Page 39 of Made For You
“I need a change, and this partnership would be direct between me and you. There wouldn’t need to be a shareholder vote, since it’s already a Wilder Hotel.”
“Okay, well, there is only one other thing to do, since you would be investing over fifty percent. We have to contact my grandfather.”
“Aren’t you interim CEO?” he asked with that Grinch-like grin again.
“I… am,” I replied hesitantly. Then I stated more confidently, “I am.”
“Then it’s your decision, correct? He doesn’t need to sign off on anything.”
Dean was correct. My grandfather had no say in any Wilder Hotels business. All he had was the matching last name. My grin matched Dean’s.
“There is one call we should definitely make though,” Dean added.
I was puzzled for a moment, then it dawned on me. The one person who loved that first hotel even more than my mother had—Gigi.
“Call her now.”
“Why?” I asked as I began dialing her number I had memorized from my time at boarding school. She’d never changed it.
“Who do you think gave me the idea?”
“You two have the weirdest friendship.”
The phone’s ringing clicked over to a breathless greeting. “Hello?”
I was instantly worried. “Gigi, are you okay?”
“Of course. I’m running on the treadmill right now.”
“Why?” My worry dialed back to curious concern.
“For the marathon, of course,” Dean chimed in as if it were common knowledge.
“Marathon? What marathon?” The worry had returned, and I spoke quickly. “Is there someone there to spot you, Gigi?”
“Oh, calm yourself, Talon. It’s a marathon for senior citizens, and Wilder Hotels is sponsoring it. I’m running in support of the charity. You should know this.”
Though I wasn’t always aware of the ins and outs of the public-relations side of Wilder Hotels, my grandmother risking her life to join the marathon was something I should have been alerted to.
“Sorry, Gigi.” I hated apologizing. Almost as much as I hated everything my grandfather was forcing me to do.
“Why are you calling me? You never call me out of the blue.”
“I call you!” Dean shouted just as Olive ducked inside my office and handed him his sugary brew.
“You treat me better than my own grandson.”
“Gigi!” I knew she was pulling my leg, but it hurt just the same. I spent what little free time I had with her. I’d even taken her to a few of those hot yoga classes she loved so much.
“I’m teasing. Now, what did you boys want to talk to me about?”
I paused and looked out at the ocean one last time. Sailing through the waves was where I was meant to be. Instead, I was here, digging out of the trenches my family created, all for the sake of my mother—the child they cast aside because she was a woman and loved someone they didn’t approve of.
“The Knoxville hotel. Dean and I are going to partner up and make it what it should have always been.”
Silence fell on the other end, and I immediately wished I video-called her instead.
“Gigi, are you okay?”
