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“Mutual friends introduced us over the weekend, in passing,” he said to Steinberg, but he kept his gaze fixed on her. “I was surprised to see her name on the employee list this morning.”
Nikki cleared her throat. When exactly had he known about her job position? This morning could be a couple hours or five minutes. And why is he here? She reached for the bottle of Evian, wishing she could splash some of it on her face to alleviate the ardor and help her focus.
“Small world,” Steinberg said.
Microscopic, really. “Right. Nice to see you again, Cole,” she said, proud of how casual her voice sounded.
Everyone squared their shoulders, and Cole sat in the chair in front of her. When Steinberg rubbed his hands and began talking, she turned her attention to him. A sensation of being watched nagged at her, and she chewed the inside of her cheek—chastising herself for even wanting to look at Cole during the presentation. Was he going to work with her? Dread slicked her palms. Clearly, Steinberg respected him enough to fly from his home in Colorado to be present during the meeting.
She couldn’t work with Cole. Maybe he was just a new business partner, an investor of sorts, and Steinberg wanted to make a big deal to show enthusiasm. Yes. An angel investor, even though the man kissed like the devil.
Unable to resist any longer, she slanted a look his way to find him staring at her. Moisture evaporated from her throat, and she quickly returned her attention to Steinberg and bit the inside of her cheek harder.
“…And the reason why I brought you here is Mr. Cole Myler represents his company who has bought Great Escape.”
Bought? The pulse at the base of her neck beat madly. What did this mean for her? Would Cole be like Mr. Steinberg and be an absent boss? She touched her forehead, wiping cold sweat from it. This buyout didn’t seem like a good idea, at least not for her—to be vulnerable to whatever the new owner felt like doing. What kind of experience did he even have with retirement communities?
She looked at Zach, expecting to see some reaction, but he didn’t flinch. He probably already knew.
“Cole Myler is a daring entrepreneur representing Myler, famous for having bought a robust number of struggling companies and turned them around to profit. I have no doubts his vision will re-energize the workplace and improve everyone’s performance,” Steinberg started, continuing a string of compliments until Cole took over.
“I’m excited about this project. We’ll be talking about the changes at length, but today I wanted to assure all jobs are safe. Of course, some employees may have to relocate, and some may choose not to,” Cole said, stretching to his full height.
“Relocate?” Susan from accounting asked.
“We’re transferring buildings A and B to a different space. We’ve studied the area, and we believe if we focus on the residents with more needs in this location, they’ll be able to thrive more with new resources and programs we want to implement.”
“What about the ones with fewer needs?” Nikki asked. Grandma. She felt queasy, she put her hand on her stomach, hoping she didn’t part with the breakfast tacos she’d had earlier. Where the hell would they send her grandmother?
“I’ve found a great place for them in Dafield County, where they also will have more opportunity to enjoy life more fully.”
Dafield County. The words echoed in her ears like a sad opera song. With her kids’ schedule and her work, she couldn’t see her grandmother often. Her parents visited Grandma once a year, and she had no one else. I also have no one else. “But that’s over three hours away. Make it four with traffic. What makes you think the residents’ families will agree to this sudden change?”
“They don’t have to. It’s in the contract that this kind of thing may happen. In the fine print,” Steinberg jumped in.
“I understand, but these residents are part of a community here. They’re still active, but they don’t drive. They’ll see their family and friends less. How’s that enjoying life more fully?” she asked, her gaze traveling over the other managers, hoping to read their reaction. None of them seemed taken aback, wearing deadpan expressions on their faces. They didn’t care, because they didn’t have any family members in Great Escape. Zach’s aunt, a former resident, had died recently.
A muscle ticked in Steinberg’s jaw. He probably never heard her oppose an idea with such passion, but she didn’t care. Her father was off banging a woman half his age thousands of miles away. If she didn’t advocate for her grandma, who would? There was no way she could see her grandma as much if they sent her four hours away—and she doubted she was alone.
“Their friends and family can still visit them. The new property will have adjacent rooms for out-of-town visitors.”
“Yes, but it won’t be the same. A good number of them have people in town who see them on a regular basis.” Mrs. Devon’s daughter visited her mother a few times a week after work. Mr. Patel’s family had really stepped up after his hip replacement surgery, especially since he let no one else take him to the doctor’s appointments other than his grandson. Would his college-age grandson be able to skip classes and work to drive three to four hours each way during weekday checkups? Probably not.
Steinberg shot her a warning glance and dipped his neck in a slow nod. “Thank you for your feedback, Nikki. I’m sure the new administration will take it into consideration.”
Cole tilted his head to the side. “I have to move this meeting along, but I’ll be happy to address your concerns later today.”
“Sure. Thank you.” She forced a smile and glanced down at the folders a young guy she hadn’t seen before handed to them. Cole’s assistant, maybe? Didn’t matter.
Nikki eyed the packet, the stock paper heavy in her hand. His words echoed in her ear. Later today. Would he invite others to the meeting? Maybe the same assistant who helped him now, to take notes? Or the managers. Surely, deep down they had reservations about this plan too—even if they all kissed ass now for job security.
When the meeting ended, the managers milled around Cole, shaking his hand and smiling like they’d won the lottery. Wimps. None of them would dare speak up. And, sadly, a couple of them probably didn’t care about the future of the residents with the move. They did their jobs, got paid and went home. Easy.
But she… she couldn’t allow her grandma to move so far away. And if she stayed in the area, she’d have to switch her from Great Escape to a different retirement home. Then what? She’d go broke and her kids wouldn’t go to college. I have to fix this.
She braced herself, crossing her arms to keep from interrupting his chat with Steinberg and the others. Play it cool. If he knew how desperate she was, maybe he wouldn’t give her the time of day.
When the managers left and Steinberg picked up another phone call, she cleared her throat and erased the gap between them.
