Love from Left Field (25 page)

Gwen reached across the table and grasped her hand. “Your father was always proud that you wanted to work with him at the stadium. He loved that he had a legacy to leave you, something you wanted, too.”

“If he keeps going the way he is, there won’t be anything to leave me or anyone else,” she replied, bitterness not covered by the sweet Georgia tea she drank.

Gwen folded her napkin in her lap. “Well, just keep working with him and take on as much as you can.”

“He won’t go for it.”

“You’ll find a way. You have to.” She took a bite of her salad, the conversation over.

*

Miranda perched on
the edge of the chair, feeling like she was on pins and needles. Judging by the uncomfortable looks everyone else was sharing around the conference room, she wasn’t alone. Seamus stormed in, looking grumpier than usual, which was saying much. He glared at each person as he sat at the head of the table.

“Sam, what’s going on? These guys act like they’ve never played ball!” Seamus growled at the manager. “We need to shake them up.”

“I think that’s actually the problem,” Lucas interjected, the calm part of the hurricane that swirled around all of them. “We’ve put players on the block, announcing that we don’t want them. Then we can’t trade them. What message is that sending?”

“That they should straighten up,” Seamus said.

“No, that tells them that they’re not valued. Who wants to play where no one wants them?” Lucas stated. “Mr. Callahan, we need to back off and return to what was working.”

“It wasn’t working,” Seamus pounded a fist on the table. “I told you that we needed more talent and we didn’t have enough. They were bound to start losing.”

“Dad, you need to calm down,” Miranda laid a hand on his arm, murmuring low for only him to hear. “Remember your heart.”

“It was working,” Cole stated through gritted teeth, while everyone else looked away, trying to avoid the train wreck. “Until you came back and messed it up.”

Seamus’s gaze narrowed and he glowered at Cole, who stood his ground. “Be careful. I’m still the owner of this team and I sign your checks.”

Cole subsided and settled back in his seat, the threat effective.

“Maybe you should remain the owner and let the staff do what they’re best at, like other owners.” Lucas said quietly.

Before things got any further out of hand, Miranda smoothly stepped in. “Dad, I think we were on the right track. Any changes take time. Why can’t we go back to what we were doing, try it for another month. We were winning and ticket sales were up. If it doesn’t work, then we’re at the trading deadline and can make some deals.”

“And now we’re losing. Your plan failed. We should stick to what’s worked in the past. It may not have been the best but we did get to the playoffs last year,” Seamus stated firmly.

“We just need more time. Maybe you’re too tied to the past, unable to see the future and change with it.” Lucas stated.

The whole room took a collective gasp but Lucas stood defiant.

The conversation was spiraling out of control. Things were being said that couldn’t be undone. Her head pounded and her stomach roiled from the stress. She clenched her fist and took a deep breath.

Cole unexpectedly stood. “I agree with Lucas. You hired me to manage your team, to bring wins here. I did that. I brought us to the playoffs last year and we had the best start this year. If you keep interfering in how I do my job, maybe I can’t do it here anymore.”

“That can be arranged. You’re in your last year of your contract.”

“Then get rid of me now and be done with it.” A glimmer of fear shone in his eyes but he met Seamus’s stare evenly.

“Don’t tempt me,” Seamus growled.

“Maybe we should table this discussion before things are said that can’t be unsaid,” Lucas interjected, holding a hand up and using a soothing tone, as if realizing too late that the discussion had gone off course into dangerous ground.

“You.” Seamus growled, his words dripping with poison. “You’re the reason my staff has turned on me. My daughter fell for your charms and you created this divide. Maybe it’s time for you to leave.”

Miranda stood, hands on the table, and leaned between the two men, interrupting their staring contest. “We need to stop now. Gentlemen, give us the room please.”

Most exited rapidly, not even looking at them. Cole lingered a few seconds longer, as if he wanted to add something but wasn’t sure what to say.

Miranda gave him a look. “Cole, I’ll stop by after this meeting and we’ll talk.”

Cole nodded and left the room. Lucas pulled out a chair and sat down. Seamus looked ready to explode. Miranda laid a hand on his arm but she looked at Lucas. “Lucas, can we talk later? Please?”

She wasn’t sure he would listen to her. He certainly seemed like he was going to ignore her, locked in a deadly staring contest with her father, both seeking alpha dog position. Seamus had finally pushed Lucas too far and she feared she’d lose both.

She sucked in a deep cleansing breath and let it out. “Please.”

That broke the contest and he glanced at her, his expression thunderous. But he nodded, a quick jerk of the head, and slowly walked out of the room.

“I don’t need you to fight my battles with Wainright.”

Miranda sat next to her father and leaned forward until he was forced to meet her gaze. “I’m not fighting your battles. I’m stopping a pointless argument. We’ve been over this ground a dozen times. You won’t win. He’s going nowhere. Is that why you won’t try anything new? Because Lucas suggested it? I’m here to tell you that I did the research and I made the decision to follow this. And I stand by it.”

“Then you can join Hammonds and Wainright in the unemployment line.” The sentence was stated flatly, combined with a dead calm stare that showed he meant it. “This is my team. They’re run the way I want it run.”

“And what if you have another heart attack or something worse? Dad, you won’t have the team past this season if you don’t start thinking about things differently. You worked hard in your shipping company, looking at new processes, efficiencies that allowed you to make a profit. Why won’t you do that here?”

“Because it’s my team. I control the Knights. Not you. Not Hammonds. And certainly not Wainright. I may not able to control my life or my goddamn heart but I will damn well control my own team.” He fairly roared the last and she fell back in her seat, stunned.

“So this is all about control?” She stood up with a sigh. “I can’t help you with that. But I can tell you this. You’re going to lose it all if you keep going the way you are. And then you’ll be in control of nothing.”

She walked out the door, closing it quietly behind her. Who to deal with first? Cole or Lucas?

*

Putting off a
difficult and personal confrontation for later, she headed to Cole’s office, hoping to soothe any hurt feelings left by Seamus’s attitude towards Cole and his blunt attitude. Besides, she had no idea what to say to Lucas and she feared there was nothing she could say.

She knocked quickly and slipped inside to see Cole sitting at his desk, running a hand through his dark brown hair. “You’ll be bald if you keep doing that.”

He looked up and the anguish on his face stabbed her. “I can’t keep doing this, Miranda. He was always difficult, but he used to listen. Now, he is completely ignoring everyone, even you. I don’t know how much longer I can take.”

“Cole, he’s not feeling well. He’ll come around.”

“Will he? Ever since his heart attack, he’s been rougher, uncompromising. I can’t do this much longer.”

She sank into the chair, stunned. “Are you resigning?”

He looked miserable, eyes not meeting hers, shoulders hunched. “If things don’t change, yes. I’ll find something else. And if I don’t, it’s still better than being here.”

“Give me a few days, Cole. Please.”

“Stop making excuses for him. This is beyond not feeling well. And if he’s that sick, then he shouldn’t be here.”

She slowly rose to her feet, her legs shaking. “I promise; I will work this out.”

“You’d better, Miranda. Or I’m gone. And that’s not a threat but a promise.”

She nodded and walked out of the office. Shit was hitting the fan and she wasn’t sure if she could stop it.

L
ucas waited in
his office, anger that had started a slow simmer had turned into a full boil the longer it took Miranda to come to him. He had always prided himself on his rigid control of his emotions so this anger took him completely by surprise, but it shouldn’t have. Callahan had been pushing from day one and only a saint would have remained calm. And no one would have ever called Lucas a saint.

He took the delay for Miranda to come to him to take deep calming breaths, and force his clenched muscles to relax. He tried to see her perspective, to understand her position, torn between her father’s health and doing what was best for him and doing the right thing for the Knights, but, like before, her indecision was not only harming the team, she was killing herself. Placing herself in the middle was tearing her in two and now that he was closer to her, it was driving him crazy and he wanted to save her, protect her, and solve everything. But this was something she had to do for herself. She had to make a choice.

He wasn’t sure she’d make the one he wanted.

Miranda poked her head in his doorway. “You have a minute?”

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

She closed the door behind her and walked around his desk to lean on his desk. “God, that was horrible. I don’t know what to do.”

He arched a brow, not giving an inch. “Seriously? You know what to do but you don’t want to do it.”

“He’s my father, Lucas, and my boss. I already have one person about to resign. I don’t need you to pull this on me, too.”

“Maybe that should tell you that you need to act instead of sitting still. Your father isn’t the only one clinging to the old way of doing things.”

She shoved off the desk and started pacing. “You’re kidding, right? You want me to add more stress to my father, a man who had bypass surgery two months ago? No, I need to keep him calm.”

Lucas also stood but didn’t go any closer to her, burying his hands in his pockets. “Then kiss your team goodbye. Following this track will force a sale by the end of the season, if you last that long. By then, most of your staff will have left and the fans will flee, making it much harder to get them back.”

She stopped and fixed a gaze on him. “What do you know?”

Suddenly, he realized he might have spoken too soon, revealed too much. Damn, but she needed to know. “If you can’t make your bills, the league can force a sale. You know this.”

“Fine. We’ll make the payment somehow.”

His frustration finally exploded. “You’re living in the land of denial with your father. Things are bad, Miranda, and you’re running out of time and options.”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I love you, dammit, and I don’t want to see this happen to you. You’ve worked too hard to lose now because of one man’s stubbornness.” The words just spilled out. He didn’t even know he was going to say that, he had barely acknowledged it himself.

Her eyes widened, a sheen of tears in them. “You love me?”

“Yeah.” He laughed a mirthless sound. “And your father hates me. Stupid, aren’t I?”

She walked close to him and laid a hand on his arm. “No, Lucas, you’re not stupid. He’s just under a lot of pressure. We’ll figure something out.”

Lucas took a step back, trying not to feel hurt that she hadn’t actually said she loved him either. He was too proud to ask her. He just needed this conversation to end. Pronto. “I get that. Forget I said anything. We’ll figure it out.”

She laid two fingers on his chin and turned it to her.

She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I love you, too. I didn’t want to say anything, was too scared, honestly, but I love you.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, burying his face in her hair, relief flooding him.

He let out a breath and kissed her head. “We’ll figure it out. Somehow.”

She pulled back and looked up at him. “Love conquers all, right?”