AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can forgive her,” I whispered. “And learn to trust again.”
“That’s my girl.”
Stella wrapped her arm around my shoulder, and we remained for a moment, listening to the sound of the winter sparrow singing her lonesome song.
By the timeScout and I arrived back at Atticus’s, the smell of bacon assaulted our noses.
Atticus held out his arms, a spatula in one hand, and I gladly went to him and wrapped my arms around his neck for a kiss. A quick look toward the stovetop told me pancakes were also on the menu.
“You do okay out there?” Atticus asked, letting me go to flip a pancake.
So much for my granola.
“I did.” I poured myself a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter and took a seat at the island. “I saw your mom out there too.”
“That right?” One eyebrow arched. He flipped a series of four pancakes perfectly.
I told him the gist of my conversation with his mother, leaving out the parts about him. “All in all, it was a good idea to go out there to visit. A weight’s been lifted.”
He put a plate of steaming pancakes in front of me. “Pop told me one time that the first day he met my mother it was at the diner, and she ordered pancakes for lunch. She told him Rex never liked her to eat anything fattening. He was controlling that way. In our house, after Pop became our dad, whenever anyone had a hard day or a big event to celebrate, he always made pancakes. I figured you could use a plate this morning.”
“That’s really sweet. Thank you.” If I stayed in Montana much longer there would be another string of mean comments about my weight. Right now? I couldn’t care less. I poured agenerous amount of maple syrup on my stack and began to cut them into mouth-sized pieces.
“One other thing—there are more photos of us circling. From the festival. We’re looking very cozy.”
I groaned, suddenly sick to my stomach. “What are they saying this time?”
“More of the same. ‘Billionaire Cowboy and Actress Bonding Over Their Mutual Tragedy.’ That kind of thing.” He ran both hands through his hair. “Plus some other stuff. About me.”
“I’m afraid to ask.” I chewed on my thumbnail. What had they done to him? “Did they dig up something from your past?”
He grimaced before dropping some of the pancake mix onto the griddle. “Well, it’s sort of meadjacent. The CEO of Seamark, the company that bought mine, has been taken into custody by the FBI. The entire executive team’s expected to fall too.”
I tapped my bottom lip with the tongs of my now-empty fork. “What did they do?” I had stayed away from television the last few days, so this was all news to me.
“Defrauded investors,” Atticus said. “And some insider trading violations as a public company. It’s kind of complicated, but suffice it to say, there’s probably jail time involved for the entire executive team.”
“You’re not involved in any way, are you?” I felt as if the blood had drained from my face and pooled at my neck.
“No, no, of course not. Mama would kill me if I ever did anything like that.” He grinned. “And it’s against my Christian faith to lie.”
“Apparently the people who bought your company are not of the same faith.” I waited for him to continue, stomach knotted. Something bad was coming. I could feel it.
“The board called me,” Atticus said. “They want me to come in as acting CEO.”
My mouth dropped open as the fork slid from my hand andclattered on the granite counter. “No way. Isn’t Seamark ginormous?”
“It’s big, yeah. Forty thousand employees.”
“Oh my. Okay. So, do you want that job?” My instincts were telling me to bolt. Run away as fast as I could before he chose his work over me. If I ran away first, I would never have to know which he would choose.
“Offers don’t come like this but once in a lifetime. It’s highly unusual they would award it to someone who had only run a small company. Apparently, they’re looking for someone innovative who also has integrity. There’s been a lot of bad behavior from men in power of late.”
“Most likely, there always had been but they didn’t get caught.” My mind raced to try to understand what this meant for Atticus. And me. It was one thing if one of us had a job that took us away from Montana for periods of time. Quite the contrary for the leader of a huge high-tech company. He would work all the time. Probably have to live in the Bay Area. Not super far from LA. Still, periods of time away were not good. People drifted away. Had affairs.
“You’re going to take it?” I asked quietly. Already, I could feel myself detaching. He would choose the work. Of course he would. Just as I had. He had to do what was best for his career. What was he supposed to do? Sit around and wait for me to come home between acting jobs?
He poured the rest of the batter into the frying pan for one last giant pancake. “It’s absolutely nuts that I wouldn’t. Most men would, just for the money alone.”
