Wish I Might

by Kait Nolan

  She stumbled to a halt. “Dad? What are you doing here?”

  “Since you’ve gone incommunicado, I thought it best if I caught you out here.” He pulled her into a tight hug, and Cecily burrowed in, needing the comfort of family.

  “Sorry about that. Life got…”

  “Complicated?” he suggested.

  Understatement of the year. She pulled back. “Is everything okay at home?”

  “Oh sure. The gala was a big success.”

  She’d forgotten that was last night. Even though she hadn’t actually wanted to go, hadn’t wanted to face any of the people she’d disappointed, she still felt a pang. At least the people who’d taken over in her stead had made a success of her vision. “Glad to hear it.”

  “Why don’t we go get some coffee and have a chat,” her father suggested.

  He obviously had something on his mind or he wouldn’t have flown across the country to see her. But Cecily knew him. Frank Dixon wouldn’t get to whatever it was until he was good and ready, so she fell into step beside him, hunching her shoulders against the chill, gray day. They strolled in companionable silence to a nearby coffee shop, saying nothing until they’d placed their orders and claimed a booth by the window.

  “So how did your interview go?”

  How to answer that question? “The interview itself went fine. I just don’t think the position is a good fit.”

  Her dad nodded. “Seems like that’s been happening with a lot of the possible options for jobs since you finished grad school.”

  “I’m not dragging my feet, Dad, I swear. I just—”

  He laid a hand over hers. “I never said you were. Stop putting words in my mouth. I’m not pushing you into anything, just making an observation.”

  They each settled back in their seats. Cecily wracked her brain, trying to think of some way to explain what she wanted to do that the family would accept.

  “You know, there’s nothing wrong with not being sure of exactly what you want to do right now. Few people land in exactly the perfect career straight out of the gate.”

  “That’s not the problem. I do know what I want to do.”

  “Then what is the problem?”

  Cecily bit her lip. “I don’t think the family is going to like it.”

  “So what?”

  She couldn’t have heard him right. “What?”

  “So what? I mean, provided you aren’t planning on becoming an exotic dancer or something, why does it matter what the family thinks? It’s your life, Peanut.”

  “Because I’m a Davenport.”

  “You’re as much a Dixon as a Davenport. And Dixons have no problem making their own way.” He leaned forward, eyes intent on hers. “Don’t live your life based on what you think the family expects. The only thing any of us expects—and I include Cecil in this—is for you to do work you love, that you value. Just because most of us happen to do that within one of the arms of the Davenport holdings doesn’t mean you have to. You have nothing to prove. To us or anyone else. You have nothing to make up for.”

  Cecily’s throat went thick with unshed tears. If she could’ve scripted what she wanted to hear from her family, this wouldn’t have been too far off. She swallowed past the lump. “How…How did you even know I was worried about all of this?”

  “First, tell me what it is you really want to do. Even if that’s coming back to head the Alliance. Because that’s on the table if you want it.”

  She stared at him for a long moment. She’d already said no in the interview at Verdant. She’d already decided on this path. There was no reason not to tell him.

  “I want to open my own marketing firm. In Wishful.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  So she did. For near half an hour, she told him her vision, outlining her business plan in detail. He was smiling by the end.

  “It’s a solid plan. And it suits you down to the ground.”

  “You really think so?”

  “I do. Why Wishful? Because Norah’s there?”

  “That’s part of it. And I’m already hooked into the community. I’ve already been a part of the changes, and it just makes sense to stay and see the rest of it through.”

  “Sensible,” he conceded. “I kinda wondered if Reed Campbell might have something to do with it.”

  Cecily almost bobbled her coffee mug. “How do you know anything about Reed?”

  “He came to see us yesterday.”

  “He did what?”

  “Well, more properly, he came to see you, but you weren’t there.”

  “Reed came to Greenwich?”

  “He did. Seems you blew town pretty upset the other day and he was pretty damned worried about you. Enough to take three different flights to get up to us on the off chance you’d run home.”

  “How did he even know where to go?”

  “Christoff.”

  If Christoff had given him the address, that was an even bigger sign that there was some kind of explanation for Selina Kyle. When was he going to call her back?

  “Things are up in the air with Reed at the moment,” she hedged.

  “That’s all obviously between the two of you, but for what it’s worth, we all liked him.”

  “All?”

  “Me, your mother, and Blair. He held up really well to the full court press. Including Dinah via speakerphone.”

  Cecily didn’t even want to imagine how that had gone.

  “We found him polite, well-spoken and entirely willing to own up to his mistakes and grovel.”

  “Did he tell you what those mistakes were?”

  “Yes, but that’s something you need to hear from him.”

  Cecily studied her dad. “You’re not warning me off.”

  “He seems like an honorable guy. And he’s in love with you. You specifically. He doesn’t give a damn about the Davenport legacy, the connections, or the money. Though he wasn’t intimidated by them either. As far as I’m concerned, that places him miles ahead of everybody you’ve ever dated.”

  “I think,” she said slowly, “that I’ve misjudged him.” Again.

  Her father tipped back the last of his coffee. “Then it looks like you’ve got a plane to catch.”

  ~*~

  “I’m going to miss Dinah,” Brenda sighed.

  “She was only here for two days,” Reed pointed out. And in the thirty-six hours he’d been around her, she’d exhausted him with questions about Virtual Match for a prospective new book. He figured he owed her, both for lobbying on his behalf with Cecily and for the incredibly successful signing. But after the last few days, he was ready for life to go back to normal.

  “I know, but she’s so amazing. We stayed up half the night after the signing drinking and talking.”

  Reed didn’t know what Dinah had said to Brenda, but she seemed calmer, less hostile than he’d seen her in all the time she’d worked for him, and just generally in a better place.

  He wished he were in a better place.

  He’d gotten Cecily’s message that she wanted to talk, but when he’d returned her call at the new number, she hadn’t answered or called him back. What the hell did that mean? Was she traveling? Had she changed her mind?

  A part of him wanted to text Selina to ask her opinion, but he’d finally canceled Virtual Match yesterday

  “We should start sorting out who our next author will be,” Brenda continued. “Dinah will be a tough act to follow, of course, but the newsletter sign ups have gone through the roof. People are going to start looking to Inglenook as a hub for—”

  She broke off as the shop bell jangled.

  Reed looked toward the door and went still as Cecily strode in, shoulders hunched against the cold. His heart leapt into a frantic tattoo, and it was all he could do not to bolt to take her in his arms. She looked road weary, faint lines of strain bracketing her mouth. Her long, dark hair was plaited in a loose braid over one shoulder. She paused in the entryway, eyes meeting his. He couldn’t read
her expression and that terrified him about what she’d come to say.

  With a visible breath, she squared her shoulders and made for the counter.

  “Cecily, I’m so sor—” Brenda began, but Cecily cut her off with a hand.

  “This is between me and Reed. If you could excuse us.”

  Brenda looked between the two of them.

  “We’ll be in the kitchen,” Reed said, making an after you gesture toward the back.

  Cecily swept by him, saying nothing even when he shut the door behind them.

  “You want coffee?” he asked.

  “I’m pretty sure my blood coffee level is outside the legal limit already. I’ve been traveling since yesterday afternoon. Took longer to get back from San Francisco than I’d hoped.”

  Then she’d kept the interview with Verdant. The hope that had ignited at the sight of her began to fizzle. But she’d sent him Dinah. She’d called and said they needed to talk. She’d come back, so obviously she was willing to hear him out. If there was a chance in hell that she’d forgive him, he’d do anything he had to in order to make this work.

  Cecily leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. “Okay. I’m ready to listen.”

  Not knowing how else to start, he pulled two sheets of folded paper out of his pocket and handed them over. “Go ahead. Read it.”

  She read the first page, frowning. “I don’t understand. What am I looking at?”

  “That is my account record for Virtual Match and the profile of my virtual girlfriend, Selina Kyle, whom I named after the alter ego of Catwoman.”

  Her perfectly manicured brows shot up. “Virtual girlfriend?”

  From the look on her face, Reed could tell she was wondering what kind of freaktastic geek thing that was.

  “It’s a service for people who need fake significant others for whatever reason. To keep their nosy grandma from setting them up with somebody. To stop the unceasing questions about who they’re dating. To keep well-intentioned folks from trying to convince you that you need to get back out there after a breakup when you’re just not ready. Whatever. In my case, Selina was a shield against Brenda. As you know, Brenda had a hideous divorce, and shortly after I hired her, she came onto me. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings or give her more rejection, so I concocted a fake girlfriend using this service, in order to get her to back off. And it worked.”

  “You’re telling me that I successfully had a conversation with a computer?”

  “No, it’s a real person on the other end. That’s the genius of the service. I didn’t tell you about it because I felt kind of embarrassed about the whole thing. It happens that whoever is playing Selina became a friend. And I know it’s stupid, but I didn’t feel right about firing my friend when you and I got together, so I didn’t.” He took a step toward her. “I’m sorry, Cecily. I can’t tell how sorry I am that I hurt you, even unintentionally. Norah, Christoff, and Dinah have already informed me of all the ways in which I am a complete dumbass. Between the three of them, they’ve probably covered them all, but you’re welcome to take all your best shots. I owe that to you at least.”

  Her throat worked and she shook her head, eyes going suspiciously shiny. “I don’t want to take a shot.”

  Reed’s stomach sank. He was too late.

  But then she shoved away from the counter and launched herself into his arms, and he thought nothing had ever felt so wonderful as the staggering impact of her slamming into him. Her voice was muffled against his chest. “I’m so sorry I doubted you. Again.”

  She forgave him. She understood. Relief almost took him out at the knees as all the stress and strain and worry of the past week drained away. He held on tight and rocked her, beyond grateful that this main hurdle was past them. But it wasn’t the only one. “Yeah, well, even I admit the evidence looked pretty damning. I don’t blame you for doubting. In your shoes, I’d have kept the interview, too.”

  At the reminder, she stiffened.

  Reed rushed on before she could say anything. “Listen. It’s fine. I get it. You need to take the job. It’s the best thing for your career. So I’ll come with you to San Francisco.”

  Cecily pulled back to look up at him in shock. “You’d give up Inglenook?”

  Reed didn’t hesitate. “Brenda’s trained well enough to run things, and I can always hire more staff to help in my absence. I can find a bookstore to manage anywhere. I can’t find another you, and if I let you go, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I love you.”

  Her lips quirked, “I kinda thought you might since you tried to chase me down like one of the heroes in Dinah’s books. You went to Greenwich.”

  They’d told her then.

  “I did. I was desperate to find you and explain.”

  “You faced the third degree from almost my entire family.”

  “It wasn’t that bad.” At her Really? look he said, “Well okay, I had a moment or two with your dad while I was explaining everything, and the fact that Dinah was on speakerphone the whole time was kind of terrifying, but I made it out with all my limbs intact.”

  “You told Dinah about all this?”

  “Yeah. She asked about a million questions about how the service works. I’m pretty sure she got a plot bunny out of the whole thing.”

  Cecily’s lips twitched. “That would be just like her.”

  “She’s a force of nature, your aunt. Or ex-aunt? I wasn’t entirely clear on how y’all are related.”

  “She used to be married to my uncle. We stayed close. She likes you. They all like you. In fact, Dad came out to San Francisco to talk to me after he saw you.”

  Had Reed really found an ally in Frank Dixon? “What did he say?”

  “He reminded me of something yesterday that I’ve spent way too much time forgetting. I’m every bit as much a Dixon as a Davenport. And the thing is? Dixons are decisive. We know what we want and we go after it.”

  Reed’s heart kicked up. “Yeah? What do you want?”

  “You.” Cecily stepped back into him, framing his face between her palms. “I turned Verdant down.”

  “You did?” Relief slid through him, followed by complete, dumbfounded shock. “You turned them down even without knowing the truth about Selina?”

  “Yeah,” she admitted. “I mean, maybe they wouldn’t have offered me a job anyway, but I realized corporate marketing isn’t going to make me happy. I didn’t come alive in that interview until I started talking about the small business campaigns I’ve worked on in Wishful. That makes me happy. And I would never have realized that without you. I’d never have been willing to go after that without you.”

  “I just gave you an option.” An option he’d hoped would work for her, but one he’d given up hope she’d take when things blew up between them.

  “You helped me to see past the duty I felt I owed my family. So I’m coming home and opening my own firm, exactly like we talked about. I want small business marketing, and I want Wishful.”

  Home. She’d called Wishful home. She’d chosen this life, this town, even without knowing where they stood. This was what she truly wanted. The vise that’d been cranked tight around his chest for days finally loosened, and he could breathe again. No more ticking time clock. No more artificial end to what was between them. They could slow down and enjoy the ride.

  “Thank God.”

  And as he lowered his lips to hers, drowning in the sweetness of having things finally set to rights between them, Reed found that slow was the last thing he wanted.

  Epilogue

  “Mr. McGee will see you now.”

  Cecily rose from her chair in the waiting room of McGee, Buckley, and Connelly and followed the receptionist down the hall. Tucker McGee, the original Phil Davis in Wishful Community Theater’s production of White Christmas, walked around his desk to greet her, no limp in evidence.

  “All the paperwork is drawn up. We just need to get your signature.”

  Cecily peered down at his dress shoes as
she followed him over to the conference table.

  Tucker went over the contracts and she signed her name approximately a million times.

  “That’s the last one. I’ll have Margaret make a copy for you. We’ll be taking it down to the courthouse for filing later this afternoon.” He rose and called to the receptionist, hanging over the freshly signed contracts.

  “Okay, I have to ask. Where’s your cast?”

  “I was misdiagnosed,” he said easily.

  She arched a brow. “How do you get misdiagnosed with a broken leg?”

  His expression settled somewhere between smug and sheepish as he returned to his seat. “I decided my understudy needed the part more.”

  Cecily thought back to the gossip she’d heard surrounding the play, about how Tucker had broken his leg, shoving Brody into his role as leading man. What a delightful twist. “Needed the opportunity to get the girl, you mean.” She laughed. “And people talk about how Norah arranges things to suit her.”

  “They say the same thing about you, and now they’ll say it more often.” Tucker handed over the keys. “Congratulations, Cecily, you are, officially, the new owner of the Wishful train depot.”

  She clutched them in her fist and resisted the urge to do a little jig. That could wait until she was in the privacy of her new office building. “Thanks, Tucker.”

  Gathering up her copy of the paperwork, Cecily said goodbye and stepped out into the frigid December day. Before sliding on her gloves, she sent a quick text to Reed. Finally done.

  His response was immediate. Meet you there.

  She could’ve taken her car, but the building was only a few blocks from Tucker’s office, and she wanted to walk through the town she’d adopted as her own. Wreaths and holiday banners adorned all the streetlights downtown. A massive Christmas tree reached toward the sky on the green just in front of City Hall. Shop windows all along the way held cheerful displays inviting shoppers to come inside. Cecily knew most of them would be offering hot chocolate or mulled cider to entice shoppers into lingering. It pleased her that most of the parking spaces were filled and people strolled along the streets, hands full of shopping bags. Two weeks to Christmas and downtown Wishful was doing a brisk business. The knowledge that she’d helped make that a reality warmed her against the chill.