Page 50 of High Heels & Heifers

Mom married my dad when she was twenty-six, still in med school, and she gave birth to me the same year she graduated. I have no idea how she managed school, residency, and having a baby all at the same time. Perhaps it was having Nana here to help her along the way.

She’s never mentioned it to me directly, but since I finished my MBA, I’ve felt her desire for me to find someone almost every time she looks at me. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why I stayed away so much.

“Mom—” I blow out a long breath. “He’s not here, because he doesn’t live in California. He lives in New Mexico.”

Dad blinks at me, confusion clear in his scowling brows.

“Yeah, I know. And no, he didn’t come here.”

“What were you doing in New Mexico?” Mom asks.

“Well, you see, I planned this work retreat.” I shake my head and guzzle the rest of my lemonade. Then, I tell them the whole story, leaving out the intimate times, of course.

As I talk, my mother leans toward me and hangs on every word. And my father, always the cooler, calmer, and more collected one, sits back with a small smile pulling at one corner of his mouth.

“So,” I say, coming to the whole reason I came to speak with them. I need their practicality. “I need you both to tell me I’m too rash, too spontaneous, that I’m rushing in to something that’ll ruin my life. Explain to me why I’ll be giving up everything I’ve worked for if I decide to try this thing and... maybe move out there.” I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and stare at them expectantly.

Mom turns to look at my dad, who pulls her closer and kisses her on the forehead. And then she settles into his side and faces me again.

Dad begins, “Jacqueline, all those things you want us to say would be blatant lies, and I don’t think that’s what you really want to hear.”

My jaw drops. “But you’ve always pushed me so hard. In school. When I switched degree paths, you were so disappointed.”

“Mija,” my mom adds, “all we have ever wanted was for you to be happy. We worried about you entering a corporate world. It just didn’t seem to fit your personality. I’m so sorry it seemed like we disapproved. Think about it,mi princesa. Does your job at LivFit really make you happy?”

“Of course it does,” I snap.

Dad holds up one finger. “I mean truly happy. Does it incite the energy and excitement you felt when you just told us about Luca and Jasper? Do your eyes get all glassy and dazed when you talk about your work meetings like they just did when you told us that story?”

I open my mouth to object again, but nothing emerges.

Because Dad’s right. A grin spreads on my mom’s face and she clasps her hands under her chin as realization washes through me. No, career won’t ever give me the warmth I felt with Luca. No, prestige is overrated. Apparently, Luca realized that a long time ago when he moved away from California. I want that kind of peace and steadiness I found in him. I’ll finish out this program and then hand things off. Once that book in my life is closed, Geoffrey Tanner and all of LivFit can take their misogynistic crowd and incessant meetings and stick ’em where the proverbial sun doesn’t shine.

Chapter Fifteen

Luca

Idig through our archived formsin the office until I find the stack that says LivFit. I’m aware that I’m violating every privacy rule we have in place, but I have to find Jack’s address. It must be on the form she filled out.

“Let me help,” Emma says, entering the office. I don’t even need to explain what I’m doing. She already seems to know.

“Here,” Emma says, handing me a form. I look at it, and there it is, right in front of me. Jack’s address. I know the address well. I lived in a building on the next block. How did Jack and I never run into each other? Or did we at one point? But we were both too absorbed in our own lives to look up for a moment and notice each other.

Wyatt pops into the office. “Should we go with a one-way ticket, or round trip?”

“She may not feel the same way,” I say. “Is this stupid? Am I insane?”

“No!” They both yell at the same time.

“Let’s do one-way for now,” Emma says. “And you’re not being stupid. You’ll never know how she feels unless you tell her.”

“And you’re really willing to live back in the city?” Wyatt asks.

“I’d live anywhere for Jack.”

“Pack your bags,” Wyatt says. “We’ll take you to the airport in the morning.”

Jack

---