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Abrupt would be a good word for it. But I can think of another.”

He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’m not going to have much of a private life in the next few months and I don’t believe I’ll have the time I’d like to devote to you.”

Oh hell, now she felt tears burning at the corners of her eyes. And she absolutely refused to show him how weak she was. “Then I guess you’re right. We should end this now.”

It was his turn to pause.

Isn’t as much fun to be on the receiving end, is it?

“Then we’re in agreement.” His voice had taken on a cool tone she’d never heard from him before. “We had a great time together, but we both need to focus on our careers at the moment. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

At Jared and Annabelle’s wedding, she assumed he meant.

“Have you told Jared you’re not going to sign the boutique contract?”

Oh, this man made her furious. “No. I’ll speak to Jared tonight. He’s with Annabelle. I saw his car parked at the shop when I drove by.”

Little did he know exactly what she planned to tell Jared. She had a plan forming. One she’d thought to discuss with Tyler—before he’d dumped her, that was.

“Kate . . .”

“Yes?” She let her sarcasm run free in that one word. When he paused again, she knew he’d heard it.

“I’m sorry this didn’t work out. You’re a special woman and I’ve come to care about you. You’re going to make a wonderful costume designer.”

Damn him. If he didn’t stop talking now, she was going to cry.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to say, “Thank you. Good-bye, Tyler.”

And she hung up before he could say anything more.

She wanted to throw her phone across the room, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything other than a trip to the mall to buy a new phone.

Tears wanted to flow but she blinked them back. She refused to shed tears over this.

She was mad. Furious.

He hadn’t wanted to fight. He’d just assumed the worst, cut his losses, and run.

Overbearing, manipulative—

No. Now who was being unfair?

Had she told him she loved him? No, she hadn’t.

Had she fought for him? No.

Would it have made a difference? She had to believe, yes, it would.

She picked up the phone and dialed.

“Hey, Annabelle. Can I talk to Jared?”

Eighteen

“Hello, sweetheart, I’m so glad to see you. It’s been a while.”

Tyler hid a grimace as he walked into his parents’ home. “Hey, Mom. I know it’s been a while. Sorry. There’s been a lot going on.”

“Oh, I know that. I wasn’t trying to lay a guilt trip.” Shutting the door behind her, she wrapped him in a tight hug then waved him through to the sitting room where he saw his father sitting on the couch.

“Dad, I need to talk to you.”

His mom stopped in the doorway. “Would you like me to—”

“No, Mom, stay. Please.”

His father put down the newspaper. “What’s up, Tyler? Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

“Yes, I have. I’ve decided I don’t want the chair.”

His parents exchanged a look he couldn’t decipher before his dad turned back to him. “I understand. I’m—”

“But I want the Philadelphia GoldenStar.”

His dad’s mouth quirked into a grin as he exchanged another one of those looks with his mom. “And how do you plan to sell that deal to the board?”

“I don’t. I’ve read Granddad’s will backward and forward. There’s nothing in the will that says once I take the chair, I can’t sell the chain.”

His dad nodded. “You’re absolutely right. There isn’t.”

“Granddad made sure that if the family wanted to keep the Philly GoldenStar, we could. Vasser will bitch a little but he already has a hotel in Philadelphia. He doesn’t need another.”

His father’s grin started to spread. “That’s also true.”

“Vasser only wants the European hotels, but he knew the board wouldn’t split the assets.”

“Yes, that’s what I believe too.”

“And you knew I’d only really want the Philly hotel.”

Smiling outright now, his father nodded again. “Yes, I did.”

“Jesus, Dad, then why all the dramatics? Why the hell didn’t you just tell me to sell the damn chain and keep the Philly hotel?”

Now his dad lost the smile. “Because it had to be your decision, Tyler. Not mine. What if I’d sold the chain and you decided you wanted it? No, this was the only way it could work.”

Tyler tried to find the flaw in his dad’s logic but couldn’t. Which just pissed him off more. Not at his dad but at himself.

“I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out sooner.”

“Would it have made a difference?” his mom asked as she sat next to his dad and took his hand. The outward display of affection was so unusual from his parents it took him back for a few seconds before he thought about his mom’s questions.

Would it? Would he have done anything differently?

Would he have pushed Kate away?

“Tyler?” His mom sounded worried. “Did something happen?”

Yeah. He’d fucked up. Royally.

He looked his mom straight in the eyes. “How did he get you to forgive him?”

His mom’s eyebrows arched in shock before she began to nod. “There was more than enough blame to go around, in our case. Still, your dad apologized and told me he couldn’t live without me. We had to forgive each other so we could move forward.”

He thought about that all the way from his parents’ house on the Main Line to Haven in center city.

He needed a plan. But first he had to get through the rest of the folders on his desk. Several hundred files that he needed to go through before he met with the GoldenStar board of directors on Monday. He needed to have all of his ducks in a row when he dealt with them.

But the one duck he truly wanted, he’d already shot out of the water.

* * *

Friday afternoon, Tyler would have gladly shot his brother after he walked into his private office on the fourth floor.

“You’re a coward,” Jed said. “I know I’ve said that before, but this time, you threw away something amazing because you think you’re going to lose Kate anyway. Fucked-up logic, if you ask me.”

Tyler didn’t bother to look up. His eyes burned, his head hurt, and he had an ache in the pit of his stomach that wouldn’t go away and that he refused to acknowledge.

Jed dropped into the chair on the opposite side of his desk, forcing himself into Tyler’s field of vision. He stopped reading long enough to glare at his brother before transferring his attention back to the file.

“So what’s the plan?” Jed continued. “Bury yourself in work for a few years before you decide it’s time to find another woman? Or are you just planning to skip to the spinster uncle stage? You do know you’re an idiot, too, right?”

Yes, he knew he was an idiot, but he wasn’t about to give Jed any more ammunition by admitting it. And he didn’t have the time to argue.

“What are you doing here besides bothering me? Where’s Annabelle? I’m sure she’d be happy to see you.”

Jed grinned. “I know she’d be happy to see me. But I have an early meeting tomorrow so I figured I’d stay here for the night. I’m heading back as soon as I can.”

“Everything okay at the Spa?”

“Yep.”

“Do you need me for anything?”

“Nope.”

“Then what the hell are you still doing here?”

“Apparently annoying you.”

“Jed, I’ve got a hell of a lot of files to—”