Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“But—”
“Oh, I did marry, of course, and raised a wonderful family, but I let my true love get away.”
Josie wondered if she was giving up too easily. Was she not fighting for the one thing worth fighting for?
In her silence, Mathilda spoke softly. “I checked Malcolm’s flight. It’s been delayed. I bet you could just make it if you left now.”
She laughed then, glad for the sensation in a body and a heart that had been clenched so tightly all day. “You mean race to the airport? Like in the movies?”
Mathilda’s smile was warm and wise. “I think you deserve your happy ending, don’t you?”
A tear escaped as Josie nodded. Yes.
“Tom,” Mathilda called in her firm tone, “Josie needs a ride to the airport.” When Tom appeared, car keys in hand, his grandmother added, “And step on it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Josie had never done anything like this. Risked everything on love. Odds were that Malcolm’s plane would have taken off by the time she got there. If so, she had her passport with her and a credit card. She’d buy a ticket on the next flight. That’s what she’d do.
If he didn’t feel the same way, she’d cope. On the way to the airport, she called Mari and explained the situation. “Mathilda said she could run one day of the reading retreat if you could do the others. I just really need to tell Malcolm how much I love him and that he needs to choose me over New Zealand.”
But while the odds didn’t seem to be in her favor, she’d never be able to live with herself if she didn’t at least try. Try to show him how much he meant to her. That he had come, in such a short amount of time, to mean absolutely everything. Yes, she’d find a way to move on with her life if he didn’t feel the same way. But her love for him would always be front and center. She knew that with utter certainty.
There would be no forgetting Malcolm Sullivan. Not even the slightest chance.
Tom dropped her off at Departures and wished her luck. She nodded, too choked up to speak, then ran into the terminal.
Please let it not be too late.
She tried to call Malcolm, but his phone was off. No doubt he was already on the plane, flying away from her.
* * *
Malcolm felt the delay of his flight like a reprieve. For two more hours, he’d be in the same country as Josie. Even as he tried to refocus, he saw Genevieve quietly typing away. She’d created most of the slide deck with little input from him.
The words of Thoreau floated back to him. Things do not change; we change. The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.
Everything Josie had been trying to tell him was right there. How much of his life had he exchanged for money, power, prestige, write-ups in the Financial Times? And how much was he going to keep giving away? Including Josie?
A sudden urgency bloomed in his chest. He’d hurt Josie this morning—he knew that. At the first test, he’d done what he’d vowed not to do. He’d run away from her. From them.
“Genevieve,” he said, startling her. “I’m not going with you to New Zealand.”
Her brows rose in understandable surprise, seeing as they were waiting for their flight to board.
“You’re the one who’s been managing this project,” he said. “You can do this. You can see it through.”
She looked gratified, but reminded him, “Kieran’s expecting you.”
“But when I tell him that you’re the one who’s been doing all the work on this, and when he sees your presentation at the board meeting, he’ll know you’re the better person for the job.” He paused. “Is there anything I could say that would make you stay in New Zealand for a year?”
She gazed at him for a moment. “Make me an equity partner.”
Just like that, he knew she was ready to take on the lead role in his business. She’d played a winning card and done it at exactly the right moment. He was proud of her.
“Done. We’ll get the lawyers to work out an agreement.” He held out his hand. “Partner.”
She shook his firmly, keeping her smile in check. “Partner.”
“Now I really have to go.”
He jumped up and headed into the main terminal. He couldn’t wait for his driver. He’d get a cab back to Elderflower Island. He couldn’t wait to see Josie’s face. He only hoped she didn’t slap his.
He was racing through the airport when a bookshop caught his eye, and he detoured inside.
* * *
Josie didn’t know what to do. The Departures display said that Malcolm’s flight was boarding, and he still had his phone off. She’d been too late to buy a ticket for the flight. She’d have to buy a ticket for the next one. She might have her passport and credit card, but no way was she going to sit for hours on a plane without a book. She headed for the WHSmith and then stopped, gaping, as she nearly bumped into the man coming out of the bookstore.