No longer able to sit still, Tyler pushed off the chair and began to pace. His dad just sat there, watching him.
“How the hell do you expect me to run both companies without giving up my life?”
“Good question, isn’t it? And if I’m being totally honest with you, the GoldenStar chain is more than a forty-hour-a-week commitment. At first, it’ll be more like fifty or sixty. So where does that leave Haven and your new venture?”
Tyler stopped pacing to stare at his dad. “You want to sell, don’t you? You want to get rid of the chain?”
“Son, I’m stepping down no matter what. I know now there’s more to life than making money. The only question is, do you?”
“Hello, sweetheart. I haven’t seen you for days! You’re always so busy. You work too hard.”
Tyler leaned down to kiss Beatrice Golden’s cheek late Friday afternoon, not bothering to hide his twinge of regret. “I’m sorry I haven’t been by to see you lately, Nana. I’ve got a lot going on right now and—”
“Now, now, that wasn’t a criticism.” She waved aside his apology with one graceful hand. “I know you’ve got responsibilities. I’m just so glad to see you now. Would you like a drink?”
Yeah, he would, but not the iced tea or soda he knew she meant. “Sure. How about a Coke?”
Nana raised an eyebrow at him as she moved to the bar along the wall. “And maybe a little rum to go with it? You look like you could use it.”
With a sigh, he sank into a chair facing the wall of windows. From here, he could see the city spread out before him. Including the flagship GoldenStar hotel blocks away.
“Nana, did Granddad ever consider selling the chain?”
When his grandmother didn’t answer right away, he turned to find her smiling at him. “You talked to your dad, I assume.”
Shock had his eyes widening. “You know what’s going on?”
“Of course.” She finished pouring a healthy amount of rum into his glass then waved the soda bottle over it until the liquid became a slightly darker color. “He can’t sell without my okay. I thought you knew that.”
Yeah, he did. “I guess I just never considered that you’d go along with a sale.”
Handing him the glass, Beatrice sat on the couch opposite him then sipped her own drink. “The hotel was your grandfather’s baby, not mine. He enjoyed building things from the ground up and, after the first hotel was finished, well . . . He just kept going. Your dad . . . He wasn’t a builder. He only wanted to maintain. Actually, what he really wanted to do was design.”
“Design what?”
“Cars.”
Tyler barked out a laugh. “Seriously? Dad wanted to design cars?”
“Oh, yes. You know how much he loves to collect them. Has an entire garage filled with them. And for most of his teenage years, all he did was design them.”
Tyler felt like he’d been struck with a two-by-four. His father had wanted to design cars. He’d never thought of his father wanting to do anything other than run the hotels. And he’d made it seem so effortless. Almost as if he didn’t care.
“But your grandfather wanted your dad to take over the business. By that time, your parents had married and had you. And life with your mom was difficult.” Beatrice grimaced. “If we’d only known why back then, we might have been able to get her some help, but her parents had covered up her problems for so many years, it was second nature by then.”
As it had been for him and Jed growing up. They’d become experts at evading questions about their mom. They’d give just enough information to satisfy teachers who asked where they’d been for days on end when she’d pull them out of school to fly to Europe at a moment’s notice because she felt the need to escape.
“So Dad took over the business because Granddad forced it on him. And now he’s doing the same to me.”
“Are you positive about that?”
“Well, he told me that if Jed or I don’t take over the chairman’s seat on the board, he’s going to sell. That kind of feels like he’s forcing the issue to me.”
“And do you want the job?”
“It’s more complicated than that, Nana. You know that.”
“Is it?”
Beatrice’s seemingly simple question made the roiling thoughts in his head slow. She definitely had something she wanted him to hear but obviously wanted him to come to it on his own.
“Are you trying to tell me there’s an easy answer to all of this? Because if there is, I haven’t come up with it.”
“Then maybe you’re overthinking the problem.”
His gaze sharpened on his grandmother’s amused blue eyes as an idea occurred to him. “Thanks for the drink, Nana, but I have to go. I have a little research to do before tomorrow.”
He rose, kissed her cheek again, and headed for the door, still carrying his drink. He had a feeling he’d need it.
“Something special going on tomorrow?” his grandmother asked. “Or should I say, someone special?”
Hand on the doorknob, he turned, hiding a smile at the knowing tone of her voice. “You could say that.”
“Why don’t you bring Kate for brunch with me Sunday morning? Not too early, of course. I’d love to see her again, get to know her a little better. After all, she did find my ring.”
And Tyler knew exactly where his grandmother was going with this. “Nana—”
“No, no. Don’t say anything. Off you go. You have work to do. And I . . . Well, I think I’ll go shopping. One can never have too many purses.”
“Kate, hi. This is Dinah Malinowski. I wonder if you have a few minutes to talk.”
It took a second for the name to register when Kate answered her phone Friday afternoon, but her heart had already begun to pound.
Setting aside the dress she was taking in, she stood and headed for the bathroom. “Prof—Dinah, how are you?”
The laughter in her ear made her smile as Kate shut herself in the bathroom. “I’m fine. Especially since I hope we’ll be working together. You’re talking to the new costume designer of the off-Broadway Downstairs Playhouse, and I’ve got the perfect job for you.”
Kate’s mouth opened but all that emerged was “Oh, my God.”
After Dinah finished laughing, she started to talk about the theater and the job while Kate’s head spun.
“I know it’s a lot to take in immediately, but I’d like you to come up to the city so you can get a feel for the job and make a decision. Would sometime next week be okay?”
It would take some finagling with Joe but . . . “Of course. I should be able to carve out some time in the middle of next week. Dinah, I can’t thank you enough.”
“Oh, don’t thank me yet. You might not want the job after you see what it entails. But after we talked last week, I knew you were the right person for this spot.”
Kate spent the rest of the day in a fog. Luckily, she didn’t screw up anyone’s clothing, but Joe had that look in his eye. The one that said he knew something was up.
Between Joe’s constant attention and the fact that she couldn’t wait to see Tyler tomorrow, the day couldn’t pass fast enough.
Of course, tomorrow she’d also be seeing Greg. And he’d be seeing a hell of a lot of her.
Which made her nervous. And horny.
God, was she horny.
And wet.
Damn it, she needed to stop letting her mind go there.
She forced herself to work Friday night until she couldn’t keep her eyes open and paid for it Saturday morning when she had to get up at seven to be at her nine o’clock meeting with a potential client, who wasn’t just a potential two hours later. Kate had a down payment check in her hand and a rough sketch of an idea to get started.
By the time she got home and decided on what to wear and what to pack, it was close to one. At this rate, she wouldn’t get to Haven until four.