the patio doors closed behind him, he took his glass of wine with him as he walked through the living room and down the steps to the foyer. When he finally opened the door, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see his cousin Parker. In addition to the fact that he lived about ten minutes from Sean, Parker was a free spirit. He worked hard and played even harder, and he never stayed still long enough to grow entanglements—as some might call women with definite ideas of what they wanted from a man.
“What’s up, man? You didn’t return my call,” Parker said as he entered.
“Right, my apologies. You flying solo tonight?” Sean asked as he closed the door and followed his cousin to the kitchen.
Parker had the appetite of an entire football team, or at least that’s what they’d all thought since they were kids, when he’d been able to eat more than all of them combined.
“Nah, I’m heading to pick up this new lady.”
Sean’s kitchen was straight down the foyer, past the steps to the left and the bathroom and first floor bedroom to the right. The walls were painted a muted beige while the contemporary look of cherrywood cabinets and stainless-steel appliances added a bit of splash.
Parker was already poking his head into the Sub-Zero refrigerator.
“Jaydon seems to think I should meet this girl.”
Sean pulled out a chair and sat at the island watching his cousin pull out a beer and a piece of sweet potato pie left over from last Sunday’s family dinner at the Big House. That’s what they called his parents’ home in Key Biscayne. The entire family, or at least the Miami portion of the Donovans, usually gathered there on Sunday afternoons, after church, for dinner.
“Your ex-wife is setting you up now?” Sean asked with a chuckle.
Parker had already devoured half the pie. “Right? I was asking myself the same question. But apparently she’s some ex-model from Connecticut that was referred to DNM.”
“By whom? And what are we supposed to do with an ex-model?”
“Remember that guy Trent went into business with? What’s his name? Desdune, I think.”
Sean nodded. “Yeah, his family owns Lucien’s, those Creole restaurants. They just opened a new one in Orlando. Great food.”
“Right. Right. I remember them.”
Of course Parker remembered good food, Sean almost said.
“Well, they married into this other family from Bennett Communications. She’s the daughter, Adriana.”
While Parker emptied his beer, Sean tried to piece together everything his cousin had just said. Jaydon was Parker’s ex-wife. She ran Donovan Network Management, providing agents and talent scouts throughout the country. It still amazed Sean that his cousin, who was only a year older than he and two years younger than Dion, had been married and divorced before he’d turned thirty—a subject no one was allowed to talk about beyond the fact that the two remained friends and Jaydon still worked for them. Now, at thirty-two, Parker was a bachelor in great demand.
“I still don’t get why Jaydon’s setting you up on dates.”
“I don’t know, man. Women are crazy. She said something about maybe giving her a host job on the network. I don’t know. I’m going to check her out tonight to see if she’s got any potential.”
Sean leaned back in the chair. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Savian’s asking when we’re going to be ready to propose our idea for the magazine show. I think we’re solid, but there’s another part of the magazine we should include,” Parker said, leaning over the island to pull a napkin from the stainless-steel holder.
“I know. Dion told me you were asking about our ‘Ask Jenny’ columnist.”
Parker slammed a hand on the marble countertop. “Right. You know how many hits that column is getting online? More than any other page of the magazine. People seem desperate for the kind of help she’s dishing out.”
Sean nodded. He couldn’t argue with the facts.
“I hope she’s not some old chick, speaking from a past of broken hearts. That’s not going to be a good visual.”
“She’s not old,” Sean said.
“Good. Is she married? That’ll make her seem more stable, like she’s achieved the dream.”
He shook his head. “She’s divorced. She has a kid though.”
Parker looked like he was contemplating that fact. “We don’t have to broadcast that.”
“I just don’t know,” Sean said, even though he was not really sure what his objection to this idea was.
“Look, we’ve got to boost ratings. Reality shows are kicking butt all over the networks. We’ve got to jump in while the water’s still clear.”
“We can’t build our name by imitating others,” he said seriously. A part of the reason why the Donovan media conglomerate succeeded was by being innovative and attentive to detail. Rushing headlong into some trend could backfire on them.”
“And we won’t survive unless we’re willing to change with the times.” Parker held up his hand to stop whatever Sean was getting ready to say. “Just give it some thought. Read the column yourself and get a feel for what we can do. And I’d love to meet with the columnist, see if she’s got some thoughts on the idea.”
“I’ll check it out,” Sean said. It was his job to do just that, regardless of what a surprise Ms. Tate Dennison had been to him.
“Aren’t you going to be late for your date?” he asked Parker when he noted his cousin was once again in his refrigerator.
With a chuckle, Parker took an apple. “I’m meeting her just down the street at the Four Seasons.”
“You’re heading to the Four Seasons for dinner and you’re in here raiding my fridge like you’re starving?”
Parker laughed.
“You always shop like you’ve got a house full of kids in here. It’s either raid your fridge or drive all the way to the Big House to raid your mom’s.”
“What about your mom’s fridge? Aunt Carol loves to cook,” Sean said, as they once again made their way down the foyer toward the door.
Parker groaned. “She also loves to nag me about my past mistakes and when I’m going to fix everything by remarrying and having some kids.”
With a nod, Sean conceded to knowing exactly what Parker meant. Not that his mother was nagging him to remarry. However, Janean was definitely in the market for grandchildren. Even though Dion was now married to Lyra, there was no talk of them having children yet. Which left the attention centered firmly on Sean.
“Then mi casa es su casa,” Sean said with a smack on his cousin’s back and a chuckle.
“Right. Call me tomorrow and we’ll
