Page 57 of While You're There
There was nothing immediately pressing—just a continuous stream of updates as they juggled a million moving parts. He didn’t mind all the notifications, and he was grateful for the play-by-play Quinn was sending him. This was the first big test of his leadership abilities. He was already ten steps behind by not being there in person. He needed to make sure his team knew he was available and that they could reach him for any reason.
He shot off a quick text to his assistant, letting him know he was at dinner so he might not respond as quickly over the next few hours. He checked email again, confirming it was just a lot of the same updates Quinn had summarized for him via text. The last notification came in the form of a missed call.
He clicked on his call log and almost threw the phone across the bathroom.
Chandler Cunningham.
Hell no. Not now. Not tonight. Out of all days for her to try to stir up trouble and be back on her bullshit… There was way too much going on to add Chandler’s drama into the mix. He considered shooting off a nasty text to tell her off, but that would just be playing into her game. He refused to engage.
Rhett stalked back to their table, feeling no less settled than when he left to check his messages a few minutes ago. He lowered himself into the booth and gave Tori a tight smile.
She smiled across from him, looking so vibrant and carefree. She ran a sandaled foot up his calf through his dress pants as soon as he was seated across from her. “I ordered a couple appetizers since I wasn’t sure what you were in the mood for.”
“Thanks, beautiful,” he replied as he reached for his beer. He took a long sip and exhaled. “Burning River?” he guessed, tipping his chin toward the glass in recognition of the familiar pale ale.
“Oh, you’re good,” she confirmed. “I asked the server to bring us a couple waters, too.”
Rhett’s phone vibrated in his pocket again, and he reached for it on instinct. He slipped it out halfway, then glanced down to read the text his assistant had just sent.
Quinn: Incoming. Jonathan just showed up and asked for a status update. I’m setting up the conference call now and will send you the link in the next two minutes.
Goddamnit. Things were under control. Or at least as in control as they could be, given the situation. He was handling it. And he had been keeping his granddad in the loop with hourly updates. But if his CEO wanted an in-person update on a Saturday night, Rhett needed to be in that meeting.
“Hey V? I’m so sorry, but…”
“It’s fine,” she assured him before he could even get out a full apology.
He still felt the need to explain. “Granddad just showed up at the office, and he’s asking for an update. I can’t leave my team hanging when I’m not even there…”
“Rhett. Really. Go make the call. I know this is a big deal, and you’re not going to be able to think about anything else until it’s handled and everyone is taken care of. You have to do what you have to do. Want me to order for you?”
“No, no, I won’t be that long. I’ll make it quick.”
He rose out of his seat again and grabbed his beer before he headed for the outdoor patio, kissing Tori on the head as he exited.
Twenty minutes rolled into thirty. At the forty-five minute mark, Rhett found himself at the outdoor patio bar ordering another drink. Finally, just shy of an hour later, he was able to hang up and get back to his wife.
He approached slowly, noting how Tori’s sun-kissed shoulders were slumped over as she sat alone in the booth, scrolling on her phone.
“Sorry, V. That was ridiculous,” he offered as he ran his hand against the bare skin of her upper back. He let his fingers trail along her shoulder and her collarbone before grasping her chin. He leaned down to kiss her, trying to convey the sincerity of his apology as his lips glided against hers.
“Hmmm,” she hummed against his mouth. “You upgraded.”
“What?”
“I taste whiskey on that mouth I love.”
“Ahh, yeah. The patio bar was open, and that call required it.” He held up his half-full lowball glass for emphasis.
“Did something else happen?”
Rhett blew out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. He didn’t want to spend their date night talking about work. But it seemed that was all his mind would allow tonight.
“Nothing new. But Jonathan showing up unannounced asking for updates sent everyone into a tailspin. Honestly, I think he was just stopping by to check in on them because he knew they’d been working all day, but my team got flustered and wanted to bring me in on the call.”
“Rhett, if you need to get back …”
He cut her off with a determined shake of his head. “No. No way. Our first egg retrieval appointment is on Monday, V. I can manage this from here. My team and I are still figuring out how to work together. And they’re all going to have to get used to long distance, because this won’t be the last time I’m not in town and things need handled. This is a learning experience for everyone, but it won’t ever be this hard again.” He shook his head in frustration. This wasn’t how he wanted the night to go.
