There were some harsh words said as both the Anderson men spoke. Caleb didn’t say much, only answering questions when they were put to him. Tabby admired Caleb for what he was doing.
Not knowing the people he was related to must have been hard on him, especially since his mom had only just passed away. But he’d done as he said he would and came here to give the couple a letter from his mom. Not only that, but Tabby had an idea he’d saved her a great deal of pain when he’d flipped Shep to the floor. Shep had a tendency to hit first then walk away rather than hearing anything he didn’t want to. It was the reason she avoided him unless absolutely necessary, especially when it came to work problems. She looked at Shep when he said her name.
“You’re going to take the word of a daughter you fucking kicked out and that of Tabby, an employee that was quitting, over me?” Mr. Anderson looked at her before answering his son that he thought she was more truthful. “Dad, you have no idea the kind of crap I have to put up with from her every day. She’s forever trying to do shit to my company that I have to go in and undo. Giving raises to herself. Tabby even had the vending people come in and put in another machine that I didn’t approve, going so far as to signing a five-year contract with them so I couldn’t undo it. But I will, you mark my words on that shit.”
“Did you do it for the good of the employees, Tabitha?” She told him there wasn’t anything left in the other machines by the end of the first lunch. Tabby told him she would have put in three more if the company had them in stock. “Good for you. The way to a good company, I’ve come to realize, is to have good people backing you up. I’m assuming you didn’t give yourself a raise.”
“No. I haven’t even gotten the pay I was promised when I started doing his job. It took me three nights of working past everyone else to get all the crap off his desk and into some kind of order.” He nodded and looked at Shep. “Mr. Anderson, I’ve never done anything that was a benefit to me. All I’ve done is make the decisions he wouldn’t. My mom works there, and she told me what he was doing with the money from the vending machines.”
“Christ, is this grade school? Are you going to tattle on me about my bathroom schedule too?” She told Shep she didn’t know his schedule since he didn’t show up for work all that often. “Why, you fucking bitch.”
Again, the movement was quick. One moment Shep was leaping toward her, then the next he was simply gone. When she stood up and looked over the table, Shep was sprawled out all over the floor with a bloodied nose and lip. Caleb didn’t look like his part in the laying out of Shep had harmed him in any way. He looked at her, Kylie, and Arthur and asked if they were ready for lunch. Before they knew it, both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were joining them.
This was the strangest thing she’d been witness to in her life. Everyone simply just stepped over Shep as they made their way to the front door. The butler that had shown her to the room had been instructed to get Shep out and to have someone come and change the locks. And just like that, Shep was forgotten.
~*~
Caleb watched the two women with them. Kylie was forever bending her head to Tabby’s and smiling. Whatever they were plotting, he had a feeling it wasn’t going to bode well for Shep. Not that he cared. The man was a putz. More than that, he was a prick too.
“May I ask you some things about Abby?” He looked at Mrs. Anderson and told her he would answer them truthfully. “I’d not expect anything less, I don’t think. You’ve proven yourself to be a very effective force when you need to be. But Abby. What did she do for a living? For that matter, what do you do now?”
“Mom studied to be a designer. Mostly it was for her to learn how to use a sewing machine, but she liked designing homes. Then the landscaping aspect of it. She became an architect when she realized there were few women in the business. I have a doctorate in architecture, as well as lawn care and design. We formed our own company about five years ago. It’s something she could do anywhere and anytime, so it made it simple for us to vacation and work as well.” She asked him if he had any pictures of her creations. Pulling out his phone, he showed her the project they’d been working on when she’d gotten sick. “It’s finished now, of course. When she was resting or seeing the doctor, I’d go there and work with the men building. It’s the home of the artist that does the amazing paintings outside of the city where we live.” She thumbed through the pictures as he kept an eye on Arthur and Kylie.
They were out of their element, he knew, but he did engage them in conversation when he could. Tabby was keeping up a steady flow of conversation with them as well. Caleb wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to say to the couple that was his grandparents. He’d never had any before and didn’t know how to interact with them at all.
“Would she have been upset?” He looked at Mrs. Anderson. “About us having lunch with you. I know we barged in on your plans. Sheppard didn’t ask, but I’m ever so glad you didn’t turn us away.”
“Mom being mad? Not likely. She didn’t get angry often. Mom told me it was a total waste of time. And it didn’t get you anywhere but in a bad mood. There were times when she’d be spitting mad at something or someone, but she’d write them a note and then burn it. It was the way she dealt with stress as well.” Mrs. Anderson showed him one of the pictures of the two of them together. “We were on a cruise that year. I think to Alaska. She started getting ill after we returned home, and that was when we found out she had cancer.”
“We missed so much.” Caleb said they had. “You really don’t pull any punches, do you? I find it refreshing, I think. A little rude, but that’s fine too. I’m sure you’ve been taught that we’re monsters for what we did to her.”
“No, I was told nothing but that you were her parents. She didn’t even talk about the three of you too much when she was dying, just about the things we’d done together. There were times when I’d ask her about you, little things about how you could have hurt her so much. She’d tell me that you had hurt her, but she’d been able to be with me, and that made it so worthwhile.” Mrs. Anderson nodded and continued to look through his pictures. “Mom wanted me to have a relationship with you. She never told me I had to or what sort of relationship she’d like for me to pursue. However, she did tell me I was to go to see you with this letter and to keep an open mind and head. I don’t know what I want from either of you, to be honest. I have money, a great deal of it. I have several businesses that I work with. You have very little that I think I want or need. I don’t mean to be cruel, but I’ve made it this far in my life, and I more than likely will continue to do the same thing whether you are a part of it or not.”
“Caleb, you are being rude, and you know it.” He looked at Tabby and smiled. “I’m not going to tell you to tell your grandmother you’re sorry, but I think you do need to lighten up a little. There is a time and a place for being blunt, and I don’t think this is it. All right?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Looking back at Mrs. Anderson, he said he was sorry. “However, I did tell you I wouldn’t hold back on answers. I know I was rude, and I’m sorry for that. I’ll be better now.” He looked at Tabby. “Does that get me out of the doghouse with you?”
“I’m not sure. I have been meaning to thank you for having Kylie help me. I guess that was my way of breaking the ice with you.” He said he’d like to think he was approachable. “Perhaps you are, Mr. Anderson. However, I’m not even close to being in your neck of the woods, from what I can tell, and I did want to thank you.”
“I have no idea what you mean by that, but I’m just a man who just happens to have some money. If that is what’s putting you off and having you call me Mr. Anderson, then I’d like to note that you call Shep by his first name, and I’m not nearly the ass he is.” She cleared her throat and looked in the direction of Mrs. Anderson. “I’m sure she knows her son is an ass, Tabby. I do believe they’ve both known it a good deal longer than I was made aware of.”
&nbs
p; “Your mother would smack you upside the head, I think.” Caleb laughed and decided that he liked this woman for her ability to call him on the carpet yet still call him mister. “I’m just saying I’m sure you have women falling at your feet all the time, and I’d just be a notch on your headboard.”
“Doubtful that you’d allow anyone to get that close to you and let them think you were some kind of conquest. No. I see you as the type of woman that knows what her worth is and doesn’t let the opinions of others stand in her way when she wants something.” Mr. Anderson agreed with him. “She could do a damned sight better job of running your company, Mr. Anderson, than the man you have working there now. Shep, judging from what I’ve read up on your company on the way here, is going to fail soon.”
“That is what I wanted to talk to her about. Your attorney there, Miss Fowler, faxed me a great deal of paperwork yesterday afternoon and into this morning. I was going over it when you showed up. It was what I brought Tabby to my house to discuss with her. Or, at the time, it was to tell me what she was doing hiring a lawyer to lie to me about my son. But I’ve come to realize the same thing you did in a shorter amount of time. Miss Tillman is the person I want to run my company. I’m sure she’d do a better job if I give her control than she’s been doing behind my son’s back.”
“I can’t do that. It’s a multibillion-dollar company.” Mr. Anderson pointed out to her that she’d been doing it. “Well, yes, I guess I have, but if it all went belly up, then I could walk away.”
“You wouldn’t have done that. Walk away, I mean.” Caleb looked at Mrs. Anderson when she spoke up. He asked her what she meant. “Two things before I answer that. Since I’m sure you’re not going to call me Grandma, will you please stop calling me Mrs. Anderson? I’m Melissa. My husband is Sheppard. Second thing, the company was mine before I married Sheppard. And we, as a couple, make all decisions concerning it and how it is run. The only disagreement we’ve had in it was letting Shep run things. That was a mistake I’ll not make again. But Sheppard is correct. Tabby could run the place like a dream if she were to be given the reins of it.”
“She is owed a great deal of backpay, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson.” This time it was Arthur who spoke. “Not an insignificant amount either. Over the last few months alone, she’s managed to get in about seventy-plus hours a week while only getting paid for half that. Her vacations were canceled, and Shep, your son, managed to get into her 401K account and take about half of that from her. It’s a very sticky situation Tabby is in. And one that could, if taken to court, result in—”
“No. I don’t want to go to court if they’re willing to pay me what I’m owed for my vacation money. I have lost a great deal of money on deposits that I was unable to get back too.” Caleb asked Tabby what Shep had said when she didn’t get her deposit back after canceling her vacations. “That I should know better than to schedule a vacation I couldn’t get my deposit back on. Jerk.”
He laughed when her face turned red. “He sounds like a person I knew in college. Forever wanting things his way. He didn’t do a lick of work nor show up to classes. So, when graduation day came around, his name, of course, wasn’t on the list of people in the ceremony.” He laughed a little more before speaking again. “He went to the bursar and told him that he’d invited a great many people to his graduation. The man told him they could hang around and wait if they wanted, but it would more than likely be another four or so years. No amount of begging or threatening could get the man to change his mind. And rightly so. Too many people want to skate along on someone else’s coattails and think that’s all right. Not all of them are bad people. Some of them more than likely didn’t know it was wrong since they’d gotten away with it as a young person. Or learned it from their parents. Whatever made them into what they became, it was from something that worked for them, and they used it.”
“Are those people redeemable, you think?” Caleb said the problem would be if the person wanted to be redeemed. Tabby nodded. “I think Shep could be redeemable. He’s not stupid. Well, he could be about some things, but he could be taught. Or, and I think this is a biggie, shown that what he was doing wasn’t just hurting the company, but the very people that made it so he had money in his pocket when he wanted it and a lovely home that he lived in. Well, I guess until recently. Do you think he could change?”
“I don’t know him at all other than that he tried to bully you at the house.” He watched her face as she thought about it. “I would guess the only person that knows would be him. And if he found a reason for wanting to change himself.”
“I thought that was what we were doing when we gave him control of the office. He did steal from us when living at home. I thought he’d learn the value of money and that he’d be a better man for it.” Melissa looked at Sheppard before turning back to him. “I was wrong on a great many things in my life. That is only one of them. I know it’s too late for me to redeem myself with my daughter, and you’ve no idea how much I’d like to do that, but with you, I’d like to get to know you as much as you’ll allow it, Caleb.”
He’d been thinking about it too. Not what had happened, because he knew in his mom’s plight of being thrown out, he didn’t have all the details. But with these people. They’d changed, he’d bet. Not just in feeling sorry about what they’d done—again, not enough details to make a decision. Caleb did want to get to know them in a non-relationship way. Even though they were his grandparents and Shep, his uncle, he wasn’t sure a relationship was possible. However, he wasn’t closing the door simply because he could.
“I’d like that. I have a job that affords me to live anywhere I wish. A home I love that I shared with my mom. Also, business situations that I simply cannot walk away from at the moment. But I will make it so that I can hang around this area for a little while. So long as you understand, this is as new to me as it is to the two of you. We have missed a great many years through no fault of my own, so I’d like to take it slowly.” They both agreed, a little too quickly, he thought, but he was all right with that too for now. “I have to return to hear the reading of the will. Then I’ll return. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to leave Kylie and Arthur here so they can get things settled so I can come back and keep working. I’d need a place to work from. I do better with plenty of light. They’ll have the specs on what I need before I leave.”
“That’s wonderful.” He glanced at Tabby when she smiled. “Sorry. Just knowing I’ll have someone in my corner with Kylie when it comes to getting things situated for my new job will be nice. I still have a job, don’t I?”
“You do. And I’ll work with you as well. Both Melissa and I will. We’ll also work with Shep.” Arthur said he’d help with him getting things worked up. Caleb wasn’t sure what that meant, but he thought that if Arthur said he’d work on him, he’d do it. “Also, before you leave, Caleb, Melissa said you had a few pictures of your mom. I’d like to see them if you’d not mind.”
“No, I don’t mind. However, when I return, I’ll bring back some of the photo albums that Mom put together. She enjoyed having printed pictures and putting them together with dates and such. I’ll bring them back if you’d like to see them.” He had to look away from them for a second. Their hope-filled eyes hurt him deep in his heart. “I need to get back today for an early appointment. If you need to get in touch with me for any reason, Kylie has that information that she can share with you.”
After lunch, he made his way back to the car. He would take a plane when he came back, he thought. It was quicker, and he’d simply rent himself a car if needed. Things weren’t progressing the way he’d envisioned them going, but he wasn’t unhappy with the progress either. Time would tell, his mom used to say all the time. He had a full understanding of that statement as he drove himself back home.
Chapter 3
“Other than his name being Howard Berkley and that he’s deceased, that’s about all I have on him. Whi
le she asked me to look him up a few weeks before she passed on, there wasn’t much to go on. It took me a dickens of a time to even figure out that he was dead.” Caleb looked at the list of names that had been handed to him. “Those are the births that have his name on this as father. Again, a hard time finding them. But I got me a little helper at the courthouse, and she was glad to help me with this list.”
“She wants me to find these other men.” Gus told him that of those seven names minus his, there was one deceased young man. “So, I’m to find these other five men and do what with them? I know that technically they’re my half-brothers, but other than that, I don’t know them anymore than I do Mom’s parents.”
“Abby had it in her head that you could help them. I have done a little research on a couple of them, and she would have been correct on that score. Joey Phillips, like you, has lost his mom. She died some years ago from an automobile accident. Hit and run, and they’ve never found who did it. Also, Daniel Watson is in a bad way himself. Just last month, he was kicked out of his apartment for lack of payment. I’ve sent him some help already. I worry about him.”
“Help them how, Gus? Send them money? I can do that easily. But I have a feeling that she has more in mind than just sending money to someone to get them out of a bad situation.” Gus handed him a file that was as thick as anything he’d ever seen. “This is a lot of stuff here. Just give me the highlights, and I’ll go over it later.”
“What is it your mom told you about your conception?” Uncomfortable now, Caleb told the older man what had been told to him. “Drugged and then raped. Just as the other women had been. All of them conceived a child out of wedlock. Most of them weren’t tossed aside as your mom was, but they had no less of a hard time. All the women were between the ages of seventeen and twenty and had a life before Howard Berkley came along and ruined them. Not my words, but those of a few people I was able to find that knew the man. The police didn’t do anything about him, not even when these women came forward as a group.”
Caleb Anderson: Berkley’s Bastards – Billionaire Romance (Berkley's Bastards Book 1) Page 3