Owned by Fate (Serve #1)(34)

She stepped out of the car and took a deep breath. Since her mother’s death five years earlier, the house had fallen into a mild state of disrepair. Much like the magazine. Of course, her father had felt the pinch in his wallet—they all had—but Caroline suspected he just didn’t have the same willpower to deal with upkeep. Without his wife to keep happy, he seemed to view the house as shelter and little more, even rejecting her offers to arrange repairs. Her father’s lack of drive saddened her, but she understood. Losing her mother to cancer had affected them all. Regardless of how often they saw their father in the office every day, she and Oliver always made a point to visit him on the weekends. It went along with their efforts to keep family separated from business.

Philip opened the door and stepped aside to let them in. “You two again?”

Oliver grabbed the paper bag full of assorted bagels and cream cheese from the backseat and shut the door. “Someone has to feed you, old man.”

Her father held up a hardcover book. “I feast on words, son. They alone sustain me.”

Caroline hid her smile, knowing her father, a self-proclaimed literary snob, hadn’t meant his comment as a joke and would be offended if she laughed. Oliver, on the other hand, never missed a chance to needle him.

“I read Playboy for the articles all the time.”

Their father snorted. “So that’s where our readership has gone.”

“Any time you want to borrow an issue—”

“Let me stop you both right there,” Caroline broke in. “The enjoyment of my sesame seed bagel hinges on me retaining an appetite.”

All three of them entered the house, walking toward the kitchen where they spent the bulk of their visits, leaning on the marble island sipping coffee. Just as she crossed the threshold into the disorganized kitchen, her father pulled her to a halt. She turned with a questioning look.

“Oliver, I need a moment with your sister.” Her father nodded in the direction of his home office, just across the foyer. “Go ahead and set up all that nonsense. We’ll be right back.”

She and her brother went still, staring at each other. Oliver’s usual self-assuredness wavered for a split second before he got it back in place, slaying Caroline where she stood. They both knew that tone from their father, and it meant he wanted to discuss business. And Oliver wasn’t invited. It was on the tip of Caroline’s tongue to question her father, something she never did, but Oliver gave her a firm nod, a silent communication that he was fine with their private meeting. Her brother was lying, but she would never call him on it in front of their father, and he knew that.

“No promises there will be any bagels left when you get back,” Oliver said over his shoulder, digging through the paper bag where it sat on the counter.

Once they were enclosed in the office, Caroline turned to her father. “Is everything…okay?”

He tossed the hardcover onto his desk and released a heavy sigh. “Yes and no.”

Caroline sat slowly, very aware at that moment that this was the same room where she’d been told her mother had cancer. “All right.”

Her father propped a hip on his desk, a move that reminded her so much of Oliver. “As you know, we have the final vote in a couple weeks on your brother’s proposal. While your article might have boosted our numbers and earned us some new subscribers, I believe we can chalk it up to rubbernecking. Not the promise of a new business model. I have no doubt the vote will still go as expected.”

He gave her a knowing look, so confident in her rejection of Oliver’s hard work that it made her feel slightly ill. Was she so predictable? Not lately, she decided, thinking of Jonah and immediately regretting it when her pulse kicked up. Focus.

“Right.” She nodded once, already having suspected her father wouldn’t change his position even after the splash her article had made. “So you want to talk about the merger vote now? We should bring in Oliver—”

He cleared his throat. “Caroline, I plan to announce my retirement the same day.”

“Retirement?” She shot to her feet. “B-but…we’re in the middle of…Dad, there might be nothing left to retire from.”

“I realize the timing could be better.” He encompassed the room with a weary look. “I have a lot of time to think. Out here by myself. It’s become obvious to me that Preston’s is sinking because I’m still running it like I did forty years ago.”

Caroline sat back down slowly, positive her shock was showing on her face. Her father rarely, if ever, admitted to mistakes. And never in regards to his management of Preston’s. “So we make some changes. This is good. There’s no need to abandon ship, Dad.”

He shook his head. “I’ve eaten the same thing for lunch every day since we printed our first issue. I can’t even get on board with Casual Friday. There’s no hope of me changing now. I don’t have it in me.”

She swallowed heavily, trying to keep her emotions in check. “So you’re just giving up?”

“Of course not.” Her father pushed off the desk to stand in front of her. “I’m putting Preston’s in your hands, Caroline. I know I’m leaving you with a mess, but you’re the only one I trust to maintain the vision I created, even as you modernize.” He glanced at the door. “I love you and Oliver equally. You know that. But he’s irresponsible. His party days don’t appear to be ending any time soon, and that image will hurt the magazine. He’ll turn Preston’s into something I’d be…ashamed to have my name on. I know you would never do that.”