I just knew that this short drive home was going to be painful. Amelia had been fuming more than ever since Mayson walked into the office. I knew her hatred ran deep for her, but she still has never told me why after all of these years. Our high school years had been rough when it was the four of us together. Amelia would always find a way to hurt Mayson’s feelings. What killed her was that Mayson didn’t take the bait. Mayson was the nice person of the group. She always tried to help out someone no matter what they had ever done to her. That kindness, in Amelia’s mind, was a sign of weakness. Predators prey on the weak and even though I loved Amelia, she was a predator through and through. The heat radiating off of Amelia was becoming suffocating so I knew she was about ready to blow. “Why is she here Seth? Why couldn’t Mayson just stay gone? She is only going to bring you and Holden down with her working on this project. She is going to distract Holden or either she is going to sab
By the time I walked into the house, I was exhausted. Daddy was sleeping in his recliner and Mama was in her little office working on bills. I didn’t want to disturb either one of them, so I just went upstairs to my room. I just needed to lay down and decompress. As soon as I laid down on my bed, I felt a little bit lighter. I could kick myself though for letting Amelia get to me. It was like high school all over again. I just needed to close my eyes and try to forget but that wasn’t going to happen so easily. My thoughts went back to my high school days. Junior Year Finally it was my junior year, which meant Daddy was finally going to get me a car. I had been working so hard at the grocery store and I had been saving every penny I could. I had done my best to prove to Mama and Daddy both that I was responsible enough for my own car. I had improved my grades and kept up my chores (which I hated). I learned pretty quickly to not even say a word about chores, because I would end up
This may be a stupid move on my part, but I just had to go and check on Mayson. I was really worried about her, I know I have no right to, but deep down she is still very important to me. Going by her house may be a big mistake. Her dad didn’t care for me at all ever since Mayson left home. They were very close and I had caused his “baby girl” to leave home. I still loved her, whether I really wanted to admit it to myself. When she walked into the room, I stopped breathing. She was as beautiful as she was the last day that I saw her. The only difference I could see was that she had a deep sadness in her eyes. But there is still something standing in my way. The problem is, I have no idea what that something is. I have never known why she left so suddenly. She never called me or wrote to me over the years. I had tried calling her, but she had disconnected her phone. I had gone by her house right after she left, and her mother would not answer any of my questions. Her dad didn’t even
After meeting with the board members for the last two days, we had come to a decision. We were definitely going forward with Holden and Seth’s firm. It has nothing to do with them being a local firm. The plans that they have set forth this project is bordering on genius. They are using modern construction but keeping it to the history of the town. This building will not be an eye sore that just doesn’t fit the surrounding area. Once it is completed, the building will look like it has always been part of the town. There are still a lot of steps to go through. All of the building permits and zoning permits have to be obtained. Since the project is this big, it has to go through the county level instead of at the town level. Outside contractors were going to have to come in to start the construction. The budget is still being discussed because with each day, there are more expenditures that we had not thought about. I have been putting off a sit down meeting with Holden for weeks, but u
I had always known that Mayson was smart, but I could have never imagined how truly intelligent she was. She never had much confidence in herself around others and to see how well she had done in college to become an architect made me so proud. Seth and I were good at our jobs and we have created excellent designs. But when it comes to how Mayson looks at things was amazing. She had ideas is regard to the interior that were not only structurally sound but would add more to the visual appeal of the building. She was staying true to the history and heritage of the town as well. She was wanting to pay honor to the early days of Chance and also present that image to those that don’t know that much about the area. “Holden and Seth we are looking at some expenditures that none of us thought of due to the longevity of this project.” I looked and Seth and he shrugged his shoulders. I could not think of one thing that we would have missed. We were under the budget that the board had presen
The meeting went better than I had expected. I was thankful that I had put the whole supply room incident out of my mind, at least during the meeting. The sights and sounds of it came back pretty quickly when I was getting ready to head out of the door for lunch. Amelia was standing right in my path, which seemed to be becoming a pattern with her. “Well, Mayson, it was so nice to see you coming in early this morning. Did you see anything interesting before the meeting?” That smug look was something I had been on the receiving in one too many times. I wish I could just slap that look right off of her face. “Amelia, just get out of my way, I want to go to lunch and find some peach and quiet.” She stood there for a few more minutes just to get under my skin. I wanted to get as far away as possible from her. I just needed to be able to take a breath. I could feel my anxiety ramping up the longer I had to stand there. Amelia finally moved out of the way and I rushed out of the door as
The day could not have started better when I saw the look on Mayson’s face when she opened the supply room door. Seth had no idea what was going on - he was just happy he was getting laid. One way or another I was going to get this woman away from Seth. I hated her in high school because guys would gravitate to her, whether she wanted them to or not, because she was so sweet. That sweetness just pissed me off. I could not wait to knock her down a few pegs. I know that my plan could cost Seth the project, but that was just have to be considered collateral damage. I needed to do some damage control by the time Seth gets home, because I am sure by now Holden has found out what happened. I had to end up telling Seth that Mayson had seen us. He had heard the click of the door right as we were finishing up. I played innocent as good as I could and it seemed as if he was buying the act. Now the trick was that I was going to have to keep it up with him. My goal if getting Mayson gone from my
Even though Mayson only sent me a quick Thank You text I knew that telling her take the rest of the day off would make her happy. She has been so busy lately that I don’t think she has had much time to spend with her dad. Their relationship is one that I have always envied. My biological dad walked out on my mom before I was even born. My stepdad took care of us financially but he never really treated me like his son. He had fallen in love with my mother, but never really wanted children. He only gave me things and “attention” (which was all fake) to make sure my mom would marry him. He talked my mom into moving to California when I went off to college to get her away from me. Now he has her all to himself. I haven’t seen my mother since I graduated from college four years ago. I get the occasional text and a card on my birthday. He took my mom away from me physically and emotionally. I suppose that is why I was always hanging out at Mayson’s house when we were kids, even before we