2.8 | Miles Away

04 | Closing In (I)

A / N

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One more to go.

x Noelle

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C L O S I N G   I N

(part one)

CAVERLY: POPULATION 10,000.

Home to about twenty businesses, ten franchises, five apartment complexes (including Blue Haven), two high schools and a college. In its prime, Caverly had once been a hotspot for tourists because of its beaches. Pearl white sand, deep blue waves and perfect weather all year round. Even during winter, when temperatures plummeted, the beaches were still warm during daytime and bathed in sunlight.

That was a long time ago. In the time that had passed since, the neighboring city had opened up, which meant more job opportunities and better housing that attracted residents here. The unspoken rule of Caverly was simple:

If you wanted a bright future, leave.

So anyone who wanted to be anyone had left this town for the city. All that remained were the old, the young and...well, people like me. For years after that, Caverly had struggled—its businesses were on a steady decline, many apartments went un-lived in, and even its schools suffered a shortage of attendants.

But that all changed when Brielle Winters (now Flores) moved back to town. The Winters owned a large portion of Caverly, which gave her the legal right to make sweeping changes to many things. And, believe me, it was a lot of things. When the dust had settled, Caverly no longer had a bad reputation, Sereinn Beach Resort had drawn tourists back to the beach, and this town was flourishing once again.

...until now.

I bit my lip and stared at the screen in front of me. All my notes about Caverly had been gathered and compiled into a single document, but it still didn't seem enough. Would simple statistics convince Nate Johnson to abandon his plans for Blue Haven? Or, given that this town was actually thriving again, would it encourage him to takeover Blue Haven for Hale & Co.?

A knock sounded on the door and, grateful for this much-needed break, I leaned back in my seat. I hadn't done this much research since college days, and boy, was it exhausting. "Come in."

The door opened a fraction as Jessa looked in. A phone was clutched to her chest, her eyebrows pinched with worry. "It's Brielle on the line!" she hissed.

Shit. I waved Jessa out of the room, then scrambled for the office phone on my desk. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to my best friend. It was just difficult to tell said best friend that everything she worked so hard for was...well, going to shit.

I bit my lip and held the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Darce!" Her voice was cheerful on the other end. "I couldn't get through to you so I had to call the office."

"Right." A downward glance at my cell made me realize that the battery was dead. Again. "Sorry, I must've forgotten to charge it. So...how's the honeymoon?"

Atta girl, Darcy. Switch the subject before the giant elephant in the room comes up.

"Oh, it's wonderful. We visited the observation deck at Burj Khalifa yesterday and I almost had vertigo, but the view was so worth it. I mean, I've went on holidays before—mostly related to work, of course; but this is such a pleasant change. I've never felt this relaxed...except for when my husband's insatiable appetite rears its gorgeous head and we have to—"

Atta girl, Darcy. Switch the subject to ignore the giant elephant in the room, and hear about someone else's sex life instead.

I opened my mouth to cut her off, but a choking sound on the other end did just that. Clearly, Brielle had me on speakerphone and had said that solely for her husband's benefit.

"—I meant we have to get food right away, darling," she told him, a much too innocent tone in her voice. "What else did you think I was going to say?"

I chuckled, imagining the mortified look on his face. "Hi, Carson, and how are you?"

"Fine," he mumbled weakly. "What about you, Darce?"

"Yes, how is your family?" asked Brielle. "And Sereinn? I'd ask about Flo as well—because I'm admittedly a little afraid to call her after I overheard her spanking someone the last time. At least...I think it was spanking."

Carson laughed. "To be honest, Darce, both Brielle and I are a little afraid of her, so just tell us how you're doing."

I shook my head and grinned. Brielle's sophisticated lifestyle and Carson's down-to-earth upbringing had always made them wary of Flo's—how should I put this politely?—summer lovin' all year round. It wasn't that they disapproved of her choices. They just preferred not to hear about it over dinner, which was what Flo was often apt to talk about after a drink or two.

"I'm doing well," I told them. "My parents are planning their annual New Years' Eve party at the beach. So if you two make it back in time for that, you're invited, of course."

"We'll be there, if we can," Brielle said. "My mom is going a little crazy stressing out about her upcoming winter fashion show, so we'll have to make a trip to the States once we're done here, as promised."

"But we'll try to be back as soon as we can," added Carson.

Brielle hummed in agreement. "Absolutely. And how's the company doing? Is the workload stressing you out too much?"

I held my breath. There were two options laid out in front of me at the moment. Either I spilled the truth about Hale & Co, which would, no doubt, send the newlyweds into a frenzy worrying about Sereinn. Or...

"Everything's fine," I said brightly. "I've got it all under control."

"I'm so glad to hear that. If you face any major problems, just send me an email. My phone is right beside me all through the day, except those hours when my husband's insatiable appetite—"

A muffled "omph!" followed, which I presumed (hoped) was Carson clapping a hand over Brielle's mouth.

"Say one more word and I'm not taking you out to dinner," he threatened, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"You're no fun at all." But she sounded as amused as him and, after biding me goodbye, they rang off.

The smile on my face faded quickly. I kept the phone pressed to my ear, hearing the monotonous beep on the other end. A strange pang had swept through me upon hearing their playful banter. But it wasn't out of jealousy—no. It was something akin to wistfulness, similar to what I'd experienced at their wedding.

There was playful banter, and then there was playful banter with someone you loved—and the latter made all the difference.

I miss that. I miss...

The errant thought surfaced in my mind, but I shut it down just as quickly. Now was not the time for missing things I'd lost a long time ago. There were more important things to do, like saving Caverly.

Taking a deep breath, I placed the phone down and hit the button on the intercom. "Hey, Jessa?"

A short buzzing filled the background, followed by a surprised— "Hey, Darce, what's up?"

"Contact Hale & Co. to arrange another meeting with Nate Johnson," I said. "The sooner the better."