Chapter 11
Kate
Breakfast the next morning was tense.
Grant looked at Kate when she walked in but quickly looked back down at his plate and didn’t say anything. Gus ran to greet her, and she bent down to pet the wiggly pup.
“Corgis are great dogs, aren’t they?” Walter said cheerfully. “My aunt used to have corgis. They have big personalities in little bodies, right, Grant?”
Grant ignored him.
“Good morning!” Kate greeted Walter as she set down her bags, then she grabbed a plate of food. Stefan had it all laid out on a buffet in the dining room for everyone to help themselves.
“So the agenda for today,” said Walter, smiling at Grant, who did not return the smile. “I’ll take you to New York City to the office. I’d like to on-board you and start to involve you in the business. I think once you’ve got something to keep you occupied, you’ll do a lot better.”
Kate didn’t know if that was going to be such a good idea. Grant probably still needed time to decompress. But Walter was insistent that Grant be involved in his business. He wanted to make up for lost time, she supposed.
Kate was feeling more balanced after a good night’s sleep. The events of the previous day were still humiliating, but she could almost slightly see the humor in the situation. In addition, she still had her job, so she was going to count it as a win.
Be positive, she told herself. There are so many people in the world worse off than you. She wondered if one of them might be Grant. He looked miserable.
Walter wiped his mouth and stood up. “Are we ready to go? My brother, Jack, will be meeting us at eleven. We don’t want to be late. You can take the rest of your food in the car if you’d like, Grant.”
Grant shook his head. “I’m finished.”
On the car ride into New York, they passed by the burned-out Victorian house.
“Is that…” Grant asked, his voice trailing off. Walter looked up from his tablet.
“Yes.” He looked longingly at the house.
Kate looked at her boss in concern.
“Why wasn’t it bulldozed?” Grant asked.
“Insurance,” Walter replied.
“Oh.”
They were quiet the rest of the ride. Kate and Walter made phone calls. Grant leaned against the window and dozed.
Kate felt bad for him. She was sure that having a strange man barge into his room while he was sleeping had given him a shock. She didn’t think he was ready to start working at Holbrook Enterprises. You had to be in the right headspace for it, and Grant seemed pretty out of it still.
Kate hadn’t seen another appearance of the forceful and magnetic man that was on display at the press conference after that evening. She wondered if Grant would be as impressive today or if he would still be in a slump.
“Here we are,” Kate said brightly. They had finally arrived in Midtown. Traffic had thankfully been light. The doorman came and opened the door. Grant jumped out and automatically offered Kate a hand, helping her onto the sidewalk.
They walked through the impeccably decorated lobby. The white marble reflected light in the large space, and the wood and bronze accents still made it seem warm and personable. Kate watched Grant pull at his suit. She needed to order him new clothes.
They went up to the executive boardroom at the top of the tower, overlooking the city. There was one man at the table, and he looked like a slightly older version of Walter.
“This is my brother, Jack,” Walter said. “He heads the Holbrook Foundation and sits on the board of Holbrook Enterprises.”
Grant shook his uncle’s hand.
“We’ve been waiting a long time to finally meet you, Grant,” Jack said. “My wife, Nancy, will have you over soon, I should think. For now, let’s concentrate on business.”
“Yes, I’d like to involve Grant in the company,” Walter said, unbuttoning his suit jacket and taking a seat.
“Are you sure it’s wise?” asked Jack. His expression made it clear how he felt about it.
“What do you mean?” Walter asked, scowling at his brother.
“Well, everyone heard about the incident at your estate last night,” Jack replied.
“A misunderstanding,” Walter said, looking at his brother coldly.
“What’s he going to do at the company?” Jack asked. “He doesn’t even have a college degree.”
“Neither do I,” said Walter.
“Dropping out of Harvard to grow a company that was already doing a billion in revenue is a far cry from a Marine who was demoted for aggressive behavior. Executing men in cold blood. It’s unseemly,” Jack snapped.
“How do you know about that?” Grant practically shouted. Kate felt her pulse race.
“My brother-in-law is on the armed forces committee,” said Jack, steepling his hands. “And now we have this… incident. I’ve been fielding calls all morning. People are horrified. There is no scenario where Grant is given a position he is not qualified for.”
“He is my son!” Walter said, banging a fist on the table.
“I know,” Jack said, “but this smacks of nepotism. It would be one thing if he were competent. He wasn’t even a commissioned officer, just general infantry. I understand that you are still grieving, Walter, but it is my job as a board member to keep you from making rash decisions that affect shareholders.”
“This is not a rash decision. He is well qualified,” Walter countered.
“Right now, he’s a liability. He is inexperienced and uneducated and clearly crazy. Find him some help for his PTSD, maybe?” Jack sneered.
“Fat lot of good education and experience did for your son,” Walter hissed.
“Don’t you dare!” Jack said, jumping up.
Kate was afraid the two men were about to come to blows. Grant had stood up and was in a fighting stance. Kate wondered if he would jump in to defend his father. Hoping to dissipate the masculine aggression clouding the boardroom, Kate inserted herself smoothly in the confrontation.
“Why don’t we put him to work at the Holbrook Foundation?” she offered. “If he proves himself there and maybe enrolls in an Ivy League school, then maybe we can explore transferring him here.”
“That’s fine with me,” Walter said.
Jack glowered then said, “We’ll have a trial run.”
After Jack headed to the elevators, Grant said dryly, “So that went well.”
Walter shook his head. “I shouldn’t have had Stefan call the police. News travels fast in this community.”
“Maybe I should just leave,” Grant said.
“No. The foundation is probably a better fit, anyways. Maybe you can do some sort of veteran-based initiative. Everyone likes that—if it’s even moderately successful, people will get on board with you.”
“I’m not sure if I can,” Grant replied.
Walter looked at him quizzically.
“Like legally. I’m still in the Marines. I’m on leave, but I have to go back to finish filing all my EAS paperwork. After that, then I could be more involved.”
“That’s probably even better. Sit tight. Let this all blow over. You didn’t actually wrong anyone personally, so people shouldn’t hold a grudge. After you’re out of the Marines officially, we’ll have a big reveal party,” Walter said and patted Grant on the shoulder. “In the meantime, you and Kate can go to some events. Be seen and act like a gentleman, and people will come around. I’m sure there’s a white-tie fundraiser coming up where you can show up in your uniform.”
“The Kunzes have their annual spring ball for their scholarship fund,” Kate said. “That would be perfect. There’s all the charity polo matches this spring still,” Kate prattled on. “Plus, my grandmother wants to show him around, or she did before…” She trailed off.
“Look, I need to deal with something here in the office,” Walter said. “Kate, why don’t you take Grant for lunch? You didn’t eat a lot for breakfast,” he said to Grant. “And then we’ll take him by the foundation offices.”
“There’s a great noodle place a block away,” Kate said to Grant as they headed to the door.
Grant ignored her and walked out of the office.