Love In Secrets (Love Distilled #3) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,69

both while she showered and told her to leave the cleanup to him.

Of course, she’d ignored him and dealt with the dishes. He was likely more exhausted than she was, and she was perfectly capable of sharing the chores. But the fact that he’d thought to help her relax meant a lot to her.

For years, she’d looked after herself. Ever since she’d left home to go to college. Dad’s job didn’t give him too much opportunity for travel, and when it did, Marianne dictated the location, and it was never New York. Her mom hated New York, said it made her bilious. In the last decade, she’d probably made the trip four times. And Carter, her brother, well . . . they kept in touch. She knew he cared. But their relationship relied on video chats, text messages, the occasional catch-up due to a connecting flight.

And worst of all, she’d never really noticed. Somehow, she’d taken on the mantle of looking after herself and hadn’t even noticed that her family had left her to it.

It stung.

Why had she even done all of this? None of them would so much as get on a plane for her, and she’d given up her job and life for them.

Cassie called a cab to take her to her father’s hospital. On the way, she booked her flight for the end of the week. Her fingers hovered over the accept button for a moment, then pressed it and slipped her phone into her purse.

“Hey, Dad.” Cassie walked into his room with little energy for chitchat.

“Hey, Cassie, sweetheart. How’re you doin’?” Her dad’s color looked so much better than it had a couple of weeks ago.

“I’m good, Dad. I thought I’d come update you.”

She placed her laptop on the table that wheeled over the bed when her father’s meals came and opened the construction management software she’d upgraded for him and had been slowly teaching him to use. The two people she’d hired were well versed in it and would help her father if he got stuck.

“I love the way you’ve set everything up. And I did a video chat with both of the new project managers who are joining, as you suggested. They both seem really proficient.”

“Thanks. They’re both really good. Angela had exceptional references, and Lyle has extensive experience in mid-scale projects. They’ll work out great.”

“Johnny let me know he thinks the new procurements guys are really solid too.”

Cassie knew her father relied heavily on his finance director, so to hear he was happy with Dom and Leroy was a huge plus. “Again, they’ve both got great experience. While Leroy’s isn’t in construction, I’m confident he’ll pick it up really quick. Buying is buying, right? I spent some time on-site at the hospital with him and Julian, and they got along great.”

Her father grinned and nodded.

“Chris, sweetheart, what are you doing working?” Marianne said as she waltzed into the room, unraveling the large scarf around her neck. She bussed a kiss on his cheek and dropped her jacket on the bottom of the bed.

“I’m fine, Marianne. Cass dropped by to update me.”

Marianne looked in Cassie’s direction. “Cass. Is this something your dad needs to do right now?”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Dad, would you like me to go through this now?”

Her father glanced in Marianne’s direction, then back to Cassie. “Yeah. It’s fine. Gives me something to think about rather than letting my brain rot.”

“Okay. So, this is the update to the hospital plan I messaged you about yesterday. I’ve walked Leroy and Julian through it. It’s been updated to reflect the—”

“Chris. I was kind of hoping to talk to you,” Marianne said, impatiently, her hand on her hip.

Her father didn’t look up from Cassie’s laptop. “This won’t take long, and then we can chat for as long as you like once Cassie’s left. Sorry, Cass. Yeah, the hospital. The sizing of the windows was wrong, correct?”

“Yeah. It’s a handful on the lower floor on the south wall. Rookie mistake, really. It’s the windows of the original building. A decision was made to put in all new windows to be uniform, but the sizing isn’t quite the same.”

“Frustrating, for sure.”

“Yeah, and as much as I hate to cast aspersions about your previous project manager, they weren’t on top of things.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say about Nigel. He gave your father tremendous loyalty and—”

“Marianne.” Her father pulled off his glasses and threw them on the table. “Enough. Cassie is right, the hospital project has