“But I’m so flawed,” she said.
Will knew she was serious, but he laughed. “Aren’t we all? Your flaw just happens to have a name. I have a whole list of my own. Stick with me long enough and you’ll have to deal with all of them.”
She regarded him with amazement. “Do you have any idea how good you are for my battered ego?”
He grinned then and beckoned to her. “Come over here and show me.”
She laughed. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
She glanced around his office. “You know, Will, this is one of those times this place could benefit from a couch,” she said as she settled onto his lap.
“I’ll get right on that first thing in the morning,” he promised, then lowered his lips to hers. “Until then, we’ll just have to do the best we can.”
It was amazing to discover just how clever they could be.
Thomas had suddenly vanished, or so it seemed to Connie. She hadn’t seen him since the Sunday dinner at the O’Briens, and she’d heard from him only once. She had no idea what to make of it, and she was almost afraid to call and ask him what was going on.
Now that they had Nell’s blessing and the fear of family conflict had abated, was he bored with her? She hated that so many doubts had surfaced, and hated even more her unwillingness to make the call that could resolve them. What was she? Sixteen?
Unfortunately, as she sat staring at her phone, willing it to ring, or maybe trying to convince herself to pick it up herself and use it, Jake walked in.
“You look gloomy,” her brother declared. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Connie, you’ve never been the kind of woman to sit around and sulk with no reason.”
“I am not sulking,” she retorted indignantly. “I’m just thinking about a few things.”
“Such as?”
She frowned at him. “Since when do you want to have deep, philosophical discussions about the state of my life?”
“Since you started dating a man I’m not convinced is right for you,” he said. “Is that it? Are you having second thoughts about Thomas?”
“Not at all,” she said at once, then drew in a deep breath. “But he may be having them about me.”
“No way!” Jake said at once.
Connie smiled. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Come on, sis. What’s not to love about you? You’re beautiful, you’ve always had your head on straight, you’re the ultimate nurturer, you’re a terrific cook, and you handle things around here for me as if the job were next to nothing, when I know otherwise.”
“Gee, if I were looking for a new job, that would be great on my resume,” she said wryly. “Are you so sure any of that is what keeps a man interested?”
“Of course it is. Well, except for the part about how smoothly you run this place.” He grinned. “That probably matters more to me than it would to Thomas.”
“Unless I decided to take a job with his foundation,” she said idly.
Jake immediately looked alarmed. “You can’t be serious.”
“No, not really,” she admitted. “Though I do love working with him. It’s probably best, though, if I continue to do that as a volunteer. I’d hate to go to work for the foundation, then have our relationship blow up. How awkward would that be?”
“Has he asked you to consider a job there?” Jake persisted, still looking concerned.
“No, I was just thinking out loud,” she said. She patted his hand. “Not to worry. I’ll still be slaving away here when I’m in my dotage.”
“I know this might not be the most fulfilling job you could ever have, but your being here handling the day-to-day stuff has been a godsend for me. I know everything is under control so I can concentrate on the landscaping part, which is what I love the most. We’ve been a good team, don’t you think?”
She smiled. “I told you, you can stop fretting. I’m not leaving.”
“But I don’t want you to hate your job. How about a raise?”
She laughed. “I’m not about to turn down a raise, but I wasn’t angling for one.”
“I could make you a partner,” Jake said, his expression turning thoughtful. “Then you’d have a real stake in the company.”
Though the conversation hadn’t started about her career path, Connie couldn’t help being intrigued by the idea. “I certainly don’t have any money to invest,” she reminded him. “Not with Jenny in college.”
“I’d say you’ve earned plenty of sweat equity in the place.”
“Not enough to have controlling interest, I’m sure,” she said, grinning.
“Heaven save me,” Jake said fervently. “No, you don’t get to take over. Let me think about this some more, see what I can work out that’s fair. You interested?”
“Will it mean more work?”
Now he grinned. “No.”
“Just more money,” she said. “Yes.”
“And a bigger say than I have now.”
“You have plenty of say right now,” he said. “You just don’t have control, and you still won’t. My vote will always count more than yours.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s been that way since you were a baby. You had Mom and Dad wrapped around your finger the day you were born. When you got a little older, you started working on me.”
“Stop complaining. Have I not been the best brother in the entire world?” he taunted. “Was I not there for you when Sam left? Was I not the best uncle ever for Jenny? I even kept her groping boyfriend’s hands off of her.”
“At least as far as we know,” Connie said wryly. “I try not to think about what’s going on now that she’s away from home.”
Jake winced. “Yeah, let’s not go there.” He studied her. “So, are you feeling better about things?”
He looked so hopeful, she could only nod. “I’m feeling a whole lot better about work,” she said truthfully.
Fortunately, Jake was a typical guy. He missed the subtext completely.
“That’s great,” he said. “We’ll talk more in a day or two.”
She shook her head as he left
