Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“So, he had an escape plan.”
“Exactly. And it would have worked well had he granted those rights to a corporation that was trustworthy.”
“I take it he didn’t.”
Graham shook his head. “No.”
“Sounds complicated and messy.”
“It is.”
“How are you handling the non-business stuff?”
“The non-business stuff?”
“You lost a friend.”
“An ex-friend.”
I nodded. “An ex-friend. But he must have been someone you cared about for a period of your life since you started your business together.”
“At one point. Yes. But as you know, things changed.”
“I saw on the news this morning that it was a heart attack.”
“Happened in the car. He swerved off the road and hit a tree. Was dead by the time the police arrived. Luckily, no one else was in the car. Genevieve said he was supposed to have had their daughter in the car, but she wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed home. Otherwise…”
He saw the look on my face.
“I spoke to her this morning. She called for help with the business issues, but I was already working on it.”
“I didn’t realize you were friendly.”
“We aren’t. It was a business call. She knew I would help, and there would be a benefit for both of us to stop others from devaluing the company.”
I nodded. It made sense. And it was ridiculous that I was jealous of a woman who lost her husband yesterday. “How is your grandmother?”
“She told Cambria to let me know she was cutting me out of her will if I didn’t break her out of the hospital.”
“Oh, no.”
“Actually, that’s good. It means she’s feeling like herself again. When she’s agreeable and compliant, it scares me.”
The relationship he had with his grandmother was fast becoming my favorite thing about him. You can tell a lot about a man by watching how he treats the matriarch of the family. “Is she still at Westchester Hospital?”
“I had her moved to the Hospital for Special Surgery.”
“That’s on 70th, right?”
“It is.”
“It’s only a few blocks from my office. Why don’t I stop in at lunch and visit her? You’re swamped here, obviously.”
Graham searched my face. “That would be great. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“Will you stay with me tonight?”
“At your place?”
“Yes. My driver can pick you up after work and take you out to Brooklyn to collect your things and then take you to my place. I’ll meet you there after I’m done here. The doorman will let you in if I’m not back yet.”
“Okay.”
We chatted for a while longer while we ate. After we finished our bagels, I gathered our garbage. “I need to get to the office, or Ida will come up with a list of things she needs to be done, that she really doesn’t, but will keep me in the office until nine o’clock.”
Graham kissed me goodbye, and I stopped it before it got too out of control this time. “Does this mean you’re going to take a train since I’ll have your driver?”
“It does.”
“Commoner.”
“Let’s not forget how we met. I take the train every morning now.”
“Now? You mean you didn’t before?”
A smile spread across his face. “First time I’d taken the train to work in years was the day I lost my phone. My driver was on vacation that week.”
“But you’ve been taking it ever since, too?”
“I have a reason to now.”
The anticipation I’d felt since our phone call last night finally quelled a bit after leaving Graham’s office. I wanted nothing more than to have trust in what was growing between us, yet a part of me was still afraid. He was so confident and fearless, and I tried to use that to reassure myself. I hated that weak and scared part of me. It was time I figured out how to get rid of it.
***
“MRS. MORGAN?” I CRACKED OPEN the door and peeked my head into her room. She was sitting up in bed watching TV.
“Come in, come in, dear. And call me Lil.”
I’d texted Graham to find out what she liked to eat and brought her a fish filet from McDonald’s, which Graham had told me was crap, but also her favorite junk food.
“I thought maybe you could use some company today. Graham’s been stuck at the office since yesterday. I work nearby.”
“Is that a fish sandwich I smell?”
I smiled. “Sure is.”
“Graham thinks because it’s not from some swanky restaurant that charges sixty dollars for a meal as big as a quarter, that it’s not good food. Love the boy, but he can be a downright snob with his head stuck up his own ass sometimes.”
I laughed thinking Stuck-Up Suit. “He does have an elitist side to him at times.”
There was a snack tray on wheels in the corner, so I pulled it closer and set up her lunch, then set up mine.
“Is that a soap opera you’re watching?”
“Days of Our Lives. My daughter got me hooked on them.”