Saving Gracie Read Online Free Page A

body language made her seem even taller than her usual inch under six feet. “Jake, lighten up. I didn’t mean it like that and you know it. You’ve been so touchy since you moved back. You couldn’t even enjoy Nana’s big moment last night.”
    Jenna could stand there all she wanted with her arms crossed in disapproval. Jake could see he’d set off a little fuse in her. Did all women just stop speaking to him when they got mad? First Gracie, now his sister. Hopefully, Jenna wouldn’t be contacting any reporters.
    “I don’t have the opportunity to be soft, Jenna. Too many people depend on me to make the right decisions and then execute them. That’s business. People who listened to our father think I can’t do this. But I have to prove them wrong. I’m a businessman.”
    “Well, I liked you better when you were just my brother. Those years in Austin changed you.”
    She had no idea. He’d tried and, still, he’d failed.
    Just as his father always said he would. He knew that successfully leading this company would go a long way toward showing he wasn’t the wayward son, doomed to failure, that everyone assumed him to be.
    However, he’d learned a lesson—one he hoped sweet, idealistic Jenna never had to learn. If the family business failed, Jenna’s husband would lose his job, too. Jenna and Mitch would get hurt. Nana would get hurt.
    Jake could stomach the hurt that came with folding up his law practice. But he couldn’t bear the thought of letting his mistakes affect the people who’d always loved and supported him.
    “I’ll always be your brother, Jen. But I have just a few more days to get the condo development plans in place so I can show the board that I am the right person to run this company.”
    “I don’t know why you’re so worried. Of course they’ll approve your position. You’re John Edward Peoples IV. The only other presidents of this company have been John Edward Peoples I, II and III. It’s silly that you think they’d change more than a hundred years of tradition just because you spent a few years in Austin trying to practice law instead of working here with Daddy.”
    If only Jenna knew the real reason he’d stayed away from Port Provident all these years. Jenna had never felt the icy stare of their father’s gaze. She’d never felt like an outsider in her own childhood home. She’d never lost her faith in the supposed unconditional love of a family. She’d never returned as a penniless prodigal, living on charity in her grandmother’s carriage house, just to prove years of rumors wrong.
    If only he had Jenna’s faith in himself. In anything.
    “We’ll see, Jenna. For now, I’m late.” Jake plucked his cell phone off the charger on the desk and reached for his keys. He didn’t have a meeting on the calendar, but it was long past time to stop dwelling on old memories. He needed to check up on the condo project. The sales office would be opening soon and Jake hadn’t done a final walk-through.
    “Okay. But before you go, Jake, promise me this.” Among many other exceptional traits, Jenna stood almost six feet tall, and the not-so-little sister had no trouble looking her big brother straight in the eyes at his own six-feet-two.
    She paused, but didn’t say anything. A few seconds passed, marked by the ticking of Jake’s wall clock. “What, Jenna?”
    “Just don’t lose sight of what’s really important.”
    * * *
    “I don’t understand how you can’t even try to help me resolve this issue. I’ve been a tenant of yours for years.”
    As he walked down the hallway, Jake heard a raised voice. Usually the office was a quiet place—employees of Peoples Property Group spent a lot of time in the field, and when they were in the building, they all had plenty of work to keep busy.
    “Ms. Garcia, I’ve already explained this to you.” Mitch’s voice sounded stressed. “Your lease has a clause for termination if the city’s rules and ordinances change. It’s