Summer Flame: A Steamy Romantic Comedy Beach Read (A Season's Detour, Book 1)

by Hayleigh Sol

  “What did you think of all that earlier with Tiffany and Evan?”

  “I thought it was pretty rotten of her to make that change without talking to him about it, not to mention insubordinate by not involving me at all. Should we take some kind of disciplinary action? A formal warning or something when she’s back in the office next week?”

  Brad’s attention was on the screen of his laptop, which he then closed and started packing up. Absently, I wondered why he’d even come today unless it was to take advantage of office space he didn’t have for his own company. It wasn’t like he’d been working on anything related to this company while he’d been here. As far as I knew.

  “I don’t think disciplinary action is necessary. I believed Tiffany when she said she was trying to help while Evan’s slammed with the hospital project. She didn’t understand how payroll was calculated and even apologized for overstepping. No harm, no foul.”

  “You really think it was an innocent mistake on her part?”

  Brad sighed and met my gaze. “I know she’s not your favorite person, but I think what she did with this smaller account demonstrates that she’s willing to do more than the ‘bare minimum’ you mentioned the other day. She sees the big accounts Evan’s entrusted with‌—‌it’s not really a secret that he’s your favorite, you know‌—‌so she’s trying to show that she’s ready, willing, and able to take on more. Her methods may not be ideal, but I think she’s just hungry for a challenge. We should be encouraging that kind of behavior”‌—‌my lips parted to argue the absurdity of what he was saying but he amended his word choice‌—‌“the desire to be challenged, while we work on the way she approaches it.”

  Alright, maybe there was some sense to that. The idea that she was looking for a challenge. But something about Tiffany had always rubbed me the wrong way, starting with her choice of wearing flip‌–‌flops and leaving sunglasses perched atop her head at her second interview, the one I’d conducted after Brad’s. Maybe I was allowing that first impression to influence my ability to give her a chance. After what had gone down this morning, I’d keep an eye on her, but I could also open my mind to the potential Brad saw in her.

  Once Brad took off, I returned to my chair and tried to chat with Evan. He gave one‌–‌word answers and scarcely looked me in the eye.

  Aw crap, was he still upset or, worse, was he disappointed in the way I’d handled the earlier confrontation?

  My gut was insisting that Tiffany probably deserved a written warning for reassigning that account. Her little stunt might’ve even been grounds for termination. However, Brad was always telling me management had to present that united front so employees didn’t go running to Mommy when they disagreed with something Daddy had said or done. In the end, I thought Brad had managed to smooth things over pretty well; Evan got to keep his account and commission and Tiffany learned that her actions hadn’t gone unnoticed, nor would they be allowed.

  Honestly, I was tired of thinking about the whole mess. It was just one more thing for me to worry about and I already had plenty. I gave up on trying to draw Evan out, wished him a good weekend, and left for the bank. We’d finally received payment on a project we’d completed six months ago and, with payroll going out next week, I knew that deposit was sorely needed to cover expenses.

  Chapter 7

  “Are we all here?” Emma was hosting the monthly group phone call this time and took her responsibility seriously, not allowing any of us to start with our updates until all six of us were present and accounted for.

  “Holly just texted she’ll be on soon. Something about getting held up in Customs and she’s just now getting to her hotel.” Simone was reading from her phone’s screen.

  Lisette’s image on my laptop lit up as she spoke. “Where is she this time? I can’t keep track.”

  “Is it tightrope‌–‌walking in Utah or cliff camping in Venezuela?” Bailey asked.

  Emma frowned slightly. “I think it’s called highlining and Utah was last month, wasn’t it?”

  “Hey ladies, I’m here, I’m here. Sorry I’m late.” The woman in question slid onto a standard hotel bed, complete with ugly bedspread, as she adjusted the angle of her laptop screen.

  I had to laugh at her harried appearance. “What’s up with your shirt, Holls?” I didn’t mention the disaster that was her hair, or the smudged eyeliner.

  She glanced down, then rolled her eyes. “Uggh, some genius in my aisle gave their kid a lollipop on the flight. Guess where it ended up.”

  Bailey and Lisette laughed at the vibrant pink streaks on her white shirt while Emma and Simone made sympathetic noises.

  “Alright, ladies. Shall we proceed? Bay, why don’t you start us off.” As hostess, Emma would keep us on track‌—‌to the best of her ability; we weren’t always the most tameable crew‌—‌and ensure each of us had an opportunity to share the latest happenings in our lives.

  Since we’d established our friends‌–‌for‌–‌life status in third grade, Bailey, Holly, Lisette, and I had expanded our core group of four to include Emma when she’d joined our class, and Lisette’s younger sister, Simone, soon after. The six of us had been through hormonal teenage years and the blur of our twenties, the loss of loved ones, changed dreams, difficult breakups, and everything between. We made every effort to be on a group call once a month and we took an annual trip, which I’d had to skip last year for the first time since we’d started the tradition. Doing so had hit me harder than I’d expected. I missed the women who were my family, now scattered across the country and, in Holly’s case, the world.

  Bailey finished telling us about her plans to take her fashion consulting business online and some of the delays and problems she’d been running into, Simone shared her latest efforts toward earning tenured‌–‌professor status in the literature department of her university, and Holly regaled us with hair‌–‌raising stories of her experiences as an extreme‌–‌adventures travel writer. Lisette was still working as an associate doctor in the ophthalmology practice she hoped to one day purchase and Emma, as usual, was trying to balance her parents’ plans for her future as a surgeon and her own wishes to stay involved in the professional tennis world.

  I was the last to update everyone and I kept it short and upbeat. Bailey saw through me.

  “Wait, go back and tell us more about this loan and percent ownership deal. Why does Brad want to be a partner in your business? He has his own.”

  Lisette’s eyes had narrowed. “Yeah, and isn’t it incredibly awkward working with your ex?”

  “He’s not officially her ex yet; they’re only on a break.” This from Emma, the eternal optimist.

  Holly snickered at that. “Please, Maya’s way too good for that dude. We all saw that‌—‌”

  “Holls, be nice.” Simone had been scolding us and employing her professorial stare down her nose since before she became a professor. “And don’t say anything you can’t take back if they work things out.” That made me chuckle.

  Bailey looked impatient. “Hey, let’s focus here. I want to know why he wants in on her company so badly. Maya?”

  “It’s not that he wants the company so badly, but he’s been helping out for a while now and, really, it’s only right that he receive some kind of compensation for that. I mean, in a lot of ways, Green for Green wouldn’t be where it is today without Brad’s help.”

  Lisette and Bailey spoke over each other. “Sorry, Bay. I was just going to say that you’ve done a great job with Green for Green, Maya, and you’d have done just as well with or without the mister.”

  “Yeah, what she said,” Bailey said.

  “Well, I appreciate the support, but I don’t know if that’s completely true. There was so much I didn’t know about starting a business ‌–‌ how and why I should form a corporation, bookkeeping, marketing‌…‌they didn’t exactly teach any of that in my Sustainable Infrastructure classes.” Simone smiled at that. “I’ve learned a lot over the past ten years
but, I don’t know, sometimes‌…‌”

  “Sometimes what, babe?” Emma’s voice was gentle, her eyes searching, even over a screen.

  It was uncomfortable to be the center of so much attention, to let them‌—‌anyone‌—‌see behind the can‌–‌do attitude I clung to when I spoke about my company. “Fake it ‘til you make it” was something I’d read in various forms in so many articles and books about owning a small business. Confidence was convincing and contagious.

  I was shocked when my eyes filled with tears. “God, you guys, sometimes I think I’m a giant fraud. That I don’t know what I’m doing and the business is gonna fail because of me.”

  A chorus of dissenting opinions and denials immediately followed. It made me smile, just a bit.

  “Jeez, Maya, you don’t think I feel that way all the time? That’s what owning your own business is all about.” Bailey’s words were boosted by head nods all around.

  “Hell, questioning yourself and your decisions is part of life, not just owning a business,” Emma insisted.

  Was that true? Did they all really feel the kind of self‌–‌doubt I did all the time these days? I used to be so much more secure, so hopeful for the bright future ahead of me.

  “You know what I do whenever I’m feeling anxious or unsure about something?” Holly being unsure about anything was the equivalent of flying pigs; some of the looks from our friends expressed exactly that sentiment. “Hey, I question myself too, you know. Anyway, when that happens, I force myself to go do something ballsy. Reaffirm my ability to kick ass.”

  Simone laughed with a wry twist to her mouth. “Holly, you do ballsy every week, if not every damn day.”

  “Yeah, but sometimes I have to force myself to do it. That’s what you should do, Maya: something totally out of the norm for you.”

  Lisette’s eyes widened. “Oo, I love this idea! Like what? We need suggestions.”

  Bailey’s contribution was that I should get the tattoo I’d been talking about for years. I stuck my tongue out at her for that.

  Emma shocked most of us when she suggested I find a random hot guy to hook up with; we’d all thought she was rooting for Brad and I to reconcile. More surprising than her initial suggestion was her explanation that the random hookup didn’t have to preclude the reconciliation. It would simply be a pleasant diversion, a fun way to pass the time.

  It was Holly’s suggestion that I join her in Venezuela for cliff camping that sparked my attention.

  “My grandmother actually did make reservations for me at that lake where my family used to camp. I can’t go, of course.”

  “Why not?”

  “When is it?”

  “Of course you can.”

  So many responses came at the same time I couldn’t track to whom each belonged. I answered them all.

  “It’s two weeks at the end of June and I can’t go because I have work. A company to run, remember?”

  Bailey scoffed. “Maybe Benevolent Brad can oversee things while you’re gone‌—‌a little trial run for his coveted future partner gig.”

  “That’s not a bad idea, Maya,” Emma said.

  “That was a sarcastic suggestion,” Bailey countered. “Maya can take a vacation for a couple of weeks and I’m sure her company will be fine in her absence. Without Brad stepping in.”

  Lisette tilted her head in thought. “Yeah, and it’s not like you’d be totally out of touch, right? You’d have your phone and laptop, knowing you. Wi‌–‌fi might be spotty in the wilderness, but you can probably get it in certain places.”

  “Or, use your phone as a hotspot,” Holly offered.

  As my friends continued to plan my vacation around me, I allowed myself to listen to them. To imagine how great it would be to actually lose myself in the pine trees and mountain air for a couple of weeks. I’d always been a nature lover and, aside from the heavily trafficked walking and biking trails in my area, I hadn’t spent much time in the great outdoors over the last‌…‌too many years to count.

  Simone, the ultra‌–‌planner, was making a list of everything I’d need; Lord love her, she was probably looking at some wilderness preparedness checklist online. My mom‌—‌who could’ve been Simone’s, with their similar personalities‌—‌kept everything. She was always paranoid she’d donate or trash something only to realize she still needed it; the camping gear was probably neatly organized on her elaborate garage shelving system.

  “Are you sure you’ll be safe going up there alone, Maya? I wish I could come with you but I’m teaching a class this summer. It’s being peer‌–‌reviewed for the tenure track.”

  I assured Simone I’d take my pepper spray and scream my lungs out if I was in any danger until all my fellow campers came running.

  “What about bears, though?” Those had never been a problem at Bass Lake that I could recall. “You should get bear spray. Oh! That reminds me: you’re not going to use one of those chemical‌–‌filled mosquito repellants, are you?”

  Holly laughed and Emma spoke in a soothing voice as she told Simone to take a breath.

  “I’m sure Maya knows more about natural alternatives than we do,” Lisette said.

  Lemon eucalyptus and tea tree oils were the first that popped into my head, but there were plenty of others.

  I shouldn’t even let myself daydream about taking time off, but I couldn’t resist. Despite loving and believing in what I did for a living, how could I not crave a break from the negative aspects of running a business? Which seemed to be adding up lately to the point that it was getting difficult to ignore them. And the stress they were causing.

  Camping was such a cheap way to vacation, too. An important consideration given my company’s current financial outlook. I’d bring my own food, and all the activities‌—‌hiking, swimming, biking‌—‌were free.

  The phone call came to its inevitable close, but not before Emma made me promise all of them I would honestly consider keeping my reservation. There was plenty of work I needed to do, not to mention grocery shopping for the coming week and chores around the house, but I sat in the quiet aftermath of the group call and kept my promise.

  Could I really take a vacation? Should I?

  It was true that I could do a good deal of work remotely, provided I had internet; I did it all the time working from home. I could still send emails to clients and staff, answer questions, even access the account management software to write and review bids and send out invoices as projects completed. As for in‌–‌person meetings, I could ask Evan or someone else to cover those, or schedule them for when I returned.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t have total faith in my staff to stay on task without an authority figure around. Which meant, before I made any decision, I’d have to talk to Brad first and see if he was willing and available to oversee operations in my absence. Bailey’s suggestion of a trial run may have been facetious, but it was actually a good idea. For my staff, for Brad, and even for me.

  Chapter 8

  Like most Mondays at my own company, I expected Brad’s would be packed and chaotic; basically, the worst day to approach him about taking on more work. When he provided the perfect opening, though, I couldn’t ignore it.

  “Why is it that everyone calls and emails on Monday mornings? I mean, I get it, they clean out closets over the weekends and realize they have a bunch of tech they want to get rid of, but, Jesus Christ. If it’s been sitting there for five years, it can wait another day or two.”

  He was firing off another email as I sat next to him in the conference room, the original plan having been that we’d look over the list of vendors and schedules for delivery on the various phases of the hospital project together. When his own work had taken precedence, I’d busied myself with responding to a similar deluge in my Inbox.

  “God, I can’t wait for that vacation.” His eyes flicked briefly to mine before returning to his laptop. “Sorry, I know you probably need one just as much as I do.”

  Well
, if that’s not my opportunity, I don’t know what is.

  “Actually, Brad, I wanted to talk to you about that.” The typing continued. “My grandmother surprised me with a reservation to go camping for a couple of weeks at the end of June; I think the family’s a little worried about how much I’ve been working. Or how long it’s been since I had some time off.”

  Now he stopped and looked up. My nerves were vibrating, a strange sensation with someone I’d known so intimately for several years.

  “Anyway, I was going to cancel it but I’ve been reconsidering. It might be a good opportunity for me to rest and recharge, to focus and make plans for the future without all the usual distractions‌…‌” I drifted off, not knowing why I felt so awkward about explaining my need for time off to him. Had to be guilt. “My thought was that maybe we could look at this as a trial run. You’d be kind of, y’know, in charge. Overseeing things in my absence. I don’t think it’d be too much extra work for you; you’d mostly just be checking in on the staff, making sure nothing’s slipping through the cracks. Of course, I’d still be in touch with clients and the staff here. I work remotely all the time so this wouldn’t be all that different.”

  God, was I babbling?

  “What do you think?”

  Brad nodded slowly as he considered. He leaned back in his chair, all‌–‌consuming laptop screen forgotten for the moment.

  “Well, as you know, I have a lot on my plate with TechCycle‌…‌but I do like the idea of a trial run for when I’m more involved here. A chance for both of us to see what that would be like before we sign any paperwork and make it official.”

  The idea of signing anything legally binding with my ex‌—‌is that how I should think of him if we’re just taking a break?‌—‌still made me anxious. I swallowed that down.

  “I’m glad to hear you say that”‌—‌mostly true‌—‌“thank you. I thought we could announce it to the group together later this week. Sort of, me passing the baton to you. We can go over their assignments so you’ll know what they should be working on when I’m gone. Evan’s pretty good at self‌–‌managing but something unexpected could pop up with the hospital account or the contractor, Guy. Meg and Cory need to know someone’s present and aware of what they’re supposed to be doing. Tiffany will probably need a more watchful eye, but she seems to respond better to you than to me anyway.”