“Mr. Cutler is retiring. We’ll need a new attorney and vice-president,” I mention, pointing to the folder in front of Mason. “The document has been submitted.”
Mason, Falcon, and Lake open their folders and glance over the contents.
Mason seems to be deep in thought about something as Stephanie fixes us each a cup of coffee. Before he can voice his thoughts on the contents, the other board members begin to arrive.
Once everyone is seated with a cup of coffee next to their open folders, I open the meeting, “We’re honored to have Carter Hayes, the chief executive officer from Indie Ink Publishing here today.” I continue to list the titles of the other members, introducing Logan, Jaxson, Marcus, and Rhett as well. Once the formalities are out of the way, we begin to work our way through the list of items up for discussion today.
I glance around the table before I say, “Mr. Cutler will be retiring, but as per company rules, he will remain on for a year in order to hand over the reins to whoever is appointed.”
Carter locks eyes with me and asks, “Do you have a list of candidates?”
“Not at this moment,” I answer honestly. “I’m hesitant to bring in someone from the outside. CRC Holdings executives have always consisted of the founding families.”
“Is the board open to recommendations?” Rhett asks, and I catch his gaze flicking to Logan, who is the current attorney for Indie Ink.
I remain silent for a moment, considering that if we gave the position to Logan, it would at least remain amongst the current board members, which has me answering, “The board is open to recommendations.”
The meeting comes to a close just in time for lunch, and I remain seated while some of the board members leave.
“I’ve confirmed the reservation at The Rose Acre for lunch,” Stephanie says before she leaves the room to head back to her office.
“Gentlemen,” I say as I rise from my chair. “Should we head out?”
“I’ll ride with Julian,” Mason says, surprising me because he always drives with Falcon and Lake.
We leave CRC, and I wait until the cars begin to pull away from the entrance before I glance at Mason. “To what do I owe the honor?”
“Honor my ass,” Mason grumbles with a smirk. “I wanted to talk about Logan West before Rhett recommends him as the attorney for CRC.”
“You picked up on that?” I murmur, once again impressed with how perceptive Mason is.
“Only because I was thinking the same thing. It would be better for CRC to keep the position amongst the board members. We all have something to lose if the company goes to shit.”
“True.” I pay attention to traffic for a couple of minutes before I ask, “Do you think Logan would be able to manage both companies, though?”
“If he gets an assistant, he could. I’d rather hire a new director than an executive officer.”
“That makes two of us,” I agree. The corner of my mouth lifts as I admit, “Look at you, Jennifer would’ve been proud.”
“You think?” he murmurs, keeping his eyes trained on the landscape outside the window.
“I know.” Keeping my face schooled, I add, “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Why? You scared I’ll outshine you?” Mason jokes.
I’m unable to keep the smile from forming around my lips. “Like that will ever happen,” I joke back, enjoying the bantering between us.
After Jen died, Mason and I drifted apart, and I regret not trying to repair the damage to our bond sooner.
“Right, because you’re one hundred percent businessman who thinks having a personal life is a liability?” Mason calls me out.
“I have a personal life,” I argue even though I know he’s right.
Mason doesn’t hesitate to scoff, “You call living at a hotel and working every waking hour having a personal life?”
“I don’t spend all my time at the office.” Mason gives me a cynical look, which has me confessing, “I’ve been spending some time at Trinity’s music department.”
Surprise widens Mason’s eyes. “You have? When did you start playing again?”
Music was something I shared with Jennifer, and after her passing, I couldn’t bring myself to play an instrument.
“After Falcon and I made peace,” I admit. Glancing at Mason, I see the questions on his face, so I explain, “Since Jen died, I closed myself in behind the doors of my office, avoiding anything that wasn’t business-related. I almost destroyed my relationship with Falcon in the process, but during the past year, I realized I couldn’t go on living my life that way. I let Falcon and my father back in, and I regret not doing it sooner.”
I’m surprised by how natural it feels picking up with Mason after the distance that grew between us the past five and a half years.
“Jen would want you to be happy,” Mason repeats the words he told me when the families met up for golf a couple of weeks ago.