Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Austin’s smile dimmed a fraction. “Sure… assuming the rest of the board agrees and the owners don’t have an issue with it. But there’s a reason they wanted you to step back in the first place, isn’t there?” He raised an eyebrow. “Or is there something you’re not telling me?”
I bit my tongue against a snappy retort that Austin didn’t deserve. He had no idea that the decision to step back had been mine. And giving up the reins had been difficult for me, even when it had been my choice. I couldn’t expect him to be immediately enthusiastic about it.
“No, you’re right. We’ll see what they say,” I agreed. “Sorry that doesn’t save you from having to find the documentation for Legal, though. Is that going to present a problem for Sterling Chase moving the project forward?”
“Of course not.” He picked at an invisible piece of lint on his pant leg. “The testing might be delayed a day or two, but no more. I swear, I copied every piece of documentation to my work system after we signed our contract, but in one of my attempts to get my files organized, I must’ve deleted them, assuming no one would ever need them. Now I need to find the original scans on my personal system. The price of organization, right?” He grinned.
I chuckled lightly, though I wondered what Kenji would say about Austin admitting he’d deleted a file that way. Our attorneys required us to keep a meticulous paper trail in case our patents were ever challenged. Everything that had ever been created, from handwritten notes to product sketches to meeting minutes, was kept in the project folder on our server. As someone who dealt with these things all the time, Austin should have known better.
“Well, don’t forget the entire Sterling Chase system is backed up regularly. If you can’t find it on your home computer, we can talk to IT and see if they can restore the files for you,” I offered.
Austin’s eyes widened, and he smacked his forehead. “Right. Of course. God, I’d forgotten about the backups. Good idea. I should be able to get all of that sorted within the next day or two, then.”
“Perfect. Frustrating to face a setback when you’re so close to the finish line, though.” My thoughts immediately turned to Rowe—because of course they did since the man seemed determined to sit at the center of my brain this week. The way he’d spoken so passionately about his sister. The way his eyes had burned when he said, I couldn’t not try, Bash. “What’s kept you motivated with this?” I asked Austin suddenly.
He stared at me like I’d sprouted horns. “Motivated me? Aside from wanting to do a good job for Sterling Chase? That’s always my primary motivation.”
“Not that.” My cheeks felt warm, and I wondered if Rowe’s blushes were contagious. “You could have an amazing career at Sterling Chase without ever needing to invent your own project, to jump through these hoops. So I was curious what made you dream up the concept for MRO. What’s kept you pushing, even when you faced setbacks?”
“Oh. That.” His face cleared, and he shifted in his chair. “It’s… it’s actually a very personal story. I, uh… lost a friend when I was young.”
What a fucked-up coincidence. I blinked at him in surprise for a moment before I managed to get out, “God, I’m so sorry.”
He nodded stiffly. “Thank you. My friend died due to something called commotio cordis after being struck in the chest with a ball during a baseball game. She had this heart defect the EMTs didn’t know about. If they’d had access to her medical records, they might have responded differently. Instead, she died. It was really… tough.”
The blood in my veins went cold, and my scalp prickled. There was no way that was a coincidence. It couldn’t be. Could it?
“Yes, I bet it was,” I agreed softly. “And this was in New Hampshire? Where you grew up?”
He shrugged, almost but not quite agreeing. “It happened a while ago, but it’s still pretty painful. If you don’t mind, Bash, I’d really rather not talk about it.”
“No, of course. I don’t mean to pry.”
“I just thought,” Austin went on bleakly, “that if emergency response had been better coordinated with doctor communication and a real-time data collection and assessment tool… maybe things would have been different. And then when I started thinking about it, it seemed like a natural companion piece to the stoplight communication technology that launched Sterling Chase years ago.” Austin met my eyes with stark sincerity. “I realized just how many people we could help with something like this.”
“And I’m so glad you did,” I managed to choke out. I pushed to my feet. “Well. I won’t keep you any longer. I know you’ve got a celebration to get to.”