Liz Talley - His Forever Girl

Frank shrugged. He couldn’t just say “I have cancer and I’m trying to protect my daughter.” But that was his main reason. Wasn’t like he wanted to hand over the reins of his company to anyone, but in a few days he’d have a stent placed in his ducts to alleviate the jaundice he’d been suffering. Then he’d start weekly chemo treatments to help shrink the tumor and prevent further metastasizing, and that would make him feel like shit. He’d have to rest and stay away from people who could make him sick. The least he could do for his employees and family was to leave the company in capable hands...and Graham Naquin seemed almost too good to be true.

The kid had graduated in mechanical engineering and then started a float company with two others—Upstart thrived and was currently the biggest thorn in Frank’s side. Graham could take Frank’s company on his broad shoulders and free him from the day-to-day minutiae. And hopefully, the energetic engineer holding a new MBA could revitalize a business mired in its own success.

Frank didn’t want to place that burden on his Tess. She already thought she could handle more than she actually could. “I wasn’t trying to dupe you, if that’s what you’re implying. Things are delicate, you see.”

“I think there is a lot you’re not telling me, Frank, and that worries me. If there is something I need to be aware of, you need to be forthcoming about it. Don’t set me up for failure, especially with your family.”

“The only one of my children who works here is Therese, and she’s a good girl even if she is headstrong. She’s young, you know? But family is more important to her than ruffled feathers. Give her a day or two and she’ll see she’s not prepared to deal with the business end of this company. Her head’s in her art, designing the floats and dazzling the krewes. We all have our talents, right?”

Graham pressed his hands down his thighs, smoothing his trousers, and then refolded them in his lap. Nervous for a man who exuded extreme capability. But Frank would give him being a little nervous. Frank had known this would be hard.

A knock sounded at his office door and Tess stuck her head in. “Hey, you wanted to see me?”

“Come on in, honey,” Frank said, motioning her into the room. She wore her customary jeans and T-shirt and a flash of guilt struck at not making the meeting more official, at not giving Tess a chance to get her professional game face on. Another mistake he’d weather.

Graham’s eyebrows drew together and he spun around as Tess stepped inside. Frank saw his body go rigid. “Tess?”

Tess’s eyes widened and her mouth gaped for a second. “Graham?”

For several seconds they stared at one another in shock.

“Wait, you know each other?” Frank hadn’t considered Tess might know the young man he’d chosen to run their family business. Graham had lived in Houston for the past six years, but since the man had grown up in New Orleans, it wasn’t impossible. But this seemed more than casual.

Tess ignored his question and closed the door before advancing toward his desk, her gaze crackling. “What are you doing in my father’s office?”

Graham stood. “You’re Therese?”

“I prefer Tess.” She crossed her arms and shot a look from her father to Graham. “Yeah. So back to the original question—what are you doing here? I assumed you didn’t—” And then her mouth snapped shut as something altogether different flitted through her gaze. In that moment, Frank realized however his daughter knew Graham, it hadn’t ended well. Which meant this situation wasn’t going to be slightly uncomfortable. Nope, it was atomic-wedgie uncomfortable.

“I—” Graham made another choked face and shook his head. “You never told me your last name. You put, uh, Two-Legged Tess in my phone.”

“Thought it was cute and memorable. Big fail, huh?” she said, voice like poison darts. Even Frank wanted to duck.

He cleared his throat. “Two-legged Tess? What the hell are you two talking about?”

Graham sat like he’d been hit by bad news. “I met your daughter at the bar you recommended to me after the interview. Two-Legged Pete’s.”

“Wait a sec, you told him about Pete’s?” Tess asked, her eyes narrowing as something in her head started clicking. Her voice faded as she murmured, “At a job interview.”

Her head whipped around, her arms dropped, fists at her sides as she faced the new CEO. “You had a job interview with my dad. A job interview for what?”

Graham sank in the leather chair. Or was it cowered? “Christ, this is crazy. How are you Frank Ullo’s daughter?”

“Why are you interviewing for a position I don’t know about?”

Both of them directed their gaze toward Frank.

“Okay, okay. Tess, have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair beside Graham.

“I think I’ll stand.” She crossed her arms, her chin jutting out. “I don’t want to sit for what you’re about to tell me because obviously I’m the last to know about what’s going down at our family company.”

“This is exactly the reason I had to make this decision.”

Her eyes glittered like icy, cold emeralds that reminded him of his wife Maggie’s when she was pissed. “What decision?”

“If you’d sit, I’d tell you. But as usual you’re acting like your mother,” Frank said, annoyed a simple announcement and introduction could get bogged down in drama before he’d said his piece. But what had he expected from Tess? Reasonable wasn’t her middle name.

“If it means that much to you, fine.” Tess sat. “So what’s the deal, Dad?”

“The deal is a change that’s been forthcoming here.”

“Really?” she said at a near growl. Graham averted his gaze to the sketches on the wall.

“You know I’ve been talking about retirement in the past several weeks. Now’s the time. I wanna pull back and enjoy life with your mother before I cash in my ticket.”

Tess said nothing...just stared at him. Frank nearly shifted in his chair, but refrained because he was a man, damn it. He didn’t shrink under the disdain of any woman...much less his youngest child who hadn’t even reached age thirty yet. Hell, she was still a kid.

“And?” she asked.

“I hired a headhunting company to look for someone who could—”

“You hired a headhunting company?” Tess arched one eyebrow. Frank felt the steam coming off her. She had never been laid-back, but she had a good temperament on most days. Everyone at Ullo liked her. She got what she wanted, but it was because she always leaned on people rather than pushed them. Honeyed words and all that. Still, when crossed, her Irish-Italian temper simmered out of control.

“That’s what I said, Therese. These guys go out and find—”

“I know what they do. You should have inferred my question to mean why not who.”

Frank had to think about that because he hadn’t had a fancy liberal arts education—he’d been raised on the streets and got his business smarts from what had always worked for him. “I hired a headhunter because I can’t leave the company with no one to look after it. You need help and your brothers have their own careers.”

Tess slapped her hands together. “Perfect. I see where this is going now. You want a man to run the company instead of trusting your own flesh and blood. You’re just that egotistical and misogynist.”

“I don’t know those words, but if you think this is because of what you ain’t got between your legs, you’re wrong.” Leave it to Tess to think this was about gender. Okay, maybe ten percent of his reasoning had to do with her being a woman. He wanted Tess to find love, settle down, have some babies—something hard to do running a company like Frank Ullo. But mostly this was about protecting her. She couldn’t shoulder the entire burden of this place alone.

Tess had amazing talent and a keen intellect, but she possessed very little business acumen. For the past seven years, ever since she’d graduated and come to work for him, they’d done wonderful things together. Tess had found better materials for their floats, and her clever design work had krewes lining up, willing to pay big bucks for Ullo to design their floats. Frank had handled the business end and thus far it had worked like a well-oiled engine. He didn’t see any reason to change things. She had to understand that. “This is about doing what’s best for our company.”

“How can you say that?” she asked in a small voice. It was as if the anger had dissipated, leaving a shaken shell in its place. Somehow this was worse. Anger he could handle. Hurt? Not so much.

“This ain’t personal, baby,” he said, leaning forward, keenly aware the PET scan report he’d received from the doctor a week ago sat in the drawer beneath the blotter. It pulsed into his psyche, reminding him how little time he had to settle things...how little time he had to insure his family stayed healthy, wealthy and stable.

“Wrong. It’s extremely personal.” Tess stared at the family crest ring he’d given her for her college graduation. “More than you even know.”

Graham had very wisely stayed out of the fray, but now he looked at Frank, something wavering in his eyes. Briefly, Frank wondered what he didn’t know about Graham Naquin...and what the man had meant to his daughter.

“I shouldn’t be here for this conversation, Frank,” Graham said.

“Of course you should. You’re going to be working with Tess. Better to clear the air and get us all on firm ground.”

“No, he’s right. This is between you and me,” Tess said, her voice low. “This is about you not trusting me.”

Frank shook his head. “You’re being dramatic, Tess. This is—”

“No. You hid this from me because you knew what would happen. Don’t act as if you didn’t know I’d be upset. You created the drama, Frank.”

Frank snapped his fingers. “Don’t call me Frank. And this does concern Graham. He’ll be working with you.”

“As what?”

Frank shrugged, almost too scared to say the words. “Technically, he’ll be the chief executive officer. Your job will remain the same. He’ll need you to help him—”

“No.” Tess slammed her hand on his desk. “I don’t accept this.”

Frank narrowed his eyes. “You don’t have a say.”

“The hell I don’t. I’ve worked here all my life. In case you’ve forgotten, my last name is Ullo. You’re skipping over me, your daughter, to hire someone else. I don’t accept that.”

“This is my company. Not yours.”

Tess reeled back as if he’d slapped her.

Graham shifted in his chair. “I’m stepping outside.”

“Yes, go.” Tess jabbed a finger at the door.

Graham ignored her and looked at him. In his eyes, Frank saw frustration and something else that looked like regret. “I’ll take a walk and return in half an hour.”

“Take a walk off the pier, why don’t you?” Tess said, before turning a frosty gaze to her father. No more defeated Tess. This was his pissed-off sunshine girl who had scored the winning goal in the state soccer finals. She didn’t know the words give up.

Graham didn’t take the bait. He merely shook his head and walked out.

The door snicked closed and Tess put her hands over her face. “Why are you doing this, Dad? I’ve been working so hard to earn... I thought you wanted me in this company. I thought it was understood that I would take over when you retired.”

“There are things you don’t understand, honey,” he said, softening his tone.

“So why didn’t you come to me and discuss the issues you had? Instead of doing that, you went behind my back. In fact, you interviewed him on the day I took Granny B to the doctor so you could hide it. I suppose you swore Billie to silence, too?”