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always follow her heart. She’d been so scared of killing him off, she’d forgotten to live her own life. That wasn’t fair to her or to him. The epiphany lifted the rocks she hadn’t realized were weighing her down.
    “It’s a job offer from Epson and Callahan Interior Design in Harbor City.” The words tumbled from her lips.
    He gnawed his bottom lip as if he was chewing the confession into bite-sized morsels. “They just called you out of the blue?”
    In for a penny, in for a second stroke. God, she hoped not. “The trip I made to Harbor City a few weeks ago…it was an interview.”
    “Why not tell me?”
    It wasn’t censure painted on her dad’s face. It was surprise and confusion. She had to make him understand. She’d never meant to hurt him. “Everything here seemed to be going well with Tyrell, and they’re one of the top interior design firms in the country. I thought it was finally time for me to branch out.”
    “You want this?”
    She shook her head as if she could shake off the last vestiges of that dream. “Staying here is more important for our family.”
    “You keep talking about what’s more important for everyone else, but what about what’s important for you? You want this job. Take it.”
    Freedom and obligation. Want and need. Change and the status quo. Each scared the shit out of her. “Pops, I can’t—“
    “Live your life for everyone else.”
    “What about all this?” She waved her hands out to encompass all things Jacobs Fine Furnishings related.
    He settled back into the chair, picked fuzz from the pumpkin-colored sweater that had to be almost as old as she was, and shrugged. “We’ll manage.”
    “What about the bet?”
    “Me and my fool mouth.” Her dad’s lips compressed into a straight line. “It’s been a while since I’ve tangled with the wood pile, but I doubt I’ve lost my touch.”
    She glanced down at his gnarled hands bearing the scars of his years of woodworking experience. They shook a bit, even when he tried to mask the stroke’s afteraffects by holding his cane, even while sitting. “No. Let me.”
    “You saying I can’t hold my own with the sander?” He winked like the whole thing was a joke.
    “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
    It wasn’t a joke. It was his livelihood—not to mention the twice monthly paychecks of a couple dozen of Salvation’s working class citizens. Times were tough, and their skills were specialized. Finding another job would mean relocation at the best and a low-wage, dead-end job at the worst. If Gabe won and closed the company, it wasn’t just her parents who would pay.
    “I’ll do it.” Her voice came out a lot firmer than she thought possible.
    Her dad eyeballed her with the clear focus of a man used to getting his way. “On one condition.”
    Now this sounded more like the man who’d finagled his way into business with some of the most luxurious boutique hotels in the country. Caution tempered her excitement. “What’s that?”
    “Afterward, no matter what happens, you take that job in Harbor City.”
    Her heart stuttered like a cold engine. “Pops…” She reached across the desk and wrapped her fingers around his arthritic ones, rubbing her thumb across the calluses earned with decades of hard work that hadn’t softened with age.
    “Baby Girl, I know you’ve waited to tell me because you thought you were protecting me, but I’m telling you now, I am a grown man and a proud father. The last thing in the world I want is for you to be miserable in Salvation when you could be happy somewhere else.”
    Judging by the soft, caring look on his face, he really meant it. He was setting her free.
    “I love you, Pops.” Her voice cracked from emotion and gratitude.
    “The feeling’s mutual, Baby Girl.” He squeezed her hand and winked. “Now, what kind of furniture are you going to make to win this bet?”

Chapter Eight
    The barn was just as Dell had described it over the phone. A huge, red