I almost smiled. “Chad.”
“Done. He's a dead man,” Dad announced. When I didn't respond, he leaned forward, his glasses catching the last of the day's light. “What happened? You two have a fight?”
“I caught him cheating.” The words were fire in my mouth. Each one burned just a little bit more.
Dad stayed silent for a moment before leaving the chair to join me on the floor. “I'm sorry, Ava. I really am.” I could tell he was fighting the impulse to go bury Chad.
“It was with Charity.”
“The waitress?” He frowned, tightening his fists and looking dangerous. Then he just looked tired. “That explains why he always insisted we eat there. I hate that restaurant. They never put enough salt on the fries.”
“I can't believe I was so stupid...”
“No, no, Ava,” Dad scolded me gently. He put his arm around me. I felt a little bit better. At least I had one man in my life I could depend on. “He's the stupid one. I can't say that I ever particularly liked him, but I knew how you felt about him. I'll fire him first thing in the morning.”
“You can't, Dad,” I informed him. I wished to heaven he could. I wanted that son-of-a-bitch as far away from me as possible. I groaned. I was going to have to see him at work. “He hasn't done anything wrong as far as his job goes.”
“I'll ask your aunt. Heaven knows she can find fault in anything,” Dad offered. He gave me a squeeze.
“She won't do it,” I told him, wishing he could just squeeze the ache out of me. “He's her best auctioneer. Especially with the job coming up, she won't do it.”
Dad sighed. He knew I was right. Up until now, Chad and I had been the perfect couple to take over the business when Dad and Aunt Jenny retired. Not any more. Everything I had planned on was now gone. I had no idea what was going to happen next.
“So, I'm not allowed to commit murder, and you won't let me fire him...” Dad mused, trying to make me smile. “Can I at least demote him to a crappy desk?”
I gave my best approximation of a laugh. “The smallest one. Away from the window.”
“Done,” Dad promised. I sniffled and he wrapped his other arm around me. “I wish I could make you feel better. I hate seeing you upset.”
“I'm still tempted on letting you murder him,” I replied. He chuckled and I rested my head against his big chest. “It's not fair, Dad. I had such good news and now it's all ruined.”
“You can tell me the good news,” he offered.
I fiddled with a strand of hair, playing with the dark red tress like a toy. Dad had once claimed the same shade, but now his was a distinguished silver. I sighed. Maybe telling Dad the good news would make me feel better, or at least distract me from the soul crushing betrayal that had me pinned to the floor.
“I got a phone call at the office today,” I started. Dad nodded. He and his sister were the proud owners of Fairchild Auctions and Appraisals. Dad and I did all the appraisals while my aunt handled the auction side. “It was from Sebastian Belrose's assistant.”
“Sebastian Belrose? One of the guys who run the Kindling Romance dating website?” Dad asked, sounding a little awestruck.
“Yeah,” I answered. “How do you know who he is?”
“Just because I deal in antiques doesn't mean I don't know what is going on in the modern world,” he justified. “I actually saw his name in the financial section of the paper this morning. What did he want?”
I wiped at my nose. This was good news, not news that I should cry about. “He wants to hire us.”
Dad's eyes went wide with excitement. “That's fantastic!” Then he remembered why I was sitting on the floor crying and tamped his enthusiasm down a little. “And you went to go tell Chad?”
I nodded, a fresh wave of tears rolling down my face. “I was going to tell him that Mr. Belrose hired us to appraise his mansion in the Caribbean and to put it up for auction. It's the biggest job we've ever gotten,” I said, still sobbing.
“Oh, sweetie, that's great” Dad whispered, hugging me close. “When does he want us to go?”
“Dad!” I wailed.
“Sorry, sorry,” he quickly apologized. “You breaking up with your boyfriend takes precedence. Sorry.”
He let me sob for awhile, just holding me and letting me get it out of my system. I knew he hated it when I cried, but I couldn't stop. I hadn't been enough for Chad and it made even my bones hurt.
“You going to be okay?” Dad asked when I finally stopped gasping for air. He brushed the hair out of my face and looked me over, checking my face for cracks like I was a valuable vase someone had dropped.
“No,” I said shaking my head. “But you and I will be going to the Caribbean in two months, so that will probably help. Mr. Belrose, or rather his assistant, will be sending all the details tomorrow, but you and I will go out and appraise everything in the house and then Aunt Jenny will run the auction.”
Dad grinned and then promptly tried to cover it up. He hugged me tight, nearly squishing all the remaining air from my lungs. I let him. This was the job that would save our business. He deserved to be happy for a moment, especially given everything that had happened in the past five years.
“It will work out, sweetie,” Dad promised. “Things always do.”
Chapter 2
I took a deep breath in, closing my eyes and taking it all in. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long palm-tree shaped shadows on the white sand walkway. Humid, warm air filled my lungs and it was like breathing in pure happiness. A trip to the Caribbean was exactly the thing I needed, even if it was a work trip. The sky was still blue, but the clouds were starting to bronze and crisp with color on the edges. The trees danced on a gentle breeze carrying the smell of ocean salt. I felt warm for the first time in weeks and like things were actually going my way.
That isn't to say I wasn't nervous. My palms were sweating and I was glad I had put on an extra swipe of deodorant before getting off the plane, but it was a good kind of stress. The kind that led to good things happening instead of feeling like I was constantly having to play catch-up.
I glanced over at my Dad, noticing he was just as anxious as I was. He rubbed at his shoulder, and despite the grin on his face, I could still see the tension in his jaw. I grinned back, knowing that my expression mirrored his.
The house in front of us was huge. No, I corrected myself, house isn't the right word. Mansion is closer. Even the word mansion still felt too small for the building in front of us. The entrance was immense and imposing with clean lines and a modern feel. Glass and soft white stone gleamed in the setting sun, promising a wealth of treasure past the huge wooden doors.