different options we can explore.”
“I agree. But here’s the catch …” I highlight two columns. “Everything in Silver Springs is booked for a month, more or less, starting this weekend. Carrington, the place by Miami, has options available next weekend.”
“Oh.”
I swivel around to face her. “This won’t be a problem once we solidify our packages. I’ve been in contact with a few proprietors in each area, and they’re more than willing to work with us on reserving rooms as needed. But, for right now, this is what we’re looking at.”
She places her elbow on the armrest and thinks. “I really think Silver Springs is the way to go.”
I shrug.
“Are there openings this week?” she asks.
“Yes. All week until the weekend.”
“So you could go tomorrow?”
What? “Yeah, I mean, if I’m not coming to work.”
“What about your ex-husband? What’s his name again?”
“Jess.”
“Oh, sexy name.”
I laugh.
“Okay, well, is there any way Jess can take off this week?” She groans. “That’s so inconsiderate of me to ask. Who can take time off work last minute? Who am I kidding?” She sits up. “I guess we try Carrington next weekend.”
I point at her, shaking my finger. “You know what? You’re right. It’s totally inconvenient and asinine to ask someone to take a few days off work midweek—at the last second, no less. But let me just ask Jess. He probably won’t be able to, but you never know.”
Her eyes light up. “That would be amazing. If you could talk to him and let me know what happens. If it’s a no-go, let’s book Carrington. I think our demand for Carrington will be much less based on our demographic, but we have to get some sort of experience with this under our belt.”
“I agree. I’ll ask him and let you know.”
She stands. “If he can go this week, just book the appointment and we’ll consider it a paid vacation.” She heads to the door. “You’ve earned it, Pippa.”
Wow. “Thanks, Bridgit. I truly appreciate it.”
“And I appreciate you.” She bends forward and whispers, “And thanks for not getting me into a lawsuit by knocking out Chuck. For heaven’s sake, he’s a piece of work. We have to find a legal way to get him out of here.”
I smile.
She twists the knob. “Oh, one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I know Jess isn’t your ex-husband.”
My jaw drops to the table. “You do?”
“I knew what you were doing, and I can’t blame you. It’s also none of my business if you’re married or not.”
Oh, fuckety fuck!
“Wow. Bridgit, I’m sorry about all of that.” I frown, my stomach tightening. “That kind of defeats the point of me going on the trip, don’t you think?”
She looks at the flowers and laughs. “Absolutely not. This man sent you flowers. You look like you’ve had a very refreshing weekend.” She winks. “I’m curious to see what happens. If this concept of yours can work on people not in a relationship, that makes me even more confident that it can work on people already committed. And, think about it—new marketing angle. Not only is this for couples in trouble, but also people considering a relationship. It’s smart.”
I don’t know what to say to that. Exhaling the stress I’ve carried on my shoulders for the past two weeks feels like a million bucks.
“Let me know about this week.” She smiles and leaves, closing the door behind her.
It takes me a few minutes to get myself together before I find my cell phone. Jess picks up in three rings.