Page 41 of About Last Night

“Greta, I just emailed the slide deck Toni put together this week, as well as the supporting detailed business plan. I don’t think Toni needs to do a formal presentation yet. She needs more public speaking training. I have no doubt that she will be able to make whatever presentation necessary to sell the tours to corporations eventually.”

Greta nods at Audrey and looks at me. I hold my breath, readying myself for a scolding for not completing the job, for not being good enough.

Greta grabs my arm and squeezes it. “You set your goal too low. You’re going to build the biggest adventure tour company in the world, and I’m going to help you do it.”

And for the first time in my life, I see admiration in my big sister’s eyes.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TONI

At the Monday morning department meeting after my impromptu and unintended pitch to Greta, she told everyone about my inspiring direction for the department. She said the pitch deck and business plan would be in everyone’s inbox after the meeting and moved on to other business. Later that day, she cleared her schedule, and we went through everything in detail. When she made comments and suggestions, somehow, I didn’t get angry, but took her feedback as it was intended. It helped that she was treating me as, if not an equal, at least as the expert in this area. I’d finally impressed my Type A, hard-charging, overachieving, impossible to please sister and my feeling of accomplishment was as thrilling as when I finished climbing my last fourteener. I’m always going to prefer to be outside in nature, but having a goal I believe in, and a sister who doesn’t treat me like a loser, makes being in the office easier.

I have Audrey to thank for it all.

That night after dinner I helped her in the kitchen while Greta and Willa cleaned up the deck.

“I knew you could do it,” Audrey said, her smile a little smug.

The light bulb went off.

“You planned this.”

Audrey shrugged one shoulder and snapped a lid on a glass storage container full of gumbo. “Bombing the presentation in front of a room full of people you’ve known for years would have done nothing for your confidence and would have probably sent you back into the wilderness for good. So, I gave you and Greta the opportunity to listen to each other on neutral ground.”

“You wouldn’t like it if I went back into the wilderness for good, huh?” I teased.

Audrey looked at me from beneath her eyelashes, giving me a very stern teacher look. It reminded me of her taking charge and fucking me senseless a mere week earlier.

“I know being out on the trail is your true love. You will never give that up and you shouldn’t. You wouldn’t be who you are if you did and you would be miserable, and you would hate anyone that asked you to do it. But I think you’re intelligent and sharp and so goddamned charming that you will absolutely make Fourteener Trekking a success. But it’s going to be tough and tedious at times, and you’re going to want to quit more than once. The question is, will you see it through?”

“What do you think?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. Are you willing to sacrifice short-term thrills for a long-term satisfaction?”

Her eyes were riveted to mine, and I realized this question wasn’t just about Fourteener Trekking.

I opened my mouth to say Hell yes I am, but Greta and Willa returned to the kitchen and the moment was over. It’s best that we were interrupted because I am certain I would have said something stupid and flirty and immature. I might have even tried to kiss her.

In the two weeks since, I have managed to keep things professional, and I don’t think Audrey has any idea about the battle raging inside me every day when I see her. I’ve never in my life wanted someone like I do Audrey, and it scares the shit out of me. She’s warm and slyly funny and so smart it’s a little intimidating. She can talk to anyone about anything. I heard her talking to Ned about football (she’s a Dallas Cowboys fan, which is almost a deal breaker, but I’ll survive) and to Greta about her season tickets to the symphony. When she’s in business consultant mode, I sit and marvel at her confidence and intelligence and hope that one day she’ll see something in me beyond a one-night stand.

For now, though, I’m focused on doing my job and am trying to be satisfied with grabbing a few minutes of conversation in the break room with Audrey and Willa before the workday officially starts. And laughter. Mostly laughter. Willa is involved, after all. At the end of the day, I find myself in Greta’s office, going over my department and my daily progress with my sister. I keep expecting Greta to try to take over the project, to lose faith in my abilities and decide she can do a better job herself. But she never does, and has never even hinted at the idea. She listens to me, tells me what I’m doing well (a lot!), gives suggestions in the areas I’m struggling in (it’s a lot, too, but decreasing by the day), and lets me get on with my job.

Inevitably, Audrey and Willa find their way to Greta’s office, too, and we sit around and talk business until someone suggests grabbing dinner or, if it’s been a hectic day, drinks. OK, the someone in this scenario is usually me or Willa.

The first time Willa suggested drinks, I fully expected Greta to beg off because of more work or a late Pilates class. Instead, she reached into her bottom drawer, pulled out an opened bottle of Maker’s Mark, and thunked it on the desk. The three of us stared at her for a beat.

“Are you all going to gape at me or get your mugs?” she asked.

“I don’t suppose you have an IPA in there, do you?” I asked.

“It’s not a cooler, Toni, it’s a drawer.”

Willa snorted and Greta’s deadpan gaze shifted to her.

Willa couldn’t hold back her grin. “Sorry, that was just really funny.”

“Imagine if I was trying to be funny,” Greta said with a straight face.

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