Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“Maybe you were a child prodigy,” she said with a smile.
He had to laugh. “Probably not, since I did a lot more accidental cannonballs over the years. But I got a coach, and I improved. Later, Dane and Ava found a high school that specialized in helping athletes perfect their technique and was known for training kids who became Olympians.”
She sipped her lavender lemonade. “Even if you had help along the way, you’re still the one who accomplished your goal.”
Without drinking, he turned his glass on the placemat. “I can’t take all the credit. My brothers and sisters did everything they could to make sure I reached my goal.” Then he told her his whole story, just as she’d told him hers. “Around the time I started high school, my parents were killed in a skiing accident in the Alps, and they left behind a lot of debt. None of us knew about that until they were gone. But even when all the money suddenly vanished, Dane and Ava didn’t let that stop us. They worked their butts off to make sure we all reached our goals. I’ll always be grateful to them and love them so much for what they did.”
Her eyes seemed a little misty. “Susan told my mom a bit about this. It’s amazing how you all banded together like that.”
Though he could have been ticked off to know the two moms had been talking about him, he was grateful for Susan’s involvement. She was a wonderful, caring person, a surrogate mom, even.
Michaela chuckled and added a bit self-consciously, “And here I thought you were just a billionaire. But you truly worked hard. So did your whole family.”
He wanted to preen under her praise. “It wasn’t just for me. Gabby wanted to play soccer, so we all trained with her every day until she made it onto the team. Clay always dreamed about going to Harvard Business School, and we all worked as a team to make that possible. But Dane didn’t stop there. He wanted to make sure we were together in mind, body, and spirit, a cohesive unit. He acted like a father after our parents died. He even started game nights once a week. We all played games together—card games, board games. We were all so busy with our own stuff—school, work, diving, soccer—but he wanted to make sure we stayed close.” He scraped the last of his pad thai into his mouth and barely swallowed before he said, “Talking about it, I’m only now realizing we haven’t played games like that in quite a few years. We’ve all got busy lives, and we’re spread out all over the Bay Area. Dane and Gabby are down on the Monterey Peninsula—Pebble Beach and Carmel—while Ava and Clay are up in the city. And I’m halfway between. But Ava’s put together these monthly masterminds.” He air-quoted the word. “It’s a forum for each of us to talk about our work issues.” He grinned. “And sometimes personal issues.” Though he wasn’t going to tell her those were mostly about love. He’d always remained mum on the subject. “In fact, we have a mastermind tomorrow night.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to invite her. After all, the rest of them brought their significant others. And there would be Fernsby and T. Rex, who was attached at the hip to Fernsby even though the mini dachshund was Dane and Cammie’s dog. He was surprised Fernsby hadn’t brought the dog to the book signing. But if Troy invited Michaela to the mastermind, it would imply there was something more between them than matchmaking. His siblings would never that let go.
Best not to make that invitation. Yet. He said instead, “I kind of miss those game nights.” His tone came off almost wistful.
Her pad thai finished, as well as the chicken satay, she pushed the plate away and put her elbows on the table, lacing her fingers. “When you’re at your mastermind, maybe you should suggest that a game night would be a lot of fun and a great stress reliever.”
He threw himself back against the booth as he barked out a laugh. “Stress reliever? You’ve never seen us play a game. We all play to win, no holds barred. There’s a lot of stress flying around that table.”
She smiled, and he adored that smile. He’d say and do anything to get her to smile like that. But she went back to the serious questions. “Is the diving all over for you? Or would you want to compete in another Olympics?”
He’d won three gold medals. Would a fourth be worth it? “Any sport is extremely hard on the body, and though I loved competing, I realized I’d achieved my goals, and it was time to do something else. I did some endorsements, and somehow, I ended up starting my own sporting goods company.”