Falling Awake

right about that.”

33
    g ood news, Farrell, I think I’m going to make at least one of your dreams come true.” Isabel closed the door of the inner office and sat down in one of the leather chairs. “I’m quitting.”
    Farrell looked up from the papers he had spread out on the desk, blank-faced with surprise. “Why?”
    “Because I have no talent for this work. None whatsoever. I just came from my first lecture and I can tell you that it is a miracle that half the class managed to stay awake.”
    “I see.” Farrell sat back, thoughtful now. “Leila won’t be happy to hear this.”
    “Yeah, well, my family has never approved of my career choices, you know that.”

    “Probably because you’ve never actually had what anyone would call a real career.”
    “Enough about me,” she said evenly. “Let’s talk about you.”
    “Don’t worry, you’ll be paid for the time you put in as a trainee instructor.”
    “I’m not worried about my paycheck. Well, I am, of course, but that’s another issue. At the moment I’m a lot more concerned about you and Leila. I told myself I should stay out of it.” She sighed. “But I just can’t seem to help myself. What’s wrong?”
    He stiffened. “What are you talking about?”
    “Come on, Farrell, it’s been clear to me from the start that you only hired me because Leila and Tamsyn put pressure on you.”
    His mouth thinned. “I admit I wasn’t real keen on the idea of a creative dreaming seminar. Sounded a little too metaphysical and New Agey for the Kyler Method.”
    “There’s more to it than that. You’ve been trying to avoid me ever since I got here. When we do come face to face you act like you have an appointment elsewhere. On top of that, my sister is very unhappy. What’s going on, Farrell?”
    “Keep your voice down.” Farrell glanced toward the closed door. “I don’t want Sheila to overhear you. We try to maintain a positive, businesslike image around here. The last thing I need is a major scene in my office.”
    “I’ve got news for you; if you don’t tell me what’s going on, you’re going to get a full-blown family quarrel right here in your executive suite.”

    Farrell studied her speculatively for a few seconds. “You’d do it, wouldn’t you?”
    She straightened her shoulders. “Yes, I would.”
    “You’re right, you know. This is none of your business.”
    “I love Leila and I care about you. We’re family. What do you expect me to do?”
    “Try to fix things, of course.” He shoved himself up out of his chair and went to stand at the window. “That’s what you do, isn’t it? Give advice to other people?”
    The bitterness in his words made her go very, very still.
    “Farrell?” she prompted gently. “Are you seriously ill? Because if that’s the case, you must know that Leila loves you and would want to be there for you, just as you would be there for her.”
    “I’m not ill.”
    “Thank God.” She relaxed slightly. “But I don’t understand. What else could possibly be so terrible that you would be afraid to talk it over with Leila?”
    He stared glumly out the window at the elegant lines of the lobby of Kyler headquarters. “It’s all coming apart, Isabel.”
    “What is coming apart?”
    “Everything I’ve built during the last four years. That dream I had, the one you and Leila convinced me to make real, has become a nightmare.”
    She watched him uneasily. “Define ‘nightmare.’ ”
    “I’m overextended financially. I’ve got some big loan payments coming up in three months and I don’t have the cash reserves tomake them. Kyler, Inc., is headed straight into bankruptcy. I’m on a runaway train and I don’t know how to stop it.”
    “Are you telling me that this is just a business problem?”
    He swung around to stare at her. “ Just a business problem?”
    “I was afraid it was something really serious.”
    “For your information, this is about as serious as it gets. But I guess I can’t expect you to see it that way, can I? You’re the one member of the family who isn’t interested in success, the one whose idea of investing is to buy thousands of dollars’ worth of furniture, store it in a rental locker and drop the insurance, the one whose big, long-term goal is to set herself up as a psychic dream consultant. Sure, I can see why you wouldn’t be overly concerned about a little thing like bankruptcy.”
    She cleared her throat. “I’m going to let that go for now