twelve-step programs helped me see that was because I wanted my old man’s attention, which I always kind of knew but never consciously thought about.”
She nodded as they walked, clearly listening, but keeping her gaze on the glowing signs. Whether she did it on purpose to make him more comfortable while he bared his soul or he just wasn’t that interesting, it was hard to tell. Either way, gratefulness lifted the weight of embarrassment. Her small fingers tightened on his forearm, and the simple reassurance did more than she could know. “I could see that. As the baby girl of my family, I probably got spoiled, but I was also a surprise. My siblings let me know it. I think I might have tried harder to stand out and be as perfect as I could to make up for being the extra.”
“Trust me. You are nobody’s afterthought.”
Her ear-to-ear smile took away any of his remaining insecurity. She touched her temple to his shoulder. “Tell me about your sister.”
“Jace was always the overachiever, the focused one. I’d get her teachers in high school, and without fail, they’d say, ‘You’re Jacquelyn’s brother. You have a lot to live up to.’ As if I didn’t know. I bet they still use her term papers as examples. But she worked hard at everything she did, including raising me.”
“Raising you? Your parents weren’t involved?”
A pang of sadness hit him in the gut even though he didn’t really remember his mother. You didn’t have to remember someone to miss them. “Our mom died when I was four. We have albums up until that time, but I don’t have many memories of her. And Dad, after she died, threw himself into his work. We had nannies, but Jace looked out for me. Read to me, made sure I did my homework. Gave me advice about girls, taught me to drive. I have to give her a lot of credit for that one. I was a Formula One racer right out of the gate.”
“That does not surprise me.”
“Hey.” He nudged her ribs with his elbow, which earned him a hip bump. “So Jace went away to college, I stayed local and made some bad choices. Followed the old man around and tried to impress him, but my mistakes overshadowed my best intentions. When he left the team to Jacey, I was disappointed, but she deserved it.”
Saralynn stopped and pulled out her toy camera to take a few pictures of a Stardust sign with red-orange letters and a purple background. “Are you happy as assistant GM?”
“It’s a good job. I get to be involved with the team, but the responsibility isn’t overwhelming. In fact … ” He’d been doing less and less lately, and not by choice. It had started just after the gambling rumor.
“In fact?” She looked over her shoulder at him.
It wouldn’t help to speculate with her. Not to mention it was pretty emasculating to think his sister and brother-in-law were secretly benching him and pretending that everything was business as usual. Unease settled just below the surface, but he pushed it out of his mind for the moment. “I could probably do more. Lighten some of the load around the office.” He’d just have to convince Jacey.
“That’s very proactive.” Saralynn returned to his arm and led the way down the winding path, occasionally kicking a piece of old glass out of the way with the toe of her sneaker. “I think that’s enough serious stuff for tonight, how ’bout you?”
“Agreed.”
“Oh! Cool!” She skipped over to a sign that said “Sin” and posed sideways at the end of it, arms crossed under her chest. “Take my picture?”
“Absolutely.” He adjusted the settings on his camera and framed it up before taking the shot, though it was hard to pay attention to anything except the sexy woman dominating the screen. “Okay, good.”
She jogged back, skidded to a stop pressed against his side, and leaned in to check it out. “I love it. Can we use this promotionally? I mean just a picture of the sign. It’d be a great way to tie the team in to the
She nodded as they walked, clearly listening, but keeping her gaze on the glowing signs. Whether she did it on purpose to make him more comfortable while he bared his soul or he just wasn’t that interesting, it was hard to tell. Either way, gratefulness lifted the weight of embarrassment. Her small fingers tightened on his forearm, and the simple reassurance did more than she could know. “I could see that. As the baby girl of my family, I probably got spoiled, but I was also a surprise. My siblings let me know it. I think I might have tried harder to stand out and be as perfect as I could to make up for being the extra.”
“Trust me. You are nobody’s afterthought.”
Her ear-to-ear smile took away any of his remaining insecurity. She touched her temple to his shoulder. “Tell me about your sister.”
“Jace was always the overachiever, the focused one. I’d get her teachers in high school, and without fail, they’d say, ‘You’re Jacquelyn’s brother. You have a lot to live up to.’ As if I didn’t know. I bet they still use her term papers as examples. But she worked hard at everything she did, including raising me.”
“Raising you? Your parents weren’t involved?”
A pang of sadness hit him in the gut even though he didn’t really remember his mother. You didn’t have to remember someone to miss them. “Our mom died when I was four. We have albums up until that time, but I don’t have many memories of her. And Dad, after she died, threw himself into his work. We had nannies, but Jace looked out for me. Read to me, made sure I did my homework. Gave me advice about girls, taught me to drive. I have to give her a lot of credit for that one. I was a Formula One racer right out of the gate.”
“That does not surprise me.”
“Hey.” He nudged her ribs with his elbow, which earned him a hip bump. “So Jace went away to college, I stayed local and made some bad choices. Followed the old man around and tried to impress him, but my mistakes overshadowed my best intentions. When he left the team to Jacey, I was disappointed, but she deserved it.”
Saralynn stopped and pulled out her toy camera to take a few pictures of a Stardust sign with red-orange letters and a purple background. “Are you happy as assistant GM?”
“It’s a good job. I get to be involved with the team, but the responsibility isn’t overwhelming. In fact … ” He’d been doing less and less lately, and not by choice. It had started just after the gambling rumor.
“In fact?” She looked over her shoulder at him.
It wouldn’t help to speculate with her. Not to mention it was pretty emasculating to think his sister and brother-in-law were secretly benching him and pretending that everything was business as usual. Unease settled just below the surface, but he pushed it out of his mind for the moment. “I could probably do more. Lighten some of the load around the office.” He’d just have to convince Jacey.
“That’s very proactive.” Saralynn returned to his arm and led the way down the winding path, occasionally kicking a piece of old glass out of the way with the toe of her sneaker. “I think that’s enough serious stuff for tonight, how ’bout you?”
“Agreed.”
“Oh! Cool!” She skipped over to a sign that said “Sin” and posed sideways at the end of it, arms crossed under her chest. “Take my picture?”
“Absolutely.” He adjusted the settings on his camera and framed it up before taking the shot, though it was hard to pay attention to anything except the sexy woman dominating the screen. “Okay, good.”
She jogged back, skidded to a stop pressed against his side, and leaned in to check it out. “I love it. Can we use this promotionally? I mean just a picture of the sign. It’d be a great way to tie the team in to the
Similar Books
