Chapter 30
SLOANE
Sitting in the corporate offices of the Portland Wolves, the local football team, is giving me déjà vu from when I started working with Knox.
A young man comes out from behind the reception desk. He smiles at me. “Ms. Cordero, Mr. Wright is ready for you now.”
I follow him back to the conference room, and find a very large man sitting in a suit sitting next to a striking brunette.
Carson Wright stands when I enter and offers me his hand.
“Very nice to meet you, Sloane. Sawyer sang your praises. She said your internship with the Titans was coming to an end and you were seeking a permanent position. It just so happens that our quarterback is looking for a publicist and social media manager. I wanted to facilitate an introduction and see if you would be a good fit for what he needs.”
He gestures to the man sitting at the conference table. “This is Ford Shaw and his wife Tessa. She’s been handling their social media, but as you can see she’s going to need help with that soon.”
That’s when I noticed that Tessa is pregnant. She smiles at me and rubs her tiny bump. “This one is our second, and I can’t keep up with a new baby and the little hellion we already have running around.”
I nod. “I can understand that.”
Ford gives me a skeptical look. “How? No offense, but you look to be about nineteen. I guess you have to be older though since you’re graduating college.”
I’m not offended. He’s got to trust me with his image, which besides his ability on the field is his family’s livelihood. It’s only natural he is cautious about who he hires.
“I’m twenty-one, but I’ve been raising my little brother since he was a toddler. It’s a lot of work to balance taking care of even one child and school.”
“Your parents aren’t around?” he asks.
I hate answering this question, but I offered the information, and he needs to be able to trust me.
“My mom died when I was fourteen and my brother was three. And, since everyone asks, my dad is around, but he’s pretty useless.
He likes beer more than his family, which left raising my brother up to me. ”
My hands are clutched tight into fists on my lap, but I school my face not to show any discomfort.
I notice Ford and Tessa exchange a look.
One of those that says volumes without uttering a single word.
It feels like my heart is being squeezed, seeing two people so comfortably in love with each other.
“I think I understand what that is like,” Ford says in a gentler tone.
Carson looks at his watch and stands. “It looks like my job here is done. I’ll let the three of you discuss the position. I’ve got to run to a meeting with the CFO.”
Soon after Carson leaves, Tessa stands up. When Ford starts to get up with her, she waves him off. “Stay seated, your newest progeny is sitting on my bladder. I’m just going to run to the bathroom.”
As soon as she’s out of the room, Ford leans across the table on his elbows.
“I haven’t told her yet, but I’m planning on retiring soon.
I’m on the road all the time, and our son is going to be four this year.
Tess likes to travel with me so we’re not apart, but once Bennie goes to kindergarten that will hardly be possible.
I don’t want to miss time with my family. ”
I look back at the door over my shoulder. “Why haven’t you told her?”
“Because she tends to blame herself for shit that isn’t her fault. I want to retire to spend time with my family, but she’s going to think she’s taking things away from me. I will tell her after the baby is here. I won’t add stress to her plate right now,” he says.
“That makes sense. You sound like a good husband. I would be honored to help your family transition,” I tell him. I haven’t even asked about the money. As long as it’s enough for me to take care of my brother I don’t care.
“There’s other things you’ll need to handle. Tessa and I have an interesting past,” he begins.
“You didn’t punch out a reporter or anything, have you?” I ask, thinking about the clusterfuck Knox was in when I met him.
“I wish it was something that simple,” he says laughing.
He laughs harder at the shocked look on my face. “Look at you, I’m not sure you can handle the story.”
“What story?” Tessa says from the doorway.
“About us, and our beginning, and of course the other stuff that came in between then and now,” he says.
It’s all very cryptic, and I vow to Google them after this meeting.
Tessa rests her head on Ford’s shoulder.
“We were stepsiblings for a very short time in high school. Then there was a whole lot of drama with some friends of ours. Like the kind that you’d find in a dark romance.
It’s all behind us now. The drama, not the friends, they’re family to us now.
From time to time a reporter tries to drag up old stories and spin them, so you’d need to be prepared for that.
Sponsors get nervous when people start talking about sealed FBI cases. ”
“Sounds like this will be interesting,” I say.
“Always is with us,” Ford says, fighting a smile.
I spend the rest of the afternoon unpacking then getting Xander set up. He’s not happy about the move, but at least he doesn’t have to change schools. They don’t even know we aren’t living at our father’s anymore.
“Why did we have to move? Did Knox not want us there anymore?” he asks.
It breaks my heart to take another person from him. I’ll have to be more careful introducing anyone to him in the future. If I ever date anyone else, that is. It’s hard to imagine a future without Knox, but I have to be strong for Xander.
“It isn’t like that. It was just time for us to be on our own,” I say. It’s a pathetic excuse, but I don’t know how much to tell him.
He’s only ten, and I’d like to let him be a child for as long as possible. At least one of us deserves to have a childhood.
“We aren’t living by ourselves though. I liked Knox’s place,” he complains.
“I know you did, but this is going to be better for us. Kendall is a friend of mine, and I got a new job working for the QB for the Wolves,” I babble.
This makes my brother freeze and stare at me like I just told him an alien had taken over my body.
“Ford Shaw is your new boss?” he asks with awe in his voice.
I bob my head. “Yeah, he’s really nice too.”
“Can we go to a game sometime?” he asks.
“I don’t see why not. I’ll ask, okay?” I say.
“Woohoo,” he shouts and runs off to his room. He’s probably going to call all of his friends to tell them.
My phone rings, and I tense up. Knox has tried to call a few times since I left, but I haven’t answered. The smart thing would be to block his number, but I can’t bring myself to do that yet. Instead, I see Kendall’s name on the screen.
“Hey, Ken, how’s the trip going?” I ask her.
“Ugh, boring. It’s fucking cold everywhere we go. It’s April, but you wouldn’t know it in Chicago. Why couldn’t we travel to Florida?” she complains.
“I got the job with Ford Shaw,” I tell her, not wanting to linger on the Titans anymore.
“Oh my god! Does Sawyer know?”
I shrug, then remember she can’t see me. “I didn’t call her. I’m sure someone told her, she seems to be in contact with the owner. I’ll call her, I was just busy getting settled in.”
“Good. That’s why I was calling to make sure everything is going okay.”
I look to where my brother ran off to. “Yeah, my brother has a lot of questions about why we moved, but I distracted him by telling him about my new job.”
There’s a long silence between us. I want to ask how Knox is doing, but I really wish I didn’t.
Kendall reads the silence well. “He’s not doing great. It’s not your fault, or responsibility, but I thought you should know he’s not like celebrating being single or anything.”
It’s hard to swallow all of a sudden. Not because I’m glad that he’s miserable, or at least alone, but because I just realized that eventually he will move on and I wouldn’t be able to avoid seeing it. He is a celebrity, and around Portland he’s going to be all anyone talks about.
“You’re going to be okay,” she says gently.
I take a deep breath. “I hope you’re right. I miss him.”
“I know you do. But, hey, this doesn’t have to be forever,” she assures me.
“What could he even say to make any of this better?”
She exhales into the phone. “Nothing. There’s nothing he can say. I mean, I don’t know what he did, but it had to have been bad. Just going by the way West is following him around like a worried mother hen tells me it was probably awful.”
“West is following him around?”
“Yeah, I think he’s getting on Knox’s nerves, but West doesn’t give a shit,” she tells me.
“That’s good. I’m glad he’s got West,” I say, and I mean it.
“What I was saying is, he can’t say anything, but watch what he does. If he makes the right moves, then maybe there’s still a chance,” she says.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I promise her. “Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’ve got a lot to get ready before my first day tomorrow. I’m meeting the Shaws at their house so Tessa can show me what she’s been doing for Ford and what is coming down the pipeline.”
“This is so exciting,” she squeals.
I roll my eyes. “Ken, you work with professional athletes every day.”
“But not football players,” she says.
“Whatever, dork, I’ll talk to you tomorrow and tell you how it goes,” I say.
“Bye, bitch, miss you!”
“I’ve got weird friends,” I say out loud to myself when we get off the phone. I’m smiling though, and I didn’t expect to be so soon.
Still, I’ll be watching to see if Knox does make any moves that could make me forgive him.