by Noelle Adams
Something horrible must have happened.
Vince’s stomach churned.
“I have to tell you about... about something pretty bad,” Liz began, her green eyes moving from his mom to him and then back to his mom. “About Riot.”
“Riot?” Vince repeated, trying to make sense of what made no sense at all.
Liz nodded. She started to talk, but a single tear slipped down her cheek. She swiped it away and stared down at her lap, almost shaking in her attempt to keep control.
It was all Vince could do not to go over and put his arms around her. She looked almost fragile, and Liz was never that.
“Dear, whatever it is, you can tell us,” his mother murmured.
Liz sniffed and started again. “Riot has been... stupid. More than stupid. She’s done something unforgiveable. A couple of months ago, she decided she wanted to be an expert in antiques. You know some of this. But she started buying up a bunch of stuff at auctions and sales. Pieces she thought were valuable. She’s been paying way too much for them—none of them are worth much of anything—and so she’s losing a ton of money. She’s been doing this for a few months.”
Vince waited, holding his breath. This sounded about par for the course for Riot’s stupidity, but there was more. There was worse. He could see it in Liz’s strained face very clearly.
“She opened a new line of credit on Berkley’s account, and she’s racked up a bunch of debt. A lot more than we can easily afford.” Liz’s voice broke, and her features contorted again before she could even them out. “But it’s worse than that. She’s evidently... evidently been using your company card too. Spending on it.”
His mother gasped audibly, and Vince blinked.
“It’s a lot,” Liz rasped, staring down at her hands twisting in her lap. “I don’t know how much she spent on your card. She wouldn’t say. But I know it has to be a lot from the way she’s acting. We’re... we’re going to pay you back. I promise. Before we do anything else. Just tell us how much it is, and we’ll do everything we can. But I’m afraid...” She wiped away a few more tears. “I’m afraid it might be more than we can cover immediately. We don’t have a lot of ready cash right now. But we’re putting the Pemberley House condo on the market as soon as we can. Right away. As soon as it sells, we’ll hopefully have some money to deal with this mess.”
She was almost sobbing now, and she had to stop talking to get control of herself.
Vince could hardly breathe. Hardly think.
Liz looked broken. It hurt him like a wound.
“Oh my dear,” his mother murmured hoarsely, reaching out to pat Liz’s arm the way she always did Vince’s.
“It’s terrible!” Liz choked. “I know it’s terrible. I’m so, so sorry. All of us are. I’ll understand if you want to press charges against Riot. She deserves it, and you have every right. But I did want to ask if there’s any way you can let us handle this... privately. I promise we’ll pay you back before we spend money on anything but our basic necessities. And I’ve talked to my dad and convinced him to agree to the merger deal you wanted—where you keep your name and we give ours up. If that’s what it takes to fix things with you, we’ll be happy to agree to that now. I’m so sorry about everything.”
Liz was sobbing again, and his mother was crying too—whether out of empathy for Liz or because of the mess that was coming, Vince didn’t know.
Vince knew he needed to say something, but he couldn’t make his voice work.
“It’s all gone.” Liz was wiping away tears as she spoke. “All the love and work and time and investment we poured into Berkley’s. My grandparents and my parents and me and Jane. It’s all gone because of Riot. We’ve lost Pemberley House. We might even have to sell my parents’ house if we can’t make enough from the condo. We’ve lost everything.” She darted a quick look over at Vince for the first time since she started talking. “I’ve lost. Everything. Even the hope...” She trailed off whatever she was going to say. “I don’t see any way to fix it. All I can do is ask that you’ll give us a little time, and we’ll do everything we can to make it better. And if you want to press charges against Riot, no one will blame you. Least of all me.”
She stood up, shaking visibly. “I’ll let you all talk about it, look over the accounts to see how much she stole from you, and figure out what you want to do from here. Riot won’t come out of her room. As soon as she will, I’ll make sure she apologizes in person. You can call me when you figure out where you want to go from here, and I’ll make sure it happens.”
Then she left the office before Vince could make himself say anything. Or even move.
“Oh my God,” his mother whispered. “That poor thing.”
She meant Liz.
Even though Riot had stolen from her and taken advantage of her trust, his mother’s first instinct was to sympathize with Liz.
One of the reasons Vince loved her.
“Don’t let her leave like that,” his mother added urgently. “Go tell her it’s not her fault and we’ll work something out. Tell her you still love her. At least give her a hug. The poor thing is devastated. She thinks she’s lost everything.”
Vince blinked. Then he was suddenly, finally able to make his body work. He lurched his feet and ran through the store and outside to the sidewalk along Main Street.
But he was too late.
Liz was already pulling her car out onto the street and driving away.
Ten
LIZ’S WHOLE BODY FELT battered. Even her eyelids and her fingertips.
She’d finally stopped crying, but she was incapable of doing anything constructive. She didn’t yet have the energy to go back to her parents to make plans or deal with Riot, and Jane evidently felt the same way. So for the past three hours they’d been sprawled out in their living room, occasionally talking to each other or to Em, who’d declared she wasn’t going anywhere until things were fixed.
Even Anne had called from Cincinnati or Saint Louis or wherever she was currently working, but she hadn’t been able to come up with a solution to this monumental disaster any more than the rest of them had.
It was terrible.
The Berkleys were ruined.
And Riot had done a lot more than devastate them financially. She might have lost them their family legacy, if they ended up having to make a deal with the Darcys. And Riot had also lost Liz the last hopes she’d had of ever fixing things with Vince.
The whole thing was so painful Liz’s mind had gone numb, but she was aware enough to know that Vince hadn’t called.
He’d had hours and hours now to figure things out with his mother. It couldn’t be good that it was taking them so long to decide how to respond.
How would they ever be able to afford a good lawyer for Riot if the Darcys decided to press charges?
“If y’all have to sell this place,” Em said from over the cup of ginger tea she’d been sipping, “then I’m going to ask Dad if we can buy it. Then we’ll let you keep living here rent-free.”
“Oh, Em, no,” Jane murmured hoarsely. Her eyes were red from crying, but she looked a lot more pulled together than Liz herself did.
“We couldn’t let you do that,” Liz added.
“Why not? I don’t want you to move in with your folks. You’d be so far away. What would happen to our champagne Thursdays on the terrace?”
“We’d still do them,” Liz promised. “We’d just do them at your place instead.”
“Dad wouldn’t like that. You’re not going to talk me out of this. I think it’s a good—”
She broke off when a knock on the door sounded through the quiet room.
Jane straightened up, and Liz jumped to her feet, running over to get the door.
Maybe it was Vince. Maybe he’d come to talk to her in person instead of calling. She’d love for him to have chosen to do that.
When she swung open the door, it wasn’t Vince’s handsome, sober face that greeted her.
It was his mother�
�s.
“Mrs. Darcy!” Her voice squeaked in surprise. “You didn’t have to come all the way over. I’d have been happy to come to you.”
“It’s no problem. I thought a face-to-face conversation would be better than a phone call.”
“Please. Come in.” Liz stepped out of the way to let the older woman into the large, airy condo.
Mrs. Darcy blinked in surprise when saw Jane and Em sitting on chairs in the living room. “Oh. My goodness. I thought you’d be alone.”
“Oh. We can talk in private if you’d rather.”
“That might be better, given some of the things we have to talk about.”
Liz stood still, trying to make her mind work, trying to follow what was happening here. She couldn’t imagine why Mrs. Darcy would be saying anything that she alone needed to hear, but she wasn’t about to argue since they were effectively at the woman’s mercy. “That’s no problem at all. We can go to my bedroom, if that’s all right.”
Mrs. Darcy nodded, and Liz glanced over to check with Jane’s expression since her sister was as involved in this mess as she was. Jane nodded that it was fine for Liz to have the conversation in private, so Liz led Mrs. Darcy into her bedroom and gestured her into one of the two velvet rose slipper chairs in the corner.
Fortunately, the room was mostly picked up, with just a pair of shoes in the middle of the floor and the wedding dress hanging against the wall.
Mrs. Darcy wasted no time. “I’m sorry it’s taken us so long to come talk to you,” she began, “but Vince and I needed to work a few things out.”
“Of course you did. I completely understand. You could take all the time you needed.”
“I’ll tell you right now, since I’m sure you and your family are sick with worry, that we don’t want to press charges or go to the authorities or anything like that.”
Liz had felt relatively composed, but a rush of relief hit her so hard she choked on a little sob. She covered her mouth with her hand. “Thank you! Oh thank you.”
“Of course, dear. I don’t see any good would come of that, except making you and Jane and your parents suffer more than you already have. And it wasn’t your fault at all.”
“We should have done more to restrain Riot. I knew she was too spoiled and silly and out of control, but there wasn’t anything—” She broke off the words since she didn’t want it to sound like she was making excuses.
“She’s your sister. Of course you couldn’t control her. She’s responsible for her own decisions. Vince and I have gone over the credit card statements for the past three months. I wish we’d caught it earlier, but I’m afraid I never pay attention to the financial stuff, and Vince is just getting used to the business and wouldn’t have been able to recognize which purchases weren’t legitimate.”
“Of course not. It’s all Riot’s fault. So you figured out how much she owes you?”
Mrs. Darcy nodded and handed Liz a printout.
Liz took the page with slightly shaking hands and stared down at it for a few seconds before she could get her vision to focus.
When she’d processed the number, she closed her eyes and blew out a slow breath.
“Is it what you were expecting?” Mrs. Darcy asked.
Liz opened her eyes. “Honestly, it’s not as bad as I was imagining. This is... this is a relief.”
“I’m so glad. It wasn’t as much as Vince and I were expecting either.”
“It’s more than we currently have available in the bank, but if you’ll give us a few weeks, we’re going to sell some of our personal antiques, and then we should easily have enough to pay you back this amount in cash.”
Mrs. Darcy had very kind eyes. Much kinder than Liz felt like they deserved. “And we’re happy to take it, if that’s what you and your parents think best, but Vince and I worked out another option, if you’d like to hear it.”
“Another option?”
“I raised three children myself, and I understand how families work. How sometimes we cover for others because we love them. How we’ll pay the price that they owe. Riot is the one who owes us—not the rest of you—so we’d rather the rest of you not be forced to pay off her debt. So we can arrange it so she continues to work for us—at the same hourly rate she’s earning now—until she pays off the debt.”
“Oh, but you can’t possibly want her to still work for you! You’d never be able to trust her.”
“Not at the cash register, no. She’d have to work in our storeroom. We have all kinds of inventory there that needs to be organized and cataloged. Piles of small items that people dump on us but aren’t valuable enough to sort through right away. I’m sure you have a similar situation yourself. No one’s ever wanted to take the time to sort it all out, so it’s one of those things that never gets done. But she could do that. Fred is in charge of our inventory and storeroom, so he’d supervise her. He’s quite the taskmaster, so he wouldn’t let her get into any trouble.”
Liz twisted her hands in her lap, trying to steady her voice and features. “I’ll talk to my parents, but I’m sure they’d agree that this is a very generous offer. I don’t want take advantage of your kindness though, after the way Riot—”
“Oh, dear, you’re not taking advantage of us at all. I actually wanted to write off the whole thing, but Vince said that wouldn’t be good for Riot, to not face any consequences, and of course he’s right. I’m sure she won’t enjoy working in the storeroom, but maybe it will be a learning experience.”
“I sure hope so. I hope, when she realizes that her other option is to be arrested, she’ll work her hardest to pay off the debt.”
Mrs. Darcy chuckled softly. “We can hope. Either way, I think it’s the best option for all concerned. I’m so glad Vince thought of it.”
Liz lowered her eyes and pushed back a few waves of hair that had escaped her messy ponytail. “So Vince didn’t want to come talk this out too?”
“He thought it would be best, given the situation, if I came alone. He didn’t want you to feel any extra pressure.”
That didn’t sound too bad. That didn’t sound like he hated her.
“We also have another thing to show you. Regarding the idea of a merger.”
Liz stiffened. “Oh. Of course. If you want to go through with that merger, naturally we’ll do it. If the deal with Riot is contingent on—”
“Of course it’s not contingent! What must you think of us? Anyway, this isn’t the agreement we were pushing for in the past. This is different. Berkley’s would be able to keep its name.” Mrs. Darcy handed Liz a thin stack of papers. “Vince worked this out. It’s why it took us a few hours to come talk to you.”
Liz scanned the top sheet blindly, having trouble focusing on the letters on the page and understanding the words she was reading.
When it finally processed, she made a choking sound in her throat. “This is too much. Too generous.”
“No, it’s really not. Vince assured me it was fair. Berkley’s has a history and a reputation in this area that Darcy’s will never have. This is perfectly fair, if you and your parents would like to sell out. The Berkley name would remain.”
Liz didn’t want to, no matter how generous the offer. She loved the store, and she loved what she did, and giving it up—even in a crisis like this—would feel to her like a failure. But it wasn’t just her decision to make. “I’ll have to talk to Jane and my dad and...” She trailed off. She was afraid if she showed this to her mother, the size of the figure they’d receive would be too tempting for her mother to refuse. Then they’d lose control of the business, and her mother would start spending like crazy.
The money would be gone before they knew it.
Maybe she’d just talk to Jane and her dad to begin with.
“Of course. Take your time. Just know that it’s a possibility. I know you said Riot accumulated debt on your own credit line, and you’re having to deal with that too.
“Yes. But if you’re okay with Riot working for you, th
en we might be able to raise enough cash for the rest of the debt by selling Riot’s car and some of our best antiques.” She glanced behind her at the beloved wedding dress hanging on the wall. “I’m selling that dress.”
“Oh no, dear!”
“I need to. It’s an indulgence I just can’t justify. It’s not like I’m getting married and will need that dress anytime soon. I think it will bring a lot of money.”
“Of course it will. If you’re going to sell it, then sell it to me.”
“I couldn’t—”
“Why not? This is what I do. Find the best acquisitions.” She got up and walked over to inspect the dress. “This is amazing craftsmanship. You have to let me have it. Don’t sell it to anyone else.”
“Of course you can have it if you want it. I paid—”
“I’m not going to take it from you at cost. That’s ridiculous. You could sell it to someone else and actually make money on it.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a checkbook. Then she quickly wrote out a check, tore it out, and handed it to Liz. “What about this? Is that fair?”
Liz made a squeak. “It’s too much! It’s twice what I paid!”
“And I’ll be able to turn around and get twice that amount when I sell this to a customer. I’m not being nice here. This is a business deal, and you’ll hurt my feelings if you don’t accept my offer.”
Liz’s stomach twisted, but she didn’t know how she could say no. She didn’t even want to say no. “Okay. I’ll take it. Thank you so much.” She quickly took the dress and zipped it up in the garment bag it had come in, giving the silky fabric a few fond strokes before she did so.
She loved that dress so much.
But her family was more important.
Even Riot. The stupid, stupid girl.
“Excellent. Now that’s settled, I’ll be off.” Mrs. Darcy folded the garment bag over her arm when Liz handed it to her. “Just let us know what your family thinks about the offer.”
“I will. And I’ll have Riot come over and work out a schedule for getting started on her new job.” Liz paused. Took a ragged breath before she added, “Please thank Vince for me.”