suppressed the alarm that came with the knowledge that her father either wasn’t getting or was forgetting important voicemails and asked, “What can I do for you?”
“Well, I know I said I’d be in town this weekend and ready to start, but something urgent has come up, and I need until next month to get things settled here. I plan to work remotely as much as possible as long as it’s okay with your father.”
Rachel closed her eyes briefly. “Mark, we really need you here.”
“I know, but I really need to be here right now. If I could tell you more, I would. I just … I understand if you want to cut ties and hire someone else.”
“No.” That was the last thing she wanted to explain to her father. Securing Mark Olean had been his top objective. “We’ll manage.” Somehow.
When Rachel disconnected the call, she swore under her breath.
“That sucks,” Liv said. “Olean was supposed to take over for us and act as point for hiring the rest of the front-office staff. Now what? Can he do that from a distance?”
“Not easily,” Rachel said, and she zipped around a loudly painted plumbing van doing 20 in a 35-miles-per-hour zone. “What choice do we have but to let him try? We have other responsibilities.” Despite lengthy, nightly phone calls with Richard, Rachel still felt out of the loop when it came to their business dealings in Philadelphia, and she still had to find some time to get to Pittsburgh for some face time with the senior management team.
“Right, so you and I leave today as planned. And the people from the temp agency, who are starting on Monday will just … wing it?”
Not to mention the cowboy grounds crew Rachel had hired. They would definitely need to be corralled now and then, especially once Sam got word local government officials had given the green light for the tree cutting. Something about those dirty jeans and that cocky smile made her think he would rebel.
Rachel hated the fact that a tiny piece of her wanted to be around to see that.
She exhaled loudly. “Maybe my father can hold it together long enough to get us through until Mark gets here.”
“Maybe,” Liv said, but when Rachel glanced at her, she saw the look of doubt.
“Damn it.” But even as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel, she refused to unleash her panic. “Let’s think this through, shall we? Technically, the only people from the temp agency we need to worry about right now are the ones manning the telephones and preseason ticket sales. They start on Monday, and we have a software rep scheduled to train them. He confirmed, right?”
“Yes,” Liv said. “His flight arrives tonight, and I set him up with a rental car and a room at the Uncomfortable Inn. Mark was supposed to meet him for breakfast, but since Mark’s not coming in now, I’ll have to make sure those plans get changed.”
“We can hang back tonight and take him to dinner, explain the situation. I’ll see if my father is able to come. That will buy us some time. In the meantime, see if you can set up a meeting with the sales lead. What was her name?”
“Um …” Liv’s fingers raced over the screen of her iPad. “Chelsea Gross.”
“Yes, her. Get me a meeting with her. I’ll decide whether or not I think she can handle a little more responsibility than originally planned.” Rachel lifted her cup from the console and pressed it to her lips. “I can always come back next week sometime and check in on the ticket office to make sure things are running smoothly.”
“So Chelsea will be the only on-site person in charge … of everything?”
Rachel swallowed her tasteless coffee and thought of some local girl who’d been hired to sell season tickets landing in what could be perceived as a remote power position over the likes of a motley janitorial crew and Sam Sutter with his trusty frat-boy sidekicks. The words “potential disaster” came to mind. If a half-assed staff flubbed up this season, she would never
“Well, I know I said I’d be in town this weekend and ready to start, but something urgent has come up, and I need until next month to get things settled here. I plan to work remotely as much as possible as long as it’s okay with your father.”
Rachel closed her eyes briefly. “Mark, we really need you here.”
“I know, but I really need to be here right now. If I could tell you more, I would. I just … I understand if you want to cut ties and hire someone else.”
“No.” That was the last thing she wanted to explain to her father. Securing Mark Olean had been his top objective. “We’ll manage.” Somehow.
When Rachel disconnected the call, she swore under her breath.
“That sucks,” Liv said. “Olean was supposed to take over for us and act as point for hiring the rest of the front-office staff. Now what? Can he do that from a distance?”
“Not easily,” Rachel said, and she zipped around a loudly painted plumbing van doing 20 in a 35-miles-per-hour zone. “What choice do we have but to let him try? We have other responsibilities.” Despite lengthy, nightly phone calls with Richard, Rachel still felt out of the loop when it came to their business dealings in Philadelphia, and she still had to find some time to get to Pittsburgh for some face time with the senior management team.
“Right, so you and I leave today as planned. And the people from the temp agency, who are starting on Monday will just … wing it?”
Not to mention the cowboy grounds crew Rachel had hired. They would definitely need to be corralled now and then, especially once Sam got word local government officials had given the green light for the tree cutting. Something about those dirty jeans and that cocky smile made her think he would rebel.
Rachel hated the fact that a tiny piece of her wanted to be around to see that.
She exhaled loudly. “Maybe my father can hold it together long enough to get us through until Mark gets here.”
“Maybe,” Liv said, but when Rachel glanced at her, she saw the look of doubt.
“Damn it.” But even as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel, she refused to unleash her panic. “Let’s think this through, shall we? Technically, the only people from the temp agency we need to worry about right now are the ones manning the telephones and preseason ticket sales. They start on Monday, and we have a software rep scheduled to train them. He confirmed, right?”
“Yes,” Liv said. “His flight arrives tonight, and I set him up with a rental car and a room at the Uncomfortable Inn. Mark was supposed to meet him for breakfast, but since Mark’s not coming in now, I’ll have to make sure those plans get changed.”
“We can hang back tonight and take him to dinner, explain the situation. I’ll see if my father is able to come. That will buy us some time. In the meantime, see if you can set up a meeting with the sales lead. What was her name?”
“Um …” Liv’s fingers raced over the screen of her iPad. “Chelsea Gross.”
“Yes, her. Get me a meeting with her. I’ll decide whether or not I think she can handle a little more responsibility than originally planned.” Rachel lifted her cup from the console and pressed it to her lips. “I can always come back next week sometime and check in on the ticket office to make sure things are running smoothly.”
“So Chelsea will be the only on-site person in charge … of everything?”
Rachel swallowed her tasteless coffee and thought of some local girl who’d been hired to sell season tickets landing in what could be perceived as a remote power position over the likes of a motley janitorial crew and Sam Sutter with his trusty frat-boy sidekicks. The words “potential disaster” came to mind. If a half-assed staff flubbed up this season, she would never
Similar Books
