My line of work was perhaps ironic given this flaw, but I had no problem keeping mum when it came to my clients. My PR role had slowly seeped into our family dynamic too. I was good at keeping everyone else calm... once I was calm.
“So pizza and cheesecake. Carbs and my favorite people? How can I say no?” Val said finally.
“That’s my girl. Any special requests?”
“How quickly will I get my food? I’m already starving, and I don’t want to ruin my appetite by eating something now.”
“Roger that.”
“I say we can already head to the house,” Carter said. “Girls, are you done?”
They both nodded.
“I’m in charge of buying food. I’ll pick it up on the way,” I said.
Val gave me a hug, whispering, “You’re a great sister. And I’m really sorry about Chicago.”
“Sis, don’t worry about it. Really.”
As soon as I was in the car, I called Lori again. “You know what I was thinking? We should make a party of it. Laid-back, of course. But upping the ante. Not just pizza and cheesecake.”
“Ah, I love how your mind works, baby sis.”
I grinned as I hung up. Operation: Take care of Val was going to be a success. I couldn’t believe she was still worried about Chicago. I’d just go alone... or... I could ask Reid. I didn’t want to send him running for the hills though. But now that
she’d planted the idea of Reid joining me, I couldn’t deny that it was appealing.
A few days where I had Reid all to myself in a city I couldn’t wait to explore? Very, very appealing.
Chapter Seventeen
Reid
“We’re definitely on the right path. The article was well received. Have you looked at the comments?” Hailey smiled, shuffling her fork through the salad bowl. We were in my office, having dinner.
“No, but I trust you. I don’t like looking myself up online.”
“Fair enough. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Do you think we’ll need another interview soon?”
“No, I think we’re good for now. We don’t want to push too much.”
She’d released snippets of information about me in several media outlets, but nothing as in-depth as that first interview.
“Got it.”
I reached for her hand and was just about to kiss her when I heard familiar voices on the corridor.
“Mom and Dad are here.”
“You were expecting them?”
“No, but they like to visit from time to time after hours.”
The rest of the staff had left for the day, which was why no one had announced they were coming up, but my parents didn’t need to be announced anyway.
“Oh. Okay. Okay.” She ran her fingers through her hair, then stood up, patting her dress. “How do I look?”