by Jean Oram
“Your husband cheats, and you’re on a dating site looking for someone on the side.”
“It’s not like that.” Her voice was tight, surely making her sound like a liar.
“Being married goes against our terms of service. We’ve charged your credit card your nonrefundable annual subscription, and banned you from our site, as well as terminated your We Win Your Love contract. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
He hung up and, trembling, Jill put her phone in her desk drawer, hoping that having it out of sight meant out of mind in regards to how she’d just been chewed out for her dishonesty.
She hoped Burke was doing better in the city and had managed to find a way to calm Autumn. Jill could understand how the governor’s daughter might be reaching out to Burke if things were going south in her own life. He was the kind of man who made you feel as though everything would be okay even if logic told you otherwise. He just had that…certain something about him.
The card that had come with the flowers said one word. Thanks.
Jill smiled. The weekend had meant as much to Burke as it had to her?
Aw.
That made everything seem better.
Emma entered the office, bringing with her the scent of spring. It was late March and the earth, like Jill’s heart, was full of hope, everything coming to life once again after a long period of dormancy.
Emma stopped when she saw the flowers. “Those yours?”
“They’re from Burke.”
“Things are going well?”
Jill nodded.
“So secretive.”
“There’s not much to say. We’re an old married couple.” She grinned like a fool.
“Sure. Nothing to say.” Emma smiled, but let her off the hook by changing the subject. “How are your orders?”
“A bit slow over the weekend.” Jill handed Emma a printout of the All You orders that had come in. Typically, it was slow over the weekend, as most businesses did their ordering midweek.
“I meant yours.”
Jill felt the familiar jab of worry at the thought of filling the orders that were streaming in. There had been a few hiccups. Today was the first day her products were being offered to the entire site and also the first day she’d ever had a return—a large one at that. It had been a bulk order that had to be tossed out, as she couldn’t risk resending the product since she didn’t have anti-tampering packaging in place. That had hurt. All that wasted product.
There had also been a few new negative reviews. Originally she’d wanted to blame Autumn, as she felt like an easy target, but to have this number of bad reviews had to be due to more than some woman with a vendetta. Poor reviews were a part of business though, right? Emma got a few, as did Burke. And having no poor reviews might even look suspect, as no individual shopper loved everything.
But the one about the rash? She’d seen that post last night, and hadn’t dared bring it up with Burke yet. The reviewer had even shared a photo, which looked ugly and scary. It could be an allergy, perhaps. That could happen, and Jill couldn’t blame herself.
Anyway, she had to focus on the customers who loved her stuff and were leaving raving reviews and placing orders for their friends. Lots of friends. Ethan’s system had sent her pages of orders that morning. And there would be more again tomorrow. And the day after that, keeping Rebecca and Joseph busy for even more hours than she’d initially promised them.
“What’s wrong?” Emma asked.
“There are so many orders. It’s great. I love it, but it’s overwhelming.”
Emma nodded in sympathy.
“How did you deal with everything when All You suddenly took off?”
Last spring Emma had released some honest, soul-baring videos on her beauty blog that had reached viewers around the world, causing a flood of orders for her all-natural cosmetics. Practically everyone in Blueberry Springs had stepped in to help, Jill even leaving her job at the town office to help Emma full-time. It had been exhilarating, but at the end of the day Jill had been able to leave her desk and put it out of mind until the next morning.
“On a personal level or a business level?” Emma asked.
“Personal level.”
“Luke was my support system, handling many of the details to make sure everything at work went smoothly. With him taking care of business it meant that things in my personal life drifted back into place.”
Jill nodded and twisted the end of her ponytail around her fingers. She could see that she and Burke were going to have to realign her system once again, possibly taking out the bulk order option he’d been insistent upon, making her feel like a failure, as she couldn’t seem to get it perfect. Things just kept interfering, messing with it all.
“Have you spoken to Burke about how you’re feeling?” Emma asked gently. “Because if the business side is taken care of, the personal side will resolve itself, too. And vice versa. Just know that you’re going to be very busy as your business grows. Be patient with him and your relationship. Everything will change from day to day.”
They sat in silence for a moment, then Emma leaned forward. “So? Will there be a real wedding in the future, like Luke and I had in South Carolina at Christmas? Ginger has this most adorable dress that would look so cute on you. It’s the one in her window.” She caught Jill’s expression. “If you don’t like the long sleeves, Olivia could shorten them.”
“We’re already married.” Jill began shifting papers on her desk, desperate to change the subject, her mind circling around their unsigned divorce papers. Papers she was no longer itching to sign.
“It’s okay if you don’t have a big wedding. I’m just happy how he’s made you smile more.”
The two women settled in to work, organizing a marketing campaign until noon.
“I’m heading down to Lily’s restaurant for lunch. Did you want to join me?” Emma finally asked.
“I lost my wallet on the weekend and it hasn’t shown up yet.” Jill waved her brown paper bag lunch. “I’ll eat here. I have some catching up to do, anyway.”
“My treat.”
She contemplated the peanut butter and jam sandwich she’d made for herself versus some of Lily’s good cooking. “Okay, you’ve twisted my arm. Just give me a moment to finish sending these emails.”
“Meet you there?” Emma said. “I have to make a stop along the way.”
Jill finished her emails, and was reaching for her coat when her cell began ringing in the drawer.
It was Burke. Smiling, she answered.
“Jill?” Burke’s tone pulled the smile off her face. “We need to talk.”
“You’ve stopped singing Glenn Miller,” Gulliver said, standing in the doorway to Burke’s office. He came the rest of the way inside and closed the door. “Do you need me to send flowers?”
Burke shook his head. When he spent time with Jill in Blueberry Springs it became easy to become distracted and forget about the real world. But now, back in the city, with a little distance between them, he’d come to realize that not only was he losing his grip on his business and reputation, but he’d also taken his fake wife to bed and it had meant something. Maybe it was the way she approached him with hope lighting her eyes. The way he lost track of time when he was with her.
Jill couldn’t leave him.
They were a team. A very good team. Except…now he had to tell her some bad news, and their mixing of business and pleasure might make a mess he wasn’t ready to deal with.
“Maybe jewelry?” Gulliver asked.
“No, no gifts. But I need you to call Autumn. Tell her we need to discuss some things.”
Gulliver sat down on the couch. “Think she’ll take your calls after the press marked her as the wounded and betrayed?”
“I think she may have been behind it, actually.”
“Really?” Gulliver was all ears.
“Yeah, and her meddling is the last thing I need.”
“Especially with the pitch to Tiffer com
ing up.”
Burke nodded. He was getting a stress headache just thinking about it.
“What are you going to do as counter-publicity?” Gully glanced down as though expecting his notebook and pen to be waiting on the couch cushion beside him. “Hang on. Your little weekend party that made the news…?”
Burke nodded.
“Smart. By the way, love the matching tattoos.” He winked.
“Well, hopefully it’s enough.” Burke handed over a document sent from Ethan twenty minutes ago. “Because look at this.”
“What are these?” Gulliver scanned the ratings and reviews from the website on Jill’s products. A third of the ones that had come in over the weekend weren’t what he would consider good. Plus the return rate had skyrocketed, thanks to a bulk order that had come back immediately—simply stating they’d ordered the wrong products—and putting a ding in their profits.
“Are they all this horrible?” Gulliver began flipping through the stapled sheets, reading the headlines.
“No, but a good chunk of them are. And Ethan just opened up the site so everyone gets the pop-up for her products today.”
“Well, Monday mornings are usually slow at least,” Gulliver said. He kept flipping, skimming. He winced when he came across one with a photo, claiming that the rash was caused by her products. “This isn’t good.”
“I know,” Burke barked. He strived to push down the panic that kept threatening to rise up.
One star—would have given it zero if that was an option.
Worst money spent this year.
I can’t believe Sustain This, Honey allowed this crap on their site. I used to think this was a good store and a company who cared about their customers.
“There are some good ones, though,” Gulliver said supportively.
The good still outweighed the bad, but for how long?
“Call Ethan, tell him to pull back on going wide and to temporarily shut off the review feature. And curb the bulk orders, too. Jill can’t afford returns.” Burke pinched the bridge of his nose. “Never mind. I’ll call.”
He cursed and dialed Ethan, giving him the commands. “You know what? No. Just pull all of Jill’s products until further notice.”
“What?” Gulliver was gaping at him, and the techie’s own verbal surprise echoed over the line.
“Don’t hit yourself in the chin, jerking your knee in reaction to this,” Ethan said. “It’s probably a troll.”
“How could it be a troll? This is way too pervasive.” Hadn’t Jill tested her products? Why hadn’t he demanded more from her before subjecting his own brand and reputation to this onslaught? He knew better than this.
He’d already learned this lesson before. Never partner with a woman who has less to lose than you do.
“I’ll suppress reviews for now,” Ethan said, “and I’ll put a size limit on the site so people can’t order bulk.”
Burke could hear the reassuring sound of fingers clacking over a keyboard through the phone’s speaker. Ethan was already on it.
Burke owed him a bonus. A bonus he hoped to pay all his employees if he could just survive the next six months.
“I’ll also go back to the test version, where only a fraction of site visitors see her stuff at checkout.”
“Thanks.” Burke tapped a pen on his desk. This was going to put them behind their projections, but they might still be able to raise enough capital to get where he needed to be in time for next month’s pitch to Get There Media. Assuming Tiffer was still taking his calls at that point.
“Did you notice the increase in cart abandonment for those who didn’t get Jill’s pop-up at check out over the weekend?” Ethan asked. He sounded half-distracted, his typing still echoing through the phone.
“What? No.” Burke hadn’t gotten that far into the reports.
“Yeah, totally up. It’s like customers were trying to get the pop-up with Jill’s products when they were checking out, and if they didn’t, they abandoned their cart and started over.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, maybe. Keep watching the numbers. Don’t throw the baby out with the… Hey, I gotta go. Zach is calling.”
“Who’s Zach?”
“Forrester. He does digital investigations for Logan Stone’s personal security business here in town. If there’s a troll, he’ll find it. I’ll add his services to your bill.”
Burke hung up, more confused than ever.
He imagined his employees on the other side of the wall. Their lives. The way they depended on this job, on him. Just like his aunt had when he’d been nineteen and scared of failing her. Scared she wouldn’t get better, that he’d lose their home by not figuring things out in time.
But he always figured things out in time. He was Burke Carver.
Jill had ended up canceling lunch with Emma, as well as taking the afternoon off so she could meet with Burke in the city. He hadn’t disclosed why he needed to talk to her, but his tone of voice told her everything she needed to know—it was bad.
By the time she reached his office’s building she was a bundle of nerves.
Tiffer had to have told him no deal, and so Burke was going to cut her loose. The fear and hurt she felt at the idea told her everything she needed to know. She’d fallen for Burke.
As she opened the doors to the building, she whispered to herself, “Breathe, Jill. Don’t assume the worst. Just keep breathing.”
She walked past the reception desk toward the elevators.
“Ma’am? You need a visitor pass for security and identification purposes,” the guard called.
“I haven’t needed one yet,” Jill grumbled to herself. It was the same scrawny guy who had given her a difficult time outside the workout room last month. That already felt like years ago. “I’m here to see Burke Carver.”
“Is he expecting you?”
Her nerves getting the best of her, Jill marched over, placing both palms flat on the counter separating her from the security agent.
“Yes,” she said clearly, “my husband is expecting me.” She turned on her heel and marched to the elevators, grateful when one opened as soon as she pushed the up button.
Gulliver wasn’t at his desk and she opened the door to Burke’s office, letting herself in. “Your building’s security is over-the-top.”
“They warned me you’d breached the gate and were storming the castle.”
She sat in the chair across from him. “What’s so important I had to come immediately?”
At one point during the drive she’d let herself fantasize that the desperate, firm edge to his voice over the phone had been borne from his need to kiss her. One glance at his expression killed that fantasy faster than a bird hitting a window.
He pushed a pile of papers across the desk.
She hesitated, then accepted the stack and began to read.
They were reviews for her products and every single one was horror inducing. They were like the one about the rash…only lots more of them. She’d never heard anyone say anything so horrible and she found it difficult to inhale past the pain.
“These are all from your site this weekend?” she managed to croak.
She’d done as Luke Cohen, the former CEO of his family’s major corporation, told her. She’d stretched, reached and challenged herself. She’d relinquished some control and left room for the unexpected.
This wasn’t the “unexpected” she’d been seeking.
“I had Ethan suppress the review feature. These came in over the past thirty-six hours or so.”
Jill lifted a hand to her mouth. Noticing it was trembling, she lowered it again.
“I am so sorry,” she said quietly.
“Did you test your products?”
“In a laboratory?”
“At all?”
“They’re centuries-old. Nobody’s ever complained.”
Jill looked at the papers trembling in her left hand. How had she allowed this to happen? What if someone got hurt?
She could be sued.
This was horrible for Burke’s reputation. Everything she did now seemed to affect him and his reputation. And yes, she knew the possibility of Autumn being the one to drag his name through the mud wasn’t her fault, but it felt like it was. Just a little bit.
She looked at the reviews again. This was definitely her fault. This wasn’t one person having a hissy fit and trying to pull her down.
But why now? She’d been making these products for years without any customer complaint. But she hadn’t been selling them in these quantities. Had dissatisfaction been happening, just on a smaller scale, and because she’d been selling mostly to family and friends they hadn’t told her?
How could she shield Rebecca and her fellow Ute from the bad publicity that was surely coming down the line? And what would happen to Burke and his company?
Jill swallowed hard. This was where she lost everything. Not just for herself, but for those she cared about. She could feel the chill seeping into her bones.
There was only one thing she could do.
Burke sat at his desk in silence for a good fifteen minutes after Jill had gone home, his mind refusing to engage. She’d vowed to come up with a plan.
Another plan.
He was so sick of plans. Sick of them not working out. Sick of her feeling like she had to have everything perfect. Life wasn’t perfect. Business wasn’t perfect. Hadn’t she learned that yet? The biggest mistakes were often ones he’d never regret because they’d taught him what had gotten him to where he was now.
The way Jill had refused to meet his eye after reading the reviews left him with a sense of unease like he’d never felt before.
Something wasn’t right. And not just the email that popped up on his monitor, shaking him from his trance. It was from Tiffer, with the subject line: U 2 R perfect 4 ea other.
The short preview of the text inside said, “Unfortunately, this isn’t providing the image…”
Burke almost deleted the email before catching himself. He’d read it.
Later.
He pressed the button that connected him to Gulliver. “I need the idea files.”