him. the emptiness of his apartment mocked him. No Maggie. No Amber. Just him.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. See you then.” He disconnected the call. When he went to work in the morning, he’d fall into his routine and have barely any time to think about what he’d left behind in Tawnee Valley.
He downloaded the files from his home server for the meeting tomorrow. Reviewed his notes and what Jules had emailed him. Everything was ready for tomorrow’s meeting.
His apartment was empty. His life was empty. As he looked around, he wished he were in Tawnee Valley. Even the prospect of fighting for his project didn’t thrill him. He couldn’t imagine being here without Maggie and Amber. In a little over a week, they’d come to mean everything to him. But all he had left was his career. Maggie had made it clear that she did not want to move to New York.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t get Maggie out of his head as he lay in bed, trying for sleep. He’d offered marriage, but she’d turned him down. Because she loved him. His chest filled with warmth. He hadn’t had time to process her words before. Maggie Brown loved him. The sacrifices she made for her mother had been out of love. The sacrifices Sam had made had been out of love. And he’d expected her to follow him, sacrifice the life she’d built for herself and their daughter, because he wanted her with him. While he sacrificed nothing.
Brady pulled the red silk scarf through his fingers. How much more should everyone else sacrifice for him?
By the time exhaustion claimed him, his alarm clock went off. Even as tired as he was, Brady almost wished he had chores to do. Feeding the animals usually helped clear his head.
Instead, he rode the subway to his office and grabbed a coffee from the shop in the lobby. He needed a few days to settle back into his normal routine. Everything would return to normal.
Paperwork had piled up on his desk from last week. When his meeting alert went off, Brady was feeling mostly human. The coffee and the monotony of paperwork had helped.
Jules came around the corner as he left his office. Her dark green suit was the top-of-the-line businesswear, but it didn’t do anything for him. All he could think of were Maggie’s bare feet on the runner board of her bed.
“I’m glad I caught up with you before the meeting,” Jules said as they walked together toward Kyle’s office.
“I’ve recovered all the files. We should be able to reassure Kyle that the project isn’t leaking funds.” Brady kept pace, but couldn’t help remembering the slower walks with Amber and Maggie. Crisp autumn air and light conversation. Amber’s giggles ringing through the streets.
“I had a chance to look through the preliminary numbers for the Tawnee Valley project you sent me,” Jules said. “I think you might have something there. With a few tweaks, I bet we can get Kyle on board with the project.”
“That sounds good.” Brady paused outside Kyle’s door. He placed a hand on Jules’s sleeve to stop her from going in. “Do you think it’s possible to love someone and not know it?”
Her forehead wrinkled as her perfectly arched eyebrows pulled toward each other. “What do you mean?”
“Sorry. Just preoccupied.” Brady stepped aside for Jules to lead the way into Kyle’s office.
“Have a seat,” Kyle said.
The last time Brady had been in here he’d been focused on finding a way to make the project work and finding time to meet his daughter. On the far wall were portraits Brady hadn’t noticed before. They showed various poses and ages of Kyle with his wife and their two children. Staged photos meant to show a happy family.
Very few of the family photos in Maggie’s house had been staged with studio lighting.
“How did your visit with your family go, Brady?” Kyle regarded him with a piercing gaze.
“It went well. Very well.” Except for the part where Maggie didn’t want to live with him.
“Good. Jules, you had some problems to discuss.” Kyle leaned back in his chair.
“We were able to recover the files for the budget. I think you’ll be pleased with the calculations we’ve done. We’re scheduled to come in right on budget with the Detrex project.” Jules was all business, from her hair to her outfit to the way she carried herself. She had been everything Brady had thought he wanted.
“Peterson called to try to reschedule his meeting for this morning. Do you know anything about this?” Kyle looked at Brady first, but Brady turned to Jules.
“Given that Mr. Peterson grabbed my ass yesterday and suggested that the project would be back on track if I went out with him, my guess is he wanted to turn himself in on sexual harassment charges.” Her cool demeanor didn’t change.
“Why didn’t you tell me this happened?” Brady could have done something about it.
Jules turned her cool gaze to him. “I don’t need a protector, Brady. I can handle myself fine.”
She’d said that before, but all of Brady’s life he’d been taught to protect women. Now it seemed as if none of the women in his life needed him. Not Jules. Not Maggie.
“Those are some strong accusations. We take sexual harassment seriously in this organization. Would you be willing to report this in an incident report?” Kyle kept his gaze on Jules.
“Of course.”
“Do you mind if I call in Mr. Peterson?”
Jules crossed her arms. A smug little smile formed on her lips. “No, sir. I don’t mind at all.”
Within minutes, Peterson stood in the room as far away from Jules as possible. Both Brady and Kyle stared at the bruise on the man’s cheekbone. Brady resisted the urge to smile.
“Suspension without pay pending litigation.” Kyle didn’t seem unhappy to watch security escort Peterson grumbling from his office. When the door closed, Kyle addressed Jules, “It doesn’t have to go that far before we step in, Jules.”
She nodded. All this time, Brady had thought he was protecting her, but she could handle it on her own. Just like Maggie. It wouldn’t matter if Detrex succeeded because Maggie wouldn’t be there. If he wanted his family, maybe it was time to stop asking them to sacrifice for him and instead make some sacrifices of his own.
“I want off the Detrex project.” Surprised, Jules and Kyle faced him.
“Jules doesn’t need my help. She can handle the account and take the project where it needs to be.”
Jules flushed, but didn’t say anything. Kyle nodded his agreement, but Brady wasn’t finished yet.
“I want to talk to you about another project, though. If you have time,” Brady said.
“My ten o’clock just got escorted from the building. What were you thinking?”
