“It’s seen a lot of successes,” Jack went on. “And a lot of mistakes. I think we’re here to talk about the latter.”
“Yes.” Drew cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind, I’d…I’d like to say a few things.”
Jack nodded and settled back in his chair, folding his hands into his lap.
Drew still couldn’t believe he was sitting here in Jack’s study, in a small town thirty minutes from Preston Logistics. He’d expected the man to reject him completely. What reason would he have to take his call in the first place? But he had taken his call and scheduled the meeting, and now…
Now it was time to come clean.
“I should never have misled you about the nature of my relationship with Ms. Fox,” Drew began. He had to rein in the speed of his words. They wanted to rush out of him like a waterfall, and he wanted them to cool their jets. “It’s no excuse, but I was trying to bolster Preston Logistics in your eyes. I’d set an ambitious goal, one that my brothers and board were depending on, and when you mistook her for my wife—” He shook his head with a short laugh. “It seemed like the right thing to do. Obviously, it wasn’t, and I shouldn’t have put anyone in that position. But it’s what I did, and I’m sorry for it.”
“I accept your apology.”
Drew swallowed hard. The apology—that had been the easiest part. He’d made similar apologies already to his brothers. They still ran circles around his head at night. There was one apology in particular he’d probably never get to make in person, but that hadn’t stopped it from being a broken record in his own thoughts.
“This is probably the harder sell,” he admitted. “But I want to be entirely honest. I’m no longer interested in acquiring your company to be part of Preston Logistics.”
“No?”
“I plan to give it to Ms. Fox.”
“You’d buy the company and put her in charge of it? And then what?” Jack’s eyebrows rose.
“Then I’d step back and get out of her way. Forever, if that’s what she wants. She has a brilliant mind for logistics. She’s wonderful at connecting with people. She deserves to lead a strong company, and she’d be great at the helm of yours.” He looked Jack in the eye. “That’s my plan. If that affects your decision, so be it.”
It had come to him in the middle of the night that it didn’t matter whether they were apart or not. He’d still worry about her. He wanted her to be set. He’d give her Jack’s company, and he’d walk away. There would be other companies to add to Preston. He’d just have to work harder to find the perfect one.
Jack considered him. “Let me tell you something.”
Drew nodded, the hope too wild for him to speak.
“I ran this company for thirty years, with Lisa right by my side. We both worked hard, and it was hard. Running a business of any size isn’t easy, but…” A nostalgic smile played over Jack’s face. “It never felt like work to us.” He looked down at his hands, then back up at Drew. “About a year ago she woke up one morning and didn’t want to go to the office. She wanted to spend the day with me, choosing our own adventure. It had become work. I didn’t see it until that day. But for us, there’s still time.”
Still time. What did that mean?
“You still have time, too,” Jack said, looking Drew in the eye. Jack, Drew noticed, had very green eyes. “Son, I’ll admit it—I was disappointed to hear that the two of you aren’t married. But only because it’s so obvious that you belong together.”
Drew rubbed at his chin, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him. “I know. I know that now. I know that I can only hope to find someone as brilliant as she is. And who I love just as much.”
It was the first time he’d admitted it out loud, but Jack didn’t look shocked in the least.
“I’ve lost a lot by not having her in my life, but I’m—I’m not going to force her into anything. Not again. Not anymore. So I’m going to do this for her, if you’ll allow it. If she’ll accept it.”
It was the only decision that made sense to him. He’d give Penny what she deserved—a job that didn’t involve Drew as her boss—and find another way to steady his family business. He could do it.
“I lied to you once before,” he told Jack. “But I’m not lying now. I want this for her, no matter what it means for me. The only thing that makes sense to me right now is to stop putting my own goals first.” He blinked back a sudden wetness in his eyes. “She’s first for me, even if she doesn’t know it.”
Jack tapped his fingertips on the desk, then stood up, knees creaking. “That’s just what I was hoping to hear. Give me a minute. I’ll be right back.”
It was weird, having a meeting in someone’s house, but not nearly as weird as pretending to be your boss’s wife.
How long had Jack Holloway been gone, anyway? Penny had forgotten to look at her phone when he left. Maybe she should go looking for him. She was about to stand up and start the search when the door to the formal sitting room opened and Jack came back in.
“I apologize for the wait.” The smile he gave her was…genuine. That’s the only way she could think to describe it. Penny shrugged off the awkwardness that had settled over her shoulders like a heavy blanket.
“It’s no problem. I’m happy to have the chance to talk with you.” Why not, after all? What did she have to lose? Jack might not end up selling his company, after all.
Jack sat down on a loveseat across from the wing chair where she sat and looked her in the eye. “It’s my understanding that Mr. Preston thinks very highly of you.”
An instant rush of blood to her face made her lightheaded. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“I do. And that’s part of the reason I’ve asked you to come here.”
“Because—because of Drew?”
“Because of what I saw between the two of you, and because of what I know to be true about you. And he has just confirmed an old man’s hunch.”
She smiled to cover the fact that this was one of the strangest conversations she’d ever had. “I’m not sure you do know much about me, with all due respect, Mr. Holloway.”
“I saw you with Drew and his son on several occasions,” he reminded her. “And each time, I saw nothing but love and respect from each of you. Barring one single time, which I’m going to chalk up to a bad night.”
She bit her lip, totally mortified by the memory of the gala. “You caught me at my worst that night.”
Jack laughed. “Ms. Fox, if that’s your worst, then the best of you must be an utter delight.” He shifted his weight to his other side. “Let’s get down to brass tacks. I want to offer you a job. My job. Running the company.”
Penny’s mouth dropped open. “How—” So many questions, and most of them irrelevant. There was a bigger point to be made. “Mr. Holloway, don’t make an offer on my account. Instead, accept an offer on Drew’s account.”
He lifted his eyebrows.