No. We hadn’t. I tried not to think about the march of time passing me by. The heaviness in my chest when I saw friends with their babies and kids. Coworkers sharing the trials of motherhood with each other.

“You said you wanted to settle into the marriage first,” I said carefully. “Do you feel like we’re there?”

I squeezed air out of my lungs and wicked in another breath as he thought about the answer.

Violet leaned through the door, one hand clutching the doorknob and the other on the doorframe. Her little shoulders stuck out and she cleared her throat like we were the ones interrupting her. “Your special pancake is getting cold, Uncle Aiden.”

His soft grin kept hope simmering in my heart. Was I still naïve, still thinking Aiden could strike the balance he was so certain of?

“Can’t have that.” He pushed off the bed and held out a hand for me.

I slipped my fingers into his strong grip. I met his gaze and smiled. I shouldn’t slip into my default nothing’s wrong here mode, but I did. For now.

CHAPTER 17

Aiden

Kendall was slumped in a chair across from me in my office, one booted leg crossed over the other as she leaned on the armrest. “That was a train wreck.”

The office building was mostly empty, the board meeting over. Kendall, Dad, and I were in my office with the door closed. Emilia had said her piece. A long spiel about company integrity. A family-based business straying from its roots. How would it look?

Dad and Kendall had been prepared. Data. Figures. Projections. How our current efforts exceeded the grass roots of the place in all the best ways.

But Grams had a way of picking up on weaknesses and exploiting them with emotion. An amazing talent from a grandmother who’d never shown much emotion besides anger and derision.

It’d been enough to split the vote. Without a resounding yes, we had to come up with another proposition that included fewer positions and lower wages.

“She’s always been resistant to change,” Dad said. “We’ll keep trying.”

Kendall pressed her fingertips to her temples. “We’re already close to bare minimum. Her morale argument is bullshit. We can promote from within for the marketing and human resources positions. Even for the more general VP and the finance VP.”

“She’s going to want that one cut.” I shouldn’t have spoken. Kendall and Dad had done all the talking during the meeting, presenting information, including detailed stats of the hours they worked in the office and out of it.

Grams had scrutinized me. Years ago, she’d been the one to back me when I’d proposed eliminating the financial VP position after Sebastian was fired. Today, Grams had perceived my silence as a lack of support for the proposition. Maybe she thought she was championing me. Did I want her to?