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Denny’s blond hair is twisted neatly at the nape of her neck. Her earrings are modest—pearl studs. The black dress she’s wearing is sleek and flattering but not promiscuous. Just classy. Her shoes are the perfect height. An elegant three inches. Everything about her ensemble is strategically subtle…except her bright nails.
She shrugs one shoulder. “She loved red.”
“I know,” I say.
Denny examines her nails, her eyes drooping with sadness. “She bought me a huge gift card at our favorite spa for my birthday. I never got a chance to use it because we always had a once-a-month ‘official business meeting,’ which was actually just her treating me to a massage, mani, pedi, and body wrap.” She inhales deeply and releases a heavy breath. “I went early this week. When they told me to pick a color for my nails, I asked for the Dottie special.”
“I get it. You wanted to feel close to her.”
She nods emphatically. “Exactly. I don’t know what I’m going to do without her. Dottie was my whole life.” She touches my cheek. “It’s just us now.”
After everything she’s done for us, it’s selfish, but looking into her light eyes right now, I know I’d trade her in a heartbeat for Mom or Grandma.
It’s just not the same…
She’s not my family.
But maybe I should pull my head out of my ass because she’s all I have left.
“Thank you, Denny. I’m glad you’re here.” I force a genuine smile.
We’re both lost in our thoughts for a moment until Denny lets out a sharp exhale and clasps her hands together, signaling “Let’s go.” She straightens her already pristine dress then rubs her hands together like she’s warming them. She’s fidgety and anxious today. I know she’s hurting, too.
“Are you ready?” she asks.
I take in a testing deep breath, ensuring my lungs are fully functioning again. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“I have your speech.” Denny brushes off my shoulders before fetching my suit jacket, hanging behind the bathroom door. After helping me slip on the stiff jacket, she pulls out a folded piece of paper from the hidden pockets in her dress. Wiggling it between two fingers, she says, “Just in case.” Then she slips my printed-out eulogy into the inside pocket of my coat.
We rehearsed the speech a dozen times. I can easily recite it by memory. My issue isn’t public speaking or making the tough decisions as a boss. My MBA taught me how to understand corporate finances, evaluate the efficacy of partnerships, and know the difference between the incubation, growth, and eventual decline of initiatives. I know numbers. In that aspect, I’m fully prepared to become the CEO of the Hessler Group. It’s people that are a struggle. I’m not always good at reading people.
Denny still looks at me skeptically. Her gaze darts from the pills on the counter back to my eyes. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Even if I wasn’t, who else could speak today?”Everyone’s gone. It’s all on me now.
“I’m just asking, Dex.” She twists her lips, and her big blue eyes shift down. “The last thing I want is for you to collapse in front of all those people.”
I exhale. “I’ll be fine. But I don’t think I want to read the speech.”
It’s a fine eulogy. We covered Grandma’s most prominent accomplishments, making sure to mention how she was a pioneer in an industry dominated by men. We go into great detail about her accolades as a CEO, commanding a billion-dollar company yet still finding a way to raise her orphaned grandson. I think the exact words are:Dottie Hessler was both a widower and a mother who lost her only child. But grief didn’t deter her, and she miraculously found a way to raise her grandson while securing her spot amongst Forbes top 100 richest people in the world. She was a pioneer for women in business.
It’s not that it isn’t true. It’s just shallow.
“What do you want to say?”
“I know most of the company is out there today, but it just seems like such a shame to talk about work. Grandma was so much more than that. I remember this one time when I was eight; I called her and told her the nanny was hurting me. She was on a phone conference with the CEO of Royal Bahamas, Hessler’s biggest competitor at the time. They were discussing a huge merger, but right in the middle, she put his ass on hold for twenty-two minutes. She came home, fired the nanny on the spot, then brought me back to the office with her.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Dottie,” she says with a half-hearted chuckle.
“Grandma kicked off her shoes and sat on the ground with me. She handed me crayons one by one and doodled with me while she finished her meeting on speaker. She ended up acquiring two Royal Bahamas ships that day.”
I didn’t understand the logistics until much later, but Royal Bahamas thought they got away with a slimy business deal. Of course, Grandma was two steps ahead. She stripped both shipsto the studs, rebuilt and rebranded. Today, they are two of the most lucrative ships in the Hessler fleet. In fact, the revenue from those two ships is what knocked Royal Bahamas down a few pegs. We no longer consider them competition.
“Dottie was such a badass,” Denny says. “She could do it all. I will forever be in awe of that woman.”
I nod along. “Same.”
“What did your nanny do to you, by the way?”