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After a brief discussion on what they wanted, Kayleigh called to place an order at the Steakhouse, asking them to bring the food to her office. They cleaned up the empty coffee mugs, then returned to her office.
They were halfway through their meals when Caren phoned Hudson to let them know that Liz had agreed to a meeting at two-thirty. The knot of tension in her stomach that had disappeared when Jenn had retracted her accusations, tightened once again at the prospect of confronting Liz.
“Are you doing okay?” Hudson asked after the call. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy to hear that Liz was behind this.”
“It wasn’t,” Kayleigh agreed, emotion threatening to choke her. “I want to know why. I thought we had a friendship outside of work. She’s been in my home so many times.”
“We’ll get it figured out,” Hudson told her. “But you have to understand that in this particular instance, firing is likely the only option we can consider.”
Kayleigh could admit that she felt differently about what Liz had done. As far as she knew, Liz had a stable life with a good job that paid her well. Kayleigh couldn’t imagine Liz feeling the sense of desperation that Jenn had at the thought of losing her job.
“I understand,” Kayleigh said. “But I still want to hear what she has to say before we let her know our decision.”
Hudson nodded, then let the subject drop as they finished eating. Once they were done, they gathered up the dishes, and Kayleigh asked Andrea, who was back from her lunch break, to call for someone to come clear them away.
They had about half an hour before the meeting with Liz, so they decided to do a little work to fill the time. Kayleigh moved to her desk, while Hudson remained at the table with his phone, going through emails. They worked in silence, which felt heavy to Kayleigh.
She wanted to talk to him more about what she was thinking when it came to Jenn. The need to make him understand burned inside her. However, she had a feeling that there was nothing she could say that would change his mind. And that hurt.
This was the second worst day she’d had since taking over as manager. The first being when the initial accusations had been made against Wilder.
There had been days that were challenging, including the ones recently where she’d had to deal with the thefts and the restaurant issues. But none had hit her on such a personal level as this one had, and she didn’t like it.
Her ability to keep a professional demeanor was being sorely tested, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to deal professionally with Liz. It was probably a good thing that Hudson, Caren, and Stephanie were going to be in the meeting as well.
Blowing out a long breath, hoping it would help calm her nerves, Kayleigh bowed her head and took a moment to pray about the upcoming meeting.
Please help me to glorify You in the meeting with Liz. Give me wisdom to say the right thing. To listen and not seek vengeance, but justice in this situation. Help me to stay calm. I pray, too, that Wilder will be willing to forgive Jenn and let her have the second chance I’d like to give her.
“Kayleigh?” She looked up to find Hudson watching her. “Everything okay?”
She gave him a quick smile. “Yes. I’m just praying about the meeting.”
He didn’t seem to know how to respond to that, so he just nodded and returned his attention to his phone. Her heart ached at yet another reminder of the things that stood between them.
As two-thirty neared, they left Kayleigh’s office and returned to the boardroom, which was still empty. Kayleigh’s nerves were getting worse, and her worry over what was to come was at the forefront of her thoughts. Every possible scenario was running through her mind.
When that happened, she inevitably began to rehearse responses in her head. It was something that happened when she faced an intense situation over which she had no control. Imagining all possible outcomes was her way of coping. Of being prepared for whatever was to come.
“We’ll let Caren take the lead with Liz,” Hudson said as he made himself another cup of coffee. “Since she’s been the one handling this.”
Kayleigh was fine with that. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to deal with it herself, except… she really didn’t.
After she had a cup of coffee in hand—she was drinking far too much of the stuff that day—she sat down at the table in the same seat she’d had earlier. Caren arrived, followed shortly after by Stephanie. They took the same seats as well, leaving the seat Jenn had occupied earlier, empty.
Liz breezed into the boardroom, a travel coffee mug in her hand. She wore a bright purple suit that had a shorter skirt than Kayleigh would have been comfortable in but was a style that Liz favored. She also had on a pair of ultra-high heels.
Kayleigh liked heels because they helped make up for her lack of height. However, hers were never as high as Liz’s since Kayleigh was sure she would break her neck if she tried to wear them.
“Good afternoon,” Liz said as she settled into the seat between Caren and Stephanie.
From her attitude, it seemed that she had no idea what was to come. She didn’t seem worried about the meeting, which Kayleigh assumed she would be if she had any idea that Jenn had revealed what had happened.
Though Liz seemed upbeat, her gaze when she looked at Kayleigh was hard. “So have you finally realized that we need to take steps to protect the women here at the resort and fire Wilder?”
Kayleigh’s hands curled into tight fists, and it took an incredible effort to keep her expression from revealing her inner turmoil. She just wanted this all to be over so they could begin to clean up the mess created by Liz’s maneuvering.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
