Page 126 of Dancing in the Rain

She got that he wanted his daughter. But she thought he cared about her, too.

Pain pulsed from her heart out to her fingertips and her throat squeezed. Jesus, love was fucking painful. She’d lost so many people she’d loved. First her parents, then Sara. Was she going to lose Chloe and Drew, too?

Tears slipped from beneath her clamped-shut eyelids.

Her cellphone started ringing in her purse where she’d dropped it on the table in the foyer. She swiped at the tears on her face with both hands and hesitated. Maybe it was Drew? Hope burst in her chest as she hurried over to get it.

It was her boss.

She frowned at the call on Thanksgiving evening but answered it. “Peyton speaking.”

“Peyton. It’s Gord.”

“Hi, Gord. What’s up?”

“We have a big problem.”

Her forehead tightened and she wiped more tears. “What?”

“North Star Airlines just had a plane slide off the runway.”

“Oh, no.” She touched her fingertips to her mouth. North Star was a big client of theirs. Of hers. “Is anyone hurt?”

“Not on the plane, but it slid onto a highway and hit a car. A young girl was killed.”

“Oh, my God.” She closed her eyes.

“Yeah. This is a disaster and we need to get on it right away.”

She bit her lip. Yes, North Star was her client. Yes, she had to help them with this. Her head dropped forward. Why now?

She pulled in a big breath and let it out. “Okay. I’ll get a flight back first thing in the morning. I’ll email you the details.”

“Great.”

She ended the call and bit her lip. Hell.

The way things had just ended with Drew…the last thing she wanted to do was call him and ask him to take Chloe. Forceful bands tightened around her chest.

She forced herself to take a few deep breaths, pacing back and forth across the living room.

She’d had her life all planned out…the career that was going to move her up in her field, the success she was going to have. She’d never planned to have a family. That was going to be her secret of success…she wouldn’t have to worry about work/life balance; she’d be there to give her all to her work and she’d rise up the ladder until…what?

She wasn’t sure what her actual end goal was. CEO of Sentinel? Or another big company? Running the whole show herself? Was that what she wanted?

If it was, why not run her own show, like Nik had said?

She sank down onto the couch and stared blankly across the room.

Balancing work and family wasn’t something that would hold her back. It would make her lifefuller. Because she loved Chloe, and in the end…that mattered more than anything.

Oh, God.

But first she had to deal with this crisis. She hauled her weary ass up the stairs to talk to Chloe.

“Hey, kiddo.” She knocked on Chloe’s open door and stepped into her room. She was in bed, the lamp on beside her, reading. “Ready for bed?”

“Yes. Can I read for a while longer?”

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