“A panic attack?” Liam shook his head. “No. It couldn’t have been. I couldn’t breathe. I passed out. It was like my entire body was shutting down.”
The doctor powered down his tablet. “Is this the first time it’s happened to you?”
“Yes,” Liam started to say, but then stopped and remembered all the times in the last couple of months that his chest had felt extra tight, or where his hands had shaken almost beyond his control. He’d even had a handful of times where his breathing had felt a little wheezy, but he’d chalked it up to exhaustion or working too hard.
“I want you to follow up with your primary care doctor when you leave, and you need to consider seeing a therapist to help you manage your anxiety.”
A therapist? Liam Nichols was one of the richest people in the world. He had a great brother, a great team, a great life. What in the world did he have to feel anxious or need to see a therapist about?
The doctor left and a nurse came in with some papers for him to sign and to remove his IV. He swung his feet around the side of the bed, still groggy from the meds. Anxiety? He was just tired and overworked.
“I think you need to come to Eureka Springs.” Xander brought over Liam’s shoes, while Felicia held his tie and suit coat.
“I’ll take care of everything while you’re gone,” Felicia assured him.
“I can’t go to Eureka Springs in the middle of the fourth quarter,” Liam argued.
“You have a house there you’ve never even been to,” Xander pointed out. It was true. He had a house built right next to Xander’s, but he’d been to busy to fly out to see it since it had been finished.
“There’s something else.” Felicia handed him his coat and tie. “Someone leaked the footage of the meeting to the press. Your … panic attack is all over the news.”
Liam fumbled through his pocket for his phone and searched his name. Sure enough, the first hit to come up was a video of him at the meeting, sweating and visibly shaking and then collapsing. Is the Pets and More CEO on drugs? read one headline. Does He Have What it Takes to Fill His Dad’s Shoes? read another.
He closed his eyes. This was going to be a nightmare to work around. Like a hydra, one incident had sprouted so many stories—none of them true.
“I’ve got Jordyn and Mark on it,” Felicia said, referring to their heads of PR. “We need to be open and tell them you had a panic attack. Change the narrative before it gets out of hand.”
Liam nodded, numb.
“Go to Eureka Springs,” she urged. “I’ll handle everything here.” He knew she could, so it wasn’t leaving the company that worried him, but not taking care of things himself. Felicia must have known his thoughts, because she continued, “Take care of you, Mr. CEO. Pets and More will still be waiting for you when you return.” The vote. He hadn’t seen the final results before passing out. They must have voted him in.
The television in the corner cut from a game show to a newscaster standing outside the hospital he was in, several other reporters silhouetted in the background with the setting sun. The station showed a brief clip of him collapsing before cutting to the reporter again. “Pets and More CEO is being hospitalized after dropping unconscious at a board meeting. Could America’s favorite billionaire heartthrob be hiding a dark secret? Tune in tonight at ten for the full story.”
Xander turned off the television and raised an eyebrow. Maybe Liam did need to get away from all of this. It was telling that the best sleep he’d had in almost a year was in a hospital bed.
“Find a back door for a car to meet us at,” he said grimly, looking back and forth between Xander and Felicia. “It looks like I’m going to Eureka Springs.”
Chapter 2
Viola Nightingdale grinned as she signed her name to the contract, guaranteeing restoration work for several years to come. The owner of Fletcher Real Estate, Mr. Ross Fletcher, sat across from her, his grin also wide. He wore a large, worn cowboy hat to go along with his roughed-up boots.
“We have big plans for downtown, restoring it to its original beauty,” he said. “And we’re glad you’re willing to partner with us.”
He stood and held out his hand, which she took in a firm handshake.
“I’m excited too.” She had consistent jobs, mostly though the city, as a historical building restoration expert. Though she restored all facets of the building—inside and out—with historical integrity in ascetic and materials, her favorite part was was painting. Specifically, she couldn’t wait to get her hands on the faded, hand-painted sign work on the outer brick walls of many of these buildings.
“We’re looking at starting in January,” he said, his thick, southern accent making everything he said sound relaxed.
“Perfect.” They’d already discussed having her start with the old Miller building on Spring Street, a building that was part residential, part retail. A January start would give her time to get paint samples and research what it had looked like in its glory days.
He tipped his hat in goodbye and left her office. She sat back in her chair and spun it around happily. She had never wanted for work here in Eureka Springs, but to have a contractor who was so dedicated to authentic historical restoration—and had the funds to cover it—was rare.
She glanced at her watch and hopped out of her chair in a rush. She only had fifteen minutes to make it to town hall to meet with the mayor. They met often, usually about new projects he wanted to consult Viola about or hire her for. They were already planning the Eureka Springs beautification event for next spring—just starting to outline what projects they could do—but Mayor Tweed was definitely swamped with the Eureka Springs fall events, arguably the busiest tourist season of the year—and he didn’t like to miss a single event. Between the barefoot ball, the zombie crawl, and the ghost hunters that came into town near Halloween, Eureka Springs’ commerce saw a huge boom in the fall. These events brought in more people to appreciate the town Viola loved, which made her extra happy.
She walked into Mayor Tweed’s office, the secretary sending her straight back. Mayor Tweed looked up from his laptop as Viola knocked lightly on the open door.
“Come in,” he boomed, indicating the open chair in front of his desk. “I’ll get straight to the point, since I know we’re both busy.” Viola had to smile. She’d known Mayor Tweed since he taught her science class at the junior high ages ago, and even then, despite claiming to want to “get straight to the point,” he never managed to do so.
“But first,” he began, leaning forward to rest his arms on his desk. “I’d love your thoughts on the zombie crawl this year. I spotted you in full zombie suit.”
They spoke for a while about how well the last few town events had gone, despite some unexpected circumstances at some. From there, they drifted into talking about his new wife and a trip they had planned.
“You know, I remember you from my class,” he said. He brought up being her science teacher every time she saw him. “You were a tiny little thing. Only one friend back then, right? Callie Irving—Nichols now. You’ve really blossomed. I’m proud of you.”