Page 135 of Dancing in the Rain

“I’ve got some money set aside,” Aidan said.

“Me, too,” Jax added.

“As do I,” Peyton said. “I see this company as being high-end. With high-profile clients who are willing to pay top dollar for the best reputation management.”

They started throwing out ideas, suggestions for where to locate, and possible clients they could contact. The excitement built among them until Peyton could feel it buzzing in her veins. The more they talked, the more everything seemed to come together.

“It’s getting close to Christmas,” Peyton said an hour later. “I say let’s really get moving on this in the New Year.”

“Man, I am pumped,” Jax said. “This is what I need to feel excited about work again.”

“Yeah,” Aidan admitted. “Me, too.”

“I’m kind of excited about it, too,” Hannah said. “Even though I have a lot to learn.”

“You’ve already had a couple of great ideas about increasing online visibility,” Peyton said. She scrunched her face up with excitement. “This is going to be so good!”

They agreed to set up an online chat group where they could continue their planning and parted ways out on the sidewalk.

Peyton walked over to Michigan Avenue and strolled past the stores all decorated with Christmas greenery, ornaments, and sparkling lights. Her excitement faded in the face of all the holiday cheer. Christmas was getting her down.

Their first Christmas without Sara. Drew had made Thanksgiving into something new and different. But now she was without him, too.

She and Drew hadn’t talked much over the last couple of weeks since their lunch to discuss how they would share Chloe’s time. They’d fallen into a routine with short exchanges when Drew picked her up or dropped her off. Despite the schedule she’d made, she’d tried to be flexible when Drew made plans outside the arrangement.

She missed him. She missed their afternoon sexathons, which had been as much about talking and sharing their lives and laughing together as they had been about the hot sex. She missed him hanging around for dinners together or playing videogames with Chloe or helping her with her homework. He still did those things…but at his place. The emptiness of not having him in her life as much magnified the tough moments of loss she still felt about Sara.

She’d already done her Christmas shopping so there was no reason to go into the gift shop she passed by, but its window dressing pulled her in. She meandered around the store with its eclectic mix of gift items, picking up a cool phone case that Chloe would love for the smartphone Peyton had gotten her for Christmas. Then she wandered into the men’s area.

She’d taken Chloe shopping for Drew’s gifts. She’d picked out a couple of videogames for him and a cool set of desk organizers that Chloe thought he needed because he spent so much time in his home office lately, working on his consulting business.

But then Peyton saw a mug and she stopped and smiled. She picked it up and hesitated. Oh, what the hell. Call her crazy, but it was just something small.

She’d thought about taking Chloe to Jamaica or somewhere else hot for a Christmas that was completely different, but she’d been hesitant to do that because she was sure Drew would want to see Chloe over the holiday. She supposed they’d better talk about that, and what the plan was. Because she liked plans.

The hurt from their argument had faded. And she could now admit that Drew’s words, painful as they’d been, had been true. And they’d helped her look inside herself and figure out what was really important.

Love.

Love was important. Love and family. Chloe, of course.

But she loved Drew, too. And the empty ache inside her grew stronger every day that passed. Did she have the guts to tell him that?

—

Drew sat with Jack and Melody in their offices later that week.

“This is so great!” Melody said, beaming.

Drew grinned and nodded. “I know. I’m pretty pumped.”

He’d gotten a call from Alec Gerdano, a Blackhawks prospect playing with their farm team who was struggling with his goal scoring. He was anxious to improve his play so he had a better chance of getting called up should the need arise for a winger, and a better chance of staying on the roster if that happened. He’d heard about the work Drew was doing, not through the team but because Cameron, one of the midget players Drew was working with, was his cousin. Cameron’s parents had been raving about him, and Alec had called to see if Drew was taking older clients.

He sure as hell was.

He was happy as hell to be working with the Hawks but aware that his contract only ran until the end of this season. When he was no longer tied to them contractually, he wanted to make sure he had other things in his back pocket, specifically clients who were willing to pay him to work with them one-on-one.

Look at him with a Plan B.

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