Chapter 32 #2
My voice has changed. It’s charged with a power I didn’t even know I possessed. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kassie’s look of utter bewilderment. She thinks I’m setting fire to the script.
She’s right. I am.
“Now, some of you may know that Rick and I go way back. Don’t we, Rick?” I shoot him a look of pure challenge.
His smirk falters. He shifts uneasily, the leather of his expensive chair creaking in the silence.
A small, sly grin begins to creep across Kassie’s face as she realizes I’m lining up my prey to play with it before I kill it.
“So, you see, I know firsthand what a lying, deceiving little creep he is.”
Someone on the board coughs into their hand. The expressions on the faces of the panel are a picture of stunned silence.
“I also know,” I continue, stepping away from the podium and toward the dais, “that Rick has a reputation for falsifying reports. He bets on the hope that landowners will fold before things get too hot for them to handle.”
“Excuse me?! I hardly think this is proper conduct—” Rick tries to interject, his voice becomes higher in pitch, reaching for the chairman.
I don’t give the chairman a chance to breathe. I’m flying now.
“Probably not,” I snap, cutting him off like a blunt blade. “But I think the members of this state board are going to want to hear what I have to say when I tell them I’m about to save them from a billion-dollar lawsuit and probable jail time for whoever’s names are on that dotted line.”
I lean over the table, my shadow falling over Rick’s blueprints.
“You’re sitting on an artesian spring, Rick.
You signed off on ‘competent granite’ without ever leaving your climate-controlled office in the city.
If you sink those pylons, the ridge collapses.
And when it does, I won’t just be suing the state.
I’ll be coming for you personally for professional negligence and fraud. ”
“Mr. Peterson,” the Chairman says, his voice dipping to a stiffer tone. “Is there an unmapped artesian spring on that ridge?”
Rick’s face is a frantic, mottled shade of crimson. He looks like he’s suffocating in his own silk tie. He opens his mouth to speak, but all that comes out is a pathetic, dry stutter.
The silence in the room is heavy, save for the faint buzzing from the overhead fluorescent lights.
The chairman turns his gaze back to me. “Ms. Callahan, do you have the documentation to back up these claims?”
Every eye in the room is on me. The air is waiting with bated breath to see what this little blonde woman pulls out of the bag.
“Of course I do.” I tap the lid of my closed laptop.
“On this drive, I have a comprehensive independent surveyor’s report from Thomas Weston and my own structural viability audit, complete with flow rate data from the seep.
And…” I pause, letting the word hang in the air like a guillotine blade.
“I have the retainer for the legal team that’s going to represent the Yellow Bell Ranch when we take the state to court for professional negligence. ”
I offer a small, cold shrug, looking directly at the man who once thought he could bury me. “I’m happy to show you the data, Mr. Chairman.”
Man, I’m scaring myself with my own lethal tone. It’s exhilarating.
“But I think we all know Rick is well aware of how capable I am. After all, he spent years taking credit for my work. It would be a shame for the state to make the same mistake.”
I feel Kassie stepping up behind me, her presence ignites goose flesh across my arms. She leans over the desk, deliberately exposing her cleavage as she tosses a heavy paper file onto the table with a satisfying thwack.
“We printed some paper copies,” she says, her voice dripping with a honey-thick sarcasm that cuts deeper than any insult. “In case you wanted to frame them.” She finishes with a wink.
I have to bite the inside of my cheek to fight down the laugh threatening to bubble up.
The chairman looks at the file, then at Rick, and finally at us. “This meeting is adjourned. Mr. Peterson, I suggest you don’t leave town.”
* * *
The squeal we both let out the second the doors of my little blue Mini thud shut is almost deafening. It’s high-pitched, hysterical, and full of every ounce of tension we’ve been carrying for weeks.
“Oh my god, Emily! What the hell was that?” Kassie barks, doubling over with laughter.
“I know, I know!” I say, dropping my head to the steering wheel, my body still fizzing with a manic, electric energy. “I don’t even know what came over me.”
“You were fucking unhinged, and I am here for the feminine rage!” She reaches over and squeezes my shoulder so hard it hurts.
I can’t tell if I’m laughing or crying, but the sob-like gasps coming out of my throat feel like a purging of years of silence.
“Babe, you saved my house. You absolutely destroyed their asses.”
I’m shaking my head frantically. I’m in disbelief.
“Wyatt is going to lose his goddamn mind!” Kassie’s eyes are dancing.
I grip the steering wheel, taking one long, steadying breath to keep my hands from shaking. I can’t wait to tell him. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I give him the news. I did it. I actually did it. “Let’s go give him the good news.”
The Mini tears down the highway, the Montana landscape blurring past in a smear of autumn gold. I’ve already pulled the pins from my hair, letting it fall loose, and unbuttoned the top of my silk blouse. The relief is crashing over me in continuous, cooling waves.
“You ever think about doing this full-time again?” Kassie asks, staring out the passenger window.
I keep my eyes on the road, a smirk tugging at my mouth. “What? Putting pathetic men in their place?”
She barks a laugh. “Well, yeah—my brother included. But no. The consultancy stuff? The real work?”
I ponder it for a moment. There’s no doubt that I’ve thrived over the past few months.
I’ve been doing what I love, but for the first time, I’ve been respected for my professional worth and not the way I look.
This family has saved me, and my heart feels like it’s going to burst knowing I’ve finally been able to repay the favor.
I found a man I adore, and he clearly feels the same, a little boy who lights up my life, and now... a purpose.
“I suppose I have. The past few months, I’ve just been trying to find my feet again, but it’s all slowly starting to feel like it’s falling into place.” I’m smiling. “How about you, Kass? Do you see yourself being the CFO of the ranch until the end of your days?”
She looks down at her lap, her expression turning uncharacteristically somber. “Hell, no. I mean, I’ve loved helping the family since I came back, but it was only ever meant to be temporary. I’ve been trying to convince Dad to let me turn the South Barn into a permanent wedding venue.”
“That would be an incredible idea. It’s the perfect spot.”
“Yeah, tell that to him. He hates it. He’s happy to let Chuck and Sarah use it next weekend because they’re practically family, but he doesn't want strangers coming and going all the time. I tried to tell him he’s sitting on a gold mine, but...he’s stuck in his ways.”
I can imagine exactly how that conversation with Owen went. I let out a soft laugh, imagining the two most stubborn Millers locking horns over archways and altars.
The car goes quiet for a while as the adrenaline finally begins to ebb.
“We could do it, you know?” Kassie says suddenly.
I glance at her, confused. She’s clearly been having a full-speed conversation in her head that I wasn’t invited to for the last five miles.
“Do what?”
“Set up a consultancy firm. We could run it right from the ranch. Get my dad to sub us a startup loan.” She turns in her seat, her face glowing with a new kind of fire.
“I’m serious, Em. I’ve got the financial knowledge and enough legal experience to get us through the red tape.
You’ve got the technical genius, and you aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty. ”
I quirk an eyebrow at the thought of professionally tethering myself to my boyfriend’s chaotic but brilliant sister.
“Think about it,” she presses with urgency. “Callahan & Miller Consultancy.”
I find myself smiling wildly at her enthusiasm. The idea isn’t half bad. Actually, it’s perfect. I can tell Kassie has spent far too long living under the thick testosterone fog of the ranch. Today gave her a professional itch that she’s dying to scratch.
“Okay,” I say, suddenly feeling like a door is swinging open. “I’m listening.”
“I’m telling you, Em, I’ll have a full business proposal ready for you by the end of the week. Budget, overhead, office space, the works.”
I giggle. “Aren’t you supposed to be prepping for the big wedding this week? You're the one who told me you’d basically been roped in as a wedding planner.”
Kassie’s eyes go wide, and she lets out a gasp, slapping her forehead. “Oh, shit! Yeah, okay, make it next week.”
“I’m sure you will get it done, babe. I’m sure you will.”