He watched the guards return to the entrance then he let his eyes sweep over the building again. Tonight hadn’t exactly been successful. But he’d managed to talk to her. Hold her.
And he’d noticed something incredibly important.
Kat wasn’t happy here. Her drive was crumbling. Eventually, she was going to realize what he’d figured out months ago.
She belonged with him. And they belonged in Rocky Ridge.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The summer raincame down in sheets, blanketing the large windows of the conference room. People down below ducked their heads as they ran along the sidewalks to get to their destinations and out of the rain.
All of them, save one.
“Still there, huh?” June’s voice shattered the quiet room and Kat glanced over her shoulder as her father’s secretary crossed the space to come stand beside her.
Kat’s eyes found Leo again and nodded. “I don’t get it.”
“Don’t you?” June snickered. “Sweetheart, that man is completely smitten. He’s trying to prove a point—ridiculous as it may seem.”
“Which is?”
June gave her a pointed look. “You and I both know you’re not that daft.”
Kat bit back a smile but the instinct to grin faded. “He should just cut his losses and go home.”
“Like you did?”
Kat refused to respond to such a statement. She hadn’t cut her losses. She’d done what was expected of her—what she’d been raised to do. Leo wasn’t doing any of that. He’d chased her across the country. And for what? She couldn’t walk away from this—from her future.
Could she?
Folding her arms around herself, she sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I think you do. You’re just scared of taking that leap.” June squeezed her arm and gave Kat a small nod. “But I’ve known you for a long time. Eventually, you always figure things out. You’ll find the strength to do what must be done even if you haven’t yet.”
Kat wanted to laugh in June’s face. It had been a couple weeks. She’d been contacted by both Jane and Noah regarding Leo’s behavior. They’d apologized. They’d asked for her help. In the end they were all at a loss for how to get Leo to admit defeat.
Was it terrible that she wanted him to stay?
Yes, of course it was.
He needed to go home.
And yet the thought of showing up at work and not seeing his stubborn face had that familiar twinge of pain rocking through her bones. She didn’t want him to leave. Not really.
She had to be honest with herself. Neither one of them was happy right now. They both wanted something they couldn’t have.
The worst part was that Kat was finally coming to a realization.
Her inability to do what Leo had pleaded for the night of the charity event had less to do with following her dreams.
Kat realized something she’d never thought possible.
She couldn’t leave without her father’s blessing.
There was only one reason that could logically explain those feelings.
Her father was all she had. With her mother gone, she couldn’t walk away from the only family she had left. Spending time in Rocky Ridge had taught her just how important family was even when said familial relationships were strained.
