Miles
After breakfast on our last day, I know it’s my chance to talk to Dad. I need to have this conversation face-to-face with him.
Lucy reminded me last night that I’m the one who has to live my life and that I need to stop living according to other people’s expectations of me.
It was a little like a pot calling the kettle black, but the sentiment rang true.
“Hey, Dad,” I say as I glance back at Lucy, who’s nodding at me from across the green. It’s wild how two little head jerks from her are the only encouragement I need. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
Dad looks up from his book and points to the empty lawn chair beside him. I sit down and lean back, getting comfy.
“Am I in trouble?” Dad asks.
“Not today.”
“Oh good. I’ll check back in tomorrow. What’s going on?” He takes off his reading glasses and folds them as he studies me.
“I don’t know how to say it other than to justsayit.”
“It’s usually how it’s done…”
Smart aleck. “Would there be room for me to work full-time at Around the Bend?”
Dad leans forward and smiles. “You want to come back and work with your boring old family full time?”
“I don’t want you to feel like you have to say yes?—”
“Of course I’m going to say yes. Why do you think I’ve been pressuring you into helping all these years?” He laughs. “I’ve been hoping that someday you would want to be a part of it!”
I tap my fingers on the armrest of the chair. “But I’ve only helped a little since I started Kappa Holdings with Kingston.”
“So you decided to start a business with your friend; you think that means I wouldn’t want you to come back and work with us?” He looks incredulous.
“I don’t deserve to just waltz back in there.”
“You think you don’t deserve a piece of this company?” His voice escalates.
I shake my head. “Dad, you and Mom busted your butts growing this business. I’ve watched you all these years. You both work so hard, and you still take the time to make sure Ainsley, Karis, and I feel loved. And look what you’ve built this company to. It doesn’t feel right to jump right into the business and plan to take over.” I end with a grunt.
“Well, I plan on leaving it to you, Ainsley, and Karis. It’s not like I’m excluding one of you.”
“It feels like I’m cheating,” I say honestly.
Dad sits quietly for a while, the way that dads do. So quiet and still that you know he’s thinking deeply about the problem, or he’s been distracted and wondering what material fishing line is made out of.
“First of all, there’s no ‘cheating’ about this. You remember us building this company, right?”
I nod slowly.Obviously. But I don’t say that out loud.
“Do you remember the late nights, when you and Ainsley would end up lying on one of the display cots while your mom and I took inventory? Karis was so small that she probablydoesn’t remember as much as you and Ainsley. Or the times we had to go on long drives to a couple of states away to check out manufacturers? Or what about the times you helped tape a million boxes, fold invoices, and answer the phone?” Dad sighs. “You have been working in this company since before you lost your first tooth. Of course you deserve it. You helped build it. Our whole family did. Not to mention, why do you think I’ve worked so hard on this? I want to be able to leave something to you and your sisters. But I want you to understand that I view you and Ainsley as founders as well. Looking back, I feel bad about those times and how you had to be so mature at a young age.”
Dad’s face contorts into a frown.
I shake my head quickly. “You know Ainsley and I loved it. We loved getting to spend time with you and Mom. You don’t know how jealous the other kids at school would get when we would tell them that we got to go to work with our mom and dad. Was it unconventional? Yeah, but the two of you taught us how to work and how to have fun doing it. You taught us how to pursue a dream and not be afraid of failing.”
“And what’s your dream?” Dad asks quietly. “Yours. Not what you think I want to hear. Not what you think someone else expects of you. But what Miles Granger wants for himself.”
Something cracks in my chest. “I want to work with you full-time. I want to be done chasing a corporate lifestyle.”
