Page 27 of Clear Blue Sky

“I remember.” Nelson shook his head. “You shouldn’t have gone after him.”

Maverick raised his hands. “He’s lucky I didn’t beat his ass, but the point is, he’d believe I’d go behind your back.”

“I’ll cover this morning,” Phoenix said. “Maverick can go to the hotel around noon and have a little chat with our friends.”

“I’ll work until Brandi gets into town, unless she’s not staying with me. Then we can adjust.” Nelson took one more glance over his shoulder. “I wish I believed nothing was going to come of this so I could put my past to bed, but I know that’s not the case.”

* * *

Brandi stuffed her laptop into her bag and lifted it to her shoulder. She sucked in a deep breath and headed down the long corridor toward her father’s office, pausing to glance in what was still Lake’s workspace. Until four weeks before Maddie was born, Lake came into the city once a month for at least three or four days for editorial and creative meetings.

More and more editors were allowed to work from home at least twice weekly. This was at her directive. Her father reluctantly gave her the green light on the condition that if the quality and the quantity of work diminished, everyone would return to the office.

She could envision a hybrid office and wanted to expand its reach. They had already pulled five indie authors from self-publishing and offered them the best of both worlds. Why not hire independent content editors? Her father had always been concerned about going with a digital-only line. He believed because of how successful indie authors had become, that wasn’t a road any author would want to take.

But discoverability was still an issue for everyone.

That, and costs.

However, she believed there was a way to do it that could benefit everyone. It wasn’t about pushing out a million titles, hoping one sticks. No. It was about finding a select few—the elite.

It meant getting some named authors to come over to the dark side.

She squared her shoulders and tapped on her father’s door. It always seemed so massive. “You wanted to see me before I left.”

“Come in and close the door.”

Whenever her dad asked her to do that, her heart raced like she was a teenager again and she’d been caught sneaking in after curfew. She set her bag on the floor between the two chairs in front of her father’s desk before easing into the one on the right. She preferred that one because it forced her father to push his monitor to the side.

Which he did immediately.

Of course, he left his computer open, meaning he could become distracted anytime.

Typical.

She smoothed down the front of her slacks.

“Is something wrong?”

“I’m concerned about a couple of things.” Her father clasped his hands together and rested them on the wood surface. “I’m going to start with this author who copied me on an email over the weekend.”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that, but Mom has me running in circles.”

“I know. I know. And I’m sorry this week is so stressful for you. Once this premiere is over, everything will be thrust back to Mom’s publicity team.” Her dad nodded, holding his hand up. “I appreciate all that you’re doing. I wouldn’t have stuck my nose in this if the party hadn’t fallen in your lap.”

“It’s sweet that Mom wanted to make sure Lake and Tiki could attend, and to include all of Tiki’s family, but this is a lot.”

“It wasn’t your mother’s idea.” He flattened his hands on the desk and stood. Turning, he faced the window and folded his arms. “I don’t know why this bothers me, but her publicist came up with the idea. She mentioned her team thought it would be great for Mom’s image. They are really pushing this Oscar thing.”

“I don’t disagree with Leslie. I might not like it, but it will be good for Mom and the movie.”

“Lake isn’t thrilled. He doesn’t want to put his family on display and I don’t blame him. He’s going along in part because his wife is a good person and wants to support her mother-in-law.”

“Dad, it’s more than that. We all know this is Mom’s very last movie, television show, Broadway spot, anything. She has no desire to do it anymore. She’s turned down three scripts already. All she wants to do is be Granny.”

Her father turned. “I’m so excited for your mom. This means the world to her and I’m happy to be by her side. I wish she’d listened to her instincts, said no to this premiere, and kept it in the city.”

“It will be good for a lot of businesses in the village of Lake George. We must do our best to ensure those who want to remain out of the public eye, do.”

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