So she did. For near half an hour, she told him her vision, outlining her business plan in detail. He was smiling by the end.
“It’s a solid plan. And it suits you down to the ground.”
“You really think so?”
“I do. Why Wishful? Because Norah’s there?”
“That’s part of it. And I’m already hooked into the community. I’ve already been a part of the changes, and it just makes sense to stay and see the rest of it through.”
“Sensible,” he conceded. “I kinda wondered if Reed Campbell might have something to do with it.”
Cecily almost bobbled her coffee mug. “How do you know anything about Reed?”
“He came to see us yesterday.”
“He did what?”
“Well, more properly, he came to see you, but you weren’t there.”
“Reed came to Greenwich?”
“He did. Seems you blew town pretty upset the other day and he was pretty damned worried about you. Enough to take three different flights to get up to us on the off chance you’d run home.”
“How did he even know where to go?”
“Christoff.”
If Christoff had given him the address, that was an even bigger sign that there was some kind of explanation for Selina Kyle. When was he going to call her back?
“Things are up in the air with Reed at the moment,” she hedged.
“That’s all obviously between the two of you, but for what it’s worth, we all liked him.”
“All?”
“Me, your mother, and Blair. He held up really well to the full court press. Including Dinah via speakerphone.”
Cecily didn’t even want to imagine how that had gone.
“We found him polite, well-spoken and entirely willing to own up to his mistakes and grovel.”
“Did he tell you what those mistakes were?”
“Yes, but that’s something you need to hear from him.”
Cecily studied her dad. “You’re not warning me off.”
“He seems like an honorable guy. And he’s in love with you. You specifically. He doesn’t give a damn about the Davenport legacy, the connections, or the money. Though he wasn’t intimidated by them either. As far as I’m concerned, that places him miles ahead of everybody you’ve ever dated.”
“I think,” she said slowly, “that I’ve misjudged him.” Again.
Her father tipped back the last of his coffee. “Then it looks like you’ve got a plane to catch.”
~*~
“I’m going to miss Dinah,” Brenda sighed.
“She was only here for two days,” Reed pointed out. And in the thirty-six hours he’d been around her, she’d exhausted him with questions about Virtual Match for a prospective new book. He figured he owed her, both for lobbying on his behalf with Cecily and for the incredibly successful signing. But after the last few days, he was ready for life to go back to normal.