Dr. Biggers didn’t have a problem with that, only with her using him to get more clients. All at once, Mariah realized why she’d gotten in trouble with him.Heliked to be the one to bring the heavy hitting clients to his people, and he did not like her bringing her own companies to The Gemini Group.
“I need to quit my job,” she said.
“What?” Dani asked, spinning from the stove. “You love that job.”
“I hate my job,” Mariah said, finally speaking the truth. “Ineedthe job, and it’s far better than anything else I’ve ever had. There’s a difference.”
Dani came toward her, and Mariah knew what she was going to say. She held up her hand. “Don’t. I don’t want to live in your basement.”
“What about Dad’s—?”
“I can’t believe you even said that,” Mariah said, getting to her feet. “I’m not moving back in with Dad. I’m thirty-seven years old.” She’d had quite the disastrous decade in her twenties, and she’d been paying for it for almost a decade. She crossed into the kitchen, ready to dump her sister’s coffee down the drain.
She stalled though, because she was thirty-seven years old, and she didn’t need to act like a petulant child. “I liked Lawrence. Like him. Ilikehim.”
“Then go out with him,” Dani said, her voice coming from clear across the room. At least she was smart. “Who cares what your boss says?”
“I just don’t want to give any of the wrong impressions,” Mariah said. “To anyone.”
“You worry too much about what other people think.”
“Yes,” Mariah said. She wondered when that would disappear. Dani was three years older than her, and she and her husband hadn’t been able to have children. They had their dog, and they had each other, and most of the time, that was enough.
Mariah knew there was an ache deep down inside Dani’s soul, though. It came to life when it wasn’t enough to have a husband and a dog, but she’d stopped talking to Mariah about it after her miscarriage and divorce, the filed bankruptcy and the temporary protective order.
“I don’t want Lawrence to know about my past,” she whispered.
Somehow her sister heard her, and Dani joined her in front of the kitchen sink. “If he’s the one, Mya, he won’t care.”
Mariah leaned into her sister, who put her arm around her. “How do you know if a man is the one?”
“You just do,” Dani said. “Unless you won’t go out with him.”
Mariah’s smile came quickly at the teasing in her sister’s voice. “Thank you.” She turned into her and hugged her. A few moments later, the timer on the eggs went off, and Dani cleared her throat. “Okay, let’s eat. I have some news for you.”
“Lay it on me, Short Stack.”
Dani giggled as she got the muffin tin out of the oven. She’d hated Mariah’s nickname for her growing up, but it seemed to endear them to each other now. They only had one another—and their father—and Mariah suddenly felt bad for canceling on the last two brunch dates her family went on every Sunday.
“Doug and I might be getting a baby,” she said, her eyes filled with hope but her voice calm and casual. “I’m not saying we are. We’ve got a meeting tomorrow morning at the agency, and Isaac says he’s had a birth mother ask about us several times. He’s going to put us in touch with her.”
Wonder and amazement filled Mariah, and she hurried around the counter to her sister. “I’m so glad.”
The strength with which Dani clung to her told Mariah that she was glad too, and her hopes were has high as they could go. “No promises,” Dani said. “We’ve had birth moms ask about us before.”
“Right.” Mariah cleared her throat. “It’s still exciting. Congratulations.” She stepped back and ignored Dani as she wiped her eyes. She served her sister a couple of the omelet muffins and took two for herself too.
“How do you think I can get Lawrence to go out with me?”
“Just call him and ask.”
Mariah shook her head as she split open her muffin and steam came pouring out. “That’s not how it’s done these days.”
“No? Women don’t ask men out? You wait for him to ask you?”
“No, you don’t just call and ask.” Mariah shook her head as she sprinkled salt over the eggs. “I need to, I don’t know, run into him somehow. Like it’s a mistake.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Dani said.