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I turned to Anderson. “Make her an offer she can’t refuse.”
Allie
Annoyance sizzled in my bones. What an overconfident, arrogant, self-absorbed prick! I traveled down the hallways, hearing conversation about the merger coming from the offices. I sure as hell wanted to talk about Henry’s retirement, but only one person could answer my questions.
I found Henry behind his old—quite possibly considered antique—desk in his tiny corner office. My heart hurt. A box rested on top of the desk holding the pictures of his family that once covered every square inch. He’d clearly begun packing u
p his personal belongings. I fought back tears. Micah stole a piece of me away and I was scrambling along trying to rescue it—or better yet, rescue Henry.
When I entered the office, Henry lifted his head, smiling at me in his gentle way. “Did the meeting go well?” he asked.
“Oh, the meeting went very well.” I dropped down into the old leather chair and crossed my legs. “I quit.”
“Allie.” He frowned, his hand frozen around another picture frame. “You’ve worked too hard to leave now.”
I waved off his concern. “Did Micah make you retire?”
Henry picked up the frame and put it in the box. “I hadn’t considered retiring before the merger,” he eventually answered. “That said, the decision is the right one.”
“The right decision for whom?” I argued. “For Micah?”
Henry deposited his old-style Rolodex into the box before looking at me. “Do you have history with him?”
“Not personally, no.” I half-shrugged, sinking down into the chair. “But I know his type.”
His eyebrows—streaked with silver—rose. “Which is?”
“The type of man who cares more about money than about treating people right.” Pushing Henry out meant hiring new—probably younger—management, which would bring fresh ideas to Richardson. The logic made sense. That didn’t mean I had to like it.
Henry sat back in his seat, his hands rested on the armrests. “Regardless of whether that might be true, Micah is good at what he does. Merging with Holt will see Richardson succeed in the future.” He looked at the boxes on his desk, and sighed. “I’m sixty-five. It’s time for me to retire. Maybe this was the push I needed to do it.”
“But you didn’t want to retire before this,” I countered. “So why now? Because some suit told you to? You don’t have to do this, Henry.”
He rose from his place, moving to sit next to me. “You’re loyal, Allie, and I appreciate that about you. But Richardson hasn’t been improving in the last year. Sales have become stagnant. I’m afraid I’ve taken our company as far as I can take it. There is nothing I want more than to see the company I built stay around for a while.” He smiled, patting my knee. “Preferably with you in it.”
“Not much we can do about that now, since I already quit.”
He took my hand, gave a knowing look. “I suspect your quitting fell on deaf ears. I told Micah before the meeting that you would likely give notice when you heard the news, and that you were impulsive. He expected such a reaction from you. I’m guessing he already knows you’re not leaving.”
I eyed him with suspicion. “You told Micah that I was going to quit?”
“Of course I did.” Henry’s warm laugh spread over me, easing some of the chill inside. This man knew me, maybe knew me like no one else did. Tears sprung to my eyes, seeing the love in his. “But I agreed to leave only if you remained in some capacity.”
“What do you mean by ‘in some capacity’?”
Henry leaned back, the slight twinge of pain on his face reminding me that his knee replacement hadn’t been all that long ago. “I anticipate that Micah is going to want to bring you into Holt.”
“And just why would you anticipate that?”
Henry’s smile was as proud as I’ve ever seen it. “Because you’re the best we have. He’ll want all your expertise in the parent company, for sure. Or at least I would, if I were him.”
I shook my head in refusal, pulling my hand from his. “I can’t work for a man who pushed you out of your company.”
“He didn’t exactly push me out,” Henry said gently, clasping his hands on his lap. “He offered the choice, and I took it. You’re being exceptionally hard on him. The deal we made gave me a large chunk of money to walk away with, which made the choice all very appealing to me. He didn’t shortchange me. Believe me, he’s a good man, and he’ll do great things for Richardson.”
We differed on that opinion. Men like Micah were looking to make money. A good man would have let Henry retire on his own time. The only difference between Micah and other assholes was that Micah came in a sexy package that apparently my body appreciated.
I stared at Henry, hating my reality. This decision wasn’t mine, and I could tell that Henry had made his choice to leave. The documents were signed and the deal was done. “Will retiring make you happy?”
