Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Hannah made a very good Wonder Woman, Harper was Green Lantern, Wick was Superman, Kola was Batman, Jake was Aquaman, the classic version, as he bore no resemblance to Jason Momoa, and Finn was the Flash. It was lucky they were all in great shape, because those costumes were not at all forgiving. I didn’t even ask what Aaron’s involvement was, because with how amazing they all looked, I was guessing it was all him. Since we had everyone over to have a chill Halloween, I asked when he arrived with Duncan, right after Hannah hugged him.
“What costumes?” His tone and his expression, total deadpan.
I crossed my arms and fixed him with a very bored stare.
“You realize I pay her for her work, and then she uses that money for what she sees fit, like costumes and gifts for her family and friends, donations to animal shelters, and the car she saved up for.”
“Fine.”
“She knows more costume designers and all kinds of creative people than I do, because she talks to everyone.”
I nodded.
“I know we’ve been dancing around this for years, but when she graduates, I will have her working for me. There’s an office picked out. Someday, George will become Miguel, and she will become me. You need to wrap your brain around that.”
I studied his face and realized he was being absolutely serious.
“Max and Astrid have two kids, both of which are much younger than Hannah,” he told me. “I’m telling you now, I am putting things in place to make certain, should anything happen to me, that she will be guiding the company.”
“She’s too young.”
“How old do you think I was when I took over?”
“Yes, but I want her to see the world.”
“And she will, believe me.”
“But, Aaron, she needs to struggle like I did and live in a crappy apartment and have the experience of building a community and––”
“She has a community, but I’m going to say no on the living in squalor. That ship has sailed. Again, she has too large of a network.”
“I––”
“For example, my board has confidence in me, and in return, I have their support. That doesn’t mean they unilaterally like me.”
“What does that have to do––”
“The same is not true of Hannah. Everyone likes her.”
“Because she’s not a threat to them. She’s not making decisions.”
“But they all know she advises me and has my ear, and they all saw Quinton Alcott lose his job over the summer.”
“Well, from what I understand, that was necessary.”
“Of course it was. But without Hannah’s interference, that wouldn’t have happened. No one said a word to me.”
“And I’m glad you sacked him but––”
“She got my mother to talk to me.”
That was true.
“Your son wants to save the world,” he reminded me. “He will need her to pay to pave the road and provide security and resources wherever he’s going.”
Also true.
“She seems to think that his idea is to sort of go into places in crisis where they need medical teams and infrastructure, engineering, electrical—are you getting it?”
I had to have seemed ridiculous standing there in front of him looking like a gulping fish out of water.
“Kola wants him and his two buddies to engage with small communities, in the US and abroad, and as Hannah explained to me, fix things brick by brick.”
Of course Harper and Jake were on board to go with him. That only made sense. “I––”
“He wants to start off by supporting women, in all ways, because as he told Hannah, women are the cornerstones of all communities.”
“Well, yes, of course they––”
“He also plans on digging wells, putting up electrical grids, setting up clinics, having vets with him to care for animals, both large breed and dogs and cats.”
“Aaron, this is a huge undertaking.”
He chuckled. “Don’t I know it. He’s talking about helping people grow food, become sustainable. He’s working with Vince Cress, who’s actually a friend of Dr. Butler, who is developing crops that can live practically anywhere.”
I stopped asking questions. I was listening now.
“He wants to hire people who will take over when he leaves, doctors, teachers—a whole team to keep everything going once they depart. And that includes security, so that once systems are in place, they can’t be uprooted by any local influence.”
“You can’t just do that. You can’t just go into another country and––”
“He won’t be working for a government agency. The oversight will be mine…and eventually Hannah’s.”
“My daughter doesn’t know anything about being a real estate mogul.”
He squinted at me. “You don’t think so?”
“How?”
“Hannah has worked for me for the last three years, going quickly on to four, since she was sixteen. Her latest project is building the critical care animal shelters around the state where we offer free emergency pet care. That’s her project. She has a team that reports to her, and she goes out and looks at property and wheels and deals.”