Beyond Ruin by Crystal Cierlak Page A

face. He watched Natalie's eyes widen imperceptibly. They carried on an easy conversation, Frankie wrapped around Natalie's hip as if it were the most natural place in the world to be. When Joe bounded down the stairs a minute later he made a beeline straight to Frankie but made no attempt to hug or otherwise impede on her space. James had to give the guy credit for not trying to push an insta-relationship on his daughter. Their daughter if he got technical about it.
    "Gelato?" Quinn's velvety voice was a welcome reprieve from his thoughts. She held out a small bowl of the pistachio-flavored dessert and he took it wordlessly. "Welcome to Gallo Harlow ."
    "Kind of an unconventional office space, wouldn't you say?" If anything it felt more like standing inside someone's home rather than their office.
    "It's multi-purpose. Think of it as a really beautiful home office. The employees never go upstairs to the bedrooms."
    James froze, a spoonful of gelato balanced on a clear plastic spoon. "You live here?"
    Quinn nodded. "The agency bought the house from one of Joe's relatives and the three of us moved in together. Trust me, it's a lot less sexy than it sounds." He half expected her to qualify the statement with, ' unfortunately '.
    Natalie and Joe living together under the same roof? The idea did not sit well with him. He watched the two of them together with his daughter, his blood pressure quickening in his veins. He could never quite reconcile the knowledge that Joe Gallo and his Natalie were co-workers, let alone that they were now running a business together. Knowing they slept under the same roof was almost unbearable.
    "They're not...?" he drifted off. He might have been embarrassed to even ask if the answer were any less important to him. It hadn't really been too long since Natalie ended their relationship, and while he hoped that all she needed was time to collect herself following the miscarriage and the news that Celine was pregnant with his child, he was also mindful of the small chance she would move on entirely; with anyone but Joe Gallo.
    "No!" Quinn replied through an expelled breath that sounded like suppressed laughter. "Not with Joe."
    "But with someone?" he asked before her answer even had time to settle in the space between them. Quinn, however, was not so quick to respond, and every moment she hesitated a new wave of anxiety battered his insides. "Quinn?"
    "We've all been focused on launching the business," she began after a long moment of silence. "Natalie more than anyone. I didn't even know you two weren't together until she came home last night."
    James turned and searched Quinn's face for unspoken answers. "She didn't say anything?"
    Quinn cast her eyes down to her own gelato and slowly shook her head. She looked worried. James didn't know much about Quinn other than that she was normally feisty, quick with her words and far more worldly than most other women her age, but what he did know was that she and Natalie were as close as two friends could be. If she was worried it was likely with good reason.
    "I never even knew she was pregnant," she whispered. "I'm sorry for your loss, by the way," she added. He knew he should say something to acknowledge her, but his preferred coping method was to focus his mind elsewhere. "I don't know the full extent of what happened between you two, nor is it any of my business, but the Natalie who came home last night after weeks of being away is not the same Natalie I know. And I don't just mean the sudden change in her sartorial choices."
    "What do you mean?"
    Quinn gave a non-committal shrug. "You'll see."
     
     
     
    Natalie couldn't help herself. Even with a room full of people and the city's most delicious gelato at her disposal, she found herself sitting down at the dining table, her focus completely on work. There were always emails to answer, meetings to schedule into their calendars, vendors to review...
    "I believe I owe you a check." Audra set a sealed