That reminded me that I was lucky to have people who handled all of that stuff. Dad and I had recycled piles of recruiting notes and letters. At the peak, some schools had sent twenty or more pieces of mail a day.
It would have been insane if it had all shown up at the house. It was easy to see how all the attention would turn a teenage boy’s head and make him believe he was special. Of course, I already knew I was special, but Cassidy told me that just meant I was a prime candidate for the short bus.
“While I have the three of you here, I want to thank you for all you did to insulate me from the worst of it. It was a big help not to have to deal with all that.”
“I’ve been talking to Lexi, and she’s concerned that you don’t have a PA here. I was wondering if you would consider letting me fill that role?” Scarlet asked.
“Don’t you already have a full plate?” I asked.
“How much time would she really need?” Lexi asked.
“You have a point. It’s not like I’m working, and the business restructuring has left me with many fewer things to worry about or keep track of,” I agreed. “What about your other duties? Would this interfere with them?”
“Your aunt and grandmother handle the day-to-day issues for the farms; Granny and Mary Dole take care of the restaurants; your mom manages the real estate company; and Megan has the back office and accounting handled,” Scarlet said, listing everything she oversaw.
“You’re saying you have some free time,” I said with a smile. “Recruiting is over, and once the Academy Awards are done, I can’t really see the PA role taking up much of your day.
“If you want to do it, I would love to have you take it on. Lexi will be taking the lead on the Awards, and you can work with her to coordinate the travel, at least, and see how she handles everything else. Then, after the Oscars, she can bow out, and you can take it from there.”
I caught Lexi’s look and put together that she’d orchestrated this. I suspect she was afraid I would ask her to move here. It also showed she was still looking out for me.
◊◊◊
As they left, Tracy gave me grief about not visiting her yet. I promised to do it soon. She took Lexi to her hotel, which left Scarlet with me.
“Your dad suggested that I make a surprise inspection of your Malibu house,” Scarlet said.
“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Jack Mass was out there for other reasons and stopped by. There had been some ‘improvements’ started that weren’t authorized in the plan, so he put a stop to them. It sounds like a couple of the grad students thought they could make changes without getting them approved.”
“Well, crud.”
If they weren’t careful, I would ship my mom out there to deal with them.
“While I’m out there, I want to spend time with Lexi and learn everything she does for you. She said one of the women in her office was your first PA and helped her learn the job.”
“That would be Kendal Miller. She now works for the personal management company. The senior manager, who happens to be my manager, Kent Crain, was also my PA for a summer. He was a lot more fun,” I said.
“Lexi said he has a reputation as a partier. I can see why that would appeal to you.”
“Being a little judgy, are we?” I asked.
“Your mom tells me that you don’t need someone who’s an enabler.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“I think you’ll make the perfect PA. It only took you five minutes to play the ‘mom’ card,” I said.
“So, can I go?” Scarlet asked.
“You need to embrace something. As my chief operating officer and now PA, you’re in charge. If you think an expense is justified, then spend it. If it’ll break the bank, ask my dad first,” I reminded her.
“But your dad said …” she started.
I held up my hands.
“You’re in charge.”
“Okay,” she said, and seemed to stiffen her spine. “I’ll catch a flight on Thursday and be back either Sunday or Monday.”
“Will Megan be okay all by herself?” I asked.
“You are such a dick,” she said, which made us both laugh.
◊◊◊
Before going to bed, I checked the recruiting websites to see how everyone had done. I admit I was interested to see if Southwest Central State’s use of shoe money was the big lure they made it out to be. Well, they never admitted to it, but Springbok made it clear what the deal was.
When I scanned their list of commits, I raised my eyebrows. They’d gotten a couple of flips that were sure to have some of the big programs crying foul. Then a name caught my eye that made me laugh out loud. Mark, my archnemesis from freshman year who’d played ball at Eastside, was one of their signings.
I clicked on his bio because I recalled that he was a year older than me. I also remembered he’d been caught on video taking money from a recruiter at the Elite quarterback camp in Houston. They’d kicked him out, and I suspected they’d turned the tape over to the NCAA. I had imagined he would never play Division I football because of that.
