“Yes to both. She was a great lady.”
She raised her head and met his gaze. “You were so special to her, Mason. She was so glad you were here.”
They held on to each other and let the grief wash over them. Robyn knew it would be a long, long time until the healing began.
* * *
Four days after losing Lillian, Harlow carefully placed teacups and saucers on the rolling cart Austin had brought up from the basement. It was just the right size to fit on the dumbwaiter, so it could be lowered to the main floor. She’d already sent down stacks of plates and nearly a dozen silver trays. Kip had offered to shine up the latter, and Salvia had set him up in the laundry room with a tub of polish and a stack of clean rags.
Harlow counted the cups and saucers, not sure how many they would need. Her mom had said they were expecting about a hundred people after the funeral, so maybe a hundred and twenty cups and saucers?
Thinking about logistics was easier than missing Lillian, although she couldn’t escape how terrible she felt every single second.
She heard footsteps in the hallway. Seconds later, Austin walked into the room. He looked awful, with dark circles under his eyes and slumped shoulders. She immediately moved toward him.
“I miss her, too,” she said, hugging him tight.
“It’s like losing Uncle Leo all over again,” he mumbled into her hair. “But worse.”
“I know.”
He stepped back and swallowed. “Mason confirmed the catering staff will be here tomorrow, three hours before the wake. Salvia was going to supervise, but Mason told her she had to go to the funeral. She worked for Lillian for nearly ten years. Mom and Mason were arguing over which of them was staying, but then Kip said he’d do it.” He gave her a faint smile. “Your guy came through.”
Harlow felt a rush of surprise and pride. “Good for him.”
“I know that means you’ll be alone at the funeral,” Austin began.
Harlow shook her head. “I’ll have you and Mom and Mason.”
She didn’t say anything about her father. She wasn’t sure she could depend on him. Sad but true.
“What?” Austin asked.
“Dad. I don’t trust him. I want to, but I can’t.”
Her brother didn’t say anything. Harlow knew he was dealing with his own disappointment when it came to their father.
She thought about everything she’d learned over the past few months. Her father’s cheating, how he’d only pretended to be interested in buying the business, claiming Zafina’s baby wasn’t his. Why did it all have to be so awful?
“I can’t work for him,” she said, fresh tears filling her eyes. “I can’t. Not now. Not like this. I’m just his kid. All that talk about me taking over the business was just a story we told ourselves.”
She wiped her cheeks. “I’m partly to blame. I expected too much. I assumed a lot, but some of it’s on him.”
“Most of it.” Her brother’s gaze was steady. “What are you going to do?”
“Work in Key West. Start over. Grow up. Maybe being away from Dad will be good for both of us. In a few years, we can talk about where we see things going with the company.”
“What about Kip?”
She drew in a breath only to realize she didn’t have an answer. “We’ve done the distance relationship before. We can do it again.”
“Things are different now. You’re engaged.”
“We’ll figure it out.” They had to. She couldn’t lose Kip, too. “I won’t be that far away. There’s the ferry from Fort Myers to Key West. We have that, or the drive. It won’t be that hard.”
Austin put his hands on her shoulders and rested his forehead against hers. “You’re lying, sis.”
“I know, but let’s pretend I’m not.” She stepped back and pointed to the cart. “Would you please get these down to Salvia?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Find Dad.”
Her father was in his room, on the phone with the office. When he saw her, he waved her in, then kept talking.
Harlow crossed to the open French doors. The past few days had been unseasonably gray and cold, as if the weather, too, mourned Lillian’s passing. She shivered slightly in the breeze, then moved back into the bedroom and sat on the bench at the foot of the bed.
As her dad concluded his call, she tried to figure out what to say. She had a feeling that whatever it was, he would be mad at her. Something she would have to deal with. She’d made up her mind and would accept the consequences.
Cord dropped his cell phone to the desk. “We’ve got to get back to the office,” he said, sounding grim. “Things are falling apart. Thank God the funeral’s tomorrow. I’m taking off after that. What about you? How long are you going to hang around here? I need you back at work, kid. I’ve been more than generous with your time off, but enough’s enough. You can mope just as easily back home.”
“Mope?” she repeated. “I’m not moping, Dad. Lillian was an important part of the family, and she died. No one’s moping.”
He held up both hands. “Sorry. Poor choice of words.”
“You think?”
She consciously drew in a deep breath and told herself to stay in her head. Giving in to emotions wouldn’t make the conversation easier. She had to remember what was important.
“I’m not coming back,” she began.
Cord glared at her. “What the hell? Are you serious? What are you going to do, sit around doing nothing? Did your mother put you up to this? I always knew she resented you working for me. She thought you should experience something more. I told her to butt out. That you and I had been planning your future since you were a kid. You belong with me.”
Harlow was on the emotional edge. Too much had happened in too short a period of time: Kip’s revelations, finding out about the business, having to figure out what to do about her career, then worst of all, losing Lillian. She had nothing left in her. No fight, no resources. She was raw and hurting, and she needed a father who understood that.
But as she stared at his angry expression, she knew that would never happen. He couldn’t see past himself. He was only the “fun parent” because he wasn’t willing to take enough responsibility to be anything else.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” she said quietly, then stood. “I’ll get you a formal letter of resignation by close of business today.”