Chapter 3
ZACH
Twenty minutes. That was how short my interaction with Adeline was. If it had even been that long. And two days later, it was still on my mind.
I shut down my laptop and slid it into my bag, the end of day silence I usually loved too loud now that I had her voice back in my head.
The Roark Wright deal was done, signed, sealed, and delivered to legal.
I’d wrapped up the final details this morning, closed the file, and officially washed my hands of it.
Except for the blast from the past that would be with me for much longer than it had taken to get the deal done.
“Zach?”
I looked up to see my secretary in my doorway, and I groaned when I saw the look on her face. “Who needs to see me this time?”
“Alex called down,” she said apologetically. “He needs you up there before you leave.”
I checked the time out of habit. Five forty-five. It was too late for a casual check-in, but not late enough to be urgent. Roark. It’s got to be about Roark.
“Thanks,” I said, standing up and sliding my bag over my shoulder. “You don’t need to wait for me. I’m sure it’s going to be quick. Probably just some feedback.”
She nodded and stepped aside to let me out when I reached the door. “Let me know if you need me to come back.”
“I won’t,” I promised. “Not tonight. If it’s about last-minute changes to the deal, I’ll just grab someone from the pool. Go home, Linda. Your kids need you occasionally too.”
She chuckled. “You should take your own advice sometimes, Zach. Go home early tonight no matter what happens, okay? Get some rest and we’ll dig in tomorrow morning.”
I nodded, but both of us knew that probably wouldn’t happen. Brushing past her, I waved and headed upstairs to Alex’s office, knocking but not waiting before I pushed the door open.
“You’re late,” he said without looking up from his computer.
“How can I be late if you literally just asked me to come up? It seems to me that I’m right on time.”
He leaned back in his chair, his head shaking as he finally looked at me. “I have to go to DC for a few days.”
I paused just inside the door. “Okay. That’s nice?”
And also not at all what I expected, but maybe we’re still getting to the part about Roark.
“Trust me, it’s not going to be nice,” he said. “Anyway, I need you to help Nate and Jesse cover some of my responsibilities while I’m gone.”
I shrugged and crossed the office, dropping into the chair across from him. “Yeah. Of course. Whatever you need.”
Relief softened his features for just a beat. “Thanks, Zach. It’s nothing you can’t handle. Nate will be doing most of the heavy lifting. I just don’t want him drowning in both roles again, but I also know neither you or Jesse want to be interim CEO.”
I flinched. “I’ll back them up. Don’t worry. Besides, you said it’s only for a few days, right?”
“Yeah, but Dad is meeting me there,” he said. “It might end up being more than a few days, depending on what he’s planning.”
I frowned. “Dad, as in Douglas Westwood, our father who has been sunbathing semi-professionally for the last twelve to fourteen months?”
He laughed. “One and the same.”
“Why is he meeting you there?”
He shrugged, but his mouth pulled into a flat line, letting me know that he was unimpressed with the situation. “Honestly? I have no idea. He just said that an old friend needs a favor and that he wants me there.”
“That’s suspiciously vague.”
“That’s exactly what I said.”
I chuckled. “Clearly, you’re thrilled about getting to spend a few days with the old man.”
His eyes rolled so hard, I was convinced he’d caught a glimpse of his tonsils. “Of course, and what better place than DC? Nothing makes me happier than leaving my family behind to go make small talk with politicians.”
“At least you’ll get some sleep, right? If Cameron and Jane won’t be going with you.”
“I’d rather take my wife and toddler,” he joked. “Being sleep deprived beats being ambushed every time.”
“You think it’s an ambush?”
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know, but just be available when I call.”
“Always.”
“That’s the problem,” he muttered, but his phone rang before I could ask him to explain. “Fuck. It’s Sterling. I have to take this, but I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as I know.”
I nodded, standing up and leaving before I could get dragged into whatever our oldest cousin was calling about.
Sterling was the CEO of Westwood and Sons, West Coast Division.
While he and Alex talked pretty regularly, I wasn’t about to stick around on the off chance this was about some new deal they’d send my way.
Instead, I took my secretary’s advice like I’d promised and headed home early. I was barely inside the front door before Bear came loping toward me, my German Shepard that was seventy-five pounds of enthusiasm with absolutely no respect for personal space.
“Hey, buddy,” I said as he pushed his head into my chest like he hadn’t seen me in years, his tail wagging so hard, it nearly knocked over a side table. “Yeah, I missed you too.”
Theo’s voice came from somewhere deeper in the house. “He’s been like that all afternoon. Going absolutely nuts.”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s obsessed,” Theo clarified, appearing in the entrance to the cavernous hallway that led to the rest of the house. “That squirrel who used to live in the backyard has taken up residence again and Bear has decided that it’s personal this time.”
Bear huffed like he understood every word, already turning toward the back door with purpose in his stride. I sighed but set my stuff down and moved to follow him. “Yeah, alright. Let’s go before you take out a wall.”
Theo trailed behind me when I walked to the kitchen to grab the leash. By the time I turned around, he was already halfway into a jacket. I frowned at him.
“I’m coming with you,” he said. “Bear and I have been waiting for hours.”
“And here I was, not knowing that I was the only person in this household who actually works.”
He laughed. “I finished up my last meeting early and came home. To be fair, I can answer emails from anywhere.”
“Sure, but is that what you were doing? Because I have a feeling you were terrorizing the squirrel with Bear.”
“Why do you always think I’m terrorizing something or someone?” he asked as we stepped out into the yard.
I shot him a grin over my shoulder. “How about because you usually are?”
As soon as he got outside, Bear locked onto his target like he had a job to do, but the squirrel, predictably, didn’t care. Theo shoved his hands into his pockets, his head shaking as he watched the dog. “That’s going to be an epic battle until the squirrel decides to move on again.”
“We’ll let him burn off energy for a few minutes before we head out,” I said. “He’ll be impossible otherwise.”
Theo nodded, waiting with me until Bear finally trotted back over. We left the house with Bear on his leash just ahead of us. Neither of us said much for the first block, but after we turned the corner, I felt him looking at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I heard Alex called you in,” he said. “Is everything okay? We’re not battening down the hatches for the next scandal already, are we?”
“Not yet.” I chuckled. “We’re all good for now. He’s just going to DC for a few days and he wants me to help Nate and Jesse cover some of his stuff.”
“DC?” He let out a low whistle. “He must not be happy about that. Doesn’t he hate that place with a fiery passion?”
“He does, but Dad insisted.”
Theo winced. “That sounds awful.”
“It’s not that bad.”
He snorted. “You hate that kind of thing too.”
“I don’t hate it,” I corrected. “I just don’t want it permanently.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Neither do I. Poor Alex.”
“Poor Alex has wanted that big chair our whole lives,” I reminded him. “He’ll live. Even if he might need therapy after a few days in Washington with Dad.”
“Ain’t that a fact,” he said, then laughed. “On the other hand, he needs therapy already. God knows, we all do. Especially after the last few years.”
“True. Maybe our next acquisition should be a mental hospital. We can all move in there together.”
Bear zigzagged ahead of us like he was mapping the neighborhood one scent at a time.
Theo watched him for a beat before he nodded his agreement.
“We could do that, but the hospital will have to be in Texas if you want everyone moving in. Trent called earlier. They had an appointment with the baby doctor this morning. Charlotte is doing well and the little one is still on track for summer, but it sounds like Trent is still trying his best to keep Charlotte as quiet and relaxed as possible.”
I snorted trying to hold back a laugh. “Good luck to him. He’s definitely going to need it.”
“Oh, and I spoke to Jane too,” he said. “Apparently, Cameron tried to feed Emma a crayon. Kate was not happy.”
“What did Emma do?” I asked, chuckling as I thought about my three-year-old nephew trying to convince his two-year-old cousin to eat a crayon. “I bet she really let him have it. She’s going to run Nate’s house with an iron first by the time she’s five.”
“She probably already does. According to Jane, she turned the tables and grabbed the crayon, then tried to feed it to him instead.”
We turned the final corner into the dog park and our quiet walk turned into loud, joyful, organized chaos. Beyond the area that had been fenced off for dogs, kids laughed and screamed on the playgrounds in the wider park, and where we were, dogs were barking and racing around.
There was a small art market set up in the adjacent park as well, folding tables standing under canvas tents with paintings propped up everywhere and other pieces displayed on every surface.
Bear’s ears went up and he was pulling at his leash like he’d just remembered he had a purpose in life beyond chasing squirrels.
“Easy,” I muttered, adjusting my grip on the leash.