Читать книгу This Time for Good - Carmen Green - Страница 8

Alexandria knew her father didn’t think she was a genius, but she wasn’t dumb, either.

“Daddy, shouting isn’t going to convince me to give you controlling interest in Wright Enterprises. Now, will you please sit down? Your blood pressure is probably off the charts.”

Feeling as if she didn’t have a friend in the world, Alexandria Lord Wright-Foster forced herself to stop fidgeting.

Her father had chosen to fight for his mother’s money in a court of law instead of visiting her in the final months of her life. Because of that decision, Grandma Letty had left all of her money, and shares of the company stock, to her only frequent visitor, her newlywed, twenty-three-year-old, college dropout, never-been-in-charge-of-anything-but-decorating-the-conference-room granddaughter, Alexandria.

Her father may have lost the fight, but he was still angling to win the war.

“My blood pressure will be just fine when things start to run like they’re supposed to around here. I’ve got some papers for you to sign.” He tried to persuade Alexandria with a tone that said he’d take the deal if it were offered to him. “You’ll get market value for the stock, and then you can go back to spoiling yourself.”

“Daddy, I’ve already told you, those days are over.”

“So, no more trips to New York for purses and shoes?” he challenged. “No more spa weeks in Arizona? No more couture fashion shows in Paris?”

“Ever since Marc and I got married, I’ve taken the family business seriously. I’ve been here every day learning this business and pulling my weight. I don’t shop like I used to, and I don’t party like I used to. I’ve changed. I’m a businesswoman.”

“You can’t play at this. You have no business skills and no business background.”

“Daddy, you don’t have a degree, either, and neither did Grandma Letty, and she was quite successful. So I’ve learned the same way you and she learned—on the job.”

A tiny sound of disbelief left her father’s mouth, but that was all.

“The bottom line is that I won’t sign my stock over to you. Would you like something to drink? I’m having mineral water. Jerry? Mervyn,” she asked her brothers who hadn’t said a word through the entire exchange. “Would you like a glass?”

Jerry shook his head. He was the youngest brother, but older than Alexandria by ten months, had walked in late and sat at the head of the table, and nobody had corrected him.

Symbolically, that seat had been left empty after Big Daddy, their granddaddy, had died two years ago.

Jerry didn’t know about the unspoken rule, having just returned from living in Texas. A concussion had ended his pro football career, but he was trying to get into the swing of things. He was very quiet and only answered questions when spoken to directly.

Marc, her husband, liked Jerry best.

Beneath the table, Alex pushed Send on her BlackBerry, hoping Marc would pick up.

For the past month he’d been in Philadelphia, but he’d been helping her practice assertiveness by webcam. Over a year ago he’d bought the book A Fool’s Guide to Being Assertive.

Initially, she’d been offended. But once Marc had explained the book, then read it to her, then torn off the cover and made love to her to make up for offending her, she’d liked it. That’s why she’d initially fallen in love with him. He’d helped her realize that although she didn’t have degrees, she was smart, and the world needed people like her.

“You’re costing us money, honey.”

“How, Daddy?” she asked.

“All this waffling.” He laughed in that big way corporate men did when nothing was funny. “You’re offering refreshments and we’re trying to discuss business.”

Alexandria lowered her glass of water and wiped her lip with the cloth napkin.

Her BlackBerry vibrated and she glanced at it then sent the call to voice mail. The same number had called four times, but it wasn’t Marc. She’d answer if they called again. Maybe he’d lost his phone and had to get a new one.

“We don’t have time for you to schedule your mani-pedi,” her brother Mervyn added, their father’s living puppet.

“I know, Mervyn. This is what I came to say. Too much money is going out of the company.”

“You have to spend money to make money,” their father interrupted, as if everyone knew that but her. “If you’d gotten your college degree like your brother here, you’d know that. But I’m not holding that against you. You’re a helluva decorator.”

Alexandria’s face heated under the sting of his sexist sarcasm. She wanted to be immune to their bullying, but she wasn’t. She bit her lip and her father’s eyes lit up like the lights on a pinball machine. He knew he’d hurt her.

“That’s what I’m talking about, little girl. You’re out of your league. You need to be home with your husband. How long has it been since he’s been home?”

“A month,” she said softly.

“Give that man some babies,” Mervyn Jr., chimed in all his fatherly glory. “You’re always here in Atlanta, he’s always gone. That might go a long way to helping Mama, in her delicate condition.”

The audacity of Mervyn’s words made her want to throw water on him. He’d done nothing to help his kids to bond with their mother. Were it not for their mothers, they wouldn’t even know they had a grandmother.

“Mervyn, you have five kids, a sixth on the way. If Mama was going to shake her depression because of children, she should be doing the electric slide right now.”

“Shut up, Alexandria. You don’t belong here. We’ve been doing just fine without you.”

“Grandma Letty didn’t agree with you, Mervyn, or she’d have left you the money. But, oh, right, you didn’t go visit her either. So I guess that means that I’m in charge. If you don’t like it, you can always get out. If you stay, you shut up.”

Alexandria couldn’t believe what had just come out of her mouth, but she was proud of herself.

Then Mervyn started shouting.

“Enough!” her father roared.

She grabbed her briefcase and put it on the table. “I don’t need a degree to know that you’re stealing from us. We’re not getting paid on certain accounts, and that’s bad business. It’s all right here in this report.” She pushed the papers to the center of the table and Mervyn grabbed them and walked away.

“You—you had us audited?” he stammered, glaring at her over his shoulder.

“Yes, I did.”

“When?”

Alexandria sat up straighter. “Yesterday. These are the first findings.”

“How dare you?” he demanded. Their father tried to see the report, but Mervyn held it close to his chest.

“What does it say?” their father demanded.

“Nothing.” Mervyn’s rapid response was faster and louder than hers, and meant to deceive. His eyes seemed to be begging her not to reveal his secrets.

“You’re stealing from the family.” She spoke slowly so her father and Jerry could hear. “No more access to petty cash for you.”

“Petty cash.” Their father laughed in her face.

Alex looked at Jerry and he shook his head.

“How much could it be? This is nonsense. You took a stranger’s word over your brother’s?” Mervyn Sr. asked his daughter.

“Not just someone. A certified public accountant, Daddy. A thousand dollars a week, sometimes more. He gets the money in cash from the office manager who logs it into a ledger.”

“Excuse me.” Willa, the receptionist, stood in the doorway. Tall and lean, she answered the phones beautifully, but had no self-esteem, thanks to a whorish ex-boyfriend who lived in the same building and whose bedroom wall adjoined Willa’s. She could hear every headboard bang. Every night.

Alex had shared her assertiveness book with Willa last week. She was currently on chapter two. “I have an urgent call—”

Alex gave her a nod of encouragement.

“No interruptions!” Mervyn Sr. barked.

Willa stayed in the doorway, undecided. “Um,” she said, brushing her bangs from her forehead.

“Get out!” her father roared.

“Willa—” Alex called, but the woman was already in motion. She ran down the hallway and through the door leading to the reception area.

She was probably in tears, packing her purse and getting ready to quit. Seven receptionists had quit the job since the previous March.

“Daddy, one day your outbursts are going to get you in big trouble. Everyone doesn’t have to become accustomed to them like we have.”

Alex picked up her BlackBerry and made a notation.

“What are you doing?” Mervyn demanded.

“Trying to keep the best receptionist we’ve ever had. I’m going to send Willa a fruit basket and a gift certificate for a mani-pedi. That will make her feel better.”

“How dare you talk about me spending money, when you’re ordering baskets and having independent auditors snoop into our family business. How dare you?”

Mervyn Jr.’s false indignation was almost funny in light of the trouble he was facing. “I dare because, before she died, Grandma Letty ordered this audit to be performed.”

Jerry got up and walked slowly out the room and down the hall to check on Willa. They seemed to have formed an unlikely bond in the weeks since Jerry’s return to Wright Enterprises. Willa taught him the phone system and he built up her broken self-esteem.

Alexandria showed her father and brothers the letter in her grandmother’s handwriting. Their father sat down, unwilling to say a cross word against his mother.

“The first findings show that you’ve been embezzling for over five years at about sixty thousand dollars a year. You might have to go to jail.”

Alex felt too vulnerable sitting down as her brother paced, but she didn’t want to seem out of control either. She perched on the end of her chair.

Their father’s chair bumped the table and he stood, looking alarmed. “That’s a bunch of nonsense. I’ll get my attorneys on these accountants and when they’re finished, they’ll wish they’d never set foot in this building.”

Alexandria let her head fall back and she clasped her hands.

“Why are you praying?” Mervyn asked, his voice full of disdain.

“Because I was afraid the meeting was going to go this way. Daddy, do you want to see Mervyn behind bars? How will you explain to Mama that you let Mervyn steal from the company and then let him be thrown in jail?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere,” Mervyn said, his gaze shifting to their father to confirm.

Alex placed her hands on her folder. “If Daddy calls his attorney, we’ll have to call the police. We will then file a report and explain the missing money for the past five years.

“The accountant said over three hundred thousand dollars has been illegally paid to you and not returned. Since you never made any attempt to pay it back, it’s embezzlement. You will be arrested and jailed.”

Her father glared at her brother. “Mervyn borrowed the money with the intention of paying it back.”

Alex knew she had them where she needed them, but she made sure she looked as if she didn’t believe her father’s borrowing story. “Well, they said there might be a way.”

“What way?” Mervyn Jr. asked.

“You can pay back the money today, and we can avoid calling the cops. Do you have cash, Mervyn?”

He stared at her in disbelief. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

Alex shook her head. “That’s not good. Well, Daddy, there are two other ways. But you and Mervyn have to make a commitment. Why don’t you sit down.”

Her father practically growled. “What is it, Alexandria?”

“Well, we haven’t been paid on twelve jobs, for a grand total of six million, five hundred fifteen thousand dollars and sixty-five cents. But if you could get those accounts paid up today, the accountants might be able to put Mervyn on a repayment plan and work something out.”

Alex held her position, hoping they took her seriously, because she didn’t know what else to do.

Her father nearly choked. “What?” He sifted through the papers again. “These people are my friends. I can’t go asking them for money.”

“That’s what the report says. The accountant said that’s the only way to go.”

Mervyn Jr. avoided looking at the papers their father set in front of him.

Willa came back to the door. “I’m sorry, but there’s an urgent call for Alex on one. And, Alex, there’s a man in the lobby for you named Hunter Smith. He said it’s important.”

A chill skated down Alex’s back and she stood, noting that Willa had her Louis Vuitton doggie bag on her shoulder. Where was she taking her Chihuahua, Little Sweetie?

“You’re fired.” Mervyn Sr. yelled at Willa, rising from his chair. “Get your things and get out of here. I haven’t ever met a receptionist that can’t follow simple instructions.”

Willa nodded, tears rolling like a waterfall down her cheeks. “Alex. Please come here.”

Outside the glass-enclosed conference room, Willa handed her a wireless handset for her to take the call in private.

“Is she deaf?” her father asked Mervyn so loud Alex could hear everything.

“Mervyn—” Alexandria opened the door and stuck her head in “—if you say anything ugly, I promise you’re not going to like it. You don’t have to be like Daddy.”

Mervyn Jr. stood between Alex and their father. “Alex, you don’t own me. She’s not deaf. She’s probably just as dumb as you are.”

Alex took the doggie bag from Willa’s arm. The poor girl was sobbing and Little Sweetie was trying to get out of the bag and lick at her tears.

“I hope you’re happy,” Alex told her brother, “because you’re fired. And you’re going to be under arrest.”

“Oh, no, Alex,” Willa objected, backing into the wall behind her. “I’ll leave.”

“No, you won’t. It’s time I stopped being intimidated by them.”

“Fired?” Mervyn Jr. shouted. He stepped into a chair, trying to come across the conference-room table. “You need a man to show you your place.”

Alex got the impression that her brother, who was five years older than her, wasn’t planning to have a reasonable discussion.

She grabbed her keys off the table and locked her father and brother inside the conference room. They could easily unlock the door, but that would slow him down.

“Go up front and call security,” she said, eyeing Mervyn. She had never seen him so angry.

Well, he’d just lost his real job and his side income. He was facing arrest, and there was a current Mrs. Wright and two ex-wives with babies he needed to provide for. Mervyn would be uncomfortable for a long time.

Willa looked like a gazelle running to the lobby. She threw the door open and screamed, “Call security!”

Alexandria rolled her eyes. She could have done that.

Mervyn was still shouting from inside the glass walls of the conference room, but Alexandria blocked him out. Had she not left her purse inside, she’d have been on her way. Security was on their way up. Once she got her bag, she’d leave. Being the boss was hard work.

The handset Willa had given her beeped and she answered. “Hello?”

“This is Chris Foster. Marc’s brother.”

“Marc? My Marc?” Alex balanced on one heel while leaning forward to get away from the noise.

“Yes, your husband. My brother. Marc Jacob Foster.”

“My husband doesn’t have a brother. Excuse me a minute, please, Chris.”

Her father and brother continued their loud argument as a man walked through the door with Willa.

He was tall and strong, muscles bulging from beneath the jacket of a well-made suit. He didn’t look uncomfortable, just that he didn’t want to be there. She agreed with him.

His dark eyes missed nothing. Not her brother behind the glass wall gesturing toward her. Not her father telling her how disappointed he was in her behavior and how she wasn’t going to get away with anything. Not Willa, who sobbed as if she’d been shot, and Little Sweetie who was barking his head off.

Her entire family was an embarrassment.

This man had been in her life for forty-five seconds and she didn’t like him. He’d seen her at her absolute worst and anybody that saw that was somebody she didn’t want to know.

Instantly, her defenses went up. She didn’t trust him. He didn’t look as though he’d hurt her, but he looked as if he could if he wanted to.

“Who are you?” she asked him with a fake-patient smile in her voice.

“I’m Hunter. Are you ready to go?”

“And just where would I be going with you?”

“Have you talked to Chris Foster?”

“He’s on the phone now.”

“I’ll be standing by when you’re done.”

He stepped back to give her privacy. Without understanding why, she appreciated that about him. The men in her life were without consideration and she always felt inferior, but not anymore.

“Okay.” Alex heard her southern twang and took a few deep breaths. It was always more pronounced when she was stressed or after a long day. “Can you make yourself useful and hold this?”

She handed Hunter Smith her shoulder Vuitton doggie bag, turned and gestured inside. “My purse is inside. Can you get that without letting my daddy and brother out? Security is on the way to arrest my brother. It’s a long story. He wants to hit me, so it’s important that doesn’t happen.” She smiled and nodded her head. “Thank you.”

Plugging her ears, she turned her back on the whole mess.

“I’m sorry, Chris. You caught me at a bad time. My husband didn’t have any family. He was an orphan. You have the wrong number, and as I’m sure you can hear I’m kind of busy right now.”

“Mrs. Foster, my brother wasn’t truthful with you. I’m very much alive, and very much his brother.”

“When was he born?” she asked him.

“May 5.”

“That’s right. What city?” she said quickly.

“Costa Woods, California.”

“That’s not true. He was born in Macon, Georgia.”

“No, he wasn’t. Marc Jacob Foster was born in Costa Woods, California.”

“He has a birthmark—” she began.

“It’s shaped like a boot of Texas on the inside of his right knee,” Chris finished. “He has a scar on his shoulder from falling out of a tree when he was six years old trying to reach a cat that had climbed up and wouldn’t come down. Seven stitches,” they said together.

“That’s right,” she said slowly as the reality of his words hit home.

“Why would Marc say he didn’t have a brother?”

“I can’t answer that right now, Mrs. Foster. I’ve made all the funeral arrangements.”

There was a loud crashing noise and Alexandria didn’t even want to know what was going on behind her. This day had turned out to be a day she shouldn’t have gotten out of the bed. But she knew that not looking at the mess didn’t mean it wasn’t going to be there. So she turned around.

Her brother had tried to pile chairs against the conference-room door to keep the police out, but they weren’t amused.

He was on the floor being handcuffed while their father stood by dialing his phone. No doubt calling his attorney.

“It sounds like you’re at the zoo.”

“About the same thing. It was a board meeting,” she said.

“Your husband, Marc Jacob Foster, my brother, born May 5, died in an airplane crash.”

She braced her hand on the wall and all her gold bangle bracelets rattled. “Marc can’t be dead,” Alex broke in, keeping her voice steady despite the panic that shook her rib cage. “I talked to him two days ago, and he helped me…with something.” Alex took the phone to the far end of the hallway and pressed herself into the corner.

“He’s dead, Alexandria. I know it’s hard to comprehend. But he’s gone. I’ve made the arrangements,” he said compassionately. “You’re booked on Delta flight 1135 from Atlanta to Los Angeles. There’s a layover before catching flight 231 to Del Rosa. Your seats are row 15A and 27B. A friend of mine, Hunter Smith, has agreed to be your escort so you won’t be alone. I’ve known Hunter since my days in the bureau. He’s a trustworthy guy who owns his own security company in Atlanta. The funeral is tomorrow here in Del Rosa, California. Do you have any questions?”

“Your friend is already here. Can I trust him? He’s no rapist, is he?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Ma’am is my mother. I’m Alexandria, or Alex. I have another question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Where are rows 15A and 27B? They don’t sound like first-class unless there’s a plane of all first-class seats. You know, I’ve never seen that before.” Alex tried to block out the sound of her brother gurgling.

“They’re not in first class.”

“Oh.” Her stomach bottomed out. She’d never sat in coach before.

“Where will Little Sweetie go?”

“Who’s that?”

“My Chihuahua.”

“Sorry. You’ll have to leave him home.”

“I don’t travel without him.”

Silence grew, but he broke before her. “I’ll call Hunter with an update if changes can be made. In the meantime you have two hours to pack and get to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Hunter’s a good man. He’s really efficient.”

“Yeah. He’s kneeling on my brother’s back now while the cops are cuffing him.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said, trying not to cry.

“Okay,” Chris said, dragging out the word. “He’ll escort you to your home to get your essentials and then bring you out here. See you tomorrow. Again, my sympathies.”

Alex looked at the dead phone in her hand.

Hunter helped Mervyn to his feet and brushed him off.

Her heart squeezed in her chest. Her family couldn’t know that Marc might be dead. They’d really steamroll her then.

She had to get out of there, but if her father saw her face he’d know something was wrong. Then she’d break down and ask her dad to help her find out if Marc was alive or not. Then she’d be a vulnerable needy girl again, instead of a woman in control of her life and able to run a company.

Heading down the hallway, Alex scooped up Little Sweetie’s bag, grabbed her BlackBerry off the table, took Willa by the wrist and pushed her wayward group forward. Hunter followed with her purse on his arm.

“Where are you going?” her father demanded.

“I’ve said all I came to say. Now that Mervyn’s fired and on his way to jail, I guess you’re going to have your hands full. I’ll be back in a few days. Daddy, you have to collect that money and turn it in or no new projects will be green-lighted. Willa, stop crying now.” The woman’s sobbing instantly became tiny hiccups.

“Very good. Daddy, new credit cards will be issued tomorrow. The accountant will have them.”

“You will not leave here like this, Alexandria.”

“Daddy, I have to go to California. Today. Now. I’m leaving. If you have a business expense, submit it to the accountants in grandmother’s office. Do not yell at them. They’re not as nice as me. I’ll call you in a few days. Thanks. Bye, y’all.”

“In three days, this company will be back to the way it’s supposed to be.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Alexandria met her father’s gaze evenly. “We’ll see.”

He got in the elevator and rode down, no doubt to save his son.

Dragging Willa behind her, Alex held on to Little Sweetie’s doggie bag and shushed him. He ducked inside the bag and sat down.

“Jerry, I’m going away for a few days, okay? Do you think you can handle the phones for me?”

Her brother nodded and gave her the thumbs-up. The phone rang and he answered, “Wright Enterprises. How can I help you?”

She smiled at him. “Good job. Don’t let them take over, you hear me?”

He winked and went to work. Turning, she took two steps, and saw Hunter again, carrying her purse, clearly unhappy.

“Are you an accountant?” she asked him.

“Among other things. Today I’m here to escort you to—”

“Out of town,” she said, glancing at Jerry.

“That’s correct,” he said, picking up her cue for discretion. She wished he would step all the way back to the elevator so she could breathe, but to ask him would be rude. “Do you have a license?”

“For what?” he asked.

“Do you have one?”

“Yes.”

“May I see it?”

He seemed to be considering her from behind reflective sunglasses. “If you don’t mind, could you think a little faster?”

The only way she could tell she’d annoyed him was by the quirk in his jaw muscle.

Finally he pulled out his wallet and handed her his license.

“Here,” she said, giving him Willa’s arm as she scooted behind the receptionist’s desk and scanned his ID into the computer. Vincent Hunter Smith, six foot two, black eyes, black hair, thirty-three years-old.

He was handsome, but scary.

“Ma’am?” he said. “We need to get a move on now.”

“Alexandria. That’s my name. Or you can call me Mrs. Wright-Foster.”

“We don’t have much time, Alexandria. We need to go now.”

Somehow she hadn’t thought he’d go for Mrs. even though he was older than her by ten years. “I’m coming,” she said.

She returned his ID and he returned Willa, who’d lowered her sadness to a moan.

They boarded the elevator, and Willa stood behind them. “I don’t think I’m going to find another job. I’m going to lose my apartment.”

“Shh,” Alex told her. “Willa, you’ll work for me now as my personal assistant. Now be quiet. We have to think.”

“About what?” Willa asked.

Alex stood next to Hunter who watched the numbers above their heads intently.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “But I think we should be having important thoughts.”

He stuck his finger in his ear and shook rapidly.

They exited and got into his waiting SUV.

Maybe he’d gone swimming yesterday and the water wasn’t all out.

“You should try earplugs when you go swimming.”

His mirrored glasses turned toward her. “Buckle up. Where do you live?” he asked.

“Decatur, near the square.”

“I know where that is.”

“Good. The sooner we find out this was a mistake, the sooner I can go back to being Mrs. Marc Foster.”

He glanced at her. “What if that doesn’t happen?”

“I don’t know who I’ll be without him.”