The Lure of White Oak Lake (29 page)

Jaclyn felt like a kid again caught doing something bad when she saw her mother’s face in the window. “Austin?” she called out as she went to the door and opened it. A brilliant move on her part because neither of her folks were fully in the door before Austin was on them.

“Lord, you have grown. We saw you a few months ago, and you were just a boy. Now you look like a grown man. Just look at him, Cliff.”

“Looking good there, sport.” Cliff gave Austin a big hug.

Morgan watched as Jaclyn’s mother embraced her. That was all Morgan could consider it because it wasn’t the robust hug that she’d seen her give Austin. Her father did at least kiss Jaclyn’s cheek. It saddened Morgan to watch because she’d never known that kind of disinterest from her father.

Jaclyn and Maddie favored their mother. They’d inherited the light hair and skin from her and some facial features. But it was obvious she lacked their warmth. She fawned over Austin, but to Morgan, it didn’t seem genuine.

Jaclyn’s father was tall, a head taller than Austin. His eyes were deep-set and dark beneath a head full of salt-and-pepper hair. Morgan was willing to bet despite his size he bent to his wife’s will on just about everything.

“Hey, I want y’all to meet Morgan. She was my partner for the regatta, and we won!” Austin said excitedly.

Jaclyn’s mother cast a dull-eyed glance at Morgan. “Maddie told us. We were so excited for you.”

“Mom, Dad, this is Morgan Chassion,” Jaclyn said and looked at Morgan, “my parents, Liz and Cliff.”

“Nice to meet you,” Morgan said, to which they nodded. She kept her position at the counter and doubted from the looks they gave her that they’d want to shake her hand.

“I wish y’all could’ve seen us,” Austin said, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room. “Morgan bought a bookcase I thought would make a perfect not-boat, and we became partners.” Austin sidled up to Morgan and threw an arm over her shoulders. “She was totally awesome, wore a deerskin and a Viking hat like me. We were the best-looking crew out there.”

“Well, that’s really terrific, son,” Cliff said with a smile and turned his attention to Jaclyn. “You decorated the house, I see, and put the angel back up.”

“Morgan talked her into it,” Austin said. “We went to Aunt Maddie’s and filled two carts with stuff. We had a blast.”

“Hey, that reminds me. I’ve got an early Christmas present for you in the car. Why don’t you come on out with me?”

Austin was all grins as he followed his grandfather out the door. Morgan wished that Liz would’ve gone with them, but she stayed, and the pleasant expression she wore for Austin vaporized. “Do you two know what you’re doing?”

Jaclyn folded her arms. “About what?”

“He’s obviously very attached to her,” Liz shot back as though Morgan wasn’t in the room.

Jaclyn’s voice was very cool when she said, “Yes, he is. I think it’s really sweet.” She moved closer to Morgan. “It’s important to me that they’ve bonded because Morgan lives here. It’s a permanent arrangement. Didn’t Maddie tell you?”

“No, she left that tidbit out. You’re a mother. Your first priority should be your son.”

“He is,” Morgan interjected, “that’s one of the reasons I love her so much.”

Jaclyn glanced at Morgan and smiled.

Liz kept her focus on Jaclyn. “And you think it’s healthy for an impressionable boy to be raised in this atmosphere?”

“Obviously. Look, don’t think that you can wander the country for months at a time, then come back here for a few days and dictate how I should live my life. Frankly, if you lived here, you still wouldn’t have that kind of latitude.”

Liz’s eyes narrowed as her jaw sagged. “He is my
grandson
.”

“Part time, when you decide to breeze into town. But Austin is my son all the time, and how I choose to raise him is my business.”

“The impression you’re making on him is that it’s okay to—”

“Don’t start. We’ve been down that road a million times, and we aren’t going to agree. Turn a blind eye for the holidays, then you can wander off again and forget all about us here like you normally do.”

Incensed, Liz stalked out the back door and slammed it behind her. Jaclyn stared after her with her eyes narrowed and her jaw set. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” Jaclyn said lowly.

“I didn’t think you could do anything to impress me more, but you just did.”

~~~

“They’re here.” Ida stared out of Clarice’s living room window. “Dick and Jane, or as I like to call them Dick and Dick.”

“I hope they’re at least civil this year,” Betsy said worriedly. “I don’t know what happened to Cliff. He was so nice before…before her.”

“He’s a weak man if he’ll let his wife turn him against his own child.” Ida returned to the table and sat. “Personally, I’d like to take a chunk out of Liz Wyatt’s ass, and I just might.”

“I could whip up a brew that might do that, or at least it would take the edge off of those two,” Clarice said with a smile.

Ida shook her head. “Liz would never drink anything you made. She’s too highfalutin for that.”

“She’ll drink it,” Clarice said with a smile. “Betsy, it’s time to give Maddie a call.”

J
aclyn’s stomach twisted into knots as she and Morgan waited at the cabin for Brad and Tonya to arrive. After giving it much thought, she understood why Morgan was so hesitant to tell her brother how far their relationship had progressed. It had moved very fast, but the last couple of months had been the best she’d ever had. Morgan was the perfect partner, a true partner in every sense of the word. She was diligent about taking care of things at the store. It was such a luxury to have someone to help with the daily chores, and she took good care of Austin.

But the nights, those were the most spectacular. In the evenings, they’d sit together on the porch wrapped in a blanket talking about everything that crossed their minds. Jaclyn felt that she could tell Morgan anything and knew she’d be understood. And their sex life was off the charts. They would love each other until neither of them could move.

Jaclyn gazed at Morgan as she paced around straightening things that had already been straightened. She’d never dreamed she could love someone so much; at times, it was frightening. Could anyone be allowed to be this happy, she wondered as she studied Morgan’s profile and prayed nothing would mess it up. “I love you.”

The tense lines on Morgan’s face disappeared as she turned and looked at Jaclyn. “I love you, too.” She walked over, took Jaclyn’s face in both hands, and kissed her sweetly. “Everything is going to be okay. We’ll survive this family stuff, and as you say, we’ll begin the new year happy and content.” Morgan’s eyes narrowed as she straightened. “They’re here. I hear the gravel crunching.”

Jaclyn stood on the porch as Morgan leapt onto the driveway. When Brad climbed out of the truck, they hugged each other as though twenty years had passed. Jaclyn smiled as Brad showered Morgan’s face with kisses, then hugged her again. He pushed her away and looked her over from head to toe.

“You look fantastic! I can’t remember the last time I saw your hair on your collar.”

“I haven’t found a place that I trust to cut it, and I’ve been busy,” Morgan said as she toyed with a lock of it.

“Eating, you’ve been busy eating. You look so healthy now. You were way too skinny before.”

“So I’ve been told,” Morgan said with a grin as she glanced at Jaclyn.

“Don’t mind me, just a pregnant woman wandering the woods alone.”

Morgan pulled Tonya into her arms as she walked up. Brad moved toward the porch as Jaclyn came down the steps. “So you’re
the lure
of White Oak Lake,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. It’s so nice to meet you, Jaclyn.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

“Nice to meet you, too, I’m so glad you’re here.” Jaclyn enjoyed the warm embrace as it dispelled a lot of the tension she’d had in anticipation of meeting him.

“This is my wife, Tonya,” he said with an arm around Jaclyn’s shoulders. “The bump on her stomach is Jacob. I’m sure he’s waving right now.”

“It’s great to meet you, Tonya,” Jaclyn said with a smile as Tonya hugged her.

“Nice to properly meet you, too. I remember you from the store when Brad and I were here prepping the cabin for Morgan.”

“Yeah, well, we didn’t do this,” Brad said, waving a hand at the yard. “It looks better than it did when Dad was keeping it up.”

“You have our extended family to thank for that.” Morgan pointed at the houses across the street. “They were the ones that did all the work. I look forward to introducing you to them. For now, let’s get your stuff inside, then we’ll go down to the house because Jaclyn made lunch.”

“Food, yes,” Tonya said with a laugh. “I haven’t had anything in like twenty minutes, and I’m starving.”

~~~

Morgan hummed happily as she cut the cords holding the bundles of firewood they had for sale in front of the store. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Brad alone, but he seemed to have gotten over his shock. He and Jaclyn talked about fishing, and Jaclyn had given him directions to her favorite hot spots where she always caught fish. Brad and Tonya were smitten with Austin, who even took them up to his room to show them the secret he’d been working on. Things were going so much better than she expected.

She was about to pick up a bundle of wood when her phone rang. Morgan patted her pockets until she found her phone and noticed a number she didn’t recognize on the ID. “Hello?”

“Morgan Chassion?”

“Yes.”

“This is Garret Healy.”

Morgan’s eyes widened. She’d seen the district manager only a few times during the rare occasions when he came to their office. Usually, he’d say his hellos to the minions, then spend the day with Stanton. “Hello, Mr. Healy.”

“Have I caught you at an inconvenient time?”

“No,” Morgan said as she leaned against a post. She’d given up on hearing from Stanton, but to get a call from
his
boss was a shock.

“I was wondering if we could meet with you after the holiday. We’re doing some restructuring at Menagerie, and we’d like you on the team as purchasing manager. Would you be willing to come to Atlanta and discuss that position with us?”

Morgan leaned heavier into the post. Purchasing manager was Stanton’s title. “I…you’ve caught me by complete surprise,” she said as she began to ponder what sort of salary difference that would mean.

“We were aware of the quality of your work and the ability you had to manage your people. We weren’t aware of Dave Stanton’s plans to lay you off until after it happened. We’d like you back, Ms. Chassion, plain and simple.”

There was a time that Morgan longed to hear those words; the shock robbed her of the ability to think properly. She looked up at the house she now called home. “Mr. Healy, I’m overwhelmed at the moment. I should tell you that I have a job, and I can’t—”

“We’re willing to negotiate. That’s why we’d like to meet with you. I understand that I’ve caught you unprepared.”

“Uh…Atlanta…when?”

“The day after Christmas. We’ll have to move relatively fast on this.”

Morgan looked up at the house again and swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Mr. Healy, but I can’t. I’m employed, and I have obligations.”

Healy sounded like he expected the response. “You’ve been caught off guard, I understand that. Take some time to consider the offer and call me back. I’m calling you from my cell phone, now you have my personal number. After you’ve had time to think things over, call me. Say you’ll do that.”

“I’ll give it some thought.”

“Very good. Merry Christmas. I look forward to talking to you.”

Morgan felt light-headed as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. Had she turned, she would’ve seen Betsy standing nearby. She’d seen Morgan in front of the store and had walked over to see if everything was going okay. She stood mute as Morgan hefted the wood and began up the hill to the house. Betsy turned around and moved as fast as her little legs would carry her.

~~~

“We have a big problem,” Betsy said as she crashed through Clarice’s back door. Cats scattered everywhere, and Clarice nearly jumped out of her skin. “I think Morgan may’ve just been offered a job in Atlanta.”

~~~

“I’m glad I came in a day early,” Brad said as he cast his line. “I haven’t been fishing in ages. It was really nice of that Chet fellow to loan us his boat.”

“Yeah, it was,” Morgan said distractedly as she stared out at the water.

“Austin could’ve come with us, you know.”

“Jaclyn wanted us to have some time alone together. Maybe after Christmas we can…”

Brad stared at Morgan, waiting for her to finish the sentence. “Are you okay?”

Morgan shook her head as she continued to stare off into the distance. “I got a call earlier today from Garret Healy, he’s a top gun at Menagerie. He offered me Stanton’s job.”

“That’s huge! Congratulations.” Morgan didn’t share in the enthusiasm. “Oh,” Brad said lowly, “that’s bad. Have you considered that she might go with you?”

“She might, but I could never take her from here. She grew up in White Oak, all her family ties are here. Austin would have to be uprooted.” Morgan shook her head. “It’s too much.”

“Okay, how about if you worked during the week and came in on the weekends?”

Morgan smiled ruefully. “Dad and I talked about that once. He basically did the same thing when we were kids, and he had a lot of regrets. He said we grew up before he knew it.”

“Morgan,” Brad began gently, “this situation is different. I know you love Austin, but he isn’t your son, and you’re talking about a huge opportunity here.”

“He is…my son. I love him, and I can’t imagine being away from him and especially Jaclyn. I’ve been sitting here thinking about all the ways I could have it all, and that’s just not possible. What it boils down to is my life here or a job in Atlanta. They’re offering me Stanton’s job, and he probably has no clue. It’s a cutthroat business. They replaced me once, and they very well could do it again, then I will have given up everything to be right back where I started when I came here.”

“Maybe they’re promoting Stanton.”