Chapter 15

PRESTON DIDN’T SHOW UP to play basketball or for Sunday dinner at Jerico House. It wasn’t unheard of. He often got caught up in a project and forgot about the weekly gathering. Lawrence wished he was there. He’d found out some interesting details about Erin Scott and her life in Jerico City. He filled Jacqueline in as they ate.

“Fascinating girl,” Lawrence said. “Picking herself up by the bootstraps after a nasty divorce. Well, nasty as all divorces are. Husband brought her to Jerico City to start a new life and family, then cheated on her. They divorced and he left town, leaving her to figure out what she’d do by herself. She was waiting tables before she came to us, but she’s a natural at what she does. Perceptive. Compassionate. Perfect for Preston.”

“It’s too bad. You know there isn’t a chance he’d consider his personal assistant for anything more than the work environment,” Jacqueline said. “Did you find out about her background at Allard Holding? She’s not only competent at the level we have her, but she was being groomed for the top position in the company.”

“We should keep an eye on her. She could add stability to the company that it doesn’t have at the moment.” Lawrence sat back to contemplate a moment. “You know, I’ve seen a bit of a spark between the two this past week. Not a flame, surely, but a spark. Something changed on Thursday afternoon a week ago. It was like he suddenly saw her for who she was. When have you ever heard of him asking his assistant for an opinion, or turning a presentation over to her to test? She handled Royce in no uncertain terms. I’d be surprised if he shows up for work Monday.”

“I’d bet he was practicing his propositions,” Jacqueline laughed. “That man is impossible. He propositioned me once.”

“I found her wandering on the road after walking the property all around the site for the lodge. He didn’t catch up with us until an hour later at the truck stop. He said he’d fallen into a creek and had to go change clothes. She was definitely not interested in returning to his car.”

“Preston laid down the law a year ago when Duval started messing with Ellen in HR. He told him no more employees. Duval is supposed to keep his male member out of the female employees,” Jacqueline said. “I’m sure Duval didn’t pay attention. You know he wouldn’t take Preston seriously if you weren’t there to scowl at him.”

“That’s another thing I observed about Ms. Scott. She recognized the value of Preston’s plan, and whenever Duval varied, she put him back on track. If he asked her a question, she turned it back to Preston. She was very effective.”

“Let’s keep an eye on her. If she’s really all that, maybe Preston will see it for himself.”

Preston spent the better part of his day cleaning. The regular cleaning service had come Friday afternoon, but he felt his space had been violated Saturday. He needed to scrub everything. There were bags of food on his assistant’s desk. He didn’t bother to open them, but loaded a large garbage bag with everything, including the carefully prepared roulade and pasta. It was ruined. The slices were too thin and fell apart. The sauce was stuck to the bottom of the pan. The pasta was mushy. How could one woman so upset his personal space?

It was all Ms. Scott’s fault! If she hadn’t gone with Duval, Shannon Duval wouldn’t have invaded his space. None of this mess would be here. Perhaps he didn’t know Ms. Scott as well as he thought, but he felt as though he’d built a kinship with Maizie and he was positive they were the same person. He couldn’t believe anything Shannon had said.

He scrubbed the oven, even though nothing had spilled in it. There was pasta sauce on the counter and under the edge of the cooktop. When he finished the kitchen and moved to the office, he discovered where Shannon had tossed her jacket on the model, knocking around and breaking some of the pieces. The grocery receipt was under the table and Preston made a note to reimburse Shannon. He didn’t want even a hint of obligation to the woman. He knew she’d complain about the situation regardless.

A Rubik’s Cube had been all but solved and he twisted it into a random setting so he could work on it Monday. It wouldn’t be as good as if Ms. Scott reset the cube. He couldn’t look at the cube he’d reset and not see the solution as he’d created it. And Ms. Scott took resetting the cubes seriously.

Stuck in his obsessive cleaning mode, Preston washed the large windows that opened to the rooftop patio. Then he moved outside and got his patio furniture out of the storage bin, wiping each piece carefully, and checking for any damage or insect larvae.

Why had Ms. Scott chosen to go with Royce Duval? That question continued to plague him. There had to have been some other reason than seducing him or allowing herself to be seduced. She’d shown no signs of being overly interested in wealth, or any kind of success that wasn’t directly proportional to her own efforts.

Why is this so important to me? He had no interest in Ms. Scott other than as his very capable assistant. Except that if he’d found her when she was Maizie, he would have asked her out. It was getting harder to keep himself from letting his fledgling feelings for Maizie be transferred to Ms. Scott. Why did he feel so betrayed?

That was it, really. His ego was bruised. He accepted that everyone in the company assumed Duval was the brains behind the organization. He simply couldn’t accept that Erin Scott might think that.

When Preston had finished cleaning, he took a shower and then cleaned the bathroom again. Finally, he lay down in bed and fell into anxiety-ridden sleep.

“The slimeball actually put his hand on my leg!” Erin said as she and Dolores sat together with a glass of wine Sunday afternoon. As usual, it would be an early evening since Dolores had to open the diner at five.

“I told you to be careful. Your boss has a reputation as a real womanizer,” Dolores advised.

“Not my boss. He’s a sweetheart. The president of the company, Royce Duval.”

“I thought your boss was the president,” Dolores said, confused.

“No. My boss is the head guy, Chairman of the Board and CEO. Duval is President and COO, but Mr. Carver is the brains of the company. He’s really brilliant. A little socially awkward, but a mind that is incredible,” Erin said enthusiastically.

“That’s news. I didn’t know there was anyone above Duval in the company. He’s the only person you ever see or hear about.”

“Just a pretty face to deliver the news. He’s the visible one, so everyone in the company thinks he’s the reason it’s successful. I spent the entire trip yesterday—I mean the part where I wasn’t fending off his hands—correcting him regarding how the project is supposed to be presented. I’m sure even now, when we go before the board on Wednesday, he’ll change something significant. Positioning things so they are attractive and sellable is an art and Duval has mastered it. But he doesn’t really stick with the product.”

“And here I thought he was a genius.”

“He’s a salesman. You wouldn’t believe the number of emails I get from him on a daily basis. I mean email Mr. Carver gets. I screen all his email. Half the time the questions are so inane that Mr. Carver just tells me to handle it. I’ve got more authority in the company than the company president has.”

“You’ve only worked there a few weeks. You must be a superstar,” Dolores said.

“Not really. No one knows who I am. I’m fine with that. You know one of the things I was told when I first started was that I was expected to make correct decisions 51% of the time. As long as my balance stays positive, I’m golden,” Erin laughed.