"Okay, I'll call York right now."
Cindy hadn't expected Lance to be so considerate. He was on a business trip, yet he actually wanted to bring her along.
She'd only ever heard people talk about how beautiful Montara was. Growing up, Cindy had always been sensible. She never even mentioned wanting to go on vacations to Pandora. When she got older and went away to school, she'd listen as her wealthier classmates told stories about all the places they'd traveled to over summer break. Montara always came up. It was everyone's favorite spot.
Cindy had been eager to go for a long time. Now that her exams were finally over, she had loads of free time. She even had her own money these days, but just hadn't found the right chance to travel. The past few days hadn't been great, so when Lance offered, Cindy nearly cried, moved by how thoughtful he was.
When York picked up her call and found out that Cindy wanted to go to Montara— and that Lance was going, too—he was pretty surprised.
"Are you sure Lance is going for work? Or is this just an excuse to take you on vacation?"
If he remembered right, the James family didn't have any businesses out in Montara. Was Lance trying to start something new? Maybe a tourism project? But all the family's money was already tied up on the Westside development, just like the Byron family. Where would he get money for something so big?
Unless Lance was using his personal savings to test things out. That would mean the project wasn't huge. Just dipping his toes in, maybe.
York figured that was probably the case. If Lance was going in person, there had to be potential for profit. Why not tag along? If they did it together, they wouldn't need to go through either family. They could invest on their own, split any profit, and if it failed, keep the losses manageable.
York didn't treat it like a big vacation. He just figured Lance was using Cindy as a cover, so people wouldn't suspect he had a side project. And being invited? Well, their families were close. He and Lance basically grew up together. Soon enough, Lance would technically be his brother-in-law anyway.
It wasn't just about making money or sharing risk. It actually made sense.
"Alright, I'll figure things out on my end. When are we leaving?"
York wasn't saying no, which made Cindy even happier.
Cindy thought York was agreeing just for her sake, and that touched her even more. Even though Lance probably hadn't started off with the purest intentions, he was treating her really well now, Plus now that she was back with the James family and had such a great fiancé, she couldn't really complain. She kept telling herself that.
"I'm not sure yet. Let me ask Lance."
Cindy told Lance that York was in and asked about the departure time.
Lance remembered that Claire and the others had already started driving. He said,
"The sooner the better. If York is ready, we should leave right away."
"Are we flying there?" Cindy asked.
She'd never been on a plane in her life. She hadn't even traveled out of her hometown. Pandora had mentioned having someone take her on trips during school breaks before, but Cindy never wanted to go She'd always said no, and Pandora could' only drop it.
25
"We're driving," Lance said. He figured if they left soon, maybe they could catch up
with Claire and the others on the road.
"A road trip? Won't that be tiring?" Cindy was genuinely surprised.
To her, it made so much more sense to just fly there and then rent a car for
sightseeing. That would save time and energy, right?
"Driving means we get to see
everything along the way. If I was just going for work by myself, I'd
take a flight but you're going for fun Shouldn't enjoying the journey be part of it?"
With Lance saying that, Cindy didn't feel like she could turn him down.
"Thank you, Lance. You really do think of everything."