Page 71 of A Christmas Bargain

I sniffled. “And if I tell him that, that I hate that I was a fraud to enter this deal, I… I don’t know what could happen.”

Dad stood, coming to hug me. “Oh, honey.”

Grace came up and joined us in the group hug. “You tell him the truth and live happily ever after.”

I laughed lightly, breathing in deeply as their hugs soothed the worry in my heart. It had taken a lot of guts to unload all that, but I felt so much better for doing it.

“Why’d you bottle this in for so long?” Dad asked.

“I didn’t know how to speak up.”

He held me at arm’s length. “I’ve always loved how you acted like a mother hen, but I never wanted you to feel like you had to.”

I sniffled.

“Yeah. I see that now,” Grace said. “I can’t lean on you and expect you to always be my crutch.”

“Did you really think that I’d let the company fall apart?” Dad asked, smiling.

“You didn’t want to come out of retirement,” I said.

He rolled his eyes. “I had to act like that so Grace would see how dire it was.”

I gaped at him.

“He’s been coaching me on some other deals,” Grace said with a smile.

So they had been up to something!

“And that’s why I’ve been suggesting—for years—that you look at rural and residential properties. You always seemed happier dealing with those.”

“You mean…”

“The company’s not going under,” Grace announced. “Shawn’s helping me in the office and I’m going into rehab.”

“I contacted some old friends and did a little bit too,” Dad said with a wink.

“It’s not the end of the world?”

He chuckled. “No. I care too much about this company, about this family, about both of you, to let it go to ruins.”

I exhaled a long breath of relief.

“But I hoped to make it sound dire so it could be a wakeup call. For Grace to wise up. For you to realize you might be better suited out of the city.”

I hugged him again. Oh, I was woken up, all right. I realized that it was past time to go for what I wanted—and that included love.

I wanted Derek and Naomi. I wanted this slower pace of life.

“Does this mean I might finally be getting a granddaughter? A son-in-law?” Dad joked with a huge smile.

I nodded. “Someday soon, I hope.”

I intended to hurry back to his house to see if I could tell him all and make that more of a reality than a dream.

We stayed and talked a little longer, though, because knowing my family was happy filled a hole in my heart. Grace gave me more details about the corporate and commercial deals she was focusing on. Her reckless and risk-taking attitude was appropriate there.

Then Dad walked through how we could split up. Diversifying Barone Realty wasn’t a new concept, but he explained how I could start up more independently from Grace as I focused on residential real estate.

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