Chapter 13

It was exactly two minutes past nine the next morning when Morgan texted her brother to find out for sure if he wanted to pass on partnering with Wynn. I'm getting ready to accept David Wynn's offer. Are you sure you don't want to sign on?

Morgan waited…and waited. An hour passed. Still no response, which was out of character for her brother. He was typically "Johnny-on-the-spot" as far as anything regarding the company was concerned.

She checked to make sure the text was delivered. It had been. Thinking he was too busy to be bothered, Morgan promptly dialed the phone number David Wynn had given her.

His booming voice echoed across the miles. "Good morning, Morgan Easton."

"Good morning, Mr. Wynn."

"Well, young lady, have you made a decision?"

"I have." Morgan sucked in a breath. "I'm ready to send over the contract and get the ball rolling."

"I was hoping you would. What about your brother? Is he interested as well?"

"Brett has decided to pass. It will be just the two of us."

"I see. Well, it certainly keeps the partnership cleaner." Wynn said he'd already had his attorney review Brett's original contract. After reviewing it again to make sure there was nothing new, he promised to sign it and promptly send it back.

They chatted for a few more minutes, with Morgan telling him she planned to return to Mackinac Island to take another look around and would let him know when she had a firm date before ending the call.

As soon as she hung up, she forwarded the contract with instructions on digitally signing, along with her email address to send the executed copy to.

Morgan leaned back in her chair, feeling a sense of peace mingled with excitement at the thought the project would be moving forward.

With nervous energy to spare, she began whipping up a breakfast feast. She had just finished scrambling eggs and frying bacon when Quinn trudged into the kitchen. "What's all this?"

"I was in the mood to whip up a big breakfast." Morgan held up the pan of eggs. "I made enough for both of us."

"Thanks." Quinn squeezed past her, grabbed a mug, and filled it with coffee. "I am kinda hungry. Eating all those carbs for dinner last night left my tummy grumbling."

"Mine too. Although I can't remember the last time we ate a high carb dinner. I suppose once in a while a splurge is in order." Morgan divided up the eggs, added bacon and toast to two plates, and carried them to the counter. "I did it."

"Did what?"

"Sent the contract over to David Wynn. I'm going to invest my Shifting Sands' reward money into Wynn Harbor Inn."

"What about Brett?" Quinn asked. "He was thinking about investing, too."

Morgan shook her head. "He told me he was leaning toward taking a pass. I checked again this morning, before I sent it over and never heard back."

Quinn frowned. "Are you sure? Because I talked to him last night before I went to bed. He told me he was going to sleep on it."

"The last I heard, it was pretty much a no answer. When he didn't reply to my text, I figured he wasn't interested."

"You might want to check again."

Morgan snatched her phone off the counter. Her heart plummeted when she noticed she had missed a call. A call from her brother came in at nine fifteen, only a few minutes after she'd sent her original text. "He called. I never…I never got his call."

She promptly listened to the message. Brett told her to call him back. He was going into a meeting and it would last until at least eleven. "Oh my gosh. Brett asked me to call him back."

"I think he mentioned something about a morning meeting," Quinn said

Morgan glanced at the clock. "He should be almost out." She sent a quick text, asking him to call her. Checking the time again, it showed his call coming in at a quarter past nine. The time stamp on the voicemail was the same. Somehow, Morgan had missed it—or it hadn't been delivered until later.

A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Morgan darted to her laptop and opened her email account. David Wynn had replied and included an attachment, the contract. He'd already signed. "Crud."

"What is it?" Quinn asked.

"Wynn signed the contract. It's been fully executed. I'm sure we can revise it to include Brett." Morgan confirmed receipt and clicked out of the screen.

Ting . Morgan grabbed her phone and tapped the screen. "Good morning, Brett."

"You got my message?"

"Only a few minutes ago," Morgan said. "I waited around. When you never responded, I went ahead and sent the agreement over to David Wynn. He's already signed it and sent it back."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. So long that Morgan thought her brother had hung up. "Hello?"

"I'm here. You told me you were going to hold off."

"Until this morning. When we spoke yesterday, you didn't seem interested."

"And you told me you were waiting until today to give him an answer because you wanted to sleep on it. I didn't think you were going to send over the contract as soon as you woke up," Brett said.

"I had no idea you were going to change your mind." Morgan reminded him she tried to check first thing that morning but never heard back.

"Because I was in a meeting. It's Wednesday, our staff meeting day," he reminded her.

Morgan blew air through thinned lips. "You're right. I completely forgot."

"Because you don't have to worry about meetings," Brett said. "All you have to do is…"

"Do what?"

"Nothing."

"You were going to say the only thing I have to do is collect a paycheck."

"Listen, it's unfortunate there was a miscommunication because I did call. Good luck with the project. I gotta go."

"Wait." Morgan stopped him. "We can revise the contract. I'm sure Wynn won't have any problem adding your name."

"I'm no longer interested," Brett coolly replied. "It's all yours."

"But…"

"I need to get back to work." Brett ended the call, basically hanging up on her.

Quinn watched her friend drop the phone on the counter. "It sounds like there was a major miscommunication."

"Brett thinks I ignored his call and went ahead and signed on with Wynn before he had a chance to tell me he was interested." Morgan pursed her lips. "You heard everything. You know I would never cut Brett out. This was his deal in the first place. I feel terrible."

"I heard you say something about collecting a paycheck," Quinn prompted.

"He made a comment about me not knowing it was Wednesday morning, which is when he holds the weekly staff meetings because all I do is… I added the sit back and collect the check part." Morgan briefly closed her eyes. "He's ticked."

"You offered to revise Wynn's contract."

"He's no longer interested."

Morgan reached for her fork and began picking at her eggs. "I had no idea Brett called and left a message. I don't think he believes me."

"I'm sorry, Morgan." Quinn patted her hand. "I'm sure you'll sort it out."

She turned to face her friend. "Do you think I'm taking advantage of Brett, letting him handle the family business while I sit on the sidelines collecting a check?"

Quinn looked away.

"He's made a comment or two about it," Morgan guessed.

"Brett works almost 24/7. Even when we go out, he answers calls. He always keeps his cell phone close to reply to texts. I can't remember a single time he hasn't had his phone with him."

"By choice," Morgan pointed out. "I've offered to help, to take some of his workload. He keeps insisting he has it under control. Maybe all this time he's overworked and is becoming resentful."

"With all of his health issues, it would be nice for him to have more time off."

"I completely agree."

Quinn started to say something and stopped.

"What is it?"

"Between you and me, I think Brett figured after you took over while he was recuperating, you would continue to take on more of the workload. Both of us were kind of surprised when you handed it all back to him," Quinn said.

Morgan's jaw dropped. " Both of you?"

"I mean. Listen, you're not around Brett like I am, seeing firsthand the schedule he's juggling. To be honest, it isn't fair. You've only been thinking about yourself."

Morgan stared at her best friend in disbelief. "Do you think I ignored Brett's call, hurried up and sent the contract over to Wynn so I could cut him out of the picture?"

Quinn looked down at her plate and shrugged. "It does seem a little too coincidental, how his call never came through, even though Brett left a message."

Morgan felt like throwing up. "I can't believe you said that. After all our years of being friends. You aren't even a part of the Easton family and yet you're ticked at me. You have no right to butt in. If not for me, you wouldn't even be here," she blurted out, instantly regretting her words.

"I wouldn't be here?" Quinn slid off the barstool and walked over to the kitchen sink, her back to Morgan.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm upset." Morgan grabbed her plate of mostly untouched food and dumped it in the trash. She rinsed the dish and placed it in the dishwasher.

On wooden legs, she walked past Quinn and went straight to her bedroom.

Moments later, Chester scratched at the door. She opened it just enough to let him in.

She flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. All this time, since Brett's collapse, he and Quinn believed Morgan had selfishly left everything to him, happy to sit back and collect a paycheck.

She wondered what names they called her behind her back. Lazy? An opportunist? Maybe Brett resented Morgan, resented her showing up on Easton Island. Instead of being in line to inherit it all, he now had to share it with her. If he'd resented her, Brett had done a good job of hiding it.

To be honest, Morgan had been the beneficiary of a great deal. Money after her mother's death. The rental property. Looking Glass Cottage. Locke Pointe and now the money from the Shifting Sands Medallion.

Brett may have stood on the sidelines, watching Morgan's assets grow without her having to roll her sleeves up and bust her butt. No long hours. No blood and sweat from her brow. Perhaps he envied all she had accumulated.

If she really thought about it and put herself in his shoes, she might feel the same. Maybe the Wynn partnership was the last straw. It was Brett's deal. But Morgan had asked him, had told him she would wait to see if he changed his mind.

And she had contacted him…left him a message. How was she to know he responded, but she didn't get the call until it was too late?

Technically, it wasn't too late. Wynn struck her as a fair man. Morgan had no reason to believe he wouldn't be on board to revise the contract.

Maybe Brett was the unreasonable one. It could still be a great deal for all of them. Morgan would let him cool off and then meet with him, face-to-face. This could all be fixed.

As far as her brother resenting handling the brunt of the workload, Morgan would address taking some of it off his shoulders ASAP.

Despite having a plan, her heart hurt at what Quinn had said…and obviously believed. It felt like the ultimate betrayal. If her best friend knew about Brett's feelings, why didn't she say something?

Because she sided with Brett? Believed Morgan was taking advantage of the situation? After all these years of friendship and now this. Having a fracture in their friendship was even worse than losing the Wynn deal.

Morgan could hear Quinn moving around upstairs for almost an hour straight. Back and forth, back and forth. And then it got quiet.

Suspecting her friend had finally left, Morgan slipped out of her bedroom and walked straight through the living room to the window overlooking the driveway. Quinn's car was gone.

Morgan took a step back, noticing something was missing. It was Quinn's favorite plant, an orchid she'd had for many years, which sat on the windowsill, the perfect spot for indirect sunlight.

As she looked around, she noticed other small things were missing, including Quinn's favorite throw blanket. Morgan climbed the stairs and found her friend's bedroom door open.

She tiptoed across the hall and hovered in the doorway, her heart plummeting. It was nearly empty. Quinn had packed up her things and moved out.