“What do you think I should do?”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” he said at once. “This decision is beyond my pay grade. Your life. Your decision.”
“But just this morning you were so clear about this being the perfect opportunity for me to change my life,” she said.
“It is that,” Wade agreed. “But you have to want the change. It’s not about what I think. I was just trying to give you a different way of looking at things, to view this situation as an opportunity, rather than a catastrophe.”
“You, Grandmother, Emily, Samantha—you all seem to agree about that,” she said. “I respect your opinions. I was starting to listen to you. Now this.”
“And you’re confused.”
She nodded.
“Can you manage to tune out all the clutter, all the noise from the rest of us, and hear what your heart is telling you?”
This time there was no mistaking the frustration in her expression. “No,” she said, clearly annoyed. “I don’t like this new me. I used to be decisive. I used to know exactly what I wanted.”
“Until someone took it away and gave you two minutes to question whether you’ve changed, whether it’s still what you want.”
He saw how completely this opportunity had turned her life upside down yet again. “Sweetheart, this is your chance. It seems you can have it all back. How often do chances like that come along?”
“No more often than chances to change your life,” she said. She met his gaze. She drew in a deep breath, then said, “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think going back would be a mistake.”
Wade resisted the desire to shout hallelujah! “Why?” he forced himself to ask.
“It doesn’t feel right. I’m not sure what is right, but I don’t think it’s going back to an old job where they forced me out because I embarrassed them or violated some code they think their employees should be living by.”
“Then that’s your answer.”
“You’re not just saying that because it fits in with the message you were trying to get through to me this morning?”
“Not at all,” he insisted. “I promise. I’m saying it because it seems as if you’ve come to this conclusion for reasons that make sense to you. You’re listening to your gut instincts.”
Slowly her expression started to brighten. “Maybe I am finally able to make decisions for myself again,” she said happily.
“Any thoughts yet about the next step?” he asked.
“Hey, getting to this decision has taken me all afternoon. Don’t get pushy.”
Wade laughed. “Now you’re catching on. One step at a time. One day at a time.”
Her eyes widened. “Heaven help me, you’re starting to rub off on me.”
“Is that such a bad thing?”
A smile lit her face. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see. If I wind up working as a waitress at Castle’s and turn into a complete slug, it might not be so good.”
Wade laughed. “I don’t think you need to be worrying about that. Ambition may shift directions through a lifetime, but I don’t think it disappears entirely.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said, “because Grandmother likes to make me show up before dawn and I am so not that person!”
She peered at the bag they had yet to open. “What’s in there?”
“Boone sent key lime pie.”
“Oh, yeah,” she said happily.
“You sure you want it?” he teased. “You’re not full?”
“Give me my pie,” she ordered. “I know all about your pie addiction. Grandmother’s filled me in, but one of those slices of key lime pie is mine.”
He handed it over. “I learned a long time ago never to argue with a pregnant woman over food.”
“Just one more thing I’ll have to thank your sister for,” she said as she dug into the pie.
Wade wondered what she’d think if he admitted that particular lesson had come from his wife.
9
Cora Jane had heard all about Gabriella’s dilemma from Emily, but at the moment she had another crisis to deal with. She wanted to do what she could to see to it that there were no obstacles standing in Jimmy Templeton’s way should he win that scholarship. If that gave her a chance to size up Ethan Cole and make sure he was the right man for Samantha, so much the better.
What she truly wanted was to see the two of them together, but when she’d suggested to Samantha that she accompany her to the clinic, her granddaughter had begged off as if she’d rather eat dirt. She’d been so adamant in her response, Cora Jane knew she was definitely on to something, at least on Samantha’s side. Rumors of that old crush hadn’t been exaggerated.
“Well, she certainly shot you down,” Jerry said, regarding Cora Jane with amusement as Samantha all but ran from Castle’s.
Cora Jane chuckled happily. “She did, didn’t she?”
“Which makes you more determined than ever, I’m sure,” he said, then gestured toward the bowl of crab soup in front of her. “Finish that, or you’re not going anywhere. You need sustenance if you’re going to do all this meddling.”
She ate a bit more of the soup to wipe the concerned frown off Jerry’s face, then said, “I haven’t been wrong so far, have I? Emily and Boone will be married by summertime. Gabi and Wade are getting closer.”
“Both of those things might have happened even if you’d stayed out of it,” Jerry suggested.
“You tell me how. With all that bad blood between them, Emily and Boone were almost never in the same city, much less the same room. Gabi and Wade had never once crossed paths till I brought them together,” she said, then amended, “Well, I did have a little help from Boone with that, albeit unwitting help. He had no idea what I was really up to, at least not at first.”
Jerry held up his hands. “I stand corrected. You’re a master puppeteer. And now you have a new
