The Workaholic Down the Hall

by Katharine Sadler

“No?”

  “No, I'm not going back to Atlanta with you. I've made a home here.”

  “I'm not asking you to move back permanently, just until I get a few things figured out.”

  “How long will that take? How long will I have to put my life on hold before you get things figured out?”

  He leaned forward, his mouth set in a hard line. “I don't know how long it will take, Aubrey. There are a lot of unknowns involved and I don't want to make any promises until I'm sure how it's all going to work. What I am sure of is that I want you with me. Aubrey, I—”

  A hard lump had lodged in my throat, making it hard to speak. “I want to believe you, Noah. I really do, but I'm not in a place in my life where I can take risks. It's not just about me anymore. I have to think about our daughter. I need to do what's right for her.”

  He leaned back in his seat, his shock obvious. “And I'm not part of what's right for her?”

  “Think about this seriously, Noah. You've been so busy the past few weeks, you've barely had time to talk to me, much less visit. Do you think that's going to change just because we live in the same city? Here, if anything happens, anything at all, I've got Nora and May and Cody and Carrie and Oscar and even George on speed dial and any one of them will be able to drop what they're doing and come help me out. Can you offer me that same security?”

  He stood, his expression grim. “I'm offering you everything I am and everything I have, Aubrey. I can't possibly offer more than that.”

  I hated myself in that moment, but I knew I wasn't wrong. “It's not enough, Noah. I'm so sorry, but it's just not.”

  His eyes widened and he stared at me like he didn't know me at all. “I might not have called as often as I should, but I'm changing my entire life—” He stopped himself and scrubbed a hand down his face. “You can't keep me away from my daughter.”

  “I would never—”

  “I have the best lawyers and if you—”

  And I'd had enough. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

  His eyes widened, probably because he'd never heard me growl like that before. I'd never growled like that before. “Shit. I'm fucking this up. Aubrey, if you'd just—”

  “I'm done just doing anything for you, Noah Reynolds. Get out of my house or I'm calling the police and then I'm calling your mother.”

  He dropped his chin to his chest, his hands to his side, and turned and walked out of my house. It took me ten deep breaths and several long moments to calm down. I didn't believe Noah would take my child from me. I was pretty sure I didn't believe it. I knew him well enough to know he'd been speaking out of anger and fear and, judging by the bags under his eyes, exhaustion, but it didn't change the fact that he'd gone there. He'd threatened to bring lawyers in the first time he didn't get his way.

  Anger still warmed me, but sorrow and fear worked their way into the mix until my lungs felt tight and I was having trouble breathing. I straightened, shifting so that the baby wasn't laying on me quite so much and took in several deep breaths. He had spoken in anger, I reminded myself. It wasn't proof of how the future would go with him. It would be okay. I told myself that over and over, but it didn't help.

  Without realizing it, he'd tapped into my biggest fear, that my daughter might be taken from me, might grow up knowing the instability that I'd grown up with. Might grow up unsure that she was wanted anywhere. I didn't want that for her and, yet, if Noah wanted…No, I sniffled back tears and straightened. He had lawyers, well I had better. I would do everything it took to make sure my daughter was safe, even if that meant she never got to know her father at all.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Noah

  “You look like shit,” Jill said. She walked into my office, dressed in a black pantsuit and black heels, her blond hair in a tight knot on top of her head.

  “You look like you're going to a funeral.”

  She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. For her, I imagined, this did feel like a funeral, like our father's funeral all over again. It felt more than a little bit that way to me. “How did it go with Aubrey? Is she back in the city?”

  “No. She's decided to stay in Catalpa Creek, at least until after the baby is born.”

  Jill studied me for several long moments, her shrewd gaze relentlessly assessing me. She must have decided we had enough on our plates, because she gave me a small nod. “Right. I've got all the financials in order, are you ready to make that horrid man an offer he can't refuse.”

  “Horrid?” Alex Owings said, walking into my office without being announced. Again. “That's not what you said last week when I ran into you at that new club on Vineyard.”

  To my complete shock, my impervious, stoic sister's cheeks pinked and she dropped her gaze to her lap. She swallowed hard before she lifted her head, flint flashing in her blue eyes. “Didn't I? Must have been the whiskey goggles.”

  Alex grinned like she'd given him a compliment of the highest order. “Of course it was, Ms. Reynolds.” He took a seat next to her.

  “Please,” I said. “Come in unannounced and sit wherever you like. Don't mind us.”

  “Mind?” Alex said, getting comfortable in his seat, one ankle on one knee. “I don't mind a bit. I hope you insisted I come all the way out here for a decent offer on the Brantley properties.”

  “We're not interested in selling you the Brantley properties,” I said. “We want to sell you the entire company.”

  Alex's expression underwent a series of changes in rapid succession from hope to disbelief to anger to wonder before he shut it all down, sat up straight in his seat and gave me the serious, grim expression of a man on a mission, the sort of man who could successfully and ruthlessly run a corporation. “Run that by me again,” he said.

  “We want to sell you the company,” Jill said, dragging his attention her way. “We don't like you, but you're inarguably good at what you do.”

  Alex turned back to me, studying us both, probably for signs that this was some sort of joke. But it wasn't a joke, Jill wasn't pulling his chain. “I'm going to need a hell of a lot more information,” he said. “And I'm going to need to talk to my own staff and…” He looked back and forth between us. “How much are you asking?”

  Jill handed him a file folder I knew held information about our situation and our asking price. Alex looked it over and then looked up at Jill. “I want you,” he said.

  Again, a pink flush rose from her neck up to her cheeks. “Excuse me?”

  Alex grinned and leaned toward her. “I want you to work for me. My CFO is decent, but he's nowhere near as good as you. If I buy your company, I want you to come with it.”

  Jill's back went ramrod straight and her eyes widened. We hadn't seen this coming. “I…We can discuss that possibility after you decide whether or not you want to buy the company.”

  Alex's grin widened. “I don't think so, Ms. Reynolds. You're part of the deal or there's no deal.” He pushed his chair back and stood. “If you don't mind I'll take this with me and discuss it with my staff. Am I right to assume there are no competing potential buyers right now?”

  “Not at this time,” I said. “But get back to us soon. We'll take the offer to other potential buyers if you delay or try to low ball us.”

  He gave me a mock salute. “Don't worry,” he said. “I've got nothing to gain by pissing off my newest CFO.”

  We watched him leave and I wished he wasn't so good at what he did so we could justify selling the company to anyone else. “Why do I feel like I've just handed you and the company over to Voldemort?”

  Jill spun and grinned at me. “Really, Noah? A Harry Potter reference. I thought you didn't have time for movies or books.”

  “I couldn't sleep last night. I watched a few movies.” I stood and walked around the desk to sit next to my sister. “You don't have to do it. We can find another buyer.”

  The bleakness in her eyes made my chest hurt. “Can we? There's no one else who's got the capital or the know-how that Owings ha
s. Our other option would be to sell to a huge conglomerate, a corporate chain that would take Dad's hotels and make them into carbon copies of every other hotel in their chain.”

  “There's always another option. You shouldn't have to be miserable—”

  “I don't understand why he's insisting I work for him,” she said. “What can he expect to get from me? Isn't our company enough for him?”

  I studied my sister, surprised to see her own mask slip. She wore that mask even around me. There was a new vulnerability and self-doubt in her expression. “If he gives you any sign of wanting you for any other reason, you get out, no matter what it costs. But it's not a stretch that he wants you as his CFO. We know he fights to have the best of everything and you're the best.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked, chewing on her thumbnail, a habit I'd thought she'd broken a decade ago. “He did hire Aubrey out from under us. Maybe this is personal.”

  I clenched my teeth. I really hated that guy and I wished I could believe the worst of him, but…”Aubrey went to him, Jill. The guy's a dick, but he's fair and he was able to pay her better than we could.”

  She nodded. “I'll make sure we have a contract in place that I only work six months for him. It won't be forever.”

  She looked considerably more uncomfortable with this than I would have expected. So rarely did anything ruffle her feathers. “We can find another buyer. Maybe not someone as successful—”

  “No,” she said, her mask slipping back into place. “There isn't anyone else. It will be fine. Alex is a professional and he wants the best for his company. I can handle it. I can handle him.”

  “And, if you can't, you'll call me and I'll kick his ass.”

  She smiled and nodded. “I know you will, Noah. Please, don't worry about me. We're making the right choice here.”

  She and I went over some paperwork and were about to head to our separate offices, when Alex called. He wanted to arrange a meeting, with our lawyers and his lawyers and our two staffs, to settle things.

  I was relieved that I'd no longer be CEO, that I'd be free to figure out what the hell I wanted for me, but I couldn't help feeling that I'd failed. I'd tried so hard for so long to make the family business the success my father had always dreamed it could be. I'd even convinced most of the family that it was successful, but in the end, I'd failed. I'd let my father down and now his company was going to become part of another company. Our name would be removed and my father's dream would die.

  Jill and I went out and had some drinks, toasting to dad and reminiscing about the good times we'd had trying to save the business, the small successes. I went home to an empty condo, tipsy and exhausted. “I'm sorry, Dad,” I whispered to the ceiling.

  He didn't answer and I could just imagine him railing at me. He'd always had a short fuse, but I believed, once he'd cooled off, he'd understand. I knew he'd be as excited about a granddaughter as Mom was, and I believed he'd forgive me.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Aubrey

  “Hey, there,” Oscar said. He walked into the office at Nora's Inn, bringing with him the scent of the outdoors and the chill of the air. I looked up from the computer screen. I'd been trying to stay awake and focus on advertising costs and returns. “You ready to go? Or do you need a few more minutes?”

  I rubbed my eyes and shut down the computer. “No, I'm ready.”

  I stood and Oscar handed me my winter coat, hat, and gloves. “It's cold out there today. It smells like snow.”

  “I hope it snows.” I pulled on my winter gear and followed him outside. “I'd love to see these mountains covered in snow.”

  Oscar closed the door behind us and we began our usual walk. I'd mentioned to him the week before that my due date had come and gone and I really wanted the baby to be born before Thanksgiving. I didn't want to have my baby on a holiday when the hospital was running on a reduced staff. Not to mention, I was beyond ready to have this baby. It had been Oscar's idea for me to walk, to try to encourage my daughter to make her appearance, and I was just desperate enough to try anything.

  Honestly, I'd expected Noah to call or text after our argument. At the very least, I'd expected to hear from his lawyers, but there had been nothing from him. Nora and May wouldn't tell me what the family meeting had been about, and I didn't push very hard. It was their business and, if I needed to know about it, I trusted them to tell me.

  I pulled my coat up around my face and tried not to waddle as I walked beside Oscar. We usually walked the mile into town and then had dinner together, after which he would drive me back to the bed and breakfast. May and Nora had been awesome, but it was good to know I had someone else in my corner, that Oscar would be there for me, too. “How's your day been?” I asked as we set off at an easy pace.

  “Slow. It's the start of cold and flu season, so I thought I'd have more customers. Instead, I've lost customers since allergy season has ended.”

  “It'll pick back up with the holidays, I'm sure. People will get gift certificates for friends and people with time off will try it out. Once people try the salt treatment, they'll definitely go back again.”

  He shrugged, looking glum. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I've eaten a watermelon whole. If this baby doesn't come soon, I may have to take desperate measures.” It was Friday, less than a week until Thanksgiving, and something needed to happen soon before I changed my mind about this whole pregnancy thing.

  Oscar chuckled. “What exactly are you going to do?”

  “My doctor said she could try to do this thing that involves—” A sharp pain shot right through the center of me. I'd had more contractions since my scare in Atlanta, but this once was doubly painful. “Oh, ow.”

  Oscar put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I think so, but maybe we should turn around and head back, just in case.”

  He didn't argue. He turned with me and we started back the way we'd come. I stepped onto the gravel of the driveway and water flowed from me. It was warm and, at first, I thought I'd peed myself. Oscar and I stared at the puddle at my feet.

  “Yeah,” he said, his voice a bit high pitched. “Don't freak out.” He pulled in a deep breath. “It's okay. I'll…I'll just…”

  “Call Nora,” I said, feeling oddly calm. This was really going to happen and it would be okay. “And help me up to the house.”

  He nodded, his eyes the size of alien space ships. “Right, right. Okay, I can do that.”

  “You should probably pull your phone out of your pocket.” Despairing of him regaining his senses, I started toward the house. I had to stop every couple of minutes for contractions that bent me over, but it wasn't too bad. I could move.

  “Okay,” he said. “I've got this.” He took out his phone and dialed Nora. I kept walking.

  In moments, Nora and May were running down the drive toward me. George stepped out of the house behind them, but he jumped into a car and headed our way.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as George stopped the car next to me. Oscar helped me into the car.

  “Just drop me at my car on the way to the hospital,” Oscar said. He took a seat up front. Nora and May got in next to me. “I'll get Aubrey's bag from her house and bring it to you.” Apparently, the arrival of the others had kicked his brain back into working order.

  “Good,” Nora said. She took my hand in hers and squeezed. May was texting rapidly on her phone. “How are you feeling?”

  At that moment, a sharp pain ripped through my lower half. I clenched my teeth together hard to avoid saying something R-rated in front of my baby's grandmother. “I'm okay,” I said, once I could breathe again.

  Nora's face was more than a little pale. “We'll get you to the hospital and get you some good drugs as quickly as possible.”

  I can't deny I was tempted by the idea of relief from the pain, but I had a plan and I was determined to stick to it. “I'm not taking any drugs,” I said. “I
want to do this naturally.”

  Nora frowned. “I know that's what you said, but now that you've felt the pain of a contraction, surely you see how foolish that idea is.”

  Nora had tried to convince me on several occasions that I should just take the drugs and have an easy delivery. It wasn't that I was worried the drugs would hurt the baby, it was that I didn't like to be out of control. I understood that my job was to push this baby out and it made sense to me that I should be able to feel my legs in order to be able to do that. It just felt right.

  “Mom,” May said, before I could argue. “This is Aubrey's delivery, you have to let her do it her way.”

  I gave May a grateful smile, or I tried to, but another contraction ripped through me. On top of the pain was fear that Nora was going to interfere and change my birth plan against my will, as well as fear that this was just the beginning of me doing things alone and against opinion with this baby.

  May put down her phone, grabbed my other hand and gripped it tight. “I'm here, Aubrey. I'll make sure this goes the way you want.” The determination in her expression settled my concerns.

  “Of course, I won't interfere if that's what you want,” Nora said. “I just hate to see you in pain, sweetheart.”

  George let Oscar off at his car and drove the ten miles to the hospital on the other side of town. May and Nora got me inside and checked in while George parked the car. I'd expected a flurry of activity and nurses rushing me to a room, but everyone was calm and matter-of-fact. We were directed to sit in a waiting area with other pregnant women.

  “This is ridiculous,” Nora said. “Someone should be seeing to you immediately.”

  I would have answered her, but another contraction stole my voice. A nurse called my name and May helped me to my feet. I was taken back to an examination room and the nurse confirmed that my water had broken and that I was in labor. The nurse seemed as calm and laid back about it as everyone else and her attitude calmed me, even as it seemed to rile up Nora. “You can wait in the waiting room,” the nurse said. “It will be a little while before we have a room for you.”