She sighed and took another mouthful of food. “It is good.”
“Finish it.”
“Eddie—” She started to object but then decided it would be easier to do as he wanted. “No one usually cares whether I eat or not.”
“I care.” He watched while she cleared the plate and then nodded approval. “So back to Abby. You must have been tempted to fire your entire executive team.”
“Believe me, I considered it.”
He nodded. “But instead, you sent her here.”
“This place is special, we both know that. I thought if she was able to join as part of the team, as herself and not as my daughter, hopefully make friends and have a couple of months here over the summer, it might be exactly what she needed. And at the least it would give her a break from office politics. I knew it would be problematic when the truth finally came out, but I was hoping that by then she would have made sufficient connections to be able to weather it. I probably didn’t think that part through well enough. I let emotions drive my decision making, which is a first for me.”
“It worked out fine in the end. She and Evie have a bond.”
It pleased her to hear it. “They always did, even as children.”
He nodded. “Evie has gained some confidence working with Abby, and Abby has definitely relaxed since the day she arrived. And she’s something of a local hero since her dramatic rescue yesterday evening. I assume she told you about that?”
“Rescue? No.” She listened while he filled her in, feeling pride as he described her daughter’s bravery and then laughing as he filled her in on Abby’s moment of fame playing piano in the pub. “That doesn’t sound like her.”
“If your objective was to send her here so that she could let her hair down and live life a little, I’d say you’ve achieved that.”
“I’m glad. And I’m looking forward to hearing more about it.”
He finished his wine. “So you engineered this whole thing for her. And she doesn’t know?”
“I hope not. She’d be mortified. She’s independent and self-reliant.”
“No need to ask who she gets that from.”
“Indeed. But there’s no rule that says a mother can’t give her child a helping hand occasionally, even if that child is a fully functioning adult. Also, I had to give a reason to the executive group. I couldn’t exactly tell them I was sending her over here for a break from them.” She gave a faint smile. “Don’t tell anyone. I prefer people to think I don’t have a heart.”
He put his glass down slowly, his gaze fixed on hers. “I’ve never thought that.”
She swallowed. “Not even when I moved to Boston?”
“You were as heartbroken as I was.”
It was true. It had been one of the most difficult decisions of her life.
“I loved you,” she said softly. “Very much.”
“I know you did. And I loved you back. I also understood why you needed to go.”
And that was one of the reasons she’d loved him. “Those first few months were hard. You have no idea how many times I wanted to book a flight back to you.”
He held her gaze. “And you have no idea how many hours I spent hoping that you would.”
She felt a pang. No matter how much she disciplined herself not to, it was impossible to not occasionally ask thewhat ifquestion.
“It wouldn’t have been fair. Not on either of us. I’d made a decision, and I stuck to it.”
“But you never came back. Never visited.”
“I was busy.” She paused. They’d never lied to each other, and she wasn’t going to start now. “But that wasn’t it. I had a vision for the future and a purpose. I didn’t want anything to derail that. After feeling helpless and powerless for most of my life, suddenly I saw a route where I was the one in control. I was given the opportunity to build the business, and I wanted to do that. I wanted to build a secure future for my daughter and I wanted—no, Ineeded—to prove myself.”
“And you’ve done that.”
