Page 14 of It’s Me, but Different (Merriweather Sisters #3)

Sloane

The lamb River prepared practically gets stuck in my throat when Harper drops a folder on the table that none of us expected to see during a family lunch.

“Seriously, Harper?” I protest, slamming my fork against the plate harder than necessary. “Work documents during the meal? Are we going back to Dad's times, or what's happening now?”

“It's just an idea,” my older sister defends herself, shrugging with that expression of someone who has the situation perfectly under control that she usually uses in business meetings.

“Esme mentioned some concerns about the partner position at the Denver firm, and I thought maybe she'd be interested in taking a look at this first. Of course, it doesn't have to be right now.”

Esme raises her eyebrows, setting her red wine glass on the table cautiously.

“What kind of concerns?” she asks with surprise.

“The ones you mentioned to me earlier,” Harper indicates, opening the folder. “About the travel the new job would require, the long hours that would take you away from Ana Sofia and Theo, the pressure to bill a minimum number of hours that would practically force you to live in the office.”

From the other end of the table, River gives me a wink while cutting a piece of lamb. Anika smiles next to her, and I can barely contain my rage.

“Why don't you mind your own business and leave us alone for once?” I whisper, taking advantage of Esme being distracted.

“I wouldn't call them concerns,” Esme corrects. “They're realities of that job. If I want a partner position at the firm, I have to make sacrifices.”

“Of course, of course,” Harper nods. “That's normal in law firms. But what if there was another way? Have you ever considered working for a company's legal department instead of a firm?”

“What do you mean?”

Harper spreads several documents on the table, charts and maps I recognize from the last board meeting.

“Our hotel chain is in full expansion,” she explains. “We have confirmed projects in Colorado and Utah. All in mountain areas, and all present unique environmental challenges.”

“And?” Esme asks, though I can see the interest in her gaze.

“And we need specialized legal help,” my older sister continues. “Not just to comply with existing regulations, but to stay ahead of them. To implement sustainable practices that make us industry leaders.”

Esme takes one of the documents and examines it carefully. It's a report full of technical terms that give me a headache every time I hear them in the few meetings I attend, but seem to fascinate her.

“This project is very well planned,” she comments. “But I see at least three areas where it could be improved.”

Harper smiles proudly. Esme has found in five minutes small gaps that our legal team missed.

“That's why I'm thinking of incorporating a full-time environmental lawyer. Someone who can help us do things right from the beginning.”

Esme looks up from the document, and I can see the wheels turning in her head.

“Are you offering me a job?”

“I'm presenting a possibility,” my sister rushes to respond.

“The headquarters would be here, in Silver Peaks.

Logically, you'd have to travel occasionally to places where new hotels would be located, but most of the work would be done from here.

You'd have a budget to hire external consultants and total autonomy to establish the protocols you consider necessary.”

Esme looks at her surprised, not really knowing what to say.

“The salary would be lower than what you'll probably receive in Denver, but life in Silver Peaks is much cheaper, and accommodation and food could be free if you decide to live in the hotel,” Harper adds.

“That project in Utah is very ambitious,” she comments, looking at the document again. “Do you really plan to build a completely sustainable resort? Renewable energy, waste management, zero impact on the local ecosystem…”

“That's the plan,” my sister confirms.

Esme leaves the documents on the table and leans back in her chair, processing what she just heard.

“Can I ask you something?” she finally asks.

“Sure.”

“Is this real, or is it another trap like the offer to come to the hotel?”

The question catches all of us by surprise. I, again, didn't know anything, but I don't think any of my sisters expected something so direct. River puts a hand to her forehead, and Anika elbows her in the ribs to make her hide it.

“It's real,” Harper responds without flinching. “The projects exist, the legal problems too, and we need help. If that help comes from you, it would be perfect, but if you're not interested, we'll look for someone else.”

“It's not that I'm not interested,” Esme rushes to clarify. “It's that… this is a lot to process. Two weeks ago I didn't even know this hotel was yours, and now you're offering me to remake my professional career.”

“Not remake it,” my twin sister corrects. “Take it to another level. This is bigger than being a partner at a law firm, Esme. You'll have the opportunity to influence the practices of an entire industry.”

Just what I needed. Even Ivy is in on the plan.

“Wow, it's perfect, isn't it?” River interrupts, who has never known how to hide anything. “If you think about it, Esme needs a job that allows her to be with her kids. We need specialized legal help. Silver Peaks is the perfect place to raise children… Everyone wins.”

“Yeah, it's all too perfect,” I growl.

“It's not that simple,” Esme protests. “We're talking about changing my entire life and my children's, for an offer I didn't even know existed until a moment ago. All when I'm leaving tomorrow.”

“The best opportunities usually appear when you least expect them,” River insists.

Luckily, Harper realizes we're getting into dangerous territory and rushes to intervene.

“Take your time. It's an important decision. You don't have to answer today, not even close. Think about it in Denver if you want and let us know.”

“Can I take them? To study them more calmly,” she asks, pointing to the papers with her index finger.

Harper simply nods, and the rest of the lunch passes in a more relaxed atmosphere, though I can see Esme is distracted, mentally processing everything she just heard.

“Is manipulating other people's lives something you Merriweathers do naturally, or how does it work?” Esme protests as I walk her to her suite.

“I swear I didn't…”

“Yeah, right, you had nothing to do with it,” she completes for me.

“Exactly. But, Esme, you could look at those papers calmly.

River is a loudmouth, I know, but if you think about it coldly, what she said is true.

We need an environmental lawyer, and you are one.

Here you'd lead a quiet life, it's a good place to watch your kids grow, you'd have more free time, and…”

“And you'd be here,” she interrupts, letting out a sigh.

“Yes, that. We've been planning to hire a lawyer for months.”

“Months?”

“Months. You can ask anyone on the board of directors.”

Esme sighs and enters the suite, leaving the door open for me to follow.

“I'm not saying it's a lie,” she clarifies, leaving the folder on the living room table. “I'm just saying the timing is very convenient.”

“And does that necessarily have to be bad?”

“I don't know,” she admits, dropping onto the couch. “It's that… all my life I've worked very hard to get things. You know I went to college on study scholarships. I've done the toughest internships; I've taken the cases no one wanted. I've earned every opportunity I've had.”

“And you think you haven't earned this?”

“I think this appears simply because I'm here. I think it's been planned from minute one. Because you or your sisters want me to stay. Not because I'm the best candidate for the position.”

I sit next to her on the couch, unable to avoid taking her hand in mine and squeezing it slightly.

“Can I tell you something without you getting angry?”

“Depends on what you tell me,” she responds a bit sharply.

“I think you're torturing yourself for nothing,” I assure her, pinching her chin between my fingers so she looks into my eyes.

“What really matters is whether that opportunity is good for you, if it interests you professionally, and if it would allow you to have the life you want. How it came about is the least important thing.”

“I don't want them to give me something out of pity,” she protests. “Or for convenience. Or because I'm your…”

She stops, as if she doesn't know how to finish the sentence.

“My what?” I ask.

“I don't know, Sloane. What am I to you? Because last night we slept together, and these days we've talked quite a bit, but I still don't know.”

“You are...” I start, but I also stop. Because I don't know how to finish that sentence without sounding like a teenager in love or like a woman who promises things she might not be able to fulfill.

“Exactly,” Esme says. “You don't know. And while you don't know, I can't make a decision that changes my entire life based on the hope that this, us, will work. Because right now, there's nothing at all, just an attraction that hasn't disappeared and one night of sex.”

“But…”

“But nothing. I'm not going to entirely change my children's lives and abandon my job for something that right now looks more like a teenage fling than a serious relationship. I'm not old enough for that kind of thing anymore. At least, not with two small children.”

Her words hurt me more than I want to admit. Because, deep down, I understand her fears well. After what I did to her eleven years ago, how can I ask her to trust that this time will be different?

“You know what? You're right,” I murmur, releasing her hand and getting up from the couch.

“I am?”

“Yes, as much as it hurts me, you can't base such an important decision on something we still don't know if it will continue. But you also can't reject a professional opportunity just because you don't trust me,” I add.

“I didn't say I don't trust you,” she protests, frowning.

“You don't need to say it. It's clear. And you have good reasons not to.”

Esme gets up too, opens her mouth a couple of times, as if she wants to say something, and the words can't come out of her mouth.

“Please, study the proposal from a purely professional point of view,” I suggest, stroking her left arm. “Forget about me, forget about us. Is it good for your career? Would it allow you to do the work you really want to do? Would it be good for your children?”

“And what if I say yes? What if I accept and then things between us don't work? Will I have to leave Silver Peaks? Will I have to take my children out of here when they've already adapted? You realize the conflict I'm facing, right?”

“I only know one thing. Harper doesn't play with money.

I don't even know what that job is about, because half the time I don't attend board meetings or, if I go, I fall half asleep.

But if Harper offered you the job, it's because she's investigated you.

She's asked for references; she's studied cases you've participated in.

She wouldn't hire anyone just for me. River would definitely do it, Ivy, possibly. But Harper, no. I can assure you of that.”

“I need time to think about it,” she admits with a sigh while running a hand through her hair. “Sloane.”

“Yes?”

“Last night… what happened last night, was it…? I'd like to know what it meant to you,” she asks, stopping me before I leave.

“The truth?”

“Yes, even if you tell me it was just sex, I want to know the truth,” she insists.

“It was the most real thing I've felt in eleven years,” I confess, nodding slowly.