go to the meeting?” I asked.
His head shot up, and a smile shortly followed. “Are you asking me to the ball, Prince Charming?”
I rolled my eyes and motioned toward the hall. “Your pumpkin carriage awaits.”
“Hey.” Reed stood from his desk and walked to my side. “I thought you didn’t know Cinderella.”
“I don’t,” I said, giving him a blank stare. It was hard, though. He looked too damn adorable.
Before I could do something stupid—like pull him to me and kiss him right there in front of god and everybody—I headed down the hallway. He fell into step behind me, whistling under his breath. Like a little bird. Once in the conference room, I took a seat at the end of the table, and Reed planted himself in a lonely chair by the wall out of the way of everyone.
I glanced at him over my shoulder, and he softly smiled before looking out the window. It was another cloudy day, but dry at least. No rain or snow in the forecast for the next week. An early spring was expected. Funny how the ice inside me had thawed like the ice outside, making way for something warm. Bright.
And I was fucking terrified that warmth would be taken from me.
“I wonder what this is about,” Jennifer said, sitting beside me. “Crawford acted like it was urgent.”
My gut coiled. Had someone caught on to me and Reed? Was this some kind of come-to-Jesus meeting where we’d be called out in front of the whole office?
No. Crawford wouldn’t do that. He’d handle it in private.
I hope so anyway.
Fuck.
“Whatever it is must be important,” I responded, doing my best to sound impassive. “It’s not in his character to call spontaneous meetings.”
Right as the clock struck eight thirty, Crawford ambled into the room with a coffee in one hand and took his place at the head of the conference table. Instead of sitting, though, he remained standing. His caterpillar eyebrows hadn’t been tamed since the last time I’d seen him. In fact, they looked even more feral.
“Good morning,” Crawford said, resting a hand on the back of the chair. He seemed more upbeat than usual. “This won’t take long. I’ll send out an official email later today, but I wanted to speak to you all personally before I announced it publicly.” He paused to take a drink of coffee. Knowing him, he’d done it intentionally to build more suspense. “Welp. Guess I better get to it. I’m retiring at the end of this month.”
The news was surprising. I’d had it in my head that Crawford would never leave. Judging from the faces of everyone else around the table, they had thought the same.
“It’s been a true honor to work for this company for as long as I have,” Crawford continued. “I was here when the office was in a one-story building with only one working toilet and seven employees. The ceiling leaked, and it was all we could do to keep the lights on. We worked day and night to get this business running. Building it from the ground up. Now look at it.” He smiled and his eyes misted over. “But the missus and I have decided we want to travel and enjoy our retirement. I’ve worked every day since the day I turned fifteen. I’m ready to see what else is out there. As much as I’m going to miss being here, I know you’ll all be in good hands.” He set his eyes on me. “Which is why I’m going to ask Daniel Sawyer to take my place as president.”
All eyes shifted to me, and the back of my neck prickled. I… didn’t see that one coming. For so long I’d thought he hated me.
“I’ll be having a retirement party on the twenty-seventh,” Crawford said. “It’s my hope that Mr. Sawyer will accept my offer by then.”
The meeting ended, and people shook Crawford’s hand and congratulated me before heading back to their offices and cubicles. I approached him once he was alone again.
“Sorry to spring that on you in front of everyone, Sawyer.” Crawford shook my hand and clapped me on the shoulder with his other. “But I meant every word. I know I’ve given you a hard time lately, but it’s because I’ve known for a few months now that I wanted you as my replacement. You’re young, but you’re resilient. You have great ideas. Ideas that I believe will push this company to be even greater.”
“Thank you, sir.” I wasn’t used to