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Unfortunately, her brain was too fixated on the situation. She just couldn’t seem to push it aside.
The need to let everyone in the family know what was going on so they could circle the wagons and protect Wilder was very, very strong. Not talking to any of them—particularly her parents and Wilder—was the hardest thing ever.
The only thing keeping that need in check was that she wanted there to benoroom for anyone to say that the situation was dealt with unfairly because of Kayleigh’s relationship with Wilder. When the truth came out, she wanted there to be no doubt that Wilder was innocent.
So her hands were tied… her lips were sealed… until she got this all turned over to Hudson. Kayleigh had no idea how he would handle the situation since he had also spent time with Wilder. Hopefully Hudson was better at separating personal and professional than she was.
A few emails came in with some reports that required her attention, and she was able to focus enough to deal with them. Stephanie phoned her again to let her know that she had passed on the request to Liz to have the employee list the times and places of the incidents, asking that it be done sooner rather than later so that nothing was forgotten.
“Liz wasn’t pleased that Wilder hadn’t already been fired, or at least put on leave,” Stephanie said.
Kayleigh frowned at that. She understood why Liz might feel protective of her employee, but she alsoknewWilder. Wouldn’t she at least want him to have a fair shot at defending himself?
“I’m going to let Mr. St. James take care of that. If he decides to put him on leave or fire him, then that’s what will happen.”
“I know it must be hard for you to not deal with this yourself,” Stephanie said.
“It is, but I need to make sure this is handled properly.”
“I appreciate that.”
With that conversation, Kayleigh was once again focused on the accusations. Hudson still hadn’t gotten hold of her, and it was nearly time for Kayleigh to leave.
She decided she could deal with the call even if she was away from the office, so she gathered her things together and prepared to leave. Thankfully, she hadn’t agreed to attend the pizza night at Janessa and Charli’s that evening, so she didn’t have to be around family and try to pretend that everything was fine.
Shortly after Andrea left, Kayleigh herself left the resort and headed straight home. If she couldn’t be with her family and share the burden she now carried, the second-best place to be was in the sanctuary of her home.
As she stepped into her house, Kayleigh let out a long sigh. Though she was sure that they weren’t going to help, she went through all the things that usually helped her relax and disconnect from work at the end of the day.
After taking off her jacket and boots, Kayleigh carried the bag with her gym clothes into her bedroom. She changed out of her work clothes, hanging up her suit and putting her dirty clothes into the hamper.
Once she was dressed in her favorite pajamas, she went out to the kitchen and grabbed her recipe binder. If she’d ever needed the distraction of cooking, it was that night.
Though she had the ingredients for Coq Au Vin, Kayleigh decided she’d save that for the next day when she had more time, and decided to make herself crepes instead. She would make a couple with a savory filling for her dinner, then make some with strawberries and cream for dessert. She wanted the comfort of a food she really enjoyed.
She was in the middle of mixing up the crepe batter when her phone rang. Setting the bowl aside, she picked up the phone, butterflies erupting in her stomach at the sight of Hudson’s name on the screen.
Please, God, help me be able to talk about this without crying.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As he listened to the phone ring, Hudson watched out the window of the car that was driving him to the airport, where he’d catch the private jet back to Coeur d’Alene. The past couple of days had been jam-packed since, by the time he’d landed in Baton Rouge on Wednesday, Hudson had already been convinced that what he was going to find wasn’t going to be good.
His arrival at the hotel had revealed something to him. He was viewed in much the same light as Alexander. People now assumed that if he walked through the doors of their resort or hotel, he was there as Alexander’s eyes, ears, and voice.
The moment the manager at the Baton Rouge location had spotted him, Hudson had seen a flash of fear on his face. Apparently, the man had assumed that his twenty-plus years in the manager position at the hotel would’ve been enough to have kept Alexander’s suspicions at bay.
That had been his second mistake. His first had been trying to pull something over on the company.
If Alexander hadn’t treated his mom the way he had, and if they weren’t father and son, Hudson would actually admire the man and the way he did business. Although sometimes, even with all of that, he couldn’t keep the admiration at bay… reluctant though it was.
Right then, however, he was focused on the fact that Kayleigh had called him. He’d held out on calling her himself over the past couple of days because he hadn’t had a valid reason to do so beyond just wanting to talk to her.
He wasn’t sure about pursuing a relationship with her while they were working closely together. While he was there as Alexander’s representative. But that uncertainty was fading away with each moment they spent together.
When he’d seen she’d called, he’d had a moment of excitement. However, after listening to her voicemail, he had a feeling that this wasn’t a call she’d made because she missed talking to him. The tone of her voice made him think something bad had happened.
When Kayleigh answered the phone, Hudson said, “Hey, Kayleigh. What’s up?”
