Ron hung up the phone with a sigh but turned to me with a smile. "Take a seat, Ms. Kay," he said, gesturing to a chair.I sat down, and he sighed again. "It's getting harder to find top talent these days."From his call earlier, I had already figured that out. "Are we really that short on technical staff right now?""We are," he said, shaking his head. "One of our senior engineers quit yesterday. We were already stretched thin, and this just makes it worse."For once, he looked a bit stressed—a side of him I hadn't seen before. Usually, he was all smiles, like nothing ever bothered him."The job market's super polarized right now," I said, sharing my thoughts. "We've got tons of people with fancy degrees, but hardly anyone with the real hands-on experience we need. It's like there's no shortage of gig workers, but try finding someone who'll actually get their hands dirty."Ron nodded, giving me a thumbs up. "Exactly. You get it. You're seriously a pro at both business and HR—a to
"Ms. Kay, please sign for your flowers," the delivery guy said, extending a bouquet toward me.White wild roses!These were my favorite. Only someone who really knew me would get that.My first thought was Jace.He sends me white wild roses on my birthday every year. And for other occasions, just plain white roses.But today wasn't my birthday. Why was he sending me flowers out of the blue?Still a bit stunned, I took the flowers from the delivery guy, who looked like he was ready to move on to his next stop."Who sent them? Your boyfriend?" Ron popped up behind me, as usual, always in the right place at the wrong time.I was about to deny it when a small card slipped out from between the flowers.Ron, ever the helpful one, bent down, scooped it up, and handed it to me.There were just two lines written on it: Hope you have a great day. From B.A shiver ran down my spine as Brad's annoying smirk popped into my head.I never would've guessed it was him!But how did he know
After sending that, I added: [Some young hottie.]Then I just stared at my phone, waiting. One second, two seconds, three seconds... still nothing.Um, what?Was he mad? Or just ignoring me?My fingers hovered over the screen, almost typing, "Hey, you good?" but then deleted it. Twice.If he was gonna flip out over some random guy sending me flowers, then what would be next? Would he go all possessive like Jace did?Back in high school, I had guys coming up to me all the time, and Jace acted like I was his personal property. Even when I was working at RiverwaveCorp, people flirted without knowing I was engaged, and he was the same—super jealous, always overreacting.He'd get so mad. He wouldn't just get on the guy's case but also make it my fault for being, I don't know, "too friendly" or something.To keep the peace, I'd end up avoiding any guy friends who might set him off.I swore I'd never let that happen again.So, I tossed my phone aside and got back to work.About ten
Lindey hadn't mentioned Jace and Tanya would be joining us.If she had, I definitely wouldn't have shown up.It's not that I'm scared to face them—I just didn't want to lose my appetite."Rea, you're here! Now we're all set," Lindey said with a bright smile, pulling me in for a quick hug.It's hard to be mad at someone with a smile like that, but I still couldn't help saying, "Lindey, I thought it was just gonna be the two of us.""It was supposed to be, but then..." Lindey shot a quick glance at Jace and Tanya and pouted. "I ran into them by chance."By chance? Really?I'm not a kid. Did she really think I'd buy that?But if I walked out now, it'd only embarrass Lindey and make me look like I was still hung up on Jace.So I forced a sarcastic smile. "Wow, what a coincidence.""We must be intruding on Mrs. Johnston's time with you," Tanya chimed in.If she knew she was intruding, why didn't she just leave? But no, she sat there comfortably.When I first met Tanya, I actuall
I didn't touch the pumpkin milk drinks and waited to see what the waiter would do.But before the waiter could move, Jace picked up both glasses. He set one in front of me and held the other, turning to Lindey. "Mom, your blood sugar's high. I asked them to make peanut milk for you instead."Lindey looked like she wanted to argue, but Jace was already placing the second glass in front of Tanya.Tanya gave him a weak, almost fragile smile.She looked so pitiful that even I felt a little uncomfortable, and I was sure any guy watching would've been tempted to play the hero.Lindey must've noticed too, because she didn't say anything else.Then the dishes started arriving, all my favorites. Lindey piled food onto my plate like I was incapable of serving myself, making it impossible to keep up.Meanwhile, Jace and Tanya sat there like extras in the background, completely ignored.I felt embarrassed for them.If I were in their place, I'd probably end up with a serious case of indig
Hayden and Ron? Together?And that last name... Hart?All these thoughts slammed into my brain like a freight train.I'd had my doubts before. I'd tried to connect the dots, but they both played it off like I was imagining things. But now, seeing them here, there was no denying it."Hayden!" I called outBoth Hayden and Ron turned toward me.I was half-crouching by the pond, so they didn't see me at first. Ron even nudged Hayden and said, "Who's calling you? I thought I heard—"Before he could finish, Hayden spotted me and walked over. "You almost fell in," he said, reaching out his hand. I thought he was going to help me up, so I started to grab it.But instead, he just scooped me up like I weighed nothing and carried me away from the pond. "Aren't you supposed to be having lunch with Mrs. Johnston? What are you doing here?"Seriously? We were at a restaurant. What did he think I was doing here, feeding the fish?Being swept up in his arms like that left me a little flustere
Jace's tone was harsh."Jace, I get it. Your mom doesn't like me, and nothing I do is gonna change that. I'm sorry you're stuck dealing with this because of me," Tanya said, finally realizing the truth.Her apology was way too humble, almost like she was beating herself up.But what had she actually done wrong? If anything, she was guilty of loving him too much, putting up with all this drama just to be with him."It's my choice to deal with this crap, but stop making it worse," Jace snapped, sounding more annoyed than ever."Wait, Jace, what are you talking about? I don't get it," Tanya said, her voice turning softer, almost like she was trying to appear more delicate."What's going on with Brad?" The way Jace said it made it clear he was blaming her for something."What about Brad? Did he mess up again? Did you have to clean up his mess?" Tanya asked, her voice a little shaky.Jace scoffed. "You really don't know?""Jace, seriously, I have no clue what you're talking about,"
"Excuse me, could you two let me through, please?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.Jace didn't budge, his gaze locked on me. Tanya glanced at me before silently stepping aside, gripping Jace's arm like she thought I'd snatch him away or something."Rea, come on, let's eat," Lindey called out the moment I stepped into the private room, her smile warm and inviting.I slid into my seat, playing dumb. "Why's it just the two of us?""It was always supposed to be just us. Someone else decided to crash the party, completely clueless," she said, her disdain for Tanya—and probably Jace, too—couldn't have been more obvious.I chuckled softly. "If you keep this up, it's gonna put a strain on things with Jace."I wasn't trying to be all noble or anything; it's just that Matthew and Lindey had always been good to me. I genuinely wanted their family to get along."This is on him," Lindey said firmly, not backing down one bit.I'd said my piece, so I let it go and decided to j