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“I wouldn’t call it an affair, sir, as neither of us was in a relationship,” Jake replied stiffly. “But we have been seeing each other.”
“It’s my fault, Dad,” I spoke up, and his piercing gaze whipped to me. “Jake and I met at the end of season party, and he didn’t know who I was. We sort of… hit it off, and he didn’t know I was your daughter until we both came in on Monday.”
Dad’s eyes grew round with surprise. “You mean to tell me you’ve been lying to me this entire time?”
“Not exactly,” I rushed to explain. “Once we found out, we kept it strictly professional. For a while. But then we started growing closer. I thought we could just hold off until he went to work for James, so you wouldn’t have to worry about us working together. But,” my voice softened, and my gaze strayed to Jake’s profile. He continued to stare stiffly forward, his entire body rigid. “We couldn’t help it, Dad. I met his kids, and they’re wonderful. But Jake is so good for me. He feels… right. We fell in love.”
Upon hearing that word, Jake lost all composure and turned to face me again, his eyes shining. “Really?” He whispered, as if afraid to ask the question out loud.
I nodded. “Really. I love you too, Jake. And I love Olivia and Ethan. They’re amazing kids. Probably because they have such an amazing father. And if you meant what you said, about being willing to support me and what I need to do here, I think we have the start of a great thing.”
“I meant every word,” he said the words with reverence, like a prayer spoken at an altar. “I’ll do whatever it takes, Ellie, to prove it to you. Whatever you need, I can be it.”
A fresh wave of tears trickled down my cheeks.
My dad cleared his throat again, and our attention snapped back to him. “This is… certainly a lot to wrap my head around,” he began. “I don’t know how to feel about all of this secrecy. But, if my baby girl is happy,” his gaze drifted to me, and that’s when I noticed the softening of his expression. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy and cared for, Izzy. I thought Zach was the one to do that, but clearly I was mistaken. And Jake is a good man. I’ve always liked him. Maybe I don’t like that he was running around behind my back with my daughter, but I understand the situation was… difficult.”
His gaze returned to Jake, his expression hardening. “So, if you meant everything you said, you two have my blessing. We’ll have to proceed with your transfer to Mountain Ops, since Ellie knows how I feel about people dating in-house. But I think you’ve done what I asked you here to do. So I see no reason to make things more difficult.”
“I meant every word, Sir,” Jake replied in a clear voice.
“Good,” Dad replied firmly, then cracked a smile. “And stop calling me Sir, for chrissakes. It’s JJ, son.” He pulled Jake in for a hug and gave him a firm pat on the back. “Now breathe before we have to call you an ambulance. They take ten minutes to get here. You’ll be dead before they arrive.”
That made Jake laugh, and a smile spread across my cheeks.
“Now, I’m going back to my office before I get hit with one more bombshell today. I don’t know if my heart can take it. Why don’t you two go take a long coffee break, sort your stuff out—somewhere off-property, if you don’t mind? Just come back before lunch. We’ve got a lot on the schedule today.”
“I thought you wanted me in the board meeting today, Dad?”
“Bah, don’t worry about it. You’ve got a lifetime of board meetings to attend, Ellie. I can handle one more on my own.”
I stepped around my desk and pulled him into a hug. “Thanks, Dad. I love you.”
I knew his emotions were getting the better of him, because he cleared his throat several times and his voice got rough while he patted me awkwardly on the back. “I love you too, Isabelle. Now go on, I’ll see you later.”
I gave him one last smile before I grabbed my purse, slipped my hand into Jake’s, and tugged him out of my office.
Epilogue
JAKE
* * *
“Okay, say cheese!” I held up my phone and waited.
“Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!” The kids dutifully plastered on fake grins and repeated the phrase, posing oddly as if they were in pain.
I snapped a few photos, then decided that was the best I’d get and waved them loose. As if we shot them from a cannon, they streaked down the walkway, turning to yell at my parents to hurry.
“I’m coming, Ethan, just take it easy,” my dad huffed as he descended the porch stairs on stiff legs. “There’ll still be plenty of candy to go around. Folks here go all out.”
Ethan had already pulled his red and white mask over his face, so his reply was muffled.
Olivia was just as impatient, but she dealt with it better, twirling and waving her glowing scepter around as she waited for my mom to catch up.
“I like your costume, Jake.” Mom beamed in my direction.
Olivia stared at me skeptically, pushing her blonde wig back to see better. “That’s a costume? It doesn’t look like a costume to me.”
