“I heard. Stuart also told me that you had planned to start your own brand consultation company. Is that still happening?” he asks.
I sit up a little straighter in my seat as I try to figure out how to reply to that since I’ve spent most of my time here in Chicago so far wallowing.
“If it is,” he continues before I get a chance to say anything, “I think I may have a job for you if you’re open to consultation. I know I offered you a position here with our marketing department, and it wasn’t the right fit for you, but if you’re done with Langford and you’re a free agent, I’m shopping around for the best and brightest. And I’ve already gotten Stuart on board with my plan.”
“But you let me go,” I protest.
He laughs. “Not because you were ineffective. Because Maverick is impossible.”
“It took you a whole week to figure that out?”
He sighs. “Nah, I knew before. But I learned this week that you’re the only person in the world who can get through to him.”
“So you…want me back to be his brand strategist again?” I ask.
“Not exactly.” He fills me in on what he’s learned about Maverick over the last week and what he intends to do to help Maverick make a difference and leave a lasting legacy. And then he tells me what he needs me to do.
“Can I think about it?” I ask. I pulled into my parents’ driveway in the middle of his offer, and now I’m just sitting here with the engine running.
“Of course. I’ll be here tomorrow waiting to hear from you.”
“Thank you for thinking of me, Mr. Dalton,” I say softly.
“I had no other option, Ms. Bradley. You’re it.” His voice is low, too.
We hang up, and I blow out a breath as I stare straight ahead at my parents’ mansion.
It’s a big ask. I’m back home now, close to my mother, close to my family. My roots.
At this point, it feels like it’s too hard to turn back and put my heart on the line again.
I told Jack I’d think about it, but mostly it was so I could end the call—not because I’m seriously considering it. Still, I’ll think it over. I’ll weigh it. Maybe I’ll even talk to Penny about it. And then tomorrow, I’ll call Jack back and tell him thanks but no thanks. I never wanted to work with football players, and I stand by that. My first attempt to work with one was an absolute fucking disaster.
I finally cut the engine and head to the front door. I ring the bell, and a moment later, my mother answers it.
“Everleigh, darling. What are you doing home?” she asks, and I walk in and give her a hug.
She seems shorter. Is that weird? It’s been a few months since I’ve seen her, and in the meantime she was diagnosed. She couldn’t possibly be shorter, could she?
She’s smaller, too. Weaker. But she’s still my mother.
“I’m back in town for a bit,” I say. It’s nonchalant, as if I didn’t get fired and I’m not totally flailing as I reel from what Jack just said to me.
I hear my father’s voice from down the hall. “Who was at the door, Vivienne?”
He appears in the foyer, and he looks surprised to see me. “Everleigh.” He walks over and gives me a quick hug that feels more out of obligation than love. Or maybe it’s just my imagination.
And that’s when I spill my guts. “I was fired because I couldn’t get Maverick Jennings under control, and he’s about to get in a boatload of trouble because he won’t name the operator behind the Legacy underground lounge. You know why he won’t name that operator? Because of me.” My voice trembles as the waterworks begin. “Because I told him not to. And we were involved. I fell in love with him. But he can’t be with someone who doesn’t choose him, and I didn’t choose him. I choseyou. So give me a good reason why I shouldn’t fly back to Vegas andbeghim to take me back.”
My father is quiet for a few beats before he finally says in a quiet voice that’s both menacing and scary, “You want a good reason? The legacy, Everleigh. Think about your brothers and sisters. Think about your mother.”
I glance at said mother, who’s rolling her eyes at my father’s words. He misses it completely as he focuses on talking in circles instead.
“Think about your family,” he continues. “You were right to choose us. We’re the ones who will be here for you always. Not some guy you’ve known for a few weeks.”
I realize for the first time as he talks…he really has nothing to say. He’s telling me to think about the family, but what he really means is to think abouthim. He’s putting himself first. None of us haveevercome first. Ever. Not a single one of us.
My father may be in for a boatload of trouble if his name is associated with that place, and maybe it’s time he pays for that. Maybe it’s time he realizes what it really means to put family first…especially the family we make with the people we choose instead of the ones we were given by blood.
