When she hung up the phone after receiving Wayne’s enthusiastic agreement, she looked up at her two sergeants who were both grinning at her.
She held up both hands in front of them. “Don’t say a word.”
Stan laughed and ignored her warning. “But Sonia, the poor guy’s been mooning over you for two years. We just think it’s great that the two of you are finally getting together, right Grant.”
Grant was laughing too. “Yes, Kelly has been concerned about Wayne and you. She’s so afraid that he’ll upset you so much that it could damage her friendship with you.”
By then, Sonia was laughing with them. “You can tell Kelly that Wayne is being good and that no matter what happens between him and me, she’ll still be my friend.”
When Grant and Stan left to do her bidding, Sonia sat and thought about her phone conversation with Wayne and the follow-up conversation with the sergeants.
Was Wayne being good? Yes, she would have to say that he was. He had changed his behavior considerably, but was it real? And most of all, would it last? Who was the real Wayne Newcomb? Was he still the playboy that she’d seen at first? Or was he who she was seeing now, the eager admirer who only wanted to please her? When she talked to Kelly about her brother, though, she didn’t describe Wayne either way that Sonia had seen him. So, what was the real Wayne Newcomb like?
Then she thought of their conversation yesterday at her condo. Had she gone too far? Had she not gone far enough? He had sure taken off in a hurry. But, could she blame him? It had to appear to him that they were all ganging up on him and maybe they were just a little.
When she thought about it though, she realized that there was another possibility. Was God working on Wayne as Pastor Caldwell had suggested? When she thought back five years to when she had accepted the Lord, hadn’t she been the same way? Hadn’t she been so overwhelmed that she’d had to crawl off alone and think?
Well, hopefully, Wayne had time to think last night and would be ready to talk some more to her about it.
Just then, her phone rang again. This time it was Kelly.
“Hi Sonia, can you talk for a minute?”
“Sure, Kelly, what’s up?”
“Well, Grant and I have been talking.”
Sonia could tell that Kelly was struggling with what she wanted to say, so she waited her out.
“I guess there’s no way to say this but to just blurt it out. Is Wayne treating you right?”
Sonia tried to talk through her giggle. “Yes, Kelly, Wayne is treating me just fine. He has been the perfect gentleman.”
Kelly wasn’t laughing. “But that’s what worries me. He’s changed so much that even I can hardly recognize him.”
Sonia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry to that statement. It was so much like what she had just been thinking that it bothered her.
When Sonia didn’t respond, Kelly said, “I know he’s my brother and all, but I feel I must say this Sonia. Be careful with him. Make sure he is being genuine with you.”
Sonia suppressed her laugh. “Okay, Kelly, I would like to think that I’m a pretty good judge of character and I think what I’m seeing now is the new, real Wayne Newcomb. You know how God can change us. Well, I think that’s exactly what is happening to Wayne right now.”
Kelly was silent for a moment then, “Wow! That sounds great. I sure hope you’re right, Sonia.”
* * *
Wayne didn’t sleep much Sunday night so he was far from ready even at one o’clock for a meeting with all the other general managers in Grandfather’s office.
He was still working out of Kelly’s office and she was in today just long enough to attend the meeting. They knew that Grandfather was going to make the big announcement to the general managers about his retirement and that Wayne and Kelly would be taking over the company.
They were both nervous as they sat in Kelly’s office shortly before the meeting.
Kelly looked up from cooing at Gwen who was in her carryall at Kelly’s feet. “How do you think the others will accept what Grandfather is going to tell them this afternoon?”
He looked down at Gwen and smiled at his little sister’s baby, his niece. That was one more thing that was going to take some getting used to.
“Well, I don’t think anyone will really be surprised. But I do think that Norton in L.A. may be thinking he deserves to get the CEO position since he’s been with the company since we were in high school.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of too. I hope there isn’t any kind of a scene.”
With that, they went down the hall toward the CEO’s office together. They entered the outer office, which was now twice as large to provide a reception area for two offices now instead of just one. They stopped to talk to Martha who talked Kelly into leaving Gwen with her. Since Gwen was asleep, Kelly relented.
An hour later, all the general managers were gone and Harold had moved Kelly and Wayne to his conversation pit to review the meeting.
Harold leaned back and looked from one to the other of his grandchildren. “Well, how would the two of you say that little meeting went?”
Wayne looked at Kelly and realized she was waiting for him to speak first. “I would say that they all took it as well as could be expected . . . except Norton. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t leave the company soon.”
Harold looked at Kelly. “And what do you think little one?”
She tried to smile back at her grandfather but it came out as more of a frown. “I think Wayne’s probably right. Norton must have thought he would get CEO.”
Harold thought for a moment. “I think the two of you are going to need to keep an eye on him. He may not do anything more than resign eventually, but I didn’t like the look in his eye when we shook hands as he was leaving.”
Harold seemed pensive for a moment. “I’ve taken the liberty to alert Leo to keep an eye on Norton. You two will need to follow up with Leo to see how things are going.”
Wayne thought about the other six general managers. “Norton’s the only one who’s old enough to be our father. The others are all not much older than me.”
Harold laughed his booming laugh. “That has been my strategy over the past five years. I’ve been anticipating this moment, so I purposely hired younger general managers to replace the ones who left the company. Norton is the only one of the older general managers left.”
Wayne snorted. “Not for long, probably.”
Harold stood so Wayne and Kelly did as well. He walked over to where they stood and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, looked into each one’s eyes and said, “As of right now, I am no longer employed by Newcomb Motors.”
At their shocked expressions, he laughed again. “That’s right. The contractor assures me that the new office will be ready for you to occupy tomorrow morning Kelly.” He gestured to the wall, which separated this office from the identical one being built next to it. “In fact, Kelly, I’m going to have all your things from your old office moved into it later this afternoon, so that when you are ready to come back to work it will be ready for you.”
They were both still staring at him open-mouthed. “Wayne, all of my personal effects are out of here.” He waved around at the walls. Anything on the walls, you may keep or replace as you please. You may move your things in here whenever you like.”
When neither of his grandchildren said anything yet, he squeezed their shoulders. “I’m going home to help your grandmother plan where we are going to travel to first. You wouldn’t believe the stack of travel brochures she has for me to look at.”
Wayne felt he had to say something. “But Grandfather, don’t you want to stay around long enough to make sure we make the transition the way you would want us to?”
“No, Wayne, I don’t think that will be necessary. You see, I’ve taught the two of you everything I know about running this business. If I stick around, you’ll never make decisions solely on your own. You need to be able to do that.” He sm
iled at each of them. “I made a purchase yesterday, which I think will help ease your mind,.”
When they both looked back at him with anticipation, he held up a new cell phone. “This is a satellite cell phone. That means that you will be able to call me anytime you need to talk to me no matter where I might be anywhere in the world.”
Wayne looked at Kelly who was smiling back at him. He laughed. “I guess you’ve thought of everything then.”
Kelly stepped forward and hugged her grandfather who reached out with his free arm and pulled Wayne into the embrace too.
Kelly spoke first. “I hope you and Grandmother have the times of your lives as you travel. You know you’ll have to bring back souvenirs from everywhere you go.”
His laugh vibrated Wayne’s chest where they were still touching. “You know we will little one. And most of all, your grandmother has already made plans to bring something back for Gwen from each place as well.”
As he and Kelly were walking back down the hall, Wayne felt more than a little numb. He looked at her and found her looking back at him.
He was carrying Gwen since it was a little difficult for Kelly. He wondered what she would do later when Gwen grew. Then he realized that Grant would probably take care of that problem when it arrived. Even though she was still his little sister, Grant was now the one who would take care of her.
She said, “Are you a little nervous about all of this? I know I am.”
He smiled down at her. “Yes, I guess we’d be strange if we weren’t nervous about it.”
He thought for a moment. “You know, what really thrills me? It’s the fact that Grandfather has so much trust in us to just walk off the way he seems to be doing.”
She giggled. “Yes, I know what you mean. I’m just simply overwhelmed by the whole situation, his trust in us, and most of all his love for us.”
Wayne thought about that and suddenly couldn’t wait to talk to Sonia about all that had happened today.
* * *
Sonia had tried to leave work early today, but hadn’t been very successful. She wanted to prepare a nice meal for Wayne. It was important to her to be able to show him that she was more than just a cop.
As she entered her kitchen at five o’clock though, she wondered what she could get ready in an hour. That certainly did limit her choices. She had thought about pizza since he had raved about Lucia’s but there wasn’t enough time for that.
She opened her refrigerator and looked in. An idea hit her and she pulled out an onion, a carrot, a bell pepper, and some mushrooms. Then she opened the freezer and pulled out a bag of shrimp.
She knew that Wayne loved Chinese food, especially fried rice, so that was what he would get tonight.
The doorbell rang just as Sonia finished frying the rice. She had already fried the rest of the ingredients so all she had to do now was put it all together in the wok.
As she let Wayne in, he sniffed and said, “It sure does smell good in here.”
He sat at the table while she put everything into the wok and finished frying it all together.
When Sonia placed a plateful of the rice in front of him, Wayne looked down at it. “It looks authentic too.” As soon as he took a bite, he chewed it slowly and then placed his chopsticks down on his plate and looked at her with a shocked expression.
“If I hadn’t seen you cooking this with my own eyes, I never would have believed it.” He picked his chopsticks back up and plucked a shrimp into his mouth. “I know I told you that I love fried rice and the restaurants in this area don’t do it very well. I’ve always had to wait until I go to Phoenix to get good fried rice . . .”
He smiled at her. “But not anymore. This is as good as any I’ve ever eaten.”
Sonia had been holding her breath and it suddenly came out in a noisy whoosh. She blushed as they both laughed.
“I suppose your college roommate taught you this too?”
She nodded and laughed at his smug expression.
They didn’t talk much while they enjoyed their meal.
Once the dishes were in the dishwasher, they sat on the sofa in her living room, and Sonia tried to figure out how best to get the conversation going.
“Wayne, when you called me this morning, you said you needed to talk to me.” She left it at that hoping he would start talking.
He stared off into the kitchen for a moment before turning back to her. “Yes, I really did, but Kelly was there and we talked some and I don’t have the same questions I had then.” Before she could say anything, he added, “But I do have some different questions now.”
She tried to give him an encouraging smile.
“I’ll talk about the questions that Kelly helped me with first.” He looked down at his hands clasped in his lap then back up at her. “I asked her how she could forgive Harry the way she has.”
When he didn’t continue right away, Sonia prompted, “What did she say?”
He chuckled. “That’s the funny part. She said almost exactly the same thing you did yesterday.”
Sonia knew from the look on his face that he had more to say, so she waited.
“I love my sister, but above all, I respect her and her opinions. So, when the two women I most admire and respect gave me the same advice . . . well.”
He grinned and paused again, but Sonia continued to wait, filled with anticipation.
“I still think that what Harry did to Kelly and me was rotten and mean spirited, and I still can’t make myself take that final step and forgive him for it. When I think of all the memories that Kelly and I could have had with him, I still get mad. But I think I’ve finally been able to accept that those memories are gone and I’ve resolved myself to the fact that I just have to make new ones now.”
Sonia was pleased. She hadn’t expected Wayne to be able to get this far this quickly. She didn’t think first, but leaned toward him, wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him. He seemed to be startled at first as he was stiff then he relaxed, wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her back.
Sonia leaned back first and looked into Wayne’s eyes. She wasn’t quite sure of all that she saw there, but she did see sincerity. That made her feel good and it also made her believe that she was possibly getting somewhere with him.
Returning to her former position across from him on the sofa, Sonia looked into his eyes and said, “What else did you ask Kelly about?”
She didn’t think Wayne was going to answer for a short time, and then he blew out a breath and said, “Well, I asked her some questions about church, but I’d rather ask you some of those questions first, before I tell you what her answers were.”
She smiled and leaned back into the sofa cushions. “Okay, fire away.”
He laughed then his face grew serious. “There’s something else I want to tell you about first, if you don’t mind.” When she shook her head, he said, “Today, Grandfather had a meeting of the general managers of all eight of our dealerships.”
He paused as if searching for the right words. Sonia somehow knew that what he was trying to say was extremely important to him, so she waited patiently.
He grinned and shook his head. “Kelly and I knew that he was going to announce to them that he was retiring and leaving her and me in charge of the whole company.” He slapped his knee with his hand. “What we didn’t know was that Grandfather’s last day was also today. Just like that! He quit!”
He rose and walked around her living room for a moment looking out the window then came back to sit down in the same spot. “Kelly and I are now officially in charge.” He blew out a breath. “I wasn’t ready for this. Not only that, but he said that he and Grandmother are going to start traveling right away.”
Sonia felt that this pause needed to be filled. “But what if you happen to have questions for him?”
His answer was a groan and frown. “Oh, he thought of that too. He bought a satellite phone so we can call him if we need to.”
Sonia had to laugh at that. “
Your grandfather sure does think of everything doesn’t he?”
“Don’t I know it.” His eyes took on a faraway look before he turned and focused on her. “I hate to admit it, but I’m more than a little scared. I’ve just had a huge amount of responsibility dumped in my lap.”
When she didn’t comment, he went on, “If this would have happened a year ago, or even a few months ago, I know I wouldn’t have been ready to take on all of this responsibility.” He breathed deeply and frowned. “I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but right now, I think I’m ready for all that responsibility.”
Sonia couldn’t wait for him to finish. “Yes, Wayne, I think I would have to agree with you. First, you’re right about not being responsible enough before. Even I could see that from a distance.”
When he started to comment, she rushed on. “But, since I’ve gotten to know you, you have changed a great deal. I think you are definitely ready for the responsibility and the challenge.”
Wayne’s face lit up and his smile was the broadest she had ever seen. “Thank you Sonia. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
They talked for another hour, mostly about his new job and its various responsibilities and challenges.”
After he left, Sonia realized that they never did get around to his questions about church. She wondered if that had been intentional. Maybe it was better this way. He might not have been ready with all the other things that had happened to him today.
* * *
While Sonia was getting ready for bed, she was still thinking about all that Wayne had told her that evening. Her mind was almost overloaded.
She was thrilled for Wayne and Kelly, but on the other hand, she was worried. She was getting that feeling again, the feeling that there were just too many differences between her and Wayne. After all, she was a police lieutenant in a not too large town and he was now the CEO of a large company.
Wait, hadn’t she already resolved all of this once? Why drag it up again? Beth Newcomb had made her point quite well, and the differences, back then, between Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb had been far greater than hers and Wayne’s. So Sonia decided again that she was going to go by that.
Resolved Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 3) Page 13