Carolyne’s eyes and mouth were all perfect circles. “Oh.”
I sighed. “We’re hardly at that point.”
She pointed toward the door. “Michael, you need to get your arse out there now. We don’t keep client’s waiting.”
“He’s not a client and he doesn’t have an appointment,” I replied, knowing how childish I sounded. I checked my watch. “Has it been four minutes yet?”
Natalie made a whispering, seething sound that was a little scary. “Michael.”
I stood up. “Fine. I’ll go speak to him. I just wanted to make him sweat a little.” And honestly, I also needed to steel my nerves and remember what Bry had told me.
I walked out of my office and buttoned my jacket as I strode into the waiting room. Bryce’s father sat, looking incredibly expensive. Carolyne wasn’t kidding about the coat and shoes. “Mr Schroeder,” I said, as professionally as I could.
He stood. “Michael. Thank you for seeing me. I understand you’re probably busy, but I was hoping you could spare a few minutes.”
“I have a meeting at nine,” I said. Which wasn’t untrue. It was just a staff meeting, but I didn’t care. I had four other meetings today, but I could guess that he probably had ten meetings to get to, in three different cities. I gestured toward my office. “Come this way.”
I led him into my office and waited for him to walk in so I could close the door behind him. I sat in my seat and he sat, rather uncomfortably, across from me. “Nice view,” he said, nodding to the city outside. “You’ve obviously done well for yourself.”
I gave him a tight, almost polite smile. “I’m good at my job.”
“Bryson speaks very highly of you.” He swallowed hard. “He’s a very good judge of character.”
“Mr Schroeder,” I began.
He raised his hand. “Please, let me speak. What I said to you the other day was wrong. I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have implied I knew what was best for him, because as it was made very clear to me last night, I do not.”
Holy shit.
“Bryce was very upset with me,” he continued. “Actually, he wasn’t upset. He was angry. And he had every right to be. I was out of line and I’ve come to apologise.”
I nodded slowly. “You were out of line. But I accept your apology. Thank you for coming to see me.”
He almost smiled, and god, he looked so much like Bryce right then, any anger I felt toward him dissipated. “I tried to protect him,” he said. “But I went about it the wrong way. What I should have said was that I don’t want you to leave him; I want you to support him. His new business will be a priority, but if you support that, then that will help him.” He grimaced. “I think that still sounded wrong. I don’t know. I’m trying here.”
I had to bite the inside of my lip so I didn’t smile. “I want him to be happy too. And successful. I want those things for him as well. And I’d like to help him as much as possible.”
He looked out the wall of glass again before meeting my gaze. “He told me, in no uncertain terms, that I had to fix the damage I’d done. But I’m not just saying this to you so he’ll forgive me. I want him to be happy. And apparently you make him happy. Please don’t think bad of him because of me.” He grimaced then. “So if you could please tell him that I tried to right my wrongs, I’d appreciate that. I know how stubborn he can be, and once he makes up his mind . . .”
Mr Schroeder had clearly suffered enough, so I put him out of his misery. “I’ll let him know you came to see me. I will tell him you apologised. I’m sure he’ll be relieved.”
He visibly relaxed and even managed a smile. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Mr Schroeder,” I said. “Bryce loves you very much. And he’s a great man. He’s driven, focused, and he’s a lot of fun. All he wants is your approval and for you to be proud of him.” I shrugged. “When you took him for dinner the other week, he talked about it for days.”
“He did?”
I nodded. “And I would never assume to tell you how to parent, but maybe when you’re in town and you haven’t seen him in a bit, you could take him out for dinner again. I think he’d like that.”
He smiled and nodded, then he got to his feet, signalling that our meeting was over. “Thanks again.” He looked pointedly to my phone, turned screen-down on my desk. “I know you’re busy. Actually, I think your phone buzzes more than mine, so I’ll let you get back to it.” Then he got to the door. “And Michael, if Bryce and I go out for dinner, you might like to join us.”
I grinned as I stood. “I’d like that. Thank you.”
He gave a final nod, opened the door, and disappeared. I collapsed back into my chair and put my hand to my hammering heart. Both Carolyne and Natalie appeared in my doorway. “So? What happened?” Natalie asked, walking in.
“You might want to clear the pigs for landing,” I said. “Because hell just froze over.”
She cocked her head. “What?”
I laughed, relieved. “He came to apologise.” Checking the time, I realised it was almost nine. I picked up my phone and found SAF’s number. I shot him a text message as I stood and walked to the staff meeting.
Your dad just left my office. Apology received and accepted.
I knew he wouldn’t be able to reply for a while, so I pocketed my phone and walked into the staff meeting. New clients, old contracts, addendums, legislature, conveyancing . . . it was a blur until Carolyne knocked on my office door. “Lunchtime,” she said. “Want me to grab you something?”
I grinned and stretched my aching shoulder muscles. “No, thanks. I’ll be ducking out for a bit. Won’t be long.”
To save time, I cabbed it to the wharf and smiled at the line of customers in Bryce’s store. There was a new staff member behind the counter and a familiar face. Tarini smiled brightly at me. “He’s out the back. I had to make him take a lunch break.” I laughed because that sounded familiar. “Just go on through. He’ll see you on the security camera.”
“Thank you,” I said as I ducked behind the counter. And sure enough, the office door opened as I got to it. He had half an eaten sandwich in his hand and wore a huge grin.
“I just read your text. It’s the first time I’ve sat down all day. So, he did it, huh?”
I sat him back down in his seat and parked my arse on his desk. “He was very gracious and embarrassed. He was humble. And I even got an invite to dinner.”
Bry laughed, covering his mouthful of food. “Well, shit.” He swallowed and nodded. “I’m glad. I was pretty sure he would, but I’m still happy he did the right thing.”
“Me too,” I admitted. “You know, I was still mad at first, but I could see how hard it was for him and how honest he was. There is so much of you in him. I couldn’t be mad.”
Bry shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth, threw the wrapper into his bin, and stood up. He pulled me in for a hug, standing with a foot on either side of my legs, and he held me while he chewed and swallowed his food. “Thank you,” he said; his voice reverberated through where my ear was pressed to his chest. Then, still with one arm around me, he called his father. “Dunno if he’ll pick up,” he murmured before I heard a tinny voice from his phone. “Oh hey, Dad,” Bry said. “I’m just calling to say thank you. … Yeah, he’s here right now. We sorted everything out. … Yeah, I think so.” His voice was so soft and sweet it made me pull back and look up at him. He was smiling, his eyes met mine, and he even blushed a little. “Okay. See you then. Have a safe trip.”