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“Of course. Mom and Serena put their heads together and suggested it. Dad never would have thought of it by himself.”
“The patriarchy raises its ugly head?”
“I think you’re ascribing the wrong motivation. Dad has never been able to control Serena. With us boys, he’s always laid down the law, but the girls have had him wrapped around their proverbial little fingers. Kelly was never interested, but with Serena, as Mom tells it, Dad was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control her, and he’s all about control.”
I nodded. This wasn’t at all what I’d expected, if Josh was right. “So where does this leave you?”
“I get exactly what I want—well, almost.”
“But you wanted to run your own thing.”
“Listen to the next section.”
“Okay.”
He started the message again. “I think Serena will do a wonderful job over there, so she’s taking on that responsibility immediately. She and Duke have been looking for a way to move to Europe anyway, so it’s a good fit for both her and the company. But that leaves us with Josh’s situation. He told me he was happy to stay with you at Rossi’s, but we both know he aspires to a larger responsibility. And the situation is my fault. Over the years, I’ve been too—how do I put this?—demanding of my sons, and I’ve driven them all out of the company, leaving Josh as the last man standing. So it’s time that the baton gets passed. With Robin’s blessing, I’ve decided to step back to the chairman role only. I’ll let Serena handle Europe and Josh handle the US. This will take some getting used to for me, but I’m going to do my darnedest to give them the latitude they need in their new roles.”
My eyes started to water as I took this in. Maybe I hadn’t seen all the possibilities.
Josh placed his hand over mine as the recording continued.
“Having met you at Kelly’s party, and hearing even more about you from Josh…”
I squeezed Josh’s fingers at that statement and got a squeeze back.
“The entire family and I… Let me back up here and thank you, Nicole, for being the force for good that you are. Your insistence that these problems be worked out has forced me to reevaluate my part in all this and made me find a solution that works for everybody, including my dear wife, who has been after me for years to take some time off so we might enjoy a little traveling before we’re both pushing walkers.” Lloyd laughed. “So, Robin and I and the entire family thank you, and we hope that you and Josh can find a happy way forward.”
I couldn’t stop my happy tears.
“I do hope you’ll grant an old man one request. Please stand, take Josh’s hands, and dance one dance for me to the song Josh chose. After that, it’s up to you two kids to talk it out. And once again, thank you for coming into our lives.”
Josh stood.
I joined him.
He took me into a light embrace as the music started: “My Girl” by the Temptations.
We swayed to the music as he sang the lyrics in my ear.
I cried into his shoulder with happiness I couldn’t contain. And not once did I ask him to change girl to woman. When the song ended, I refused to let go of my man.
Lloyd’s voice came back on again. “Josh has a question he’d like to ask you. And with that, I’ll sign off. I hope you can join us at the next gathering.”
The recording stopped.
I looked up into Josh’s eyes with my watery ones. “What did you want to ask?”
He kept me swaying to the imaginary beat of the music. “It’s more than one question, actually.”
“Well, I don’t know. Your father said one question, so you better make it a good one.”
“I’m torn then, because they’re both important.”
I could wait. The warmth of being in my man’s arms was all I needed right now.
“Okay, here goes. Will you please be my girlfriend? But before you answer, know that there are some conditions.”
I laughed. “Conditions?”
