She shook her head and stepped back. “I just followed procedure. I was the only emergency response coordinator on site. I had to take charge.”
“By all accounts you were amazing. Thank you for saving my life.”
“It was in my best interests,” she said, blinking back tears and swallowing the lump in her throat.
“I’m sorry for the way I acted.” He squeezed her hand. “I was selfish, not thinking about what you wanted, but expecting you to change jobs so we could be together. All I could think was you didn’t love me the way I love you.”
Bridget smiled at the thrill his words sent through her. He loved her. “The only thing stopping me from accepting it right away was my sense of responsibility for all of the guys at the plant. I didn’t want to let them down. But after what happened, I’ve realized everyone is responsible for their own safety, and management doesn’t want me here. I’m probably more a hindrance than anything. You’ll be able to make progress where I wasn’t able to.”
“I wish it wasn’t that way.”
Her smile was a little sad. “Me too. But wait until you see the job description – you’ll be jealous,” she teased.
He laughed. “Come on. We need to get back to work.”
Yes. She took his hand. “Safety first,” she said and smiled.
Epilogue
“Here’s to Bridget: heroine of the plant. Long will she be missed.” Jeremy raised his glass, and around him people echoed his sentiments.
Bridget smiled her thanks, raising her glass of wine. Her chest was full of emotion but luckily she didn’t have to speak. The people who surrounded her now were the ones who had supported her the whole time at Dionysus. These were the people she was going to miss.
She’d given two weeks’ notice when she’d handed in her resignation. She’d made sure the incident investigation was well under way and Jack would be able to ask her any follow-up questions.
Now she sat in a bar not far from the plant, with people who wanted to wish her well on her final day. Her heart warmed as Jack squeezed her hand.
The last couple of weeks had been difficult, but as they uncovered more details about what had happened, Kevin had gone from openly hostile to quietly subdued. She hadn’t expected an apology from him, nor did she get one, but they were both aware he’d been very wrong about her.
The company’s vice-president of safety, health and environment had praised her efforts during the incident when he’d returned from leave, and had done everything he could to convince her to stay with the company, but as far as Bridget was concerned it was too late. She was excited about the next stage in her career and felt she was going to make a difference.
“Hey, Bridge!” An arm came around her neck and Tanya kissed her cheek. “I thought I’d come and celebrate with you.” She waved to Jack.
“Hi. You know a few people, don’t you?” Bridget said, gesturing to Sally and Trish.
“Sure do. I’m going to grab a drink. Do you want another?”
Bridget nodded. She was going to relax and celebrate.
When Tanya was gone, the vice-president approached her. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay?”
She smiled at him. “I’m sure.” He’d been involved in the investigation and she’d got to know him over the past few weeks.
“It’s a shame, but I guess we let you slip away.”
She nodded. Tanya returned and handed Bridget a drink before finding a seat next to Trish.
Taking a sip, Bridget glanced at Jack. The few days following the incident had been difficult with them both having to answer questions about their relationship. Kevin’s ire vanished as soon as they discovered the cause of the explosion – the sticking level transmitter Bridget had told production to fix. The thinning pipeline Mike had identified had also played a part because the explosion had caused it to rupture as well. They were both things that could have been avoided if Bridget had been listened to.
But she didn’t feel vindicated, she felt sad. It was better for her to leave the company. After her run-in with the CEO she doubted the company’s other oil refineries would be any better than the one she was on.
Jack squeezed her hand again. “You OK?”
“Yeah.”
He leaned over and kissed her and Bridget closed her eyes, savoring the moment. She loved that Jack could kiss her in front of all her colleagues now and she wasn’t the least bit perturbed. It was incredibly freeing. She’d let her experience with Lionel affect her life, had given him far more power over her than she should have. But all of that was in the past.
She and Jack were together. The day after the incident she’d moved her things into his bedroom, which was the bigger of the two, and the following weekend they’d moved the rest of his things out of storage. Her mother kept asking when he was going to put a ring on her finger, but Bridget wasn’t in any rush. She was content to be with him, to have him safe and by her side. They’d started searching for a place to buy together and for Bridget that was commitment enough.
“I love you,” Jack murmured in her ear.
A warm shiver of pleasure went through her.
“I love you too.”
She smiled as the pleasure welled up inside her, making her feel like she could burst with happiness. She was moving to her ideal job, she had Jack by her side, and she was surrounded by friends.
Life couldn’t get better than this.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There was a lot of research that went into this book and I want to thank the following people; Pete for all his information about oil refineries - brainstorming all the things that could go wrong was quite fun (and a little scary!), Anne for her information on unaccompanied child refugees, Carmen for checking all the Spanish and giving me some details about El Salvador, and my beta reader Michelle for spotting all those Australianisms which keep sliding their way into my stories.
I also want to thank the team at Momentum; Joel, Patrick and Ashley for all their hard work, plus my editor Dianne for helping me make the book better. Though Momentum weren’t able to publish this book in the end, I appreciate the support they gave during its development.
Change of Heart
The Flanagan Sisters #2
Software billionaire Carly Flanagan has an abundance of everything except time.
With everyone wanting a piece of her, or more accurately, her money, she spends her days trying to live up to her company's motto of Community, Sharing, Support. Having always been so focused on responsibility, success and supporting those less fortunate than her, Carly’s forgotten to consider what she wants for herself in life – until she meets Evan.
Evan Hayes is an artist and free spirit, and when they meet at a local art exhibition, he is immediately intrigued by Carly. He sees through her public persona, realizing she is not the person she portrays. Evan’s the type of man who doesn’t have a lot, but is perfectly comfortable with who he is. A man who knows what he wants – and he wants Carly.
Carly is sure Evan wants something else from her. Everyone does. All Evan is asking is the chance to get to know her, but will Carly let him in? Or will a lifetime of protecting herself prove too hard to overcome?
A gorgeous romance for fans of Nora Roberts, Jojo Moyes and Kristan Higgins.
http://www.claireboston.com/books/change-of-heart
About the Author
Claire Boston is the best-selling author of The Texan Quartet. In 2014 she was nominated for an Australian Romance Readers Award as Favorite New Romance Author.
Her debut contemporary romance novel, What Goes on Tour caught the attention of Momentum’s Joel Naoum when her first scene was read aloud at the Romance Writers’ of Australia (RWA) conference in 2013. This led to a four book contract for The Texan Quartet series.
Claire is proactive in organizing social gatherings and educational opportunities for local authors. She is an active volunteer for RWA, as a mentor for aspiring authors and the reader judge coordinator.
When Claire’s not reading or writing she can be found in the garden attempting to grow vegetables, or racing around a vintage motocross track. If she can convince anyone to play with her, she also enjoys cards and board games.
Claire lives in Western Australia, just south of Perth, with her husband, who loves even her most annoying quirks, and her two grubby but adorable Australian bulldogs.
Claire loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at her website, www.claireboston.com, on Twitter, @clairebauthor, and on Facebook www.facebook.com/clairebostonauthor. You can also join her reader group at http://eepurl.com/Z4-4z.
Also by Claire Boston
The Texan Quartet
What Goes on Tour
All that Sparkles
Under the Covers
Into the Fire
Break the Rules (The Flanagan Sisters Book 1) Page 23