Page 114 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

Which helped him say, “I know what I want but don’t know how to get there. I know you’re busy. You don’t have a lot of time, but I was hoping to get some mentorship or something.”

“I can give you all the time you want,” Kyle said. “Tell me what you want so we can figure out how to get there.”

It was the first he was saying this out loud and he wasn’t sure if he could even express it right.

He thought of the words that Kelsey had said about not comparing.

“I want to oversee things as my grandfather did. I don’t want the day-to-day stuff. I was there and handled that well in my eyes. The problem is, Christian isn’t doing what he should be. Security was the issue again. I know noise issues are going to happen, but security should have been there to handle it.”

“That is exactly what I said to Christian when he got done whining. I asked right away why it escalated to the way it had.”

“What was his response?”

“That Carl was out on break or something. In the bathroom maybe. I don’t buy it.”

“Me neither. I want to talk to the manager and find out more there. I thought that had been done. I also was a little shocked they didn’t know my name or who I was. I could be blamed for not introducing myself too.”

“You could be,” Kyle said. He liked that Kyle wasn’t one to sugarcoat anything. “Why didn’t you?”

“I gave my name. But I didn’t want them to act differently knowing I was in the building.”

“I understand that. Not all my employees know who I am. I’m not in every business when some of the new ones might get hired. But I expect things to run a certain way.”

“That is where I want to be. I guess the next step is how do you think they should be run. The three hotels? Do you feel they are by Christian? Were they with my grandfather? I don’t care if you don’t think they were. We can make changes if they make sense, but I can’t make a decision without knowing all the facts either.”

“Now we are getting down to things,” Kyle said.

“What are your thoughts on Christian? You’ve said he does a good job but then hinted other times he doesn’t.”

“I wanted your input on it,” Kyle said. “He did a great job in the beginning. It’s been the past year when things have gone downhill. When your grandfather had been around less and Christian felt he had more power.”

“I’ll make sure that isn’t the case anymore,” he said.

“Good,” Kyle said. “I plan on staying silent in terms of those things unless you want me to be more of a presence. I can be. But things have been run smoothly enough on paper and that is all I looked at for years. Maybe it’s wrong on my part, but I invested in it as cash flow for Barry and my input to get things going. I’ve never wanted to step on toes, and because things were going well enough, I was fine with it.”

“I’d like to keep it this way if we can. For now. The fact it’s going well on paper doesn’t mean we are chasing problems but rather being proactive for change if need be.”

He didn’t want to have Kyle doing more. He was positive if he sold his half to Kyle, the guy wouldn’t get involved more with the day-to-day activities. He’d have someone doing it for him.

“Then we will continue for now,” Kyle said. “My next question is going to be how are you going to handle all of this?”

“I don’t want to leave the island short-staffed, but I’m going to have to put my notice in. I can’t do it all. It could take them time to find someone.”

Kyle smiled. “I’m thrilled to hear you say that you’re putting the island’s interest first.”

“My grandfather said my mother always loved it here,” he said. “I never knew the island existed.”

“I didn’t know your mother, but Barry talked about the island in terms of being here most of his life. He said he brought your mother and grandmother here a lot. They lived in Boston when they could have been on Cape Cod.”

“Do you know why?”

“I think your grandfather had big eyes,” Kyle said. “He had dreams and goals and got cocky and greedy. Being in Boston gave him more opportunities in his eyes.”

“You think that is how he lost a lot of his money?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kyle said. “Part of some of those regrets. But you know the house you’ve got now was supposed to be for your mother. She talked about a house like the one he’s made that into.”

“Now it’s mine,” he said.

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