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“I’d appreciate that,” Helen exhaled with an even wider smile on her face.
“Alright, so what were you going to say about Dudley?”
Helen looked down at the blanket, weaving and grasping it between her fingers. She was nervous.
“Ifound some…information out the other day that surprised me.”
“Go on,” I prodded when she paused.
“I, uh, I found out that Dudley worked for your father—for TruFruit, I mean.”
Ifroze. “Really?”
“So you didn’t know?” Helen squinted her eyes.
“Of course not! Are you sure?”
“My friend found an article about his firing in a local newspaper.”
“How have I never found out about this?” I couldn't believe it. I’d googled my company and my father’s name plenty of times. Though my searches were all in relation to positive press or share performance rather than mysterious employee drama that I hadn’t known existed.
“My friend Lisa is quite the internet sleuth.”
“Wow. I’m not sure what to say.”
“Well, I for one am slightly relieved. When I first found out, I thought you had hid it from me and I just couldn’t figure out why.”
My pulse quickened.Why did you hide something from me?I wanted to ask.
“No, I swear I didn’t know.” I said instead. “What I can’t figure out is why my father wouldn’t tell me? I mean now his sour attitude toward Dudley makes so much sense, but I was taking over his company right next to Dudley’s property. That seems like extremely important information to share with me.”
“The article made it sound like it was a messy termination. It was the reason Dudley didn’t want to sell his land to your father. Maybe your dad just didn’t want to revisit the past.”
“Did the article specify Dudley’s position at the company?”
“No, but I have found a lot of photos of Dudley’s travels since the last time we talked. And all of them seemed to revolve around trees. Apple trees.”
“Curious. Wait a second. On our first date w—”
Iwas interrupted by a fit of coughing from Helen. Then, I realized my mistake.
“Sorry.” she said, still coughing.
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to assume that it was a date. I just, I guess I was trying to wrap my head around what it was and my feelings about it.”
“Yeah, me too.” Helen blushed and a faint smile formed on her lips.
“Anyway,” I said, eager to change the subject. “When you were telling me about your family, I remembered something. My father had mentioned that he considered an investment from Washington Industries to get the company off the ground, but then he found someone else. Maybe that someone else was Dudley.”
“You think Dudley helped your dad start TruFruit?”
“Well helped him finance it at the very least, and then maybe they found him a more permanent position. One where he sourced out the types of trees my father would grow.”
“Iguess that makes sense. But then why was he fired?” Helen asked.
“Beats me.” I looked up, noticing a slight fog in the air. I flared my nostrils. Something didn’t smell right. “Shit.”
“What?” Helen was on her knees, looking for the source of the smoke.
