“Are you sure you don’t have an emergency meeting I need to attend?” Ordinarily I wouldn’t risk jinxing myself, but that’s how desperate I was to get out of this dinner. I’d take one for the team and have a Friday afternoon meeting in a heartbeat over this.
She plops into the chair in front of my desk and crosses her arms. “Alright, get it out. Why don’t you want to go?”
“I never want to go,” I remind her.
Teresa hits me with the mom stare. “This is more than normal.”
“Taylor being back has brought up all the past hurts they’ve caused. I’ve managed to get to a place of tolerance with my family over the last few years, but what happens when they find out that she’s back in my life?”
It’s all I’ve been able to think about this week after her closed off reaction to traveling back to the city with me. Our time in the dugout has been on my mind too. I shouldn’t have gone there with her, shouldn’t have let my frustration get the best of me.
“Is she back in your life?”
“I want her to be. We haven’t exactly talked about where our relationship stands, but we left things on a good note when I left on Monday.”
“If you’re going to make this work, you have to talk to her.”
“I know.” I groan and rub circles on my temples. “I know. I don’t want to lose her again. I can’t help but worry that my family is going to ruin it all over again.”
“You don’t need their approval anymore, Grant.”
“I didn’t need their approval then. If I did, I wouldn’t have shirked my duties to the family business.”
“On some level, even when starting this company, you’ve still been seeking their approval. You’ve been out to prove to everyone around you that you can survive without the Davenport name—in spite of it.”
I quirk a brow at her. “I thought this was supposed to be a pep talk.”
She gives me a sympathetic smile. “It is. What I’m trying to say is you can’t control how they respond, Grant. It’s also none of your business what they say.”
“How can you say that? She’s my wife.”
“That’s true, and I know you want to protect her, but what other people say behind your back or hers is for them. It’s not for you.”
“Go on,” I consider her words carefully.
“It’s not an easy lesson to learn. Do you think people didn’t have something to say when me and my husband got together? I’ve been called the gold digger before.”
“You could never be a gold digger. You like to work too much.” I wink at her.
“Or is it that I just like you, hmm?”
That gives me pause. I knew she enjoyed working at Stella Holdings, but had she really been putting off retirement for me?
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Teresa, but you know you can retire anytime you want, right?”
“Pssh, I know that. I’m right where I want to be. My point is, I know a thing or two about public perception, and I think it’s why I relate to Taylor. Her only crime was loving you. You two did the best you knew how to do at the time, but you have new tools now. You’re older. You have more life experience.”
“I just hope that’s enough,” I mutter as I stand and fold my suit jacket over my arm. “How do I look?”
She gives me a once over. “Like you’re going to a funeral or a meeting with the mafia.” I’m wearing all black from head to toe, complete with a black dress shirt under my black vest.
“Dinner for Constance Davenport could be considered a mafia gathering.”
“As long as she doesn’t think it’s a wedding,” Teresa jests, but my mother is known for arranging dates for her single sons. “I ordered a gift. It’s in the car out front. Go, before you’re late and make it ten times worse.”
“Wish me luck.” I kiss her cheek on the way out of my office, then hurry to the elevator and out the front doors onto the busy Manhattan street where my driver waits.
Almost an hour later, we’re pulling to a stop under the porte cochère of the country club. Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for the encounter. I hate it’s like this. I hate never knowing what to expect when I see my parents. I hate that the few times a year I actually spend time around them causes me more stress than a company takeover, and I hate that I can't remember the last time I thought time with them was good. But trying to take Teresa’s words to heart, I step out of the car once the valet opens it and button my jacket.
