Only Her
Page 32
The room becomes silent as stunned faces look back at me. None of them expected me to offer up the company. Kensington Chemical has grown to be one of the most successful companies in the world, and everyone knows that’s because of me, not my father. I grew the company far beyond what anyone ever expected it to be. I never wanted to run it, but after I was forced to, I decided to make it more successful than my father ever could. I admit, there was still that part of me that wanted to prove to him that I was a better businessman than he was, and I did. He never admitted that, but he couldn’t deny the impact I had on the company.
But now? I’ve had enough. I achieved my goals and I have no desire to continue down this path. If my father knew I was giving away the company, he’d be rolling over in his grave, but it’s no longer his company. It’s mine, and I don’t want to be burdened with it anymore. I don’t want my children to be either.
Roger returns to the microphone. “Well…Pearce, that’s quite a generous offer. Are you sure you’re willing to give up Kensington Chemical?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation.
“Who would be CEO?” someone calls out.
“We can discuss that at a later time,” I say. “As of now, I am willing to remain CEO until a replacement is found. I am also willing to do whatever training is necessary to help the new CEO come on board.”
The CEO will have to be one of my fellow members because Dunamis uses the products we produce for their various activities. They need someone at the top to keep their secrets and allow them continued access to whatever products they need. There are several members who would be suitable as my replacement, some of whom I went to business school with.
Roger speaks again. “I think we all agree that we will accept your generous offer. I would like to suggest that you serve on a committee to help us choose the new CEO and would also ask that you remain on the board of directors.” He turns to the crowd. “Do you all agree with that?”
Everyone nods their heads.
“Very well,” Roger says. “Pearce, I will present your offer to the upper level members, but I’m confident they’ll agree to this.”
The meeting ends and I feel the urge to smile. But I don’t. I want my fellow members to believe I made a huge sacrifice by giving up my company. I want them to think I’m grieving the loss of it, and will be for some time. I want them to assume my actions show my commitment and support of Dunamis.
But none of that is the truth. I’m not grieving. I’m overjoyed. I finally feel free. Like a weight has been lifted off me. I’ll no longer have to spend all those hours at the office. I’ll be free to do something else. Something I actually want to do, instead of a job I’ve been forced to do. I’m not ready to retire just yet. I’m too young, and I’ve never been someone who can just sit around all day. But I don’t want to return to an office setting. Maybe I’ll do some consulting or give speeches. I enjoy giving speeches and it’s something I can do on my own schedule. I can also spend more time mentoring Garret. He and I own a sporting goods company, but I haven’t been able to help him as much as he’d like.
On the drive home, my excitement builds. Soon I’ll have a whole new life. A life with Rachel and Lilly. We’ll live in California, close to Jade and Garret. And I will no longer be tied to the company.
But before any of that happens, I need to deal with Leland. He’ll be told about Rachel any minute now, or maybe he’s already been told. The thought of that makes me step on the gas, speeding to get home. I won’t let Rachel out of my sight until Leland is dead.
When I get to the house, I find Rachel and Lilly sitting on the back patio, talking. The two of them are getting along even better than I thought they would. Garret used to tell Lilly about Rachel, so maybe in some ways she felt like she already knew her. And Lilly likes anyone Garret likes so Rachel was a step ahead in that regard.
Lilly stands up as I approach. “Hi, Dad.”
“Hi, honey.” I give her a hug and kiss her head. I’ve missed her after being away from her for a week. I need to spend some time with her, but I can’t until things are more settled.
She hugs me tighter than normal, then lets me go and walks away.
“Lilly, where are you going?” I ask her.
“To my room to draw. I’ll see you at dinner.” She disappears into the house.
I take a seat next to Rachel. “Did something happen while I was gone?”
“Katherine stopped by.”
“What?” I burst from my chair. “When was she here?”
“About an hour ago. I left you a message but your phone wasn’t on.”
I take it out and see that it’s off. “Shit! I forgot to turn it back on after the meeting. Did she see you?”
“Yes. I know I wasn’t supposed to let anyone see me but—”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to call William. We need to get the media announcements out right away. It can’t wait. I don’t want Katherine being the one breaking this story to the press.” I call William’s number.
“Pearce,” he answers. “I heard about the company. Are you sure you want to give it up?”
“Yes. That’s not why I’m calling. Katherine came by the house and saw Rachel. We need to get the media plan started right now. It can’t wait until tomorrow.”
“I’ll take care of it. Everything’s already in place so it shouldn’t be a problem. By tonight, it should be on all the cable news channels.”
I go in the house so Rachel can’t hear my conversation. “Do you have an update on Leland?”
“Yes. He got back from London two hours ago and was immediately told the news about Rachel. As expected, he canceled his flight.”
Leland was supposed to fly to DC tonight to meet with one of our politicians. He was going to fly himself there in one of his planes, but won’t now because he assumes I rigged his plane to go down in order to get revenge for his attempt to kill Rachel. Word travels fast within Dunamis. As soon as that meeting ended, I know at least one of my fellow members alerted Leland that I knew he was responsible for the plane crash.
“Did he check his plane before he canceled the trip?” I ask William.
“Yes, and it passed inspection, but he still canceled the flight.”
I chuckle. “Fear is power.”
“And so it is.” He chuckles as well.
“Did he try to get out of going to DC?”
“Of course, but he was told he had to be there. He’s Senator Shilling’s handler and therefore it’s his job to be there.”
“So he’s leaving in the morning.”
“From the hangar just outside New Haven.” William laughs. “For someone who thinks so highly of himself, he’s certainly predictable.”
Leland has private jets in multiple locations. He assumes I tampered with the one in New York, which he keeps in a hangar just a few miles from his house, and is the one he would normally take to DC. Now he’s planning to use the plane he keeps in Connecticut, assuming I wouldn’t tamper with that one. But just to be safe, Leland will spend tonight inspecting the plane and then have it watched by his security team until he’s ready to take off tomorrow. He could just fly commercial and not have to worry at all, but Leland refuses to fly commercial unless he’s going overseas.
“Is he already at the hangar?” I ask.
“He’s heading there now. His security team is already in place, guarding his plane.” He pauses. “And as for yours, he did as you expected.”
“Is that so?” I let out a humorous laugh. “Well, as you said, he’s predictable.”
In one of our previous conversations, I told William that Leland would likely tamper with the Kensington jet after he found out Rachel was alive, hoping both she and I would be killed the next time we used it.
“And you’re sure about what you heard?” I ask.
William tapped into Leland’s phone after our meeting at Garret’s house that day and has been listening to Leland’s calls and tracking his location.
“That’s not necessary.”
“Now that you know this, you’re not changing the plan, are you?”
“Just slightly. But the outcome will be the same.”
He doesn’t ask me to explain. “Good luck, Pearce. We’ll talk when it’s done.”
We end the call and I go back outside to Rachel.
“Did you get everything settled?” she asks, referring to the media plan.
“Yes. The story will go out tonight instead of tomorrow.”
“Pearce, we need to talk about Katherine.” Rachel proceeds to tell me about how Katherine acted toward Lilly, then how Lilly told her this has been going on for quite some time.
I sigh. “I wish she had told me this. Lilly tends to keep things to herself, but I’m surprised she didn’t tell Garret this. She usually tells him everything.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll talk to Lilly. If she no longer wants to see her mother, that’s fine with me. This isn’t the typical custody agreement. Katherine has no rights when it comes to Lilly. When the organization allowed our divorce, they made it clear to Katherine that I have full control over Lilly’s care and well-being. She wouldn’t dare challenge them. I allowed Katherine to see Lilly because I thought it’s what Lilly wanted, but if that’s not true, I’ll put an end to it.”
“Pearce, maybe you should tell her about our plan to move to California. She should feel like she has input, and not like we’re just forcing her to do this.”
“She’ll be happy about the move. She wants to be closer to Jade and Garret.” I check behind me to make sure Lilly hasn’t returned, then continue. “Now, about tomorrow. I need you to go to the airport with me.”
“Why? Where are we going?”
I tell Rachel just enough of the plan for her to play along with it. I don’t give her the entire plan because I don’t want her body language or facial expressions to clue Leland in as to what’s really going on.
“Pearce, as much as I hate Leland, I feel bad taking Lilly’s grandfather away from her.”
“He’s not a grandfather to her. He doesn’t care about her.” I’ll be proving that tomorrow when I carry out my plan. “Leland doesn’t even spend time with Lilly when she goes to visit him at his house. He’s almost as bad of a grandfather as my father was to Garret.”
She nods. “Then I guess we’re doing this.”
“Rachel.” I take her hand. “This will all be over soon. And then we can start building our life together again.”
I’ve decided I’m not going to tell Rachel about the company until the organization accepts my offer. I don’t know why they wouldn’t, but over the years I’ve learned not to ever assume you know what they’ll do.
I give Rachel a kiss, then get up from my chair. “I’m going to go talk to Lilly.”
When I get up to her room, the door is open and she’s lying on her bed with her eyes shut and her headphones on. I go over and sit beside her. When she feels me sit down, her eyes pop open and she yanks her headphones out of her ears.
“Can we talk?”
“Rachel told you.” She sits up, hugging her knees to her chest.
“Yes. But I’m concerned you didn’t tell me yourself.”
“I didn’t want you to fight with Mom about me.”
“How I handle things with your mother is not your concern. If she’s not treating you well, I need to know.”
“It’s not like she hits me,” Lilly mumbles, her eyes on the bed. “She just yells at me.”
“And says things she shouldn’t be saying to you.”
“It’s fine. I’ll just ignore her.”
“Lilly.” I tilt her face up to mine. “If you don’t want to see your mother anymore, you don’t have to.”
“I still want to see her. She’s my mom.”
“I understand that, but if she can’t be a good mother, you don’t have to see her.”
“Then she’ll feel bad. No one likes her, Dad. She doesn’t even have any friends.”
Lilly has always been this way, more concerned about others than herself. And Katherine uses that to her advantage, knowing she can treat Lilly poorly and Lilly will still love her and want to see her.
“Lilly, your mother has brought that upon herself. When she treats people the way she does, they don’t want to be around her. It’s not your job to make her feel better.” I wait for Lilly to say something, but she’s quiet, her head down. “I will be having a talk with your mother about this, but I’m telling you now that if she continues this type of behavior, I will not allow her to see you.”
“Okay.” Lilly’s shoulders relax and she drops her knees, sitting cross-legged on the bed. She’s either relieved or sad or a little of both. I can’t tell and she won’t tell me. She always hides how she’s feeling because Katherine used to scold Lilly for showing emotion. My parents did the same thing to me and I hated it and yet I let it happen to my own daughter. I wasn’t around all those years to stop it. Since the divorce, I’ve tried to get Lilly to open up more, but she has a hard time with it. She expresses her emotions in her artwork instead, which I guess is better than nothing.
“Lilly, I have some news to share.” She glances up, her expression worried. I smile to ease her concerns. “It’s nothing bad. It’s good. I was going to wait to tell you, but I don’t really see a reason to wait, and I’d like your opinion on the matter.”
“What is it?” She turns a little so she’s facing me.
“I’d like us to move to California, closer to Jade and Garret.”
Her face lights up. “Are you serious?”
“Would you be okay with that?”
She nods really fast. “Yes. When can we move?”
Her enthusiasm makes me smile. I haven’t seen her this happy for a long time. “I’d like us to move there this summer, if possible. Rachel and I would like to buy Grace’s house, the one in Santa Barbara.”
“Where we had my birthday party?” she asks.
“Yes, that’s the one. I’m surprised you remembered that.”
When Lilly turned 7, Jade and her friend, Harper, had a birthday party for Lilly in Grace’s back yard. It was a fairy theme and they dressed Lilly as a fairy. She loved it. She talked about it for months.
“I have another surprise,” I say. “I’m flying you out to see Jade and Garret tomorrow. When I was with them last week, they asked if you could come out there for a visit and I agreed to it. I assumed you’d be okay with that.”
“What time do I leave?” She’s even more excited. She misses her brother. She hasn’t seen him in months. And she loves spending time with Jade and the baby.
“You’ll leave in the morning, so you should start packing your suitcase.”
“Can I stay with them until we move?”
“I don’t know. Let me think about it. It could be several months before we move and I’m not sure I can give up seeing my little girl for that long.”
“Dad, I’m not a little girl anymore.”
“You’ll always be my little girl.”
She scoots over on the bed and hugs me. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too.”
She sits back, a huge smile spread across her face. “I can’t believe we’re moving to California!”
“I’m glad you’re excited, but don’t tell anyone yet. Only Garret knows about this. He hasn’t even told Jade. I want to get everything settled before we tell people.”
“What about Grandmother?”
Shit. I forgot to tell my mother about Rachel. Katherine’s probably already told her.
“Your grandmother doesn’t know about the move.” I stand up. “I need to go. Start packing. I’ll see you at dinner.”
As I’m leaving I turn back and see her with her headphones back on, dancing around her room, grinning from ear to ear. She’s elated about the move.
We should have done this a long time ago.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
32
PEARCE
I phone my mother on my way down the stairs.
“Pearce, is it true?” she asks when she answers. Katherine must’ve told her.
“Yes. She’s here at the house.”
“I’m coming over.”
“Why? You don’t believe me?”
“Of course I believe you.
“You don’t need to come over, Mother. Things are a little chaotic right now.”
“I’m coming over. I’ll see you shortly. Goodbye, Pearce.” She hangs up.
Rachel appears in front of me. “Who was that?”
“Your mother-in-law. She’s coming over to see you. Katherine told her the news.”
“She’s coming over right now? I have to go change.” She starts toward the stairs but I grasp her around the waist.
“You don’t need to change. You look beautiful.” She has on a navy skirt that’s full and flowing with a white cotton button-up shirt that fits her perfectly.
“This is too casual,” she says. “Your mother will expect me to—”
“I don’t care what my mother expects.” I lean down and kiss her. “I gave up trying to please her years ago. And I love you in this outfit. You’re not changing.” I kiss her again. “I need to check in with the office quick. Would you mind telling Charles my mother will be joining us for dinner?”
“I’ll go tell him right now.”
She pulls away but I keep hold of her. “I love you.”
She smiles. “I love you too.”
After the plane crash, I couldn’t say those words anymore, not even to my own children. And I never said them to Katherine. Doing so would’ve been a lie. I never loved her. But I do love my children. I just couldn’t make myself tell them that until I saw Garret get shot by Royce. That was my turning point, when I forced myself to go to counseling and when I committed to being a better father. Since then, I make sure to tell Garret and Lilly that I love them. I never heard those words from my own parents, but I’m not going to be like them. I want my children to feel loved.