by Ali Vali
“He’s married.”
“You don’t think I knew that going in? If you’re going to blame him, you have to blame me too, but all I want is for you to be happy for me. You may not believe me, but he loves me and Grady, and he wants to have a life with us.” Monique’s eyes were getting glassy, which meant Willow had pushed her too far.
She leaned over and kissed Monique on the cheek. Now was the time to admit to what had happened with Tucker, but it was Monique’s night and she didn’t want to cloud it with her own shit. “I’m only looking out for you, and I’ll be happy to plan a wedding with you.”
“Thank you, and I love you.”
The rest of the night was quiet as they ate and talked. Willow glanced over her email while Monique managed her diabetes. According to her last message from Margo, Tucker had called five times asking for her to get back to her, but she didn’t want to think about Tucker until she formulated a plan on how she was going to work with the sleazy bitch. There was just no way it was a coincidence. It couldn’t be.
“Hey, do you and Jim Bob ever talk about his family?” She followed Monique to the baby’s room and bit the inside of her lip for her weakness in asking.
“It’s not a great subject since Ivy has a drinking problem, and she’s strained the relationship he has with his children.” Monique spoke softly as she put Grady down.
Her nephew was so precious, with his full head of dark hair that stood straight up and his bright blue eyes. He in no way resembled their side of the family, and his cute face actually reminded her of Tucker. If Tucker had the ability to get someone pregnant, Willow was sure Grady would be the result. “Did he ever mention someone named Tucker?” Good Lord, the only way she’d get any lamer was to wait and pass Monique a note at lunch, but she had to know.
“Now there’s someone he’s crazy about. He loves that kid to no end.”
“You’re mighty understanding.” She was suddenly nauseous at the thought of her sister being this clueless. Their mother had been a strong woman who’d taught them to stand on their own and take care of one another. Monique, poor thing, had taken a wrong turn somewhere.
Monique rolled her eyes. “Tucker is Jim Bob’s baby sister. She’s twenty years his junior, and she owns half the company.”
Half the company? That was just fucking great. At least now I know her last name. “You’ve met her?” She was sick at her own cluelessness.
“He’s offered to introduce us, but I haven’t accepted yet.” The way Monique admitted that meant she was expecting another fight.
“Why not?”
“I realize you think I’m nuts or really stupid, but when Jim Bob starts introducing me to his family, I don’t want it to be as his mistress with the bastard kid.” Monique walked to her bedroom and started changing. “They’re really close, so she probably knows about us, but I haven’t pushed for details.”
“You should, and he shouldn’t hide you away. I realize you don’t push for anything, but that’s just insulting as hell. When are you going to wake up and realize he’s been using you all this time?”
“Can we drop this?”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to end up in an argument with you.” Monique put her nightgown on and wouldn’t face her. “No matter what I say, it’s never going to change your mind about him, but you’re going to have to come around eventually. He asked me to marry him, and I accepted. That means he’s going to be a big part of my life, and he’s Grady’s father.”
Willow couldn’t ease the tension in her neck, and when she thought of the way Tucker touched her, she simply couldn’t let it go. “I totally understand that, and I only get upset because you’re my sister and I love you. That this asshole has kept you hidden away drives me insane.”
Monique sighed. “Like I said, let’s drop it. We’re not going to figure it all out tonight, but we’ll have to soon. Jim Bob is going to be my husband, and you’re my sister. Both of you are important to me, and I refuse to spend the rest of my life seeing you separately.”
“Give me more credit than that.” It’d take some discipline on her part, but she’d learn to swallow every one of her feelings for Jim Bob for Monique’s sake.
“Why’d you ask about Tucker?”
“No important reason. She was at the meeting about the new platform, and I wondered who she was. Now I know to stay clear of her so I don’t give anything away.” And because she and her bastard brother were probably sharing a good laugh about the ease of bedding the Vernon sisters right now. “But you’re right. Let’s drop it.”
Chapter Five
The next week was hectic with Jim Bob mostly out of the office, but Tucker didn’t mind the extra workload to take the pressure off him. As she’d predicted, Ivy had totally flipped out when she’d been served with not only divorce papers but an order to start planning her and the kids’ move. That had made Jim Bob’s life, as well as everyone else’s, a living hell.
Tucker was getting regular phone calls at all hours begging for her to talk some sense into Jim Bob, and in not one of those conversations did Ivy sound sober. Tucker could handle it. At least by taking the calls, Ivy was leaving Jimbo alone for now.
“You’ve got a meeting down on twelve with the teams from Suntrust and TPT Construction,” Syd said as they reviewed her schedule. “They want you to sign off on the preliminary stuff, and if you do, Big Earl will start at the beginning of the month. Someone should tell him jumbo shrimp would be a more appropriate nickname for him.”
She nodded as she glanced over some paperwork. “Anything else?” Tucker was exhausted from the four calls from Ivy, twenty minutes apart, starting at three in the morning. She couldn’t turn her phone off because of work—she’d requested emergencies be routed to her instead of her brother, but lately the only dumpster fire in her life was Ivy. The kids seemed to take the news with some satisfaction that their father would be gone from their lives.
“You got that Oilman’s thing at Mardi Gras World Friday night, and Jim Bob’s the chairman this year and said he’d kill you if you missed it. And…” Syd hesitated.
“Go ahead and spit it out. Unless you’ve booked a meeting with Ivy for the rest of the afternoon that I’m obligated to attend. If you did that, you’re fired.”
“I love you too much for that, but Stella III is off-line again, so I blocked out Monday in case you want to fly out and check it out.”
“Fuck!” She pounded her fist on her desk. “It’s those goddamn safety valves TPT used to cut costs and didn’t think we’d notice. Did they evacuate everyone?”
“They sure did, but you’re right that it’ll take changing those valves out before we stop this same fire drill from happening over and over.”
“I’ll take care of it now and it might save us a trip.” She took all the files Syd held out for her and checked her email one more time.
“You’re not going out to the rig, you mean?”
“It’s the old carrot and stick way of doing business, Syd. The contract we signed with Big Earl is the carrot, and him screwing us on the valves is the stick I plan to beat him with until he’s bleeding on my cypress table in the conference room. That evil little guy has a way of pushing all my buttons, and why my father and him are friends is a complete mystery.”
“Okay, I’d ask to come and watch, but I have a conference call with the coastal erosion group you asked me to join.”
“Until Jim Bob gets his personal life under control, I don’t want to spend too much time in the field, so hopefully all our problems will be solved this easily. After your call see if you can talk Ivy into an around the world tour for the next year.”
“I’d have better luck learning sword swallowing,” Syd said, moving closer to her. “If you don’t get what you want, do you want to send Bubba?”
“He’s been around?” She hadn’t seen her nephew since the prior weekend at the most awkward dinner at Blanchard’s she’d ever attended. It’d been two hours of everyone pretending to
love each other until dessert. That’s when the screaming had started, but neither Bubba’s fiancée, Trixie Carlos, nor her parents seemed fazed. Of course, anyone who called their child Trixie and had a Confederate flag tattooed on his bicep was probably used to Jerry Springer–type escapades.
The lesson in all of it was that life was full of different people who considered evolution a dirty word. Her mother’s face, though, had been worth the price of admission. Where Bubba had met this girl was still a mystery, but he definitely needed a prenup, as well as an honest conversation about his life choices.
“Surprisingly, he’s been here on time every day,” Syd said, tapping her watch. “I can’t say for sure he’s not in there playing solitaire, but he’s here, and it’s time for you to go.”
“He’s smarter than I gave him credit for.”
“What do you mean?”
She laughed as she put her jacket on and stood as Syd smoothed down the lapels and straightened her collar. “The gravy train is leaving the station, and Bubba wants to guarantee his seat. Tara could learn a few things from him even though she swears she’s the smart one.”
“I’ll let him know to be on standby, then.”
“Thanks, and this shouldn’t take too long. Want to have lunch at the Petroleum Club after? It’s rib eye day.”
“I’ll make a reservation, and every day is rib eye day for you, so I’m not falling for that again, caveman.”
Tucker was early and the only one in the room, which gave her the chance to review their monthly numbers. Oil prices were always in flux, but the recent drop had hit the majors more than them, so she was happy with their profit margins. They were healthy enough to consider the pipeline and gasoline plant Jim Bob had been pushing for. Granted, it would take years of bureaucracy to get through, but everything was possible if you were willing to put in the time.
“Hey, Tucker.” Earl Peters with TPT came in with his son. Earl was her father’s age, but there was no way he was allowing Earl Jr. any power until he was dead and had no say in the matter. “We’re excited about this.”
“You might want to pull your shorts up and take a breath.”
Jonathan Mann was right behind Earl and Junior, and he’d brought Willow with him. Tucker had given up leaving messages since Willow had effectively disappeared. There was no way she hadn’t gotten the messages she’d left, which meant she wasn’t at all interested in talking to her. Willow had vanished like some act in Vegas, and she had to admit it sucked. Losing wasn’t in her nature, and it certainly was a novelty when it came to women. If you didn’t care, you couldn’t get hurt, and that was a rule she needed to get back to.
“Is there a problem?” Jonathan asked, shaking her hand and taking a seat.
“I’ve got a natural gas platform dead in the water for the fourteenth time this year, Earl, because you replaced the main safety valves with cheaper models. We’ve tried being nice, and patient, but time’s up. You’ve dragged your feet hoping I’d eat the cost of replacing them, so there’s no way in hell I’m letting you anywhere near another project of ours.” She didn’t raise her voice, but she could see Earl’s face getting redder and Junior’s hand on his arm as if to keep him in check.
“You signed a contract, Tucker, and if you had doubts, you shouldn’t have.”
“And you should’ve had your legal department review what you signed. We’ve got the right to change our minds before you cut the first piece of steel. A platform I’ve had to evacuate because I’m not going to endanger any one of my people’s lives gives me plenty of reasons to change my mind.” She straightened the papers she’d been reviewing and placed them back in the folder.
“Come on, Tucker,” Jonathan said with his hands out. “You know Big Earl’s good for this.”
“If you want to gamble with your people, go ahead, but I’m not spending the next two years wondering where Big Earl cut corners.” She stood up with only the financial sheets she’d brought down. “I’m positive your legal team knows every comma and period in that contract, so I guess we won’t see you two at the beginning of the month. If you want to proceed, Jon, I can’t stop you, but we’re out.”
“What’d Jim Bob say about all this?” Earl asked.
“My equal partner, you mean?” Her question made Junior’s fingers turn white on Earl’s arm. “You want to call him, call him.” She moved the phone toward him. “If you want, I’ll dial, but he wanted me to tell you that questioning what I’m saying is the fastest way to definitely lose the contract even if you make the damned structure out of gold.”
“What can we do to fix this?” Jonathan asked.
She tilted her head, thinking. “We’ll need an addendum to the existing contract that even one deviation from what we agreed to in the interest of cutting costs, and you’re going to eat the repairs we contract.” Jefferson had already drafted what they wanted, so she handed it over.
“This is ridiculous,” Earl said. “You’re shitting on my reputation.”
“You’re here because Suntrust pushed for you, Earl. Believe me, Jim Bob and I wouldn’t hire you again to build a doghouse, much less this massive project.” She took some more papers and gave Earl and Jonathan each a copy. “That’s the court order to halt any construction until our demands are met. Defy it and I hope you’ve got a place to park that big platform, Jon, because it sure as shit won’t be on our lease.”
“Let’s all take a few days to review, and we’ll meet again,” Jonathan said. “We take safety seriously, and I’m sure we could come up with some understanding we’re all happy with.”
“Sounds reasonable,” she said, handing Earl one more sheet. “That’s a copy of the invoice you’ll be getting from the manufacturer. You can either pay it, or wait and pay it along with the hefty legal fees when we drag you into court.”
“Jesus, Tucker, I did business with your daddy. I can’t believe you’re treating me like this.” Earl could have a sideline as a traffic cone he was so short, stout, and red.
“BP changed the game, Earl, and I’m not willing to become the next lead story for every major news outlet for a fucking year because you want to treat yourself to a bonus. Good afternoon, everyone. I’ll be waiting on that call.”
She walked out, giving them the chance to talk without her in the room. The door opened again as she pressed the up button on the elevator. All the screaming made her smile but not turn around.
“Tucker.” Willow spoke in a tone that made her think her name should’ve been followed by we’re ready to start your colonoscopy, asshole.
“Hey, are you okay?” She’d tried her best to keep her focus off Willow in the meeting, but there was no denying it was nice seeing her again. If she was honest, she hadn’t stopped thinking about her. “I tried calling, but I got the impression you wanted me to stop.”
“I should’ve gotten back to you, but I don’t appreciate being the butt of any joke.”
“Who does?” The elevator door opened but she let it go back up. “Did I give you the impression I’d done that?”
“Don’t lie and say you’ve never heard of me.”
“I don’t follow.” The decision not to get in the elevator was a big mistake because her drama radar was pinging hard. If that was the case she’d have to ease on up Bubba and her family since they’d had the decency to lose their shit at a fancy restaurant and not at work. “Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”
“Are you telling me you don’t know who I am?”
Willow was beautiful but had that crazy vibe about her that would make this project fun if it went through. “Of course I know who you are. We had dinner and did other things, remember?” This conversation was like putting together a piece of furniture from IKEA when the only directions were in Russian. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Great, just great,” Willow said, sounding like she was winding up, so Tucker pressed the elevator button again. “You and your brother must’ve had a good laugh abou
t me.”
“Calm down, and explain.” That comment was like applying jumper cables to someone’s genitals, since it perked Willow up, but not in a good way.
“You and your brother can fucking drop dead. I don’t know what you got out of this—”
The elevator door opened and Tucker got in without saying anything else. Willow appeared mortified at the outburst, but there were certain things you couldn’t take back, and this certainly qualified.
“Tucker, wait,” Willow said, but Tucker wasn’t sticking around for any other outbursts.
The door slid closed. “Next time, idiot, keep your pants on.” She rested her head against the cool elevator wall and wished the day away.
* * *
“Shit,” Willow said, wanting to get to Monique before Tucker got to Jim Bob. If Tucker was the vindictive type, though, her brother wouldn’t be her first call—Jonathan Mann would be.
She grabbed her purse and was relieved Jonathan was in a deep conversation with Earl Peters. She left quickly and pulled out her phone. Why had she thought she could keep this from her sister?
“Hey,” Monique said when she answered her call. “You okay? You sound like you’re breathing hard.”
“Before I say anything, promise you won’t get mad.” She stared at the pictures of the Delacroix rigs in the waiting area of the conference room and wanted the day to be over, or maybe a benevolent God would allow her to relive it. If that happened, she’d promise to make better choices, or at least not use the word fuck so willy-nilly. “Let me rephrase. You’re going to get pissed, but let me explain before you start yelling.”
“It can’t be that bad,” Monique said in her usual compassionate way.
“I told Tucker Delacroix she and her brother could fucking drop dead.”
The silence that followed was about as comfortable as watching Tucker walk away. “Is there some reason you did that? I mean, have you completely lost your mind? Never mind that I’m engaged to her brother, but that wasn’t a wise career move.”
