“Yes, but sometimes you have to prioritize your life.”
He raised an eyebrow and waited.
Alex rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’ve already begun clearing my schedule and delegating tasks where I can. Tomorrow, I’ll have all the official offer letters completed and delivered to our PMO candidates and by Friday, I’ll have the initial list of projects we intend to tackle for the year. Grace and the team have the support tasks covered for year-end close. Happy?”
Frank grinned, but said nothing.
“It’s been over a year since I took any vacation time. I need to use it. Even when I got the flu last year, I continued to work from home. Life can’t be all work, ya know?”
“You don’t have to convince me, Alex. Take your vacation. Things will be fine here. Safe travels.”
Alex blew out her breath. “Okay, then. Thanks.”
She stood and walked out. Her stomach fluttered. Telling Frank she was taking time off was the point of no return. It hadn’t felt real until now.
Fin satin the back seat of his parents’ car and watched the scenery go by as his mother discussed the Sunday sermon with his father. He’d arrived yesterday morning and planned to stay for the week. His sister, Caitriona, was due later today, and Ethan would show up tomorrow with his crew.
It seemed an odd time to have a family get together so soon after the holiday break, but Fin’s great-grandfather had passed this week several decades ago, and they had unconsciously adopted a new family tradition to gather to celebrate and remember.
“Who’s that?” His mother’s words cut into his reverie.
Fin followed her gaze to the front porch of their house and sucked in his breath. The blond woman sitting on the steps reminded him of Alex.
“Fin? A reporter?” his father asked.
“No.” His answer was barely above a whisper. “But I know her.”
Alex stood up as Fin’s father parked the car. Fin got out before his parents and tread slowly toward her, his eyes searching hers for an explanation.
“Hi,” she said, then chewed on her bottom lip as she watched him. He’d never seen her look so unsure.
“Hi, yourself.” He stepped closer and held his arms open to her.
Alex sobbed and rushed in to hug him. Fin wrapped her up in a tight embrace. He could feel the convulsions rack her body as she cried. He looked back over his shoulder at his parents. They hadn’t questioned him over his love life when he’d shown up this weekend, and they continued their quiet support by slipping toward the back. He waved at his mom in thanks, and she acknowledged with a nod.
“I’m so s-s-sorry, Fin. I had this entire speech planned where I planned to talk to you calmly… to tell you how wrong I was and ask for a second chance. But then you opened your arms and… Now I’m a blubbering mess. Damn it.”
Fin smiled. How like Alex to get mad at herself for not being the tough girl she projected to the world.
“Shh. It’s okay, lass.” He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.
Alex pulled away and he let her go. She scrubbed her eyes, then looked around. “I seem to have scared away your family.”
“They went in through the back.”
“Oh.”
“Tell me why you’re here, Alexis.”
Alex shuddered and looked up at him. “I’m an idiot. I ran like a coward when the reporters came. And when you didn’t return my calls, I just gave up. I’ve never given up on anything, Fin. Anything! Any time I’ve run into opposition, I’ve dug in and fought harder. So why did I run, Fin?”
“Back up. You called me? When?”
Alex went still. “Um, the week following the hubbub. I called a few times, but you never answered.”
“I never got your calls, Alexis. Why didn’t you leave a voicemail?”
She grimaced. “The first time, I was too chicken. The couple of times after that, the call never went to voicemail, just kept ringing and ringing.”
