Taking the Heat (Jackson: Girls' Night Out 3)

Veronica shook her head.

“No?” he asked softly.

She felt the eyes of the crowd focus on her now. She set down the letter. “I suppose they... I suppose they’d need to talk.”

“But she’d be willing to listen?”

Her mind spun. She pulled her gaze off his pleading brown eyes and looked around. Several of the women in the audience nodded at her. She thought she might faint. She thought she should be mortified. But all she felt was a terrible, rushing hope. Her head spun with it. “All right,” she finally answered. “She’d be willing to listen.”

Applause broke out and then spread to cheers of encouragement. She shook her head. “But not until after the show. Go sit down.”

Gabe grinned and waved good-naturedly at the howls of laughter. Several people patted him on the back as he made his way toward Benton’s table. Naomi was there, too. Had Gabe picked up his whole family and brought them here?

Head buzzing with fear and joy and that stupid hope, Veronica quieted the crowd and forced herself to read two more letters before she admitted defeat and gave up. “Okay, readers, thanks for another great night. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to follow up on one of tonight’s questions.”

“You make him pay, girl!” a woman called as Veronica passed her table. Veronica gave her a thumbs-up.

“He’s too cute to give up on!” someone else added. Veronica grinned and shook her head and wondered if she should kill Gabe. Not until after she hugged him, though. And then shook him. And then kissed him and asked what the hell he was up to.

She escaped to the office, and suddenly he was there in the doorway. Right there.

His hands were in the pockets of his jeans, his neck slightly bent, but he watched her, his eyebrows rising in question.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.” She didn’t know what to say. She’d meant never to see him again, but he looked so sweet and sad, and he was here, and she desperately wanted to throw herself into his arms. But she didn’t move. She couldn’t. “What are you doing here?”

She’d been strong when she’d said goodbye in New York. She couldn’t do that again. His face had been so stiff with hurt and anger, and she’d hated it. She liked him too much. And he was here.

God. He was here.

His wide shoulders rose as he took a deep breath. “I took your advice.”

“What advice?”

“I told my dad he was being a stubborn ass.”

“What?” she gasped.

“Okay, I didn’t say it like that. Well, maybe I did at one point when it got a little heated. The important thing is I told him the truth.”

“What truth?” she breathed, as the hope rushed faster through her veins.

“The truth that I was giving up my life for his. The truth that his kids would rather have him than a hundred restaurants. And the truth that he needed to step up and sell the business like a responsible adult.”

Her heart pounded hard. She pressed a hand to it. “He... You said that?”

“That and more. You were right. About everything. The thing is, it was my fault. I told him that, too. Naomi and Claire were smart enough—and honest enough—to say no. But I wanted to take care of it for him. The same way he’d always taken care of stuff for me. I wanted to give him his dream so I never even told him the truth about mine.”

“But...” She felt dizzy and surprisingly angry. Why was he doing this to her when she’d done her best to give him up? She’d been strong. Done the right thing. She shook her head. “What did he say?”

Gabe smiled. “I won’t repeat most of it. He was shocked and fighting for the future he’d always planned. I let him yell. I deserved it. But the truth is...he’s like me. He wants me to be happy, and he saw how happy I was when I wasn’t thinking about MacKenzie’s. He saw how happy I was with you. He saw that, and he wants that for me.”

Veronica sat down hard on the desk. “I don’t understand. What does this mean?”

“It means I’ve moved back to Jackson. You were right. I can’t live in New York. I’m not myself there. I’m lucky I put off resigning at the library. I took it as family leave. Hopefully, Jean-Marie will have me back.” He paused. “And I’m hoping you will, too.”

She shook her head and watched him frown.