Page 2 of Scoop Me Up (Love in Maplewood #7)

Gabe

As I stepped into Nick Moran’s office at the consultancy firm, nerves fluttered through me.

I offered him a firm, steady handshake, though, not letting the fact that I was nervous show.

This interview was a formality, or so I’d been told, and the firm was really hoping to convince me to join their team.

Me, on the other hand? I still hadn’t made up my mind.

“Gabe, come in. Have a seat.” Nick gestured to the plush leather chair across from his desk, which was made of dark wood and shined in the bright fluorescent lights of the office.

I nodded and sat, perching on the edge, rather than sitting back and settling in.

“We’re so glad you were able to make today work,” Nick continued.

“Hopefully today’s meeting will be a productive one for both of us. ”

I gave him a small smile and another nod. “Hopefully so. Then again, nobody hopes for an unproductive meeting, do they?”

Nick laughed at my quip, easing down into his own chair. “That’s a fact.” A moment of quiet passed while he shuffled some papers on his desk. “Let’s get started, shall we?” Nick shifted to face his monitor. “Do you mind if I take some notes while we talk?”

I bit back a frown. I knew he’d want to write down some things from our interview, but typing it while facing a monitor, instead of looking at me directly, seemed unprofessional.

“Of course not,” I said smoothly. “Do whatever you need to do.” Maybe I was assuming too much and he’d be able to multitask.

With that, Nick began the interview, running through basic questions like my strengths and weaknesses, the type of boss I liked to work for, and whether I preferred teamwork or working alone.

“And tell me, what’s got you wanting to leave solo consultancy work?

I have to say, if I were in your position, I’m not sure I’d want to leave that independence and join someone else’s firm. ”

That was an easy one to answer. “I have a few reasons, actually. For one, I’m ready to go back to having steady clients without having to hunt for leads.

I have several organizations that rely on me heavily, but when one project or another wraps up, I typically need to find another client to fill that space.

And for another, I want more flexibility. Better work-life balance, if you will.”

Nick’s expression wavered, his brow dipping for just a moment. “Tell me more about that.”

I knew I was venturing into risky territory with my next words, but I wanted to be transparent.

“I have a daughter. She’s in second grade.

Well, she’ll be in third next year, actually.

She lives with her mom down in Maplewood, and I don’t see her enough as it is.

As I’m sure you’re aware, solo work can mean long hours, nights and weekends, and not much time off.

Ellie is too important to me for that. I don’t want her to grow up feeling like her dad—who already lives too far away—didn’t have time for her. ”

He nodded slowly. “Maplewood, you said? I have a friend who lives down there. Great little town. Lots of families, lots of festivals.”

I chuckled softly. “That’s what they’re known for down there.”

“Well, I can certainly understand wanting to see your daughter more. Working with us would help with that. You’d have the flexibility to take time off when you need it, work remotely sometimes, and of course you wouldn’t be working nights or weekends unless you wanted to.

And clients would be provided, of course.

” He hesitated a moment. “But that said… we were thinking that whoever takes this position would relocate down to DC to lead an office there. I’m surprised Adam didn’t mention that.

We could provide you with a travel stipend and work out an alternate schedule so you would be able to fly back to Vermont regularly, but relocation would be a requirement. ”

My stomach sank. “That’s… not an option.” I could hardly stand to be away from Ellie as much as I was already. Living halfway to Florida wasn’t really a decision I wanted to make, but given the choice, Ellie won out, every time.

Nick frowned again and nodded. “I do understand. You’re sure we can’t convince you otherwise?”

I couldn’t fault him for trying. “With all due respect, that’s not going to happen. I was happy enough to stay here in Burlington, but moving that far away simply isn’t something I’m able to do at this stage in my life.”

“Well, it’s possible we could find a place for you here in this office. Let me consider it a bit more and see what we can figure out.”

“I appreciate that, Nick.”

A few minutes later, I was headed back to my car, feeling defeated. I’d wanted the job, but the possibility of not being close enough to be able to swing by or pick Ellie up and take her out for ice cream when she was feeling sad? No thanks.

By the time I’d made it back to my apartment, I had calls from three clients to return and several emails from another. It didn’t take me long to get back to work, settling in at the desk in my one-bedroom apartment.

The desk was tucked into a corner that was supposed to be the dining room, which I’d repurposed as an office. I needed space to work more than I needed a dining room table, after all. When Ellie visited, we mostly ate in front of the TV. I hated that I was becoming a stereotype.

I spent the rest of the day returning calls and replying to emails, triaging problems before moving on to tackling my existing workload.

At one point while I was deep in focus, my phone began ringing.

Without checking the number, I pushed the button to silence it and kept on working.

I didn’t have time to be interrupted, not even by another client. I didn’t want to break my stride.

When things finally settled down around nine thirty that night, I finally checked my phone again, and when I did, my heart sank.

The missed call was from Jennifer, my ex-wife, and it had been right around the time that Ellie usually got out of school.

I tapped the voicemail icon to listen to the message and sure enough, Ellie’s sweet little voice came across the line.

“Hi, Daddy! I had a good day at school today. Henry told us about a book he liked that has an evil cat in it but I don’t think cats are evil. Mommy says we can’t have a kitten because she’s allergic but she said maybe you would let me get one to live with you. Can we? Please?”

In the background, Jennifer admonished her. “Ellie! I said we could talk about it when he gets here.”

“Sorry, Mommy.”

“My turn on the phone please.” There was a shuffle before Jennifer came on the line. “Hi, Gabe. I just wanted to double- check that we’re still good for next week. Give me a call so we can talk logistics. Thanks, Gabe.”

“Bye, Daddy!”

The line beeped as the call ended. My stomach ached with the thought that I’d missed her call, and that I was missing out on the important things like hearing about Henry’s evil cat book and being begged for a kitten. I knew she’d be in bed, but I dialed Jennifer’s number anyway.

Jennifer and I had been divorced for just about a year, but things remained amicable between us. The phone rang a couple of times before she picked up, her tone warm.

“Gabe, hey. Thanks for calling me back.”

“No problem. I’m so sorry I missed you two earlier. Is Ellie still up?”

She scoffed. “You know better than that. She’s in bed by eight or she’s a monster the next day.”

With a sigh, I conceded that she was right, taking a seat on the couch as I did. “I know, I know. I was just hoping. So you wanted to talk about next week?”

“You’re still coming, right?”

Jennifer was planning to travel around Europe with her boyfriend for the whole summer, giving me the opportunity to offer to house sit and hang out with Ellie instead of them dragging her across the Atlantic for six weeks, especially considering that Ellie was enrolled in summer school to improve her reading skills.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll see you on Saturday. ”

She exhaled sharply in relief. “Good. I was starting to worry you’d be too busy at work to make it happen.”

It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d bailed on Jennifer and Ellie because I had to work. In fact, it had been one of the leading causes of our divorce. “I promise, I won’t let that happen again.”

“Okay. Because you know I don’t mind taking her, but I need to know now if you’re going to back out.”

I let out a soft sigh. “Jen. It’ll be okay. I’ll be there. I promise.”

She hesitated for a moment. “Thanks, Gabe. It means a lot, seeing how much you’ve changed since…”

A lump formed in my throat. I didn’t regret our divorce—it was the right thing for both of us—but I regretted so much that had led to it. “I appreciate that.”

We chatted for a few more minutes before we said our goodbyes and hung up. As I went to bed that night, my mind swirled with thoughts about the interview, the job, Ellie, my summer plans, and work.