Chapter 15
— chapter fifteen
“Hey, Nelson?” Fanny called out. “Do you have a minute?”
Nelson looked up from the pile of invoices and neatly written notes on his desk. Once a week, each of his division managers was required to give him a summary of the orders taken, work that had gone out, and a listing of any jobs that still needed to be fulfilled.
He knew the managers detested the practice, especially since most of it was already online.
More than one had grumbled that compiling everything in a paper clip with handwritten notes was antiquated and a waste of valuable time.
Nelson would’ve agreed if the practice hadn’t proved to be beneficial to the business.
The simple practice of organizing numbers and jobs had highlighted all sorts of problems—and ways they could be remedied.
Employees had been overlooked for bonuses or raises when it was obvious that they went above and beyond.
The opposite had been true too. Some employees consistently were behind schedule or continually made mistakes that had to be corrected.
Then there were the vendors who consistently ran late with deliveries and customers who did the same with their payments.
If his area managers didn’t flag the problems and mark them in a specific folder, Nelson had no doubt that it would take twice as long to investigate where the gaps were in production—or in the anticipated earnings for each quarter.
But although all these things were very good and important for Alliance Millworks’ well-being, Nelson privately hated the paperwork as much as everyone else did.
Because of that, he happily pushed aside the papers and put down the reading glasses he’d recently had to start wearing. That’s when he noticed that Fanny’s usually chipper manner was absent. “What’s going on, Fan?”
She held up a letter. “You got another one.”
Surprise followed by its new buddy dread filled him as he stood up. “Are you sure it’s from the Grabers?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice low as he approached her desk.
“I’m afraid so. It’s the same handwriting on the same stationery. Just to make sure, I pulled out the file where I kept the others and compared them.”
“Thank you for doing that.”
“What would you like me to do?”
“Nothing. Well, nothing besides hand it over.” Taking the unwanted note, he sighed. “I keep thinking that Peter and Mary are going to move on with their lives and stop, but I don’t know. Maybe they can’t let their grief go.”
Fanny shook her head. “There’s grief, and then there’s what they’ve been doing. Mr. and Mrs. Graber seem to be determined to hurt you.”
Even a year ago, Nelson would have disagreed with Fanny’s statement. Everyone at the company had been shaken by Jimmy’s accident and death. Nelson might have wanted Jimmy to be more focused while he was doing his job, but that didn’t mean he had ever thought Jimmy deserved to get hurt.
Plus, Jimmy had been a friendly sort. Most everyone had liked him, and his loss was a tragedy.
“Yeah. I think you’re probably right,” he said at last. That acknowledgment didn’t make him feel any better, though. Especially not after Jenna quietly relayed the things Peter and Mary had told her when she’d been at his house.
Relief filled Fanny’s expression. “I’m so glad you feel that way.” She took a deep breath. “Listen, I’ve been thinking about this situation, boss, and I think that it’s time you got some help with it.”
“From whom?”
“The police.”
She looked so earnest, he didn’t want to crack a smile, but it was hard not to. “Fanny, Peter and Mary Graber aren’t doing anything illegal. All they’re doing is sharing their thoughts. They’re entitled.”
“They’re doing more than that, and we both know it. At first, yes, they were just sharing their pain and their opinions.”
“That was their right.”
“Yes . . .” She grimaced. “But they were also voicing their thoughts about an accident they didn’t see and that they don’t know the whole story about.”
“For them to know that Jimmy had once again decided to operate the machine without a partner was unnecessary.”
She waved a hand. “Allowing them to think that he was simply a victim in a bad accident is not okay. Especially now, because the tone of their letters is a lot more threatening and mean than it used to be.”
“How do you know what’s in this letter? You didn’t read it, did you?” he teased, since it was obvious that the envelope was still sealed.
“You know I didn’t, but what else do they ever write?” With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair. “I feel sorry for their loss, but everyone here knows that Jimmy was—at the very least—partly to blame for the accident. It wasn’t your fault. Not at all.”
“I hear what you’re saying.”
“Are you sure, Nelson?” Getting to her feet, she walked around her desk. “Because sometimes it feels like you might know you aren’t responsible for his death but you still feel guilty.”
“I don’t feel guilty,” he said quickly. Because he didn’t. It was more a vague feeling that someone had to be ultimately responsible for the accident and he was the last stop. As the head of the company, there was no one else to blame.
“If you don’t feel guilty, then why are you still bringing food to his widow?”
He was still bringing her things because he was still half in love with her. “We’re not going to talk about Jenna. She’s off-limits.”
“Why? Is it because you don’t care about her at all . . . or because you care too much?”
“Fanny, I wasn’t joking. I don’t want to discuss Jenna.”
“Okay, fine. But I hope you’ll eventually remember that you’ve got a lot of people in your support system.”
He had to smirk. “Support system?”
“Don’t make fun of me. I’m being serious.
You’ve got plenty of people here at the mill and in your family to discuss your feelings with.
Jimmy’s death and his parents’ fixation on hurting you because they’re hurting isn’t nice or fair.
” Folding her arms over her chest, Fanny smiled softly.
“There’s no reason to keep everything all inside, cousin. ”
“I’m not. We’re talking about it, don’t you think?”
“No. I think we’re not even scratching the surface.
I’m really worried that one of these days something with the Grabers and Jenna and you is going to blow up.
And when that happens, it’s going to be really tough, not only because you haven’t been open and honest with what you’ve been dealing with but because by the time that happens, you’ll have isolated yourself so much that you won’t even know where to turn. ”
“I hear you. Thanks for letting me know about the letter.”
“You’re welcome.”
Just as he was going back to his pile of paperwork, he remembered a text he’d received on his cell phone from Hank Arias. “Hey, I just remembered that I never double-checked with you about the visit to the Arias house. Did it go okay?”
“I think so. Why?”
“No reason, other than the fact that Hank texted this morning, asking if we could talk this afternoon. I wanted to be prepared in case there was a problem.”
“There didn’t seem to be a problem,” she said quickly.
There was something off about her tone. “You sure?”
“Positive.” She looked around the room. “All I did was drop off samples.”
“But you did go inside the house, right?”
“I did.”
“And?” He waved a hand.
“And . . . it was gorgeous. The house is like something out of a Hollywood movie. I put the samples in the different rooms.”
“Did you see Hank?”
“I did. I saw his PA too. Her name’s Janine. Have you met her?”
“No.” Looking at her more closely, he asked, “Did you have a problem with her?”
“A problem? No. Not at all.”
Something about Fanny’s answer didn’t ring true, but he let it slide. “Okay . . . what did Hank think about the samples?”
“Oh. I think he liked everything just fine.”
Yep, something was definitely off. Fanny kept averting her eyes, and he could be wrong, but he was kind of, sort of seeing a new shade of pink in her cheeks. Why was that? Was she embarrassed?
Or . . . had Hank done something inappropriate? He seemed like a good guy, but he could’ve misjudged him. Feeling protective, Nelson leaned forward. “He didn’t bother you, did he?”
“Bother me?”
“You know what I mean.” He cleared his throat. “Hank wasn’t disrespectful or anything, was he? Was he rude to you?”
“No. He wasn’t any of those things,” she added, sounding more flustered. “Not at all.”
“Okay, but, um, piggybacking on our earlier conversation . . . you aren’t alone either. If a customer ever gives you problems, you don’t have to deal with it on your own, because you’ve got a pretty good support system too.”
“I hear you, boss, but I’m fine. Hank has never done anything to make me uncomfortable.”
“All right, then.” He walked into his office, closing the door. As he sat down, he stared at the envelope that was addressed to him, each letter of the cursive looking as if a penmanship teacher had written it. It was that perfect.
Fanny was right. There was only one person who wrote like that: Mary Graber.
Knowing that it wasn’t going to get any easier if he delayed the inevitable, he opened the envelope and pulled out the note.
And then read the three paragraphs over and over again. Dismay filled him, followed by a burst of anger, followed by frustration and an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
The letter informed him that Peter and Mary had recently hired a lawyer because they intended to sue both Nelson and Alliance Millworks. For a million dollars. Because someone needed to be held responsible for the loss of their beloved son.
Nelson felt like throwing something against the wall. Not because he feared what the lawyers would find. He knew neither the company nor the other men Jimmy had been working with were to blame.
It was because all the secrets about just how difficult Jimmy could be were going to be brought to the surface and his reputation would be sullied.
And when that happened, both Jenna and Katie were going to have to live with the consequences.
And the fallout would likely follow them for the rest of their lives.