Page 106 of Think Outside the Boss

My lips tug. “Well, she’s right about that.”

“I think you should tell her. Then she knows, and she can make up her mind.”

So simple.

So clear.

And yet his words lead me into a different direction, one I hadn’t considered before. By not asking her, by not telling her explicitly how I feel, I’m not trusting her to make her own decisions. I haven’t given her the full picture. All the words I haven’t spoken suddenly fill my chest, clog my throat, until they feel like they’re going to choke me.

Joshua gives me a wide smile. “I’m right?”

“You are,” I tell him. “You really are.”

“See, Dad, I know things too.”

“Oh, you sure do, kiddo.”

He’s his own person, someone unique and separate from me, Michael and Jenny. And yet I get the strangest feeling that Jenny has told me off again, this time from the grave and through her son.

And this time, I’m going to heed her advice to throw caution to the wind. Joshua stretches out on the dock beside me, putting his skinny arms beneath his head. It’s such a teenage pose, showcasing the length of his legs and torso. The shorts we’d bought him for this trip already look a bit short.

But he’s only nine.

Is this the precursor of a growth spurt?

“You gotta stop growing, kid,” I tell him. “It’s going too fast.”

He grins up at the sky, a boy without a care in the world. A boy who was brave enough to swim with a whale shark today. His smile had been ecstatic when we’d been back on the boat, my arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders to keep him from shivering.

“I’ll be ten in a few months,” he informs me.

“Don’t remind me.”

“You want me to be a kid forever?”

I lie back on the dock beside him, my feet hanging off the edge. The sky is as turquoise above us as the Pacific beyond.

“I want you to be my kid forever.”

He laughs. “I’ll still be your kid when I’m a grown-up.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

“You’re being stupid, Dad.” He shakes his head, nudging me with his elbow. “And we’ll go on adventures then, too.”

My heart aches with love for him, and for the first time in years, something pricks behind my eyes. I look up at the heavens above. Thank you, Jenny.

“Yes,” I assure him. “We always will.”

26

Freddie

“Who knows?” Toby asks. “It could have been anything. Breach of contract. Insider trading. Perhaps he just pissed Mr. Conway off one time too many.”

Quentin shakes his head. “No, the man wouldn’t fire someone who’s productive just because of his attitude. Ten bucks it’s because he harassed someone.”

“Are we really taking bets on this?” I ask, my hand tight around my glass of whiskey. The first day back after the Christmas holidays, and the entire office had been abuzz with speculation about the personnel changes. It’s a weight off my shoulders that nothing relates to me.

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