Page 69 of The Fun Part
She walks in. “I’d like to meet her in person. She’s more than an assistant. We’ve become very friendly. Maybe I couldback you up since we’re friends now too.” She rubs her hands together, her eyes lighting up. “What’s the game plan?”
“This is a family matter. If you show up, it’ll just complicate things.”
“Sutton and I have a good relationship. I don’t think she’d mind meeting me. Even if she doesn’t take the promotion, she’ll still be our virtual assistant.”
“But then you’d be meeting my dad too. Sutton still lives at home.”
She settles on the sofa, so I join her. “And meeting your dad’s a bad thing?”
“Dad’s kind of a shut-in. He goes to work, comes home. That’s it. He used to be more social, but he sorta shut down after Mom died.”
“He sounds depressed.”
“He probably is. He’s also not the kind of guy to do anything about it.”
“Would he be mad if I was there?”
“No. But he might get the wrong idea. I haven’t brought a woman home since…in a long time.”
Her brows draw together. I brace myself for the probing questions, but all she says is, “I’ll make it clear I’m there for Sutton and you and I are just friends.”
I shift forward, resting my elbows on my knees, staring at the floor. I’m not sure about Mackenzie getting involved in my family life. It’s bad enough Sutton’s always singing her praises. I don’t want Dad to get on board. How could I possibly explain our relationship? “It’s complicated” leaves so much room for questions I don’t know how to answer.
“We are friends, right?” she asks, leaning down to meet my eyes. “We had ice cream together yesterday. Somebody told me that’s what friends do.” Her eyes sparkle playfully.
I cave. She’s impossible to resist. “Okay, fine. You can go under the friendship clause.”
“Ooh, a clause. How legal. So what’s the plan? You do have a plan, right?”
I sit back and think for a moment. “I’m going to pull John aside and convince him this isn’t what he really wants.”
She grimaces. “Sutton will never forgive you for ending her relationship for her.”
“You have a better idea?”
“You can talk to her about all the great potential for growth with this job, and then I can show her stock projections with some really pretty graphs.” She gestures a curve up with a finger.
I can’t help my smile. I love that she likes to make graphs and play with numbers. The first day I met Hailey, she told me Mackenzie was an accounting major and graduated with honors.
“Money won’t sway Sutton from the guy she thinks is the love of her life,” I say.
She points at me. “Exactly, she thinks he is, but how can he be when he cheats on her and didn’t propose until she was about to leave? If only there were a way to open her eyes to the cheating-loser reality.”
“I’ll play it by ear. You can be backup.”
“Deal.”
“One other thing. It might be a difficult time for Dad. It’s his wedding anniversary with Mom that weekend.”
“How long has it been since she died?”
I swallow over the lump in my throat. “Fifteen years.”
“Does he visit her grave that day?”
“He visits her grave every Sunday. They were high school sweethearts. He’s sort of lost without her.” My voice comes out like a croak. Dammit. Why is it so hard to say this stuff out loud?
She hugs me. I stiffen, but she keeps her arms tight around me. Slowly, I relax, the ache easing in my throat. “I’m sorry,”she says softly. “I can only imagine how hard that must be for everyone. If you think it’s best I don’t go—”
