Page 44 of Flyboy
"Good. Good. All right. I'll see you tomorrow. We can talk about upgrading the security system on the house while you're here."
"I'll bring gear. Get the guys working on that when I'm with Penny. Where will Alyssa be while all this is going on?" Roark asked, the tone of his voice letting Jack know his friend thought she'd have a few words to say about everything they were putting in place.
"She's on at Mercy-Life tomorrow. You've got twenty-four hours from seven AM."
"Won't need that much. I fitted the system you've got, remember? All it needs is a few upgrades and tweaks. They'll have it done before Penny gets home from school."
"Can you bring a personal alarm for Penny?"
"You think she'll need one?" Roark's tone sharpened.
"No, not really but I don't want to take any chances. Plus, if nothing happens this week, we can drop the shadow and leave her with the alarm."
"You're going to tell her." It wasn't a question. Roark knew him well.
"Yeah. You've said it yourself, Penny's not stupid and I think she'll be safer if she knows what's going on around her. I'm sure Lys would disagree and as her guardian she probably has more right to make that decision except I'm not happy with some of the decisions she's making right now."
"Aw," Roark chuckled. "Trouble in paradise."
"Can't be when it wasn't paradise to begin with."
"You never did like things easy."
"Couldn't tell you if I like them that way or not. I don't remember a time when I had it easy."
"True. Your life might look charmed to those on the outside, but it hasn't been. Well, not before you packed up and moved to Sunnyville."
"Yeah, and two days into my move I met Alyssa Drummond and any plans I had for an easy life went straight out the window."
"I'm not sure how easy you thought life would be, flying a rescue chopper while running a billion-dollar corporation. You know you aren't going to be able to keep this up much longer, Jack. We've managed two years, I don't think we'll make it to three."
Jack knew Roark was right. He would have to make up his mind sooner than later about handing off Townsend to someone else. The problem was Maryn wasn't ready to take over and he didn't trust anyone else. Dash could probably do it; hell, Roark or Keaton could too, but he'd wanted the top spot to stay in the family which meant him or Maryn. They were the last remaining blood Townsends.
"The barracuda is up to something." Roark's words yanked him out of his thoughts.
"What?"
"Not sure yet. I've heard a few rumors and if there's more to them than hot air, you're going to need to be at the next board meeting in person not video link. She's laying a lovely trail of bullshit about the reason you aren't in Vegas and if she gets wind of your marriage, you know she's going to blow that up."
"Dammit." Why did the shit always pile up at the same time? "Is Maryn doing okay?"
Roark laughed. "Don't worry about your sister; that woman is fine. She's got it under control and can handle herself."
"But if Emmaline pulls anything, she won't?" Jack couldn't bring himself to call Emmaline the barracuda like everyone else for fear of doing it to her face. Maryn didn't care; neither did the guys, but he'd found it easier to deal with her when he was civil.
"I'm not saying that. I just think if you want to put a stop to step-mommy dearest, the best way is for the two of you to do it together. Here. A united Townsend wall."
Jack didn't want to admit it, hated that a life-changing decision came down to what someone else did, but Roark was right. He needed to get back to Vegas, if not permanently, then definitely more often. He didn't want to quit working at Mercy-Life; he loved his job, except it took up time he sometimes couldn't spare when it came to being CEO of the Townsend Group and chairman of the board.
He heard Penny out in the hallway. "I gotta go. Talk in the morning."
"Tomorrow."
Jack hung up and stepped out of the room to intercept Penny before she headed up to her room. "Hey, Pen, got a minute?"
"Sure." She trudged into the study ahead of him, her shoulders slumped. "Is this because I yelled at Lyssa?"
"Ah, no, but if you want to talk about that, we can."
