Escaping Shadows, page 16
“You’re in Charleston, South Carolina, my dear?” Mr. Blanchet asked Georgie.
“Actually, a very small town just north of it named Shadows Landing. You’re welcome to visit anytime. My grandfather is here, and we’re having a lovely time.”
Mr. Blanchet chuckled. “You are a clever one. More so than your father or brother. The way you dropped that tidbit is so very French. I presume that means you have your grandfather’s support to become president of Greyson Holdings?”
“I do,” Georgie assured him.
“It will be a pleasure to discuss some business ideas I have after you take full control of the company. Until then, my dear.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Blanchet. Heloise.”
Georgie ended the call and Ryker smiled at her. “I believe you’re one step closer to becoming the head of the family business. You’ve gained a powerful ally. Where did you learn that?”
“Miss Ruby and Miss Winnie. They always say something and then drop in, ‘of course I would happily make an apple pie if anyone is willing to help us do xyz,’” Georgie said with her best impression of the town matriarchs.
Ryker laughed and nodded. “Maybe you should be asking them for negotiating strategies.”
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”
“I was joking,” Ryker said, leaning forward.
“I wasn’t. If I’ve learned anything from tending bar, it’s that life experiences give people great knowledge. They may not have experienced negotiating a billion-dollar deal, but they’ve probably talked themselves out of a bake-off blow-up with other bakers. Negotiating is negotiating, and maybe if I take their knowledge and meld it with yours, I’ll get a brand-new way to negotiate that the men at the table will never see coming.”
“I’ve created a monster and I love it. I’ll be the proud big brother on the sidelines. Now, back to my way of negotiating.”
Georgie leaned forward and Ryker discussed numbers and how to read specific financials for weaknesses and strengths. Before she knew it, the day was over and it was time to head back to Shadows Landing.
* * *
Kord was working in the office when Brenda rang him. “There’s a Mr. Greyson out here to see you.”
Kord had a moment of wondering which Greyson, but figured it was Georgie’s grandfather since he was in town. Kord grabbed his things and turned off the light in his office. He was on patrol for the rest of the day and wouldn’t be coming back.
Mr. Greyson was waiting patiently in the lobby as he talked to Brenda. Kord pushed open the locked door and joined Georgie’s grandfather. “Good afternoon, Mr. Greyson.”
“Call me Dell, please.”
“Then how can I help you, Dell?” Kord asked as Brenda very obviously leaned forward to better eavesdrop.
“I know Georgina is with Ryker today, so I thought it might be nice if we got to know each other better. Do you have any time available?”
It had been a long time since Kord had spent time with family. While Dell wasn’t his family, he was Georgie’s and that meant he was his as well. He wanted a future with Georgie and so did Dell. Kord wasn’t as forgiving as Georgie. Dell had been present her whole life and never amounted to anything more than an asterisk in her prim, cold upbringing. It would do well to get to know him better, to make sure his motivation wasn’t to hurt Georgie.
Kord turned to Brenda. “Do you have the civilian ride-along waiver?” Brenda reached into her filing cabinet and placed the waiver on the ledge. “You can ride along with me today, but you’ll need to sign this waiver. You know, in case someone shoots at you or something.”
“Is that really something that happens in this town?” Dell asked and he read over the paperwork and signed it.
“More often than you’d think.”
Kord pushed open the door and walked out onto Main Street. The festival workers were beginning to hang the lights. The stalls would go up in a couple of days, then this weekend the festival would begin.
“Here’s my car. You don’t get seasick, do you?” Kord asked.
“I’ve raced yachts my whole life,” Dell told him.
“Good. I’m on water patrol for the next several hours. Skeeter owns the pirate ship you’ll see shortly. There’s a big tour group coming in for a pirate tour. We need to go around the stopping points and make sure the alligators aren’t sunning on the docks. Then we’ll patrol to make sure everyone is behaving. It’s usually pretty quiet, but give it a couple of weeks when schools are on break and you get kids doing all kinds of stupid things on the river,” Kord told Dell.
Dell chuckled. “I remember. I was one of them once. Sometimes I wonder how I made it to thirty. But eventually we all grow up. Did you go to college?”
“I did,” Kord replied as he pulled into the marina and parked.
“What were you like in college? What stupid things did you get into?”
Kord got out of the car and Dell followed him to the sheriff’s boat. It was small but fast and maneuverable; that’s what mattered in a water rescue or hunting down someone trying to transport drugs inland.
“Busy. I went to school on a football scholarship. When I wasn’t playing football, I was involved in my fraternity. Got into some trouble freshman year, but then my grandma made me come to Shadows Landing to stay with her. She and Granger got me on the right path. Granger had also been a college football player, so he knew the ins and outs of being a student-athlete. I had forgotten the student part, but my grandma straightened me out.”
“Where did you play? Which position? I loved football, but my parents wouldn’t let me play. They wanted me in yachting and rowing instead.”
“I played for the University of South Carolina.”
“You’re around twenty-nine or thirty, right? Didn’t they win a bowl around the time you were there?” Dell asked as Kord maneuvered the boat out of the marina.
“Sure did. Have the ring to show for it.”
“I bet your grandmother is proud.”
“She was proud of the win, but she was prouder when I graduated with a degree in criminal justice.”
“I’d love to meet her. She sounds like a wonderful lady.”
Kord nodded, smiling fondly. “She was. She passed a year after I graduated from college. She left me her home and that’s where I live now. She also instructed her two best friends, Miss Ruby and Miss Winnie, to look after me. They love Georgie, so I know my grandmother would have, too.”
Dell frowned as he looked out over the water while Kord drove toward the Bell estate. “Death changes you. My parents raised me like all my friends’ parents had raised them. Nannies and boarding schools. It was sad when they died, but it didn’t change my life much. They arranged marriage to my wife, but we eventually found love in it. It was a traditional marriage where we both did our own things. When we had our son, we tried to be a little more involved than our parents had been. But, those couple of months together on the Vineyard with a nanny and me going back and forth to Boston working didn’t create the tight bonds I had hoped for.”
“How would you know when you’d never had that example set? Someone has to break that cycle, but first they have to recognize it. You’ve done that now.”
“When my wife passed, I realized that I was all alone. My son never checked on me and resented the times I’d come in to work. I wanted to feel useful. I turned to John Shaw next. He was too busy with his new wife, his own business, and his social schedule. I realized I had done that. They weren’t doing anything I hadn’t done to my own parents and grandparents. I wanted to change that. I tried with my son and grandson and failed. Next, I turned to Georgina. She at least took my call. She traveled to Boston and had lunch with me. She probably doesn’t even remember. She tried to talk to me, but we’d never really had any real conversations before. It was an awkward interview of sorts, especially since I could tell she was unhappy. In fact, she was downright miserable. She didn’t eat any of her food. Just pushed it around her plate. She only drank water and sounded so dejected about life. It worried me. Then that night she found her friend, Sofia, dead.”
“And then she ran away shortly after,” Kord said with a sigh.
Dell nodded. “I stopped by to check on her and her parents were mad because she’d run off and blown a deal. A deal to marry her to a dictator. That’s when I began to look for her. I wanted to let her know I wouldn’t let that happen. It’s also when I started to pay more attention to how my son was running Greyson Holdings and the various LLCs under it. Eight months later, he quietly began selling shares of some of the publicly traded companies under one of the LLCs we have. Just as quietly, I bought them up. And now here we are. My own son kidnapping his daughter to force her to give him control over her money” he shook his head sadly. “I’ve failed my family.”
Dell looked away as if he were trying to compose himself. Kord felt for him. He’d messed up, but he’d learned his lesson and was trying to fix it.
“You’re fixing it now. I didn’t know what was expected of me until my grandmother showed me. I could get away with just about anything, being the star player in my hometown. Hell, I got away with a lot. There are a lot of people who want to latch on and see you as their way out. The spoiled behavior came from thinking I deserved whatever I wanted. I didn’t know any better until my grandma opened my eyes and made me see it. It’s why I’m so involved with the community now. We have a star basketball player right now—Quad Clemmons.”
“Quad Clemmons is from Shadows Landing? He’s one of the top college basketball players in the country.”
Kord nodded. “I’ve taken him under my wing like my grandmother and Granger did for me. So far, he’s made not only the all-American team but he’s also made the honor roll. Then there’s Lydia and her children. We all help with them and they’re great kids. I also coach summer football camps for the middle and high schools in town. 'If you see it, you can be it.’ Isn’t that the saying from Billie Jean King?”
Kord came to a stop near the Bell’s dock. It was a beautiful day and Bertha was sunning herself while her fifteen hatchlings were crawling over her or exploring the sand.
“And that’s what you’re going to do now. You’re going to show up, be there for Georgie, and find that missing family you both have been looking for. Now, come help me move Bertha and her babies.”
Kord almost laughed as Dell jumped back when he saw them. “That’s at least fifteen babies. How old are they? They’re so tiny.”
“They were born at the end of August, so they’re just a couple of months old.”
“How do you move them?” Dell asked as Bertha glared at them.
Kord opened a cooler and pulled out a raw chicken with a rope tied around it. “You’re going to toss this at the mom. Her name is Bertha. Get it close enough that she can smell it but not close enough that she can lunge and eat it. When she shows interest, you tell me and I’ll slowly pull the boat out. You drag it in the water, telling me to go faster or slower. Bertha should follow and then when we reach our destination, you pull in the chicken, unhook it, and toss it ashore.”
Dell took the chicken and stared at it with disbelief. “When I thought about who my granddaughter would end up with, someone who moved alligators and was involved in shoot-outs occasionally was not it.”
“Tell me this isn’t more fun than a stuffy brunch,” Kord said with a smile.
“Way more fun,” Dell admitted with a boyish smile before tossing the chicken. “Oh my gosh, she’s going after it. Go! Go! Go!”
Kord drove off as Dell cheered. “She’s following! I can’t believe it. Hold on, the babies are getting on her.”
Kord slowed down and then sped back up when Dell ordered it. Over the next two hours, they moved Bertha and Bubba. Kord got to see Shadows Landing through Dell’s eyes. His eyes widened and shone like a child at his first theme park when a pirate ship sailed around the corner and straight at them.
“You said you sail, right?” Kord asked.
“Yes. I love it.”
Kord radioed Skeeter then they engaged in a mock battle where the pirate ship overtook them and forced Dell into piracy, just as Edward Low had done to Dell’s ancestor, John Smythe.
Kord finished his duties on the water and then met the pirate ship as they were docking behind the church. Dell practically bounded off, talking a mile a minute to Skeeter about sailing.
“Hey, Dell,” Kord smiled as the two men joined them, “how was sailing a pirate ship?”
“It was such a great experience. Thank you so much, Skeeter. I can’t wait to tell Georgie about it.”
Skeeter looked to Kord and smiled. They both noticed he’d said Georgie and not Georgina.
“Why don’t you come with me to pick her up then? You can talk to Ryker if he’s still around, and maybe we can have dinner together in Charleston.”
“You wouldn’t mind me crashing your date night?” Dell asked, suddenly sounding both hopeful and unsure of himself.
“Not at all. I’m sure Georgie will love to discuss what she learned today.”
Dell turned and shook Skeeter’s hand. “Thank you so much.”
“Anytime. The ghosts like you.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll explain in the car,” Kord said with a chuckle.
21
Georgie was going over the companies in her family’s business with Ryker when Elsa buzzed that Deputy King and Mr. Greyson had arrived. Panic was the first thing Georgie felt. Did something happen?
But she relaxed when they came into the room smiling.
“Hey, Kord. Dell.” Ryker said from a leather chair in the sitting area. Georgie was opposite him and together they had been looking at the large screen television while discussing strengths and weaknesses of those companies. “Have a seat.”
Kord came over to her first and dropped a sweet kiss on her lips before sitting in the third chair. Her grandfather smiled at her and sat in the fourth chair. Then he glanced at the television and shook his head.
“Is there anything about me or my business you don’t know?”
“No. Aren’t you glad you have me as an ally? Also, Georgie gave me permission to pull the records. We’re discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each private company you own, and each public company you’re an investor in.”
“What have you learned?” her grandfather asked her. Georgie didn’t mean to, but she shut down. Her father always told her to butt out of any business discussions. “Please. I can’t wait to hear all you’ve learned.”
Georgie relaxed a little, especially when she saw Kord smile and give her a nod of encouragement. Then she launched into a thirty-minute breakdown of all the pros and cons of the industries and which ones might be better off selling.
“What do you think?” Georgie asked finally.
“I think you should have been running Greyson Holdings from the beginning. You’ll certainly be the one to save it. Ryker, I must thank you for this too. In some areas, we are competitors. While I don’t particularly like you having this insider information, I see you’re teaching Georgie well. Now I feel as if something will be left for my future great-grandchildren.”
Her grandfather looked from her to Kord and Georgie’s stomach flipped. She’d never thought about children until recently. Not with how unhappy she’d been. However, now it was different. It was different because of Kord.
“At least eight, right?” Kord asked with a wink. “If we go for nine, we can overtake Lydia.”
Her grandfather looked hopeful. She must have looked petrified because Kord laughed. “Don’t worry. We can stop at seven.”
“Looks like we have lots to discuss over dinner.” Her grandfather paused and looked over at her. “Kord invited me to join you for dinner. Is that okay?”
“Of course it is.”
Georgie wanted to launch herself over the coffee table between them and kiss Kord. He was being so supportive through this whole thing when all he’d been expecting was a bartender for a girlfriend and not all the family drama.
“I sailed a pirate ship today,” her grandfather said, suddenly looking very much like a young boy.
“Now, this I have to hear. Kenzie is working the night shift. I can get us a table at Port. My treat,” Ryker offered.
“I’d love that. You’ve been a good friend to my granddaughter. I’d love to get to know you better.”
“Kord, come with me. I have a suit coat and shirt in my closet.”
When Kord and Ryker stepped from the room, her grandfather turned to her. “Are you sure you don’t mind if I come tonight? I had the best time with your young man today. I don’t want it to end.”
Georgie’s heart about burst from that news. “You spent the day with Kord?”
“I helped relocate Bertha and her babies. Then Skeeter’s pirate ship attacked us and pressed me into service and he let me sail it. I can’t remember when I had so much fun and felt I was part of something. I can see why you chose to stay in Shadows Landing.” Her grandfather paused and leaned forward, dropping his voice. “You don’t need it, and I shouldn’t even say anything, but you have my total support with Kord. Anyone can see you two are in love. I’ve learned a lot over my seventy-eight years, but it’s what I’ve learned in the last two that mean the most. Family is important. Love is important. I want you to have that. I want my great-grandchildren to have that. You have that with Kord and you have that in Shadows Landing.”
Georgie stood up and crossed the sitting area so she could bend over and kiss his cheek. “Thank you. I’m so glad I have you in my life, too.”
“Ready for dinner?” Ryker asked as he and Kord joined them.
Georgie walked over to Kord and slipped her hand into his arm and leaned against him. “Thank you for spending the day with my grandfather. That means a lot to me.”
“I’d do anything for you, G. Steal you back after being kidnapped, spend the day with your grandfather who is trying desperately to be in your life and right the wrongs of the past, or give you endless orgasms.”
Kord said it so nonchalantly that it took Georgie two steps before she realized the orgasm part. She stumbled and Kord smirked. They all walked out together. Her grandfather was talking with Ryker and Kord whispered all the things he was going to do to her after dinner to show her he loved her.
