“This job is a lot of stress. Where do you think I got all this gray hair?”
I shrug. “I figured it was Sean.”
Dad nods and rubs his chin “It was probably half and half.”
“I’m not afraid of hard work.”
“What a good leader needs is someone by his side to support him when those times get tough. Whether it’s me, your brothers, maybe Juliet… I don’t want you to lose yourself in the business and forget what matters most. I had to learn that lesson the hard way.”
I lean back in my seat. “I guess I had to learn that, too.” Sean’s bet was good for one thing. I know what I want, personally and professionally.
I want a wife and kids. One day I’d like to see my own kids in the shop and teach them how to run a table saw.
Obviously, I won’t start with the saw. That’s only one of the things I will teach them before I help them build their very own piece of furniture. Something that will fill them with pride for years to come.
“I’m proud of the man you’ve become,” Dad says. “We can start discussing my retirement soon.”
Soon? I’m ready, however soon it is. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
“Are you?” Dad tilts his head to the side. “What about Juliet?”
And just like that, my heart collapses in on itself. What does he want to know? How stupid I am?
Dad folds his arms and leans in his chair. “What did you do wrong? Besides betting on love?”
I swallow the lump in my throat and scratch my arm. “That pretty much sums it up.” The room is silent except for the clock in the corner of the room, ticking annoyingly away. Doesn’t it know time stopped when Juliet left me? “I don’t think she felt the same way.”
“Did you ask her?”
I open my mouth to say yes, but I can’t, because I didn’t. I don’t know how she felt.
Did I let her go too easily?
My stomach pitches. What have I done?
“Give her some time. But if she’s the one you want, you fight tooth and nail for her. Like you did with Sean for this job,” Dad says with a knowing smile.
I nod slowly and pull myself out of my chair. Where do I go now?
Work. I go back to work.
“I’ll do my best,” I say.
Dad stands and comes around the desk to clap me on the back. “Do better than that, son.”
Chapter 26
Juliet
Michael has been on my mind for the last week. I don’t think he’s ever left. My brain is trying desperately to forget about him, but my heart brings me right back to him again and again. He’s like the song I can’t get out of my head until I finally cave and listen to it.
But no matter how many times I try to tell myself to let it go, my heart won’t give in.
I want to believethe beautiful things he’s told me, believe in love. I want to throwmy baggage and worries out the window and see if there is a spot for love in my heart. But I’m scared.
Am I ready for love?
I burrow deeper into the couch, but my mind takes me miles away,down a dark dirt road, in the front seat of Michael’s truck, pretending I can’t hear him singing every word along with Justin Bieber and promising that I’m the only one he will ever love.
