Page 120 of Dancing in the Rain

“I think it’s really your career that’s important.” She looked at Peyton over the rim of the glass as she sipped. “A job is a job. It can be replaced. But it’s your career that lasts. It’s something you build over time.”

“Which is why I moved to New York.”

“Yes. But it’s also why you could make another change. Why not? You hate your boss. Why not try something different?”

Peyton closed her eyes. “Oh, God. I don’t know.” She swallowed another mouthful of wine. “Jax said I could probably get my job at Campbell back. But that seems like a step backward.”

Nik tipped her head to one side. “I get that. But building a career doesn’t always go linearly. Sometimes you take a step backward…or even sideways, maybe…before you move forward again.”

Peyton thought about Drew and his career. About the step backward he’d been forced to take. It hadn’t been his choice; it had been forced on him.

“You think I should do it?” she asked her friend.

Nik smiled. “I can’t tell you what to do. Chloe’s only twelve. People move across the country all the time, or around the world, even. Kids survive. They adapt and make new friends. In ten years, this will be a faint memory.”

“Or she’ll be scarred forever. Sure, people move, but when her mom has just died? And she’s just found the father she always wanted?”

“You’re obviously miserable at the thought of hurting Chloe. Will your job make up for that? Will it make you that happy?”

Peyton closed her eyes and tipped her head back. The answer was clear. “No,” she finally answered. “It won’t.”

“There you go. As for what to do if you stay here in Chicago…there are options. You don’t have to go back to Campbell. What about starting your own consulting business?”

Peyton squinted. “Have you been talking to Jax?”

“No.” Nik’s forehead creased. “Why?”

“Because that day we had lunch, he was talking about putting together a dream team of reputation managers…him and me.”

“Of course.” Nik waved a hand.

Peyton smiled. “And Aidan and Hannah.”

“Hannah. What does she know about reputation management?”

“Probably not much,” Peyton admitted. “I questioned that, too, but her marketing background would probably help with clients who need online branding and marketing.”

“Can you afford not to work while you start a business?”

“You know I can.” One corner of Peyton’s mouth kicked up. “I haven’t touched the money I inherited when my parents died, and half of this house is still mine. Not that I want to sell.”

“Call Jax. Right now.”

Peyton laughed, but her insides were in knots. The possibilities were exciting. Running her own business…why not? She had experience, she had contacts…she could do this. But it was scary as hell. Quitting her job on the spur of the moment, the job she’d worked so hard at to succeed…her stomach rolled.

“Hey,” Nik said softly. “I know you’re not one to make snap decisions. You like to think things through. So think about it.”

Peyton nodded. “Okay. I will.”

—

“You don’t have to cook for us.” Drew crowded Peyton up against the counter in the kitchen and pressed his lips to her temple. It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and she’d just returned from another two-day trip to New York. “We can go out. We can make this Thanksgiving totally different for you. I know it’s going to be hard here without Sara.”

She nibbled her bottom lip and peered up at him through her eyelashes. He had a point, and truthfully she was kind of dreading the holiday. “Maybe we could do it at your house?”

He nodded quickly. “That’s a great idea. We can all help cook.”

His parents were arriving Wednesday night. She and Drew had already been through the whole discussion about whether Peyton should join them for Thanksgiving dinner or not. She’d told Drew that Chloe could spend the weekend with them getting to know her grandparents and she would do something else, but he would have none of that, insisting that she had to be there. She felt like an outsider…Chloe was a part of that family, but she wasn’t.

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