“I seem to recall my dad saying that rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots. We don’t have any haters, fools, or idiots on the Coopers…” I arched my eyebrows. “Do we?”
“No, ma’am, we don’t.”
“I’ll look forward to our Monday morning unscheduled meetings.”
His grin quirked. “Seven sharp.”
“Oh,” I said with a scoff. “Early.”
Tilson’s grin disappeared. “Reid was always waiting for me, until yesterday.”
“Until yesterday.”
As Tilson walked away, I thought about all he said. Without my discussion with Grant and Cammy, I could have taken everything at face value. Tilson genuinely enjoyed the unscheduled meetings with Dad. Pratt and Brown said complimentary things about my work on the sidelines. Tilson felt my presence would be beneficial for all players, and he listened to my thoughts on our last game.
It was his comment about Uncle Darin or Aunt Rachel.
Is Tilson being nice or was he working for me to abdicate the position of CEO?
After Coach was gone, I removed my phone from my bag. I’d missed multiple calls; some were from family and friends. There was another call from Preston and multiple from unidentified numbers. Deciding I wasn’t ready to tackle any of those phone calls, I was about ready to lay my phone on the desk, when it vibrated with an incoming text message. The screen read Fin.
* * *
“HOW ARE YOU DOING?”
* * *
A smile curled my lips as I texted back.
* * *
“OH, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE.”
* * *
“REMEMBER TO THINK ABOUT OUR KISS IF YOUR DAY GOES SOUTH.”
* * *
Our kiss. I wished that could be my main thought. Instead of texting back, I sent a smile with a heart for lips emoji.
* * *
I arrived to the Carroll meeting room about fifteen minutes early.
Aunt Rachel was present. “Vee,” she said, “I invited Bre Stanton to this meeting.”
I nodded a closed-lip smile to Dad’s assistant. “Why?” I asked Aunt Rachel.
“Because if anyone knows what your father did on a daily basis, it would be Bre.”
Exhaling, I took the seat at the head of the table. “That’s an excellent idea. Bre, can you tell me about Dad’s Monday-morning meetings with Coach Tilson?”
“They happened before I was in the office. Every Monday following a game, I’d get to the office and they’d either be talking, saying goodbye, or there would be two coffee cups in the kitchen.”
Her story supported Tilson’s.
Over the years, Dad made remarks about Bre being a great assistant. He often spoke of her abilities. In her early forties, Bre was also an understated beauty. While they were both slender, in every other way she was the opposite of Daphne. Bre had a runner’s body. I couldn’t recall a time I’d seen her with much in the way of makeup or flashy clothes. “I know Dad thought the world of you, Bre.”
