Chapter 12
Leah is limping to her room much slower than when she left. Camille groans internally, hurrying across the living room suddenly twice as expansive then when she first arrived.
“Ma’am, let me start by apologizing.”
Leah stops at the entrance to her bedroom, grasping the doorframe.
Camille hurries to her side. “Are you okay?” she asks, seeing the tired look on Leah’s face. “Should I get Delilah?”
Leah grits her teeth. “I’m fine.” She pushes from the doorframe, hobbling into the master bedroom. “Come in and shut the door,” she instructs.
Camille does as she’s told. Leah takes a seat on her perfectly made king-size bed.
“Nothing you witnessed today can leave this room.”
Camille shakes her head. “I would never disrespect your privacy like that,” she hesitates, “and I signed a non-disclosure.”
Leah gives the hint of a smirk. “Ah, the good old NDA, but I mean it,” she says, turning somber. “Not your business partner, not that Sadie girl, not my sons—”
“I won’t tell a soul,” Camille glances around uncomfortably, “but just so you know, Marcy was in the kitchen with me when things…got heated.”
“Marcy’s been with me for years,” Leah retorts, meeting Camille’s gaze. “My secrets are safe with her.”
Camille nods knowingly. “You’re just not sure about me.”
Leah stares at her, the silence between them confirming Camille’s train of thought.
“How about I tell you my secret?”
Leah narrows her gaze. “Go on.”
“Evelyn and I met with the Flexinburg Group—”
“I know all that,” Leah waves her off.
“Yes,” Camille continues anxiously, “but you don’t know what happened,” she pinches her lips together, trying to find the right words. “It went really bad.”
The corner of Leah’s mouth curls into a one-sided grin, identical to Wade’s. “Like half a million dollars for everything you spent years working on, kind of bad?”
Camille gapes at her. She wasn’t going to tell her how much they offered, just that the meeting went so badly that they walked out. So much for it being her secret. Leah watches her intently as Camille tries to connect the dots. Had she talked to Evelyn? No, Evelyn’s too smart for that. Camille forces her lips to move.
“That…would be a bad offer.”
Leah nods. “I laughed when Gwendolyn told me. No offense.”
Camille’s brows furrow as she recognizes the name. “Gwendolyn?”
Leah sits back on the bed. “That’s right.” She grabs a pillow from beside her, using it to prop her hurt foot up. “The Flexinburg Group let her go.”
Camille’s heart sinks. “We got Gwen fired.”
“Of course not,” Leah chuckles, the tension lifting in the room. “She knew it was only a matter of time with a company like that. Don’t worry about her. She’s working for me now. If I’ve learned anything from past treacheries, it’s how to bring a good asset into the fold.”
Camille wonders if she’s referring to the incident Wade mentioned about the brothers, making Camille want to ask if it was the Lichtensteins or not, but she stays quiet.
“We take much better care of our employees. I’m sure they had her sign a non-disclosure agreement as well, so technically, she wasn’t supposed to tell me about your meeting, but I’m sure if my secret is safe with you, then hers is as well.”
Camille nods.
“Great,” Leah sighs, leaning forward to readjust the pillow under her leg, “my leg’s already throbbing. You can go.” She glances up at Camille as she’s about to turn for the door. “No word of this to anyone.”
Camille sees the intensity in Leah’s eyes. She isn’t talking about Gwen.
“Of course.”
She pauses at the bedroom door a moment. “I can’t help but remember something my father told me when my mother passed away.” She turns to face Leah, who’s rubbing a hand over the top of her ankle, a pained expression on her face.
She glances up at her. “And what was that?”
Camille turns her gaze to the floor, searching for the words he told her when he openly cried the night her mother died.
“We only get a short time with the people we love, some shorter than others.” Camille pinches the bridge of her nose, feeling her emotions taking hold. Her father spoke more spiritually about the afterlife and how her mother was in heaven now, but Leah doesn’t need to hear that. She looks up; Leah’s stare unwavering. “We did what we could with my mother while we were lucky enough to have her here with us, so why shouldn’t you do the same?”
As soon as her words are out, Leah’s face softens.
Leah casts her eyes down to her leg, a mirage of emotions passing over her features. “It’s not that easy.”
“You’re no different than anyone else. You deserve to be happy, and if your family has a problem with your happiness, then it’s not your problem, it’s theirs.”
Before Leah can say a word, Camille opens the door and walks out of the bedroom. She shuts it behind her, taking a breath. Hearing heels clicking against the floor, she looks up to see Delilah walking toward her.
Delilah looks Camille over. “Is everything okay?” she asks.
Camille can only imagine how she must look—a mix of sadness at the memory of losing her mother and hope for Leah. She rolls her shoulders back, stepping away from the bedroom door.
“Leah’s leg is bothering her again. Give her a minute, but she may need something for the pain.”