Page 19 of What We Got Wrong

She hadn’t seen her dad that morning, as he’d had breakfast with the presenter, but as he approached them, she noticed that he looked a lot better than when he’d left the previous night. He was positively refreshed.

“You look like you got some good rest,” she said to her dad, kissing him on the cheek.

“I feel much better,” he replied before gesturing at the stage. “What did you think?”

“He was…fine,” Liv said, shrugging slightly. Her dad’s gentle chuckle made her smile.

“He was not,” Audrey interjected, entirely unafraid to speak her mind.

“Not your style?”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” Audrey allowed, and Liv readily agreed.

“Seems to have gone over pretty well,” he said, gesturing to the growing queue.

“Are you familiar with the concept of ‘mass hysteria,’ Uncle Scotty?” her cousin quipped.

He laughed, shaking his head at her, before turning to Liv. “Your mother’s plane is taking off right about now. She should be here in plenty of time for your interview tomorrow.”

That was a bit of a surprise, though it was also probably helping her dad’s disposition. It had been a few weeks since she’d seen her mom. Linda Palmer had been away for almost a month with one of her women’s groups, travelling and volunteering across Australia, a trip she’d chosen to take regardless of how many times Liv tried to explain to her that voluntourism often did more harm than good…

They were still working on their relationship.

“I didn’t think she was going to make it,” Liv admitted. Her mom always came to the last day of the conference. She was on the planning committee for the final event, a celebration on Thursday night, so Liv knew she’d be home at some point, but she hadn’t expected her back so early.

Her dad’s expression was incredulous. “You know she loves hearing you speak. She’s flying in a few days before the rest of her group.”

Liv was touched. “That’s great.”

He winked at her, and then he was pulled away by Audrey’s boss, their VP of Philanthropy, taking her cousin along with him. While they were walking away, she noticed a small group chatting in the back of the room.

Liv saw that Quinn, with her friend, was in the center of the little cluster, surrounded by a group of J&P employees. Quinn looked incredible in a burgundy suit with a light blue shirt underneath, her floral tie pulling it all together.

Liv may have thought twice about recommending the Prism Group pitch for this conference if she’d imagined, for even a second, that Quinn would be dressed like this all week.

They were standing with Daniel Copper, who headed up the Phoenix office, along with a few of his associate directors and his assistant, whose name Liv was almost positive was Jessica. Probably-Jessica was trying to ogle either Quinn or Mel without getting caught, though Liv couldn’t tell which from this angle.

She felt mildly feral trying to figure that out.

“Ah, Ms. Palmer, great to see you,” Daniel said as she approached their group. “I was just telling these two that we’re really looking forward to their presentation.”

“I am as well,” Liv agreed. “I think it’s going to be the highlight of the week.”

Quinn smiled softly, though it was Mel who spoke first, eyeing her skeptically. “That’s kind of you to say.”

“I’m also excited about your interview,” Daniel’s assistant said, pulling her gaze away from Quinn/Mel and turning confidently to Liv. “It’s tomorrow, right? Any hint on who you’re speaking with?”

Ah, yes. What a great reminder of her foolishness.

They did this every year: a surprise guest for their staff, someone who could speak to leadership in a way that was interesting in a different way than the business experts they’d brought in. The guests at previous conferences included musicians, Emmy winners, some of the bigger reality TV stars, and a few Olympians.

Liv was good at managing her face around these people, so she just grinned, shaking her head. “It will be announced in the app tomorrow.”

“Bummer, but I had to try,” Jessica replied.

“I’m going to go grab seats for the next breakout,” Daniel said. “Jessica, will you get the contact information? I’d like to set up a dinner Wednesday, while we’re all in town, to discuss some training opportunities with Prism.”

Jessica’s eyes gleamed at the request, and seriously…was no one else seeing this?