Secret

He plopped down in one of the recliners and dialed Teri. She answered on the third ring, “Hey, you. Having a good time?”

“It’s all right. What about you? You having a good time?” he asked.

“It’s been good. I’m glad I got away.” He could hear the happiness in her voice.

“Sorry I haven’t called before now,” Dylan offered up.

“That’s okay. I figured it was either intense or fun…”

“It’s actually been both,” Dylan said with a chuckle. Teri felt like home to him. She calmed him. He hoped this never changed between them.

“Okay, that sounds weird. What’s up?” Teri asked.

“We got more than full asking price. The staff stays intact. The stock options are more than what I wanted. The base stays in Dallas and they want me to take over the whole WilderNation media division.”

“Babe! That’s great! I’m so proud of you! Oh, I wish I was there to help celebrate!” Teri sounded truly happy.

“It’s a little surprising.”

“Wait, it’s just registering. Did you agree to work for them?” Teri asked. He could hear the confusion in her voice.

“I did,” he said and laughed. He’d always assumed he’d be moved out of the company once the deal was finalized.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You don’t like to have your hands tied or take orders well,” she replied thoughtfully. Teri’s typical direct nature had him laughing a little bit too.

“I made sure I have a solid out, and they want me to keep the building like we have, but now I’ll have deeper pockets to push things forward. And I have you, my legal division. You’ll make sure all that’s there for us.” Dylan still couldn’t believe the turn of events.

“Well, you’re good at building things from the ground up. So you’re happy?” she asked.

“We’ll see when the contracts come if it’s all there, but right now, I call it a success,” Dylan declared, lifting his hand to give no one a high five. “How are the kids?”

“Everyone’s good. Chad’s working like crazy on gathering a part for some robotic thing for the science fair. He’s determined his senior year is the year to take home the top prize. Cate’s fine. She’s forgetting she’s got at least eight months before she graduates. She’s applied at Harvard and Duke, but her real concern’s planning her dorm room and looking at meal plans,” Teri said, quickly filling him in.

“Of course she is.” Dylan laughed. That was her mother in her, planning everything out about a million times before the event actually happened. “How’s jailbird?”

“You know she hates that,” Teri said.

“I know. I’ve been texting her that every day. She’s refusing to answer now.”

“Well, she’s becoming our little activist. Her newest concern’s equality. There’s a march in Tulsa in a couple of weeks. She’s going, but she asked first. I thought that was a step in the right direction. We might have to get her out of jail in Tulsa,” Teri said, laughing.

“Equality, huh?” Dylan asked.

“I thought you’d like that,” Teri responded. Dylan remained silent, thinking that piece of information over. “Did I lose you?”

“No, I’m here. I’m just proud of them. They’re good kids. Somehow we managed to raise good kids,” he said thoughtfully, wondering how they accomplished such a feat. They had both been a little bit of a train wreck in the beginning.

“I agree. We’re lucky,” Teri confirmed.

“I gotta go. I’ve got to be downstairs in a little while,” Dylan said, looking at his watch.

“Have a good time. You know celebrating wouldn’t kill you.”

“I have been. It’s been a good trip,” Dylan said quietly.

“Oh, I like the sound of that. You’ll have to fill me in when you get home,” Teri stated.

“We’ll see about that. I need to go.”

“Bye,” Teri said and hung up. Dylan was slower to lower the phone. So many people would consider them dysfunctional, but they weren’t at all. Teri was his best friend, and he’d done well by having her in his life. They were fine. The kids were good. They were doing well as a family.

The alarm on his phone beeped, jolting him out of his thoughts. He had five minutes to get downstairs. He quickly went through the room, closing his computer and disturbing the bed before he grabbed his bag and the still unopened gift basket he planned to leave for the staff and headed downstairs.

“Walk about a block to your right. Meet me out front of the Sheraton. I’m parked at the end of the circular drive.” Tristan sent Dylan a text when he saw him walk through the front doors of the Hilton. He watched as Dylan promptly turned to the left and then picked up the phone to call.

“Your other right,” he said with a chuckle when Dylan answered. “You look good in jeans. Those sunglasses fit your face perfectly.”

Dylan turned around, then glanced up and down the street. Tristan knew the moment he spotted the Ferrari. “I thought a driver was taking me to your place?”

“We finished early today. It seemed like a waste of time to wait to have someone bring you to my place.” Tristan watched Dylan walking toward him. He was such a nice-looking guy. Tristan’s body physically reacted every time he saw him. “You’re hot.”

“That makes me uncomfortable,” Dylan said, staring at Tristan.

“Sexual harassment in the workplace doesn’t begin until you’re officially employed,” Tristan shot back. That had Dylan laughing.

“Noted.” Dylan gave him a genuine smile through the window.

“What’s in the bag?” Tristan asked.

“My running gear and your clothes from this morning. I didn’t wash them,” he said, disappearing around the back of the car. The passenger door opened and Tristan ended the call.

“My mom always told me it was rude to bring clothes back dirty,” Tristan joked, cheekily. He liked teasing Dylan. He actually liked bringing a smile to the guy’s face. He seemed too serious all the time, but when he let his guard down and eased up some, he was spectacular company.

He shifted into gear, driving forward into the heavy downtown Irvine traffic. “I learned those same lessons, and I considered washing them, but I didn’t wanna pay the twenty-five dollars to have the hotel clean them,” Dylan said, putting his bag in the very small space behind the seats before buckling himself up.