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His offer encouraged her. “Thank you. That means a lot.” She had to admit she was tempted. The problem was that when she spent time with Ethan she came away wanting more. He appeared hesitant to move their friendship forward to the next level. She suspected it was all connected to office politics and the fact that Troy, who was also up for the promotion, had paid a lot of attention to her and Ethan.

She stepped forward so that she was next in line with the cashier and set the frozen pizza on the conveyor belt along with the rest of the items in her cart.

The cashier was familiar with Sage and looked up, surprised, when she came to the half-gallon of milk and the mandarin oranges. Her face was full of questions.

“I have company coming,” Sage explained, before the woman could ask.

“ ’Tis the season,” she said, as she loaded the items into the brown paper bags. Plastic was out and paper was in these days, which was fine by Sage. The backseat of her car had a dozen or more reusable bags, which she routinely forgot to bring with her into the store.

Ethan was only a couple minutes behind her as she wheeled the cart out the door. “I’ll help you load these,” he offered when she opened her trunk.

“Thanks,” she said, when he finished placing the last bag inside the trunk of her Tesla.

“Remember, I’m available if you need any help with your nephew.”

“I’m going to need all the help I can get. I appreciate it,” she said, and meant it.

—

The following morning, Sage was at her desk when Troy Whitehall stopped by her office. With a smug look, he leaned against the edge of her doorframe and crossed his arms.

“What’s this I hear about your nephew coming to live with you?”

Troy seemed to view this as one big joke. Sage longed to wipe away his arrogant expression.

“Anything you need from me or my team, we’d be happy to help,” he continued.

Yeah, right. Troy seized every opportunity to boast about his achievements to Stanley Mowrey, which was why Sage believed their boss had given Troy the opportunity to win this account. Sage felt she deserved this promotion far more than Troy did, but she wasn’t half the self-promoter Troy was. If he offered Sage assistance, it was clear he’d use it to his advantage.

“Nice try, Troy,” she countered, standing behind her desk. “We’re both vying for the same account, you realize.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be gracious if you need extra time.”

“My nephew will be with me for a few weeks.” Far be it from her to add any details.

“Like I said, I’m here for you.”

Sage didn’t believe him for a minute. More than likely, he would steal her ideas and claim them as his own.

“Thanks anyway.” Sage wasn’t foolish enough to trust him.

“I don’t suppose this will keep you from giving your all to the Hudson project, will it? Sad for you. Good for me.”

Sage didn’t bother to respond. She stepped toward the door to close it.

Troy stepped away and, shaking his head, murmured, “You with a kid. This is going to be interesting.”

Chapter Three

Because Sage’s mother needed to be back in Chicago, Rosemary flew into Seattle on Saturday and flew out late Sunday morning. Sage and Ricky drove her to Sea-Tac Airport with a two-hour window to be sure she made it through security in plenty of time for her flight.

As they drove away, Sage asked Ricky, “What would you like for lunch?” She glanced into the backseat from the rearview mirror. Ricky sat with his iPad and appeared to be involved in a game of some sort. He’d been silent during the drive, and Sage wondered if he was sad to be away from his mother or simply interested in his video game.

Ricky looked up from the screen. “Can I have breakfast first?”

Sage, who rarely ate in the mornings, was horrified. Because she was busy getting her mother off on time to catch the Chicago flight, she’d completely forgotten to feed her nephew.

“Of course. You must be hungry.”