“…not your setting.”
I let the words sit for a moment before answering. “Yes,” I said calmly. “There is.”
James didn’t question it. “I’ll handle it immediately,” he replied.
I finished my coffee, watching the lake, as if nothing had happened. In a way, nothing had—my family had simply revealed how they still saw me.
I drove back to the resort and stepped inside without hesitation. The lobby was tense. My father was at the front desk, demanding my reservation be cancelled.
“You can’t cancel that reservation,” I said.
Before he could respond, a man in a suit arrived. “I’m James Hendricks, Director of Operations.”
He confirmed the reservation was under owner review and that no changes could be made without authorization.
My father insisted on speaking to the owner.
James turned to me. “Miss Patterson will that be necessary?”
The room froze.
“You said this wasn’t my setting,” I told my father quietly.
Then James confirmed it: I held controlling interest in the resort group.
I chose to keep my reservation—and my family’s stay unchanged.
And for the first time, they had no words left.