Duane’s Determination (Broken Wheel Ranch #9)

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

“I’ll get it!” Lorissa called out as the doorbell at her mother’s home peeled, and she was hoping it was the food they’d ordered because she was starving. She pulled out the money for a tip from her pocket as she whipped open the door. “Thank god, I’m starving. Here’s your tip,” she said and froze with her hand halfway toward the man standing on the doorstep. He had been looking away from the door and when he turned, Lorissa almost swallowed her tongue. “You’re not the delivery guy.” The man smiled and Lorissa almost swooned. She would have been in trouble if she was into older men, but since she wasn’t, she could appreciate the handsome man before her. “May I help you?”

“I’m looking for Laurie Gibson,” Duane said, and grinned when the young woman, who he assumed was Lorissa stepped into the house and bellowed for her mother. Since she’d called out ‘Mom’, the way she did. He smirked when she looked at him and shrugged with a grin.

They both looked up when a car pulled into the driveway and it was the delivery person. Lorissa dealt with the tip, then told Duane to come in, but stopped two feet into the house.

“Wait, you’re not an axe murderer or anything are you?”

“Lorissa!” Laurie called out in outrage. “Who are you asking that?” She looked up and stopped in her tracks, and would have fallen over if Duane hadn’t hurried past Lorissa and caught Laurie before she fell. “Hi,” she said on a sigh as she looked at the man holding her. “I didn’t expect you.”

“Hi, yourself, and I know. I wanted to meet with you in person.”

“Mom?” Lorissa asked in confusion. “You know this guy?”

“Yes,” Laurie disengaged herself from Duane’s arms and had them all go into the kitchen. Once the food was passed out, and all three Gibson women insisted that Duane fix a plate for himself, introductions were made.

“Lorissa, Mom, this is Duane Manchester, he works for Erin Riceman. Duane, this is my mother, Lois, and my daughter, Lorissa.”

“You’re the man who sent me the application!”

“I am. How did that work out?”

“Nana and I are leaving tomorrow to head out there for a week, well, I don’t know if it will be for the entire week, but I have a week off from work, and we will definitely stay a few days. I’ve been in constant communication with Erin and Julie.”

“Good, I hope it works out for you. I do know that you won’t be disappointed. Just remember one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Your mind will be blown with what you will learn. But know that Erin doesn’t suffer fools, and she has a brilliant head for business on her shoulders. I’m sure she will tell you how everything came about.” Duane looked at Laurie with a grin, and after wiping his hands on a napkin, he put his fingers to his temples, watching as Laurie did the same, then they flashed them away from their head with their fingers spread wide. “Your mind will be blown. But know this.”

“What?” Lorissa said impatiently when Duane paused to take a bite of his pizza. After he finished chewing, he responded.

“It’s a lot when you first see it, but once you get to know the people working there, and know the system, you will realize that it is a well-oiled machine, and everyone has high respect for Erin.”

“Okay, I wouldn’t disrespect her, my Mama didn’t raise a fool. Thanks for the heads up about it being mind-blowing. Mom said the same thing when she returned a few weeks ago.”

The four of them ate and talked, getting to know one another, and shortly after they finished eating, Lorissa and Lois left saying they wanted to get any last-minute packing done before they left for the airport early the next morning. They promised to let Laurie know when they landed in Denver.

Laurie turned back to the kitchen after closing and locking the door behind her family and found Duane picking up the trash from their meal. She raised her brows when he removed the full garbage bag and asked where he should take it. She was so shocked, it took a few seconds to answer. The last person to ever take care of the garbage without being asked had been when her father was alive and they had been over for a get together. Peter never did what he considered to be women’s work, meaning anything to do with the house.

She told him, and while he took the garbage outside, she grabbed a fresh bag and put it in the can. Duane returned and she finally leaned against the counter and studied the handsome man. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you here?”

“We,” he said as he pointed between the two of them, “Have a meeting with the local FBI office tomorrow afternoon. I didn’t tell you ahead of time because I didn’t want you to say something out of turn. Not that you would.”

“But if I was clueless, then I couldn’t get myself in trouble.”

“Exactly, oh, and Geoff Shyster will be there with us.” He pulled his phone and accessed something before looking at her. “Also a man by the name of Harmon Brooks.”

“Holy shit, why is he going to be there? He’s the guy that is purchasing Gibson Associates.”

“I know, after our conversation, I did some digging, and I had a friend of mine do some more. We both compiled our findings, and that’s when I reached out to Geoff. I sent him everything I had and he talked it over with Harmon Brooks and his lawyer. As far as I know, the deal is still going to go through, but they want to know what they can do about getting Griff off the board.”

“It is my understanding that once I sell, then Harmon can fire the current members and get his own in. Geoff has all the papers, and again, it’s my understanding that they are there for Gibson, no one else. The way my dad explained it was that if there was no more Gibson, then there was no more board.”

“That’s what Geoff said. Oh, and also at that meeting will be Jane.”

“Do you think that is wise?”

“Yes, because she has further proof that Griff is trying to force her into doing insider trading. Which we both know is highly illegal. She’s willing to testify. She’s smart.”

“I know, but why do you say that?”

“Because she has recorded conversations of Griff verbally forcing her to get him information, and…” Duane paused and turned a mega-watt grin on her.

“What? And what?”

“And she got him to confess that the BS he’s constantly referring to is indeed Beatrice Stanton.”

“I knew it,” Laurie said with conviction, then shook her head. “Does Jane know where she and Peter are?”

“That I don’t know, but she has other information that will be critical in taking these people out. The FBI agent we’re meeting with is in white collar crimes. I contacted my former boss and asked him who I could reach out to in the local office. Thankfully, we don’t have to go into the big city.” He shuddered. “When I left Los Angeles, I was bound and determined never to return to a city that size ever again.” He looked at her with a shrug and a boyish grin. “I guess living at Broken for the last few months spoiled me for cities.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to move. I wasn’t going to at first, but Mom asked me a question and it made me think long and hard about my life.”

“May I ask what that was?”

“I inherited this house from my grandmother. I was nineteen when she passed. It was about three months before I even met Peter. I had happy memories of visiting and staying here when she was alive, and this was the house everyone came to for the holidays. Mom asked me how many happy memories, after I inherited it, did I have here that didn’t include Lorissa. I couldn’t remember one of them. At least not with Peter. All my memories centered around the time before Grandma passed, and after Lorissa was born. Not once can I picture Peter in those happy memories.” She looked at him sadly, then shrugged. “I’m not saying that to get pity, I’m saying it because it’s true.”

“I know you told me before, but why did you stay with him for so long after he told you what he did when you were pregnant?”

Laurie looked at him with a grin. “At first, it was to be a petty bitch. Over time, it just became the norm and I didn’t have to worry about Peter.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I concentrated on my daughter, and my career. I never gave Peter another thought. I think he only stayed here because his mother would kick him out of her house for staying too long, or he would be between girlfriends. I know, I know, I could and should have divorced him after he cheated the first time, but again, I was just petty enough to prove a point.”

“Which was?”

“That I was right and Beatrice and Peter were wrong.” She laughed at his expression.

“How were they wrong?”

“Beatrice refused to allow the wedding to take place unless I signed the pre-nuptial agreement she kept shoving in my face. I mean that literally. Anyway, it was originally written that when I cheated on Peter, I would have to pay him the thousand dollars for every time I cheated. Oh, and there had to be documented proof.”

“Oh, shit, please tell me it was rewritten?”

“It was, but instead of just me cheating, I had it rewritten that it pertained to either one of us. I never cheated, he was a perpetual cheater, and I was able to provide proof of him being with at least thirty different women over the course of my marriage. The other clause that Beatrice was adamant that it was meant for me was the longevity clause of the marriage. She assumed because I was only twenty when we married, Peter was twenty-two, then I would leave the marriage first, because according to her, I was a flighty simpleton that was only out for Peter’s money and the Stanton clout. Little did she know that I have more money and clout than she ever did, or even thought of having.” Laurie turned to grab a rag to wipe down the counter, and looked at him with a grin.

“Oh God, what did you do? I feel you did something.”

“I did. This was back when Dad was still alive, he had an important business meeting, or conference, because it was for three days, and though the Stantons were present, they didn’t get recognized like Dad and I did. When Beatrice tried to stand next to me during the photos, each and every time the photographer asked her to step out of the frame. When Peter tried to say he was my husband and deserved the recognition and acclaim that the Gibsons were getting, I politely asked him how he thought he was my husband in anything other than on paper when he had arrived at the conference with his current mistress in tow. I made sure to say it in front of several affluent people in our world.”

“Oh, shit, what happened?”

“I don’t want to make this sound like a religious clan, but the only way I can describe it is that they were shunned for several years.”

“Shunned how?”

“Invites to the most prestigious parties, the awards ceremonies where the Who’s Who in the business world, they all stopped inviting them.”

“Did you receive any fallout from that?”

“Yes, Beatrice tried to tell me it was all my fault for their failings. That family is family, and as a Stanton, I needed to retract my statement to get them in good standing with the Who’s Who again. I don’t like to swear, or be vulgar, there are times it’s called for. She came here to try to berate me, and when she was done, I turned it around on her.”

“How?”

“I told her that, and remember, I hate to talk like this, but I felt justified in my stance at the time. I flat-out told her that it was her own fault, because I didn’t stop raising my son when he turned fourteen. When she asked me what I meant by that, I was blunt and told her that Peter thinks with his dick, not his head. If she had been a better mother at raising him, then he would have been a man and stuck to his wedding vows. She was so stunned that she was speechless. I was able to take her by the arm and kick her out of my house.” Laurie shrugged as she rinsed out the rag she’d used to clean the countertops before looking directly at Duane. “That was the conversation that cemented in my brain that I would teach that bitch a lesson and stick with a loveless marriage until the allotted time on the pre-nuptial was stated.”

“Which was?”

“Twenty-five years. My wedding anniversary was on a Friday, I had reservations at a restaurant, I invited Peter, and I knew, without a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn’t show, but I invited him anyway. I showed up at my lawyer’s office on the following Wednesday, it would have been on Monday, but I couldn’t get an appointment for that day. It took six hours to go over all the paperwork and the pre-nuptial, and they took an additional week to draw up the papers. Though Peter still lived here, we were roommates by then. He was served the papers at his office, and when he tried to confront me on them, his stuff was all packed and waiting out on the front walkway for him. I refused to open the door, and as he stood there yelling and screaming at me, as he threw his black plastic bags of his things into his car, the locksmith arrived to change the locks. Then I had all new windows put in.” She started giggling and it turned into a full belly laugh before she could control herself.

Duane looked at the woman before him and something in his chest moved. He didn’t know whether it was a piece of the concrete had broken off, or if it shattered. He made the determination right then and there to have Laurie Gibson in his life for the rest of their time on this earth.

“What?”

“Peter always liked the good things in life. I stopped buying anything for him when he moved out of my bed when I was pregnant with Lor. I don’t know how to describe it, but he had this obsession that his luggage all had to be matching. Oh, and he had to get a new set every five years, like clockwork. I don’t know why, because he never went anywhere to use it, but anyway, I packed all his crap in big black garbage bags.” She looked at him with a grin, and wiped the corner of both her eyes. “I could have used the suitcases, but there was a slight accident with his bottle of shampoo and aftershave. For the life of me, I thought the covers were on tight when I put them in the suitcase.”

Duane burst out laughing right along with her. When he was under control, he shook his head at her. “I would have packed his clothes on top of it.”

“I thought of it, but I didn’t want to be accused of destroying his property.”

“Yeah, I can see where that might have been bad.” Duane shook his head, slowly stood, and looked around. “I hate to ask, but it’s getting late. Could you point me in the direction of the nearest hotel?”

“You can stay here, I have plenty of room.”