Will was gnawing at his lip, a habit he’d had even as a small kid. “Does Madeline know too?”
“She does. And she will see him when he’s more stable.” No sense letting my softhearted daughter meet someone who might be gone from our lives just a quickly as he had appeared. “As of now, she’s going to stay the week at Adrian and Nicole’s, just coming for dinner and then going back.”
Will nodded. “You know this is insane, right?”
My temper flushed my skin. “I am an adult, Will, and I don’t appreciate you talking to me like that. You would never treat Adrian this way.” I crossed my arms, my foot bobbing ever so slightly. “I’m not a kid anymore, and I can make my own choices. If you don’t like it, then skip this weekend’s dinner.”
Feigning calm, I tossed my work bag over my shoulder and picked up my purse. “I’ll leave you to it. I know you have a two o’clock.”
Will stood, his face a myriad of expressions before I turned to walk away. “Pen, wait.”
I halted at the door but still swung it open, letting the brighter light of the main office fill the space between us. “What is it?”
“What’s his name?”
A small smile curved my mouth. Something deep in my chest warmed. “Neal. His name is Neal.”
***
Leaving my brother’s office, I took the secret elevator down to where my office was hidden away. Building my office away from the traditional executive offices hadn’t been intentional. Instead, I tucked my suite right in next to the day area facility that Madeline had been in when I’d first assumed this role. It had been an easier choice then, when there were only a few employees and all of them had been blood relatives. But as Madeline Media had expanded, I had stayed put. Perhaps it wasnostalgia. Perhaps it was because I was still a little trapped by the idea that my life was nothing like I’d imagined it.
I was a CEO, the head of an executive board. I loved the people I worked with. I even loved working with my brothers, even if they made me a little crazy half the time.
But now that Madeline was at school, hanging with friends, or generally being an almost thirteen-year-old girl, I was a little lost in the quiet of what had always been beautifully chaotic. In a few years, she would be headed off to college, and while I would love witnessing her joys, there were parts of me that ached for a new purpose.
I had terrified her the other night, telling her I was considering going back to college with her. Not that I meant it, at least the “with her” part. But I had thought about pursuing my education again. After all, I’d barely managed to get through college. I had been busy building Madeline Media and raising a toddler while my friends hit up the best spring break locations and learned which fraternity had the best parties.
My life had been different since the moment I saw those two lines, and I had no regrets.
But it left me here, not in my thirties yet and beginning to wonder about what comes next. Sighing, I sat at my desk, letting the squeak of the wheels greet me. Tia, my assistant, swept in, reeling off a long list of things that I had to do today, followed quickly by the list of phone calls and meetings that were coming this afternoon.
When she finally took a breath, I smiled up at her. “How did I ever run this place without you?”
She flushed, tucking a braid behind her ear as she playfully rolled her eyes. “You’re exaggerating, as usual.”
I grinned at her, taking the folder of paperwork from her. “I’m not.”
“Well then, your last assistant wasn’t worth the desk she sat at. You’re the easiest person I’ve ever worked for.”
“Aww,” I said, placing a hand over my heart.
“Aww,” Tia echoed, mimicking my motion and making me laugh.
“Now that we’ve gotten that love fest over with,” I said, straightening in my chair. “I have to get to this to-do list, or else I’ll never make it to dinner with Maddie.”
Tia nodded, dropping a few reminder posts on my desk like I preferred, and quickly swished out of the office. I grimaced, picking up the first stack and eyeing them before quickly deciding that my ADHD was not nearly as interested in this task as I needed to be to actually sort through it.
My phone was in my hand before I could think twice, my thumb hovering over the at-home nurse’s phone number. I’d hired Max this weekend, and he’d jumped right into Neal’s care the moment that he got released from the hospital and settled into my home yesterday.
I’d only been able to check in on my rescued rescuer for a few moments this morning. And even now, I couldn’t find a reason that I needed to call Max, other than the morbid curiosity that took over every time I thought about the mysterious rescuer.
Neal Crowe. That was what the identification in his wallet had said. It was, in fact, the only thing that had been in the worn leather billfold. No cash, no credit cards, not even a picture or something stuffed between the leather folds. Nothing. Just an expired driver’s license. I’d been surprised how young he actually was, too young compared to the way he looked on the hospital bed, his broad features too pale, too gaunt under the fluorescent lights.
I hadn’t known him.
I didn’t think he knew me. But that hadn’t stopped him from jumping in, from saving me and the array of companydocumentation that I’d been carrying to seal a deal with our new consultants. I wetted my lips, thinking about that moment. The way my stomach bottomed out when I realized that I was completely alone with the two ski-masked faces that had glared back at me as they surrounded me.
I hadn’t even been able to call for my driver, Church, who had been only a half block away. It had all happened so quickly. Thank God I hadn’t had Madeline with me.
