LanieAndrew asked me to marry him.I glanced down at my ring as his seventeen-year-old daughter Raven went on and on about the Pinterest boards we needed to review and create. The moment hit me again so hard it brought tears to my eyes.For years, I was the bridesmaid but never the bride. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was really my turn.Andrew touched my arm and smiled as I shifted my attention to him.“You okay, baby?” His warm smile and kind eyes helped to push away all the questions racing through my mind, the doubts and concerns.“Better than okay.” I moved into his arms, ignoring poor Raven as she sat in her hospital bed.His lips were soft on mine, his grip tight. I melted against him and let the high emotion roll over me in chill-bump inducing waves.It was my turn.“Eww!” The sound of Raven gagging caused Andrew and me to pull apart, both of us laughing at the sarcastic girl.“Like you don’t suck face with Jason.” Andrew turned to face her and crossed his thick arms over

Andrew“Got everything you need, sir?” Robin poked her head into my office and gave me an inquisitive look.I glanced down at the papers scattered all over my desk. “Yes. Please hold my calls for the morning. I need to figure out what’s going on with the Bartlet account.”“Understood.” She closed the door behind her, leaving me to stew in my silence.Nathan Bartlet had left me a long message the day before. Some of his investments were not performing as they should. It would take a while to dig into the situation, but I needed something to get my mind off my personal life anyway, or so I hoped.“Ten years,” I muttered to myself. My sweet wife had been gone ten years, and there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about her. She would have been at Raven’s bedside at the hospital day and night if she were still around, her maternal instinct second to none.Standing, I rubbed my chest and walked toward the tall glass floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on the city of Seattl

Lanie“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” I mumbled into my cell phone as I searched for a parking place. It had been a few days since I’d seen Andrew, and it made me antsy. Something about a client file that he needed to spend some time with. “Better than a woman, I guess.”The voicemail picked up. “This is Andrew Marx. I’m unavailable right now. Leave a message with the pertinent information and I’ll call you back.” The beep filled my ear, causing me to jerk back.“It’s Lanie. I wanted to see if you were free. It’s Sunday around lunchtime. I just got to the Derek Gallery on Phantom street. I’d love for you to come over here with me.” I took a short breath, trying not to sigh. “Hope you’re doing great. Miss you.”I dropped the call and grumbled under my breath as I finally found a place to squeeze my car into. The gallery had people in a long line around the building. No way I was standing in the freezing cold, waiting to get inside.I loved art, and I loved Matt and Erica more, but me and

AndrewA little later that afternoon, Thomas knocked on my office door and walked inside. “You wanted to see me, sir?” He was an up and coming advisor, and I had my eye on him for promotion in the next six months or so.“Come on in, Tom. Have a seat.” I stood and moved behind my chair, gripping it as the younger man walked over and sat down. “I have a project I need you to spend some time looking into, as well as the members of the group that are looking to own/control the project.”Tom pulled a small tablet out of his coat pocket and nodded. “Absolutely, sir. Give me the details, and I will get after looking into it.”“Robert Jacobs stopped by last week and told me that Kent Bryant was involved, as well as his son, Damon. They would be looking to provide the accounting part of the arrangement. I’m not sure who else is being considered for the team, but for the standard investment portion, they’ve invited Alex Reid, head of Reid Enterprises in New York. They’re asking us to consider s

Lanie“You really didn’t have to come here, you know? Your vacation is almost over. You should be enjoying your break.” Raven turned her head and gave me a look that said she was right.I chuckled. The kid wasn’t a kid anymore, but a young woman with a good head on her shoulders most of the time. Andrew had to be proud, or maybe he saw her as my father saw me. Young, inexperienced, immature.“I wanted to see you.” I glanced down at my hand, the big ring on my finger grabbing my attention immediately. A bittersweet feeling about the engagement had taken over my heart. I was grateful and excited but a bit apprehensive because of my conversation with Matt and Erica the weekend before. The worst part was that in some small way, they were right.It was rushed and maybe done for the wrong reasons on Andrew’s part, but we did love each other. That was enough surely.“Hey, did you hear me?” Raven reached out and cupped her hand over mine. “Where are you today? Not here.”I snorted. “When did