“I’ll see what I can do. And tell your grandpa I’ll see him at bridge club on Sunday!”
Aidan scribbled down his address and headed home, but he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of guilt over his lie. The truth was, there was no big surprise coming.
None of his family even knew he was back in Sweetbriar Cove.
He hadn’t planned it this way. He’d meant to call Earl, and drop by to say ‘hi’ to his brothers, but every time he picked up his phone, something always seemed to hold him back. They’d want to know what he was doing here, and how long he planned on staying, but Aidan wasn’t ready to have that conversation just yet. As far as they knew, he was still living the high-life back in New York City.
How was he supposed to tell them he’d taken the biggest gamble of all... and it hadn’t paid off?
It was supposed to be the triumph of his career. A complicated currency trading bet, that he was certain would come through in a big way. It was a risk, sure, but risk was all part of the game – and led to big rewards. That’s how he’d become the youngest Vice President in the history of his billion-dollar hedge fund, by keeping his nerve when everyone else played it safe. He knew he had a reputation for being a workaholic ass sometimes, but his attention to detail and 24/7 work ethic had put him on top, time and time again. So why would this be any different? He’d been so sure that his golden touch wouldn’t fail that he’d bet the house, putting millions of the fund’s assets on the line. It wasn’t some impulsive move: His team had worked for months, running computer simulations running every possible outcome…
Except for a hurricane that hit the South Pacific, at the same time a dictator got overthrown, the rice crops failed, and a stray flock of geese grounded a new jet-liner model for another round of safety checks.
Really.
Aidan had factored in a couple of worst-case scenarios to his calculations, but not all of them. And definitely not all at once. It was a Black Swan event, the term they used in finance to describe something you could never have seen coming in a million years. But that didn’t make a difference for Aidan, watching the currency valuation plummet on his screen, wiping tens of millions of dollars off their balance sheet. It was his strategy, he’d made the call.
And now it was his career in ruins.
He pulled up at the house and just sat there a moment, feeling the crushing weight of failure in his chest. He was supposed to be the stable one. The oldest. The guy the rest of them could rely on when they needed help and support.
How was he supposed to explain this?
Aidan’s cellphone rang, and he snatched it up, hoping it was one of the top-flight headhunters he’d talked to back in New York. But instead, it was his sister calling.
Cassie.
“Hey kid,” he said, getting out of the car. “What’s up?”
“I swear, you have a doppelgänger running around Sweetbriar Cove.” Cassie announced. “I just saw a guy who looked exactly like you. Except you would never be caught dead at Hank’s Hardware. No VIP rope,” she teased.
Aidan forced a laugh. “Huh, weird,” he agreed, then quickly changed the subject as he let himself into the house. “How’s Wes?”
“He’s good, working hard. Nearly as hard as you,” Cassie added. “Although Archie’s decided he’s his new best friend, he won’t leave him alone, not even on video calls….”
Cassie launched into a story about the new puppy and Wes’s business meeting, while Aidan unloaded the groceries, basking in the cool of the open refrigerator. It was another five degrees hotter in the house now, at least. If Hank’s guy didn’t come through, he’d be camping out in the yard tonight.
“Anyway, we were saying, you need to come for a visit,” Cassie steered the conversation around, the way she always did. “There’s some festival in town this week, it’ll be fun. Blueberries, I think.”
“CranberryFest,” he corrected her automatically, before realizing his mistake.
“That’s it. Wait, how do you know?” Cassie asked, sounding curious.
“I, uh, talked to Luke the other day.” Aidan covered quickly.
“Oh, right.” Luckily, Cassie seemed to buy his story. “You should see him and Natalie these days, they’re the worst,” she added affectionately. “I’m surprised they haven’t already eloped.”
“Mom would love that,” Aidan gave a chuckle.
His sister groaned. “Don’t get me started! She’s already got her heart set on a summer wedding.”
“For Luke?”
“For any one of us!” Cassie exclaimed. “Me, Jackson, Chase... I bet she’d send you down the aisle with whatever supermodel you’re dating this week.”
“C’mon,” Aidan protested. “I’m not that bad.”
“Aren’t you?” She laughed. “What happened to the last one, that fashion designer-slash-social media star?”
“Nadia.” Aidan replied. “It… didn’t work out.”
That was an understatement. The minute Aidan’s life began to crumble, Nadia had packed up her designer purses and backlit selfie mirror and hit the road. He couldn’t really blame her. He’d gone from high-flyer to crash landing overnight, and she hadn’t signed up for that.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll bounce back.” Cassie said cheerfully. “You’ll probably have a new model by the weekend – pun intended.”
“Gee, thanks.” Aidan said, looking around the house. It felt painfully empty, there all alone, and he was almost tempted come clean. His siblings would be over there in a heartbeat, bringing pizza and gossip, a cacophony of noise to fill the empty space.
But then what would he say to them?
Aidan wasn’t used to failure, and it lodged, bitter in his throat. So he said his goodbyes instead and hung up the phone, with a promise to check in with their mom and keep her off the wedding train. Then he turned on the sound system, playing music loud enough to shake the empty house, and took a long, cold shower, trying to cool off.
What was he going to do now?
The question had been spinning in his mind for weeks, ever since he’d seen those wretched numbers flashing on his computer screen. Because he was finished in finance, he knew that much – and if his gut instinct wasn’t good enough, then all those awkward voicemails made it crystal clear. You didn’t come back from a failure like this.
But his career had been everything to him. The status. The success. He was lucky enough to have savings put aside, but it wasn’t just about what he would do with his days now. It had taken him years to get to the top, and now, without that crisp business card announcing his title, Aidan felt unnervingly adrift.
Who was he now, if he wasn’t on top?
The doorbell sounded, breaking through his thoughts. Hank’s AC guy, thank God. Aidan shut off the water, and slung a towel around his hips, dripping a trail of water as he quickly went downstairs to let him in.
Except it wasn’t a guy standing on the doorstep. Not even close.
And Aidan realized, that shower hadn’t been nearly cold enough.
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