Forces of Nature

by Cheris Hodges

  Tilting her head to the side, Crystal was taken aback to hear Douglas speak with such passion about his family’s business. Still, Welco was a heartless corporation, no matter what story Douglas wanted to spin.

  “Why here? Why this farm?” she asked. “If you really care that much . . .”

  “Crystal,” he whispered, “this is just business.”

  She glared at him and shook her head. “And until you realize that it’s more than that, I don’t want to have another conversation with you. Dena was right. This was a horrible idea.” Crystal spun away from him and stalked back to her house.

  Chapter 8

  Inside and alone, Crystal wanted to scream. Douglas wasn’t going to change, he was all about money and there was nothing she could do to get through to him. Why hadn’t she listened to Dena? This wasn’t some romantic movie, this was a businessman, a sexy man whose lips seemed to be drawn to her like magnets. And boy did those kisses leave her feeling weak.

  Not weak enough to give in to his buyout however, and if he thought kisses and hot caresses were going to sway her, he needed to think again. Or maybe she was being swayed. Swayed toward letting him inside her bedroom, between her thighs and inside her hot and waiting valley. Stop it, she thought. That man is bad news and losing your heart to him is about as smart as losing your farm to his company. Sinking back on the sofa, she tried not to think about the warmth of Douglas’s touch. As she closed her eyes, the phone rang, interrupting her naughty fantasy before she even got started on it.

  “Hello?” she said breathlessly into the phone.

  “Crystal, what in the hell are you doing?” her mother asked in a calm tone that obviously belied how she really felt.

  “I guess this is about Dena’s call,” Crystal replied. “Mom, I have things under control and I’m not going to lose our farm.”

  “Should your father and I come home and help you? Dena told me that you’re up against Welco and her arch rival, Waylon.” Crystal could’ve sworn that she heard her mother chuckle.

  “This is the second time I’ve heard his name tonight. What is this all about?”

  Erin expelled a breath and said, “That’s Dena’s story to tell, and I think your father and I may need to pay a visit because both of you have more than business on your mind. Douglas Wellington Jr. was a hard man and I can only imagine the business lessons he taught his son. That being said, daughter, what made you think it was a good idea to invite him to move in for a week?”

  “He hasn’t moved in. He’s staying in the guest cottage and . . . what do you mean by ‘Douglas Wellington Jr. was a hard man’?”

  “This isn’t the first time they’ve come after this farm, Crystal,” Erin said. “Your father was so bitter after that battle. Why do you think we moved?”

  “Why didn’t you all tell me any of this before?” Crystal asked, now on her feet pacing back and forth.

  “Because it wasn’t information that we wanted to saddle you down with,” she said. “And we thought the land grab was over. I guess we were wrong. I haven’t told your father that you have that man’s son staying on our property.”

  “Is there something else that you’re not telling me?” Crystal asked.

  Erin sighed again and told her daughter that she would check in with her on Monday.

  “Mom, don’t . . .” The dial tone sounded in her ear before she could say “hang up.”

  Now, this is just getting weirder. My mother doesn’t keep secrets from me! Crystal glanced at the phone and started to call her mother back. Instead she dialed Dena’s number. Dena wasn’t just the Hughes family’s lawyer, she was an old friend of the family. She and Erin were best friends. Crystal was sure that Dena could shed some light on what her mother was trying to hide.

  “Hello?” Dena said.

  “Dena,” Crystal said. “We need to talk.”

  “Have you gotten that man off your property?” she asked.

  “No, and that’s not why I’m calling you.”

  “Then what is it, Crystal? I hoped your mother would’ve talked some sense into you and told you what a silly game you’re playing.”

  “No, but she did tell me about Douglas Wellington’s father.”

  Dena fell silent and Crystal knew she’d hit a nerve. “Your mother told you what, exactly?” Dena asked.

  “That he was a hard man. What did she mean by that?”

  “That’s your mother’s story to tell and obviously, she didn’t tell you.”

  “Funny,” Crystal said. “That’s the same thing she said about you and Waylon Terrell. Now, someone is going to give me some answers!”

  “Crystal, we all have a past and your mother and I don’t want you to repeat the mistakes we made.”

  “What mistakes?” she asked, annoyed that both her mother and her lawyer were trying to pull the wool over her eyes.

  “You don’t want to be involved with the Wellington clan,” she said. “You’re going to have to trust that your mother and I know what we’re talking about. Crystal, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. All you need to know is Welco has always wanted this farm.”

  “Why, though?” Crystal asked as her mind filled with the thought of Douglas’s kiss. “I have no clue what you and my mother are talking about.”

  “If you’re lucky, you never will, Crystal. Trust me when I tell you that Douglas will do anything to get what he wants and if that means pretending to love you, he’ll do it.”

  She sighed and sank into the sofa. “So, this happened to you or my mom?”

  Dena groaned. “Douglas has to go if you really want to save your farm. You’re going to win this through the courts, not through whatever fantasy you thought would play out this week.”

  After hanging up with Dena, Crystal was even more confused than she was when she’d called her.

  Douglas walked past his quarters and headed back to the reflective pond Crystal had showed him earlier. Underneath the moonbeams, the pond looked like a silver mirror. He wished that Crystal was by his side. He wished that he could stop the purchase of her property, but his hands were tied. Dipping his finger in the water, he watched as the ripples wrinkled his reflection. This land was unique and part of him regretted putting the wheels in motion to tear it down. But going back to the board now would mean that he’d be removed from his position, and he couldn’t disappoint his father’s memory. He’d taken the CEO position because it was what his father had wanted. And when Douglas had discovered documents that had been marked “Hughes Farm,” he thought that getting this land would be a way to honor his father. The Douglas Wellington Jr. Business Park would capture what meant most to him, Douglas surmised. Growing up, Douglas was acutely aware that Welco had been his father’s top priority. He couldn’t recall playing catch or watching football with his dad. Everything had been about business. There had been days when Douglas waited at his father’s feet while he wrote reports and ignored his son. Had it not been for Waylon, Douglas’s childhood would’ve been relentlessly sad.

  Still, he wanted to build this tribute to his father.

  Thinking about the file, Douglas wished that his dad was around to answer why Hughes Farm was so important to him. The notes on the farm had been vague, but since they’d been his father’s, Douglas assumed that he didn’t need to do any more research, despite Waylon’s urging for him to do so. This was his father’s baby and more than anything else it would be a gain for the county.

  But why was this farm so important to everyone? I need to see that file again. Maybe I missed something about why he needed this place. Since he wasn’t going to have the pleasure of Crystal’s company, he decided to go to his office and take a look at his father’s notes about Hughes Farm.

  Walking back toward his truck, Douglas saw the lights were still on inside Crystal’s place. Was she thinking of him as he’d been thinking of her? He started to forget the file, stroll up to her door and give her a good-night kiss that would stay on her mind all nigh
t. As he was about to do just that, the lights went out inside the house. He hopped in his truck instead. He had a week to get Crystal to realize that she wanted him inside her bedroom as much as he wanted to be there.

  Starting the truck, he drove slowly up the driveway, feeling as if he was leaving some utopia and heading back to a reality that he wasn’t sure he wanted anymore. It was getting a little too easy for him to understand why Crystal was fighting so hard to save her family’s farm. And he’d only been there for a half a day.

  Who was he kidding? It was Crystal that he was enchanted with—as he had been since the day she handcuffed herself in his office. Maybe it was because she hated his money and forced him to work to earn her trust. Maybe it was how sweet she tasted every time he kissed her. Or maybe it was the burning heat of desire that smoldered inside him every time their eyes locked.

  I have got to get this woman out of my head. She’s standing in the way of progress and no matter how sexy she is, she is still a distraction, he thought. And as much as he tried to remember that this was simply business, Douglas knew business had nothing to do with what he was feeling and what was going on. That’s why he needed to know what his father had been trying to do with that land. Why was it so important to him?

  “Does it really matter?” he mumbled as he picked up his cell phone to see if he had service now that he was a few miles away from the farm. He saw the blinking icon for his voice mail and a couple of text messages. When he clicked on the first text message, he smiled at his godfather’s warning.

  Don’t forget your true purpose for being there.

  “That’s been long forgotten,” he muttered. “And that’s why I’ve got to see this file.” Before he could drop the phone onto the passenger seat, it rang.

  “Yeah?” he said.

  “Douglas, it’s Deloris, and I’ve heard the craziest rumor,” the reporter said.

  “I don’t have anything to say to you,” he retorted.

  “Is it my fault that you’re so quotable? Are the rumors true? Are you staying with Crystal Hughes at the Hughes Farm?”

  “No comment,” Douglas said, then clicked the end button. How does this woman know my every move? he thought as he turned into the parking lot of Welco Industries. Looking at the dark office building, he wondered if he should give the board what they wanted—his resignation. Then he could leave the company and do something he wanted to do. Like Crystal. Douglas looked around as if he expected to see someone else standing near his truck.

  Giving up his position in the company would seem like a slap in his father’s face, though. After he figured out what his father’s plans were for Hughes Farm, he would make a decision about his position with Welco Industries.

  Climbing out of the truck, he headed inside to his office. On nights when Douglas wasn’t out of town, looking for something discreet and meaningless, he’d find himself in his office working, trying to make up what he thought had been failure to his father.

  So when Waylon told him to research Hughes Farm, it hadn’t mattered because Douglas knew his father wanted that land.

  Now, he wished he’d been more businessman and less son seeking his dead father’s approval. Walking into his office, he turned the lights on and saw that his file cabinet drawers were slightly ajar. He never left his cabinets open. “Who’s in here?” he bellowed. After getting no reply, Douglas opened the drawer where he kept his father’s file on Hughes Farm and his diary.

  “Shit,” he groaned as he pulled all of the contents out of the drawer. The diary and the file were gone and he was pissed. Douglas had found the diary last year and hadn’t brought himself to read it. Part of him knew there was something dark in those pages that he wasn’t ready to read. But one day, he planned to read it. Now it was gone. Grabbing his desk phone, he called Amy.

  “Hello?”

  “What happened after I left the office?” he growled into the phone.

  “Mr. Wellington?” she asked.

  “Get here, now!”

  “Y-yes, sir,” she stammered.

  Douglas slammed down the phone and continued his search. Why did someone want that file? There wasn’t anything in that file that could help . . . Crystal! Did she have someone on the inside? Had she used this plan to get him away from his office, cut off from communications, and now she had the file that . . . No. He wasn’t going to believe that she would be that underhanded. But why wouldn’t she play dirty? Crystal made it clear that she would do anything to save her farm. He wasn’t going to put stealing past her. But he couldn’t come out and accuse her.

  So, how was he going to broach this subject to her? Douglas picked up the phone and dialed Crystal’s number, but he hung up after the first ring. What was he going to say to her? He couldn’t just hold the phone and listen to her saying hello. That’s what stalkers do. Pacing back and forth in his office, his mind danced from anger to desire as he thought about the missing file and the touch of Crystal’s hand on his shoulder. The sensations that ran through his body as he recalled her soft moans as they kissed inside her house almost negated the negative thoughts he’d been having about what had been taken from his office. Until Amy walked in. His mind shifted back to the business at hand.

  “Who was in my office?” Douglas boomed.

  “I—I don’t know. When you left, I got a call from—”

  “Amy, when I’m not here you know that you’re not supposed to leave your desk without locking my office. We’ve had this discussion before.”

  “I didn’t, sir. I didn’t leave your office open. Mr. Terrell came by looking for you and you weren’t here.”

  “You’re saying my godfather went into my office?” Douglas was about to fire her for telling what he thought was a lie.

  “No,” she said. “Mr. Terrell left and I walked him to the elevator. When I returned your office door was open and I thought you were back. I looked in the office and no one was there. I closed the door and then I left.”

  Sighing, Douglas thought about what she said and who would’ve gone into his office. It had to be one of the board members. Other than himself, Waylon, and Amy, they were the only people who had carte blanche in the building. That was going to change. Douglas sent Amy to her desk to wait for him while he called security.

  “Mr. Wellington,” the security chief, Rex Harris, said. “How can I help you, sir?”

  “I don’t want anyone to be allowed up on my floor unless it’s myself, Amy, or Waylon Terrell. Change the security code on the elevator to eight-three-nine-seven,” he ordered.

  “Yes, sir,” he said. “Is there a problem I should be aware of ?”

  “Not yet, but we’re trying to avert that. If anyone gives you shit about the new rule, make sure you inform me.”

  “Yes, sir, but are you—”

  “Are you questioning my orders?”

  “No, sir,” Harris said nervously. “I just want to be—”

  “Do as I say and there won’t be any problems.” Douglas hung up the phone and wondered if Harris was part of the problem. He called Amy into his office and motioned for her to sit in the leather chair across from his desk.

  “Yes, sir,” she said.

  “There’s a file missing from my office that could have impact on the business park.”

  “I did—”

  Douglas held up his hand. “I’m not accusing you of anything, right now. But we have to find that file and I need to know how that file got out of this office. You need to get me the video surveillance and have it sent to this address by an outside messenger company,” he said as he wrote down the address to Hughes Farm. As he slid the paper over to Amy, he watched her face for a reaction. She should’ve known the address and she should’ve asked him a question about why he was staying there. But she said nothing. Douglas felt as if he had found the leak.

  “You can go now,” he said to the frazzled assistant. As soon as Amy left, Douglas called his head of security back.

  “Yes, sir?” Harris asked.
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  “I need the security video from midnight Thursday through ten p.m. today,” he said. “And when my assistant calls Monday morning to ask for a copy of this same video, give it to her and don’t tell her that I already have a copy of it.”

  “All right. I can have this downloaded and sent to you in the next half an hour,” Harris said. “Sir, are you sure there isn’t more that I need to know about what’s going on?”

  “If you needed to know more, I’d tell you. This week I need you to keep an eye out on my office.”

  “No problem. Do you want me to add another camera to your office?” he asked.

  “Yes, and I want it to be undetectable,” Douglas said. “If you can install it tonight before my assistant gets in on Monday that would be great.”

  “All right. I’ll be up there after the download is complete,” Harris said.

  “Thanks,” Douglas said. After hanging up the phone, he started to call Crystal, but decided against it. She probably didn’t even know he’d left.

  Chapter 9

  Crystal wanted to slap herself. Was she really waiting on her front porch to see when and if Douglas would return to Hughes Farm? Really? First of all, it wasn’t as if he was her man, and secondly, he wasn’t obligated to stay at the farm simply because she’d invited him.

  Still, where in the hell did he go? And why did she care so much? Who cared if he had a hot date with some airhead, stick-thin girl with breast implants and long fake hair? Good for him, she thought evilly. “Douglas needs a brainless woman who thinks everything he does is right and that is not me,” she muttered. Taking a sip of her iced tea, Crystal decided that she would sit outside for another five minutes and then she would go inside and fold her laundry. She told herself that she wasn’t going to worry about where Douglas was or who he was with. It wasn’t her business and she had no need to rack her brain over it. As she rose to her feet, she saw the headlights of Douglas’s truck pull into the long driveway. She sat down and tried to pretend that she hadn’t been waiting for him. When the truck stopped, Crystal fully expected to see Douglas get out of it with another woman. But the sight of him walking toward her porch alone allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief.