Hide in Plain Sight - Harlequin.com

36 Hide In Plain Sight
She turned and walked away quickly, suspecting that
if she looked back, she’d find an amused smile on his
face.
“But I can’t. I really can’t.” Andrea looked from her
grandmother to her sister. Both faces were turned
toward hers, both expectant, waiting for an answer she
couldn’t possibly give. “I’m extremely busy at work
right now.”
“Surely your employer will give you the time off.”
Grams was serenely confident. “Your family needs you.”
Rachel didn’t say anything. She just leaned back
against the raised head of the hospital bed, her face
almost as white as the pillow.
She’d tell herself they were ganging up on her, but
that wasn’t true. They were depending on her, just as
Rachel and baby sister Caroline had depended on her
during those years when Mom had relocated the family
from place to place, nursing her grudge against Grams
and Grandfather and depriving her children of the only
stable home they’d ever known.
Andrea was the oldest. She was the responsible one.
She’d take care of it.
The trouble was, she was responsible to her job, as
well, and there couldn’t possibly be a worse time for
her to take off. Gordon Walker would not understand
his right-hand woman requesting a leave to help her
family. He hadn’t even taken time away from work
when his wife was in labor with their twins.
Of course, he and his wife were now divorced, and
he saw his daughters once a month if he was lucky.