She pointed to the small bottles on the floor. “I brought the final samples. They were the winners with the focus groups we’ve conducted.”
“You mean you conducted. Hailey? Thanks for being here.”
“Awww, and you thought you could do all this without me.”
“You won’t let me forget this for years, will you?”
“Be serious. I’ll hold it over your head forever.”
I could see her doing that. One thing was still nagging at me.
“Are your sure taking this time off won’t count against you for the promotion?”
Hailey took a deep breath. “I’ve been passed by already.”
“What? When did that happen? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it still stings?”
“You deserved that promotion. You’d brought in more revenue than anyone in your office, and you had the highest efficiency rate. What was their feedback?”
“Nothing useful. So I decided I’m not going to break my back for them anymore. Do you know how many birthday parties and Christmases I missed because I was working overtime to meet deadlines, make our clients happy?”
I knew all too well.
“I’ve missed every single one of Milo’s school events. From now on, I’m only going to bend backward for the family. Anyone else is just not worth it.”
“I’m sorry, Hailey.”
“Lesson learned. I’ll move on as soon as I find a job that pays well enough. That’s the problem with consulting. They pay in gold for your sweat and blood, and the salaries on the rest of the market don’t keep up.”
“If you need a job—”
She wiggled her finger at me. “Don’t you dare offer me one. I’m so disappointed with consulting right now that I’d be tempted to take it.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I’d never know if you’re offering because I deserve it or just because I’m your sister.”
I groaned. “Hailey, I know how capable you are.”
“Look, I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to move to San Jose anyway.”
I opened my mouth to argue some more, but my phone lit up with an incoming message.
Grace: It’s all set.
Landon: Perfect.
I’d gotten her number from Maddie, and together with her and my sister, we were planning Maddie’s birthday. Lori was doing the actual planning; Grace and I just came up with ideas.
“Who are you texting?” Hailey asked.
“Grace.”
My sister beamed, stretching out her legs on the floor.
“Lori told me the three of you are planning Maddie’s birthday. That’s so sweet, Landon. Val and I made a bet with Pippa and Summer that we’ll have a Connor wedding soon on our hands.”