Saving Gracie by Kristen Ethridge

Author:Kristen Ethridge [Kristen Ethridge]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 1460304276
Google: _6rOtoOGoB4C
Amazon: B009YEVHKA
Barnesnoble: B009YEVHKA
Goodreads: 17084699
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-02-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Soft morning light peeked through the curtains in Jake’s bedroom. The sun ushered in the day on which the prodigal son would learn of his redemption—or not.

If he could have pulled the covers over his head and pushed today’s events off until a time when he could be assured of a positive outcome, Jake would have. But with Sam Pennington continuing Johnny Peoples’s tradition of spewing venom as far as Jake was concerned, that day might never come. And Jake knew he couldn’t stay in bed forever.

Dressing quickly, he stopped his nervous pacing only long enough to make coffee and pour it into a travel mug. He wanted to be at the office early and lock the door. He now knew he didn’t have much of a chance, but he did know himself. Jake needed to spend some time alone putting together the final plan.

Arriving at the office before any other employees, Jake reflected on all the classes in law school that stressed the importance of thorough preparations before going into the final arguments in a trial.

He’d stand in a boardroom today, not a courtroom, but Jake Peoples felt he had as much on the line as any death-row defendant.

The morning passed, a blur of spreadsheets and notes from past presentations. He only stopped when his stomach insisted on some food, then went right back to where he left off.

Jake notched another line on the notepad on his desk.

Forty-one.

Jake had checked the time forty-one times since returning from a solitary lunch at the sandwich shop down the street.

He put his head in his hands as he realized only ninety minutes had passed.

A muscle in his neck—right under the base of the skull—cramped. Jake needed to release some of the building tension.

He pushed aside an open file folder full of papers on the condo project and laid his head on the one available vacant space he’d created on the desk.

The sound of three insistent raps on his office door jolted through him. Eyes still closed, he tried to ignore the commotion.

“Jake? Jake?” The door muffled the voice, but every repeat of his name came through more loudly. “Jake!”

He lifted his head, fingertips squishing into the cool leather arms of the soft executive chair as he pushed himself upright.

“Coming, Nana.” Jake raised himself unsteadily, still fighting off the fog that lingered in his mind after he opened his eyes.

He caught a glimpse of the clock as he walked by. Fifty-six minutes had slid past. Jake hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He assumed sheer exhaustion and stress had finally caught up to him after a night of tossing and turning.

The numb center of his brain thawed long enough for Jake to hope Sam didn’t have a hidden camera in the office. He knew his father’s close friend would relish documenting the interim CEO sleeping before the most important meeting of his short and doomed career.

Diana Powell Peoples slipped in as soon as her only grandson opened the door just enough for her to fit through.

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