Chapter 115 Proud Moment
Chapter 115 Proud Moment
By the time Frank closed the last set of blueprints, my head felt twice its normal size.
“I think that’s enough numbers for one day,” he said, gathering the plans with a laugh. “If I teach you anything else, your head might explode.”
I grinned. “I think it already did.”
“Good.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Means you learned something.”
I glanced at the clock. Just after five. The day had disappeared in a blur of questions, calculations, and blueprints, but for the first time in a long time, work left me not just exhausted but excited.
Frank tucked the plans under his arm. “You did good today.”
I shrugged. “I must’ve asked you a thousand questions.”
He pointed at me. “The guys who worry me are the ones who don’t ask anything.” He smiled. “Everyone makes mistakes. But you’ll understand why you made them.”
“Thanks, Frank.”
He grinned. “Don’t thank me yet. I’ve still got twenty years’ worth of knowledge to cram into your head.”
“I’m gonna need a bigger head.”
He laughed. “You definitely do.”
A few minutes later, I found John waiting near the front entrance, car keys in hand.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Yeah.” As we walked toward his truck, I glanced around. “Where’s Ellie?”
John smirked. “Home.”
I frowned. “Did something happen?”
He unlocked the truck. “Something happened.”
That answer made my stomach twist. “Is she okay?”
He paused, looking over the roof at me. “She’s more than okay.”
We climbed in. John started the engine. “I think I accidentally discovered what your girlfriend is really good at.”
I stared. “What do you mean?”
He pulled onto the road. “I thought putting her at reception would help build her confidence. It did—” he chuckled, “for about two hours.”
“What happened?”
He laughed softly. “Lily told me Ellie negotiated a daycare partnership.”
“Yeah?” I asked, expecting a discount or a simple arrangement.
“She negotiated a corporate partnership,” John said, shaking his head in admiration.
My eyebrows shot up. “Wait—what?”
He glanced at me. “Twenty percent employee discount. Reserved childcare spaces. Six-month review. Possibility of a long-term partnership.”
I blinked. “…Seriously?”
“Mhm. And then Rebecca Sloan kidnapped her.”
I burst out laughing. “Kidnapped?”
“For a benefits meeting. A renewal negotiation with our insurance carrier. They’d been at a standstill for nearly an hour. Nobody was making progress.”
“So what did Ellie do?”
John rested his arm on the wheel. “She listened. I’ve been negotiating contracts for thirty years, and I’ve watched MBAs fail to break deadlocks. She walked into her first meeting and changed the entire conversation. Proud doesn’t even start to cover it.”
We were quiet for a moment. I stared out the window, chest warm. Not surprised... just proud. Ellie had always been the one who listened, remembered, made people feel heard. Of course she was good at this. Negotiation wasn’t about winning arguments; it was about understanding people.
I smiled. “She’s incredible.”
John glanced over, a rare softness in his eyes. “She really is.”
A few minutes later we pulled into Bright Beginnings Learning Academy. The building was cheerful, painted in bright colors, and the playground was full of laughing kids. Parents signed out their children, the air buzzing with end-of-day energy.
Inside, Xavier spotted us immediately. “Jax!” He bolted across the room and crashed into my chest.
“Whoa!” I laughed, steadying him. “Easy there, buddy.”
“I painted a dinosaur!” he announced.
“Did you? How many heads?”
“Three!”
John chuckled.
A teacher handed John a folder. “Mr. Marrow, here’s his first-day report.”
John thanked her as Xavier launched into a passionate explanation about why three-headed dinosaurs couldn’t exist, unless they were dragons.
Sounded about right.
As we made our way to the door, the center manager hurried over. “Mr. Marrow?”
John turned. “Yes?”
“I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“Not at all.”
She smiled warmly. “I wanted to thank you for allowing Ellie to speak with us this morning. She was wonderful. Our board met this afternoon after her proposal—”
John’s eyebrows lifted. “That was fast.”
“We were excited,” she admitted. “We’d love to begin discussing a formal partnership with Marrow Industries.”
John nodded. “I’m off the clock at the moment.”
She laughed. “I figured.
"But if you send someone to my office tomorrow, I’ll make sure we’re ready to sit down and iron out the details.”
Her smile widened. “That sounds perfect.” She looked at Xavier. “And we’ll make sure we save him a spot.”
Xavier’s eyes lit up. “Can my dinosaur come too?”
She smiled. “We’ll make an exception.”
On the drive home, Xavier chattered from the back seat about dinosaurs, finger painting, and his new friend Mason who also liked dragons. John and I listened to every word.
When we stepped inside, the house was full of the smell of dinner and the sound of laughter. Ellie stood beside Lily, setting out plates, both of them grinning at some private joke. She looked up when we entered, and our eyes met. She smiled, wide, proud, happy.
Without thinking, I crossed to her. She set down the last plate just as I reached her.
“I heard—” I stopped myself. I wanted to kiss her, hold her, tell her how proud I was. But this was John’s house. His rules. His daughter. So I settled for taking both of her hands in mine. “They told me what happened today.”
A blush crept up her cheeks. “Oh…”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anyone.”
She looked down. “I didn’t even know what I was talking about.”
I laughed softly. “You didn’t need to. You understood the people.”
She looked up, her eyes bright. “You really think I did okay?”
I squeezed her hands. “I think…” I smiled. “…they’re all finally starting to see the Ellie I’ve always known.”
Behind us, John quietly set his keys on the counter and shared a knowing smile with Lily. They didn’t interrupt. They just watched, two parents, proud, seeing exactly what was becoming of the two young people in their kitchen.
John leaned in and whispered to Lily, “I figured he’d stop himself.”
Lily smiled. “So did I.”
And somehow, that made John trust me just a little bit more.