Page 16 of So Wrong It Must Be Right

“My dad is not giving up power like Grandmother gave it up for our dads. Craig Gallagher is going to hold on to DOO with everything he has, and he’s doing everything he can to make sure you don’t get it, ever. He’s making sure I can’t get anything done in my role. Maybe we accept that Gallagher’s isn’t going to be for us.”

“What are you talking about?” Dinah demanded, phone and Trask forgotten for a few seconds. “This has been our dream forever. It’stradition. And the position you convinced them to create for you is great. We need sustainability, we need—”

Kayla looked down at her silverware, a miserable frown on her face. “Sustainability manager for a restaurant where management won’t listen to a damn thing I have to say. Quite honestly, you’re not listening to what I have to say either. I don’t think building over Trask is right.” Kayla glanced up, meeting Dinah’s confused gaze with a certain bleakness and determination Dinah had never seen on Kayla’s face.

“I don’t think it’sright,” Kayla repeated, lightly tapping her fist against the table. “I think we should fail at this and accept we are not part of Gallagher’s. There could be something else for us out there. Something real.”

“Kayla, where is this coming from? This has been our life for . . . forever.”

“Exactly. I am tired of the way our life isGallagher’s. Maybe our life should be something else. Something that some jackass Gallaghermancan’t sweep in and ruin.”

“What happened?” Dinah demanded.

Kayla looked as if she was about to burst into tears, and as much as Dinah knew that her cousin was more emotional than she was, Kayla didn’t get bent out of shape about silly things. Something was really, really going on. Dread settled in the pit of Dinah’s stomach.

“Dad’s trying to eliminate my position,” she said on little more than a whisper.

“What? He can’t—”

“They had a secret board meeting last night—one I only found out about because Barb thought I should have a heads-up. She told me Dad had a big presentation about how you’re losing Trask, and without that, there’s no farmers’ market idea, and withoutthat, there’s no point in keeping me.”

Thank goodness for Barb, the only woman on the board. “Why would he do that?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Dinah. He doesn’t want us.” Kayla leaned across the table, tears glittering in her big blue eyes. “He doesn’t want a younger generation. He wants to hold on to Gallagher’s until he is dead, and then who knows.” Kayla shook her head, and Dinah knew that look well. Kayla tried so hard not to be hurt by her cold father, but always failed.

Dinah reached across the table and grabbed Kayla’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “We can’t let him win this. We have to fight.”

“You know I hate fighting. I always lose.”

“No, that isn’t true, and I’m not letting you go down without a fight. If I get Trask to sell, Craig can’t get rid of you. So that’s what I’ll do, one way or another. You will keep your job, and I will become director, and then we can forcehimout. He’s not doing what’s best for Gallagher’s. He’s doing what’s best for Craig.”

“I don’t want to fight my own father, and I don’t feel right about fighting Carter Trask either. He seems like a nice guy with a cool idea. I read this article about this group he has, some sort of inner-city program where kids come and work on the farm in the summer to keep out of trouble. He seems like a genuinely good guy, and I don’t want to be the one—”

“You have a big heart, Kay. I understand. But he can do the same thing somewhere else. We can’t build this farmers’ market somewhere else and still help our business. A business that will revitalize this neighborhood. We’re doing good too, and... sometimes the world is good versus good, and one good guy has to lose. We have been here for over a century, Kayla. We belong here. It’s our name and our life and we cannot let one Gallagher egomaniac beat us. I need you with me on this. I need you fighting by my side.”

Kayla looked away, and Dinah knew she hadn’t reached her. Kayla was lost in a world of personal hurt and emotional pain. Dinah didn’t know how to reach her or how to help her, but she wasn’t going to let Uncle Craig get rid of both of them. She wouldn’t stand for it.

“I just want to go home. I’m sorry. I’m . . . I’m in no mood for girls’ night. I’m in no mood for . . . I just want to go home. Sleep on it. Maybe I’ll have a clearer head in the morning.”

“Do you want me to come with? Make brownies? We can watch some terrible movie that we can make fun of. Ooh,Step Up.”

Kayla gave the ghost of a smile. “I want to be alone. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me for that.” Dinah squeezed her hand again. “If you really want to be alone, I will give you that. Tonight.”

“Just tonight?”

“Yes. Because I’m your cousin, and I love you, and you’re my best friend. I won’t let you wallow alone for more than one night. If you need two-night wallowing, the second night you get a visitor who will come bearing junk food and dance movies.”

Kayla swallowed, and her smile was wobbly. “Thank you for being the best. But make sure you add wine to your list for tomorrow.”

Dinah smiled in return, though hers didn’t feel any more jovial. “You got it, sister.”

Kayla slid out of the booth and came around to Dinah’s side and gave her a quick hug. Dinah watched Kayla leave their little corner booth at Gallagher’s, her attempt at a smile morphing into a scowl as fury pumped through her.

How dare that man do this? How dare both the men in their family just . . . She believed in Gallagher’s like a religion. It was a living, breathing entity of history and a tool that could revitalize this crumbling neighborhood. And the Gallagher men were just using it for their own devices. Their own egos and whatever else made middle-aged men go absolutely insane.

Dinah couldn’t let them win. She wouldn’t let Kayla lose simply because Dinah hadn’t gotten through to Carter yet. She had to find a way.

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