you for being prompt.” Zena Moritz Gerald cupped her granddaughter’s face and gave a squeeze.
“I just saw you a couple of weeks ago.” Minka patted her grandmother’s hands where they lay on her face. “Did this just come up?”
“It’s a talk we’ve needed to have for quite a while.” Zena planted a soft kiss on Minka’s mouth and then hugged her. “We shouldn’t postpone it any longer.”
“Gram Z....” Gently, Minka took hold of the woman’s arm when she would’ve walked away. “Is everything okay?” Her dark eyes were assessing her grandmother’s slender figure.
“Oh!” Zena rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing like that. I feel very fine. Although...” She intentionally let the word hang while her expressive eyes scanned the high ceiling of the foyer. “I do feel like I’m wasting away roaming around this house and that god-awful office building of your grandfather’s.”
“That building is a work of art.” Minka took her grandmother by the arm and led her from the foyer.
“Work of art or not, it’s hard to enjoy it if you don’t want to be there.”
“Which I’m guessing is what brings us to the purpose of this visit?” Minka continued to prompt.
“Your father was slated to be the one to take over, being our only son and only child,” Zena explained as they walked down a short corridor leading to a sun-drenched parlor. “But...you know how that’s turning out...”
Silence settled as grandmother and granddaughter covered the distance to the parlor. Minka walked ahead of Zena as they entered the room, which opened on to a split-level wraparound terrace, part of which overlooked a pool below.
“Your parents said nothing about coming back to the States when I spoke to them last week,” Zena said while taking time to water-spritz the arrangement of lilies and yellow tulips on the glass stand just inside the door.
Minka’s parents, Brice and Leslie Gerald, had lived in France for the past four years. Minka knew that Zena hoped they’d return, but Minka could hear the lightness, the happiness in her parents’ voices whenever she spoke to them. Returning to the States was definitely not on their agendas at the moment.
“They’re not coming back,” Zena confirmed. “Not to work anyway, which means the job is yours, my love.” She spread her hands, as if offering Minka a prize.
Minka’s eyes widened. “Gram Z....you said...you said you’d never do that to me no matter how much I wanted it. It was one of the reasons I went to work for Sim.”
“You’re right, honey, I did.” Zena began to walk through the parlor, water-spritzing the various arrangements of flowers brightening the space. “I said that because I wanted you to get out there and get more experience. You going to work for Qasim was a godsend.”
Minka could only frown. She wasn’t sure what question to ask next.
“Being over at Wilder, where no one knew your background, your family, your...money, I’d hoped you’d gain more than just a reputation as Qasim’s efficient, take-no-prisoners assistant.”
“Ah, jeez...” Minka closed her eyes. “Gram Z.—”
“I wanted you to come out of there with a husband, or at the very least some kind of meaningful relationship.”
“Gram, I wouldn’t have been any good at my job had I gone there looking for love.”
Zena gave in to a bit of soft laughter while spraying a vibrant vine that rippled all the way to the hardwood floor. “Such dedication to business.” Her dark eyes sparkled with both humor and regret. “You’re as ambitious as your granddad and your father,” she sighed, turning to Minka. “But at least your father had enough of my genes to get out of it and focus on what was most important. I wish you had gained those particular genes.”
“Me?” Minka straightened in her chair. “Why?”
“Being ambitious and business obsessed is expected of men. It doesn’t keep them from being drawn to women and companionship, but it tends to have the opposite effect on women.” She set aside the water bottle and began to stroll the room again.
“Women tend to shy away from husbands and families in pursuit of our goals,” Zena added.
Minka shook her head. “That’s not true, Gram.”
“It is in your case, though, isn’t it?”
Minka stood. “So you called me here to discuss my nonexistent love life.” Again, she tacked on silently.
“No.” Zena’s calm was unshakeable. “I asked you here to offer you the keys to the kingdom, so to speak. Bryant G Industries is yours, my love.”
“Gram.” Minka joined the woman on the other side of the room. “Be serious with me now. Are you okay, really?”
Zena laughed, the sound as bright and airy as the sunny flower-dotted room around her. “Babylove, I promise you I’m fine. I’m not about to kick the bucket, but there are things I’d like to do before the bucket is kicked.” She tugged at the cream-and-mocha ties around Minka’s figure-flattering dress and fixed her granddaughter with a stern look.
“Your grandfather always wanted a family presence in the building, and he wanted it to be family he trusted. You’ve been groomed for this your entire life.” Zena sniffed disdainfully. “Perhaps we groomed you too well for business when we should’ve spent time on home-ec.”
“So when do I start?” Minka asked after shaking her head over the “home ec” remark.
“Oh, there’s plenty of time, but it’s going to require lots of big changes on your part, so you should be ready.”
“Yeah...” Some of Minka’s budding excitement began to wane as thoughts of leaving her job at Wilder took shape.
“You’ll be acquainting yourself with BGI business associates that you may not know,” Zena said, “and even though others will be on hand to handle the day-to-day management of those clients, meeting you in person will go a long way to enhance those relationships. I’ll keep you posted on those dates.”
Minka only nodded. She didn’t want to reveal too much of her excitement.
Of course, Zena saw it clearly enough. “Your grandfather wanted family to take over, but I will find someone else to put in this space, child, if that’s what I have to do. My plan is to announce my successor at the stockholders’ meeting. I want you to use the time between now and then to figure out if this is really the life you want.”
“I’m not a hermit, Gram.”
“No, but my guess is that when you take an interest in a man, it’s not because you see him as a potential life partner.”
“Gee, thanks!”
Zena shrugged off her granddaughter’s outrage. “You know what I mean. This is one woman speaking to another now, Mi-Mi.”
Minka stiffened her stance and nodded.
