Chapter 6
Present Day
After Taylor leaves my office, I walk to the window and look out at the stadium below, taking in all that I’ve built in her absence.
This team. This company. I’d give it all up to have her back.
I hope I don’t have to. I hope we can run it together.
That is, if she’ll join me on this venture.
Having her here to help with this crisis feels like a step in the right direction.
Rounding my desk, I press the speed dial on my phone to handle the Mark and Ricardo situation.
“Grant, I was wondering when I might hear from you.” Teresa’s cheery voice soothes me.
She’s been a constant for me over the years—a dear friend and a surrogate aunt of sorts.
She didn’t make the move with me to Nashville.
Her entire family is settled in New York, and I couldn’t take her away from them.
Instead, she still sits in our offices in Manhattan, running the office in my absence, and working with me remotely.
“Am I that predictable?” I chuckle lightly, dropping into my executive chair.
“Only to me. How’s it going down there? Get the rookie situation under control?”
“I think so. Taylor is actually helping.”
“Is she?” Teresa’s voice pitches and she’s silent for a beat before clearing her throat to cover her surprised satisfaction at this development. “How do you feel about that?”
“I think it’s just what we need.” Deep in my bones, I know this could be the breakthrough chance I’ve been searching for.
A chance to rebuild some of what broke. It’s one thing to lay the foundation to bring her back into my life, but it’s another thing entirely to have a conversation with her like we just did.
Knowingly, Teresa says, “A reason to be close to you. Are you finally going to fight for your wife?”
“I’ve been ready.”
Teresa’s tsks. “If you were ready, you would’ve made your move already. I’m going to be retired and gray before you actually do anything about it.”
“We both know you’ll never retire willingly.”
“I just might if you don’t get your shit together.
” Teresa has the means to retire. Her husband, who is ten years her senior, retired a few years ago and has been begging her to stop working but she refuses.
She likes her independence. Some days, I wonder if I’m the reason she hasn’t retired, since she’s constantly saying if she retired my business would fold within the year.
“Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”
“So what’s the plan then?”
Huffing out a breath, I swipe a hand through my hair. “Hell if I know. She wants to help Mary’s team with the crisis control and I’d be stupid to turn down that offer. We need her expertise.”
Teresa hums. “Agreed.”
“From there, I think I just see how it goes. Watching her work today was something else. She’s brilliant. Everything I always knew she could be.”
“Grant, you can only be the sacrifice for so long. You’ve put her needs and wants above yours for a decade. It’s time to prioritize yourself. That doesn’t mean she’s not a priority, but you can’t stay in this limbo forever. It’s not good for you.”
Our interactions today play in my mind as I consider what Teresa’s saying.
My heart skips a beat at the thought of Taylor, my fingers itch to brush across hers again like they did when I took the bourbon bottle from her.
Having her so close did a number on my body and my psyche, but one thing has never changed.
Sighing, I give her my truth. “I love her, Teresa.”
Teresa’s voice softens, and I know if she were here she would reach for my hand but since she’s not I let her voice comfort me. “I know you do, honey, but you can’t let that love ruin you.”
Hasn’t it already?
“That’s all I’m going to say on the matter,” Teresa says.
“I’ve said my piece and that’s that. Now, what were you calling for?
” This is why Teresa’s been with me from the very beginning.
She’s not afraid to speak her mind when it matters to her, but she also doesn’t push to get her way.
Once she’s said what she wants to say, that’s that.
“We need to terminate Mark and Ricardo. Their behavior in our meeting earlier was despicable. I can’t believe I’ve had two misogynistic assholes hiding right under my nose.”
“I can pull their contracts. Do we need someone from legal to get involved?”
“Think we might. Mark is the general counsel for the team, so we can’t handle this in-house at the Troubadour level. Stella Corporate would be better, and if they think we should go to an outside firm, let me know and we can arrange it.”
“No problem. I can walk down and talk to them. Do you want me to ask about a suspension pending termination as well?”
“Yes. Better yet, why don’t you conference them in and we can chat right now.”
“You got it, boss.” I hang on the line while she connects with Stella’s chief legal officer. Leah has been with the company for a few years, and I trust her judgment implicitly.
“Leah, Grant is on the line now,” Teresa says before muting herself to take notes.
“Grant, how are you?” Leah asks when she joins the call.
“Doing well. We’ve run into a situation down here that I could use your help with.”
“Oh yes, I saw about Chase Bennett’s arrest.”
“That’s actually not the situation I need your help on. Gabrielle Pierson is handling that, but Mark, my general counsel, is the issue.”
“What can I do?”
“He’s clearly been neglecting his duties, and Ricardo, the scout, made some disparaging remarks about Gabby in a meeting. I’d like to terminate them both, but I don’t know what their employment contracts look like.”
“Tennessee is an at-will state, but I’m happy to look over the contracts and make sure we aren’t putting the organization at risk for a wrongful termination suit. I anticipate you may like to relieve them of their duties immediately pending our findings?”
“If at all possible.”
“Let me consult with HR and I’ll get back to you by the end of the day.”
“That would be great. Thank you, Leah. I owe you.”
“You owe me nothing, Grant. I’m simply doing my job.”
“Be that as it may, this is outside your scope as it’s not a corporate issue.” Teresa will send Leah a gift certificate for her favorite restaurant. It’s a common occurrence and one of the reasons my employees stay longer than employees at any of our competitors. We take care of our people.
“I appreciate that. Let me run down these questions for you and I’ll let you know the best approach.”
“Thanks again.”
Knowing the situation with Mark and Ricardo will be handled expeditiously, I find myself smiling at the knowledge that Taylor will be pleased I checked off her first requirement to working together.
Anything to make her happy, I think, and then my mind goes to what Teresa said about fighting for Taylor.
The truth is I did stop fighting for her.
At the time, I told myself it was to let her go and spread her wings.
Taylor needed to prove herself. To her company, the world, the industry, herself—who knows.
She never had to prove herself to me, but I knew I had to let her go if there was any hope she would come back someday.
I never gave up hope. I never gave up on us, but I can see why others would think I did.
Very few people knew we were married. When our relationship and my career fell apart, it looked like any other breakup, but that was the furthest from the truth.
I poured myself into building Stella Holdings as a way to numb the pain and move on.
The company grew like wildfire and now we have properties all over the world.
I’m extremely proud of the success I’ve created from nothing but it’s lonely.
Celibacy wasn’t the path I chose, but even in the few years I tried to move on before quickly realizing it wasn’t possible, I never allowed any of the casual flings to amount to anything more than a few romps in the bedroom—never my bedroom and never my heart.
Those belonged to someone else already and just in case she made the choice to come back, those would remain reserved for her.