Best Kept Secrets(110)
I did it because I needed independence. I still do, Angus."
Angus was perturbed, and made no secret of it. "You
wanna be begged, is that it? Okay." He took a deep breath.
"I'm getting close to retirement age. Some would consider
me past it. The business needs your leadership qualities to
survive." He spread his hands wide. "There. Does that satisfy
your confounded ego?"
"I don't need to be stroked, Angus, and you damn well
know it. I'm thinking about somebody else's ego."
"Junior's?"
"Junior's. Have you told him about this?"
"No. I didn't see any reason to, until ..."
"Until there was nothing he could do about it."
Angus's silence was as good as an admission.
Reede began to pace. "Junior is your heir, Angus, not me.
He's the one you should be grooming to take over. He needs
to be ready when the time comes."
Angus paced, too, while he collected his thoughts. "You're
afraid Junior won't get ready as long as you're around to do
everything for him and cover his tracks when he messes up."
"Angus, I don't mean--"
"It's all right," he said, raising his hand to ward off
Reede's objections. "I'm his daddy. You're his best friend.
We should be able to discuss him freely without wading
through bullshit. Junior isn't as strong as you."
Reede looked away. Hearing the truth warmed him inside.
He knew how difficult it was for Angus to say it.
"I always wanted Junior to be more like you--aggressive,
assertive, ambitious--but. ..." Angus gave an eloquent
shrug. "He needs you, Reede. Hell, so do I. I didn't bust
my balls all these years to see everything I've built up fall
down around me. I've got my pride, but I'm a practical
businessman. I face facts, bad as they sometimes are. One
of those facts is that you're competent, and Junior isn't."
"That's my point, Angus. He can be. Force his hand.
Delegate him more responsibility."
"And when he f*cks up, you know what'll happen? I'll
lose my temper, start yelling at him. He'll sulk and run to
his mama, who'll mollycoddle him."
"Maybe at first, but not for long. Junior'll start yelling
back one of these days. He'll figure out that the only way to
deal with you is to give you tit for tat. I did."
"Is that what you're doing now, getting back at me for
some slight I'm not even aware of?"
"Hell, no," Reede answered crossly. "Since when have
I ever been afraid to tell you off, or anybody else, if something
wasn't to my liking?"
"All right, I'll tell you since when," Angus snapped.
"Since Celina was killed. That changed everything, didn't
it?" He moved closer to Reede. "I don't think any of us has
had an honest conversation with the other since that morning.
The thing I always feared most was that she'd come between
you and Junior." He laughed with rancor. "She did anyway.
Even dead, she put a blight on the friendship."
"Celina has nothing to do with my decision to say no. I
want to feel that what's mine is mine. Completely. Not a
part of your conglomerate."
"So, it's strictly economics?"
"That's right."
The wheels of Angus's brain were whirring with fresh
arguments. "What if I decided to build an airfield of my
own?"
"Then we'd be competitors," Reede replied, unruffled.
"But there's not enough business to support two, and both
of us would lose."
"But I can afford to. You can't."
"You wouldn't get any satisfaction from bankrupting me,
Angus."
Angus relented and snorted a laugh. "You're right. Hell,
boy, you're like family."
"Like family, but not. Junior is your son, not me."
"You're turning down this opportunity on account of him,
aren't you?" It was a shrewd guess and, he saw by Reede's
reaction, a correct one.
Reede gave his wristwatch a needless glance. "Look, I've
got to run.''
"Reede," Angus said, grabbing his arm. "You reckon
Junior'll ever realize just how good a friend you are to him?"
Reede tried to sound jocular. "Let's not tell him. He's
conceited enough as it is."
Angus smelled defeat, and it was obnoxious to him. "I
can't let you do it, boy."
"You've got no choice."
"I won't let you say no. I'll keep after you," he promised,
his crafty blue eyes gleaming.
"You're not shook up because you'll miss me. You're
shook up because you aren't getting your way."