Page 74 of When I Fall In Love

“Holy hell, man. I though them aliens came and abducted you. Now they’ve planted a carbon copy of you here and Bob’s prediction’s come true. What the hell’s going on, Hunter? A puppy?”

“Why not. Carpe diem.”

He stares at me as if I’ve lost it completely. “I asked Jessie to pick Hannah up from school so I can go through to Montpelier and see Dad. You were with him this morning?”

“Yes, he’s good. Every day he’ll get a little stronger. He’ll get there.”

Derek nods, and for the first time I notice the dark circles under his eyes and the strain in his jaw. This week has been hell for him too. “Thanks for running the show. I couldn’t do any of this without you.”

“It’s nothing. It almost runs itself.”

That’s not true. There’s a permanent flow of signoffs and checks and controls he’s needed to keep track of, effectively doubling his workload. “All the same, I want to thank you. And also—” Now I hesitate. Derek will be the first to hear about my plans and he is instrumental to all of them working out, at least temporarily.

“Yes. Don’t worry about the puppy. I’m working on Hannah—”

“No, I’m in earnest when it comes to the puppy. Hannah is the only little one in the family right now, she needs more cousins but—just get her a dog, please.”

“Okay… I’m not sure that’s what we’re here to discuss.”

“What did you want to say?” I ask, realizing that Derek came to my office first with something on his mind. He’s not holding any printouts in his hands, but we work like this, a constant to and fro of ideas and numbers and stats, him hovering at my door with a bit of info or walking in to discuss something quickly. This is nothing new.

“I have two more leads on possible milk suppliers, so we’re not closing shop yet.”

“Excellent.” I lean in and pin him down with a serious stare. “Do you think you’d be able to do this, longer term?”

“What do you mean?”

“Going forward I plan to only be here every six weeks or so for a check-in. I’ll be working online. Do you think you’d be able to run the show on a more permanent basis?”

For a long moment Derek just stares at me as my question sinks in, and sinks and sinks. Yep, the sea beneath this one is possibly bottomless.

“Jesus, Hunter, you’d trust me like that?”

“Yeah, totally.”

“You’re planning to move to California? To be with Beth?”

I smile. “The idea’s been brewing but I’ve made up my mind. I won’t—can’t—be without her anymore.”

“That would make me so happy for you. Jeez, Hunter—” He breaks off to lean into his hands and breathe into his palms. “Yes, of course. I don’t see why not. I mean… it’s a helluva mountain of trust you put in me—”

“Come on, Derek, you’ve proven yourself a thousand times in this company. You’ve worked hard. You know every inch of this business as well as I do. Of course I trust you to run this company like it’s your own. You already did so this whole week…”

Derek swallows hard and I blink. His eyes are actually welling up with tears. “You don’t know what it means to me. Every hit and kick you’ve been there, Hunter. You picked me up when I was at my lowest. Gave me this job when Hannah wasn’t even two months old, helping me finish my degree in finance through it all. If it weren’t for you—”

“You would have managed some other way. You’ll always manage. I have tons of respect for you, and with the way you’re bringing up Hannah—” Now it’s my turn to blink away at an excess of water in the eye.

“Jeez, we’re two wrecks. This week… it’s been rough.”

I nod, not trusting my voice right now. “Yeah,” I eventually croak. “This week has been a bit of an eye-opener.”

“And a reality check.”

“We’ll work it out as we go along.”

“Sure. We have the start of a blueprint from this week already.”

“Yep.”

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