Sin (Just This Once 3)

Mary has been retired for years. The fabric store chain she founded is the largest in the country and the team that is running it, is one of the best.

I touch base with the head of their internal marketing team twice a year to offer help if they need it. They occasionally do, but I’ll never turn down a meeting with Mary.

She was instrumental in helping my late granddad find the success he did.

“It’s always nice to visit with her.” I push up from my chair. “You look especially happy this afternoon.”

“I think Diane and I found the perfect place on the Gulf Coast.”

My stomach knots, but I keep a smile on my face.

Seeing my dad this excited warms my heart, but there’s a part of me that wants him to stay in Manhattan. Some of that longing stems from the struggle over control of the company once he’s gone, but it’s more than that.

My dad has always been the steady hand that guides me. He’s been there if I need someone to talk to in a coffee shop at midnight or Central Park in the middle of a Sunday afternoon.

I rely on him and when he’s no longer a taxi

ride away, I know I’ll miss him.

“What’s it like?” I ask because I want to keep the ear-to-ear grin on his face.

He tugs his smartphone out of the pocket of his brown suit jacket. “Diane sent me the real estate listing. I want your honest opinion.”

I stare at him before my gaze drops to his phone. I skim my finger over the screen, scrolling through image after image of a gorgeous beach house with wide-open ocean views.

This is my dad’s dream. It’s always been his dream.

“I think you found your forever home, dad,” I whisper.

He slides the phone back into his palm. “I can’t say that Florida and I will agree on everything, but this is a place where I can see the blue sky and hear the ocean.”

I study his face. He’s just as handsome as he was when I was a little girl.

“I’m happy for you.” I rub my chest to chase away the ache I feel when I think about him living so far away from me. “I’m happy for both of you.”

“Diane wants you to help her with the interior design.” His brows wiggle. “She’s always saying that you have the best eye.”

Diane is a gracious woman who works extra hard to include Bethy and me in my dad’s life. She’s always gone out of her way to make sure we know that we’re an essential part of her life too.

“I’ll help in any way I can.” I glance down at my dad’s phone when it chimes.

His gaze follows mine. “It’s Jeremy Weston.”

I tilt my head to try and get a better look at what the message says, but my dad brings the phone so close to his face, that whatever is on the screen is obstructed from my view.

He refuses to wear reading glasses.

“He wanted to thank us again for how we handled the tie situation at lunch.” He squints as his eyes skim the phone’s screen, confusion knitting his brow. “You replaced the tie? He wrote that you bought him a brand new tie.”

“It was the right thing to do.” I smile softly. “Getting tomato sauce out of silk is almost impossible.”

“So you tossed the stained tie?” He lowers his phone.

Into my purse so I can smell West’s cologne whenever I want.

“I took care of it.” I wait a beat, and then continue, “I spoke to Jeremy earlier about having the vanilla vodka launch party at the Bishop Hotel in Tribeca. I thought a black-tie affair on their rooftop terrace at dusk would be ideal.”

My dad’s eyes widen. “Classy and elegant. What was Jeremy’s take on it?”