My father, distinguished as always in his Armani tux, steepled his fingers in front of his face and huffed out a sigh. “I’m glad to see you’re still talking to us.”
My back went up. “I wasn’t the one who pulled away. You made yourself scarce when you were in the city last time, so we didn’t have a chance to resolve anything. And since then, nothing.”
“We apologized for what we did. I don’t know what more we can do to say we’re sorry.”
“How about giving it more than lip service? Be happy for me. I’m in love and with the man I want to spend my life with. We’re planning our future. Stop trying to separate us by sending me on unnecessary extended trips or refusing to acknowledge he’s the most important person in my life.”
The DJ picked up the microphone and announced the entrance of the happy couple. As I was there to celebrate Sunny’s wedding and not argue with my parents, I joined in the clapping and smiles. Guests converged on them to offer their congratulations, andI shifted my attention to my parents to put the ball back in their court.
“So? What’s it going to be?” I folded my arms, expecting to hear more doublespeak.
My mother exchanged a glance with my father and said, “We did you a disservice. You and Roe. I’m sorry. I didn’t treat you like an adult then or now. I’ve made a terrible mistake, and being separated from you these past months has been the worst time of my life. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You have everything to gain if you’d give Roe a chance.” It wasn’t fair of me to allow her to assume all the responsibility. “I made it easy for you. I let myself be led. Whatever you wanted from me, I did, because I didn’t give a damn.”
My father locked his steely blue gaze with mine, and I remembered people saying it would take them an hour to unclench after leaving a negotiation with him.
“It’s time we treated you as the independent man you are instead of the son we wanted to mold you into.” He took my mother’s hand. “We’re retiring, Ezra.”
“Wh-what?” Blown away by my father’s unexpected words, I gawked at them, cold threads of doubt and unease creeping up my spine. Roe shifted closer to me.
“Yes. Your mother and I have had enough. We’re over seventy and tired. When we went on the retreat to the desert and Paris afterward, it was an epiphany. For the first time we’d taken and extended time away from the business, and it was, for lack of a better word, glorious. I don’t want to do this anymore, and your mother agrees with me.”
“Happily, I have to add,” she said, breaking the tension a bit. “I realized that if I was willing to sacrifice my son’s happiness for a business, I was not the person I wanted to be. My priorities were faulty.”
A waiter halted by our table with a tray of hors d’oeuvres, but never taking our eyes off each other, we waved him away.
My father resumed the conversation. “We’ve accomplished our goals, and now it’s time for you to take charge and move the agency into the future. Your way.”
Mind. Blown.This was the last thing I expected to happen, and my stomach flip-flopped. “Are you okay? You’re not sick, right?” All anger fled as I searched their faces.
“No, we’re fine, and that’s why we know it’s the right time. We don’t want to have to stop working because we’re ill. We want to wake in the morning and not have to worry if the model showed up or if the studio is screwing a client.” A rare twinkle lit his eyes. “All the problems can fall on your head now.”
“Jesus, I didn’t expect…I never thought…” I ran my hands through my hair. “Me?”
Roe’s arms came around me. “You. You’ll be great.”
“Monroe is right. You’re ready, and we’re excited for you.” My mother sipped her cocktail.
I swallowed hard. “I-I can’t take it. You’ll have to find someone else.”
My mother sputtered. “What’re you talking about? Who else would take over?”
I held Roe’s hand against my chest, pressing against the pain there. My heart thumped under his fingers. “Because I live here now, not in California. I’m not moving back.”
Ignoring my mother’s muttering, my father pinned me with that flinty, direct gaze. “And?”
“I want to stay in New York. Roe’s family is here, and we can’t leave them.”
Remaining silent, my father raised a silver brow.
“But…” A slew of possibilities popped into my head, and I saw my future unfolding before me, gleaming golden-bright, like the yellow brick road. “I can open a new home office here and appoint a manager to handle the one in LA. We can be a bicoastal business.”
“Bingo,” my father whispered, and I heard Roe’s swift, indrawn breath. “You nailed it.”
“Ezra, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to change your life and business plan for my family and me.”
“Who else would I do it for?” Unrestrained laughter bubbled up from my lips. “And nothing’s going to change. I told you I’d keep my promise. I’ll never leave you. Now I’ll never have to.”
