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“She’s worth it, unlike the last time.”
“Yeah. She is. I don’t need as much time to pack up and go as the last time either.”
Garrett crossed his arms. “Unfortunately, I’ll need a bit of time to set things up so that I can run the two banks from a distance, but I’ll get things working in that direction as fast as I can after I get back from this coming audit.”
“Do you think we should still propose to her tonight or wait until we get back to town?” Seth asked.
“Personally, I’ve always believed we should wait until we weren’t leaving town for a week the very next day we asked her. Let’s hold off until we both return.”
“You’re right. ‘Marry us!’ followed promptly by ‘See ya!’ is not well planned out.”
“Exactly.” Garrett cleared his throat, lowering his tone. “So we’ll tell her she should take the job, she’ll give you her two weeks’ notice, then next week, when we get back from our respective trips to help her get packed up to leave, we’ll propose, and tell her we’re going with her.”
Seth pushed out a sigh of relief. “Great plan.”
Garrett smiled. “Let’s make tonight extra special. I’ll miss being away from her this coming week.”
“Me too. But you know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“Makes the sex better when you get back, too.”
Seth laughed and nodded. Jessica turned in time to see them laughing. She waved and held up a single finger, turning back to the desk clerk to resolve whatever issue needed to be addressed.
He loved her so much. For as much as he hated to see her go from here, moving to Chicago would be his pleasure if it meant spending the rest of his life with her and Garrett.
* * * *
Jessica returned to Seth and Garrett after taking care of some last minute staffing issues for the evening. “Thanks for waiting. I’m ready to go.”
Garrett slipped an arm around her shoulders. Seth grabbed her hand. They exited the Old West Town hotel heading back to the house to change for dinner.
The temperament in the car seemed very quiet to Jessica as they drove home. Neither of them said much to her, each seemingly lost in their own quiet contemplations. Then it hit her. Mr. Barrington and his stupid offer. They hadn’t talked about it. Perhaps they were afraid she was going to take it and leave them. Time to set things straight.
As they walked inside the house, Jessica stopped them in the foyer. “Do we need to talk about what happened with Mr. Barrington?”
Garrett looked at Seth. Seth looked at Garrett. They both turned to look at her, but didn’t speak.
“I hope you know I’m not planning to take his offer,” she said resolutely.
Seth spoke first. “The thing is…Barrington’s offer was really a good one. I wish I could match it, but of course you know I can’t do that.
She nodded. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”
But then he continued. “Honestly, if I were you, I’d take him up on his generous proposal. A twenty-percent boost in salary is practically unheard of in business today. Hard to turn that down. Not to mention that he’d also pay for your moving expenses back to Chicago. But mostly, you deserve it.” He frowned then, like he was serious about her taking that ludicrous offer.
Jessica turned to Garrett. “What do you think?”
Garrett pushed out a sigh. “Seth’s right. It’s a great offer, and you totally deserve it. You should take the job back before he changes his mind.”
“I see. Well, this is unexpected. I’d practically written the refusal letter in my head as we stood there.”
Unexpected? Jessica was, in fact, shocked. Did they understand the particulars? Did they not realize it would mean she’d have to move…? Fuck. And then it hit her. Of course they realized what this would mean. She’d have to leave them and move out of state to take this job.
The shock of what they implied hit her like a punch to the breadbox. They wanted her to go to Chicago to take her old job back.
“We don’t want you to lose this extraordinary opportunity, Jessica,” Seth said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You worked very hard for ten years at the Barrington hotel chain. I understand that. If he hadn’t foolishly let you go, you’d still be there. It’s not fair for you to have to settle for less money and give up his offer.”
