Page 47 of The Single Dad's Guide to Recreation

“So let’s break it down. Pretend I’m not your boss.” He jumps up, circling his hands between us. “No bad ideas. Let’s whiteboard it.”

I press my lips together and count to five before speaking to calm my mind. If I count to ten, he’ll keep talking. “We’re past that, Eli. We’ve got plans in place. Plans the mayor has signed off on.”

His brow furrows. “Since when?”

“Since Tuesday? When I met with her?”

He looks up and to the left. “When I was in San Francisco?”

I shrug. “Possibly.”

“Damn it, Josh. You can’t sneak in meetings behind my back.”

“Eli. It is my job to shepherd this project. From conceptualization to fruition. You can’t be there for every little meeting. You have your own job. You’re the CEO, remember? I’m just one of your many VPs.”

He rests a hip on the table and flips through the plan, muttering, “But this is more fun.”

Speaking the truth, as in,because it’s the latest thing and you’ll get bored and move on soon enough,would not be a wise move. Instead, I shift gears. “Do you not trust me?”

Frowning, he crosses his arms over his chest. “All right. Show me what you’ve decided.”

When the last word lands with complete derision, I tell myself that I knew it’d be like this. Eli has mood swings and if you want the good, you have to accept the asshole every once in a while. This time I do count to ten as I open my laptop and sync it with the smartboard. Then I remind myself why I took this job. So my kids and I could live in a place that was more down to earth than Manhattan.

A slideshow of images flashes through my head, making me realize that it’s no longer just a job to me. Reconnecting with Sam, bonding with Travis and the parents at Playgroup, every moment I’ve spent with Avery… These moments make it clear that I’m part of this town.

“Okay,” I begin, clicking through the first slides. “This should all look familiar. Same open design. However, we’ve decided to shift some of the space usage and some of the programming.”

As I go over the plans, I skim quickly past the inclusion of Playgroup, hoping he won’t notice the fancy footwork I’ve done to keep it there. Instead, I focus on the multipurpose room and makerspace, neither of which were in our original plans.

“Multipurpose room? Isn’t that what they have now? That horrible combination of stage and basketball court?”

“This would be much more adaptive than the current gymnatorium.”

“And where’s the Pilates room? The barre studio? The cycling suite?”

“There are already private gyms in Climax. And we have those specialty rooms here at Trede.”

“But we have to have places for employees’ family members to work out. And appropriate activities to keep their progeny occupied while they do so.”

“But the spouses of Trede’s employees are a minority of the population.”

“So far.”

“Do you plan to repopulate the entire county?” Only half kidding, I wonder if that is what he’s thinking.

“I need to give the town a makeover if I want to have a chance at attracting the best talent. That’s what I brought you here to do.”

“You brought me in to connect with the community. It was your idea that I start with the Parks and Rec department. Which serves everyone in the town.”

“And it will be open to all of Climax.”

“But if it’s filled with programs and spaces that aren’t welcoming to all, then it’ll only serve an elite few.”

“What are you saying? I need a damn Walmart greeter at the door?”

Surprised that he even knows such a thing exists, I close the computer and meet Eli’s gaze. “Throwing down money to build a shiny new thing will actually cause problems, Eli. Replacing Zumba with Pilates will just alienate people.”

“But I’m giving this to the town.”

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