Taking Over by S.J. Maylee Page A

Charlie's program.”
    “Jane
will probably meet her on Sunday then. Charlie invited her to the B&B for a
brunch she's holding with all the trainees.”
    “Sorry
I didn't call you earlier this week. Things are still going well?”
    “Quite well. From the sounds
of it, last weekend was just as educational for us as it was for you.”
    “What
are you talking about?” He lowered his gaze and turned in the direction of
Gina's cubicle, finding it empty. “Did Keller tell you what happened?”
    “No,
Gina did.”
    “What?”
He leaned in close. “Gina?” When Rob nodded, he waved at him and led him back
to the server room. After entering his passcode and fingerprint into the
scanner, he held the door open and ushered Marcus inside. “Start at the
beginning.”
    “She
called last night and asked if we could meet her for breakfast this morning.”
    “We?”
    “I
know. Jane and I had no idea what to expect. I was tempted to go myself, but
Jane insisted on coming along. I'm glad she did, because I have a witness. You
may not believe this, but Gina apologized.”
    “For what?” The list was
long. “I hope she apologized to Jane.”
    “I
think that was the only thing she didn't say sorry for. In fact, she was quite
adamant about not apologizing for how she treated Jane. The way she sees it, if
anything she'd said had scared Jane away then she wouldn't have been right for
me.”
    “Figures.” Marcus shook
his head and chuckled.
    “Jane
agreed with her.”
    “What?”
    “I
know, but it wasn't the wildest thing Gina said. She gave us the story about
Dale. Most of it I'd heard before, but I think she was telling the truth.”
    “It's
such a mess.”
    “Tell
me about it. You met Dale. Did she tell you the story too?”
    “It's
no story. That man is a real piece of work.”
    “Oh
I know. I wanted to kick him right out of the house, but Gina never let me.”
    “Did
she never tell you why?”
    “At
that point, we weren’t talking much anymore.”
    “Sorry
man, I had no idea.”
    “The
last straw was the day she spun the cockamamie story I'd first heard from
Leslie. The whole thing proved I was no longer her priority.”
    “I
knew there was something more to your breakup, but you never told me you
expected something else had happened.” He looked across the room at the rack of
servers. “Or was I not listening?”
    “A
little bit of both. To be honest, part of me figured one day she'd admit she
had feelings for you.” He sat on the one stool in the room. “I never expected
our relationship to simply fall apart. She may not have cheated on me, but it
broke my heart when our marriage ended. Everything back then was confusing.
Gina certainly didn’t make that easy.”
    “I
couldn't have been much help. Once I heard cheat. I blamed her for everything
that was going wrong in your marriage. I'm sorry, man. I don't think I ever let
you tell me everything.”
    “The
woman was my world for so many years.” Rob rubbed his chest. “Losing
her father. Dale. Her mom’s cancer. She
deserved a happier life than the one she's been given.”
    “I
know.”
    “You
know because she's your world too. She creates craziness out of loving her.”
    “You're
right about that.”
    “I'm
glad you're finally admitting it.” Rob stood and grasped Marcus’s shoulder. “That's
one of the best gifts Jane has given me. The honesty our love has brought makes
me weightless.”
    A
series of beeps rang from his phone. “That's Keller’s ringtone.” Marcus pulled
out his phone. “Shit.”
    “What
is it?”
    “It just says, 911 break room .”
    The
two of them made their way out of the server room and through the rows of
cubicles. The closer they got, the louder the voices became.
    ****
    Gina stirred a little sugar in her
coffee, determined to make something in her life sweet. Her talk with Rob and
Jane that morning might make Marcus happy, but damn if it hadn't made her
cranky. It only proved to her she'd never be able to live up