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“Google it,” she huffed and walked away.
He looked at me, and I shrugged with a chuckle. Olivia was always trying in her own way to connect with the guys. She liked to try to keep them sharp, even if it was with cute little riddles.
“Do I smell cookies?” Quinn tried to shove past Dell, but Mark beat him to the entrance and blocked his way into the kitchen.
“There can only be one brother in a love affair with food, and I’m that brother. So, kindly take your dirty little thoughts elsewhere because you’re not eating what’s clearly marked as Mark’s.”
Quinn shrugged in a pretense of giving up then suddenly dropped his bags and raced for the other entrance to the kitchen. I knew it was only a matter of moments before the bickering would erupt. Mark lunged for the pan of cookies and yelped as he burned his fingers.
“And then there was me.” Davie smiled as he tossed his bags down next to Quinn’s. “Nice to see you, sir.”
“You as well.” I shook his hand and smiled at the young man who had come so far. Davie had a fear of water but wanted to work for Cole and me badly enough that he’d worked through it and had become one of the most dependable brothers we had. Though Quinn’s skills had him moved to team leader, Davie wasn’t far behind, and I knew I would see him in that position one day.
“Daniel?” Savannah appeared at the top of the stairs. “Ready when you are.”
“Thank you, dear.”
“What the hell!” Quinn yelped, and a crash made all our heads turn. Mark raced by and high fived Savannah.God, I hated that friggin thing.
“In fairness,” Savannah seemed to read my thoughts, “your boys did start that war.”
“Oh, I know.” I playfully sighed then chuckled when Quinn came out with three cookies and jammed them all into his mouth. Mark’s face dropped and he looked about to attack, but I held up a hand and they immediately stopped to listen. “We don’t have much time before dinner, so let’s start the meeting in five.”
“Copy that.” Mark turned his attitude immediately to work mode while the rest rushed off to drop their stuff off in their rooms.
“You really need to teach me that.” Savannah watched in amazement as they scattered away.
“They’re just big kids who need discipline. Oh, and at the end of the day, they all just want to be fed.” I waved for her to lead the way downstairs.
We gathered around the long conference table, each person with a folder in front of them. We were all to vote for which of the three men would best fit the bill to become the new team leader.
Cole gave a rundown of each one. He used the overhead projector and pointed out all details we needed to know. After that, he opened the floor for discussion.
“I hate to say it, but Cumberland doesn’t seem to have any family at all.” Dell lifted the paper. “Sometimes that can work in our favor.”
“I disagree,” Savannah chimed in next to Cole.
“Me too.” Sue nodded at her. “We’re a lot to take, and not being used to siblings could be stressful on him. Having family teaches you a lot about give and take and about loyalty and empathy.”
Cole nodded at me, and I put a mark next to his name. These were all things we needed to consider. I knew we had to look at both sides of the equation, however. Being away from family, especially if you were close, could also put a man at a disadvantage. There was a lot to consider.
“Understood,” Dell agreed, “but he does have a lot of flight experience. That’s a plus.”
“It is.” Cole watched as I added a mark on the other side of Cumberland’s name.
“Beckett can fly,” Savannah shot back, “and if you look at page two, he’s had more time in the air than Cumberland. He’s incredibly strong, too, look at his rappel scores.” I couldn’t help but smile at my daughter-in-law. She put a lot of time and effort into everything she did. I knew she’d have spent hours vetting these guys. I also could see she wanted Beckett. Cole, Mark, and I leaned heavily toward him as well, but it was only fair to present all the candidates in order to give everyone a chance to have their say. We had done things this way since the beginning.
“Well spotted, Savi,” Dell praised her.
“What about Johnson?” Mark scratched his chin. “I find it interesting that he’s only stayed a short time in his last three placements. He’s a captain who’s bounced around a lot.”
“Maybe he’s just trying to find where he fits. Different styles of a leadership aren’t for everyone,” I challenged.
“Agreed, but at some point, don’t you have to look for the common denominator? I’m all for someone coming in and teaching us something in a new way, but if he’s not able to stay long enough to gain an understanding of others and how they work, I can’t see him here.”
“Also, Cole is our leader, and we’re here around this table as equals, weighing in a new brother. Will he be the same when it comes to his own team, I wonder? Will we get a say in who comes in?”
“I have to agree,” Doc chimed in from the back corner of the room. “I do think he can handle this job, but I’m concerned about what Mark brought up. A man needs to take a stand when he comes into a position. You can’t dip your toe in then leave without giving it a good try. He does seem to skip around a lot.”
