Chapter 20
Vee
Maker’s Mark was beginning to clear out for the evening as I left my office.
Heading toward the front doors, I changed my mind and turned in another direction.
There was a longing or ache within me, one that had been growing throughout the day.
Being back out on the sidelines made me think about Dad.
He’d wanted me to understand the entire football business and operations.
I wanted to be out there. When I was, I felt somehow closer to him.
Things had been so busy since that horrible morning, I wanted to be closer to him, if only for a few minutes.
I turned toward the executive offices. I hadn’t stepped foot in his office since the morning of the accident.
Even though I know Bre and her staff were present earlier in the day, the front office was dark.
Scanning the larger space with numerous desks, I had a new appreciation for the complexity of the CEO position.
The weight that revelation placed on my shoulders was staggering.
Looking around, I noticed that the doors to Dad’s office were closed; however, golden light spilled out under the wooden barriers.
Did someone leave the light on?
I attempted to turn the knob, but it remained in place. The doors were locked. I was about to walk away when I heard what I thought was a woman crying.
Is someone in his office?
“Aunt Rachel?” I called. She was Dad’s sister and even though she’d been strong this morning when we spoke, maybe she was feeling the way I was. “Aunt Rachel.”
There was no answer.
The crying stopped.
“Aunt Rachel.”
I knocked on the door. “It’s Vee. Let me in.” I waited. “I’m not leaving.”
Finally, I heard the sound of the locking mechanism disengaging. Slowly, one of the doors opened inward. I stared in shock at the woman inside. “Bre?”
Dad’s assistant’s gaze met mine, her eyes red and puffy. “Um, Vee…”
It was then that I looked beyond her, stunned by the disarray within his private office and adjoining rooms. It hadn’t been like this the morning of the accident.
Things were haphazardly piled on Dad’s desk.
Drawers were open. His closet was opened.
Slowly, I stepped forward and spun. Even drawers in the bathroom were opened. “What the hell is going on in here?”
“I-I thought everyone was gone.”
My neck straightened as the small hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. “Bre, what the hell are you doing with Dad’s things?”
Bre wiped tears still flowing down her cheeks. “It occurred to me that soon you or someone else will take over this office.”
I nodded.
“There are things…things that Reid wouldn’t want…” She took a ragged breath and met my stare. “It’s no one’s business.”
“The Coopers is my business.”
“Fuck, Vee. It’s not about the Coopers.”
My eyes roamed around the room. Curiosity pulled me toward the mess on top of his desk. “What’s all of this?”
Moving quickly, Bre blocked my path. “Really, Vee. It would be better if no one in the family knew about this. I mean, Reid…he wouldn’t want that.”
I shook my head, trying to make sense of what didn’t make sense.
Then I saw the corner of a printed picture.
Reaching around Bre, I pulled the photo from a pile of papers.
My eyes opened wide at the sight of a selfie of Dad and Bre.
She was on his lap in the chair behind this desk. They were both smiling.
My stomach dropped.
“You and Dad were…” I could hardly form the words. “You were having an affair?”
Bre’s demeanor changed, sadness and grief morphing into defiance. She ripped the photo from my grasp. “It was more than an affair. That word sounds…dirty.” She smirked. “Reid was a good man in an unhappy marriage.”
“How long...?”
She squared her shoulders. “A couple of years.”
“Years?” Her answer felt like a gut punch.
“Don’t act so high and mighty. You’re the last person to judge. We all know about you and Griffin Graham.”
“Dad was married. Fin and I are both single. There’s no comparison.”
“Do you really want this information to get out too?” she asked, holding up the picture. “As if your affair with Mr. Graham isn’t already harming the Coopers.”
“We’re in a relationship. That’s not an affair.”
“You want the world to remember Reid as an owner, CEO, and family man, or for this?”
I walked to the desk and began to rifle through the papers. My stomach twisted as I read intimate notes from Dad to Bre and others from her to him. I recognized his penmanship right away. My nose wrinkled as sour stomach acid made its way up my throat. Each one was signed with love or a heart.
My stomach twisted. “Dad was sixty-five. You’re what…forty?”
“Forty-one.” Her lips curled. “Your father was a powerful, amorous lover.”
I shook my head. “Stop.”
Bre took a deep breath.
“Did the two of you have plans?” I finally asked. “Or were you supposed to go on forever as the other woman?”
“We had plans.” Bre stormed out the door.
I followed a step behind.
Bre opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a small robin’s-egg-blue box—Tiffany’s. Opening the hinged box, she took a large solitary diamond ring out and slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand. “He wanted to marry me.”
“He told you that?”
She looked longingly down at the ring. “We were both looking forward to the day I could wear this out in the open.”
“How…how long ago did he give that to you?”
“Last year after the end of the season.”
I didn’t want to think about my dad as any kind of lover. I also didn’t want to think of him as a cheater, but that timeline seemed long. “If he meant what he said, wouldn’t his marriage be over by now?”
“Daphne.” Bre’s nostrils flared. “She was manipulating him.”
“She was manipulating Dad,” I repeated. “Or was he manipulating you?”
“No, don’t say that. He wouldn’t do that. We had plans. Reid was going to divorce Daphne. He was tired of her constant spending and whining. He wanted to be with a woman with more depth than a pothole.”
Okay, that fit.
“And that woman was you?”
“Vee, I’m telling you the truth. Reid was going to file for divorce after the end of this season. We were supposed to go on an overseas trip where we’d marry and honeymoon.” The tears were back, coating Bre’s cheeks. “He loved me. I loved him.”
I scrunched my nose. “Did he talk to Mr. Eads about a divorce?”
“Yes,” she said defiantly. “We—our relationship—was the real reason Reid hadn’t signed the new will. He didn’t want to leave anything to her. He wanted it to go to me.”
I blinked repeatedly, as if it would make everything clear. “To you?”
“Not everything. He promised ten percent.”
My eyes opened wider. That was the amount he’d told me was for Daphne.
She sweetened her tone. “He wasn’t going to leave you or the Marshes out. Reid would never do that.”
This was unexpected, too much, more than I wanted to handle at the moment. I straightened my neck. “You’re right, Bre.”
“I am?”
“Yes.” I motioned toward the open doors to Dad’s office. “Clean it out.” My tone became colder, nearing freezing. “All of it. Everything and anything that incriminates you or Dad. Take it home. Burn it. I don’t care what you do with it. I want it all gone by tomorrow.”
“I-I” —she was crying again— “I can’t believe he’s really gone.”
My sympathy was reserved for those people who deserved it. While I didn’t always consider Daphne as a part of that group, I never thought of Bre Stanton in that way.
“Please don’t attend the service next Tuesday.”
“What?” She opened her eyes. “I have to be there. I must get the chance to tell him goodbye.”
“You’re uninvited,” I said as I turned and left Bre alone with her own mess.
It wasn’t until I was in the rental car that I screamed.
No words, only a bloodcurdling scream coming from deep in my chest. I grimaced as I pounded the steering wheel with the butt of my hands.
My throat was raw as I spoke to no one. “Dad, what the actual fuck? What other secrets did you have? What other bombshells are going to surface?”
Turning on the car, I connected my telephone and adjusted the seat and mirrors. The evening sky was beginning to darken. Crimsons and purples erupted like an old lava lamp over the horizon as I made my way out of the football center’s parking lot. The Coopers’ security guard was still in place.
“Good night, Ms. Hubbard.”
“Good night.” I rolled up the window, observing that there were fewer news vans and reporters than there had been this morning.
I called Aunt Rachel.
She answered on the third ring. “Vee, is everything okay?”
A scoff came from my lips. “No, but that’s not why I’m calling.” Earlier today we discussed traveling to Las Vegas. “I’ve decided we can take the Gulfstream to Las Vegas on Saturday morning.”
“Oh, honey. Darin and I talked about it. We planned to take it on Friday just like Reid had planned. It is Vegas after all. We thought we deserved some fun.”
“The family plane is not flying twice. I have too much to do here to leave on Friday.” I would think she did too. “If you and Uncle Darin want to go on Friday, book a commercial flight. The Hubbard plane is flying Saturday morning.” I didn’t wait for a response as I disconnected the call.
I spoke to the car. “Call Tony Witkoff.” Tony was the Coopers’ head pilot.
“Calling Tony Witkoff,” the car said.
“Ms. Hubbard,” Tony said upon answering. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m calling to let you know I’ve decided to fly to Las Vegas on Saturday morning. I can be at the airport by nine. From what Coach Tilson told me, that will be around the time the team is leaving.”
“I spoke to Robert” —another pilot— “and he said the team will be leaving at ten.”
“That will work. We’ll get there first.”
“Ms. Hubbard?”
“Yes?” I answered.
“Have you spoken to Mr. or Mrs. Marsh? They told me we were leaving on Friday.”
“The Hubbard plane is leaving on Saturday. If Mr. and Mrs. Marsh wish to travel earlier, they are welcome to book another flight.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ll see you Saturday,” I said. “Goodbye.” I disconnected the call.
The icon for a text message appeared on the screen. “Read text message.”
“TEXT MESSAGE FROM FIN. WHERE ARE YOU? IF YOU ARE IN ANOTHER SITUATION THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN REMEDIED WITH SECURITY, ONCE YOU’RE HOME SAFE, I’M REDDENING YOUR SEXY ASS.”
“Oh,” I said with a giggle. “Sorry, car. You’re a rental, and you probably shouldn’t have read that.
At the stoplight, I sent a quick text.
“SECURITY COULDN’T HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE. YOU’RE BEING BOSSY AGAIN. ALMOST HOME.”