Chapter 19: Decisions

I was glad I had asked for a brunch meeting and not a breakfast meeting. Kelly not only thanked me for being a hero when we got back to the room, she insisted on thanking me again the next morning! It’s too bad that the Herndons were flying back with us, because I would have bet a significant portion of my net worth that Kelly could have been talked into joining the mile-high club otherwise. Ah well...

Mike Forrester and Bob Jenkins met us at ten in the cafe for the breakfast buffet. They were both dressed casually, as were Kelly and I. They greeted us but before they could say anything, the hostess took us to a table and the waitress came up to take our orders. When we said we would do the buffet, she pointed us towards the buffet, and we headed over there. She would bring juice and coffee to our table.

Once seated, Mike started with, “Grim, Kelly, I just want to repeat what I said last night. What happened last night is not a part of Miles & Madigan. I’ve been with the company twenty years, and I’ve never seen anything like that. Jerry Dunhouser has already been informed he won’t be coming into the firm. We have a couple of security guys sitting on him until he gets home.”

Bob said, “Last night was simply unbelievable. That’s just not Miles & Madigan.”

I waved it off. “I never thought it was, or we’d have never gotten to this point. Anybody have a problem with how I handled Jerry? Or by my carrying?”

It was their turn to wave it off. Mike said, “You weren’t the only guy in the room carrying. I would bet, though, that you were the only guy there with ten years throwing drunks in the tank, like you said last night.”

“Unlike most of your candidates, I’ve done my time at street level. Leaving aside the books and history degrees and the consulting, I’m just a street cop sergeant. Granted, I’m the best street cop sergeant you’ll ever meet, but I’m a pretty nuts-and-bolts guy.”

“That’s an outlook that Miles & Madigan can be helped by. We’re interested in you, Grim. When can you say yes or no?” he asked.

“And when can you start?” asked Bob. He was a good salesman, always assuming the sale.

I smiled over at Kelly, who was staying silent, but was smiling back at me. I looked at the two men and said, “I can give you the answer next week. As for when I can start, that wouldn’t be until June. Once school is out, we’re doing a week at Sandals in Jamaica. Nothing’s happening until after that in any case.”

“Sounds like fun,” said Mike.

“They’re going to hook us up to two IVs. One is going to be rum, and the other is going to be suntan lotion,” I replied.

Kelly laughed and added, “I don’t care what happens to the kids! I’m not coming home until they drag me onto the airplane kicking and screaming!”

Both Mike and Bob laughed at us. “Fair enough. We’ll be expecting your call next week.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed.

We finished our breakfast and then Kelly went upstairs to finish packing. Then we went down to the lobby and waited for the Herndons to show. We didn’t get an escort home. Instead, the driver was outside with a sign saying, ‘Herndon Reaper’. We waved and he took our luggage. We made it back to Matucket by early afternoon. Kelly giggled as we unpacked, and everything went into the hamper or dry-cleaning pile - including what she was wearing! I followed her lead and then joined her on the bed. The kids could wait!

We spent some time fooling around without the kids, but eventually tired out and had to get up. I grabbed a quick shower while Kelly called my mom, and then she showered while I dressed. We were both presentable by the time the thundering herd roared in. “You’re back! What’s for dinner?” asked Seamus.

I looked at my wife and said, “Now I know where we rank.”

“Barnacle inspection?” she asked.

“Works for me.”

Seamus knew what that meant, and he zipped down the hall into his room. Moments later we heard a racket that I figured was him piling stuff in front of his door. Well, he’d have to come out for meals at some point. Riley was smarter and gave both her mother and me a hug. Mom did the same. “How was your trip?” she asked.

“Good. Interesting,” I answered.

“What were you two up to?” she asked, suspiciously. We hadn’t told her about the job offer.

I smiled. “I think we were up to the twenty-eighth floor. Not quite sure how much higher the place got, but we weren’t at the top!”

“The Ritz-Carlton? Consulting pays that kind of money? Maybe your father needs to start consulting!” she replied.

I laughed at that. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what he’s planning on. More like it that it helps to have a couple of books earning royalties. Thank God Tolley decided to write a book. Nobody would have ever read something I wrote.”

“I would have!” said Mom.

I hugged her. “Nobody but my mother.”

Mom huffed a bit but grabbed her purse. “I need to get back and get ready. Your father is taking me to dinner.”

“Oooh, something romantic? Do we need to warn the emergency squad?” teased Kelly.

Mom laughed. “I hope so! We’re not dead yet!” She yelled down the hall, “BYE!” but the kids ignored her. She just smiled and shook her head. “Take care!” Then she was out the door.

I looked at my wife. “I think that’s more than I wanted to know about my parents.”

“How do you think you got here?”

“The stork dropped me in a cabbage patch. That’s what I was told when I was five, and my parents never lied to me.”

Kelly rolled her eyes and pulled some hamburgers out of the freezer to thaw.

It was back to normal with the kids and the dog and everything else. Sunday afternoon the weather was warm and dry, just beautiful, and Kelly and I found ourselves sitting out on the porch drinking iced tea. “What do you think about the offer?”

“Miles & Madigan?” Kelly nodded. “I don’t know, babe, I just don’t know. I mean I think I can do the job. Not sure about anything else, though.”

“It’s in Atlanta, at least for now.”

I nodded. “That’s not that big a deal. That’s an hour on the highway at most. About the same to the airport for when I need to fly. If I only work in Georgia, I’ll still be driving most places. What do you think? This would be a big change for all of us.”

Kelly shrugged. “It’s not that much of a change, for now.” I glanced over at her emphasis on the words, for now. “I think you’re right. You can probably do the job and do it well, but then what? After conquering Georgia, what would you be doing next? Another city somewhere else with a larger region? Headquarters in Chicago? There was a lot of discussion about that sort of thing during the tour we took on Friday.”

“Yeah, how did that go? What were they talking about?” I asked. Kelly had told me what they had done, but not about the conversations.

“It was very positive, very much about how well they guys would do and how easily they would adapt when they were promoted to Chicago. A lot of stuff about the wonders of Chicago and the best places to live, that sort of thing.”

“And?”

She shrugged and made a wry face. “It’s more about reading between the lines. All the neighborhoods and areas not to go, because of all the gang violence and drugs. The company could provide us with real estate people to find us homes in gated neighborhoods, and lists of private schools, since the Chicago school system apparently sucks. That sort of thing.”

“Huh.” I nodded in understanding.

“There was also a discussion about the help that M&M could provide in finding jobs in Chicago, and in selling our current homes when we had to move.” Ooof! I looked at my wife. If I was based in Atlanta, I could still live in Matucket, though the commute would suck. Chicago meant we would move.