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“I know,” he said. “It’s taken me years to get Duke’s like that, but things happen. It’s my business. My responsibility. I employ a lot of people and their jobs rely on me being able to keep it afloat.”
Not that he had much to worry about, but shit could happen.
Did he have the means to cover any losses before drastic steps could be taken? He did. But he’d never wanted to dip into family money if he failed.
He was determined to not fail.
His sister was the steady one. Or at least career wise. His mother too.
He was more like his father and maybe took risks.
But they were paying off more times than not.
“You know you are going to be successful with anything you do. I don’t think anyone doubts it,” she said. “It’s in your blood.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to prove it to everyone else.”
“I think you need to prove it to yourself more than anything.”
“Damn,” he said. “Who are you and what did you do with the Hadley I met months ago?”
She laughed at him. “You know. Not that long ago I started to wonder if I was turning into this person because other people were pushing me to do it or I was doing it for me.”
“Don’t do anything for anyone else,” he said. Now he felt like shit he might have been pushing her to be someone she wasn’t. Or that she thought he wanted her to be someone else. Hadn’t that been the issue with Eddie?
“I’ve heard that a lot in my life. But I still did it. Then I got into this mess and here I am back on the island. I was ready to go on with my dismal life and put it back together and continue on as is. But I met you and you made me see there was more to me than I was letting others see.”
“It’s always been in you,” he said.
“I guess you’re right. And now that it’s out, I like it. I’m still a work in progress and am going to shrink back when I’m attacked until I decide the best way to handle something.”
He snorted. She wasn’t shrinking back with him now. “Everyone does that,” he said.
“They do. Just like I think you push people because you want to be able to say you helped them. It makes you feel good. Like another ego boost.”
He frowned. He’d never realized that or thought of it before. “Could be,” he said. “Is that such a bad thing?”
“No,” she said. “Tell me about this Jell-O comment.”
“What?” he asked. “What does that mean?”
“You said something about jiggling and I laughed and said it made me think of Jell-O. You mentioned your sister and said it was a long story. I want to hear it.”
He wasn’t sure how her being verbally attacked on the phone by her ex’s sister turned into this. “It’s nothing major. Just a buildup over the years. Kelsey always says I’m Jell-O. I’m all hard and tough on the outside, but my insides are Jell-O. They jiggle all the time with emotions. She’s said a lot of things.”
“She’s right. She’d know. She shared a womb with you.”
“Very funny,” he said.
“I’m not trying to be funny,” she said. “I think she’s right. We all put fronts on in our life. Yours is the hard guy on the outside, but you’re very caring to those that mean something. Or those you want to help. But you only do it for those that deserve it. I’ve seen that. You don’t hand it out to everyone.”
“That’s not true. I give everyone a chance until they blow it.”
“Like Beth,” she said. “You gave her a chance. You put her in a training role for someone new. You wanted her to feel valued and see if she had the skills to do it.”
“And she took advantage of that. She took it to a level that isn’t acceptable and then she behaved in a way that isn’t allowable to continue employment.”
As pissed as he was about Beth saying what she had about Hadley, it wasn’t the only reason Beth was gone. It was her attitude to everyone else around her. The lies she told and the power and manipulation she tried to wield over people.
