was a small pause. She looked as if she was choosing her words. “May I ask how this revelation came about?”
Jack snorted. Leave it to her to cut to the chase. Not the why, but the how. “Just talking to a friend yesterday and I realized that I had always treated this job like it was an option, not a necessity.”
She shook her head, dark hair the color of his own brushing her shoulders, blue eyes the same shade as his narrowed in thought. “We’ll get back to that idea, but first, which friend?”
“A new friend.”
“Girl?”
“Not a girlfriend.” He waved a hand as if to say that was silly to even ask, even though he had to admit the thought had crossed his mind. More than crossed it. The thought had walked in and set up camp in a corner.
“Tell me about this not-a-girlfriend girl.” She leaned back, arms over her chest. She managed to look completely uninterested, but he knew her better than that. She was going to get all the details, sooner or later. Probably sooner.
“The mission mechanic who was working on the chopper. Marisol asked me to help. We were just talking.” He shrugged, hoping that would end the interrogation.
“And in five minutes you scrapped the plans you’ve made so carefully, for another, what, ten years of this?”
He winced. Ten years. The very thought made him want to run from the office, out the door, down the stairs and into the sunshine. “It was more than five minutes.”
“I want to meet this girl mechanic.”
“It really doesn’t have anything to do with her.” Right? He stared at his hands, remembering the grease under her nails, the softness of her skin.
“Amazing. She must have really helped you understand this decision and be great at giving advice.” Evie’s voice was light, but she wasn’t smiling.
He sighed. “I didn’t tell her anything about my life. We talked about her job.” Now that it came down to it, he didn’t even know if he could explain. “It was more than that. She’s taking care of her little nieces. I got the feeling there wasn’t anybody else around to help. It made me realize that I don’t carry a lot of responsibility, but I sure whine like I do.”
Evie leaned across the desk and gripped his hand. “Just because someone else doesn’t have the choices you do, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer. I understand the guilt, I really do. But there are better ways to contribute to the world than by making yourself unhappy.”
“I know that. But I wonder how hard I’ve been trying.” He looked up, feeling the residual humility of seeing his choices in a new light. “Really trying, not just wasting time. I wanted to get some numbers on the production costs here locally and asked a few questions. Bob Barrows shot me down and I just...walked away, thinking of how soon I could get out of here.”
“You don’t have a lot of power, just a title. What else can you do?”
“I’m the vice president of the company. I can act like it for once.” Resolve had been building ever since that conversation with Sabrina in the kitchen and it stiffened his back. “I emailed Bob this morning for the numbers. I want to make sure our local packagers are keeping costs as low as possible. The numbers have gone up for the sixth month in a row. Something’s off and I want to know what.”
Evie leaned back in her chair. “I don’t understand how one conversation can make you rethink your plans. But whatever you decide, I’m behind you.” She paused, biting her lip. “Just make sure you’re not acting out of guilt. We can’t help which family we’re born into.”
“But I’ve sure spent a lot of time complaining, rather than using it to my advantage.”
Her eyes went a bit wider. “You’ve never wanted much to do with the family business. Now you’re ready to take on responsibility? Maybe Dad shouldn’t be trying to come back as president after all.”
“Come on, Evie.” He laughed but it sounded strained to his own ears. He wasn’t interested in being the president of the company, he was sure of it. But he’d like to be a better vice president.
“Will this girl be at the mission on Sunday?”
He blinked, trying to follow her train of thought, then nodded. “I think so. But if you and Grandma Lili pounce on her, she won’t have any idea why. What’s going on with me and this job has nothing to do with her.”
“I never pounce.” Evie rolled her eyes. “I just want to meet her. Usually you shrug off criticism. It’s odd to see you give so much weight to someone else’s opinion.”
“I’m telling you, we didn’t talk about me at all.”
“Then listening to her sad story gave you an early midlife crisis?” His sister was a kind person, but she didn’t have a lot of patience for whiners.
“I was already having a crisis. Maybe she just gave me some perspective.” He rubbed his temples. “And sure, she’s one of those people who has a sad story, but you have to pull it out of them. It wasn’t volunteered.”
Evie considered that for a moment. “Now I really want to meet her.”
He blew out a sigh. “Fine. But let’s keep our family business out of it.”
She grabbed her purse and stood up. “No comments, I promise. I’ve got to get back to the paper and hear what the lawyers have to say about our slave-labor series.”
“You’ve been chasing that story for years. I don’t see why the lawyers won’t let you run something already.”
Her blue eyes turned somber. “It makes me angry every time they catch another group. It’s always by accident, always just a few people kept against their will. And the workers say they were moved over and over, different buildings, lots of guards, rotating groups. We know it’s big and it’s here, right in our own city.”
“Isn’t there enough from the police reports to back up the series?”
She shook her head. “We can run a few small articles, and we have. But this series is different. It takes a lot of information from sources we can’t identify, mostly for their own safety. The lawyers are there to make sure we don’t get sued, but I sure hate having to take that advice.”
“Do you think they’ll give it the okay this time?”
“Not a chance.” Her tone was nonchalant, but her expression was dejected. “But I have to try. There are people in modern-day slavery, right here.”
“I’m proud to be your brother, you know that?”
Her face flashed surprise, then pleasure. “Thank you, and ditto.” She reached the door and turned. “Whatever you decide, I’m behind it. You know that.”
Nodding, he didn’t try to say anything. As the door closed, he swallowed hard. Theirs wasn’t a perfect family, by any stretch of the imagination. Their father was distant and consumed by running the business. Their mother was sweet but distracted by anything that offered a spot on a committee. It had always been that way, as long as he could remember.
Evie had been his cheerleader, his confidante, his voice of reason when he got a crazy new idea. When Evie had fallen in love with his best friend, he hadn’t been worried about losing either one. He’d been thrilled. Gavin was perfect for her.
He wanted what they had, someday. Sabrina’s face flashed through his mind, startling him. Evie had asked a lot of questions, and not the ones he’d been expecting. Certainly not the ones he could answer right now. He pushed the unsettling feelings away.
He stretched his arms over his head, feeling the muscles burn, not used to sitting at a desk for hours at a time. Starting today, he was going to put everything he had into his job. No more soul-searching over finding his purpose. The fact that he was born into this family, and given