Page 13 of Gray Hair Don't Care
The idea of working with a dedicated team held great appeal. Lela often felt like she was just an item on a to-do list, rather than a real priority. “Great. When does all of this happen?”
“It’ll be effective immediately. We went ahead and took the liberty of setting up a meeting for you and the Echo Echo founder today at two o’clock. Does that work for your schedule?”
Like Lela wasn’t going to rearrange everything to get this ball rolling. Of course she was. “Absolutely. Who’s the founder?”
The woman looked at her like she was nuts. “Echo James. That’s how the company got its name.”
Echo James. Echo James.Holy crap.Lela felt like a complete idiot. And also like the universe might be punking her. Echo James was Donovan’s daughter. Echo Echo must have been the company he’d been helping her with when he’d been in the city three years ago.
Luckily, Lela was certain that Donovan was out of the picture. As far as she knew, he was still living in San Francisco. Plus, she wasn’t worried about any potential run-ins with him. It might sting a little, but he had just as much to be embarrassed about as she did. Maybe more. It was all water under the bridge as far as she was concerned. Old news, and Lela spent zero time worried about the past. There was too much to look forward to.
“Just tell me where I need to go.”
Chapter Eight
For Donovan,the best part of being back in New York full-time was working with his daughter, Echo. It had only been a few weeks of consulting for her fast-growing lifestyle company, Echo Echo, but he already felt like this had been the right move.
This was a big step forward in their father-daughter relationship. When he’d first tried to help her three years ago, things hadn’t gone so great. Echo had been leery of his advice. She was fresh out of grad school, eager to make a name for herself, and determined to do everything on her own. That left Donovan out in the cold, which was probably what he deserved anyway. He hadn’t been there much for Echo when she was growing up. And that was a problem born of unmet expectations and broken promises. It couldn’t get fixed overnight.
Three years had made a world of difference for Echo’s business. It had taken two for her to get her company off the ground, and since then, it was as if the accelerator had dropped out from under her foot. She was acquired by JTI, given three floors of a beautiful building in the garment district, and granted a substantial influx of funding to bring more brands on board. More important than any of that, she had carte blanche to do whatever the hell she wanted. From Donovan’s extensive experience helping entrepreneurs navigate the never-ending maze of corporate structures, he knew very well that his daughter had a rare opportunity.
“Dad. Are things always going to feel this crazy? Like my whole life is going completely off the rails?” Echo stabbed at her salad. This was their now-weekly lunch date, eating takeout and sitting on the couch in Echo’s office.
“Probably. At least a little bit.” Donovan took a bite of his sandwich—low sodium turkey on whole grain bread. He did his best to eat well, since the occasional tightness in his chest still didn’t have a medical explanation. The one time he’d been to a doctor, the EKG and every other test came back normal.
“Thanks. That’s exactly what I didnotwant to hear.”
“Honey, look. This is what happens when you have a hot commodity. It was only a matter of time before the powers-that-be decided to put significant resources into what you’re doing. And with more money, comes more responsibility.”
“There are so many moving parts.”
“That’s why I’m here. To help you through all of it.”
“And I’m glad you were willing to move all the way across the country to do it.” She smiled warmly at him, her big brown eyes flashing so much genuine affection it made his heart hurt. Donovan knew life was giving him a second chance with his daughter, and he was not going to blow it.
“I will do anything for you. I hope you know that.”
“I do. And I appreciate it.”
“Let’s take a break from work. How are things going with wedding planning?”
Echo closed her eyes, sucked a slow deep breath in her through her nose and forcefully blew it out. She was all about relaxation techniques and being mindful, and this was one of her most tried-and-true methods. After three cycles of in-and-out, her eyes popped open and she looked right at him. “Fine. Everything is fine.”
Donovan sat back and crossed his legs, ready to do a whole lot of listening. “Clearly, it’s not.”
“I’m trying to manifest a state of fine, okay? I keep telling myself that if I say it’s all going well, it will actually go well.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Not unless you want to call Mom and tell her to back off.”
Donovan cleared his throat. On a very long list of things he did not relish, at the top was getting into anything with his ex-wife, Genevieve. She had a lethal way of shutting down anyone else’s thoughts, opinions or ideas. It was part of what led to their divorce. Genevieve had gotten tired of him. Or his apparent stupidity. “I think we both know she’s not going to listen to me.”
“True.” A grumble left Echo’s throat. It was the same noise she used to make when she was a little girl and had reached peak frustration.
“The only approach with your mother is a direct one. Tell her that she’s stressing you out.”
“She wants to be involved. I can’t cut her out of the planning.”
