AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, I don’t. Is there anything on her schedule?”
His eyes scanned the computer. “She has a video conference in twenty. You should be clear. Is that all, Mr. Wright?”
I tapped Michael’s desk. “That’s all.”
“I could get you coffee.”
“I’m fine.” And I arched an eyebrow. “Why don’t you go get yourself coffee?”
Michael still thought I was strange to work for. His last boss must have been a hard-ass, and he kept expecting me to make him pay his dues. It was frankly an outdated model.
I strolled down to Morgan’s office and rapped on her door. Her assistant glanced up as if to stop me but then thought better of it.
“Come in,” Morgan called.
I pushed the door open and found Morgan busy at work, typing away. She gave me a half-look before returning to her typing.
“What’s up, Jordan?”
“Can I talk to you?” I asked.
“You are talking to me.”
“Without a monitor between us.”
She huffed, finished her next sentence, and then leaned back. “Take a seat. What’s this about?”
After I sat, I cleared my throat. She wasn’t going to like this. “So, just hypothetically, if I moved to Seattle—”
Morgan straightened abruptly, her seat snapping as it righted its position. “Come again?”
“Well, if I moved to Seattle, I wanted to see what my options were with the company.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
I ran a hand back through my hair but didn’t drop her gaze. “It’s theoretical, but if I moved, could we open a new office in Seattle?”
“You’re moving to Seattle?”
“Theoretically,” I reiterated.
This was why I hadn’t wanted to do it. There was a chance that Annie wouldn’t be chosen for Seattle and that she’d end up somewhere else. But I thought her chances were good that she’d get her top pick. And I needed to figure this out before we got to that day and I blindsided Morgan with a transfer request.
“Seattle is handled by the Vancouver office,” she said evenly. “As you know.”
“Right. As I know.” I leaned forward. “But wouldn’t it be better to have someone on the ground in Seattle to help with the projects there?” I’d done my research. “We have that new wing at the University of Washington, and we’re building that new Hyatt downtown.”
“Someone…like you?”
“Right.”
Morgan sighed dramatically. “But I like you, Jordan,” she groaned. “We made this position for you, and I was uncertain at first that we really needed it. And now, I have you here, and I do need that position. I like having you here. You work harder than Austin.”
I laughed at the compliment. “Low bar?” I joked.
She waved her hand. “Probably. Are you really moving?”
“I don’t know. I won’t know what’s going to happen until the end of March, but I wanted to run it by you first. Before it became a real problem.”
“I appreciate that,” she said with a sigh. “Of course we’d figure something out for you. Maybe a part-time office in Seattle, and you could commute to Vancouver or something every other week.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Morgan.”
“Anything for family, Jordan. You should know that.”
I should, but I hadn’t been sure. Three years, and I still didn’t know that they’d do anything for family. I was starting to get it…and worried I was going to miss it.
“Flowers!” Annie gushed when I showed up to her house a few hours later. She put the blooms to her nose and breathed deeply. “I love them.”
“I’m glad.”
“You didn’t have to do this.” She headed into the kitchen and pulled a vase out. After filling it with water, she put the flowers in it and rearranged them to her specifications. “Gah, they’re so pretty.”
“Like you.” I tugged her toward me. “And it’s worth all the flowers to see that smile.”
She giggled and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Stop. You’re too romantic. It’s gross.”
I laughed at her assessment. “Then I’ll just have to be gross,” I told her with another kiss.
“Okay. Fine,” she admitted. “I don’t mind.”
“I thought not.” I took her hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
She ran a nervous hand down the front of her sweater. I could tell she was second-guessing her outfit—pink sweater, black leggings, knee-length black boots. But she had no reason for nerves. My mom liked basically everyone she’d ever met.
“You look great,” I assured her.
She smiled again, returning to normal, over-confident Annie. “Thanks.”
My mom’s house was closer to Annie’s than my house. Really only around the corner as far as Lubbock was concerned. I parked in the driveway next to Julian’s tricked-out Audi SUV. He cared way too much about that car.
I didn’t bother knocking, just walked inside and announced us. “We’re here!”
“In here, dear,” my mom called from the kitchen.
Even though we’d all wanted to build her a huge, new property here in Lubbock, she’d insisted on something small and homey with character, built in the ’70s with a step down into a sunken living room, and the intercom system still worked. She’d agreed that we could renovate the bathrooms eventually, but she liked its personality—the textured wallpaper, painted brick, and quirky, tiled bonus room. And I just wanted her to be happy, so I’d shut up about it real quick.
