Love In Secrets (Love Distilled #3) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,70
been filled with holes that Nigel missed.”
Marianne huffed. “Well, I’m just saying, he’s done more for you over the last few years than Cassie has and—”
“You know what, Marianne?” Cassie stood. “I nearly did it. I nearly made it all through my time here without saying anything harsh to you. For the sake of Dad, I’ve let you get away with your childish snipes. Don’t give me that, ‘Cassie hasn’t done shit for you’ crap. You want to know why Carter and I stay away? Because you make it so damned uncomfortable to be here. I lost my job to come home and do this. And while I don’t expect you to give me any thanks, because you haven’t given me anything since the day you met my dad, I won’t let you trash me while I’m sitting right here.”
Marianne’s eyes widened in outrage. “Chris, are you going to let your—”
“She’s right, Marianne.”
“What?” Marianne placed her hands on her hips. “What do you mean she’s right?”
Her dad rubbed his hands over his face, and Cassie was suddenly aware of how tired he still was, even though he looked physically better. “Marianne, sit down. I’m exhausted by this.”
Marianne glared at her. “I told you he was tired. He doesn’t need you—”
“Marianne, it’s this I’m tired of. For too long, I thought the best way to handle this was to let the two of you figure it out between one another. But I think Cass is right. You were the adult, Marianne. And you have never cut Cassie any slack. You do it to a lesser degree with Carter because you dine out on his A-list stories. You get a vicarious kick out of him being popular. But with Cass, you never made the effort.”
“Chris. You’re being unfair. Cass has always—”
“I’m sorry, Cass. I shouldn’t have let it go on this long. I should have figured this out a long time ago. I’m more appreciative than you could know. This was a wake-up call in more ways than one.”
Her dad reached for her hand and she grasped his. “I’ve taken my eye off the ball for the last year or two. Relied too heavily on people to do their jobs without being as involved as I once was. Thanks for showing me that. And the projects were falling farther and farther behind until you came in and cleaned up. The business is finally organized, you’ve upgraded more than just the project management software, and I can’t thank you enough.”
“Well, I’ve been doing things,” Marianne blurted. “Coming here, paying bills for you and—”
“Enough,” her father said. “Look, can you go get a coffee or something while I talk to my daughter?”
Marianne glared at Cassie. “Fine,” she snapped, grabbing her purse off the chair before storming out.
Silence settled over the room, but her father kept her hand in his.
“I’m sorry you had to give up your job to do this. It was never my intention, but I didn’t know who else to ask. Is there anything I can do, someone I can speak with to explain or make it right?”
“I’ll be fine, Dad. When I get back, my first port of call will be my boss, he’s been pretty radio silent when I’ve emailed him. I’m hoping he’s just pissed and that I haven’t completely burned my bridges with him.”
Chris nodded. “Okay, but I’m going to keep you on my books until you get your job back or find a new one. It’s the absolute least I can do.”
“Dad, you don’t need to. You paid me for my work here. I’ll be fine. I’ve got savings and—”
“Stop, Cassie. It’s not a choice. I should have done a way better job of looking out for you than I have. Let me make it right by buying you some time to sort your life out when you get back to New York. Unless you want to make it official and stay here as my right-hand person.”
She knew it was two grand gestures in one. But money wasn’t going to make things right between them. Neither was coming back. “I appreciate the offer, Dad, but you and I both know it’s not going to work with Marianne around.”
Her father’s shoulders sagged. “I’m beginning to think the same.”
“So, then my dad basically tells Marianne to leave the room, and I think that’s the first time he’s ever taken a stand against her, and then he told me he should have done it years ago.”