Huge Deal - Lauren Layne Page 0,53

“Not that I’m saying any of this will be easy. I’m not going to pretend I don’t feel completely shattered inside, but I loved that man and everything we built far too much to dishonor it by becoming a hermit who can’t even get her roots done.”

“You’re right. Dad would hate knowing you let those grays show. I mean, surely he still believed you’re a natural brunette?”

Eileen swatted her shoulder. “Darn straight he did. Now about you . . .”

“Also a natural brunette. No grays . . . yet.”

Her mom was watching her closely and clearly knew she was dodging. “Kate.”

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Well, no. I mean, I miss Dad. I still can’t believe he’s not here. That’s normal, though.”

“It is,” Eileen said slowly. “Have you spoken to that man you were seeing?”

“Jack? No, we broke up.”

“Oh.” Her mother’s disappointment was clear. “I so hoped that when you returned to the city, you’d have someone to lean on.”

Kate patted her mom’s arm. “It’s like you said: I have really great friends.”

“Not what I meant, and you know it.”

Kate did know it. She knew that her mother was hoping she’d have a man to return to, a romantic partner to help her through the grieving process. A month ago, Kate might have had that same thought.

But that was before Kate had had her naive vision of the perfect type of relationship turned upside down. It stung a little to realize that all of this time, it had been Kennedy who’d had the right approach to relationships after all. Caution was better. Holding back was better.

Love at first sight didn’t guarantee you happily ever after. She knew that now. Just like she knew now that giving all of yourself to another person was foolish.

Because when they left, they’d take everything with them.

20

Monday, May 13

Her first day back at work, Kate arrived at 7:59 a.m. and not a minute before. A far cry from her default of beating the guys into the office so she could get a head start on email and the necessary calendar updates that cropped up in the wee hours of the morning as various Wall Street big shots closed down bars and realized their chances of making it to a nine a.m. meeting were slim.

Not today, though. She had too much self-respect to be late, but she’d done some thinking over the past three weeks and had had a realization of sorts. It was time for a change. Not just her hair and makeup, though that had been a step in the right direction.

Instinct told her she needed to lean even further in to her gut belief that it was time to change things up, starting with the job front. Not that she wanted a new job. She loved her job, truly. But it was demanding as heck and not just because she managed three guys. Ever since she’d gotten her business degree and been promoted to office administrator, she’d become the go-to resource for all of the other admins—the one who trained the newbies, who mentored the juniors, who handled the crises. She loved that part of the job and took pride in not just doing her job well but showing others how to do theirs well, too.

But she’d also just seen how short life could be, and as much as she loved coming to work every day, she didn’t want her entire life to be work. She didn’t want to wake up one day and realize she’d spent the prime of her life behind a desk.

Something had to give.

Kate stepped off the elevator, braced for the overwhelming sense that she wasn’t ready, but instead she felt a layer of calm seem to settle over her at the familiarity of the Wolfe offices. She headed toward the kitchen to put her lunch in the fridge, then to her desk, where . . .

“Oh.” She skidded to a halt. “Hello.”

The boy—and yes, that really was the best word—stood up so fast, the wheeled chair shot backward, and she was pretty sure he’d been tempted to salute but caught himself just in time. His blond hair was thick and just a little bit curly, his eyes enormous and green. He had the lanky awkwardness of a colt and the perfect smile of someone with an excellent orthodontist.

“You must be the new guy,” she said with a smile. She knew her temporary replacement would be here today so they could transition, but she’d expected him to be a nine a.m.