23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jane
“ W here are you?” Meg asked, her voice tinny, sounding like she had me on speaker.
I balanced the phone between my cheek and shoulder while I used a screwdriver. “We’re installing a mini-split air conditioning system.”
“You know how to do that?”
“YouTube, Sweetie. Everyone can learn to do anything online. Except we called in electricians for the power connection.”
“I thought you were restoring old houses, not installing air conditioning.”
“That was our plan, but this homeowner wanted an AC system for her Victorian and didn’t want to have to install a lot of duct work or rip out walls. It’s the same system I put in my house.”
“Oh, right—the one you got to use for about a week before fall hit. Why the heck are you installing AC in January?”
“Because the units arrived.” I put down the screwdriver and wrapped my fingers around the phone before I ended up with a crick in my neck. “How did it go in Rochester?”
The line went silent.
“Meg? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah. Sorry—got distracted.”
“So, how was your appointment with Dr. Davis?”
“Okay I guess. Um…”
I grabbed another screw while I waited.
“Um…she says I don’t present with typical FMD so she’s sending a blood sample for genetic testing.”
“Really?” I balanced the phone again and started on the next hole. “Does she think they’ll find anything?”
“She doesn’t know if they will or not. ”
Why didn’t Dr. Davis send me for genetic testing? Because she could tell I had FMD without it? “How do you feel about that?”
“Not sure. They could be grasping.”
“Yeah, genetics is such new field.” I twisted in the screw. “Hey, you want to come over for dinner Friday night?”
“Um…maybe?”
“You can bring Mike—I like him.”
“Can I let you know? I have a few things going on at the moment.”
I snatched my phone from my chin and shoulder and looked at it. Meg had things going on? She was a librarian in La Crosse which meant she was all but hibernating in January. “Anything I ought to be aware of?”
“Too soon to tell.”
My eyebrows pinched together. “That sounds cryptic.”
“I just need a little time, okay?”
I went silent while Bob took over for me and finished putting in the rest of the screws.
The needle of my mommy meter pointed to overload, warning me it was time to back off. I had to be careful how I chose my words, especially when Meg decided not to tell me about things that were obviously weighing on her. I was the type of person who wanted answers and, as a former VP of Operations, I was used to getting them. But when it came to my daughter, I couldn’t fire on all cylinders or else she’d combust. “Is this about your CT scan?” I asked carefully, sliding my fingers over my tender chin.
“Nope.”
I inhaled, drawing out a pause before I responded, “All right, then, don’t tell me, but I’ll plan on seeing you and Mike on Friday unless I hear differently.”
Bob holstered his screwdriver as I hung up the phone. “Is everything okay on the daughter front?”
I gave him a wide-eyed guffaw. “Is it ever?”
“Not with my Sophie, that’s for sure.” He looked at the ceiling and groaned. “She needs to get married. Then she’ll be someone else’s problem.”
“Surely you don’t mean that.”
“No?” Bob took off his hat and scratched his shiny head. “In the past year, I’ve helped her buy a condo, been strapped with her mortgage payments for three months because her car broke down, flew to Florida to console her after she broke up with a guy she’d been dating for a year and a half, and those are just the big things. She’s a great girl—smart—beautiful as a winter sunset. But she’s going to send me into bankruptcy.”
I slid my arm around his waist and gave him a sideways hug. We’d gone out to dinner three times now, but Bob hadn’t kissed me goodbye, which I decided was a good thing. A companion is what I needed, not a lover. “I know we haven’t talked much about money, but in the time I’ve come to know you, I doubt you’ll be penniless anytime soon.”
“Doesn’t matter. I love her more than anything, but I’m the first to admit that daughters are a challenge.”
“Mine’s not.”
He put his hat back on and pulled down the brim. “No? Have you forgotten about Lance already?”
“Of course not, but anyone can wind up in a bad relationship—after all, it happened to me when I married her father. At least Meg ended it before the asshole tried to string her along for years, popping in and out of her life every time his wife left town.” I wadded up the plastic film we’d taken off the AC unit. “Sure, she likes her privacy. She’ll tell me what’s going on when she’s ready.”
“As long as she doesn’t wait until she’s completely desperate like Sophie does.”
“I’m sure whatever is bothering Meg, she’ll handle it. Hormones aside, she’s the most levelheaded twenty-nine-year-old I know.”
Bob’s eyes bugged wide. “You know a lot of twenty-nine-year-olds?”
“Stop.” I tucked the plastic under my arm and grabbed the mini-split remote control. “Let’s see if this baby works.”
At least Meg texted me to say she wouldn’t be able to make it for dinner this evening, but that only caused me to worry. I was ready to march over to her apartment and demand to know what was going on. But getting in my daughter’s face had never been an effective method for making her open up. Still, something was bothering Meg and I couldn’t help her unless I knew what.
Even then I probably wouldn’t be able to help. No one ever told me parenting was much harder once your kids became adults. Grown-up problems were always a gazillion times worse than they were at the age of nine .
I’d already walked my ten thousand steps for the day and now I was on the verge of driving myself out of my mind, pacing my huge house, looking at my phone, willing Meg to call. I should have taken Bob up on his offer to go to the Recovery Watering Hole for a drink after we finished restoring the tile on an Edwardian fireplace, but I told him I needed some time to myself, which earned me a harrumph.
Aside from Bob, I hadn’t made many friends yet, especially since Dr. Davis told me to keep my heart rate steady and I had quit my exercise classes at the Y. Honestly, I was kind of out of practice at acquiring friends. VPs and even plant managers needed to be careful about not getting too close to employees, which meant a lonely existence for a single person who worked every waking hour.
But Bob was unique. He was a good man—a good friend—maybe a little more than a friend.
I ended up in my office, staring at my computer screen. As I clicked to the news, my breath caught. The headline read: Bethany Board Members Charged with Fraud .
I clapped a hand over my mouth, reading about how the FBI received an anonymous tip which led them to the arrest of CEO Leon Worthington. The story went on to name the CEO of Hydroade as well. He was also arrested for colluding with Worthington by staging a tampering incident designed to force Bethany into bankruptcy while the guilty parties laundered the insurance payout through an offshore account in their attempt to make it appear as if the company was insolvent. Had the plan worked, every member of the board would have received five million in protected preferred shares with the two CEOs plotting to split the fifty-million-dollar insurance windfall.
It was no secret Leon had gone through three nasty divorces that had cost him dearly, but I never suspected him capable of fraud.
Out of the blue, an email from Curt Hastings, the plant manager in Philly, appeared. As I opened it, I realized I hadn’t heard from anyone at Bethany Plastics since I moved to La Crosse. I’d dedicated my life to that company, putting in ungodly hours (sometimes at the expense of my own family), yet it had been incredibly easy for all of them to write me off.
Hello, Jane,
I hope this finds you well. If you haven’t seen the headlines, I would assume you are living in a cave without internet. But a little bird tells me you had something to do with the anonymous tip. You’re the only person I know with enough savvy to nail Worthington. I’d like to buy you a drink, Boss .
We also just got word that Bethany will not be proceeding with bankruptcy. Even better, sales negotiated a new contract with Hydroade. I hope you’re considering coming back. I heard you’re on the short list for the next CEO (nudge, wink). We miss you!
Best,
Curt
Salivating, I sat and stared at the words “next CEO”. If I’d been faced with such an opportunity a few months ago I would have jumped at it immediately. And right now, I couldn’t say it wasn’t tempting, but I’d changed since I moved. I’d started a new life. I bought an amazing home that I still had dozens of plans for. I moved my mother and lived within walking distance from my daughter. I needed time to think before I jumped on the executive treadmill again. Besides, no one had reached out to me yet, possibly because the FBI made their arrests less than twenty-four hours ago?
I decided to reply to Curt without mentioning anything about the open CEO job.
Hey, Stranger,
Glad to hear they caught the culprit. Sad to hear it was a man who should have been a paragon of honesty and integrity. Congratulations on getting the Hydroade business back!
Best,
Jane
As I clicked send, I had a twenty-pound weight lifted from my shoulders. So, my old boss turned out to be more of a son-of-a-bitch than I’d realized. I slid onto my piano bench and played Beethoven’s Fifth —pounding the keys as hard as I could, ready to dance all night not giving a rip if anyone watched.
My moment of triumph was interrupted when the knocker on the door resounded, followed by the Google doorbell. I checked the app on my phone, expecting to see Meg on the doorbell’s feed, but it was my partner in crime.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, opening the door, trying to sound stern but utterly failing.
Bob’s easy grin was just what I needed after learning the man who fired me had been arrested for white-collar crime. The man pulled a bottle of merlot out of a brown paper bag. “Since the Recovery Watering Hole wasn’t your idea of fun, I thought you might feel like a drink about now.”
I stood back and gestured inside. “Come on. It’s freezing out there.”
He took off his boots in the vestibule. “It’s a balmy twenty-two degrees. ”
“Now I know you’ve been drinking,” I said, shivering and leading him to the kitchen. Heck, this weather was what I signed up for. “I need to embrace Wisconsin winters. Come on snow!”
“That’s my girl. If you’re going to live in the Badger State, you need to take the frigid winters along with the humid summers.” Bob found the corkscrew in the drawer by the sink. “By the way, I never drink alone. In fact, I never have more than two drinks in one sitting.”
Bob didn’t bear the signs of a heavy drinker, but it was reassuring to hear him say so. He opened the bottle while I pulled a couple of glasses out of the cupboard. “What is it?”
I grinned and did a little shimmy. I think I’d been smiling since I read the news article. “What do you mean?”
He poured the wine. “You look very happy.”
I took one and downed a healthy sip. “That’s because my ex-boss was just arrested and charged with fraud.”
“Seriously?” Bob’s eyes lit up as he rubbed his hands together. “This has to be good.”
I relayed what I knew, omitting the email from Curt because I needed time to think.
When I finished, we toasted to my success as an anonymous tipster.
“Want to watch a movie?” I asked.
“One with lots of action?”
“Sure.” We headed upstairs to the TV room. “We ought to find plenty of those on Netflix.”
The wine was delicious and the first sip went straight to my head.
We’d both opted for the couch and Bob moved a little closer, his shoulder brushing mine. “How are you doing?”
“I’m great.” I savored another sip of wine. “Why wouldn’t anyone be after finding out the man who fired them was covering his own backside?”
“Um…you still okay with our partnership?” he asked.
“Yes. I think we’re a good team.” Was he having doubts? “Don’t you?”
The lines on his forehead creased. “I do…but…”
Any buzz I might have been enjoying from the wine disappeared. “What?”
“This contracting stuff doesn’t pay much. Are you okay financially? Do you have health insurance? ”
“First of all, I could have retired if I’d wanted to, even without the golden handshake. Secondly, this month I went off Bethany’s CObrA and started a medical plan through The Affordable Care Act. How about you?”
“I’m fine. I don’t need to work, either.”
“And health care?”
“Got that covered, too.” As I turned on the TV, he took my hand. “Hey, you’re like a magnet who attracts people without even trying. You’re witty, vivacious, a splendid hostess, generous, kind and you bend over backward for the people you love. How did you end up divorced?”
I savored Bob’s words for a moment. I don’t think anyone has ever used so many lovely adjectives to describe me. But he’d also asked me a pretty pointed question that needed a reply. I patted my chest and cleared my throat. “Well, when I married my ex, he was a sailor in the Royal Australian Navy—you know how sailors are renowned drinkers?”
Bob nodded.
“Jack was one of the best.”
“Royal Australian Navy? How did you end up in Australia?”
“It was kind of the other way around. He was on the commissioning crew of a ship that was built in Seattle. I met him right before I graduated from college—we had a whirlwind romance and in order for us to be together because of immigration laws, we had to get married. Meg was born in Australia.”
“She was? Whoa, Jane, you’re like peeling an onion. Every time we’re together I find out something about you I’d never expected. So was it the drinking that made you come back to the U.S.?”
“Yes, to say it got out of hand was an understatement.” I clicked on the Netflix icon while I told Bob about Jack’s seven-year bender. “How about you? What happened with your ex?”
“I don’t know. Stress I guess. She was in med school when Sophie was born—had an affair with one of her study partners.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.” He kissed my cheek. “You haven’t seen my house yet.”
“No I haven’t.” I looked at him, touching the place where his lips had been. The kiss had been quick, yet in that second, I knew without a doubt we were no longer just friends. “What’s it like?”
“Just a cottage—over by the golf course. Want to come to dinner tomorrow? ”
“Yes. Yes I do.”
He kissed my mouth and a few minutes later, the remote control dropped from my fingertips.