“Or you could look within.”
I straightened my shoulders. “You just put more work on our plates, Royce.”
“Welcome to the big office, Vee.”
After he stepped away, I retook my seat, lifted my drink, and turned to Hayden and Leigh. Whispering, I said, “Well, that came out of nowhere.”
“He told the family after the moment of silence for Uncle Reid,” Hayden said. “He’s been around a long time.”
“I used to think it was too long. Now I wish he would stay another year. That’s a lot of change for the Coopers.”
“How did Fin enjoy Christmas Eve dinner at Mom and Dad’s?” Leigh asked.
I laughed. It was his first true plunge into the shark tank that was my family. “He survived. I’m pretty sure I warned him enough that he wasn’t expecting carols and hot chocolate.”
“More like backstabbing and innuendos,” Hayden chirped in.
Leigh elbowed her husband. “Not everyone.”
Hayden smiled at me knowingly.
“Was Joe here?” I asked, realizing he was also absent.
Leigh shook her head.
“You said Grant drove Daphne home. There’s something brewing with that whole situation.”
“Aunt Daphne claims she and Joe are just friends. She told Mom that the kiss at Thanksgiving wasn’t a kiss,” Leigh said, exaggerating the word. “It was only a kiss.”
I took another sip of my cosmo. “That clears everything up.” I remembered a call I’d received late Friday afternoon. “I have a meeting with Cammy tomorrow after the executive meeting.”
Leigh lifted her eyebrows. “Is there something legal with the Coopers.”
“There’s always something. Cammy said she discovered something she thought I should know. Trish can’t make it to Lexington, but she’ll be with us via Zoom.”
“Do you want me to see if I can attend?”
Shaking my head, I lifted my drink. “I’ll let you know if it’s anything big.”
“Okay. I’m happy to try to clear up legalese.”
A smile curled my lips. “You’re my favorite attorney.”
After finishing my salad, I took the last sip of my cosmo. “I should get home.”
Lip was now standing near to my stool. As I stood, he bumped his shoulder with mine. “Go reward that handsome quarterback you have hanging around. He deserves it.”
Despite the warmth that was undoubtedly turning my cheeks pink, I grinned. “He does.”
Chapter 33
Vee
* * *
The trees in front of the Vine building were lit with thousands of twinkling white lights. From my years living here, I knew the lights would be present into the new year. The ground glistened with frost as the nightly temperatures plummeted to below freezing.
As I drove my car into the garage, my thoughts were on Royce Beasley. The Coopers would need to look for a new general manager. The average stay of a GM in the NFL was nine to ten years. Royce’s run with the Coopers was unprecedented. He’d been with the team since his hire in the 1990s. He was the only GM I’d known for my entire life. For the Coopers to lose Dad and Royce in the same year would be a blow.
