Page 96 of Taming the CEO

"Since Grandmother seemed to hate any outside interference, when she asked us all here today, we offered to come by earlier and cook with her," Jake said.

"I’d never have thought of that," Maddox said. "It's brilliant."

The way they helped out their grandparents was amazing, and it just lifted my heart.

“It was a lot of fun,” Zoey said as Jake kissed Natalie's temple.

Once Jeannie came back, we all started filling our plates. The food was delicious. There was roast duck, salmon, black beans with mushrooms, rice, and potatoes.

I couldn't comprehend how they'd managed to organize themselves in the span of a few hours, but I guessed there was strength in numbers. And there was no shortage of Whitleys.

I sat between Natalie and Diane. "Do you have another group today?" I asked Diane.

"Yes, later in the evening. It’s a ghost tour of sorts."

I smiled widely. "Ah, I promised Dad I'd have dinner with him today, but I'll join that one someday."

"I think you'd like it. Even those who don't usually sign up for the supernatural tours say they enjoy it. It's even higher rated than my others."

"I can vouch for that," Natalie said. "I've joined one of Diane’s ghost tours during the week, when Maddox was gracious enough to let me leave the office early."

I widened my eyes at her. "I didn’t know you work with Maddox.”

“I'm in charge of all the events we have going on. He's a great boss."

"Perfect. Natalie, please sing my praises," Maddox commented from the other end of the table.

"Will you be involved in the hotel and distillery as well?" I asked her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gabe look up. I realized Maddox probably hadn't shared my decision with him yet.

"I don't know," Natalie said.

Maddox interfered. "Honestly, at that point, we're going to be rethinking the organizational structure. It'll be at least a year and a half down the road. No sense in making plans now."

Gabe looked between me and Maddox. "I have to ask, is there any news?"

I smiled at him. "I've decided to go ahead with the sale.”

Gabe rose from his chair, going over to Maddox and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Brother, I take everything back."

Maddox turned in his seat and glowered at Gabe. "Thank you for that retroactive vote of confidence." Then he glanced at me. "He wasn't a fan of my meeting with you. Thought it would mess everything up."

"Well, you did make everything worse in the beginning," I agreed.

The entire table started to laugh, Maddox and I included.

Once we all calmed down, Abe cleared his throat. “Now, this is some big news. We should celebrate. I’m going to bring out one of our finest bottles of champagne.”

Ten minutes later, we were all clinking glasses. The joy in the air was palpable, and I was glad to be contributing to it.

After the meal was over and everything was cleaned up, everyone took a seat either in one of the armchairs or on the couches, but not for long. It was obvious that both Jeannie and Abe were spent. I was eyeing Ben intently, hoping to catch his attention. Actually, I was hoping to hold him for a bit, but I didn’t want to ask. I’d barely met Spencer and Penny and wasn’t sure if they’d want to hand over their child to a complete stranger.

But then Ben started fussing, and the two of them said it was time for them to go so he could take his afternoon nap at home. Slowly, the entire group dispersed.

We left just after Zoey and Colton.

As we reached the car, I said, “I could take some notes from you all. I'm not nearly as skilled when it comes to dealing with Dad. Whenever I try to take things off his plate, he always catches on."

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