Katelyn tastes next. “Mmm. That’s… excellent.”
“Butter-poached?” Merritt guesses.
Jane nods. “Lower heat. Less aggression. Spiny tail needs finesse.”
Barbie looks at her with mild surprise. “I didn’t know youcooked.”
Jane lifts a shoulder. “When you run Jane of All Trades, you learn not to be bad at things.”
Sloane laughs. “Is that on your business cards?”
“It should be,” Jane laughs. “Right under ‘Crisis Management’ and ‘Seafood Diplomacy.’”
Barbie takes another bite, amused now. “Remind me never to underestimate you.”
After a few more measured chews, she sets her fork down. “Actually, we should talk about what you did for us. Just based on the bits you drafted and showed us before today.”
Jane straightens instinctively. “You don’t have to—”
“I do.” Barbie’s tone is calm, not dramatic. “The timeline you assembled? Jane, I’ve hired private investigators who couldn’t organize a sock drawer. What you built is more than professional grade. Clear. Structured. Impossible to misinterpret.”
Sloane nods. “And more importantly, usable. If this ever sees a courtroom, it holds.”
"It's just—"
"The recording quality. The way you positioned yourself to capture video without anyone noticing. That's expert-level work. I don't know how you pulled it off, but you did."
"Actually, that’s all West. He’s been instrumental with—"
Merritt shakes her head, already scrolling through her tablet. “The contingency notes.” She looks up. “If he lawyers up. If Natalie’s family tries to suppress it. If it leaks before we control the narrative. You anticipated every move.”
Sloane adds lightly, “Three of which I hadn’t.”
Jane looks at me. Eyes wide. Silently begging for rescue.
Not a chance. She needs to hear this.
Barbie’s voice cuts in again. “West was support. Important support.” She glances at me briefly. “But you were the architect. This was your strategy.”
Katelyn speaks last. Quieter. Emotional in a way the others aren't allowing themselves to be. "You saved her, Jane. You really, really saved her."
Jane's squirming like praise is physical pain. Like the words are landing on bare skin and she doesn't know what to do with them.
This is a woman who's spent her entire life being valued for what she can fix. For who she can help. She doesn't know how to sit still and hear that she matters—not her work, not her hustle, not her sacrifice.
I want to change that. I want to be the person who makes sure she hears it. Every day.
"Thank you," Jane says finally. Voice small but real.
"No,"Barbie says. "Thank you."
The silence stretches too long, and Jane looks like she might bolt. So, I step in.
"Before this turns into a Hallmark movie, how about a toast?"
She shoots me a look of pure gratitude. I return it with the slightest nod.
The energy shifts. Lighter. They eat. They laugh. Sloane asks about the garnish. Merritt takes a second helping. Katelyn photographs the plate.
