The silence on the other end was so heavy she could feel it crushing her chest. “You’re tanking our company for a guy you’ve known for what, forty-eight hours?” “He’s a single father, Marcus. That garage is his whole livelihood. His late wife’s dream. I can’t just bulldoze it.” Marcus’s voice went cold in that way it did when he was about to say something she didn’t want to hear. “And what about the two hundred people who work for us? What about their livelihoods? You going to look them in the eye and tell them they’re unemployed because you caught feelings for some mechanic?”
Sophia didn’t have an answer for that because he was right and she hated it. She hung up the phone and drove home through snow that was coming down so hard she could barely see the road. Three days went by and Jake’s texts kept coming, getting more worried each time. “Hey, haven’t heard from you. Everything okay?” Then “Lily keeps asking when you’re coming back. No pressure. Just wanted you to know you’re welcome here.” Then finally, “If I did something wrong, I’m sorry. Would really like to see you again.” Each message felt like a knife twisting because she wanted to answer so badly it physically hurt. But what was she supposed to say? “Sorry I ghosted you. My company wants to destroy your business and I’m choosing my career over you.”
On day four, Emma showed up at Sophia’s office unannounced, and the receptionist looked terrified trying to stop her, but Emma just walked right past like she owned the place. “I’m Jake’s sister and we need to talk.” Sophia stood up from her desk, professional mask sliding into place. “I’m really busy right now.” Emma put a folded piece of paper on the desk. “Lily wanted me to give you this, and then I’m leaving. But you should know that Jake hasn’t smiled once since Christmas Eve. And that little girl thinks she did something to scare you away.”
Sophia unfolded the drawing with hands that wouldn’t stop shaking. And it showed three people holding hands under a Christmas tree, labeled in crayon with “Daddy,” “me,” and “Sophia.” And underneath in Lily’s wobbly handwriting, “My Christmas wish. Please don’t leave us.” Sophia’s vision blurred and she had to sit down because her legs just gave out, and Emma’s voice got softer. “I don’t know what happened, but Jake hasn’t been this happy in four years. And Lily thinks you hung the moon. Just think about that.”
After Emma left, Sophia sat there staring at the drawing and the property acquisition papers side by side on her desk, and something clicked in her brain like puzzle pieces finally fitting together. She grabbed her phone and called Marcus. “What if we don’t demolish the garage?” Marcus sounded like she’d suggested they start selling products on the moon. “What are you talking about?”