I nodded. My older brother wasn’t playing football anymore, but he was a special teams coach for the Dallas Diamonds.
“We’re rooting for them,” she said. “We should have a table ready for you in ten, fifteen minutes, okay?”
I nodded. “Thanks, Rosie.”
While I waited for my family and for the table to be ready, I sat on a bench by the front door, a big patch of duct tape covering a tear in the vinyl. I sent off a quick text to Maya.Get this place a new bench for the waiting area.
A phone chimed just as the door opened. Maya was here. When I looked up, it was almost strange to see her in distressed jeans and a cotton shirt instead of her usual work clothes. I used to know her as my little niece—with buckteeth and a dog she took with her everywhere—but now she was a grown woman and my most valuable employee.
“On it,” she said after scanning the text. She sat next to me on the bench, tapping through her phone. “Done.”
“That fast?” I raised my eyebrows.
She smirked, looking so much like her father at that moment. “That’s why you pay me the big bucks.”
Before I could reply, the door opened again, and my dad walked in holding hands with his wife, Aggie. For most of my life, I thought he’d given up on love, but falling for Aggie changed things. He seemed more relaxed now, more open, after their almost ten years together.
His blue eyes crinkled at the corners as he greeted us with hugs, the long, tight kind that left no doubt how loved you were. Aggie followed them up with a warm hug and kiss on the cheek.
When we were done greeting each other, Rosie came over and said, “Let me take y’all to your table.”
We walked through the restaurant with its short maroon carpet and laminate wood tables. I imagined a few decades ago, smoke clouds would have hung in the air as people shared their meals with slowly burning cigarettes.
At the table, we slid into a pleather booth, Maya and I on one side, Dad and his wife on the other. Rosie passed us menus, and we started looking them over while making small talk. Dad burst with pride as he shared my nephew Sammy’s football stats. Hewas on the varsity team as a freshman in high school. And he told us about my niece Emily’s role with the professional football team in New York. She was a junior recruiter there, working her way up in the organization.
After a heavy workweek, I loved hearing about home and my family. It grounded me in a way little else could. But then, after Rosie brought us our drinks and took our orders, Aggie asked how things were going at MyHome.
Maya and I exchanged a look.
“What is it?” Dad asked. Concern knit his brows. He didn’t understand my world, which made him skeptical at times.
Maya tilted her head toward me, letting me choose how much to divulge.
Some of the founders kept things close to their chests, but I didn’t when it came to my family. I glanced around the back dining room, seeing just a few couples eating together. None of them even glanced our way. Quietly, I said, “It’s a long story, but the gist of it is that Simon said I need to get married to keep control of the company.”
Dad’s eyes flew open, and Aggie gripped his arm like she knew he needed calming.
“That can’t be legal,” Dad blustered.
I did my best to explain the situation, and by the time I was done, Dad’s lips were in a tight line. Even mild-mannered Aggie had a worried look in her eyes.
“That man’s a damn fool,” Dad said with a clench to his jaw that told me he was really riled up. “Who does he think he is trying to play puppet master with your life like that?”
Despite agreeing with my dad, I felt defensive for Simon. “He’s just trying to help us, even if he is misguided.”
“Misguidedis hogging all the toilet paper when a snowstorm’s coming.Misguidedis thinking Oreos taste betterwithout milk.Misguidedisnotmaking a mockery of the most sacred union a person can enter into.”
“Honey,” Aggie said softly, trying to calm him down.
Maya’s tone was gentle as she said, “Grandpa, it’s Bryce’s company, his life’s work. He can’t give that up, especially since he can get divorced later on down the road if it’s not a good fit.”
I gave Maya a grateful look. She understood the situation in a way Dad couldn’t. Though he loved and supported me, Dad never really understood my job, or my business for that matter.
But Dad shook his head. “You don’t go into a marriage planning for divorce. It’s wrong.” He gave me a sad, pleading look. “Please, tell me I taught you better than this, Bryce. Your mom wouldn’t want you treating marriage like a business deal.”
My heart turned over at the mention of my mother. I’d never known her—not really, since she passed when I was four—but I longed for her, and her approval, in a way that was hard to explain.
Aggie said, “I know the business means a lot to you, but your dad is right. Marriage is special.” She gave Dad a heartfelt smile and rubbed her hand over his arm. “I wouldn’t want you missing out on what we have because you married the wrong person.”
