One More Taste

by Melissa Cutler

  Haylie was not at her desk. Her arrivals in the morning were getting later and later. Add to that her frequent lunches that often ran much longer than an hour, and which she sometimes returned from reeking of cigarette smoke, and the picture of her job performance wasn’t a pretty one. He liked Haylie a lot, but it was time to crack down.

  He rounded the corner into his office to see Ty sitting in Knox’s chair behind the desk.

  “This again?” Knox said, refusing to be ruffled by the surprise.

  “You and I need to talk.”

  Knox set his messenger bag on the floor next to the desk. “I thought we were already doing that, all day, every day.”

  “Your engineers are back this morning.”

  No wonder Ty was sweating. “Good. They’re early.”

  Could have been an optical illusion, but Knox swore he could see the sweat sprouting on Ty’s cue ball head. “We don’t need them. I’ve got my own team of inspectors I usually use. A top-notch company, one that knows the area. How ‘bout I give them a call and we send your city boys packin’?”

  Knox eyed the bottle of scotch near the door. Was it too early to celebrate his victory? Nah.

  He poured shots into the two lowball glasses that shared a tray with the bottle, then handed one to Ty and settled into one of the chairs across from the desk.

  “What’s this for?”

  Knox’s response to that question could go in so many different directions. Hard to pick just one. “To help calm your nerves.”

  “What do you think I have to be nervous about?” Ty snapped.

  A knock sounded at the door.

  “Mr. Briscoe?” It was one of the engineers, looking deadly serious. “I know it’s early, but there’s something you’re going to want to see.”

  Perfect timing. Knox gave his best fake look of concern. “Is everything all right?”

  “Well, no, actually. We’ve found a problem. A big one. It’s why we brought Ron, the geologist, with us today, to double check that we were drawing the correct conclusions.”

  Ty tossed back his second serving of scotch.

  “Come on in. Give it to us straight,” Knox said.

  The engineer took a sheepish step into the room. “The problem is, the original structure should never have been placed where it is. The make-up of the soil and the proximity to the lake could have supported a single-family dwelling, but not a building this size. The hill that the building is built on cannot support its weight, hydrologically or geologically. In fact, the building has already started to creep downhill. We found evidence deep in the foundation. All it would take was one big storm or, worse, a measurable snowfall, which has been known to happen in these hills, historically, and y’all could be in real trouble.”

  The situation was even worse than Knox and his engineer buddy had estimated. Excellent.

  “Will we be able to save the buildings?”

  “We think so, but it’ll cost you.”

  “That’s hard news to take,” Knox said.

  “I know that, sir, which is why we’d like to show you for yourselves what we’re talking about, if you’d just follow me.”

  Knox made to stand, but Ty gestured him back down. “Tell us where. We’ll meet you there in a minute,” Ty said, sounding far more composed than Knox knew him to be.

  As soon as the engineer had left, Ty sloshed the scotch back, then rose from the desk. He closed the door, then refilled his glass with scotch. “You have no idea the damage you’ve done bringing those fools in.”

  What Knox had done? Oh, please. Knox stepped around his desk until he was behind it. As discretely as possible, he clicked the record button on his computer’s camera. “What are we going to do about this? The inspectors say the building’s sinking toward the lake. They say the foundation’s cracked.”

  Ty swabbed his brow with a cocktail napkin, then took a seat in a guest chair, seemingly unaware of the musical chairs they were playing. “We can make this go away. We’ll get a second opinion. The guys I told you about. I’ve been working with them for decades, and they’re amenable to persuasion.”

  “You think we should bribe them? Are you insane?”

  “No, but you’ve proven to be disappointingly naïve. This is the way business works ‘round these parts. The Briscoe way. If you don’t like it, then just close your eyes. I told you I’d take care of everything. And I will.”

  Oh, hell, no. “But what if the building failed? What if guests got hurt? You heard the guy. One bad storm and the resort could slide into the lake.”

  “The Briscoes have been on this land for nearly a hundred years, first my grandparents as a farm, and then my parents when they turned it into a hotel. My father had an unorthodox building style, but he got the job done. The hotel he built has stood the test of time. We’ve never had a problem and we never will. The land is solid.”

  Time to go for the jugular. “You’ve known about this land problem all along, haven’t you?”

  “Would it matter if I did?” Ty said.

  “You duped me,” Knox said. “You duped me and my investment team. We paid a premium to buy into the resort, and come to find out we flushed millions of dollars down the toilet because you inflated the value of the property with your scam.”

  “I didn’t dupe you. I was protecting my business. My family. Our family. Like you should be doing right now.”

  Our family? That was funny. “Now you want me to collude with you on this new lie? You want me to break the law and put hundreds of guests and employees at risk. Is that seriously what you’re asking of me?”

  “You sit there pretending that you can compartmentalize business and family, but this business was built on the backs of our family. It’s all about family, and always has been, and I won’t let you bastardize what we’ve created. So I’m asking you, man to man, Briscoe to Briscoe, to shut up and follow my lead. I’m still the CEO of this business, so the call is mine to make.”

  “For the record, you and I are not family in any way that counts. And you’re only the CEO for now. And that call is Briscoe Equity Group’s to make, as the controlling partners. That’s my company, in case you’d forgotten, so I’m pretty sure they’ll heed my recommendation to fire you.”

  Just like that, the last vestiges of their mentor/protégé illusion, along with any semblance of civility, shattered.

  Ty rose again, looming over the desk. “You ungrateful son of a bitch.”

  Knox tipped back in his chair and propped his boots on the desk, inches from Ty’s nose, forcing him to back off. “I’m ungrateful? So, what, you expected me to go along with your plan because we’re family? Briscoe to Briscoe, like you said?”

  “That’s right,” Ty growled from behind clenched teeth.

  “You’re counting on me to stand in allegiance with you, to break the law with you, because we’re family, and family doesn’t let a business divide them.” Knox tipped his head back, face to the ceiling. “You hear that, Dad? Ty thinks I owe him a pledge of solidarity because we’re family.”

  Ty’s head was so red and filled with so much steam, it was a wonder his eyes didn’t pop out of their sockets. “Don’t you dare bring him into this.”

  Knox finished his drink, then spun the glass onto the table near his boots. “What do you think all this is about? Me, being here.” He pointed to the ceiling. “I’m here to deliver a big fuck you on behalf of my dad.”

  “You’ll never get away with this.”

  Looks like they were on to the empty threat portion of the conversation. “Get away with what? I could sue you for falsifying documents. It’s in the contract that I could. Hell, I’m pretty sure I could have you arrested, using this tape I just made of our conversation as evidence.” He made a show of stopping the recording.

  All that bright red color drained from Ty’s face. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Why not? Let me hear you say it this time.” Knox cupped is ear. “Because we’re family?”

  “
You bastard. What do you want from me?”

  Knox ignored the question while he uploaded the recording to a zip drive, then pocketed it. He brought his legs to the ground, then stood and shook them out. “Good question. And we’ll get to that. But, first, the engineers are waiting, so let’s get going.” He adjusted his hat, then buttoned his sports coat. “One last thing. I won’t sue you, Ty. I’ve got better things to do with my time. And I won’t tell your family or your employees just yet, either.

  “All I ask is that you remember that I didn’t take anything from you. You did this to yourself. You were bleeding this resort dry, overextending your assets. But it’s okay because you invited my colleagues and me to this party and we’ll take it from here. Your pride’s wounded, but you know this is the right move. I’m the future of this company, not you. The sooner you get on board with that idea, the easier your life will be. And I’m sure we can come up with a great retirement package for you when you’re ready.”

  Ty blocked Knox’s passage to the door. “You show up here with your entitlement, but you’re not entitled to shit. I will not be defeated so easily, boy.”

  Lucky for Knox that he’d never expected Ty to make it easy on him. “You’re afraid, but that’s natural. Change is hard.”

  “What’s your long game?” Ty said in a low rumble.

  Know squared a look at him. “You sure you want to know?”

  With a growl, Ty whirled around and smacked the scotch bottle off the table. The glass shattered and the room filled with the noxious fumes of evaporating alcohol.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. It’s simple, really. I’m going to bring the resort back from the brink of disaster and make it greater than it’s ever been.”

  “And then what?”

  Knox debated coming clean, then decided there was no harm in it. “And then, I’m going to strip Briscoe from its name and I’m going to sell it to the highest corporate bidder.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” he whispered.

  Knox sniffed. “Do you ever miss Clint? He was your sole brother, only a year and a half apart in age. You could’ve had each other’s backs, but you turned your back on him, and on my mom, and on me and my siblings. You did that, you and Tyson. When Tyson died, my dad didn’t get a penny. He had to scrape his way through life to make ends meet. And now you want me to show you mercy? You want me to pretend that I care what happens to you a year from now? Two years from now?”

  The only sound in the room was Ty’s angry breaths taken through flared nostrils.

  “What did you think was gonna happen when you brought me here, Ty? What’d you think?”

  Ty seemed to collect himself all at once. The rage in his eyes transformed to determination. “Nothin’s happened yet.” Proud words, though his voice betrayed him by cracking once.

  Knox didn’t think he’d ever had a more satisfying business meeting in all his life. This moment and the look on Ty’s face, along with the desperate quality to his voice, were going to sustain Knox for a lot of years to come. Long after he’d remodeled the resort and sold it away.

  Chapter Eleven

  Friday night, Emily was stirring a pot of grits in Knox’s kitchen when the doorbell rang. Carina, who’d texted Emily an hour ago begging for grits and pickled shrimp again. She hoped Knox didn’t mind her inviting Carina to his house without his permission. Ever since Knox and Emily’s momentary insanity at his mother’s house, Emily had done her best to play by the rules and keep her distance from him. She’d even managed to keep her unwanted lusting to a minimum, thanks to Haylie’s help serving dinner every night.

  But even if Knox would’ve minded Carina’s presence in his house, it was early enough in the workday that he’d probably never find out, and Emily wasn’t willing to make Carina wait to have her crazy cravings satisfied.

  She opened the front door to Carina, who was showing off her baby bump in a body-contouring royal blue sweater dress. Judging by her wide-eyed, awed expression, she was impressed by the grandeur of Knox’s digs. She entered the foyer, her head on a swivel. “So this is his house.”

  “This is it.”

  “I’ve never been on this property before. I didn’t realize so much space was back up in these hills. And this house … it’s so modern. I can see why he bought it. It reminds me of him.”

  “How so?” Emily asked.

  Carina lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Some might call it sleek and sophisticated, but I think it’s kind of cold and detached.”

  That’s what Carina thought of Knox? Cold and detached? On what planet? “I don’t get that vibe from him at all. Quite the opposite.”

  Carina leveled a teasing look at Emily, tapping a finger on her chin. “Let me guess. What’s the opposite of cold? Oh yeah, you think he’s hot.”

  Carina had no idea how right she was, and Emily wasn’t about to fill her in. “You’re really getting a lot of mileage out of that joke.”

  “I do my best. I smell something yummy other than my grits. Is that chili?”

  “Frito Pie. It was Knox’s dad’s favorite and I got ahold of his family recipe. Not that I’m sticking to it very closely.”

  “Genius idea.”

  “Let’s hope Knox thinks so, too. Come on into the kitchen. Your grits are about done.”

  Carina rubbed Emily’s back as they walked. “You’re not only a genius, but a life saver.”

  Emily sat Carina at the kitchen table and placed a steaming bowl of grits in front of her. While Carina looked on in rapt wonderment, Emily grated aged cheddar over the grits.

  “Sure you don’t want any shaved black truffles on that?” Emily asked.

  Carina licked her lips. “Uh-uh. This is perfect.”

  “Great. Your pickled shrimp will be right up.” While she dug in, Emily pulled the jar of pickled shrimp from the fridge, then set to work chopping parsley to garnish it with.

  She was nearly done when Carina’s cell phone rang. When Carina saw the read-out, she let her spoon fall from her hand. It landed on the table with a clatter. “Oh, please, no, God…”

  The shift in Carina’s mood was lightning-quick, calm to panic in an instant as she accepted the call. Emily set down her knife and listened. Her pulse quickened, though she had no idea what was happening.

  “It’s Haylie’s neighbor,” Carina said, answering. Her face turned white as she listened to whoever was on the line. “Is the yelling still going on?”

  Dread sank like a rock in Emily’s stomach. “What is it?” she whispered.

  Carina ignored the question. She reached a hand out and gripped Emily’s sleeve. “Breaking glass? Are you sure?”

  The tone of Carina’s voice, the call from the worried neighbor, yelling and breaking glass … Emily knew what those signifiers meant.

  “Mrs. Cordera, would you go knock on their door? See if you can disrupt it,” Carina said. “I’m calling 9-1-1. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

  Emily couldn’t decide where to direct her anger—at Wendell, at Carina, or at herself for, apparently, not being good enough to be trusted with the information. Clearly, Haylie and Wendell’s marriage wasn’t just dysfunctional. This went way beyond Wendell having control issues and Haylie needing to learn to stand up for herself, as Carina had led her to believe. “He’s hurting her, isn’t he?”

  Carina dialed 9-1-1, then turned terrified eyes on Emily as the phone rang. “Yes, hello, um, I think my sister’s in danger. I just got a call from her neighbor about a fight between her and her husband, and I have reason to believe it’s getting physically violent.”

  Emily’s heart sank. Hearing the words, calling the police. This was real. This was happening. While Carina filled the dispatcher in on the details, Emily grabbed her purse from its spot in the pantry, then gathered Carina’s purse and keys. At the last moment, she remembered she had dinner on the stove. She turned off the heat, but didn’t bother to do anything to preserve the food. None of that mattered now in the face of Haylie’s danger.
r />   “I’ll start the car,” she mouthed to Carina.

  Emily climbed into the driver’s seat of Carina’s car, which was newer and faster than Emily’s. Carina didn’t question the choice. In a daze, she sank into the passenger seat, gripping her cell phone too hard. On the drive, Carina dialed Haylie’s cell phone and texted her over and over, to no avail.

  “I don’t understand what Haylie’s doing home, anyway. It’s the middle of a workday,” Carina said.

  “She was in Knox’s office, cleaning up broken glass when I delivered Knox’s breakfast around nine. I guess the bottle of scotch tipped over. Or maybe Haylie bumped into it. She didn’t say. Anyhow, Knox was already out and about with some building inspectors, she told me. Maybe he let her go early because it’s Friday.” After a moment’s deliberation, Emily added, “This isn’t the first time, is it? There’s a reason you have Haylie’s neighbor’s number programmed into your phone.”

  Carina’s attention slipped to the window. “No. This isn’t the first time.”

  Emily pushed Carina’s car even faster and gripped the steering wheel harder so she wouldn’t shake like Carina. She wished she could be mad at Carina for misleading her about Haylie’s situation. It would be so much less scary to be angry at her friend than at a monster like Wendell. But focusing her outrage and fear on Carina would only be deflecting. Still, she wanted to know why Carina hadn’t felt comfortable being honest.

  “I would’ve been there for you and Haylie,” Emily said. “I would’ve tried to help even. I wish you would have felt comfortable confiding in me.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve only known for a couple months, and not because Haylie told me. I saw bruises on her arms. You know I’ve been trying to get her out of the situation, but she won’t leave him. Heck, she won’t even admit he’s abusing her. She keeps swearing that they’re happy and everything’s okay. I don’t know what to do. She’s desperate for no one to know. I realized right away that I couldn’t tell anyone because if it got back to my dad, he’d make the situation even worse.”