She smiled and readjusted Diva’s bow.“And have the chance to help drag BHI into the twenty-first century?Tell me what you want from me.”
Lara hadn’t been sure what her mother’s reaction was going to be to the wedding, but other than being slightly miffed that she had not been the first to know, she was rather accepting.Excited, even.
They discussed strategy, and it had been years since Lara had seen her mother so animated.She promised to personally contact the board members and ensure they were in BHI’s meeting room at five o’clock on Tuesday afternoon.
“What about Pernell?”Connor asked.
“Oh, he won’t have any choice.”She grinned.“I won’t let him know about it until after everything is all arranged.Manipulation is my favorite pastime.”
Connor evidently noticed Lara’s lack of feedback.
“Lara?”he prompted.
Even though this was exactly what she wanted, and still believed necessary, part of her couldn’t help but think it seemed as if they were plotting a coup.“I wish we didn’t have to do this.”
He touched her leg in reassurance.“Doubts?”
“Not really.More like…” She trailed off.
“You can either fight for BHI, Lara,” her mother said, “or you know it will become a shadow of its potential.I support you, either way.You know that.I’d be just as happy if I was supporting your position to leave.But under the current structure, BHI cannot thrive.Something has to change.You’ve been working there long enough to have realized that.”
Lara picked up a spoon and stirred her drink.“It’s the right thing.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s easy,” Connor said.
She drank in reassurance from his strength.“I’m not sure I realized just how difficult it would be.”
“You can rely on me,” he reminded her.
When the conversation was wrapping up, Helene lifted her lemonade glass in a toast.“I really do hope you two find happiness.”
“It’s more complicated than that, Mom,” Lara said.
“Again, Lara.You’re a terrible fibber.I’ve seen the way Connor looks at you.And when you spoke about him the other day…”
“Go on,” Connor encouraged.
“Enough,” Lara warned her mother.
Helene relented with a small smile.“I imagine you’ll just handle the wedding privately?”
“If we work out the rest of the sticking points,” Lara clarified.“And I’ll still want to see a copy of your original proposal to my father,” she said to Connor.
“I’d like a copy, too.”
He nodded.
A few minutes later, she and Connor left.
“Until now, I hadn’t really believed that whole DNA thing,” he admitted when they were driving.
“Even when I was at college.She knew if I’d stayed out too late.Guarantee my phone would ring before seven a.m.”
He grinned.“And you have confidence that we can have this all pulled together by Tuesday afternoon?”
“She’s good,” Lara said.“She’ll use whatever means she needs to get people to the meeting.”There was a reason she’d been the Mom of the Year at all of Lara’s schools.The woman knew how to get people involved, and she knew how to fundraise.She was an absolute social maven.“If nothing else, she’ll intrigue them.Or bribe them with chocolate chip cookies.”
Conversation moved from strategy on to the proposal he’d prepared for her father.It was low, like her father had said, but it was far from offensive.And it was a good starting point.The BHI board had deserved to hear it.At the very least, she, as Pernell’s daughter and CFO, should have been informed of the offer.
