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Thirty minutes and two pieces of burnt toast later, Tess stood outside her apartment dressed in her best go-to-meeting business dress that happened to match the deep pink burn on her wrist. Graham wore his suit, tie stuffed in pocket, shirt open at the neck. His tousled dark hair made him look exactly what he was—a businessman who’d gotten lucky… and not much sleep.
To Tess he looked terrific.
They kissed, a slow, sweet one laden with goodbye and tinged with possibility.
“I’ll call you soon,” he said.
“Good,” she said, running a hand along his jaw. “I’ll be waiting.”
A month later
FRANKULLOSHOVEDthe lab report from his oncologist’s office into the top drawer and spun his chair toward the bulletin boards. Pinned up were various sketches of Mardi Gras floats dated from 1967 to present. Elaborate plans cobbled together into breathtaking beauty. His life’s work sprawled across a wall—a reminder of what he’d built and sustained… and what he was about to hand over to the man sitting on the other side of his desk.
Doubt fluttered in his gut before he centered himself. He had to keep emotion out of this decision. Had to remember what he did now was for the best… even if it was a bit chickenshit of him.
Then he touched the photo on his desk as he often did. A tap for luck. In the silver frame smiled three dark-headed teenaged boys and a fierce little girl who snarled at the camera. Frank cherished this particular picture of his other life’s work: his children. Each boy stared back at him, intelligent, smirking with their father’s Italian temperament. Their chins jutted out with their mother’s Irish stubbornness.
And centered in the middle was Therese, his Tess.
His hellion with dark blond hair and eyes blazing a path to the heart. A difficult child, Tess challenged everyone around her as much as she blessed them with her warmth. The girl never took no for an answer and wrapped her older brothers around her proverbial pinky. Tess was never a princess… more like a bruiser in soccer cleats with a crooked hair bow and bandages on her knees. Tess—his sunshine girl with an unceasing passion for all she did.
And he felt very, very sure she would hate his guts for what he was about to do.
He tapped the photo again, making sure it faced him.
Then picking up the phone, he dialed Billie. “Hey, ring Therese. I need to talk to her.”
Billie gave him her usual monotone. “Whatever you want, Boss.”
Frank pressed his hands against the ink blotter and looked across his desk at Graham Naquin, the man he’d hired to become the next chief executive officer of Frank Ullo Float Builders. “This ain’t gonna be easy. My vice president of operations don’t know about this.”
Graham folded his hands across his stomach and squared his chin. He was maybe too handsome for this job, too slick and together. Doubt nickered at Frank, but he squashed it.
“It’s never easy for employees to accept change,” Graham said. “My coming on board will take some adjustment but I’m determined this will work. I’m a good fit.”
“You are. But this employee’s a little different because she’s my daughter.”
Mr. Spit and Polish actually grew green around the gills. “Your daughter—who is the VP of Operations—doesn’t know you’re hiring me to run the company? Don’t you think you should have told her before you hired me?”
Frank didn’t like to be questioned, but Graham wasn’t altogether wrong in his comment. “Yeah, but I got my reasons. She ain’t ready to run a company. I’m not saying she’s deadweight or anything. She’s good at her job, but she don’t have the head for making tough decisions. And let’s face it, we still live in a man’s world.”
Graham’s eyes widened and he got kinda choky-looking. Briefly Frank wondered, yet again, if he’d missed the boat on the whole equality thing.
“I’m not sure I feel comfortable with this situation, Frank. You should have been up front about her earlier. I’d rather not start the job with animosity in the workplace. Transparency is always best in business dealings. And frankly, it may have been a man’s world, but it’s not any longer. I feel sure your daughter would say the same.”
Frank shrugged. He couldn’t just say “I have cancer and I’m trying to protect my daughter.” But that was his main reason. Wasn’t like he wanted to hand over the reins of his company to anyone, but in a few days he’d have a stent placed in his ducts to alleviate the jaundice he’d been suffering. Then he’d start weekly chemo treatments to help shrink the tumor and prevent further metastasizing, and that would make him feel like shit. He’d have to rest and stay away from people who could make him sick. The least he could do for his employees and family was to leave the company in capable hands… and Graham Naquin seemed almost too good to be true.
The kid had graduated in mechanical engineering and then started a float company with two others—that company, Upstart, had thrived and was currently the biggest thorn in Frank’s side. Graham could take Frank’s company on his broad shoulders and free him from the day-to-day minutiae. And hopefully, the energetic engineer holding a new MBA could revitalize a business mired in its own success.
Frank didn’t want to place that burden on his Tess. She already thought she could handle more than she actually could. “I wasn’t trying to dupe you, if that’s what you’re implying. Things are delicate, you see.”
“I think there is a lot you’re not telling me, Frank, and that worries me. If there is something I need to be aware of, you need to be forthcoming about it. Don’t set me up for failure, especially with your family.”
“The only one of my children who works here is Therese, and she’s a good girl even if she is headstrong. She’s young, you know? But family is more important to her than ruffled feathers. Give her a day or two and she’ll see she’s not prepared to deal with the business end of this company. Her head’s in her art, designing the floats, and dazzling the krewes. We all have our talents, right?”
Graham pressed his hands down his thighs, smoothing his trousers, and then refolded them in his lap. Nervous for a man who exuded extreme capability. But Frank would give him being a little nervous. Frank had known this would be hard.
A knock sounded at his office door, and Tess stuck her head in. “Hey, you wanted to see me?”
