of the other rehab patients, HW
looked hale and hearty. No one who didn’t know her would realize her steps were
slower than her usual near-running pace, or that she was a little unsteady
getting up from a chair. Her voice probably sounded normal to other people, but
to Derian’s ear she was a bit on the quiet side. All things considered, though,
her aunt looked great. The doctors had cautioned Henrietta at the last visit
not to push too fast just because she seemed to be recovering very quickly.
Henrietta, of course, countered that her job was a desk job and was no more
strenuous than sitting at home. Derian, who’d insisted on going with her, had
pointed out HW was rarely behind her desk but more often running off to
meetings, conferences, and power lunches. Fortunately, the doctors hadn’t been
that easily hoodwinked and had instructed Henrietta to stick to the rehab
schedule.
HW wasn’t supposed to be back in the office
full-time for at least another six weeks, but Derian doubted they’d be able to
prevent her from working part-time for much longer than another two. She
wouldn’t mind when Henrietta moved back behind the desk where she belonged, and
doubly glad that someday Emily should rightfully take that seat. Her brief
stint as the interim CEO had been more than enough to convince her she wasn’t
cut out for helming the ship. As to what she was cut out for, she didn’t know
and, before now, she’d never really cared to try. She’d avoided making any kind
of long-range plans since she’d graduated from college. Her only goal then had
been to put as much distance as possible between Martin and herself as quickly as
possible. That hadn’t required much in the way of thought, another thing she’d
tried to avoid as much as possible. Being without a purpose was not the
Winfield way, which was probably exactly why she had chosen that lifestyle.
She hadn’t been idle, but she hadn’t been
living a conventional life either. Sure, she’d profited by putting her money
behind the right racing teams, investing wisely, and having a natural affinity
for winning at the tables. Those successes hadn’t been planned so much as
fallen into. Being able to look at things from a distance now, she realized
she’d spent all her life trying to be anything but a Winfield and doing
anything that wasn’t the Winfield way. Sometimes, maybe, she’d gotten in the
way of her own satisfaction without realizing it. Working at the agency had
been a surprise—especially when she’d discovered she enjoyed being part of the
team. Now that her tenure was ending, she was unexpectedly disappointed to be
leaving. True, not seeing Emily every day was a big part of that, but she’d
miss the spirit and passion of the place too.