Chapter 8
TAYLOR
“Hey,Maggie. How’s it going today?” I ask my sister’s secretary.
She smiles, her unusual amber-colored eyes wrinkling at the corners. “Can’t complain too much.”
I lean a hip against her desk. “How’s that baby of yours doing?”
Maggie’s been Penelope’s secretary since she opened the business ten years ago. She recently, within the last six months or so, came back from maternity leave after being off for three months.
She smiles and it’s full of pride. “She’s doing great. Got her daddy and her momma wrapped around her little finger. She pulled herself up to her feet all by herself the other day. I have to admit, though, that I’m a little jealous of Brett.” Her smile turns wry. “She said daddy last night for the first time.”
I laugh. “I take it she hasn’t said mommy yet?”
“No.” She pouts playfully.
“Give it time. Before you know it, she’ll be saying it all the time, and you’ll be wishing she wasn’t.”
She grabs her cell phone from her desk. “You wanna see a picture?”
“I would love to!”
I come to her side of the desk as she swipes her finger across the screen. When she holds it up for me to see, my heart melts. On the screen is a baby with a head full of curly, strawberry-red hair. Her lips are split into a big toothless grin, her little, chubby cheeks poking out. In that moment, she looks like the happiest baby in the world.
A small twinge of jealousy hits me. I’ve always wanted kids, and I always thought I would have them by now. Unfortunately, the right man hasn’t come along yet and swept me off my feet to make that dream a reality.
For a brief second, I let my mind wander and conjure up a picture of what a baby would look like if Asa and I were to have one. It’s a stupid fantasy. Asa and I may share an intense physical attraction to each other, but that doesn’t equate to a lifetime with babies and marriage.
“She’s absolutely gorgeous, Maggie,” I say wistfully. “I bet you and Brett are so proud of her.”
“We are. I can’t imagine a baby more perfect than Skylar.”
Maggie shows me a few more pictures and regales me with stories of all the new things Skylar has done recently.
“Penelope’s in her office if that’s why you’re here,” Maggie says as she puts her phone away. “She’s been in there all day, so she could do with a break.”
“Thanks, Maggie.”
I leave her at her desk and walk to Penelope’s closed door. I tap my knuckles on the wood, but don’t wait for a response before I’m pushing the door open. Penelope’s at her desk with her phone pressed to her ear. She looks up at me, then lifts a finger, indicating for me to hold on a minute.
“Yes, Lance. Just keep me updated on the situation. If need be, I can fly out there and take care of it myself.”
I take a seat in the chair on the other side of her desk as she wraps up her call. Once she’s finished, she drops the phone back in the cradle and lets out an audible sigh. It’s not until then that I really look at my sister. Typically, Penelope is always well put together, coming off as a professional and a no bullshitter. It’s why she’s so good at her job.
Today doesn’t seem to be the case. She looks haggard and stressed. It reminds me of how she appeared at our last family dinner. I thought it was because of my infatuation with Asa, but maybe it’s something more.
“What’s going on with you?” I ask her, my eyes lingering on the stress lines beside her eyes.
“What?” She glances at me, looking distracted, before she darts her eyes away to look at her laptop screen. “Nothing’s wrong. Why do you ask?”
“Because you look frazzled and stressed. Two things you never are. Or at least, you’re good at hiding it,” I tell her truthfully.
She throws up her hand airily. “Everything’s fine. What has you stopping by?” She tries to change the subject, but I’m not having it.
“Nice try, but it won’t work. Quadruplets, remember? We all have the inherent ability to know when something’s bothering one of us.”
I keep my eyes on her, even though she still refuses to look at me. Finally, after she pretends to type on her computer for a moment—in which I’d bet my last dollar there’s nothing on the screen—she drops the act. Dropping an elbow on her desk, she rubs her fingers across her brow.
“Fine,” she sighs. “It’s this godforsaken intern I decided to take on. He’s driving me batshit crazy.”
“What is he doing?”
“Nothing in particular.” She lets out an exasperated sigh. “Just him being here is irritating me for some reason. Except for Kian and Paige, when she took over Maggie’s job while she was on leave, I’ve had the same group of people with me since I started this company. I’m comfortable with that. You know I don’t work well with others. It’s the reason I opened my own company versus working at another PR firm. I’m a creature of habit, and having this new person here is disrupting that.”
“Okay, so, why don’t you let him go?”