She looked him straight in the eyes. “We’re happy to be home and landed for a while. I’d already promised the kids Chinese takeout and a movie night, and I can’t go back on my word now, even as much as the kids love Drew’s family. Besides, I get the feeling it needs to be only you, Sean, and Sarah this time.” She grinned. “Maybe I’ve got a sixth sense of my own.”
“Or maybe,” he teased back, “Jean called you separately and let you in on the news.”
She gave him a little push out the door. “Well, you never know . . .”
So there is an ulterior motive, and she knows what it is. He wasn’t surprised. Laura and Jean, Drew’s wife, were tight. Both strong-minded women, they were also moms with kids still in the home, and they shared a die-hard view of family first, just like Will’s mother. But how that played out looked different in each home. Laura had decided to stay home with the kids until Davy was at least in high school. Jean had continued working full-time. A few years younger than Drew, she was a force of nature in her own right and had carved out a career for herself, first on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange and now in one of the most prominent brokerages on Wall Street.
The dinner invitation had been spontaneous, even last-minute—completely unlike the meticulous Drew—and Will wondered how Jean was dealing with that. Usually family dinners were held at Will’s posh place overlooking Central Park or the Worthington summer home in Chautauqua. If he’d told Laura that he’d invited his siblings over for dinner at the last minute, she would be a trooper, plunging in, getting the job done, and being a gracious host to their guests. But he’d hear about it later. Of that he was sure.
Maybe Drew had taken into account the fact that Laura had been gone for two months and just returned, so he didn’t want to dump the dinner on her. Or perhaps their wise financial advisor was trying to get them all on neutral ground. But why?
A picture of Jean filtered in, and he grinned. Jean was probably ready to string Drew up right about now for inviting the Worthingtons to their place in the village. But she, like Laura, was a trooper and was used to the Worthington craziness.
He knew they’d have a great dinner, even if she ordered food from FreshDirect and had it delivered.
One thing he could guarantee. It would be served on her best china.
“Seriously? Tonight?” Sean had sputtered when Drew invited—no, more like commanded—him to come to the family dinner. “You know I’m just getting home now, and I’m in the midst of securing the ship. I have to pack up to—”
“Even more reason to be there,” Drew said in a mysterious tone.
Finally, after a debate Sean knew he wouldn’t win, he agreed. Only because it was Drew. He understood Sean more than any other person—even his mother. If he could count on any person to hold a confidence, it would be Drew. Squashed between two older sisters and a younger brother in a home where both of his parents worked, Drew had been the frequent mediator, especially between his warring sisters. Sean had teased him that it was good preparation for launching his career with the strong-minded Worthingtons.
Sean understood what being stuck in the middle felt like, and it wasn’t easy. The mantle of leadership in the Worthingtons had been handed to Will seemingly without a second thought. And their social butterfly sister had been financially irresponsible for years, with no repercussions. Neither were positions Sean was allowed to have. His was best summarized by the family photo album, which had hundreds of baby pictures of Will but a whole lot less of Sean, and he was almost always paired with his brother. When baby Sarah, the only girl, came along, pictures abounded. Still there were hardly any of Sean, except when he was squeezed in between his brother and sister.
It wasn’t easy being a middle kid in a family, especially one like the Worthingtons. Everyone across the nation knew about the Worthingtons and made lots of assumptions about them. There were plenty of whispers about their comings and goings in the press and constant rumors in the tabloids. Will tortured himself by reading all the articles. More than once, Sean had overheard Sarah telling Will to lighten up. “Why are you even trying to set the record straight? It won’t do any good. It’ll only fuel the gossip fires more.”
Sean publicly ignored the hoopla. He stayed unruffled most of the time until the pressure built up too much. Then he’d have a moment like he did when he tossed that whole stack of tabloids in the trash. Usually, though, he was good at acting like what the media said didn’t touch him. But underneath it all, what they said hurt—especially when they compared the two brothers.
He’d already done that himself for years and always came up lacking.
Now Sean started kicking himself. Drew knew Sean flew by the seat of his pants. Why didn’t he put his friend on hold for a minute, make a quick phone call, and arrange a dinner date? Then he’d have had a good excuse not to go.
But underneath all the arguing he did with himself, he realized one fundamental truth: because Drew had asked, Sean would go.
Sarah was on the fly between meetings when Drew called. “Sure, I’ll come. Count on it.”
She’d have to talk her way faster through the meeting scheduled right before the dinner, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Spontaneous is my middle name, she told herself and laughed.
Still, it was strange. Drew had sounded far more solemn than usual.
But she couldn’t ponder that thought anymore now. Her next meeting was in less than a minute.
When the text did finally arrive, he knew right where the bar was. He’d been there often when he crashed at the Madison Avenue church. The bar was rather nice, right around the corner near 20th and Madison. Plenty of high rollers stopped there after work.
When he got there, he took a seat at the bar, as the text had explained. At one point, the bartender leaned over and asked if he wouldn’t mind moving down a few seats to make room for a new group of customers. He moved without a word and took the seat the bartender indicated, next to some guy who was nursing a drink and had been there a while.
Sean still hated the thought of the family dinner. They were never his favorite affairs. But after finally agreeing to go, Sean had said he had to take care of a business commitment first and would be late.
An executive from one of the start-up companies Sean had invested in on behalf of Worthington Shares had had his secretary call. She said her boss had some important questions and wanted Sean to meet him in a bar near 20th and Madison.
So Sean went in, sat at the bar, and nursed a drink for nearly an hour. The guy never showed. But while Sean waited, he chatted up all the usual suspects who kill time at local establishments after work in the city. One guy, sitting on the stool next to him, was talkative but seemed a bit off his meds, or maybe slightly drunk.
At least it had been a pleasant wait.
Then Sean got a second call from the secretary. The executive wouldn’t be able to make it after all.
Disgusted, Sean got up and made his way out of the bar to hightail it over to Drew’s.
He knew he’d catch an earful about his late arrival. He always did.
17
That night Will showed up first—prompt as always.
The Simons place was a nice venue for such a get-together with the Worthingtons. Years ago, at Will’s insistence, Drew had purchased two condos side by side and combined them into one big place. It had an enormous window that extended from the kitchen to the living room and overlooked the village. At night, when the city was lit up, the view was magnificent.
“Didn’t I just see you?” he joked to Drew and then headed straight into the kitchen. He’d been to their place on so many occasions that he knew his way around. He reached into the closet, took out an apron, and put it on.
“Don’t even think about it,” Jean said without looking up. “I have this well in hand.” Then she chuckled. “And FreshDirect helped a lot too.”
“I’m sure you do,” Will offered, “but I’m still here to help.” He took a knife, pulled a c
utting board over, and grabbed a handful of the fresh vegetables that hadn’t been diced yet. Leave it to Jean to add more to a ready-made salad, he mused. But he started in without saying another word.
This time Jean didn’t object. She simply said, “Sounds like Laura and the kids have a fun evening planned. Pajamas and downtime in front of a movie. Chinese food to boot. Even FreshDirect can’t compete with that.” She swept a hand toward the delivered food.
He laughed. “Agreed—at least in our kids’ eyes. But yes, she’s glad to be home. By the way, where are your two?”
“Figured that since your kids couldn’t come, I’d send the girls out for a fun dinner and an outing with Robyn so they wouldn’t have to listen to us adults talk all night. They already left.”
The Simons daughters loved their live-in nanny, Robyn, who had been with them since Emily, now 15, was a baby. Three years later Eliza had come along—an added blessing Drew and Jean hadn’t expected since they’d started their parenting journey at a later-than-usual age.
“Our kids are starting to think of their time in Malawi as a permanent thing since we’ve been doing it for so many years,” Will said. “Now they assume they’re going there for a couple of months after school lets out.”
Jean nodded. “That’s a good thing. Gets them out of their comfort zone. Heaven knows we could all use that.”
“Especially for our family,” Will added. “We’ve tried almost everything we can think of to not allow them to just be tagged as Worthingtons. It’s not easy. Everyone assumes things about them because of their last name, the wealth, the privilege, all that comes with it. Everywhere they go, whatever they do, they can’t escape the glare of the spotlight and the pressure that comes with being a Worthington.” He sighed. “You always feel the pressure—to carry everything out exactly right, to never make a mistake, to do everything that’s expected of you.”
Jean glanced up. At 51, she was a looker. Five feet seven, with long brown hair and a trim physique that looked like she hadn’t borne children, she was a prize. Drew had once admitted he wasn’t sure why an ordinary-looking guy like him had gotten a beauty-and-brains combo like Jean. But even more important, she loved him, put up with him, and considered him “brilliant” from time to time. They were a good match.
Just like Laura and me, Will thought.
Jean met his eyes with a startlingly sky-blue gaze that pierced through his soul. “Hmmm. Sounds like someone else has thought a great deal about this.” The question was unspoken.
Will smiled. He could always count on her to shoot things to him straight, with no waffling. He liked that. He knew where he stood with Jean. She and her husband were not only advisors to the family but their oldest, closest friends. It wasn’t easy to let people inside the Worthingtons’ circle, but it was easy with Jean and with Drew. Will trusted them implicitly.
“I guess,” he replied. “A little.”
Mercifully, there was a second knock at the door before the straightforward Jean could continue the conversation. Will wasn’t certain he would have had a response, for he was grappling with it himself.
Sarah bounced into the kitchen a moment later, still dressed in her Saks Fifth Avenue business suit but carrying her pumps and Louis Vuitton briefcase. She dumped them unceremoniously on the kitchen floor, then advanced to give Jean a quick hug. “So, may I help?” she asked.
“Sure, why not?” Jean laughed. “Like brother, like sister. Your mama sure did train you well. No one can say you Worthingtons aren’t helpful, so you might as well get to work. We can put everything either in the oven to warm up or in the fridge to chill and sit a bit before dinner.”
“Sean will be here?” Sarah raised a dubious brow.
“He’ll be a bit late, but yes, he’ll be here.” Drew stepped into the kitchen.
“And this was your idea—to get us together?” Sarah asked Drew before shooting a glance at Will.
Will chuckled to himself. His little sister had turned into a great attorney. She was certainly persistent, and she did have a point. Will was normally the one who pulled strings to get all the siblings together.
“Yes, it was,” Drew stated. “I thought it made sense. I’ve talked to all of you separately, and it became obvious that we all needed to talk together.”
“Compare notes?” Will asked.
Drew rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Yes, that.”
“Well, good.” Sarah crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “I could use some advice right about now. There are more than a few things about this American Frontier situation that aren’t making sense to me.”
18
It was typical of his brother, Will thought. Arrive late and try to spend as little time as possible at a family dinner. Will loved his brother, but sometimes he didn’t get Sean at all.
Sean arrived right after they’d put the food into the oven. He apologized for not being there earlier to help out but said it hadn’t been easy to change his plans at the last minute. He didn’t offer any other explanation. By now, Will and Sarah were used to it, so they merely nodded and didn’t ask for details. But Drew lifted a quizzical brow.
Sean simply shook his head and headed to the living room with the others.
“So, Drew, this was your idea,” Will said when they’d settled in. “What’s the urgency? Why are we here?” He didn’t miss the knowing smirk exchanged between Sean and Sarah as he moved comfortably into his role of being in charge. By now he was used to it. But someone had to get the discussion going.
“I have a pretty good idea what each of you is doing related to the American Frontier situation,” Drew began, “and I think we can all agree it’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Beyond my usual advice that I’d provide to Worthington Shares about what its stake in AF means, there is also what all of this means to each of you individually. I think you know I have your best interests at heart—”
Sean jumped in. “Drew, you can rest easy. We all know where your heart is. So just tell us. What’s weighing on your mind?”
“Yes, Drew, spill it,” Sarah chimed in. “We’ve seen numerous crises roll through the door. Why is this one any different? Because it’s AF? Because it affects Worthington Shares? Because it’s the kind of crisis that can cause untold financial, political, and environmental damage?”
Drew looked toward his wife. Jean nodded almost imperceptibly.
He took a deep breath and plunged in. “I believe this very situation will define each of you in your own way and shape your destinies. This isn’t simply another corporate event, or environmental disaster, or something that can impact Worthington Shares’ bottom line. It doesn’t matter whether we sell off the shares in AF or hold them and fight for control of the company. It doesn’t matter how this all plays out in Washington and whether it helps define or shape the Republican Party that has done the bidding of industrial giants like AF for a long time. It doesn’t matter how all of this might play out in some courtroom as the shareholders sue the leadership for decisions they and the board made to allow the company to drill in the Arctic, putting AF at grave risk. No, that isn’t what I believe matters. Those are merely things we all work on daily in our professional lives.
“But this time, it’s clear to me that what happens next will change each of your life paths. It will define each of you personally. That’s what I wanted to make sure we all understood before each of us goes about our business. You all know me well enough to realize I have both the family’s and the company’s best interests at heart. So when I say that the fate of American Frontier—and Worthington Shares’ involvement with it—is just business in the end and not something we should really worry about all that much, you know what I mean by that. I will fight with every ounce of my being to protect the Worthington business. But what I most care about is how this will affect you—each of you.”
Again Drew peeked at his wife. Jean gave another encouraging nod.
He gazed directly at Will. “Until the eve
nts today, I would have predicted that there was a clear path forward for you. You were almost certainly going to be asked to take over American Frontier, either as its CEO or possibly as its board chairman. In another time, for other reasons, I’d have supported that. But right now I’m not so sure that’s a good idea for you. Events will almost certainly play out in such a manner that anyone associated with the decisions AF made to build platforms in the Arctic will, at a minimum, be on the wrong side of history. No one will look kindly on the people responsible for those decisions, which would be hugely unfortunate for you, considering that you opposed the decisions at the board level to drill in the Arctic.”
Will opened his mouth, but Drew put up a hand. “Please wait. I need to say this.”
He swiveled toward Sean. “Things are a bit murkier for you. But the risks to you may be even greater than they are for your brother. You may not be on the AF board or under consideration as the company’s leader. But knowing you as I do, I can only imagine you are going to join this fight in the way that suits you best—as someone who sees all the angles, plays them all, and brings in a vast network of people and resources to highlight what’s happening in the Arctic.
“I’m quite certain that the Center for Ecological Biodiversity will sue AF as they’ve sued every other oil company over spills. And because you’re well known as a fierce environmentalist, and you’re about to head to the Arctic on a Green Justice ship that the entire world will ultimately know you paid for, the fight there will become your fight. Not Worthington Shares’ fight, but your own personal fight. Should you lose that fight in the eyes of the public, there will be consequences to you, Sean. Never mind the consequences to the company.
“Make no mistake: AF will use everything at their disposal—every public relations ploy, every investor relations gimmick, every political favor owed or assumed, and every legal or regulatory maneuver they can possibly engage—to win this fight in the public, the boardroom, and the halls of power in Washington. If you, Sean, are perceived as a lone warrior on the front lines, tangling with the world’s largest company in the midst of all that, there is a grave risk of being vastly misunderstood and mischaracterized by the press. There is no peace to be found here, only unavoidable conflict. Any attempts on your part to obtain some sort of a peace will be seen as naïve at best and misguided and personally damaging at worst.”
A Perfect Ambition Page 9
