Pulling into her usual car park at Wilson Wines felt strange, but that was nothing to what it felt like walking back into the building. Everything was still exactly the same. She didn’t know why she’d expected it to have changed in any way, except that she had been through so much since the last time she’d been here that she felt that time should have marked its passage here somehow.
Their receptionist told her to go on upstairs and that Judd was waiting for her. Anna met her at the top of the stairs and gave her a quick hug.
“Do you know what this is about?” Nicole asked.
“It’s better you hear it from Judd,” she said with a smile. “He’s waiting in your dad’s old office.”
“Old office? So he’s not coming back?”
“It’s unlikely. Even though he’s a lot better he’s not up to the day-to-day demands of business anymore.”
Nicole was shocked. Her father had always been invincible. A powerhouse. They’d butted heads over his unwillingness to accept her ideas for advancement but, that said, she couldn’t imagine the company without her father at the helm.
“Is that what Judd wants to talk to me about?”
“Go and see him,” was all Anna would say.
Squaring her shoulders, Nicole walked toward her father’s office. Judd’s office, now, she supposed. He got up from behind the desk when she knocked and pushed open the door.
“I’m glad you could come,” he said, first holding out his hand and then drawing her into his arms for a swift embrace. “We haven’t exactly been able to get off to a good start, have we?”
“No,” Nicole said, a nervous smile on her face. Considering she’d pretty much been pouting like a spoiled brat when he’d arrived, followed a few days later by her storming out of the house, his comment was a mastery of understatement.
“Hopefully we can amend that, if you’re willing?”
“Sure. Who knows, we might even like each other.”
Judd flashed her a smile and in it she could see a hint of their father’s humor. It made her instantly feel more comfortable with him. It was a comfort she clung to as he started to talk about what he’d asked her in to discuss.
“You mean this was Nate’s idea? That he wants to amalgamate the businesses?”
She got up from her seat and walked over to the window that looked out over the city. Nate? Merge Jackson Importers with Wilson Wines? What ever happened to his passion for revenge? By his own admission it had driven him since he was a child. Why stop now? They both knew that the deal was to Wilson Wines’s advantage. The company was in a weakened managerial position with Judd inexperienced with the firm and her father incapable of reassuming his role. If Jackson Importers wanted to put them out of business, now was the time. Why was Nate throwing them a lifeline, instead?
“It was his idea, and after discussing it with him and going over the figures, I’m inclined to accept. It makes sense. Not only that, but it closes a door that’s been open too long. It gives both our families a chance to heal.”
Nicole shook her head. She couldn’t believe it. “Are you sure he doesn’t have some ulterior motive behind this?”
“We stand to gain far more than he does at the moment. I’m sure you’re even more aware of that than he is. You’ve worked with him. You know how strong they are in the marketplace, here and overseas. He’s done that. With him running the whole company, they’re poised to grow even stronger. Of course, Wilson Wines brings a respected name and established reputation to the table—but unless we modernize and expand, our company will grow weaker while his grows stronger. This is just what we need to get back on track.”
She sat back down in her seat. Could Nate have been telling the truth when he came to see her on Friday night? Was he really letting all that resentment and hostility toward her family go, just like that? Was this a chance to finally mend the gaping rifts in her family life and allow her to feel whole again?
Was this the chance for her and Nate, after all?
“And you want an opinion from me today? Really, I need some time to think about this,” she said.
“Look, I know it’s a lot to take in. Goodness only knows Anna and I have made the most of having the past couple of days to begin to get used to the idea. But it’s not just my decision to make. It affects you, as well.”
Nicole felt the old acrimony rise in her throat again. “No, it doesn’t. You have the controlling share in Wilson Wines. Dad holds the balance. It’s your decision, Judd, whether you want that or not.”
Judd lifted an envelope from the top of the desk and handed it to her. “Here, maybe what’s inside will help you make up your mind.”
She took the envelope. “What is it?”
He laughed. “Nothing that’ll hurt you, Nicole. Seriously, just open it.”
She slid a nail under the flap and ripped the envelope open. Inside was a single sheet of paper. A company share transfer, to be exact. Her eyes widened as she read the terms of the transfer. Judd was giving her everything their father had given him. Not half, not less than half. All of it. If she signed this paper she would have the controlling share and the decision as to how Wilson Wines would go forward.
“Have you lost your mind?” she asked.
“No, if anything I’ve found it. I learned the hard way that a life bent on revenge is no life at all. I think that Nate has recently discovered much the same thing. I nearly lost Anna over my need to make our father pay for abandoning me and our mother. For denying me my birthright until it suited him to get Anna to bring me back. I don’t want to lose out on anything else. Neither does Nate.
“We’ve all been hurt, Nicole. But we deserve to be happy—really happy. I know I’m doing the right thing in giving this to you and I know you’ll do the right thing in return.”
“And are you happy now, Judd?”
“With Anna, yes. I’m going to marry her, Nicole. I know you two are close and I want you to know I’m going to look after her.”
Nicole sat back in her chair and looked at him, and smiled again. Her first genuine smile since she’d arrived today. Maybe her first genuine smile in a long, long time. “You’d better, or you’ll answer to me.”
“Noted,” he said with a nod. “Now, how about you take the next day or so to think about things? Anna has a folder ready for you to take with you so you can analyze Nate’s proposal in depth.”
Nicole sat in her car in the car park still shocked by the news Judd had given her today, especially his intention to marry her best friend. When pressed, Anna had admitted her love for Judd in return, but said they weren’t going to make a public announcement until Charles was home and settled again. They’d already sought his blessing, which had been rapidly forthcoming, apparently. Which left Nicole exactly where?
She had plenty to think about, she realized as she started the car and backed out of the car space. It wasn’t until she’d headed for the motorway interchange that would lead her back up north that she made a sudden decision to turn around and drive back the way she’d come.
The Auckland City Hospital car park was pretty empty given the time of day, and it didn’t take her long to find a space. In no time she was in an elevator, heading for her father’s ward. She only hoped that he’d agree to see her. If, as Judd had said, they all deserved happiness, then it was time for some truths between her and her father, especially the truth about her more recent behavior. Only with everything out in the open could the wounds—both old and more recent—finally heal.
She fought to hide her shock when she saw him lying against his pillows, his eyes closed. The ravages of illness had made him lose a great deal of weight and his skin held an unhealthy pallor. She could have lost him. Would have never had the chance to make amends. And all for what?
“Dad?” she said tentatively a
s she closed the door to the private room behind her.
His eyes shot open and Nicole was relieved to see they were full of their usual fiery intelligence.
“You came back.”
His tone of voice gave nothing away but she caught the telltale tremor around his mouth. And was that a hint of moisture in his eyes?
“Oh, Dad. Of course I came back. I miss you.”
“Ah, my little girl. Come here,” he said, his voice shaking as he parted the side of the bed and opened his arms.
Nicole shifted to his side and let herself be enveloped by his hug, mindful of the monitors and tubes he was still attached to. But all that was peripheral to the fact that she was here, that he hadn’t sent her away again.
“I’ve missed you, too. I’ve had plenty of time to think, lately, and I know I owe you an apology. Several apologies, actually.”
“No, Dad, it’s okay,” she protested. “I’ve always acted first, thought second. I should have stayed. We’d have worked it out.”
“No, it’s not okay. I never gave you a fair shot, did I? I was so angry with you for defecting to the enemy after Judd came home that the sight of you in the emergency department just made me see red. But I was wrong. When all is said and done, family comes first. I should never have pushed you away in the first place. I should have included you when I decided to approach Judd about coming back home. It was wrong of me to make those decisions, decisions that affected you, without any consultation as a family.”
“It’s okay, Dad, I understand. It hurt me, but I do understand. You never got the chance to raise Judd the way you wanted to. All of that was stolen from you.”
“Stolen with a single lie,” he said sadly. “Did you know that? Your mother told me Judd wasn’t my son. To my shame I believed her and when she named my best friend as Judd’s father, I stupidly believed that, too. So many years lost, so much time wasted.”
“But you can make up for that now,” she urged, shocked at the way his body trembled and happier than ever that she had chosen not to run away from her problems to Australia with Cynthia. She did want to meet her family at some point—get to know her cousins and uncles and aunts, but cementing things with her family here took priority.
“For what time I have left,” Charles replied. “You know, Nicole, pride is a terrible thing. Because of pride I lost my wife, my son, my best friend and my health. If I had my time over again, I’d do so much differently. Maybe then I could have been the husband Cynthia needed. I’ve made some bad decisions in my life, not least of which with you.
“I know you think I was holding you back at Wilson Wines and, yes, I suppose I was. But I could just see so much of myself in you. You were so driven, so determined to grow the business to the exception of everything else in your life. I’ve always wanted the best for you but when I saw you going down the same road that I went, I had to do something to hold you back. You deserve more than just a business. You deserve a life enriched with a husband and children and steadiness at home—not all your energy driven into work and serving the mighty dollar as I have done.”
“But I love my work at Wilson Wines, Dad. I’ve missed it.”
“I thought limiting your requirements at work would push you to invest more of your time and energy into relationships. I shouldn’t have made that decision for you. I’ll wager you had more freedom with that Nate Hunter than you had with me. Don’t bother denying it. He saw a good thing and he took advantage of it.”
“Dad, there’s something you should know about him.”
“Beyond the fact he’s a fearsome business opponent? Can’t help but admire him for that, if nothing else.”
She didn’t know how to phrase this carefully, so she just came out with it. “He’s Thomas’s son.”
Her father closed his eyes briefly before giving a deep sigh. “That explains a lot,” he said quietly. “Another life harmed. Clearly I owe him an apology, too. It can’t have been easy for him growing up. Are the two of you an item?”
Nicole shook her head. “We were. But I ended it. He wanted me for all the wrong reasons.”
“And what are those?” Charles urged.
“Revenge against you, for one thing,” she admitted. It sounded so pathetic when she put it into words to the man it had been directed against. But that’s pretty much what it all came down to in the end, wasn’t it?
Charles chuckled. “A chip off the old block, hmm? Well, I can’t say I blame him. He had just cause.”
Nicole could barely believe her ears. All his life her father had spoken in derogatory terms about Thomas Jackson and now he laughed about Nate’s vendetta?
“Aren’t you angry?”
“Not anymore,” he said with a deep sigh. “There’s a lot to be said for facing your mortality. It makes you see things differently.”
“Judd gave me his controlling share of the company,” she blurted.
“Did he? Well, that was his choice to make. I should never have created such a divisive position between you two but it was so important to me to bring Judd home, and I really did want to force you to create some balance in your life.”
By the time she left the hospital it was growing late. Despite a few dark looks from the nursing staff, she’d been allowed to stay at her father’s side all afternoon and they’d talked to one another as they’d never talked before. As she clipped her seatbelt across her chest she recognized that the feeling inside her now was one of happiness and acceptance of her position in her father’s heart. She held all the cards now. She was no longer a pawn, she was the player.
Which left her only one last thing to do.
Fourteen
Her headlights picked out the possum ahead of her on the winding curve of road. Thankfully she avoided it without incident and could focus her attention to the confrontation she had ahead. Nate hadn’t been at the office when she’d called, nor had he been at the apartment when she’d stopped in there. Which only left the beach house.
How appropriate that this would end where it had begun.
She cruised through the bends in the dark ribbon of tarseal slowly, more familiar with being a passenger on the journey than the driver. It was an interesting analogy for her life. Despite her efforts to get ahead and to be noticed in her life, she’d always allowed herself to be acted upon rather than to take charge and be fully responsible for her own behavior.
The idea that she was free of her previous constraints, constraints she’d allowed even into adulthood, was intensely liberating. Even so, she felt as if hummingbirds danced in her stomach as she neared the driveway to Nate’s house. She pulled up outside the garage door and walked around to the main entrance, pressing the door bell several times in quick succession.
The door opened.
“Nicole!”
Nate looked stunned to see her, but she felt his eyes roam her as if he were touching her. Her traitorous body responded in kind. She dropped her eyes from his, hoping he hadn’t seen her reaction reflected in her gaze.
“We need to talk,” she said brusquely. “May I come in?”
He stood aside and gestured for her to take a seat in the living room. “Can I get you anything?” he offered.
“This isn’t a social visit,” she said firmly. It was important to her that she set the parameters right from the start. “I need to know something.”
“Ask me. I’ll tell you whatever I can.”
“Are you still playing some game with my family with your proposal to join the companies together?”
He looked surprised. “You know about that already?”
“Judd called me down from Langs Beach to discuss it. He’s given me a written report, which I haven’t read yet. I needed to talk to you first so I can decide whether to read it, or whether to use it to
light a fire, instead.”
He gave a disparaging laugh. “It’s not a game—it’s anything but.”
“So this is really what you want?”
He looked her square in the eye and she could see the truth burning there in those sherry-brown depths. “Yes.”
“And you’re not doing this to somehow undermine my family or to hurt them?”
“No, I’m not.”
She took a deep breath. “Or to hurt me?”
“Never to hurt you, Nicole. That was never my intention. I wanted to give you every opportunity to succeed all along.”
“Why are you doing this, then?”
Nate sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and clasping his capable hands in front of him. His gaze was fixed on her face, as if he was willing her to believe him.
“I made the suggestion for three very good reasons. The first is that it makes sound business sense. If we stop competing with one another we’ll be in a stronger position when it comes to securing new business—one less player in the market should give us an edge on pricing. It’s all in the report, when you read it you’ll see what I’m talking about.”
Nicole nodded. “Okay, so that’s one reason. What about the others?”
“It was time to stop the feud. It’s hurt too many people for too long. One of us had to make the first move. I decided it was time for me to let go of my grudge. Sure, I had a tough upbringing, a lot of kids did. I still had more advantages than most. Even while my mother and I were living hand to mouth my father was ensuring that I still had the best education that he could provide for me. And having to struggle a little made me tough, it made me determined. It made me the man I am today. Flawed, sure, but I know what’s right, and letting go of the anger, letting go of the pain—it all had to happen so we can move forward.
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