agree with that,” Susie said. “Uncle Mick’s well-intentioned, but involving him is a bad idea. Surely you can see that, Jess.”
“Hey, I’m willing to look at any and all options,” Jess argued. “Don’t dismiss Dad just because he drove us a little crazy. He’s one of the few people in town with more power than Lawrence Riley. People respect him, even Mr. Riley. I’ll bet Dad could turn this whole situation around if he said a few words to the right people, persuaded them to talk to Mr. Riley.”
“True,” Nell said. “But I think this situation calls for more finesse than Mick, bless him, possesses. I suppose it’s up to me.”
Both of her granddaughters looked relieved.
“What are you going to do?” Susie asked, her eyes alight with curiosity. “Something sneaky and devious, right?”
Nell gave her a chiding look. “Sneaky and devious are not traits I condone,” she scolded.
Both young women simply laughed. Nell shrugged.
“Well. Not ordinarily,” she said sheepishly. After all, it was pointless to fib when everyone knew she had as many matchmaking tricks up her sleeve as anyone else in the family.
“What’s it going to be, Gram?” Jess prodded.
“I’ll have to give that some thought,” Nell murmured, then looked from one beloved granddaughter to the other. “But this O’Brien holiday of ours is going to wind up with someone walking down the aisle, no matter what I have to do to make sure that happens.”
2
Laila stood beside the window in her new office at The Inn at Eagle Point and watched the whitecaps on the Chesapeake Bay roll toward shore. She’d only been here a few days, but she knew she’d never tire of that view. “Sis?”
She whirled around at the sound of Trace’s voice, a scowl in place to greet him. “What do you want?”
“We need to talk,” he said firmly, already stepping into the office and closing the door behind him.
“I can’t imagine what we could possibly have to discuss. You made your opinion of my relationship with Matthew quite clear. Then you got Mom and Dad all stirred up to boot.” She regarded him accusingly. “We both know how that turned out.”
“I’m sorry,” he said simply. “I never expected things to get so far out of hand. I was worried about you, and I thought they had a right to know.” He looked chagrined. “I should have anticipated that Dad would get on his high horse and say something that would force your hand.”
“Yes, you should have.”
“Still, quitting was pretty rash and impulsive, Laila.” “Here we go,” she muttered.
“Okay, I’m lecturing,” he admitted. “But don’t you think you should reconsider leaving your job? Maybe try to make peace with Dad? For as far back as I can remember, all you wanted was a chance to take over at the bank for Dad one day.”
“Well, it’s never going to happen,” she said wearily. “I’ve accepted that. You’re not going to be able to intervene and make it right this time, Trace. Dad obviously doesn’t want me there. He never did, and I handed him the perfect excuse to make it official.”
“He didn’t fire you,” Trace reminded her. “You quit.”
“Oh, please,” she protested. “That’s little more than a technicality, under these circumstances. The handwriting was on the wall. You didn’t hear him. He treated me as if I didn’t have a brain in my head, as if my going out with Matthew was the next worse thing to stealing the life savings of little old ladies. What choice did I have? Sooner or later I was going to have to stand up for myself with him. If it hadn’t been over this, something else would have come along.”
Trace continued to look dismayed. “Laila, be reasonable. That’s in the past. You’re no longer with Matthew. I have that right, don’t I? Just tell Dad that. It would make all the difference.”
She frowned at him. “Come on, Trace. None of this is really about me and Matthew. Dad wants the prodigal son in that job, not me.”
“That ship has sailed,” her brother said fiercely. “Dad knows that.”
She smiled. “You don’t really believe that, do you? How many times since I left has he called you with some crisis only you can resolve? Compare that with the fact that he hasn’t once reached out to me, not personally, not professionally.”
Trace gave her a rueful look. “Okay, you’re right. He hasn’t given up entirely on luring me back, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it. You were meant for that job, Laila. You and I both know that. So does Dad, when he’s not being impossible.”
She couldn’t deny the truth of that. Ironically, her instinct for numbers, accounting and banking had been honed at her father’s knee, for all the good it had done her. Maybe it was because she had a real aptitude for it. Maybe it was simply because she’d craved his attention and approval. Look where that had gotten her, she thought wryly.
“Yes, I was perfect for it,” she conceded. “But as far as Dad’s concerned, I’ll never be more than second best. I’m not willing to accept that. I’ve moved on. I’m not beating my head against that particular wall ever again. I can make a good living with accounting.”
“It’s not about earning a decent wage,” Trace argued. “It’s about doing what you love, what you were destined to do. Don’t settle, Laila.”
“I’m not settling. I’m accepting the inevitable. If I’d done that years ago, my life would have been far less frustrating.”
Trace frowned. “You’re sure about this?”
“A hundred percent,” she said with what she hoped sounded like total conviction.
“If you say so,” he said skeptically. “And it really is over with Matthew?”
“It really is. You can rest easy. Your sister is no longer interested in disgracing the family name.”
Her response seemed to make him unhappy. “It wasn’t about me or the family name,” he said with obvious frustration. “How could you even think that? I just didn’t want Matthew messing with your head.”
“Well, he’s not messing with any part of me now. You should be thrilled.”
He winced. “You’ll find the right guy,” he said, seeking to reassure her. “I could ask Abby—”
“Don’t you dare!” she ordered, horrified. “I do not want your wife parading a bunch of men in front of me.”
“It was just a thought,” he said defensively. “I feel as if it’s my fault you’re miserable.”
“I’m not miserable,” she insisted. “I’m in transition.” She was pleased with
