“What are you so deep in thought about?” Sawyer asks gently.
“Lots of things.” I sigh. “I need women in The Order, but not just kids like me. I was thinking about your mum…but also about Australia.”
“Okay, we can talk more about my mum later…it’s not a horrible idea, though I’m not sure how she’d feel about it. I’d want to make sure she joined for the right reasons, and not just to get one over on our dad. Tell me more about why you’re thinking of Australia. Are you wanting to go back?”
“No. My home’s here now. With you guys.”
“But we’d follow you wherever you wanted to go.”
I smile softly. I know they would, but for the time being at least, my place is here, which I tell him.
“I have an idea…I don’t know if it’s stupid but…”
“Hey.” Sawyer looks at me softly and takes my hand. “I’m here. You need someone to bounce ideas around with? I’m your guy. I’ll always be straight with you and tell you what I think. So shoot.”
“Okay, so, you know how Australia is the only place without an Order presence?” Sawyer nods. “I was thinking it would be good to branch out there. But obviously we would need to be careful because of my grandmother.”
“And you want to re-mobilise your dad? Or bring your brother in?” I shake my head.
“No. I don’t know what the deal is with my dad, I need to get to the bottom of that. But I was actually thinking of Bex.” I takea deep breath before continuing. “I know I said about not filling The Order with kids, but I think it would be a good idea to have official eyes on my grandmother. And Debbie. She’s already in place, and close to my grandmother…”
I bite my lip as Sawyer considers my logic. I know he won’t speak until he’s ready, he’s rarely one to waste words, and he’ll want to weigh up the pros and cons of what I’m proposing.
“Would she want to join?” he asks eventually.
“Honestly? I don’t know. I only met her a handful of times but I like her. She’s spunky. Probably a handful.”
“More than you and Adrianne?” Sawyer raises an amused brow at me. I grin.
“She makes me look docile.”
He sniggers.
“But I can’t help but feel this is the right thing to do.”
“Well, filling The Order with pain in the ass women aside, you have a board for a reason. I know overall you get final say, but it can’t hurt to run your idea past the board members and get their thoughts.”
“Do we have any on my side?”
“I’m working on it. Almost done, I promise.”
“And how do I bring it to the board without telling them about Debbie…and my grandmother? I feel like I need to tread carefully where she’s concerned. I’d need to present a strong argument for wanting Bex, without giving away our real motives.”
“That’s understandable. Leave it with me and we’ll figure something out.”
“Thanks. I love being able to talk to you about this stuff.”
“Anytime.”
“There’s something else…”
“Okay?”
“I need to talk to your father. And I don’t think he’s going to like it.”
“If it’s Order stuff, he’ll be okay. He knows he’s simply holding the reins until you’re trained.”
“Will he hand them over though, when I’m ready?”
