Page 102 of An Engagement for Erica

She turned to look at him. “It doesn’t feel like it’s much of an ask though.”

33

BE OPEN MINDED

“What did you want to talk to me about, Grandpa?”

Monday morning, his grandfather called and asked if he could stop over after work.

He found it odd since he’d just seen him yesterday and hoped nothing had happened or was wrong. The call was short and to the point.

More like a summons.

Which led him to believe it had to do with work.

“There are a lot of things we need to discuss that I didn’t feel were appropriate to do in front of Erica.”

Tucker nodded. He thought it was time to find out if there was a mole in his office and who it might be.

“Go ahead,” he said. “What are you hearing?”

“Not a lot of bad things,” his grandfather said.

“Okay,” he said. “I know you’ve got your ear to the ground. That someone might even be feeding you information.”

His grandfather snorted. “Michael told me he alluded to that. I wasn’t happy, but it’s probably best you knew anyway.”

“So you do have someone giving you information in my office?”

“Get that frown off your face,” his grandfather said. “I’m thrilled that you are at least calling it your office. That’s something.”

“It looks nothing like it did when my father was in it.”

“Good,” his grandfather said. “Appearance is important. And you didn’t think I would let your father take control and stand back, did you?”

“No,” he said. “But if you were watching things, why have they gotten so bad?”

“They aren’t as bad as you think,” his grandfather said. “The two most important people had good control over things. Your father thought he was calling the shots, but he wasn’t. He’d give orders and think they were being followed, but they always came back to me. Your father didn’t pay much attention or care to follow through on anything as long as his money was in his account each week.”

Nothing he hadn’t thought himself of his father.

“Joel and Catherine?” he asked of his Vice President of Operations and CFO who just returned from medical leave.

“Yes,” his grandfather said. “They report to me directly.”

He wanted to put his fist through a wall over Joel doing that. “Why wasn’t I told this? So nothing I’ve said is getting done?”

“They reported to me when your father was there,” his grandfather said. “Since you’ve been there, they are followingyourlead. One hundred percent. I wouldn’t lie about that.”

He knew that was happening so he wasn’t being overridden, but it also meant that everything he did was reported to his grandfather.

Not that he was hiding anything. He was even telling his grandfather everything. Or at least the most important things. Not day-to-day bullshit.

The fact that his grandfather didn’t trust him to run things was a shot to his ego.

“Why are you telling me all of this now?” he asked. “Only because Michael let it slip?”

“Michael doesn’t let anything slip,” his grandfather said. “He’s calculated in what he does and why. All for the good. But he was right and you should know. If you found out later, you’d think I didn’t trust you and that isn’t the case. They were there to watch over your father and keep things running smoothly. They have just continued to report to me since your father passed, but nothing else.”

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