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My brows flew up, but she was already on the move again, moving too fast to get another question about who exactly she was talking about. Another second later, Cici was dragging the blanket off my lap and crooning to me that I needed to get my act together and get out of her office. Because at least one of the owners had to be working.
With her voice following me down the hall, I tumbled back into real life and out of the security of my grandfather’s memories. It was time to start acting like the owner I was, not just the heartbroken mess that lurked just below the surface.
***
Liam
“I’m glad you could be here, Mother,” I said, my voice soft against my mother’s silver-streaked hair.
If my father was the king of meddling and bad decisions, my mother, Carmen Macklen, was the queen of control. There wasn’t an area in her life that she didn’t exert complete control. Except perhaps my father himself. Even as a child, I’d watched as they clashed, time and time again. What looked good on paper wasn’t always good in real life. The teenage movie star, dying to prove herself as a real force in Hollywood, and the ambitious young entrepreneur who was making a splash in real estate all up and down the Western seaboard.
They may have loved each other, but there was no one they loved more than themselves. And while this situation had made for a rough childhood, all the Macklens had recognized this early on and thankfully had managed to grow up with only a few sociopathic tendencies sprinkled amongst us. A vast improvement on the older generation.
In my opinion at least. Then again, maybe that was the ego talking.
Regardless, it was always a fireworks show when the two of them were in the same room. And lucky me, they’d chosen to both be on site during the official handoff of my new role as CEO. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure whether to prepare an acceptance speech or the family lawyer. But either way, I knew there would be tears shed.
My mother situated herself in the chair across from my desk, elegant legs crossed and blazing blue eyes focused on me. A queen in her throne, no matter the office was supposed to be mine.
“How could I miss this? My son, a CEO at age thirty. Now that’s something to celebrate.”
“Meh. I’m just the least offensive contestant,” I said sourly. I pushed back from my desk, leaning back and away from my mother as if the physical space between us would give me more room to figure her out.
It was true though. They hadn’t really even entertained anybody else. Brady Martinez, my head of Marketing, had backed out of the running before they even interviewed him. And the outside consultant they’d looked at had wanted to make way too many changes to the structure. I’d been sitting in my father’s office since the spring and acting as CEO since far before his retirement.
The email, this little ceremony, was all pomp and circumstance now that Ashyn’s work was done. But I was glad my mother was there for it. I rarely saw her anymore.
Mother only raised one brow, her face serious. “I hope you’re kidding, Liam. No one in this entire company, this entire state, would ever dare to say that you were the last choice. You’ve been working for this since you were a child, playing here in the mailroom. To come all this way and still not think you deserve this, then there’s something else altogether.”
Rose ducked her head in, an excited smile on her lips. “Mr. Macklen, they are ready for you.”
Standing, I buttoned my jacket carefully, staring down at my fingers as they pushed each fastener through. This was it.
“You’re coming too, right, Rose?” I found myself asking.
My assistant turned, a hand going to smooth her hair into place. “Of course, Mr. Macklen. I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Thank you, Rose. I’ll see you down there.” I turned to my mother, giving her a wry smile and offering my elbow. “Shall we?”
But she didn’t move. “Liam, I can’t help but think there’s something you’re not saying. I know I haven’t been around much lately, but I can tell when you aren't happy.” My mother stepped close, raising a hand to my cheek and cupping it. “I thought you would be celebrating, planning parties, popping champagne, screaming it from the rooftops that Liam Macklen had finally gotten what he wanted.”
I leaned into her hand, my eyes downcast. “I thought I would be too. I’ve chased this since I was a kid. I wanted to run this company, be the boss, do the thing.”
“But now?” she asked carefully.
I raised my eyes to hers. Miserable and blue, they were reflections of my own. “I feel like I’m missing something. A whole part of my life that suddenly vanished.”
My mother smiled at me. “Only love can make that kind of impact, Liam.”
I scoffed. “How would you know?”
This time it was her turn to smile at me, her hand smoothing across my jacket sleeve. “Because I understand very well what love lost feels like. And the echoing unhappiness it brings.”
My father. The drunk, angry elephant in the room down the hall. The reason she never stayed away but couldn’t come home. I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “Why didn’t you leave him? You were so unhappy. We would’ve understood.”
Her chuckle was dry and made my throat tight. “You don’t need to tell me, darling. I was there. But I can tell you exactly why I never left.” She leaned in, holding my face close. “I was too afraid. I was so frightened and worried of what might be out there that I never considered that there could be a whole world out there waiting for me.” She cocked her head. “Perhaps there would've been someone else or something else more important if I had been.”
My chest was on the verge of crumbling inwards. “Do you really believe that?”
