He smiled wide, and it was clear that he was excited about the change, but holy hell! What did this mean for Wright?
“And, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to your new CEO, my sister, Morgan Wright.”
The applause held a split second of hesitation, as if the room wasn’t sure what to make of this new change. I sure as hell didn’t know what to make of it. Morgan was awesome, totally amazing really. I didn’t know her that well, but she seemed to know her shit. But Jensen had run Wright Construction for nearly a decade. It was hard to believe that anyone else could take over when he was still so young.
“Thank you all so much,” Morgan said, raising her hand to silence the applause. “I’m deeply honored to move up as the CEO of this company that I have loved my entire life. I know that it will be a big change for everyone, including me. I hope to be able to fill my brother’s shoes.” She grinned. “Who am I kidding? His feet are huge.”
I laughed along with the rest of the crowd as Morgan lulled us into a sense of security. I didn’t like change, but I did like Morgan.
“My spot as the CFO will be vacant at the present time as we work with the board to find a suitable replacement. In the meantime, we’ll have an open search to try to bring in someone new and fresh to take this company into the future.”
My eyes split from Morgan’s at the news that…they hadn’t filled the CFO position. Second-in-command hadn’t gone straight down the Wright line?
I turned in my spot and found Austin’s eyes glued to Morgan, but he was distant. He’d already known about this. But…I didn’t understand. Shouldn’t Austin be next in line for this position? Landon was too busy with golf, and Sutton was raising her baby. It seemed to make perfect sense to me for them to just move Austin up.
But, when his eyes shifted to me, the realization dawned on me.
They weren’t going to give him that position.
Part of me wanted to laugh, wanted to feel good that he hadn’t gotten what he wanted. But I didn’t. I felt awful. He was a Wright after all. Even if he was kind of a fuckup.
I opened my mouth to ask all the questions floating through my head. But he shook his head and broke eye contact.
My heart sank. No wonder he’d left this weekend. It hadn’t been me. It’d been this. I was sure of it. Heidi had known. They’d all known. And none of them had gone after him. None of them had tried to stop him.
He might be an asshole, but this was harsh. I couldn’t imagine what he was going through. And I had to remind myself…it wasn’t my business. He didn’t want to confide in me. He didn’t want me to console him. He didn’t need to be fixed.
Austin Wright was broken…and I wasn’t about to try to fit the pieces back together.
Eight
Julia
“I really, really wanted to tell you,” Heidi said with a sheepish grin a few hours later.
We were at Emery and Jensen’s house before we were going to head out to the Art Trail. It was still strange that Heidi and Emery didn’t live together. I was used to showing up at their little apartment and finding them both being ridiculous. Their love affair was legendary. I was just lucky to fit in with their tight bond.
Though, at first, when Emery had come back from college, I’d felt a bit like a third wheel. Not anymore…at least not for the most part.
“It’s fine,” I muttered. “I cannot believe that Jensen is stepping down.”
“I’m so glad,” Emery said, appearing in black shorts, a black tank, and black Converse.
Sometimes, I swore, she and I had been separated at birth.
“Oh, look, you match,” Heidi singsonged, glancing between Emery and me. “I’m so shocked.”
“Okay, Barbie,” Emery said, smacking Heidi’s ass as she passed.
Emery really wasn’t far off. Heidi’s favorite color was hot pink, and she wore it all the time. Though Emery had tried to convince me that this was a step back for Heidi’s color choices…I found it hard to believe.
“Oh, do it again.” Heidi winked and bent over at the waist.
Emery laughed. “I love your face.”
“And my ass?”
“What ass?” I asked with a laugh.
“Don’t be jealous of my ass,” Heidi said.
“Oh, she’s not,” Emery said. “Julia has it all.”
“Anyway, like I was saying before I was interrupted,” Heidi said with an eye roll, “Morgan is so up for the task, and this will make Jensen happy.”
“So much happier,” Emery added.
“Right…but why don’t they have a CFO already?” I asked.