Page 30 of The Clover Chapel (Jamison Valley 2)
“Pretty view,” Nick said.
“Montana is not ugly.”
Chuckling, he asked, “You want some coffee?”
I nodded and followed him to a bare spot on the ground where we both sat, facing the breathtaking view. From his backpack, he produced a large thermos and two cups. With coffee in hand, this had just become my favorite place on earth.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a few photos. They were good but no picture could do the scenery justice.
Taking a few deep breaths, I thought of all the words to describe the incredible mountain air. Clean. Stony. Light. There was nothing else like it.
“Are you cold? Your nose is a little red,” Nick said, reaching out a finger to gently touch my face.
“No,” I said, leaning away. “I’m good.”
The steaming coffee was doing wonders to warm my nose and cheeks, the only cold parts of my body. The air was cold and crisp but the added layers of my clothing were definitely keeping me warm. Almost too warm. My sweaty hair was sticking to my scalp under my fleece hat.
We sat quietly, enjoying the view, until Nick started asking questions about my past. “You told me that you weren’t going to be able to be a teacher. That you had to work for your dad. What changed?”
“After I graduated from Yale, I went to work for him for almost seven years,” I said.
“What did you do?”
“My job was to make connections with potential high-dollar donors and convince them that they should give to whichever political candidate we were promoting at the time.”
“Hmm. How did you do that? Make connections,” he asked.
“I spent a lot of time researching them and their families. Basically, I had to act like a stalker. I would befriend their personal assistants so I could have access to their private schedules. Then I’d casually bump into them in restaurants or at other charity events. If their kids had programs or concerts, I would be sure to go, then lie and say I was there for my nonexistent nieces and nephews.”
“That doesn’t sound like you, Emmy.”
“Emmeline. And it wasn’t. It was my father. I was his puppet. Whatever he needed me to do, I did. Until he betrayed me and I quit.”
“He betrayed you? How?”
Only two people knew this story. I’d kept it a secret from everyone except my mother and Logan. Steffie and I never talked about Austin Capital, and my other friends weren’t to be trusted, but I felt safe telling Nick. He wouldn’t leak it to the press for a quick buck or gossip about it behind my back.
“An important donor called my father to lodge a complaint about one of my employees, Tiffany. The donor told my father that she had promised sexual favors in return for a significant donation. When I confronted her about it, she confessed but told me it was at my father’s personal instruction. That he had told her to do it.”
“Did he?” Nick asked.
“He swore up and down that Tiffany was lying. To this day, I can’t believe I actually thought he was telling me the truth. But I did believe him and I cleaned up the mess. Tiffany agreed to a large severance in return for her promise never to sue or slander the company.”
“That’s why you quit? You found out he was lying?”
“No,” I said. “He was lying but that isn’t why I quit. A month later, I was at a gala with Logan. The donor that had complained to my father walked up and started accusing me of basically being a whore. I remember standing there speechless, stunned and having no idea what he was talking about. Thankfully, Logan jumped in and got the whole story.”
“Which was?”
“My father had blamed the entire Tiffany incident on me. He said that I was the one encouraging her to make sexual advances and that he knew nothing about it. He had even hinted that I started dating Logan to gain access to the Kendrick fortune. But that’s why I quit. He saw a situation where his professional reputation might have been tarnished, and instead of owning his mistake, he falsely blamed it all on his daughter.”
His personal reputation was questionable but professionally, my father had always been the epitome of a respected businessman. Lies. All lies, but he was good at telling them. He had to be in order to make the money he was so grossly fond of.
“But there’s a bright side,” I said. “It was the push I needed to break free. I hated it anyway. The best day I ever had at Austin Capital was the day I packed up my office and turned in my security badge.”
“Then you went back to school?” Nick asked.
“Yes. I started classes the next semester. Since I already had my undergraduate degree, I only had to go for two years. Then I happened upon the Mustangs and here I am.”
