Free Her Favorite Temptation by Sarah Mayberry Page B

he’d wished her happy birthday.
    Then she remembered what he’d said to her the night of their pizza date. Every time I’ve swum against the tide in my life —every time— there’s been someone shouting at me to turn back , to go the other way. Every time I kept going , and things worked out fine .
    Good advice. Advice she needed to remember as she waded through the minefield that was her family.
    The door to the bathroom opened and she turned, expecting to see Leah or her mother. She blinked in surprise when her father entered, looking both uncomfortable and determined.
    “Before you tell me I shouldn’t be in here, it’s okay, I’m a doctor. Plus I spent twenty-odd years as the only man in a household full of women. I doubt there are many feminine mysteries I haven’t been privy to over the years.”
    “I’m okay, Dad. Give me a few minutes to fix my face and I’ll be out.”
    He came to her side and slid an arm around her shoulders. “You’ve got to understand, this is a blow for your mother. She’s never really gotten over the fact that she wasn’t able to complete her own specialist training.”
    Leah was familiar with the story of her mother’s thwarted ambition, although it was something she’d only learned relatively recently. Her mother had had a hysterectomy last year, and in the hazy hours after her surgery had been weepy and a bit confessional, holding Leah’s hands and spilling out her most closely held secret: that she’d longed to do what Leah was doing, but had gotten pregnant with Audrey during her training and been shunted off the path she’d chosen. Learning that had made sense of so many things Leah had never fully understood over the years. It was a common enough story—a woman’s career aspirations derailed by biology, something that happened every day all around the world—but it didn’t give her mother license to run roughshod over her own daughters.
    She leveled a look at her father. “I understand, believe it or not. But I am not her do-over.”
    He sighed and ran a hand over his thick salt-and-pepper hair. “Just be patient with her, Leah. This whole thing has been a bit of a shock to her. She was certain your future had been decided a long time ago.”
    Exactly—when Leah was a little girl, and by her mother.
    Leah was tempted to say as much, but there was something else she wanted to say more. Something that was long overdue.
    “Dad, I want to ask you something. Earlier, when you made that comment about me never having to worry about losing my job because I’m too valuable, did you think about how Audrey might take it?”
    He raised his eyebrows. “No. Clearly I was talking about you, Leah. It had nothing to do with your sister.”
    Except that they’d been talking about Audrey’s career, Audrey’s work situation.
    “It came across that way, Dad. It came across as though you were saying that Audrey might lose her job, but I never would, because I’m better than her.”
    He shook his head slightly. “I didn’t say you were better, sweetheart. I was simply making a point that your skills will always be in high demand. That doesn’t mean that Audrey’s skills aren’t as valuable and worthy.”
    He was genuinely confused, unable—or unwilling—to see what she was saying. She opened her mouth to try again—determined to correct this one, small wrong—when the door swung inward and a well-coiffed woman in her forties entered. She drew up short when she saw Leah’s father, and he took a hasty step toward the exit.
    “Just on my way out. Apologies for the intrusion,” he said.
    So much for all his talk about no feminine mystery I haven’t been privy to. And so much for her attempt to open his eyes. He slipped out, leaving Leah to deal with the woman’s curious stare.

CHAPTER FIVE
    H ER MOTHER WAS all smiles and gentle tones when Leah returned to the table, but there was a steely light in her eyes when she assured Leah they could discuss the issue