“I didn’t. Vern did.” Nina readily placed the blame elsewhere.
“You did.” Jessie pointed a finger at her. “You talked about me, held me up as an example to your husband when you knew it was against the rules of Rachel’s House.”
“I…I wish…”
“Don’t wish. Do something about your life. If you screw up just once more I’ll make sure you never see your kids again.” Jessie took the steps quickly, completely spent.
Vernon Lynch was dead. It froze her for a moment in vivid gut-wrenching pain and she took a deep breath and let it go. There wasn’t anything else she could do about it. Her focus was now on Cadde…and home.
Her cell buzzed and she looked at the caller ID. It was Myra and she did something she hadn’t been able to do in weeks. She clicked on as she slid into the cab.
“Jessie, Jessie? Is that you?”
“Yes, Myra, it’s me.” She put her hand over the phone. “Rick Husband Airport,” she said to the driver.
“Oh, my God! Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“You have to come home. Things have gotten really bad.”
“What do you mean?”
“Cadde resigned as CEO of Shilah.”
“What?” Her heart missed a beat. “Why would he do that?”
“He hasn’t been the same since you left. He just sits in the living room staring at that damn dead tree.”
“What tree?”
“He put up a Christmas tree and has the baby ornament on it. Mama said he’s losing his mind and I believe she’s right.”
“Oh, no.” She closed her eyes for a moment. What had she done?
“Are you still in Italy?”
“I’m in Amarillo.” She watched the dry, flat landscape slip by.
“What are you doing there?”
“I had to see Nina.”
There was a long sigh on the other end. “Why do you make this so hard on yourself?”
“It’s something I had to do. My flight is at ten-thirty and I’ll be in Houston soon.”
“There’s a board meeting at one, and Chance and Kid are going to try and stop them from appointing anyone else. But you’re the only one who can stop this.”
“Are you a fan of Cadde’s now?”
“He’s a good guy. I just didn’t see that before because I was trying to protect you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Kiddo, I believe you can.”
“May I ask you a question?”
“Anything.”
“Did Cadde sign the divorce papers?” She bit her lip as she waited for the answer.
“Kiddo, you were married to the man for months, what do you think?”
“I…I…” She closed her eyes and saw Cadde’s face. “I think he tore them up.”
“Yes, and then he burned them.”
The ache in her heart eased. “Thank you. I’m at the airport. I’m on my way.”
Jessie counted off the minutes, but everything took so much time. Hooter was not appointing another CEO. The man had wanted control of the company ever since her father had died. He’d even approached her father on his deathbed about taking over. The answer had been a resounding no.
She tried Hooter’s cell. No answer. He was probably in a bar celebrating his victory over Cadde. She arrived in Houston at twelve and rushed to rent a car. She wanted to go home, but instead she had to deal with this insanity.
It was 1:05 p.m. when she took the elevator up to the boardroom. The door was slightly ajar and she listened to what was being said.
Kid was speaking. “I think we need to do as Cadde suggested. Chance and I will run Shilah until Cadde returns.”
“Read the letter, Kid,” Hooter said. “Cadde resigned. Kaput. He’s out of here.”
Jessie clenched her hands at her side.
“Hoot’s right,” Owen chimed in. “It’s a resignation letter. It doesn’t say anything about Cadde coming back.”
“But in it Cadde is asking the board to consider Chance and me to run the company as we have been since the tragedy.”
“You boys have no business sense.”
Something hit the table. “Read the numbers, Hooter, and tell me we don’t have any business sense. The Louisiana well is going to put a lot of money in your pocket.”
“You boys are good oil well drillers but when it comes to crunching the numbers you have no experience.”
“Don’t make me jump across this table and stuff that cigar down your throat.”
“Calm down.” That was Owen again.
“Everyone calm down.” Chance joined the conversation. “Looks like you guys are holding all the aces here, but out of respect for Jessie and Cadde and everything they’ve been through I thought you’d be more understanding.”