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“You’d likely have more luck with that than I would,” Hudson said after he finished chewing a bite of his sandwich.
“Why do you say that?” Caren asked.
“Because I probably wouldn’t even try to talk him out of it.”
That made her chuckle again. “You’re as petty as he is.”
“In this situation, I have to say that I am. Normally, I’d be like you and try to distract him from suing. But Liz put several nice people through the wringer here, and that’s not fair.”
“I agree with you there,” Caren said. “I felt so badly for Kayleigh when she realized that someone she considered a friend had done something so horrible to her brother, and that Liz had manipulated someone who was desperate into doing it for her.”
“Have you spoken with Kayleigh today?” Hudson asked.
Caren regarded him for a moment. “I have. I went by her office earlier this morning. In my position, I don’t just deal with situations like Liz’s. I also follow up to make sure that other people caught up in the incident are okay.”
“So Kayleigh, Wilder, and Jenn?”
“Yes, but also Stephanie. This impacted all of them.”
“How have you found them to be?”
“Stephanie is angry. She didn’t have a close relationship with Liz, so her response is anger. She’s mad at herself for not picking up on what was going on, but she’s also angry at Liz.”
“That makes sense, and frankly, that would be my reaction.”
Caren nodded. “Wilder… well, he seems to be fairly easygoing. Now that it’s over, he’s more concerned about Kayleigh than himself. I haven’t spoken with Jenn yet. We’ve asked her to come in this afternoon so I can spend some time with her to make sure she’s okay.”
“And Kayleigh?” Honestly, she was the one he was most worried about.
“She’s struggling.” Caren’s brow furrowed as she frowned. “It really is hard when your personal life tangles with your professional one the way it did for Kayleigh. She hasn’t just lost a trusted employee, she’s lost a good friend.”
“One of the things I noticed about Kayleigh when I first observed her here was how well she connected with her employees. So to have one of them turn on her… She’d feel she failed in her role as manager.”
“Yep. I hope she comes to understand thatshewasn’t the one who failed. That was Liz.”
“I’ll keep trying to encourage her to think that way.”
“You’re close with her,” Caren stated.
Hudson wasn’t sure he should admit to that, but he couldn’t exactly deny it. Caren had eyes, after all.
“Yes. We’ve gotten close while I’ve been here helping her with the theft investigation.”
“And is that just a closeness of a friendship?” Caren asked. “Or something more?”
“It’s a friendship.” And that wasn’t a lie since he and Kayleigh had never spoken about deepening their friendship to something more, even if he had feelings for her and would like nothing more.
“I think she’ll need your support. Since you’ve been with her throughout this process, you’ll understand better than others might, even Wilder.”
Given what he’d seen of Kayleigh so far, Hudson knew that she had the strength and backbone necessary to move past this. But she also had a tender heart, which meant that moving forward might not happen right away.
“Keep an eye on her,” Caren said. “And if it seems she’s still struggling, let me know. We’ll take care of it. We’ll take care ofher. You know Alexander will want to know that she and Wilder are okay.”
“Has he spoken to you about them?”
“We talked yesterday after everything was over,” she said. “He’s glad that the situation with Wilder is resolved, but he’s still concerned. He wants Kayleigh to succeed, and he wants Wilder to achieve what he wants in his life.”
Hudson still found Alexander’s interest in the siblings perplexing. However, not as perplexing as when he’d first arrived at the resort. Kayleigh, Wilder, and their family were among the nicest people he’d ever met.
