I shower, I dress, I make my way down to the study. I open my laptop and go through my contacts.
I find it easily enough.
Dr. Marcus Webb, Chief of Medical Staff at Meridian Pacific, the most prestigious hospital in Los Angeles. I sat on the hospital foundation board for three years. I sent his daughter to an internship at a Thornwood Industries subsidiary in London, launching the girl's incredibly successful corporate law career. He owes me considerably more than a phone call.
My hand goes to the phone and stops there.
I could tell her about Long Beach right now. I could tell her and I could explain that I want her to come with me.
And she might decide not to.
I pick up the phone. It rings twice before he answers.
"Marcus, this is Demetrius Thornwood."
"Demetrius." The warmth in his voice is the kind that has nothing to do with the favor bank, which is one of the reasons I respect him. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm relocating to Long Beach," I say. "Acquisition. I'm building a new operation there and I'll be on-site for the foreseeable future."
"Good for you." A pause. "That's a long trip from Boston."
"Yes." I turn the pen in my fingers. "I'm looking for an ICU nurse position. Not for myself, obviously. For someone I care about."
There is a beat of considering silence.
"What's her name?"
"Madison Berwick." I set the pen down. "She's an excellent nurse. I would consider it a personal favor if she could find a position at Meridian Pacific."
There's a long pause where I can almost feel Marcus's internal wheels turning.
"I'll make sure the right people see it," he finally says.
"Thank you, Marcus."
We exchange a bit of the usual pleasantries and then I hang up and the study goes quiet again.
I sit back.
I have no choice but to move to Long Beach for the Windemere acquisition, but this time around I'm not going to make the same mistake I did as a rash eighteen-year-old boy. If Maddie gets the ICU position she deserves, she will be happy to follow me for the move.
I will smooth every path, remove every obstacle for her to come with me to Long Beach.
I hand her the finished offer, every path smoothed, every obstacle already gone, so there is nothing left to say no to. When the position is hers and there is a home waiting for us, I will put the whole of it in front of her at once, and she will see it was built for us.
It's the best of both worlds, really. I close the deal of a lifetime, the deal that will plant Thornwood Industries firmly on the West Coast, and Maddie gets back the career she loves.
There is, somewhere in the back of my skull, a small and inconvenient flicker. The kind that shows up when a variable has been left out of a calculation. The kind I have, over the years, learned to respect.
I consider it for a few seconds before deciding I'm just being silly.
Maddie is proud. Maddie wants to be independent. She refused to give up her career for me once and she was right to. This is not giving anything up. This is having everything: her career and her autonomy and a position any nurse in the country would be competing for. I'm not taking anything from her. I'm opening a door, that's all.
I'm doing the right thing. I'm certain of it.
Chapter Thirteen
Maddie
