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I shook my head. “I don’t feel like it would be. He’s not the guy I thought he was and…” My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard before I kept going. “I’ll figure it out. I can do this myself. I don’t know how yet, but we Fryes are like weeds, right?”
Rachel laughed before she winced at the pain it caused.
“Just like weeds,” she gasped.
“Sorry,” I said, feeling like crap that I’d made her laugh.
“Don’t be, honey. It’s okay. You know we’ll all be here for you, right? Whatever you decide to do.”
“You’re not going to tell me to tell him?”
Rachel shook her head. “If anyone knows what it means to be a single mother, to make it work no matter what because it’s better that way, it’s me. I wouldn’t change anything. I love my kids, and although it can be hard, they’re the light in my life. You’re the strongest person I know, Mack.”
“I get it from you,” I said softly.
“You can do this. You just need to stick to your guns, stay true to who you are, and it will all work itself out.”
I leaned over and carefully hugged my sister.
“You have no idea how much it means to me that you’re on my side,” I said, my voice muffled against her shoulder.
“I’ll always be on your side,” Rachel said. “That’s what we do. We stick together, and this is just another step in a beautiful adventure. One day when you’re old and gray, you get to look back at the picture of the life you’ve painted and marvel at all the pretty colors.”
“Mom used to say that,” I said softly.
“And she was right.” Rachel squeezed my hand. “It’s going to be okay. We all have each other, that’s how we’ve made it this far. We’ll keep doing it this way.”
29
TROY
“Let’stalkaboutyourvision,” Marc Johnson said, leaning back in his huge leather armchair. Johnson wasn’t a very big man, and the chair suggested he was trying to compensate for something.
Being the owner of a business wasn’t in the size of the desk chair. I thought it, but I didn’t say it.
“I think we should figure out what Toussaint wants,” I said and glanced at Toussaint, who had said very little since I’d walked into the office. “It’s your product, after all.” He sat with his ankle over his knee, elbows on the armrests, and fingers steepled. He was on the same side of the desk as I was, but I didn’t feel like we were equals.
Toussaint shrugged, opened his hands and steepled them again as if that was all that needed to be said… or not. As the case may be.
My mind drifted to Mackenzie. She’d had such wonderful ideas for the project. To her, it hadn’t just been about the contract; she really cared about what she did. To me, it had been about winning, and only that. I loved my job but it was because I was good at it, not because it defined me in any way.
With Mackenzie, it was all different.
“Well, I think we really should get that event together,” I said. “I think that’s the one big way we’re going to spread awareness and get everyone drooling to own the pieces of jewelry.”
“Yes, yes,” Toussaint said. “Of course, that’s what we mean when we talk about your vision.”
Right.
We started talking about the event, about when and where, and how we were going to approach advertising it. It was a sound idea—I’d come up with it, so ithadto be good—but my heart wasn’t in it.
In fact, I felt uncomfortable in the office with Johnson and Toussaint.
This wasn’t where I was supposed to be.
Mackenzie was supposed to be here, taking care of the project.
“Yes, yes,” Toussaint said, waving his hand when Johnson talked about the glitz and the glam. “I understand what you’re trying to do, but let’s talk security. Those pieces are priceless.”
