He leaned back and watched their faces for their reactions, which came quickly.
Kelly tried to go to him but couldn’t get up from her seat. “Oh Grandfather, but you love it so much here. What will you do?”
“Yes, little one, I certainly do love it here, but I’m seventy-five years old now. Your grandmother has convinced me that there are many things the two of us haven’t done yet and that it’s high time that we did some of them.”
No one spoke for a short time. Wayne was trying to think of all this could mean for him and Kelly, but his mind still wasn’t working at anywhere near its normal level.
Harold smiled and gestured with both hands at his two grandchildren. “Of course I feel that I am going to be leaving our company in good hands.”
That brought both Kelly and Wayne back to looking at him in anticipation.
Harold laughed that booming laugh that Wayne always liked and had wanted to emulate. “Don’t look so puzzled. I have decided to make the position of CEO a joint one. Together, the two of you will both be CEO. Wayne, you will conduct the daily business much as you do now as general manager of one location, but for all of them in the future. And Kelly, you will continue to conduct the daily financial business of the entire company.”
He let that sink in for a moment. “You both will be equal in running this company. No major decisions will be made until both of you agree.”
This time he leaned back against the sofa cushion while he watched both of them for their reactions.
Wayne looked at Kelly to find her already looking at him. She smiled and he knew everything was going to work out perfectly.
Kelly spoke first. “Thank you for your faith in us, Grandfather. I think Wayne and I will be able to work together perfectly.”
Wayne knew he was expected to say something so he said, “Yes, I agree totally.”
Kelly giggled and said. “But I won’t be able to do very much for a while. At least until after the baby is born.”
Harold smiled down at her. “That’s all right little one. I wasn’t planning on leaving completely until you’re able to be here full-time.”
Wayne had noticed a large rolled up paper lying on the sofa next to his grandfather. Now Harold picked it up and rolled it out on the low square table between them. It was an architectural drawing.
“With two CEOs instead of one, we need to make some changes around here. I have had these plans drawn up.”
He pointed to the drawing as Wayne and Kelly leaned over to study it.
“Currently, the conference room is beside this office with a large storeroom behind it and Wayne’s office is behind that. We will make the conference room an office for one of you, which will be a duplicate of this one and the conference room will take the place of the storeroom, which will move to Wayne’s present office. There will be a connecting door between your offices.”
While they were both contemplating all that, he added, “Oh, and you will both have doors at the rear of your offices which will lead into the conference room.”
Kelly laughed. “Well, Grandfather, it looks as if you’ve thought of everything.”
He laughed his booming laugh again. “I guess the only thing left to do is for you two to tell me whether or not this is what you would like to do.”
“Oh, Grandfather, you know I would love for you to continue on here forever. But, I understand. I know Grandmother has been wanting to travel while you both are healthy. I wholeheartedly agree to this arrangement. What do you say, Wayne?”
Wayne’s thoughts had suddenly and inexplicably returned to Sonia and therefore he wasn’t prepared to answer Kelly’s question. He thought for a moment and realized what she had asked him.
“Yes, of course, I agree. I think Kelly and I will get along fine as long as she does exactly what I tell her to do.”
They all three laughed as Kelly and Wayne leaned over the drawing for a closer inspection.
* * *
Sonia’s Monday morning had been going very well and she was surprised when the chief called her at ten o’clock and said he wanted to see her, Stan, and Grant in his office right away.
She went out to the open area where Stan was showing Grant pictures of William Stanley Becker II.
Stan looked up at her and said, “Alison said we could call him Bill, but never Billy or Willy or anything else.”
Sonia joined in their laughter then sobered and said, “The chief wants to see all three of us in his office right away, and no, I don’t know what it’s all about.”
Grant stood and slapped Stan on the shoulder. “Come on Daddy.”
Then they both followed Sonia out into the hallway and on toward the chief’s office.
When they walked into the large office, Chief Darrel Winters was standing at the front of his desk with the three commanders slightly behind him. Sonia felt her stomach sink almost to her toes. What could this mean? Had they all done something wrong? She couldn’t think of a single thing. In fact, she couldn’t think at all right then.
She heard Grant and Stan both groan softly behind her. She turned toward each in turn and they stepped up to flank her. At least they received that message okay. They needed to show unity against whatever was coming.
Winters cleared his throat and began, “As all of you know, with all the annexing the city has done not to mention the natural growth as well, Sycamore has grown to the point where we are greatly expanding our force.”
He let that settle for a moment before continuing. “Due to the increase of area and population, plus the amount of crime that the annexed areas have shown in the past, the detective squad will be almost doubled.”
He turned to Commander Pennington who handed him a box about the size of a large book. It was open, but he held it angled so that none of the three detectives could see into it.
“We are going to have two detective squads now.” He smiled for the first time and Sonia felt a touch of relief. “Lieutenant Nordstrom, you will supervise both of those squads.”
He took two steps toward her and handed her the box, which held four new gold badges with her badge number and the word ‘Lieutenant’ inscribed on them.
“Congratulations, Sonia.”
He shook her hand and each of the commanders followed suite. She couldn’t help but notice that Commander Nancy Pennington wasn’t smiling when she shook Sonia’s hand. No surprise there. She knew the woman didn’t like her.
Sonia couldn’t think beyond that. Her mind had become numb.
Chief Winters cleared his throat again. “Now, for the squad sergeants.” He turned back to the other two commanders who each handed him another box like Sonia’s.
“Sergeant Thompson and Sergeant Becker, you will each head up one of the new squads.”
He handed the boxes to them and said, “Congratulations Grant. Congratulations Stan, I hope you will each be as good of a sergeant as Sonia was.”
Handshakes and congratulations went around the room.
Sonia was having a difficult time not crying. She was so happy. Her brothers had all given her a lot of grief over the fact that she was still a sergeant and they had all been promoted. Now, she could throw this back in their faces.
Chief Winters cleared his throat again. “The new addition is finished now and the whole detective department will be moving over there ASAP. Each of you will have a private office over there with plenty of room for the other eight detectives and even more if we need them down the road.”
He reached back to his desk and picked up a paper. “The four new detectives will be Curtis, Lopez, McCoy, and Caldwell. Sonia, I want you to make up the new squads with two new detectives and two experienced detectives in each.”
He looked at each one then said, “That is all for now. Again, congratulations to all three of you. Now, get back out there and move all your gear over to your new offices. The name plates are already up so you won’t have any trouble figuring out which one is yours.”
They started to le
ave, but the chief said, “Oh, by the way, congratulations Stan. How are mother and son doing?”
Stan grinned and turned back to the chief. It was a few more minutes before they could leave with Stan showing them pictures of his son.
As the three newly promoted detectives were walking back to their room, Stan held up one of his new badges and looked at it from all angles before saying, “Well, what do we do first?
Sonia laughed and was embarrassed to hear it come out slightly watery. She looked at the other two and they both just smiled back at her. She was going to enjoy working with these two men in this new capacity.
She cleared her throat, wiped her eyes, and said, “I guess we get in there and start packing our gear like the chief said.”
She turned to face the two men who were walking slightly behind her. “Hey, you two. Congratulations and I’m sure we’re all going to be able to work together great.” She paused and chuckled. “I would also say that you’re both probably thinking that might not have been the case a year ago. This last year has been great for me. I’m so glad I finally came to my senses and began acting like myself rather than the way my brothers kept advising me to do.”
Grant smiled and said, “I know I speak for Stan in this. We’re glad you’re going to be our lieutenant. Congratulations.”
She had to fight the tears again. What was happening to her? She never cried. She prided herself on not being the least bit emotional.
They worked for the next two hours boxing and carrying their gear to their new offices. It was then that Sonia remembered that she had a lunch date with Kelly and Alison today. Well, obviously Alison wasn’t going to make it. So, she called Kelly.
“Oh, hi Sonia. I was just thinking about you. I just realized that Alison won’t be able to meet us for lunch. She won’t get out of the hospital until late this afternoon. Why don’t we wait until tomorrow and grab something for lunch to take to her so we can spend time with her and the baby then?”
Sonia was smiling. Kelly was so thoughtful, probably the sweetest person she’d ever known.
“Sure, that sounds great. Why don’t I call in some takeout burritos from La Mexicana and meet you at her house at noon tomorrow?”
When Sonia hung up the phone, she was grinning. Her? Grinning? Yes, she had never really had a best friend before. Now, she felt as if she had two best friends and knew she was going to enjoy lunch tomorrow tremendously.
* * *
Wayne waited almost an hour after the meeting with their grandfather to go see Kelly. When he walked into her office, she was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed.
He rushed to her side. “Are you okay, sis?”
Kelly opened her eyes, smiled weakly up at him, and gestured toward her stomach. “I’m as okay as I can be with this beach ball sticking out.”
Wayne pulled a chair up next to Kelly’s desk chair and collapsed into it, relief rushing over him. “You need to go home and rest.”
“Yes, I know you’re right, but I just have so much to do.”
Wayne snorted. “Isn’t that what Sarah is for? She’s supposed to be picking up the slack for you while you’re pregnant.”
Kelly smiled fondly. “Yes of course she is. Oh Wayne, Sarah’s turned out to be the best assistant I’ve ever had. Even though she had never worked in any kind of office before, she picked everything up so fast. She’s truly been a blessing to me, especially now that I’m only working part time.”
Wayne frowned. “Do I hear a ‘but’ in there somewhere?”
She shook her head. “I guess there is. I’m just so tired all the time. And now with Grandfather announcing that he’s retiring and putting us in charge, it’s just been more than I can handle this morning.”
Wayne reached for her desk phone. “I’m calling Grant to come take you home.”
Kelly placed her hand on Wayne’s before he could pick up the phone. “That won’t be necessary, Wayne. I was going to call him a little while ago, but he called me and said he had some news that he wanted to tell me in person. So, he’s on his way over here right now, and I’ll get him to take me home after that.”
Before Wayne could respond, they both looked up to see Grant standing in the doorway grinning down at his wife. “Hello, beautiful.”
Wayne hopped out of his chair and moved around to the front of the desk so Grant could take his place next to Kelly.
Grant reached out both hands and took Kelly’s hands in his. “Are you okay, honey? You look tired. As soon as I tell you my news, I’m taking you home.”
Kelly laughed and Wayne marveled at how obviously in love Grant and Kelly were. Something hit him then. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he’d have to think about it later.
Grant reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet badge, and after opening it, handed it to Kelly.
She frowned. “What is this all about Grant?”
Grant chuckled and said, “Look close at the badge, honey.”
Wayne could tell when she noticed it because her eyes lit up and she whooped. “Oh Grant. You made sergeant.”
She reached out with her arms and he leaned over so she could hug him. “Congratulations, Oh, I’m so excited.”
Grant was grinning now. “That’s not all.” When she looked up from her scrutiny of his new badge, he said, “Stan made sergeant too!”
“Oh, that’s fantastic. I’m so happy for both of you.”
Wayne was beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together and didn’t like the results. He had a bad feeling all of a sudden.
“What about Sonia? She isn’t leaving is she?” His stomach joined his head in making him nauseous and dizzy all at once. Not now! Not when he might actually be making some progress with Sonia.
Grant laughed loudly. “You should see your face Wayne.”
Kelly poked Grant in the ribs and said, “Don’t tease him Grant. You know how he feels about Sonia.”
Grant sobered and looked at Wayne. “No, Sonia isn’t leaving.” He paused and Wayne was ready to throw something at him to get him to finish.
“She made lieutenant.”
Kelly whooped again. “Oh that’s simply wonderful. She deserves it so much.”
She seemed to think about it for a second. “But, how can there be two sergeants and a lieutenant in the detective squad?”
Grant chuckled again. “There’s more. The whole department is expanding and so are we. They added four new detectives so there’ll be two squads with four detectives and a sergeant in each. Sonia will be over both squads.”
She was still taking all that in when he continued. “Larry Caldwell is one of the new detectives but he’ll be on Stan’s squad.”
At Wayne’s puzzled look, Kelly smiled and said, “Larry is an old high school friend of Grant and Stan’s.”
Kelly’s face grew serious and Wayne knew that look so well.
“Grant.” When he looked back at her, she said, “Grandfather is retiring and turning the company over to Wayne and me to run jointly.”
Grant grinned and leaned over to embrace Kelly. “That’s great Kelly. Congratulations.” He turned to Wayne. “Congratulations to you too Wayne.”
Then he seemed to think about it and his face grew serious. “Is your grandfather okay?”
Kelly smiled at him. “Yes, he’s fine. Grandmother finally convinced him to retire so they could travel.”
“Then that’s great.”
It grew quiet for a short time, and Kelly finally broke the silence. She looked at Wayne and said, “I may be mistaken, but did you and Sonia leave the hospital together yesterday?”
Wayne knew he was blushing. Thankfully, he shared Kelly’s dark complexion and it didn’t show much. “Yes. Thanks to more than a little help from you, Sonia agreed to meet me at Denny’s to talk.”
When he didn’t continue, Kelly leaned toward him and said, “Well, what happened?”
He didn’t know what to say or how to say it, especially in front of Grant.
/> Kelly must have sensed that for she said, “Don’t worry about Grant. He won’t tell anyone what we say in here. Will you honey?”
Grant shook his head. “Of course not.” He turned to Wayne and his face grew stern. “But that’s one fine woman you’re talking about Wayne. You’d better treat her right.”
Wayne started to get angry but as he thought about it, that’s how he had felt when Grant and Kelly were first getting together. Grant was only being protective of someone he cared about, just as Wayne had been back then.
Wayne exhaled a deep breath. “I will, that is, if she gives me a chance to.”
Kelly said, “Tell us.”
“Well nothing much really happened. I had tea and she had a Coke, and we just talked about ourselves. You might say, we were just trying to get to know each other.”
Kelly was still leaning toward Wayne. “Come on Wayne, give. I know there’s more to it than that.”
He shook his head. “Sometimes I think you know me too well.” He blew out another breath. “Okay, I asked her if we could meet like that again soon, and all she would do was to take my card and say she would call me today. She said she needed to think about it.”
Kelly turned to her husband. “You know her better than I do. What do you think?”
Grant scratched his head and gave her a sheepish grin. “What do you want me to say? All I can say is that if she said she’ll call you, then she will.” He paused then added, “If she really didn’t want to see you again, she would have blown you off so fast you’d still be spinning.”
Wayne perked up. “Then you think that’s a good sign?”
Grant shook his head and grinned. Wayne thought that his brother-in-law was enjoying this a little too much.
“All I can say is that it isn’t a bad sign. I won’t stick my neck out any more where Sonia’s concerned. I’ve been wrong about her before.”
Nevertheless, Wayne was in much higher spirits when he left Kelly’s office as she went home with Grant.
* * *
Resolved Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 3) Page 3
