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Hudson hadn’t realized that he had such a protective streak. It had never really manifested itself before. All he knew in that moment was that he wanted to guard Kayleigh against the hurt these accusations were causing her.
However, Hudson also knew that she was more than capable of handling these issues on her own.
He just didn’t want her to have to.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Though Hudson had hoped they’d have a meeting set up that included Kayleigh, that was not to be. Instead of texting Kayleigh to let her know, he gave her a call, needing to talk to her. Needing to hear her voice. Even if he wasn’t going to give her the news she wanted to hear.
“I know I told you that I’d let you know about the meeting,” he told her when she answered. “But unfortunately, Caren has requested you not be present when we meet with Stephanie and Liz.”
Kayleigh sighed. “I don’t like it, but I understand.”
Hudson thought for sure that Kayleigh would object. “I just finished a meeting with Caren, and though she has no issue with you knowing what’s going on, for now, she thinks it’s better if you’re not a part of these meetings.”
“I want to be there, for sure,” Kayleigh said. “But it makes sense that I stay away.”
“I will be Wilder’s advocate,” Hudson assured her. “Caren is very good at her job, and she keeps an open mind while considering all the evidence. Wilder won’t be fired unless the evidence supports the accusations.”
“Once he finds out about this, he’s probably going to want to quit.”
“We don’t want that,” Hudson said. “He has been a real asset to the resort. Have you spoken to him?”
“No. I haven’t, but it’s been really hard not to. I feel like I should give him a heads-up. He’s going to be so upset with me if he finds out about it from some random person.”
“Caren has made sure that everyone involved knows that we’re not saying anything publicly until we’ve spoken to both him and his accuser.”
“Thank you,” Kayleigh said. “I know this isn’t what you came here to deal with, so I appreciate that you’ve taken this on.”
Hudson didn’t want to tell her that he was wondering if perhaps thiswasconnected to the other issues. He had a feeling that if she thought about the bigger picture instead of just Wilder, she’d probably come to the same conclusion.
“While I might not have been sent here to deal with this, had I not been here already, Caren most certainly would still have come. I’m just glad I was here, and that I had some interactions with Wilder myself so that I have my own opinion, too.”
Hudson had spoken to Alexander earlier that morning, and the man had said he’d fly in to deal with the situation himself if need be. Hudson had assured him that they had it under control. He hoped that continued to be true.
“Caren is currently meeting with Liz and the woman, and then we’ll meet again after that.”
“I can’t believe that she made it here so quickly.”
“It turned out that she was in Denver, so it wasn’t as long a flight as it would have been if she’d been in New York. And she’s hit the ground running.”
“When is someone going to tell Wilder what’s going on?” Kayleigh asked. “It’s so hard for me to know that he’s oblivious to all of this. Just going about his day, unaware that a bomb is about to shatter his life.”
“I’m going to tell him myself when he has a break today,” Hudson said. “This won’t drag out indefinitely.”
“I’m glad.” Kayleigh sighed. “This is all just so crazy.”
“It does seem that way, but we’ll get it figured out.” There was a knock on the door, drawing Hudson’s attention. “Someone’s at the door, so I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
After he hung up, he walked to the door and opened it. Caren stood there, a briefcase in her hand.
“C’mon in,” he said as he stepped back to allow her into the suite.
Caren had a soft, grandmotherly look to her, but Hudson knew that she was more like a shark. Her gray hair was piled on top of her head, and her glasses currently sat among the curls. She had a figure that tended more to plump, and she reminded him a lot of Gail, the woman Alexander had hired to live with him after his mom had passed away.
“So…” She placed the leather bag she carried on the table next to his laptop. “That was interesting.”
