LITMIR.BIZ

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chairman of the board of her family’s grocery store conglomerate because she was the only child of the widower who had started the company and owned controlling interest in the stock. She didn’t gamble. She didn’t wear red bras and red lace thongs. She didn’t marry a man on a whim, no matter how gorgeous. And her relatively young, very strong father did not have heart attacks.

      As far as she was concerned, the entire universe had gone awry over the weekend and now she had to fix it.

      Getting off the bone-jarring commuter flight she had taken to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Gina slipped her three-karat diamond wedding ring into her trouser pocket, glad she had bought this pantsuit while shopping in Vegas. She not only had warm slacks and a blazer, but also a blouse. It wasn’t much protection against the freezing temperatures of February in the Appalachian Mountains, but she was dressed warmer than Ethan was.

      “The hospital is a short drive from here,” Ethan said as they entered the rental car he had acquired at the one-man counter in the nothing-but-the-basics terminal. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, dark-haired, dark-eyed Ethan looked like a man who had been unexpectedly yanked from enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon with his wife and new son. He didn’t even have a jacket. But worry about her father seemed to take precedence, because he made no comment about how cold it was. He simply started the car and turned on the heater.

      “I got directions from the pilot.”

      Gina grimaced. “Small cities are awfully casual.”

      “But convenient.” It was already close to eight, and it was dark. Ethan flicked on the headlights. “You probably couldn’t get directions this good from anybody in Atlanta.”

      As if taking off her wedding ring had magically transformed her, Gina stopped agonizing over her foolish weekend. She knew she couldn’t dwell on how stupid she had been or even how sick her father was. She had to get her mind in gear to make sure their company didn’t fall apart in her dad’s absence.

      “So when Gerrick gets here you’ll be going back?” she asked Ethan as he drove down a nearly empty four-lane highway.

      “Yes, I think one of us has to be there.”

      She sighed. “No offense, Ethan, but you’re in the Legal Department. You’re not really up on the day-today business dealings.”

      “Then Josh Anderson’s not a good choice to go home either, because he’s our PR man,” Ethan said, referring to Gina’s cousin, the third person of the trio of Josh, Ethan and Gina, who were slated to take over the company when her father retired. Though Gina would be CEO and chairman of the board, it was already common knowledge that Josh would head Operations and Ethan would continue to lead the Legal Department. Because Hilton Martin was only in his fifties, and no one knew what role Gerrick would have played had he not left the company, her father had not begun transferring responsibilities or even training them for their future roles. Though Ethan could completely handle his own area of expertise, none of them could step into Hilton’s shoes.

      Particularly not Gina. It was her father’s idea to put her in Human Resources so she could get to know all the employees and become familiar with their strengths and weaknesses. After that, she assumed he would begin showing her the ins and outs of the business in general. She even guessed that eventually she would move into an office by her dad, serve as his assistant and ultimately get the reins. But as of this time, all she had done was manage the employees.

      “He might understand the stores,” Ethan continued still talking about Josh. “But I don’t think he can run them.”

      “So what we’re saying is Gerrick needs to go home.”

      “He is vice president of Operations.” Ethan sighed. “It’s too bad we can’t call him and tell him not to come up at all.”

      “He has to come up.”

      “Oh?” Ethan said, stealing a peek at her.

      “Don’t make a bigger deal out of this than it is,” she said. Her business tone of voice came back so quickly and naturally that Gina was shocked she could have forgotten who she was for a second let alone an entire weekend.

      Neither Gina nor Ethan said anything for the rest of the trip. He dropped her off at the sliding door entrance of the hospital, then drove away to find parking. She ran to the information desk, was given directions to the cardiac care floor, and proceeded to find her father. She knew Ethan would get the same information she had, the same way she had gotten it and wouldn’t expect her to wait for him.

      By the time Ethan arrived, Gina had been greeted by Josh and Olivia Brady—Josh’s fiancée and one of Gina’s best friends—had spoken to the doctor and was by her father’s bed, where he lay sleeping. Because Ethan wasn’t family, he wasn’t allowed to come into the room. After her short visit was over, she joined Josh, Olivia and Ethan in the waiting room.

      “Everything’s going to be fine,” Josh said immediately, while Olivia slid her arm around Gina’s shoulders and helped her to a chair. Like Ethan, Olivia and Josh were dressed in jeans and simple T-shirts. Olivia’s long blond hair was pulled into a bobbing ponytail. Josh’s black hair was rumpled, as if he’d combed his fingers through it in frustration.

      “Yeah, I know.”

      “And Ethan explained your plan about sending Gerrick home to run the company while you’re up here.”

      “I think you all should go home.”

      “But…”

      “No buts,” Gina said, shaking her head. “I’m fine. But Dad’s recovery will take weeks, and with all of us up here, the company will not be fine.”

      “The company will be fine without me,” Olivia disagreed. “I quit last week, remember?”

      “You quit to plan your wedding.”

      “Which is next month. Besides, everything’s under control. I can spare some time away. Before you got here the doctor told us your dad could be transferred to a hospital in Atlanta as soon as he’s able to travel. So it’s not like you’ll be here forever.” She paused, caught Gina’s gaze. “I’m staying.”

      Gina nodded. “Okay.”

      “Good,” Olivia said, then removed her arm from around Gina’s shoulders. “Now, when was the last time you ate?”

      “Breakfast.”

      “You haven’t eaten since breakfast!”

      “Well, breakfast in Vegas was your lunchtime. So it wasn’t that long ago.”

      “Vegas?” Ethan and Josh said simultaneously, before they exchanged a speculative look.

      “Let’s leave that alone,” Gina said, then bit her quivering lip. For all her toughness about making sure the company would run smoothly, she suddenly wished Gerrick were here. But as quickly as she had the thought she stopped it. What they had done was wrong. Leaning on him was wrong. Leaning on anybody was wrong. She had to depend on people for business things, but that was simply letting them do their jobs. But she would not, could not, depend on anybody personally. She might not be in a position to take over this company today, or even next year, but by God she had to be someday and that meant she had to start being strong now.

      Because there wasn’t another direct flight to Pittsburgh, Gerrick had to endure a layover, then rent a car and drive from Pittsburgh to Johnstown. He didn’t arrive at the hospital until almost midnight that night. When he stepped off the elevator onto the cardiac care floor, Gerrick didn’t see Ethan McKenzie or Josh Anderson and assumed they were already on their way back to Atlanta. Olivia Brady, dressed in blue jeans and an old shirt, as if she’d dropped everything when she got the call about Hilton, was sleeping on a blue plastic sofa. Gina stood by a floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out at the lights of the city.

      “I got here as soon as I could,” Gerrick said, rushing over to Gina. He took her shoulders so he could turn her around and pull her into his arms. She accepted his comfort,

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