Page 6 of Never Finished

I shook my head, even though I'd imagined those very scenarios countless times before. Unbeknownst to Charlie or Emma, I’d imagined a million different dream lives shared with her in the years since she left. Maybe I was a masochist, but I couldn't stop myself. However, in this moment, I recognized I needed get a hold of myself because this was getting ridiculous. I was a grown man pining after a dream that never came true.

"Look, I know you don't agree with me," Charlie started, "but you can cut yourself some slack and not give yourself whiplash every time you see a redhead walk through the door. You and I both know the likelihood of Emma Carter coming back to Silverpine is a million-to-one."

Maybe he was right. I heard through the grapevine she’d only visited a handful of times, and that was just to see her mother. But since Lydia Carter passed away a couple of years ago, nobody had seen or heard from Emma Carter.

According to the gossip mill, she worked her way up the ranks of the family business and was now considered her father's right-hand woman, set to take over as CEO when her father retires. That thought left me with mixed feelings. I was proud of her for accomplishing so much in such a short time, and I knew well enough to know she’d earned it. Mr. Carter didn't hand out anything to anyone, not even his only child. She had a knack for talking to people and getting them to see her point of view.

However, knowing she worked so closely with a man who despised me from the moment we met simply because I was an immigrant and didn’t come from a wealthy family irritated me. I had to remind myself that it’s where she wanted to be—where she chose to be—and I didn’t have to like it.

Someday, I wouldn't have to humble myself by working for the company, and the man who ruined my life. Someday I would have a bar of my own, with my own signature recipes a warm family vibe to it. I had to keep my eye on the prize. Right now, every spare dollar I had was paying for mom's in-home nurse. But once I got more established, I'd be able to save a little more and figure out a way to get out of this hold Pine Crest and Emma Carter had on me.

Emma

I'd stayed up late the night before on the phone with Abby and Caroline as they tried to talk me down.

I felt bolstered as I drove towards Silverpine, though that resolve took some hard hits as I saw familiar sites. The last time I’d been in this town was to lay my mother to rest. As soon as I shook the hand of the final well-wisher at her funeral, I got my ass out there so fast, I'm pretty sure I made a few heads spin.

There was something simultaneously comforting and haunting about breathing in the pines as I moved closer to Silverpine. As much as I liked LA and all it offered, there was no match for the beauty of my hometown. What I hadn't admitted to Caroline or Abby was that I dreamed about this place often. And in my dreams, I could feel the cool, autumn air against my skin, smell the scent of fresh pines tickling my nose, and hear the birdsong in the trees.

But inevitably that dream would take me to one of two places, both of which left me shaking and upset—I would either hear my mother's voice telling me goodbye for the last time or I would see the look of betrayal on Jaime's face when I told him I couldn’t turn my back on my family.

That look haunted me for twelve years. And I wished I’d found a better way to explain to him back then that turning my back on my family really meant turning my back on my mother. My father made that ultimatum clear. I wasn't worried about leaving behind the Carter fortune—it was the furthest thing from my mind. But I knew that with all his power and money, my father would cut me off from my mother and I knew deep in my bones we needed each other. We were all the other had for many years and I couldn’t choose Jaime over her, no matter how much I cared for him.

My anxiety over how I was going to cope with being back at Pine Crest was quickly forgotten because my phone would not stop buzzing.

I'd spent most of the drive to Silverpine on the phone with my father's secretary, Anita. Apparently, what started as a simple business dinner between me and Andrew Travers turned into a formal appreciation event for our most loyal investors. The event would be held in the lounge at the resort and the event planners would take care of all the details. I just had to show up and make the rounds.

I didn't understand why the plan changed so dramatically, but Anita explained my father felt if Andrew Jr. could see me work my magic with the investors we’d had already won over, then it would put him more at ease about the pending merger he had with our company. According to my father, I was to be the belle of the ball and show off like a peacock.

I hated it when he said things like that, and I hated showing off even more. Unlike my father, I treated everyone with respect, when earned, and I often found our clients and investors wanted it better than they gave it. Much to my dismay, my father was a social climber and treated our business as a means to an end. One day, I would be in charge, and would instill my mother’s gentle touch in everything we did. But until then, I’d have to play by his rules.

The upside to this change of plans was that when I arrived at Pine Crest, I wouldn’t have time to worry about painful memories. I'd barely stepped out of my rental BMW in the valet line when the head event planner, Linda, hurried towards me from the front entrance, grinning at me broadly. "Miss Carter! We are so delighted to have you home," she said, shaking my hand enthusiastically.

I smiled at her tightly. "Thank you, me too," I lied.

"I know you must be tired from your drive and all the hard work you've been doing for the company, but Mr. Carter asked me to get your help ironing out some details about our event tonight before you get too settled in."

I kept a smile pasted on my face. "Of course," I said inwardly, recoiling at the thought.

I hoisted my laptop bag over my shoulder and followed Linda inside the familiar halls of the resort.

It hadn't changed all that much. It was still pristine, the rich wood floors clean as if they’d just been polished that morning, and knowing the standards our management set at the resort, they probably had been. Off to the right was The Lounge, our premier restaurant and bar, where we often held large gatherings and other formal events, and tonight it would be my little purgatory.

Remember to stay positive, Emma, a voice inside my head that sounded suspiciously like Abby said.

Something made me pause and stare at the bar, though it wasn’t open at this hour of the morning. I'd heard through the grapevine that Jaime had been working as a bartender for the last several years. From what I gathered, he’d developed a reputation as one of the best mixologists this side of the Rockies.

That was no surprise to me. Anything Jaime put his mind to, he excelled at. He was just one of those obnoxiously gifted people.

"Miss Carter?" Linda prompted me.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me. I'm just a little tired."

"It's understandable. Can I get you something to drink, perhaps some coffee, before we sit down and talk?"

I shook my head, and she led me to a couch in The Lounge where she filled my ear with details about the event.

When she was done information dumping, I politely excused myself, "I appreciate your help with this Linda, but I need to go up to my room and refresh myself with the Travers’ files," I said, with a conspiratorial smile. "Showtime will be upon us soon," I said with a wink before I hurried out of there and headed to the family suite.