Sweet Water: Destination Billionaire Romance

by Laurie Lewis

  “You have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow for a recheck on your leg. And PT and OT begin in the afternoon.”

  “Sarge will have me up and ready at first light. After that, I’m yours to command.”

  Laurel laughed. “I wish Ben and Joey complied as easily as you.”

  The doorbell rang, and Laurel wiped her hands on a dish towel and hurried to open it. Olivia heard a female voice say, “Hello. I’m Dr. Sullivan. I’m here to see Liv McAllister. Hudson Bauer asked me to stop by.”

  Hudson Bauer asked me to stop by. The timing of yet another of Hudson’s kindnesses was almost too painful for Olivia’s repentant heart.

  Laurel shot a glance back at Olivia, who answered, “I’m Olivia McAllister.”

  The iridescently red-haired, unnervingly toned woman squeezed past Laurel in a curve-hugging black pantsuit and red sling-back heels. She exuded confidence while sucking the last drops of it from Laurel and Olivia, both of whose shoulders grew rounder by the second.

  “You can call me Pepper,” replied the doctor, who snaked her way across the room, smiling at the Bauers’ knickknacks and photos as if each were an old friend. Once she reached the sofa, she moved a white pillow aside and settled catlike into the cushion.

  Olivia felt her hackles rise over the woman’s intrusion into her … uh … Hudson’s space. And what kind of professional has a name like Pepper?

  “I’m sorry. Today is not a good day.”

  Dr. Pepper Sullivan remained glued to her spot as she fished her phone from her purse. “No problem. We’ll just set up a meeting for next week.”

  Olivia rolled the wheelchair over to confront the woman. “Excuse me, but who are you exactly?”

  Laying her phone in her lap, Pepper slid a stray hair away from her eye and grinned. “I am a licensed, Columbia University–trained psychologist, but more importantly, I’m Hudson’s friend. My beach house is just a few miles from here. Hudson knows I’m there every weekend—Thursday afternoon until Monday morning. He told me about your accident and asked me to stop by to see if you’d like to talk.”

  The woman’s overarching message—that she was very close to Hudson—outshone any offer of compassion. Olivia disliked the idea that Hudson had shared her private business with this woman, but she was even more surprised by how sharply Pepper’s “friendship” with Hudson irritated her. Struggling to keep her voice even, she said, “I’ll have to decline your offer, Pepper. You see, I don’t plan to be here much longer, so my feelings and I won’t be on your convenient drive home.” Her voice broke at the end, and she turned away quickly.

  Laurel strode to the door and opened it. “I think you ought to leave now.”

  Expectations of Pepper’s exit and the door closing behind her went unrealized. Instead, silence passed, and then Olivia heard, “I am a very good therapist, Liv. Hear me out, and then you or I will know if this is going to work.”

  The previous icy tone in Pepper’s voice warmed, but the damage was already done. Olivia hunkered behind her emotional walls and pled, “Just go, please.”

  Pepper stepped closer to Olivia. “I owe you an apology. You figured out that I didn’t come here to help you. I came to protect Hudson. I did a little research on you, your husband, and MMM. It wasn’t flattering, so I wanted to meet you for myself.”

  Olivia spread her arms as wide as pain allowed. “Well, here I am, the guilty owner of a struggling business who was a wife in an imperfect marriage and almost a mother. I’m an absent daughter and a failed friend, but that is all I’m guilty of. Except to those who’ve believed the lies printed in the papers.”

  The color drained from Pepper’s face and neck.

  Olivia turned the tables on her. “And what are you to him?”

  “I’m sorry? Him who? Hudson?”

  Olivia faced Pepper without apology. “Yes, Hudson. I owe him a great debt, which is the reason I’ve accept his job offer. I intend to repay every cent. He’s my employer. End of story. And I certainly don’t intend to be investigated by someone he’s dating.”

  Pepper’s eyebrows arched as she stood. “We’re not dating. I’m married.” Her head bobbled, and then she corrected her statement. “Actually, I’m separated.”

  “But you love him, don’t you?”

  The woman’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “You don’t mince words, do you?”

  “You’re not required to answer. You’re welcome to leave.”

  Pepper returned to her cool-as-a-cucumber persona. “My dating Hudson is not an option. Anyone who knows him also knows that married and separated are one and the same to him. Marriage is sacred. As you said, end of story. He’s still a Boy Scout about things like that. About most things, actually. You, of all people, should know that.”

  Olivia found herself oddly comforted by the reply. Hudson was still a person of honorable character, and from what Pepper was implying, he evidently felt the same way about Olivia. That is, until he hears about the lawsuit. She groaned inwardly. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Pepper pressed her bright red lips into a tight line. “Here’s the long and short of it. Hudson sent me because he trusts me as a person and a doctor. We’ve laughed, cried, and consoled each other. In fact, we nearly died together once, but that’s a tale for another day. So, are we good?”

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust you.”

  Worry creased Pepper’s brow as she handed Olivia her card. “I’ll never lie to you or run back to Hudson with anything we discuss. If you don’t care to work with me, please promise to see someone else. I don’t want you to crash and burn.”

  10

  Four weeks passed quickly, filling nearly every minute with work or medical appointments or therapies of some kind. The heavy leg brace was exchanged for a lighter one, and the wheelchair was replaced with a walker and then a cane. Being mobile meant the night nurse was no longer needed, but it also meant that Laurel’s daily company would soon end.

  Olivia agreed to meet with Pepper. Their first session seemed benign enough, but Pepper raised questions that nagged at Olivia hours later, forcing her to examine long-denied feelings about her childhood and marriage. She finally peeled back the excuses and faced the truth about her one-day courtship and courthouse marriage. A one-two punch of fear and vulnerability set the stage. Jeff gave voice to her greatest fear—the possibility of Hudson moving on without her. Jeff offered her security, wrapped in smoldering looks and hungry kisses that overwhelmed her self-control. She saw herself slipping into her mother’s emotion-driven pattern that first evening with Jeff. That realization sent her running back to her apartment, where she cried herself to sleep for being such a fool, but rejecting Jeff’s advances only amplified his interest. He arrived the next day, offering her professions of long-simmered love. Her instincts again told her to run, but passion, and some other concern that now eluded her, overruled her hesitation when he dropped to his knee. An hour later, the couple was standing before a justice of the peace. And then everything changed.

  Her face flushed with heat as she recalled how the bride and groom left the courthouse and headed to a sports bar where half the football team was waiting. How Jeff hung out with them instead of her. He was stone drunk and unsteady by the time they reached the downtown Seattle hotel where they spent their wedding night. There was fire and passion, and then the affection stopped. Aside from the peck she received at the end of their civil ceremony, she couldn’t recall another instance where Jeff placed his lips on hers, and when she awoke the next morning in their disheveled marriage bed, Jeff’s side was as cold as she felt inside.

  She thought she had been used and abandoned until she heard the shower running. Nearly two hours passed before Jeff emerged red and weak, a haunted look on his face. His eyes were red as if he had been crying, but when she tried to comfort him, he turned away from her and asked, “How quickly can you pack?”

  They arrived back at the apartment Jeff shared with Hudson, where her greatest fear
was realized. Hudson was gone. The import of their decisions slammed the newlyweds.

  An envelope addressed to Olivia contained Hudson’s parting words. Unable to bear reading it, Jeff did the honors. The words “I hope you’re happy” had haunted her ever since.

  Olivia shook her head and exhaled to banish the somber memories that crept upon her in the lonely hours after Laurel left each day.

  Olivia was determined to earn her salary with her very best work. Ethan seemed delighted with everything she turned in and sent a constant stream of assignments her way—design requests, web pages, and logos for newly acquired or start-up Bauer Group companies. She wondered if Hudson ever saw her work and whether he felt his investment in her was justified. A month into her employment she had her answer when this email arrived in her inbox.

  I received the first installment on your payback plan. There is really no need, but

  you may enjoy knowing that you are supporting an orphan school in Africa. Your

  work is incredible. I hope the rehab is going well. Don’t rush to leave the house. H.

  The note satisfied questions about her independence, her integrity, and her value as an employee. She wondered if the school was the one in the photos of Hudson and the nuns. She hoped to find out. Pleased, she turned in early, and while digging in the drawer for a nightgown, she came upon Jeff’s wallet that had Laurel returned. Olivia had been unable or unwilling to look in it before, but she was now ready to explore the contents and face what pain they harrowed up.

  She fingered the leather and drew in its scent. There was little sharing in their business/marriage, which created an unspoken agreement about privacy. They dressed in private and honored the sanctity of bathroom and shower times. Jeff never looked in her purse, and she never opened his wallet. Even now, she felt she was betraying some promise by peeking inside at the few small bills and cards. Her heart ached when she saw the handsome face and blue eyes peering from his license. Sad eyes. Women turned their heads to catch long glimpses as he passed. Such notice paid to him, and his quiet pleasure at receiving it, tore at her heart in the early days of their marriage. She had long since grown numb to such things.

  The two debit cards—one to a joint personal account and another to their business account—accessed a sum total of barely more than a thousand dollars. She had since closed both and decided to shut down MMM.

  There were no photos, no tender remembrances of shared times. Having removed all the contents, she still felt a lump. She noticed that the back liner of the bill area could be lifted, exposing a previously hidden compartment. Olivia peeled back the liner and found a small, well-worn blue envelope with faded lettering and depressions along the side. Inside was a key.

  She had never seen the key before, but she was fairly certain it opened a safe deposit box. But to what bank in what city? They had traversed the entire country many times. And what could be in such a box, since they owned nothing of value?

  Using the brighter kitchen light, she attempted to decipher the formal script on the envelope, but it was still impossible. She found a pencil and moved on to the embossed characters, rubbing the lead over the depressions until tiny letters appeared—BVB&T.

  Nothing came up when she moved to her computer and entered the letters in a search bar. Assuming the last few characters represented the words “Bank and Trust,” she scanned a national list of banks that began with the letter B, with no results. The key was yet another mystery Jeff had left for her to puzzle over.

  * * *

  The next Monday, Laurel arrived in her signature perky way. “I took Joey to his kindergarten open house today. He is so excited about his fancy new backpack. Little things like that would have been impossible without this job.”

  Olivia smiled. “How much time do we still have? A week? Ten days?”

  “Ten days, but I’ll still visit, and you’ll keep seeing Pepper every week, right?”

  “Yes, but I want you to help me get independent. My physical therapist said I need to walk longer distances before he’ll clear me, so let’s start hitting the beach.”

  “Good plan.”

  “And I can start driving soon.”

  “What about those flashbacks from the accident? Maybe you should tell Pepper.”

  She shivered at the mention of her recurring nightmare about Jeff’s death. “I’m handling them.”

  “Olivia …”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll tell her, but I’m doing fine. Really. In fact, start coming later, like around ten, and leave earlier. I need to do more for myself.”

  “Are you sure? I’ll email Hudson and give him my end date. That means we’ve got ten days to get you completely independent.”

  “And to find a new place for me to live.” She moved to her computer to search for apartments in the area. Instead, she found an email that made her shiver.

  “Uh-oh. What’s wrong?”

  “I have an email from Larry Brewster … that attorney I hired.” She sucked in a breath. “Laurel, what if he contacted Hudson?”

  “Just call him and see.”

  The phone rang five minutes later. Olivia paced with a slight limp as she listened to Larry Brewster’s breathless update on the case.

  “Some office interns are slowly giving us information, but they’re reluctant, and that tells me we’re on to something big, and big means we can expect a sizeable settlement offer.”

  She felt she was about to be sick. “A lot has happened since I hired you. I don’t want to pursue this anymore.”

  “Don’t think about calling me off now. I’ve got hundreds of hours invested in this case.”

  “I’ll pay for your time. Just send me a bill.”

  The tone of his voice instantly turned cold and calculating. “Then prepare to write me a check for a million dollars, ’cause our deal promised me a percentage of the settlement, which would’ve been substantial.”

  Olivia’s legs began to buckle, and she slumped into a chair, bluffing back. “You’ve got no case if I withdraw my complaint. All you’ll get is my fee for your time.”

  “Are you crazy? Do you know what you’re throwing away? This Bauer guy is worth billions. You don’t even need real dirt. He’ll offer you plenty just to keep his name out of the papers. Don’t grow a conscience now, lady. You wanted to nail this guy for ruining your life.”

  She could almost smell the lingering scent of stale smoke permeating his polyester suit and pictured the chubby stub of a man mopping sweat from his brow as he counted his own potential fortune. They had only met once, but he was a person she would never forget.

  “I was wrong. This case is over.”

  “Oh, the case might be over, but that just frees me to go solo. I know some tabloid editors who will pay big money for what you’ve already given me on the pious Hudson Bauer.”

  Olivia’s hand moved atop her pounding heart. “Please don’t do this.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who started this. But thanks for the lead. I won’t bother you further.”

  The man’s voice echoed in Olivia’s troubled mind long after the call ended. She turned to Laurel. “He’s going to take the information to the tabloids.” She could only see one option before her. She would have to speak to Hudson. “Where’s Hudson’s business card?”

  Laurel found it behind a magnet on the fridge and handed it to Olivia, who called his private number. Instead of Hudson’s voice, an elegant Latina woman answered the call. “You’ve reached the office of Hudson Bauer of The Bauer Group. How may I assist you?”

  She opened by stuttering something completely unintelligible as she tried to organize her thoughts. “This is Olivia McAllister. I need to speak to Hudson, please.”

  A long pause preceded the woman’s reply. “He’s not available. How can I help you?”

  The woman was a roadblock Olivia needed to barrel through, but not today when she was still shaking from the previous call. “Please give him a message to call me. It’s very important that I speak
to him right away.”

  “I’ll give him your message, Mrs. McAllister. May I say what this is about?”

  Olivia noted that the woman used Mrs., as if she knew who Olivia was. “Please just tell him it’s urgent.”

  She was still shaking when she hung up the phone. “I need to find a new place to live right away, Laurel, because you might not be the only one whose employment with Hudson Bauer is about to be terminated.”

  * * *

  After Laurel left, the quiet house only amplified Olivia’s anxiety, so she kept her promise and phoned Pepper. She had to admit that she felt calmer afterwards. She was working on a project for Ethan when Hudson returned her call. The connection was poor, but even so, she could hear the worry in his voice.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. “I was told it was urgent that I reach you.”

  She didn’t know where or how to begin. “I’m all right, but I need to tell you something. It’s very important.” The background noise was so loud she could barely hear her own voice.

  “I’m on a SAT phone on an airboat. We just pulled out from a village in the Philippines, and a storm is brewing. I can be stateside in two days. Can it wait until then?”

  She didn’t know how much time she had before Larry presented his smear campaign to the tabloids, but it was clear she couldn’t have a conversation under the present circumstances.

  “Yes,” she shouted into the phone, “but please call me as soon as you can.”

  She thought she heard a confirmation on his end before the line went dead, but her anxiety ratcheted up as she imagined the conversation they would eventually have,

  especially if she didn’t get a chance to talk to him before Larry initiated his blackmail plan.

  And then the doorbell rang. She cracked the door open and saw Pepper standing there. The very sight of her momentarily lightened Olivia’s mood. “You didn’t say you were coming by.”

  “My new carpet came in early, so I decided to drive down, let the installers in, and finish our conversation.”