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She was stubborn enough not to say what was going on until we all sat down, so I did as my sisters did and got my food, taking a seat around her table. I ignored the knot in my stomach, waiting for her to be the one to start the conversation.
“I know you have all been working so hard with the company,” she said. “The business, as I would prefer to call it. And I want you to know I am proud of all three of you.”
My sisters joined in as I told Gigi we were happy to do it. She had started the nanny business years ago, and it was only natural that we would step up to take her place when she wasn’t able to handle it herself anymore.
“But I want you to all know something very important to me,” she continued.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I want you to be happy,” she said. “All of you.”
“Granny, we are happy,” I assured her. “Aren’t we?”
Angela and Teresa both nodded fiercely, none of us certain of where she was going with what she was saying.
“I know you are,” she said. “But I also know you have your own dreams. Cassie, I am so proud of what you have done with the business, but I know you are stressed out with the lack of money that’s been coming in. I don’t want you to have to give up on what you want to do with your life because you are so worried about keeping this business going. I know there are seasons, and there may be a point when we have to admit that there is no longer room for this in our lives.”
“What are you saying?” I cried. “I have no intention of letting the business go.”
“I know you don’t,” Gigi said. “Which is why I wanted to talk to you about it in person. All three of you. If you want to keep working to make it happen, I support you, but with you findingout you’re expecting and with Angela having her dreams, too, I’m sure Teresa has her own coming up here; I don’t want you to ever feel obligated to keeping this business going.”
“Oh, Gigi,” I said, reaching out and putting my hand over hers. “I don’t feel obligated in the slightest. I’m doing what I’m doing because I want to see this business flourish. I have dreams of making it bigger and better than ever, and that is what motivates me to keep going even when I’m struggling. I have told Angela and Teresa that they are free to do as they please, and I think we are all on the same page about that.”
I glanced around the table, and I could see the way both my sisters nodded as they looked at our grandmother. Even with the way Angela was hoping to cut back on the time she spent working with the company, I knew she supported what we were doing.
“But I hate to see the hours you pull, and to hear you are still struggling,” Gigi said. “Children are expensive, and you’re going to find that this little one is going to take money that you might have planned for the business. When it comes down to it, I think the choice should be clear.”
“I might have found an investor,” I blurted out.
Everyone turned to me, clearly not expecting to hear what I’d just said.
“You did?” Gigi asked.
“I’m not sure I want to take him up on the offer,” I said quickly. “But the man I’ve been seeing told me he would invest in the company.”
“Why don’t you take him up on it?” Angela interjected almost immediately. “Cassie, the guy is a billionaire! It would be stupid not to.”
“Because,” I said as I hesitated. “It’s complicated.”
There was silence around the table for a moment, then Angela threw her hands in the air. “You haven’t told him about the pregnancy yet, have you?”
“I’m trying to find the right time,” I said defensively. “I don’t know how to bring it up.”
“For the love of God, you just say it!” Angela practically yelled. “Gigi, tell her! She’s carrying that man’s child, and she’s not telling him she is.”
“Why?” Gigi asked me.
It was a pointed question, and I had to wrack my brain for an answer.
“I guess I’m just scared. I think he’s going to be happy. I hope he’s going to be happy, but there are those moments when I worry he’s going to be pissed,” I admitted. “And if I were to take his money and then tell him I’m pregnant, I don’t know.”
“Then you tell him now,” Angela said. “Cassie, how are you any different from his ex if you’re not going to tell him that you’re pregnant?”
I snapped my head in her direction. I wanted to argue with her. I was a lot different than Jordan. But then, I could also see her point. Jordan had used Lucy since day one to get what she wanted out of Alex, and if I were to keep the fact I was pregnant to myself for too long, then it would look like I had been holding the information for something that might benefit me.
The right thing to do would be to tell him the truth about the baby now, and after that, I could work out the details of everything else.
“What if he thinks I baby-trapped him?” I blurted out, the tears starting to form.
