“It’s in memory of an old friend.” Which isn’t a lie. It’s true.
His eyes soften as if he can relate. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Emotion clogs my throat again when I think of Rowan. “Yeah, me too.”
Me too, Andy.
Chapter 11 Rowan
Four years later…
The Overlook view stares at me in the face as I drink my morning coffee. The sun is barely peeking over the snow-capped mountains. Pinks and oranges glow against what’s left of the night sky, threatening the early morning. I’m so glad we decided to get this land and build on it. It has been the perfect spot.
LifeRight Financial has taken off. We went from a multi-million start-up to multi-billion firm in as little as four years. We’re doing so well, that if I wanted to, I wouldn’t even have to come into work. But I do because I like to do my part. Plus, I’m a little young to retire, and I enjoy working, so Gray and I have decided to only work three days a week so we can concentrate on our other endeavours.
We own a few nightclubs in Spokane now, Flamingo’s isn’t the only one anymore, and we even have our own beer company. It’s all just for fun. My life is good; I have zero complaints. Well, except one. I want to reach out to Everly. It’s been so hard not messaging her or calling her to want to celebrate every milestone in my life.
I convinced myself I would get over that. I thought I’d meet someone else by now, but I never get that feeling like I do—did—with Everly. And even when I would date people, anytime something happened, good or bad, I didn’t want to call them first; I wanted to call Everly.
But ever since our parents married, it’s turned an awkward situation into an impossible one. I think about her, and I struggle with that; even though I can’t speak for her or for what she thinks, but I know it adds a layer of ‘what the fuck’ to the already ‘what the fuck’ relationship we have.
Last time I saw her was four years ago, and even with our parents being married, she doesn’t come home for the holidays. Instead, she waits until I’m gone to come home, so now we have this unspoken arrangement that we have fallen into. She goes there Christmas Eve; I go there Christmas Day. Honestly, now that I think about it, I have no idea how it happened. I guess we are still that good at figuring out one another.
I never have and never will think of her as my stepsister. We are adults, and we were adults when our parents married. We can’t help what happened in the past, and to be honest, even after all these years, I still hold a grudge. I’m still mad. I shouldn’t be. I should grow out of it and move on, but the thought still makes me irate.
Now that I’m older, I realize I don’t want someone in my life that would just walk out so easily, friend or not. I don’t need people like that in my life. It will not benefit me or make me a better person or improve my life. It will bring me down, and that’s exactly what Everly Madison does.
My heart aches when I think of her, but it isn’t as bad since it’s been so long. It seems like the friendship didn’t even happen.
Even if the picture in the drawer says otherwise.
“Knock, knock.” Gray thumps on the door frame and leans against it in his fancy suit.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I clear my throat and run my hand down my tie. I don’t know why I started wearing these damn things. I hate them. I always end up taking them off by the end of the day because they’re so uncomfortable.
“You’re here early.”
“Yeah, couldn’t sleep. It’s a big day.” I roll the chair closer to my desk and look at the clock. In less than an hour, we have a conference call with investors from China and Japan. We are trying to go international, and while we don’t have to because we do really well in the United States, we want the company to keep growing.
He struts into the room with his hand in his pockets and sits down. “Is the Rowan Michaels nervous?” he smirks.
“Hell yeah, I am. If they say no, it won’t look good for the company.”
“We are the number one new financial service in America, Rowan. I don’t think the company will take a hard hit.”
“I know, you’re right. You’re right.”
He sits his feet on my desk, crossed at the ankle, stating cockily, “I know. I’m always right.”
It was his idea four years ago to make this building bigger than I wanted. We were still new, still growing, and I had no idea what I was doing, but Gray had all the faith in the world with this company. He wanted to make the building ten stories tall.
We fought about it every day. It even caused issues with breaking ground. The construction company started to get frustrated with all the delays, so I caved and told them to listen to whatever Gray wanted. My fear kept holding me back, and Gray never seemed to have any.
Here we are, four years later. Every story is full. There are no more offices. If anything, we need to expand. We’ve already bought the property next to us, and we plan on adding an additional ten-story building soon. Gray’s instincts were right, so now I never question him. His lack of fear is what is so great for this company. This company wouldn’t be where it is if it wasn’t for him.
“You’re not wrong,” I concede, loosening my tie and yanking it off. I unbutton the top of my shirt and let out a breath. “That’s so much better.”
“I don’t know why you try and wear those things. You have such a relaxed dress
