Tree Huggers, Children and Broken Decoys

by Ali Vali

  "Thanks for the heads up." They both got up when they heard the helicopter touching down outside and Junior stepped in and motioned for Jillian to get moving. Before they left one of the cooks came out and handed Junior a traveling mug, waiting for her to take a sip to see if there was anything else he needed to add.

  "Perfect, thanks. Ms. Sterling, would you like a cup of coffee to go?" Junior toasted her with the mug in her hand.

  Jillian shook her head and said sheepishly, "I know this is going to sound snobby, but I only drink Starbucks Breakfast Blend."

  "Your in luck, ma'am, how do you take it?" The cook pulled out another mug and filled it with the coffee Junior supplied whenever she was working on the rig. The guys liked it so much that on the next supply run it was going to become one of their staples.

  "A stargazer and gourmet coffee drinker, I may have misjudged you," said Jillian as she pointed to the pot of steamed milk the man had made for Junior's coffee. Junior's smile was infectious as Jillian mirrored it. Jillie, oilfield workers are not your type.

  The helicopter ride was uneventful and Jillian was surprised when they landed, not in New Orleans, but in the small town of Morgan City. Two men came out to meet the Baxter chopper when it touched down on one of the company's field office helipads. Jillian followed Junior into the main building, hoping she wasn't going to have to take a cab for the eighty-mile trek back into the city if the Baxter employee wasn't going any further.

  "I'll just be a minute. If you want, you can wait here or out in the car. The boys should be finished loading our stuff and bringing it around to the front." Junior pointed to the waiting room that housed one dusty potted plant and every oilfield magazine printed. Along the walls were pictures of all the offshore rigs they had put into commission over the years, and one of Baxter Oil Company's owner.

  Avery Leland Baxter, Sr. had started his career as a wildcatter in Texas back in the fifties. Those in the industry back then said the man had a nose for crude like he was part bloodhound. Through his years of drilling he had moved the industry forward like few before or after him. The picture the company hung in the lobby was one of a young man surrounded by three other young men in front of a gushing well in the background. It was in black and white, but there was something about the man's smile and build that seemed familiar to Jillian as she studied it. In fact all four of the young men looked like people she should know.

  "Ma'am, Junior's car is out front if you want to go out and wait, or if you want we can get you some coffee or something." She recognized him as one of the guys that had unloaded their bags and shook hands with Junior. Jillian smiled at him and followed him outside to find the oldest and rustiest looking pickup truck she had ever seen. The company logo was barely visible on the side it was so faded, and the windshield had more cracks than she thought looked safe to take on the road.

  Figures, was her only thought as Jillian opened the passenger door grimacing at the groan the vehicle let out when she did. In a way it fit the shorts and sandal-wearing employee she had flown in with, and it was only eighty miles. The laugh she had the pleasure of hearing the night before was back and right outside the window making Jillian open her eyes to see what was so funny.

  "I'm sure Gator will give you a ride back into the city if you want, but if you want to come with me, I'm parked over here." Junior pointed to a black BMW 745 Li sedan parked on the other side of the truck, getting the woman in the truck to blush at her assumption.

  Jillian put her shoulder into the door trying to get it to open, adding to her embarrassment when she couldn't get it to budge and Junior had to open it from the outside. Instead of giving her grief over her mistake, Junior turned her attention to the man she had called Gator giving him orders to get the door fixed. With a sigh of relief at the sight of leather seats and sparkling windshield, Jillian smiled up at Junior as the woman held the door open for her.

  They hadn't made it to the front gate when Junior's car phone started ringing. "Junior, where are you?" The question was asked as soon as a long finger pressed the talk button.

  "Hello, Sally, I'm doing fine. The flight in was great and the weather for the drive is looking good." Junior wiggled her eyebrows at Jillian getting her to smile before she continued to torment her assistant. "I just got in the car, Sally, take deep breaths and calm down. We should be in town in about an hour and fifteen minutes."

  "We?"

  "I'm giving Ms. Jillian Sterling a ride back into town, so I'm sure whatever you have can wait until then." From her office in New Orleans, Sally Breaux almost dropped the phone when she heard who was in her boss's car.

  "You're giving Ms. Sterling a ride back into town?" The tone she used let Junior know she thought it was highly unlikely the inspector was in the car.

  "Is there something wrong with the connection?" Jillian continued to smile at Junior while listening to the conversation coming over the speakerphone.

  "No, it's just that doing that sounds mighty generous after the woman wrote you up for over one hundred and twenty thousand dollars worth of infractions." It was Junior's turn to smile at her passenger and wonder what would happen to the woman if she threw her out of the car going ninety.

  "That's me, Sally, generous Junior they call me." They both laughed at the assistant's snort that came over the line. Sally filled Junior in on all the appointments she had waiting for her when she got back to the office while Jillian sat back and enjoyed the scenery they were driving through. It had taken the state years, but they had managed to carve out a highway over the swamp cutting the drive time into New Orleans by hours. The cypress trees stood right next to their new concrete neighbor as the moss in the branches swung in the breeze.

  "One more thing, Junior, Maria called this morning and asked you out to dinner tonight. She didn't say what it was about, but it sounded important. Would you like for me to call her back and set something up?" She didn't mean to, but from her seat Jillian didn't turn her head but started paying attention to the conversation Junior was having.

  "She didn't say anything?"

  "No, just that if you couldn't make dinner she would come by the house tonight. Once she heard you were on your way back today, she wouldn't be put off, so don't even think about it."

  "Tell her eight at the Petroleum Club, I'll meet her there since it's in her building. Could you call and make a reservation for me?"

  "You got it boss. See you in a little while."

  Jillian watched her driver from the reflection in the window, seeing the pensive look on her face without having to look at her directly. Was Maria a lover, friend or an enemy? They didn't talk as the big sedan ate up the miles into the city, and before Jillian was really ready to say goodbye, Junior pulled up to the duplex where Jillian lived in the garden district part of the city. Jillian went to reach for the door latch when Junior told her she would get it. Junior not only opened her door, but also walked her up the path to her house carrying her bags.

  "Thanks for the ride."

  "You're welcome, could you lend me a twenty for gas? Some woman just fined me a bunch of money and I'm broke." Junior laughed when the inspector slapped her arm and laughed with her.

  "I'm just doing my job and trying to keep the environment as clean as possible."

  "Ms. Sterling, don't judge all oil people with the same ruler. Some of us just might surprise you." With a quick handshake, Junior was walking back toward her car and away from Jillian. It was tempting for Jillian to ask Junior to stay, but she couldn't think of a good enough reason as the long legs got closer to the black sedan.

  "Thanks again for the ride." Junior waved to her before the car took off down the quiet street. Jillian smiled at the tail lights thinking that maybe they both expanded their thinking in the chance meeting.

  She hurried with her keys when she heard her phone ringing and before Jillian hung up, she had her own dinner invitation.

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&
nbsp; Jillian stepped into the room from the elevator looking for her father. The Petroleum Club was located on the thirtieth floor in one of the buildings in downtown New Orleans. With the abundance of floor to ceiling windows, the restaurant had one of the more spectacular views of the city skyline. Her father waved to her from a table in the center, and her one hope as she waved back was that Junior wouldn't think she was following her, though now she would get a look at Maria.

  "Hi, Daddy." Jillian bent down and kissed her father before one of the waiters came over and pulled her chair out for her. The table in the corner was set up for diners, with a crystal bucket of ice with vodka shots embedded in it. But for now it sat empty Jillian noticed. What made her take note at all was the brass plate on the wall over one of the chairs that said Baxter Oil Company.

  "How are you, sweetheart? I'm beginning to feel like if I don't ask you out to dinner, I never get to see you." Behind Jillian the elevator slid open again and Junior stepped out. Gone were the shorts and the sandals, in their place stood the CEO of Baxter Oil. She was alone and the hostess showed her to the table after she kissed her hello.

  "Ms. Sterling, nice to see you again. Robert, how are you?" Junior stopped at their table nodding to the hostess to just put the menus down.

  "Junior, god how are you? You know Jillie?" Jillian's father stood up and shook hands with Junior as his daughter looked like she wanted to bolt from the table for some reason. If she had really tried, she could have talked her father into eating somewhere else but Jillian had wanted to see Junior's date. Now it was going to seem as obvious to the woman who had given her a ride as it was to her. I didn't know she wore glasses, Jillian thought as she looked up at Junior.

  "Fine and yes, we've met. I just didn't expect to run into her again so soon. I was going over your proposal this afternoon and it's looking good. How about if I call you next week and set up a luncheon appointment?" Junior smiled, loving the blush that was coloring Jillian's cheeks.

  "That sounds great." Robert was so busy talking to Junior that he never noticed his daughter's discomfort.

  "I'll have Sally call you." Before she moved on to her own table, Junior bent down to shake Jillian's hand as well. "Nice to see you again, Jillie." Moving closer, Junior whispered, "She's just a friend." Jillian smiled at the laugh Junior was enjoying and because of the heat radiating off her ears.

  "Where do you two know each other from?" Robert took a sip of his drink, as his daughter's eyes stayed glued to the Baxter table. Junior had sat down and picked up one of the vials of thick liquor out of the ice and tipped it back, draining it.

  "I inspected Pegasus yesterday."

  "Please tell me that you didn't slam her?"

  "It's my job, daddy, and yes I'm afraid the price tag was fairly steep. What proposal did you submit?" Her father launched into describing a pipe contract his company wanted to enter into with Baxter, but her attention was on the entrance as a tall blonde entered and headed to Junior's table. When she reached it, Junior was standing and the person Jillian assumed to be Maria fell into her arms giving her a not so "friendly" kiss on the lips.

  "Honey…honey, do you know what you want to eat?" Her father's voice tore her eyes away from the table in the corner and the two women now seated there talking.

  "I'm sorry, I'll have the Caesar salad with grilled shrimp, please." Robert Sterling handed the menus to the waiter and looked over his shoulder to see what his daughter found so fascinating.

  "What did you think of her?"

  "Who?"

  "Come on, sweetheart, I'm your father. Tall, good looking and powerful - could be a real catch to the woman that snags her heart."

  "Daddy!"

  "I'm your father, Jillian, but that doesn't make me blind."

  She sighed deeply, now sorry for the self-imposed rules she had set for herself. "Yeah, she's all that but she works in the oilfield."

  "I work in the oilfield, Jillie, and you love me."

  From her table, Junior listened to what Maria was telling her, but she was looking over one blonde's shoulder to the other blonde sitting three tables away. "Wait a second, could you repeat that last statement?"

  "I don't want to talk about it here, Junior, but she changed the will and these are her new wishes."

  "Maria, you can go back to her and tell her I'm never going to agree to this. You can't go back again, isn't that the old saying?" Junior turned her pale blue eyes to her dinner companion not believing what the woman was saying.

  "It's you can't go home again, darling, and these are her wishes. As her attorney, I'm obligated to tell you about them." Maria removed her own vial and drained it; the next part of the conversation was going to send Junior into a tizzy.

  "And I'm telling you, just because someone leaves you something in their will does not mean you are obligated to take it. Susan has other family, I'm sure they are more qualified to take on this job than I am, talk to her."

  "Honey, I can't do that."

  "Dammit, Maria, I don't want this and Susan is the least of it. Forgive me if not wanting to raise the children she had with that twit half brother of mine. It just isn't something I am anxious to do. You go back to her and tell her no."

  "I can't do that, Junior."

  "Why in the hell not?" The voice was becoming a controlled whisper but Maria could tell Junior was pissed. Susan Baxter had been the one woman that had broken through all of Junior's walls in college. The heir to an oil empire had fallen hard for the small town girl that wasn't interested in the Baxter fortune, and it had drawn Junior in.

  Just before they had graduated, Susan met Junior's half brother on one of his trips to the campus to borrow money. It just so happened that her parents were also up visiting for the weekend and Susan was going to tell them she was in love and of her plans for the future. When Quinton Baxter walked into the room, Susan's parents assumed this was the wonderful Baxter she had just finished telling them about. Considering Quinton's feelings toward his sister, he had played it up as much as he could. A long talk with Susan later that afternoon, and he had her believing a line about Junior that had turned her head and closed her heart.

  For Susan it felt like she was drowning in emotion, and before she got her head above water she was married with the last name of Baxter, but not to the one she had fallen in love with. The last time Susan had seen Junior was as she was making the trip back down the aisle to leave the church the day she and Quinton got married. A year later she and Quinton had their first child and with ten years of marriage had come two more.

  "She's in a coma, Junior, that's why I'm here. I'm sorry to have to tell you like this, but I didn't want Sally telling you over the phone." Instead of ranting anymore or asking any questions about what she was being told, Maria was surprised when her dinner companion looked at her watch.

  "Hot date?"

  "No, I'm noticing that it's April first and this is the worst joke you have ever played on me. Keep it up and I'll have your pool filled with frogs or something." Junior laughed thinking she was off the hook.

  "I wish it was a joke, my friend, but this one's true."

  "What happened to Quinton?"

  "He died at the scene and the doctors don't expect Susan to hang in much longer." Taking a moment for the information to process, Junior nodded her head and called for the check. They agreed to meet at the hospital where Junior would make arrangements for her brother, and his wife when the time came.

  Jillian watched her walk out, wanting to follow Junior and ask her what was wrong. Something had happened from the stony look on Junior's face as she walked by not saying good-bye. As the elevator doors closed an idea occurred to Jillian and morning couldn't come soon enough.

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