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I grinned. I couldn’t do anything about me and JD but at least I’d made someone happy.
A week on from the team arriving, things were going well. There’d been no more attacks, the office and penthouse security had been tightened up and I was even starting to feel like I was getting a handle on work. I still didn’t have the people skills that my dad or Miles had, but my confidence was gradually improving. When I chaired meetings, I was actually making my voice heard and when an architect messed up and nearly cost us a million dollars, I did something I never dreamed I’d be able to do: I took them aside and had a calm but firm talk, and made sure they’d learned from the mistake, just like my dad had once done.
It helped that we’d had a couple of big wins: Henry Creel, the creep from the ball, had caved and granted planning permission for the hospital and the dam in Poland was back on schedule. The work was still punishing, though. I was working sixteen-hour days, seven days a week, barely sleeping or eating, and I worried that I wasn’t getting enough time with Cody.
One night, after I finally finished for the night, I snuck into his room and just stood there watching him softly snoring. Overcome, I bent down and kissed his chestnut curls. I won’t be able to get away with that for much longer. He was growing up so fast.
I started to sneak out...but a glint in the darkness made me stop. Sitting on his desk were the mirrored aviator sunglasses he’d begged me to buy him a few days before. It wasn’t lost on me that they were identical to the ones JD wore. My chest ached. JD was so great for him and the two got on so well, but unless JD could find a way to let go of his past, we couldn’t be together...and Cody was going to lose another father figure.
Then I saw something else on the desk, hidden under a sheet of newspaper. I checked Cody was still asleep, then lifted one corner to peek...
Cal, the huge sniper who’d lived alone in the woods for years, had been teaching Cody how to make things with wood. I’d been aware that Cody had been working on something, but I hadn’t known what until now.
It was a letter rack, to organize paperwork. It was beautifully carved and sanded: it must have taken him days. He’d painted it ocean green, my favorite color, and MOM was picked out in raised letters. He was trying to help me, any way he could.
I just melted. I wanted to gather him up into my arms right then and tell him how lucky I was...but he needed his sleep. I quietly put the newspaper back in place so that the letter rack could stay a surprise, then crept quietly out. Just a few more weeks, I told myself. Then Miles would be out of rehab and could take over as CEO. And as soon as that happened, Cody and I were taking a vacation. Just a few more weeks and everything would be okay.
The next morning, Paige came running into the kitchen as we were eating breakfast. “Have you seen the news?”
JD and I followed her through to the living room. The early morning business news was on and the ticker tape along the bottom of the screen told the story. While we’d been asleep, one of the big European banks had decided to close our line of credit. We couldn’t borrow a dime more.
“What does that mean?” asked JD.
“It means…” My throat closed up. “It means we’re going out of business.”
38
LORNA
My phone started to ring but I ignored it, watching as the talking heads on-screen started to calmly discuss the end of McBride Construction. They put a photo of my dad in the corner of the screen. “What I can’t get over,” one pundit said, “is how quickly things have fallen apart since his daughter took charge.”
My head went swimmy and I had to put a hand out and brace myself on the wall. This isn’t happening. My phone was still ringing and I stared numbly at the unknown number. JD finally grabbed it out of my hand and answered for me. He listened. “No comment,” he snapped and stabbed the end call button.
“Paige?” I said, my voice quavering. “Would you please get Cody to school? I need to get downstairs.”
Paige nodded, her face pale. I hugged Cody very tight and told him to have a good day, trying to be normal. But Cody was tense and worried. “It’ll be okay, mom,” he told me. “You’ll fix it.’
I forced a smile and hugged him again. But my insides had cinched down to a cold, hard knot.
