Forces of Nature (17 page)

“What?” she asked, catching the look in his eyes.

“I'm going to need a job tomorrow evening,” he said. “Know anyone who's hiring?”

Crystal laughed heartily and rolled out of his embrace, standing and stretching her arms above her head. “Are you seriously asking me for a job? You want to muck stalls and shuck corn?”

“A brother has to eat,” he replied as he stood behind her and cupped her naked bottom in his hands. “And being here and seeing everything that you all do here, I seriously want to lend a hand, starting with doing some renovations on the Starlight House.”

She turned around and searched his face as if she expected him to be joking. Crystal wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “I'm floored, I can't . . .”

“It's the least I can do for those girls and you,” he said.

“Me?”

“At least you have a family legacy worth believing in, and I see how important this place is to you. So, when I ask you for a job, I'm asking you if I can make you happy for the rest of your life,” he breathed into her ear.

Crystal felt weak, felt as if she were melting in his arms. “Yes,” she said. “You can.”

Douglas leaned in and kissed her slowly and passionately. “I never thought I could love a woman this much,” he said after breaking the kiss.

“Douglas,” she intoned.

He held her face in his hands, peering deeply into her eyes. “First things first,” he said. “We have to make sure this place is protected from companies in the future.”

“What, other than your father's file, made Hughes Farm so attractive?”

Douglas sighed. “Honestly, this is prime real estate. It's far enough from downtown to build factories without hearing the environmentalists complain about the fumes and smoke. As we were looking into purchasing this land, things have changed. Ordinances and rules for zoning have changed, and you can expect more land grab attempts in the future. I'm not proud to say that my company and I had a lot to do with that.”

Crystal sighed and closed her eyes tightly. “Then, how in the world are we going to keep the farm out of the hands of developers? I refuse to be the Hughes who loses this farm after everything that it means to our family and this community.”

Douglas brushed a tear from Crystal's cheek. “I know, babe. But I have a plan.”

She shook her head and began to gather her clothes. “This is really your fault,” she snapped.

“What?”

“Douglas, you're here now because of some underhanded tactics at your company, but it doesn't seem as if you're above that yourself! It's because of you that this farm is going to be in jeopardy in the future.”

“Do you think I thought this was going to happen?”

Pulling her clothes on, Crystal headed for the door of the cottage. “I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I tell you what—keep your plans and everything else to your damned self. I was taking care of this place long before I met you and I will continue to do it without you!”

She stormed out and Douglas quickly dressed and then followed her outside. When he caught up with Crystal, he grabbed her arm and forced her to face him. “You know what?” he said. “I'm not going to apologize for decisions I made as a businessman. I'm not going to say that I didn't cross the line to try to get what I wanted, but you can't allow what I did in the past to cloud our present and future.”

Crystal folded her arms across her chest and blinked. “Future? According to you, my future is going to be fighting off Welco and other companies because
you
got laws and ordinances changed to suit your needs!”

“Not if this place is turned into a historic landmark,” he said. “I've been looking into doing just that.”

Crystal's pulsing heart rate calmed slightly. “Why would you . . . ?”

“I told you, you have a family legacy that you should be proud of and I want to help you keep it. But damn, woman, you have to give me a chance to do it.”

“I'm sorry,” she said. “It's just . . . I'm afraid.”

“You don't have to be. Let me just say, if I couldn't have this farm, then I'd be damned if someone else tries to pressure you into selling.”

Crystal chewed on her bottom lip and focused her intense stare on him. “But what if you don't lose your job tomorrow and your board still wants you to move on with the construction of the business park out here?”

“I know that Waverly is a better location for the park and if we get Clive out of the top seat, then the rest of the board will see what's best for the company and will go along with the new plan,” he said.

“You can't know that for sure,” she said.

“That's why I always have a plan B, C, and D,” Douglas said with a smile. “No matter what happens in the morning, Hughes Farm is going to be fine. And I know that for sure.”

“How can you be so sure?” she questioned.

“Trust me,” Douglas replied, “no one will get a piece of this property.”

“What should I tell my parents?” she asked.

Douglas folded his arms across his chest and smiled confidently. “Let me take care of that,” he said with a smile.

It was a little after dawn when Douglas left the farm. As Crystal crept inside the main house, she was greeted by her father holding a steaming cup of coffee.

“Do I want to know where you're coming from?” he asked, then handed her the cup.

“Daddy, are we going to argue every time I see Douglas?”

“Baby girl, I don't trust him. The apple doesn't fall too far from the rotten tree,” he said as he started for the kitchen.

Crystal followed him, hoping that her father would keep an open mind about Douglas. Sure it was hard, but would she have to suffer because of things that happened years before she and Douglas were even born?

“What if he's different?” Crystal asked when they arrived in the kitchen.

“What if global warming isn't caused by cows?” Joel asked. “What if we could fix the eroding beaches with egg shells? There's no way of knowing what kind of asshole he is until he hurts you, and I don't want to have to harm that boy.”

“Douglas said he's willing to give up Welco and help us protect the farm,” she revealed.

Joel snorted. “Don't believe that. One thing I know for sure about this entire situation is that any man who holds a grudge and takes it to the grave with him passed that same thing on to his son.”

“That's not what happened, Dad.”

Joel held his hand up and shook his head. “Please don't defend him until we know for sure that our land is safe. I'm wondering what Dena is going to do in court today. Your mother wasn't able to reach her at all.”

Crystal stifled a giggle, sure that Dena was with Waylon making up for lost time. Or perhaps they'd killed each other. “Dad,” Crystal began, “what happened between you guys? This much hate and bitterness makes it seem as if there was something deep here. Deeper than that man being in love with Mom.”

“There was a lot of betrayal in this circle,” Joel said. “Waylon worked for the farm in the summer and because your mother and Dena have always been friends, they met and allegedly fell in love.”

“Allegedly?”

Joel pouted as he opened the refrigerator and began to remove ingredients for breakfast. “Have you stopped keeping chickens?” he asked when he pulled out a paper carton of eggs.

“No,” she said. “We've changed the packaging on the eggs. But those are Hughes Farm Fresh Eggs.”

Joel laughed, then grew serious. “That's the one thing that Waylon did for us. He gave us that slogan before he put the knife in our back.”

“What happened?” she asked. Before Joel could answer, the phone rang and Crystal grabbed the extension. “Hello?”

“Crystal, it's Dena,” she said.

“Your ears must have been burning; we were just talking about you.”

“Let me guess who the other half of the ‘we' is,” Dena said with a snarky tone to her voice.

“Actually,” Crystal replied, “I was talking to my dad.”

“Joel and Erin are there? I'm coming over to let you guys know what's going on.”

“All right,” Crystal said, then hung up. She turned to her father. “Dena said she's coming over with news.”

Joel grunted. “I hope it's good news,” he said as he cracked three eggs into a mixing bowl. “French toast still your favorite?”

Crystal kissed her father on the cheek. “Only when you make it.”

“Crystal, I don't want you to think that your mother and I aren't proud of what you've done with this place, and we want you to keep running the farm and expanding on what we do in Reeseville.”

“I know that and I hate that you had to come here because of this mess,” Crystal said.

“This is not your fault. It's an old fight that I'm sorry you were ever involved in. Your mother and I never wanted you or this farm to be touched by the past. If I could, I'd dig Junior up and smash his face in for everything that he did and tried to do to my family.”

The anger in her father's voice made Crystal cringe. Her dad had always been easygoing and laid back. She had to know more about what Douglas Wellington Jr. had done to leave such bitterness in her father.

“But,” Joel said, noting the worried look on his daughter's face, “that's the past and we're looking toward the future and saving this farm.”

“Daddy, that's what Douglas is trying to do,” she said quietly. “You know, Douglas showed me his father's plan, but you've never told me what happened and why you're still so angry.”

Joel stopped whisking the eggs and looked up at his daughter. “Junior was an evil son of a bitch who thought his money would give him carte blanche in this town, and what he couldn't buy, he tried to take,” he said.

“And he tried to take this farm?”

Joel nodded as he sprinkled cinnamon in the eggs and began to whisk them again. “Your grandfather was in the early stages of dementia when you were two months old. Douglas came around here talking about wanting to help us and tried to get Dad to sign away the property. He knew my father was sick and so did Waylon. I think he's the one who told him about my father's condition. For Waylon to do that and then leave Dena after he'd proposed to her was the ultimate betrayal. I have no respect for that bastard either. He was just as bad as his friend, using people to get what he wanted and not giving a damn about their feelings or needs.”

“How do you know Waylon told him about Grandpa?”

“He had to,” Joel said. “Besides your mother and myself, no one knew about Dad's condition. What makes matters worse is that Waylon was down and out when we gave him a job on this farm. He was smart, but came from a poor background. He went to college on a scholarship, but couldn't find a job after he graduated. He moved back to Waverly and was working in one of the textile mills making pennies. When your mother and I took over the operations of the farm, Dena suggested hiring him. He had great ideas and we were trying to modernize the place. Then he betrayed us.”

“And that started the chain reaction?”

Joel nodded and dipped the bread in the egg mixture, then dropped the bread in the frying pan. “I can't and don't trust Welco or Douglas Wellington's son. I hope that you haven't misplaced your trust in him like Dena did with Waylon.”

Crystal sighed and realized that her father would probably not accept her relationship with Douglas or him working to make the farm a historic landmark. “That's not going to happen again,” she said as she heard her mother open the front door.

“Dena's here!” Erin called out.

“We're in the kitchen,” Joel replied.

“Well,” Erin said as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen. “She's not alone and you don't need to be around knives.”

Joel raised his right eyebrow. “What do you mean?” he asked as he turned the heat down on the stove.

“Just stay calm,” she said. “Stay calm.”

“I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this,” Joel said as he followed Erin and Crystal into the living room. Erin held her husband's massive arm as he locked eyes with Waylon. Crystal watched as her father narrowed his eyes into slits like a snake about to strike.

“What in the hell is he doing here?” Joel boomed, his voice seeming to make the walls vibrate. “Has everyone lost their damned minds around here?”

“Joel,” Dena began, “let me explain . . .”

“No,” Waylon said. “I need to explain what's going on and what has been going on.”

Joel broke away from his wife's grip and stood nose to nose with Waylon. “You have the unmitigated gall to set foot on this farm when you were part of this scheme to wrest control of this farm from my family. Maybe Dena's dumb enough to forgive you, but I'm—”

“Wait a minute, Joel!” Dena exclaimed.

“Never going to forget . . .” Joel grabbed Waylon by the throat.

“Joel!” Erin and Dena called out as they attempted to separate the men. Crystal stood there in shock and awe as her father tossed Waylon to the floor like a rag doll. This was the second time in her life that she'd seen her father act out in rage.

Waylon coughed and sputtered as he slowly rose to his feet. “Well,” he said once the pain in his throat subsided, “I can't say that I'm surprised that happened.”

“I ought to—”

“Joel. Calm. Down,” Erin said as she grabbed her husband's shoulder when he flexed as if he was going to grab Waylon again.

“Joel,” Waylon began as he eased a few inches back from his former friend, “I know you have every reason to hate me and what I tried to do when Doug and I were working together. But you have to know that I wasn't trying to hurt you and your family.”

“No, you were just trying to take advantage of my father, knowing that he was suffering and not of sound mind.”

“That's not true. Honestly, I thought I was helping.”

Joel clenched his fist. “Helping? Are you out of your damned mind?”

“This farm was bleeding money and Doug had money to help. He'd said that Erin had reached out to him, but he turned her down because she wouldn't betray you,” Waylon said.

“I know this, but that has nothing to do with the underhanded bullshit you pulled, bringing him here with those papers that would've made this farm a subsidiary of Welco because he wanted to own me and have me work for him. You know this was about Erin and you went along with it.”

“It was never about you, Joel. Doug and I grew up wondering every night if we'd get enough to eat, if we'd have lights or heat in the winter. And when he made it, it went to his head. All I wanted to do was provide a future for me and Dena.”

“To hell with everybody else, you just wanted to cement your future while robbing my family of our history,” Joel exclaimed.

“Looks like you're the winner,” Waylon snapped. “You were able to have a life with the woman you love and I spent years apart from the only woman who mattered to me.”

“And you couldn't tell Doug's son about the history of this place when he decided to grab the land?” Erin asked.

“That's why I'm here,” Dena said. “I got a call from Welco's lead attorney and the company isn't going to fight the injunction. He even hinted that Welco might be backing off the development of the business park here.”

“What?” Erin and Joel exclaimed.

Crystal beamed, though inside, she wondered how Douglas had faired at the board meeting. He said he didn't mind losing his job, making her wonder if he felt as connected to his father's company as she did to her family's farm.

“Now,” Erin said, “can we come to a peaceful resolution? Can we let the past go? Dena and Crystal need us to do that.”

Joel sighed and looked around the room. Maybe Waylon had a point. The farm still belonged to the Hughes family. He'd spent his life with Erin and he was still above ground to enjoy many more years with his wife. Still, he didn't trust that Douglas Wellington III was any better than his father or Waylon, and Joel wasn't going to allow his daughter to be hurt or used.

“Listen,” Dena said. “I don't expect everything to be hugs and smiles today, but Joel . . .”

“I can leave the past in the past,” he said. “If you want to be with this clown, then that's on you.” Joel turned to Crystal. “I still don't trust that Wellington boy.”

“Daddy—” she said.

“That's not fair, Joel,” Waylon said.

“You shouldn't say another word to me.”

“Right now, Trey is giving up everything for your daughter and this farm,” Waylon said. “You should give him a chance.”

 

 

When Douglas walked into the conference room, the silence of the board members spoke volumes. He locked eyes with Clive. A beat passed before either man spoke. “Why aren't you in court?” Clive demanded.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have two announcements today,” Douglas said, focusing his cold stare on the board. “First, Welco is backing off the business park construction on the site of Hughes Farm.”

A rumble rippled through the room and Douglas held up his hand like a conductor leading his orchestra. “I made a huge mistake, and Clive here”—he pointed his thumb at his nemesis as if he were nothing more than an afterthought—“was more than happy to sacrifice the company's bottom line to force me out. Trying to purchase Hughes Farm was a bad idea that came from an incomplete file that contained outdated information.”

“That's a lie, and it was your job to vet this project before you garnered all of this bad press and accrued legal fees.”

“Save it, Clive,” Douglas snapped. “This is precisely what you wanted to happen. I don't blame Amy for helping you; she needed her job. But I fired her when I saw her trying to replace the file about Hughes Farm that you asked her to steal from my office. And let's talk about the diary that you took as well. Did you plan to use my father's private thoughts to run this company into the ground, so that you could force the board to fire me? After all, you've been going behind my back trying that for years, you just didn't have cause.”

Douglas crossed the room and stood in front of the older man. “Being that you worked with my father for more than twenty years, you knew this wasn't business, but rather a personal vendetta that would cause the protests, send Welco into court, and cost this company millions. Did I make mistakes on this deal? Yes. I allowed my past success to lull me into a position of complacency. After all, since I've been CEO, haven't we enjoyed record profits? I foolishly thought this would be another cake walk.” Douglas glanced around the room and shook his head. Then he perched on the edge of the oak table. Clive glared at Douglas as he picked a piece of lint from his trousers. “But,” Douglas continued, pointing his finger at Clive. “This guy put his ego before the company, before profits and everything else. All he wanted was my job. To be honest with you, I don't give a shit about this job.”