My Favorite Mistake Read online

  He patted my leg. “Liar.”

  I laughed, knowing I was busted. “My good friend, Alena, told me all about Crete. She talked about it so much, I had to see it for myself. I got here, and I couldn’t leave. The rest is history.”

  “Ah, my home is very beautiful,” he said. “I think I might miss it when I’m gone, but I hope heaven is far prettier.”

  “You’re not going anywhere yet, mister.”

  “I’m very sick. I’ve been in this bed for months. I’m tired.” He sighed.

  “Why don’t we try and get you out of here today?” I offered. “I can push you around the gardens.”

  “I fear that would be too difficult.”

  “Nothing is too difficult,” I replied.

  “Maybe tomorrow. I think I would like to rest today, build up my strength.”

  We both knew that wasn’t going to happen. He’d been building up his strength for weeks. I hated watching him deteriorate, but there was little I could do. I fed him and tried to keep his spirits up, but he was fading.

  “We can do that,” I promised.

  “Nicole, I’m not well.”

  “I know, Alec. I know.”

  “I want you to do me a favor,” he started.

  “Anything,” I said. “What is it?”

  He reached under the blankets on his other side and pulled out an envelope. “I want you to keep this for me. After I’m gone, I need you to give the letter to my grandson.”

  I hesitated before reaching out to take the envelope. There was a name written in Alec’s scrawled handwriting across the front of it, but I couldn’t quite make it out. “Alec, you have a hundred grandsons. How am I going to know which one?” I teased him, trying to keep the mood light.

  The letter felt like a goodbye, like he was giving up. I hated that he was close, but he didn’t seem to be in danger of dying immediately.

  “I do have many fine grandsons, and some of them are single,” he teased back.

  “Oh no you don’t. You are not setting me up with one of them.”

  “His name is Rand,” Alec said.

  “Rand is your grandson,” I clarified. “The one you’re always talking about?”

  “Yes.”

  “How will I know who he is?” I asked. “I’ve never actually seen his picture.”

  “You’ll know. He looks just like me, albeit younger and less wrinkled.”

  I sighed, putting the letter next to the soup on the side table. “Okay.”

  Alec grabbed my hand, his grip much stronger than one would imagine by his frail appearance. “It’s very important. Please. Please make sure he gets that letter.”

  I looked into the man’s dark brown eyes and saw how important it was to him. I nodded. “I will. I promise you, I will make sure he gets it. But you aren’t going anywhere, young man. I have to get back downstairs and actually clean something, but I will see you tomorrow. I’ll see what I can do about bringing you in some meat. How about grilled fish? You told me before how much you liked it.”

  He smiled at me and patted the top of my hand. “I’d like that. Goodbye, Nicole.”

  I slid off the bed, his words echoing through my mind. He didn’t say, “see you tomorrow.” He said, “goodbye.” I turned back around to look at him. He was smiling at me and looking like the same man I had gotten to know very well over the past few months. He was fine. He was sick, but he hadn’t taken a dive.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said again, grabbing the soup and sticking the letter down my shirt before giving him a wink.

  He chuckled softly before closing his eyes and settling in for his usual nap. I went back down the stairs, the envelope poking my boobs as I walked. As soon as I got to the kitchen, I pulled the envelope out and stuffed it in my purse, not wanting to look at it again.

  It was a reminder that Alec’s time on earth was short. When Alec died, I would be without a job. I wasn’t sure who else would hire a twenty-two-year-old American with little experience and no college education. The thought of having to go back home to Dallas didn’t thrill me. I had already decided if I had to leave Greece, I wasn’t going home. I couldn’t go home. I’d go somewhere far away from my father and live on the streets if I had to.

  Home wasn’t an option.

  After tidying up the kitchen, I grabbed my purse to head back to the apartment I shared with my good friend, Alena Ariti. I relied on public transportation to get from the private estate of Alec Mattas to my apartment in Heraklion.

  When I walked through the door, Alena was in the kitchen making herself a sandwich. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, and she wore no makeup. Alena was one of those women who was naturally beautiful. Makeup only marred the beauty. In some ways, I envied her tiny figure, a perfect size two in contrast to my size eight on a good day—ten most days. I had long ago figured out the only two I would ever see on my clothing labels would be following a one.

  Some people were meant to be curvy, and I was one of them. It didn’t bother me anymore. I was comfortable in my skin and didn’t give a shit what anyone else thought about the size of jeans I wore.

  “Hi,” I greeted her, keeping my purse on me.

  “Hi, yourself. How was work?”

  “Good,” I answered too quickly. “I’m going to go, uh, put my purse away.” I quickly moved to my tiny bedroom, closing the door behind me.

  The letter was freaking me out. It was likely a deathbed confession, and I wanted no part of it. It freaked me out to be holding the man’s last words to his grandson. I didn’t know a lot about Alec’s family, but I knew very few of them came around. He never told me why, but I got the feeling there was some bad blood. It felt wrong for me to be in possession of something so personal.

  I stuffed the envelope in my sock drawer to be dealt with on another day. Alec wasn’t going anywhere yet. I would talk to him about it again tomorrow and try to get him to change his mind. The letter should be given to his attorney or a family member—not me.

  “You’re acting weird,” Alena commented when I walked back into the small kitchen.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yes, fine.”

  She gave me a stern look. “Did your dad call you again?” she asked, one hand going to her hip in a very motherly pose.

  I smiled, appreciating her genuine concern. “No, he didn’t. I am just a little bummed about Alec’s health. I don’t want him to die. He’s so nice, and I really like talking with him.”

  “You have such a good heart,” she said. “I think you’ve made his life better just by being there for him the past couple of months. Know that you’ve been important to him.”

  I nodded my head. Alena knew all about my close friendship with my employer. I knew some of the other housekeepers were convinced I was a money-grubbing American looking for a sugar daddy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. None of them knew me or my story.

  “I wonder what happened to his family,” I mused aloud.

  “I can tell you they are a wealthy bunch, but that’s about all I know.”

  “If being wealthy means being alone, I’ll stay poor.”

  She giggled. “You’ll always have me, rich or poor, for better or for worse.”

  We both burst into laughter. “If you put a ring on it, you can have me.”

  Chapter 3

  Rand

  I quickly pulled up the information I needed to go into my next meeting fully prepared. I was trying to land a new account with a chain of salons. I wasn’t exactly knowledgeable about the world of haircuts and styles, but I didn’t need to be, or at least, that was what I was going to convince the client of.

  We had a steady stream of businesses seeking out our social-media services, but we never stopped actively looking. Adrian was building an empire, and it was making me very wealthy as well. I liked the work. It was a challenge to change someone’s mind or to try and convince them they needed our services. I lik
ed a good challenge.

  I got up, prepared to deliver a great pitch, when my phone started ringing. I checked the screen and saw it was my brother. I grimaced and quickly hit the decline button. I hadn’t talked to Demokritos in years and wasn’t about to start now. The ringing phone was a good reminder I needed to put it on silent.

  “Good morning,” I greeted the two women sitting at the conference table.

  “Hi,” they replied in unison.

  I knew they were mother and daughter and decided to use that to my advantage. “I thought my research showed it was a mother-daughter duo? You two are sisters,” I said, sounding confused.

  Right away, the mother in the set perked up, her smile spreading across her face. “Maybe you can use that as your marketing idea. Anyone can look half their age with our services.”

  I chuckled, taking my seat across the table from them. “You should work in marketing.”

  “I own my own business. I have to be good at marketing. That’s why I need you to convince me I need your services that seem to be on the expensive side.” She looked me dead in the eye.

  I liked a woman who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. “You pay for the best, and I assure you, we are the best. I’ve gone over the information you’ve given us about your company, your goals for the future, and your own projections. I’ve used my experience, along with a little computer program, to come up with what your future could look like with us running your marketing.” I pulled out the portfolio that had been put together.

  The woman took it, her daughter peering over her shoulder to review it. I gave them a few minutes to let the information sink in. My phone started to vibrate in my pocket again. I pulled it out and saw it was my brother—again. The guy hadn’t talked to me in two years, maybe more since I had stopped counting, and now, he needed to talk to me right that minute. I quickly silenced it but not before my potential clients noticed.

  “You’re a busy man,” the mother said.

  I shrugged a shoulder, flashing my best smile at them both. “I would think that’s a good sign.”

  “Possibly,” she replied smoothly. “It could also mean you are too busy to handle a small company like ours.”

  I chuckled. “Never too busy for anyone. Every client is important, no matter how big or small their business is.”

  “Smooth,” the daughter said with a small laugh.

  “We take what we do very seriously around here.”

  “You’re a charmer, aren’t you?” the mother asked, looking at me, then her daughter.

  I wasn’t about to sleep with a client. I made a lot of mistakes, but that was not going to be one of them. No way. Adrian would kill me. That didn’t mean I couldn’t be charming and flirt just enough to get them to sign on the dotted line.

  “I can be charming, but right now, I’m speaking the truth,” I said. “This account is important to us—to me. I appreciate Greek women running their own business. I like to watch them grow and flourish, and I would love to be a part of that.”

  “Can we have a minute to talk about it?” the daughter asked.

  I nodded my head. “Absolutely. Can I get you guys some water, coffee?”

  “No thank you.”

  I stepped out of the conference room, heading for the break room. I took my time, wanting them to have plenty of time to mull over their decision. I was confident they would ultimately decide to hire us. Our reputation was very good, and small businesses knew we could launch them to the next level. It was the investment that scared some of them away. I had a feeling the mother was a very savvy businesswoman and knew the projections I had given her were very possible.

  On my way back to the conference room, my damn phone vibrated in my pocket again. I pulled it out and growled when I saw Demokritos’s damn number again. He was starting to piss me off. He’d called twice and not left a voicemail. He could damn well leave a message if he had something to say to me.

  I opened the door to the conference room, my smile firmly in place as I looked at the two women. “Do you need more time?” I asked, feeling my phone vibrate again in my pocket.

  “Nope, we’ve made up our minds,” the mother answered.

  I didn’t let my smile slip as I took my seat. “Great, I hope you’ve decided in my favor.” I winked.

  She nodded. “We have, but I would like to know what kind of guarantee you can give me that I’m not going to lose money. I’m a small chain of salons. We don’t make millions like your other clients.”

  “I cannot offer you a guarantee, but I can offer you history and our stellar reputation,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “We have excellent reviews for a reason. Give us a month. If you don’t see even the slightest difference, we’ll reevaluate and go from there. With that said, it can take a few months before you see real progress. We’re going to ask you to give us some time.”

  “Time is money, especially when I’m paying you a rather large fee,” she snapped.

  I chuckled, nodding and keeping things light. She was not the first tough sale. Successful business owners were successful because they knew how to manage their money. They didn’t spend frivolously and knew every dollar counted. I liked her even more, knowing she wasn’t a pushover.

  “I absolutely understand your concerns,” I said. “I will give you my personal number. You can call me anytime if something isn’t going the way you think it should. We want you to be happy. Trust me, we don’t make money if we leave a trail of dissatisfied customers.”

  There was a silence in the room as the mother and daughter team looked at each other and then back at the proposal. I could tell they were using some silent method of communication that only the two of them could understand. I waited, convinced I had sold them. If I hadn’t, I wasn’t going to give up until I did.

  “Okay. We’ll do it.”

  My smile widened. I loved closing a deal. “Great. I went ahead and printed out the paperwork. All you need to do is sign, and we’ll have a plan to you by the end of the week.” I slid over the contract.

  “You’re very sure of yourself,” the daughter commented.

  I shrugged. “I like to be prepared.”

  We took care of signing contracts and chatted a few minutes before I walked them to the elevator. I was proud of myself and couldn’t wait to go rub it into Adrian’s face. He’d tried to tell me they would never sign because they were too small a company. I should have betted him money. Once they were gone, I checked my phone and saw the voicemail icon. He’d finally figure out I wasn’t going to answer. I hit the button to call my voicemail as I walked down the hall to my office.

  “Rand, it’s Demokritos. Grandfather died last night. I don’t know if you care, but mother insisted someone tell you. I’m telling you. You can call her for details about the funeral. Answer your phone next time.” The call ended as abruptly as it had started.

  I had stopped walking when I heard the news. I heard the voicemail message system ask me if I wanted to save the voicemail or delete it. I quickly hit the replay button, hoping I had heard wrong. The curt message played through again, lasting all of eighteen seconds. It was like the wind had gone out of my sails. I looked up and realized I was standing in the hall and quickly went into my office, closing the door behind me before sinking into the leather couch.

  “Holy shit,” I whispered.

  I couldn’t believe my grandfather was gone. He’d been around forever, it felt like. I just assumed the guy would live forever. I knew that it wasn’t possible, but I just thought he’d live a lot longer. I hadn’t wanted to believe he was getting older. I knew he’d been unwell, but he was the strongest human being on the planet. I thought he’d kick whatever it was and live another twenty or thirty years.

  “Fuck,” I groaned, leaning back and rubbing my hand over my face.

  I didn’t feel like crying, but I felt the loss tremendously. I had no right to feel sad, I told myself. I hadn’t spoken to him in a long time. Hell, I hadn’t spoken to anyone in
the family in a long time. I’d been focusing on the company and doing anything I could to ignore them. Seeing them or hearing from them was too hard.

  I let out a long sigh, blowing out my cheeks as my mind flashed back to the days when my grandfather had been there for me. Days that were dark and best forgotten. He’d been my rock. He always encouraged me and, in my opinion, was the only person in my family that loved me unconditionally. The guilt I felt over not being there for him in his darkest hours stung. I felt horrible. I had let him down. I knew if he were alive, he would tell me not to be so hard on myself. Except he wasn’t alive, and I couldn’t thank him for being there for me. I couldn’t tell him I loved him, and I definitely couldn’t tell him goodbye.

  The elation I felt over signing a new client had evaporated the second I heard Demokritos’s cold words. He’d made it sound like it had been a huge inconvenience to him that he had to call me. I wanted to call him back and tell the asshole he could have saved himself the additional phone calls if he would have just left a damn message in the first place.

  It didn’t matter. I wanted to be mad at someone other than myself, and Demokritos was an excellent target. I got up from the couch, needing to move. I began to pace the office, a million thoughts clouding my mind, making it impossible for me to focus on any actual work.

  I had to get out of there. I grabbed my keys and wallet and walked out the door without saying a word to anyone. I’d message Adrian later.

  Right then, I needed to be alone.

  Chapter 4

  Nicole

  The taxi pulled up the long driveway to the Mattas estate to drop me off just like it did five days a week, but something about today was different. I noticed the butler and several maids standing outside, huddled in a circle. The head of the maids leaned in and hugged one of the junior maids, the young woman responsible for the den and library areas. I immediately felt sorry for her, assuming she was dealing with something in her personal life.

  I got out of the cab, paid the driver, and sidestepped the small group, not wanting to intrude. I knew they still didn’t fully accept me. I was the odd man out. The American taking a job from a hardworking Greek woman. I offered a small wave and a smile before heading for the door.