Chapter Twenty Six
JAKE
"David, you’re a genius," I said, reading over the official offer he sent.
He was the buyer interested in Whitley Advertising.
Over the past three weeks, we'd gone back and forth over the details of the offer.
I hadn't told the family anything yet, but with this last offer, I knew I could at least get Grandfather to consider it.
I had calls with Ben and Betty later today to discuss New York business, but I could make time for a lengthy chat with my grandparents.
I was about to call my grandmother when my phone lit up with an incoming call from Maddox. I frowned. Interesting. I'd gone by their office a couple times since Natalie started there, whenever she stayed after hours for the tournaments, but Maddox hadn’t called me before.
"Hello, Jake," he said.
"Hi."
"I'll keep this short. You know our biggest event is coming up. Well, the biggest one Natalie organized."
"Yeah, she told me the details."
It was tomorrow evening, and she couldn't stop talking about it. She lit up from the inside whenever she spoke about her work. I kept wondering why she'd gone into the computer science and predictive analytics field in the first place.
"I wanted to officially invite you too. A lot of important names and companies will be there. Potential clients for Whitley Advertising."
"Natalie will be there, so count me in.”
“I like your priorities.”
Over the past weeks, I’d been juggling things more than usual, negotiating the sales offer on top of conducting daily business at Whitley Advertising and the daily checkups with New York.
“Thank you for the invitation."
"Sure, anytime. I won't keep you any longer. We both have stuff to do. See you, Jake."
"See you."
After hanging up, I immediately called my grandmother. Even though Grandfather felt much better than he had a couple weeks ago, I still called her to check in. He rested multiple times during the day, and I didn't want to accidentally wake him.
She answered immediately. "Well, if it's not the prodigal grandson."
"Will you ever stop calling me that?"
"Yes, whenever you come home for good."
"Subtle as always, Grandmother."
"Darling, I never said I was. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"I've got some news important enough that I’d like to discuss it with you, Grandfather, and my brothers. When can we drop by?"
"I can throw together a dinner. Does tomorrow work?"
“No, I’m going to an event in the evening.”
“Then lunch! It’s Saturday, so hopefully I can get everyone together. Especially Colton. That boy is starting to worry me."
If I was honest, he was worrying me too.
"I think so too," I replied. "And, Grandmother, do you mind if Natalie joins us?"
"Mind? Darling, it's all I ever wanted. Remember my scheming?"
"Hard to forget," I admitted.
Despite my best effort to persuade her, Natalie couldn’t join us for lunch on Saturday. She had to be on location to prep everything for the event starting at eleven in the morning. I was disappointed because I wanted her here with me today when I shared the news.
“Damn, Jake. Now you’ve got a big fat minus point with Grandmother for showing up without Natalie,” Cade said.
She'd cooked three whole meals for the lunch.
"Grandmother, you don't have to cook up a storm every time the five of us are together," Gabe said, kissing her cheek. He was the last one to arrive.
Colton kept checking his phone. I cocked a brow him, and he didn't even shrug. He looked exhausted.
“What happened?" I asked him.
"Breakthrough didn't happen, so now we're back to square one."
"Darling, we're so sorry," Grandmother said.
I suspected that he was beating himself up for the discovery not working. He’d always had a strong sense of responsibility, but that was life in research. Sometimes things worked out and sometimes they didn’t.
Gabe and Cade exchanged a glance. I was betting they were thinking about ways to take our brother's mind off his troubles.
Spencer's eyes were fixed on Colton. "Dude, you can't lock yourself up in your office or the lab until the next breakthrough happens. You're going to burn yourself out."
"I agree," I said. He was driven but in different ways than the rest of us. This was never about money for him. It was his life. I was all for following your passion as long as that didn't completely consume you.
"By the way," Gabe said, turning to me, "I heard you’re going to Maddox's event."
I looked at him in surprise. "How do you know about it?"
“Because all of us are going."
"Obviously," Cade added.
"Except Colton. He hasn't RSVP’d yet," Spencer said.
"We're not going to convince that one to come," Gabe said.
Spencer frowned. "Yes, I will."
For the first time today, Colton chuckled. "I like it when you talk about me as if I'm not here."
Spencer shrugged. "You're clearly lost in that big brain of yours. It's not so far-fetched, really."
Cade turned to me. "Grandmother said you have news."
"Yes, I do," I said.
“Good. Time to share it with us," Grandfather responded. It was the first time he'd spoken since we sat at the table. No one was touching their food. I could tell everyone was on edge.
I got up and grabbed the file I’d left on the console table by the entrance.
"I'm going to guess that whatever you want to say has to do with that," Grandfather said, pointing at the folder as I sat down.
I nodded. "Yes. This is an offer to buy Whitley Advertising."
Grandmother sank lower in her chair. My brothers didn’t react at all.
Grandfather frowned. "One of the first things you said is that no one is going to pay what it's worth."
"That was months ago. Whitley Advertising is in much better shape now, and the offer reflects that. It's a very good price, if I say so myself. I've done the calculations."
"Who wants to buy it?" Grandfather asked.
"David Kazinski from The Advertiser. You know him."
"That’s a reputable company. Give me the folder."
I handed it to him, and he immediately opened it. I put the dollar amount on the first page. The details were in the rest of the stack. Grandfather seemed too stunned to speak for a moment.
"I wasn’t expecting this."
“David is a smart man. He knows the value of the company. He knows we have a huge client base. And the recent mismanagement of cash flow does not reflect on the creative work the team does."
He put down the file without looking through the rest of the stack. Then again, I hadn't expected him to. If he were inclined to consider this, he’d go through it later.
Grandfather looked at Grandmother, who simply nodded, and then he looked back at me. "We’d prefer for the company to stay in the family, but ultimately it's your call."
"Why would it be my call?"
“Because you’re the CEO now. You’ve worked hard to turn it around."
“It's still not my call. It's your company."
“It's yours too," Grandmother said softly. "It's all of ours."
“Yeah, no pressure," Spencer said. He leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest, seeming completely relaxed.
Cade looked at me. "We should celebrate this. I'm not exactly sure what the celebration would be about, but it does feel like it's worth remembering."
Colton turned to them. "Drop it. This is not a joking matter. Jake is under enough pressure as it is."
I didn't understand why Grandfather left this up to me to decide. I’d sell it in a heartbeat. He had to know that. And yet he wanted to keep it in the family.
"Would you prefer me to start the search for another CEO again? I estimate that in about four months, the company will be fit to be taken over by someone else.”
“You can do that too, of course, if you think you shouldn't sell it," he replied.
I hadn't counted on this. The only reason I’d taken so long to break the news to the family was because I wanted to have a solid case to convince my grandfather to sell it. I wasn't expecting him to relegate the decision-making to me.
Usually, this came easy to me. Some said I was ruthless in business, heartless even.
But the truth was, I always followed the numbers.
And right now, the numbers indicated that selling was the smartest thing to do.
I’d hand Whitley Advertising over to David Kazinski, and I could go back to New York and continue my life.
Only a couple months ago, this decision would have taken me no time at all.
Even with my grandfather telling me he’d prefer for it to stay in the family, if he left the decision to me, I’d sell without a second thought.
But right now, I had to think. I needed to talk to Natalie.
I didn't want to do it before her big event this evening, but I’d waited long enough. I wanted her to know about everything.
"Now he's hesitating," Gabe said.
I glowered at him.
“Obviously. Grandfather basically whiplashed him,” Colton said. He sounded as stunned as I felt. On the upside, it seemed to have shaken him out of his downward spiral.
"Well played, Grandfather. You managed to surprise him," Cade said. “Actually, all of us. Do you have any other surprises up your sleeve?”
“No.”
Cade cocked a brow. “I’m not sure I believe you. You and Grandmother are very… feisty lately.”
Grandfather chuckled. “Your grandmother’s business with you boys is her business, not mine.”
He was determinedly avoiding looking at Cade. Something that didn’t escape my brother’s attention.
“No, but clearly it's mine. What are you hiding, Grandfather?”
“Nothing.”
Cade groaned. “What is Grandmother hiding?”
“Not my place to say. Always have your wife’s back. Always. Remember that. You might need the advice one day.”
Cade opened his mouth, then pressed his lips together, frowning.
Grandfather started to serve himself roast chicken. "I cannot pretend that I can decide on the future of any branch of Whitley Advertising. It wouldn't be fair. Especially since Jake invested so much time in it."
“Okay. Now I think business talk is over. Jake will obviously need some time to think about it. There's no need to beat a dead horse. Let's change the subject. When does Maddox's party start? And did Natalie organize it?" Grandmother asked.
"It starts at seven, and yes," I said. "She's very excited about it."
"She's very talented in event planning, that one. All my friends were thrilled about my birthday party. Has she got any other work lined up? Jake?"
"Earth to Jake?" Cade asked, shaking his head mockingly. "There's no point trying to engage him in conversation."
I glowered at him, and he held up his hands in mock surrender.
"Fine, fine. I'm just saying. Natalie is going to dump your sorry ass if you show up with that face. What does she think about this offer?"
"She doesn’t know yet. That’s why I wanted her to join us today. But I'll tell her tonight before the event."
Colton blinked. "Do you think that's a good idea? She needs to work afterward."
"I know, but I don't think it's smart to wait. I’m on edge. She’ll pick up on that."
"I'm with you," Gabe said. "One look at your sorry-ass face and she’ll know something’s off. You're going to need all the luck in the world."
"That sounds so encouraging," I said.
“It wasn’t meant to be encouragement," Gabe clarified. “Just the honest truth. Or ugly truth. Depends how you want to look at it."
We all fell into silence as we helped ourselves to Grandmother's roast chicken and all the other fixings.
No, it didn't have to be ugly, but I agreed with Gabe: I did want luck on my side.