The only difference between Chet and them was that they’d been strong enough to take a risk, to put their hearts on the line.
And he wanted to be like his brothers, a Barron through and through. But, even more importantly, he wanted Mina.
Chet appealed to them. “You two won Zoe and Ally back….”
They seemed to understand that he was looking for ideas on how he could do it, too.
Jeremiah leaned against the stable wall as he said, “For starters, if you want to make an impression, we know where Mina’s definitely going to be tonight.”
Chet fisted her resignation paper in his hand, taking it from there.
When Mina walked into the steak house where she was to meet some of her ex-coworkers for dinner, she had the feeling something was up.
She moved past the moose heads over the main fireplace, stone walls and antler light fixtures, finding about ten friends seated at a long family-style table in a back room.
“Mina!” they shouted.
Danny patted her on the back as Corrine pulled out a chair at the head of the table for Mina to sit.
So many people here. Gratefulness bunched in her chest as she realized that they cared about her quitting the Group. But it pained her all the more, knowing that, evidently, Chet didn’t give a fig. He hadn’t called or anything.
And the longer she waited to do so, the harder it got.
“I’m sorry we didn’t have the chance to work together longer,” Danny said to her. “But I see big things in store for you in the future, Mina Ferguson.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you at least coming to the opening of the resort?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Her stomach knotted. She’d nursed that project just as much as Chet had done, but she wouldn’t be able to see it come to maturity. Yet she still had her real baby, though she wasn’t sure if his or her dad would even be at that birth.
As she tried to still her falling heart, Danny took a seat nearby while the others—mainly assistants she’d come up through the ranks with—aimed questions her way about why she was leaving.
She gave all the right answers, about searching out bigger opportunities, etc., while big family-style sharing plates were set down on the table and the group dug in. They’d already ordered, and she smiled, thinking that everyone in the Barron Group was just as efficient as she was.
That they would be very much okay without her.
She peered out a nearby window at the early evening sky, plus the autumn-tinged trees…and the view of the tall, stately Barron Group offices in the near distance.
Far enough away so that she already felt as if she’d left them behind.
But had she?
She nibbled at a bread stick, looking around the table, realizing how much of her identity was tied up with the Group. It’d been a home to her, a challenging place to go where she could excel and feel proud of her accomplishments.
She’d been a people pleaser, but, damn it, she’d pleased herself an awful lot, too. And that had to be worth something.
When everyone at the table suddenly shifted their focus behind her, toward the entrance of the restaurant, then waved in surprised greeting, a shiver played down Mina’s spine.
A wonderful shiver.
“Chet!” a few of them said.
She froze in her seat, hardly believing she was hearing his name.
His name, which flowed through her like warmed honey.
“Mina,” said Chet’s voice, and she didn’t dare look back at him for fear of losing her composure in front of all these people she’d once worked with, once tried to fool by acting as if she wasn’t head over heels in love with the boss.
No, she would explode into tears in front of everyone if she looked.
Now she could feel Chet standing behind her chair. There was heat on her neck, and it was slipping lower, sending her into a pool of longing.
Danny had stood, pulling out a chair. “Take a seat, sir.”
“Thanks,” Chet said. “But, all the same, I’d like to stay where I am for a minute.”
Now everyone seemed to be watching Mina, probably wondering why she was blushing so furiously and why she wouldn’t look at her former boss.
She slowly glanced up at him, and if she thought she’d been heated before, the crash of flame that hit her now just about knocked her out of her seat.
He was as handsome as ever, strong, stalwart while wearing his hat, plus a casual Western shirt and new jeans. He was carrying a tote bag that was weighed down by something, but he didn’t show anyone what it was.
This was the Chet no one in the office really knew. This was her Chet, any way he dressed, because she knew him inside and out.
“Hi,” she said softly, testing him, hoping to God he wouldn’t just walk away from her again.