AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But would the family connection survive Gabe going behind Ethan’s back to prove a point? And if he didn’t go through with this, see his own ideas through, would Gabe eventually resent Ethan enough to destroy their relationship completely?
Questions he wished he had answers to.
“Gabe?” Pam’s voice cut into his thoughts and he could have kissed her for it.
“Yeah?”
“You’re not doing this to Ethan. You’re doing it for Ethan.”
His mouth quirked briefly. He knew damn well his big brother wouldn’t see it like that.
She wasn’t finished, though. “Like I said before, I understand family loyalty, Gabe. I really do. But sometimes, you have to do what you know is right, whether the family agrees or not. This is your chance to prove something—not just to Ethan, but to yourself.”
Pam was right and Gabe knew it, though he wasn’t thrilled about it. Still, if he didn’t try making up those new flavors, following through on his idea, he’d always regret it. He had to know that he’d done what he could to make his own vision a reality. After all, if he didn’t have faith in his vision, how could he hope to convince Ethan?
Pam reached up and cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand. “But if you don’t want to do this...”
“I really don’t,” he said, bending down to give her a quick, hard kiss that scrambled his brain cells even as it steadied him. “But I also don’t have a choice.”
“Are you sure, Gabe?” she asked, biting her bottom lip in a sure sign that she was anxious. “I’ll back you either way. You could even wait for a better time. I didn’t mean to rush you into this by suggesting we take the recipe to a chocolate chef I know.”
“You didn’t push me into this,” he assured her. “Don’t think that. The idea to make up some of the new flavors was a good one. But I’m doing this for me, Pam. If I don’t try, I’ll never know.”
She studied him for a long minute, then nodded. “Okay, then. I’m with you.”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling. “You really are.”
He slung one arm around her shoulders and hugged her tight before steering her toward the glass doors. Gabe already knew Ethan wasn’t at the office. His car wasn’t in the parking lot, so the coast, as they said in old movies, was clear.
The security guard in the foyer leaped to his feet to unlock the door as Gabriel approached. Once they were inside, the door was closed and locked again. Light streamed down on the gleaming, honey-toned wood floor. The walls were splashed with colorful pictures of their chocolates.
“Evening, Mr. Hart,” the guard said. “Didn’t expect to see you back here tonight.”
“I won’t be long, Joe,” he said, and guided Pam to the elevator. “Just have to go get something from the office.”
“Yes, sir.” The older man went back to his desk and wasn’t even looking at them when the elevator doors hissed closed.
The office was too quiet. It felt as if they were walking through an upscale abandoned building. Their shoes on the hardwood floors clacked noisily in the stillness. The lights were dimmed and in every shadow, Gabe imagined he could see his great-grandfather and all the other Harts who’d come before him watching with disapproval. But he shook that off and continued into Ethan’s office.
The original recipe had, of course, been scanned into the computer and was kept in an encrypted file that only Ethan and Gabriel could access. It was also stored on flash drives kept in several different places, for security’s sake. And because he was Ethan, Gabriel’s big brother kept the original recipe in a bank box, and a copy of it in a wall safe. He did it because their father had done it that way, too. As if keeping that recipe close would continue the company’s growth.
Though it wasn’t a plea to the universe for luck. It was more of a family talisman.
And Gabriel was about to set it free.
Four
Sadie was running late, but she stopped at her brother’s house, anyway. She told herself it was sort of on the way to Dana Point from her condo in Long Beach, so it wasn’t as if she’d gone very far out of her way. Fine, it was way out of the way. But the truth was, she just wanted to talk to Gina.
