Page 7 of Begin Again

“There’s nothing I could be doing where I’d consider you an interruption. You sound funny.”

She laughed but it turned into a half sob. “I had a date. With Drew Dinkle.”

A whistle cut over the phone. “That’s great! I’ve always liked Drew. He’s got his priorities straight—family values, hard work, and charity. If I had a choice to set you up with anyone, I’d pick Drew. How’d it go?”

“Great. He took me to Felice’s.”

“Our favorite place. See, he’s winning already. How long have you been seeing him?”

“This was our fifth date. Dad, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Is it better to be ruled by your heart or your head?”

A pause settled over the line. His voice was wary. “Ugh, I guess it depends on what type of decision you’re making. For example, if you had the opportunity to make big bucks at a job or work with the animals for much less, what would you do?”

“I’d pick the animals.”

“Right. So that’s choosing with your heart, not your head. I think that’s a good thing. But many toxic relationships have occurred by using the heart rather than the old noggin. You can’t use it as an excuse to follow bad behavior. Make sense?”

“Yes.” Her father always explained things logically, in a way that made perfect sense. “You’re saying there’s no simple answer. Each situation is independent of a choice.”

“Correct. Honey, what’s wrong?”

She took a breath and told him the truth. “Owen came back.”

There were a few beats of dead silence. Then a low whisper. “I’m going to kill him. Did he dare to contact you? Tell me where he is right now, I’ll take care of everything.”

“No! Dad, is Alyssa there? I need her with you before you freak on me.”

A feminine voice floated in the background, and then the shuffle of noise crackled. “Chloe? I’m here. Your father is getting his stress ball.”

She laughed. “Good idea. I don’t want to upset him, I just needed to talk.”

“Understood. Tell me what’s happening.”

Chloe almost wept with relief. Alyssa was a gift. As her father’s long-term assistant, they’d had a rocky path to their own love story, but eventually, they both triumphed and had gotten married last year. Chloe loved her like a second mom and felt as if her own mother had sent Alyssa to both of them with her blessing.

“Owen returned to New York. He’s a lawyer for the Animal Defense Fund, and he’s been assigned to the Spagarelli case.”

“The civil action suit? Wait—I thought Owen was in California?” Alyssa asked.

“He was, but now he’s home to stay. Even worse? We have to work together for the next few weeks. Vivian put me in charge.”

Alyssa gasped. “Oh, this is bad. How did you react? Have you both talked it out, or are you ignoring him?”

“I told him he needs to keep his distance because we’re no longer friends. He acted like we’d go back to hanging out just because we share a past—do you believe it?”

She sighed. “Men.”

“Put her on speaker!” her father shouted. “I need to hear.”

“Only if you’re calm and listen,” Alyssa said. “Chloe doesn’t need a mob boss ready to explode.”

“Hell, I’m no mob boss. I’d do this hit personally.”

Chloe choked out a laugh. “Dad, I can handle myself. He just surprised me. I wasn’t ready for him to stroll into my life after so many years and announce we’ll be working together in a tiny office space.”