Chapter 34
COMING INTO HER OWN
Ten days later, everything seemed to slow down.
Everyone got the gossip and whispering out of their system in the office. Now it was nothing more than a look or a tiny comment, but nothing major.
Kenzie and Nelson were back on track.
It’d taken her a few days to get over her emotions.
She wasn’t as mad at him as she was at herself for reacting the way she had.
Even Aileen came over the next day to visit. Nelson had confessed he’d left to see Jamie and ended talking to his mother and sister.
He had those people to lean on.
She didn’t and that made it harder.
There was a line she wouldn’t cross and complaining about a fight with her husband to his family was one she had to keep to herself.
Having herself a pity party had never been something she’d excelled at in life and was mortified over how easily she’d broken down in front of her husband.
That he held her until her tears ran dry without saying a word made her feel safe enough to open up to him more in the future.
“So I heard a little rumor.”
Kenzie turned from reading a document to see Noelle standing by her desk. More about the ventures West had started two years ago. Old farms that were no longer producing now used their land for solar panels.
The more she read, the more she thought this could be the answer to her father getting out of debt and keeping his pride intact.
She turned her head to look at Noelle. The smirk told her she wasn’t going to care much for this conversation, but she didn’t have time for this crap. It was like all Noelle ever wanted to do was complain about people.
“What?” She hadn’t really heard what Noelle had said.
“I said I heard a little rumor. More like a big one.”
Just great.
This coworker most likely ran her mouth the most.
She’d heard that Noelle might have had her eyes on Nelson in the past, but her husband never gave her any interest. Could be why Noelle was always coming to see her.
One thing she’d learned, Nelson tried to keep his personal life private.
Which wasn’t easy now that they were working on the same floor.
“What rumor is that?” she asked.
She had more confidence now. Not because her relationship with Nelson was out, but because she was coming into her own.
Things were settling into place, she was feeling good about her chances taking the bar in a few weeks and even seeing her mother.
“That you and Nelson are married?” Noelle said, then threw her head back and laughed. Noelle’s eyes went to her left hand, minus the silver band that still sat next to their bedside. Both rings together.
“Where did you hear that?” she asked.
“It was on social media,” Noelle said. “Guess an ex of Nelson’s did some digging and found it and then posted it.”
She closed her eyes. This was exactly what they both wanted to avoid happening.
How did she answer it?
Kenzie didn’t want to lie.
She could evade, which was what she was trying to do.
“Some people just like to bring attention to themselves.”
“That’s right,” Noelle said. “But it looks real to me. There is a copy of it. Married in Vegas when Nelson was out of town. Kind of ironic don’t you think?”
“I think people need to mind their own business,” she said.
Noelle leaned down close. “I personally don’t buy it. But you know, people wonder and then search. I knew you were from Utah, but didn’t know you were a farmer’s daughter.”
Yep, here it came.
All that self-doubt that she wasn’t Nelson’s type. Or even good enough for him. They were clawing their way to the tip of her tongue begging to be hurled at Noelle to get out of her face.
She wouldn’t make a scene. It wasn’t her.
But what she didn’t want was this to circle back and haunt her career and now it seemed as if it might.
Any future she thought of having here would always be carried with an asterisk next to it.
Employed because she was drunk and married a stranger and followed him home. He got her a job, and now his family was handing her a career.
Everything that people would whisper was only what she’d been telling herself for weeks. Months even.
“We all have to come from somewhere and someone,” she said, smiling.
“You keep telling yourself that,” Noelle said. “This is the big leagues. I just thought I’d give you a little warning of what might make the rounds in Nelson’s social circle. You know, so you can gather your replies. Or he can make sure you’re not hurt too deeply.”
She laughed.
Rather than letting Noelle know her words might have hit with precision, she was going to put all her education to use, put her poker face on and deliver her message with confidence.
She wasn’t going to be someone to mess with and Noelle would learn that quickly.
“You know what I think?” she asked.
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” Noelle said.
Kenzie leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I think that you’re afraid that I’m going to come in here and get ahead of you in the office. That you’re not confident enough in your ability and you’re already finding excuses why you might get passed over.”
Noelle leaned close to her face. “You’re wrong. Being married to a Carlisle will be the only reason you get ahead in life. The rest of us have to work our asses off, but you took the easy way.”
“Yeah, sure. You tell yourself that. It’s probably more like it was the plan you had that failed. That you wanted to get close to Nelson and he wasn’t interested. Don’t push your career path onto me. I know my worth.”
Noelle turned, her hair swishing behind her and retreated with a flushed face.
Bitch, she mumbled under her breath.
Yeah, it felt good to swear and she knew why Nelson did it.
But lowering herself to that level and letting Noelle know she got to her would only feed the inner green monster in her coworker.
She went back to work debating her next move.
She wanted to ignore it, but couldn’t and pulled up social media, found her husband that she didn’t follow because maybe she didn’t want to see anything he posted or who he followed.
Rather than send him a request, she did a quick search of who followed him, found Lexi, then went to her feed. Private also, but she would bet that was where this was all coming from.
No one else knew they were married other than family members.
The fact that this woman went to the lengths she had to search out her and Nelson’s marriage certificate in another state was next level vindictive.
After an hour of sitting on the information, she decided to talk to Braylon.
Nelson was out of town until tomorrow morning. He’d left last night and she didn’t want to bother him knowing there wasn’t much he could do.
No reason to distract him either.
She got up to get some water and walked by her brother-in-law’s office to see if he was there or if his door was open. If it was closed, she’d just move by and suck it up for now.
She sure the heck wasn’t going to see West. Talk about getting tongues wagging, but wanting to talk to her boss wouldn’t look odd.
Her slow walk caught his attention. Braylon glanced up and grinned, she wiggled her finger as if silently asking if she could go in alerting no other ears in the department.
He nodded and she walked in and shut the door.
“Oh boy,” Braylon said. “I don’t like the look on your face. What did my brother do now?”
“Nothing,” she said. “And if he did, I wouldn’t say anything. Not even to Lily.”
“I know,” Braylon said. “I’m only picking on you. But something is going on and Nelson isn’t around.”
She sighed. “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
“Sit. Don’t worry about those things. What happened?”
“I know coming to you is going to upset Nelson, but reaching out to him when he can’t do anything about it in Philly isn’t good either.”
“It’d wind him up.”
She nodded her head. “That was my thought. I’m not sure if you’re aware, and I hate to talk about fights, but Nelson and I had one a few weeks ago. Nothing major. It’s over. But one of his exes came to the house while he was out.”
“I hadn’t heard,” Braylon said, grinning. “But I can only imagine.”
“It’s nothing he did wrong. It was before we met. Like I said, it was a tiny fight and more about my insecurities. Nothing more. I’m only bringing it up because Lexi made a comment about not believing we were married.”
“You told her?”
She kept her shoulders straight, refusing to drop them in a petty, embarrassing move speaking to Lexi as she had. She’d own up to what she’d done. “I let my jealousy get the best of me.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Braylon said. “It says you can stand your ground. It’s a wonderful trait to have in our family. What did she do?”
Those small words of praise were exactly what she needed right now.
“She said that she and Nelson had been together a week before the marriage and Nelson confirmed it.” No reason to go into more details that Lexi shared some of Nelson’s better sexual attributes. “She must have done some digging and she found our marriage certificate and posted it on social media.”
“What?” Braylon asked, sitting up straighter. “You saw it?”
She didn’t like how Braylon went into protection mode.
It only reminded her that this family stuck together and it had a lot more to do with their name than her.
“I didn’t. Noelle must follow Nelson or this woman he was dating. I don’t know. I can’t see it because I don’t follow them, but she had enough information to prove that she saw it.”
Braylon leaned back in the chair, his arms crossed. “What did Noelle say to you?”
“I really don’t want to appear as if I’m ratting someone out. I took care of it, but again, you should be aware because Nelson will tell you if I don’t. I don’t play those games. You hear it from the source with me. I don’t need someone else to talk for me.”
“Got it, but that’s not your concern right now. This is a family issue along with a business one. Family is more important.”
That was something at least.
“She said she heard a rumor that we were married. She didn’t believe it, but the certificate looked real. I’m not sure if she looked it up herself or not. She was more concerned with the date and that it lined up with when Nelson was in Vegas. Then she found out some of my background.”
No need to elaborate there. It wasn’t anything she could change.
“What was your reaction?”
“I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing it might have hit a nerve.
I didn’t give a straight answer. I might have said a few more things that ticked her off, but I kept it as quiet and professional as I could.
I’m not going to be pushed around, nor will I hide behind my husband and his family. ”
“Good for you. Not just because you need practice doing that if you want to be an excellent attorney, but in this family also.”
“I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize or bring shame to your family.”
“I know. And we don’t think that. I’m just saying, no comment is better than any comment. Nelson will be home tonight rather than tomorrow, but you didn’t hear that from me, as it was supposed to be a surprise. Let him know what is going on. Tell him what you chose not to tell me.”
She forced a smile at his smirk.
“I will.”
“For now, just pretend it didn’t happen, but if you need to talk to Lily, I know she’ll always make the time.”
“Thanks, I’m good for now. It’s best to get work done and distract myself that way.”
Kenzie left his office and returned to her chair, telling herself she wasn’t nearly as bothered as she was.