It's Only Love(43)

“I don’t want you throwing yourself in front of anything, Hunter. I’m asking you and everyone to respect my judgment and my privacy. I know we’re up in each other’s business all the time, but I won’t welcome interference in this case.”

“Ella—”

“Gavin has a right to be happy, especially after everything he’s been through. I’m going to make him happy.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? That’s it? You’re actually going to stand down?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is. Don’t worry about me. I’m a lot tougher than I look.”

“I will worry about you because that’s my job as your big brother.”

Ella rolled her eyes at him. “Focus your big-brother bullshit on Charley and leave me alone.”

“It’s easier to focus on you. You’re not as mean as she is.”

“Wimp.”

“Damn straight.”

Ella walked out laughing and encountered her dad returning from somewhere with Ringo and George in hot pursuit.

“Just the girl I wanted to see,” Lincoln said. “Step into my office.”

She didn’t bother to remind him that she was no longer a girl. Nor did she take the time to tell him she didn’t want to hear Gavin warnings from him, too. Resigned to losing control of her day, she followed her father into his office.

“Close the door, will you?”

Ella wanted to tell him there was no need to close the door because they weren’t going to talk about the thing he wanted to talk about. But arguing with him would take time she didn’t want to waste when she had a special meal to cook for the man she adored. She’d taken advantage of Gavin’s ungodly wake-up time to come into work more than an hour earlier than normal with plans to also leave early.

She took a seat in front of her dad’s desk. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to go over the remarks for Friday night. You’ve given me a great start, as always, but I need your opinion on a few things.”

“Oh,” Ella said, pleasantly surprised to realize they were going to discuss business rather than her love life. However, this was Lincoln Abbott, and his interest in his children’s love lives had been at an all-time high recently. So she remained wary.

They went over the remarks Ella had drafted for him, thanking the sales team for their dedication to the family and the store, gearing them up for the holiday rush and reminding them of several new product lines that were expected to get a lot of attention this year.

“I’d like to mention the toys,” Lincoln said.

“You’ve got that covered in the part about special gifts for the young people.”

“Not those toys.”

“Oh . . .” Ella did not want to sit in a room with her father and discuss sex toys. Uh-uh. No way. “It’s probably too soon. We’re not ready to roll that out yet.”

“We’re ready to tell them it’s coming in the New Year.”

“But that has nothing to do with the upcoming holiday season.”

“It’s a great time to start the conversation with everyone there. The next company meeting doesn’t happen until the picnic in July.”

“We can call another company-wide meeting before then, if need be.”

“That’s just more work. I want to tell them about it. Will you write me a paragraph or two about what we’re doing and why?”

“I still don’t know what we’re doing or why.”

“Yes, you do. You sat in Colton’s presentation and heard the numbers and why it makes sense to add the line to our store.”

“Fine. I’ll write something for you. Anything else?”

Eyeing her shrewdly, Lincoln sat back in his big leather chair and scratched Ringo behind the ears. “How are things?”

“Things are good. How are things with you?”

“Just fine.”

“Great. Glad we had this conversation.” She began to get up to leave.

“Ella.”

“Dad, please. I know exactly what you’re going to say and I’ve already heard it from Mom, Hunter, Hannah, Wade, Charley . . . It’s beginning to feel a bit like piling on. I know you all care, and I appreciate that. But if you really care, please just stay out of it.”

“All I was going to say is that I like Gavin. I like him for you.”

Ella was so flabbergasted that her mind went totally blank. She had not expected him to say that. “Oh. Well. Thanks. I like him for me, too.”

He smiled. “He’s a good guy.”

“Yes, he is. So . . . That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”

“That’s it.”

“Okay, um, I . . . I’ll get you that paragraph.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

Baffled and confused and more than a little relieved, Ella left her father’s office and returned to her own. For the next hour she labored over the paragraph her father wanted, trying to set the right tone so the sales force wouldn’t be alarmed by the new product line. She made sure to assure them that there would be lots of on-site training before the line went live and anyone who had concerns was welcome to bring them to the management at any time.