Page 1 of Heart & Hope

Chapter One

RUBY

The guest list is far too small. Big corporate gatherings, especially openings, are the reason the sayingthe more the merrierwas coined. I would bet my inheritance on it.

All twenty-eight million, at last count.

The consolation prize for emotionally unavailable parents, who provided a less than loving childhood for me and my two sisters. I shake my head, dislodging the thoughts that slip in whenever business overwhelms me.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Idle hands are the devil’s work, if you believe the sentiments my father instilled into us girls growing up. It was his excuse for never being around. Don’t understand how that explains his absence in other areas...

My cell vibrates, dancing across the glass desk. I ignore it for a moment, staring out into the now bright morning sunlit buildings of Lower Manhattan. The phone continues its solo dance.

Marina.

I tap the answer button and then put it on speaker. “Talk to me, Mari.”

“Your eight o’clock postponed until the end of the week, and I have an influx of replies for the gala from the food and beverage vendors. Do you want me to email them through?”

“Sure, I’ll check them out and send the short list for you to vet. Thanks.”

“What time did you get here, Rubes? Or did you sleep under your desk again?”

I chuckle, leaning back on my white leather business chair. It reclines as I sink into the soft as butter padding. Nobody is this put together from sleeping at work. My hair would never be this straight. And over my dead body are these designer clothes touching the filthy floor... It’s bad enough my favorite red Dolce & Gabbana stilettos take minor scuffs from the poor quality carpe?—

“Ruby?”

“Only a little earlier than you. You worry too much.”

“And you, my girl, work too much.” The tone of her voice is laced with concern. She’s right. But I have no intentions of slowing down. The last thing Ruby Robbins will ever be is lazy, or worse... redundant.

In fact, it’s one of my rules.

Number three, actually.

Rule number three—Give it all you’ve got, or don’t bother at all. No hoping or praying—hard work, all the way.

Addy says my rules are too rigid. But as my best friend and honorary sister, she gets away with it. What she doesn’t get a say on is how hard I am willing to work for my dreams. I will own my own event planning company one day and only doing the bare minimum is no way to achieve anything.

I devote my life to my career. No husband, no dates. Rule number one, I don’t date or do relationships. Period. It’s easier that way, and no distractions means ultimate productivity. And that makes this girl very, very happy.

My phone rings.

Addy.

I swear that girl reads my mind. I shut the laptop and swipe the screen open. “Adds, so how’s it going?”

“A few equine visits for today, then clinic. How’s your day so far?”

“Busy. I have that gala in the works, and Olive wants to meet later; hopefully, she has something more upmarket for me to sink my teeth into.”

“More upmarket than a Manhattan Christmas gala ball for the elite?”

“You know what I mean. I want to work on something huge. Like inter-corporation merger, and all the HR and PR events that go with that. That’s where the opportunity is.”

“And the fancy wine . . .” She chuckles.

“You know I do love my wine. Wish you could come over to my place tonight. Le Du’s is having a tasting night and then we could have gone out for tapas or whatever.”

---