Gabi laughed. “Jerry had years of dealing with Granddad while hiding his feelings for Grandmother. I imagine that was good training for keeping the peace.”
Emily studied her sympathetically. “You do know you’re only postponing the inevitable, right? You need to listen to that message or call Dad back.”
“Much as I’d rather not, it could be better than listening to the two from Amanda Warren,” Gabi admitted.
Emily’s eyes widened. “Your old boss called you? Twice? That takes some nerve.”
“Doesn’t it? I can’t imagine what she could possibly have to say that I’d want to hear.”
“Maybe she’s realized the company can’t survive without you,” Emily suggested.
“I was good, but I was hardly indispensable,” Gabi responded, staring at the message screen on her phone as if just looking at it would help her to discern what had been said.
“Okay, then an apology,” Emily said. “That would be nice. Or extra severance.”
The likelihood of either of those things was too remote for Gabi to wrap her mind around it. She took another look at the message list and realized that Amanda’s calls had come in surprisingly close to her father’s.
“She called the first time just minutes after Dad did,” she commented slowly. “Do you suppose that’s more than a coincidence?”
Emily looked startled. “What are you thinking? That Dad spoke to her?”
“Dear God in heaven, I hope not,” Gabi said with heartfelt emotion. “How humiliating would that be?”
Emily chuckled at her reaction. “I think it might be kind of sweet,” she said. “I’m not sure I can imagine Dad getting all fatherly and protective, but it would definitely be nice to see.”
Gabi was struck by an even more horrifying thought. “What if he called the CEO? He and Mr. Carlyle are colleagues, after all. Knowing Dad, if he was going to interfere, he’d go straight to the top.”
“You do realize there’s an easy way to find out,” Emily said gently. “Play the messages.”
Filled with trepidation, Gabi finally punched the speaker button for her father’s message.
“Gabriella, I spoke to Ron Carlyle this morning about your situation,” he began. “We agreed—”
Gabi groaned and cut off the message in midsentence. “I knew it. I just knew it.”
“I think it’s incredibly sweet that he wants to fix this,” Emily said tentatively. “Don’t you? I mean, really, Dad out on a limb for one of us? I’m telling you, the man has undergone some sort of miracle transformation.”
Gabi didn’t see that at all. All she saw was the embarrassment of having her father intervene in a professional matter. “He called the head of the company and what? Begged him to give me my job back? That’s pathetic. Even if Mr. Carlyle got involved, I’d never be able to work with Amanda again. She’ll hate my guts for going over her head.”
“Or she’ll recognize that you have strong allies and cut you some slack,” Emily said. “Look at the big picture, Gabi. You loved that job. You gave it everything you had. You got a raw deal because of a pregnancy that shouldn’t have impacted your job status one iota. Somebody is ready to right that wrong, thanks to Dad.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Gabi said. “Dad said he and Mr. Carlyle agreed on something, but we don’t know what.”
“Given the two calls from Amanda that followed, I’d say we have some idea,” Emily said. “Keep listening.” She studied Gabi with a suddenly somber expression. “Unless the real problem you’re having is the realization that you don’t want to go back. Is that it, Gabi?”
Was that it? Gabi wondered. Had some of the things Wade said to her earlier today gotten through to her on some level? Was she starting to want something different for the rest of her life? She’d lived with all-consuming work-related stress for a lot of years now. She’d always thought she was thriving on it, but had she been? Or had it been draining the life out of her as her grandmother and sisters believed?
“I don’t know,” she whispered, shocked by the words. “I don’t know if I want to go back.”
As the stunning revelation came out of her mouth, she watched her sister’s face. Emily, after all, was the most driven one in the family next to her. She waited for her to say she’d be a fool not to seize the opportunity to go back if it was offered.
“Even after all this effort Dad went to, you don’t have to accept whatever they’re offering,” Emily reassured her, startling her with the gentle, understanding reassurance. “You know what kind of people they are now. Nobody would blame you for not wanting to work with them again.”
“Dad will,” Gabi said. “Even though I didn’t ask him to intercede, he’ll be furious with me if I don’t go back.”
“That’s on him, then,” Emily said. “You can’t run your life to please Dad.”
But old habits were awfully hard to break, Gabi thought. At least for her. Emily or Samantha could make a decision like this without a second thought. Could she?
“I need to think,” she said, shoving the cell phone in her pocket.
“Where are you going? You’re too upset to be driving,” Emily protested, trying to block her way.
“Then I’ll go for a walk,” Gabi said, not arguing the point about her state of mind. Emily was right about that.
An hour later she’d made her way to the bustling waterfront where she watched excited children with painted faces exiting a pirate-ship excursion, swords in hand. She smiled for the first time in what seemed like hours.
Would she be here someday with this child she was carrying? Would his or her face be split by a huge grin as they came ashore? Would their carefree laughter carry over the water? Did she
