Page 42 of Forty and Fighting Dirty
So—compromise. We’d split the house. We’d both win.
Or maybe we’d both lose.
“You want to work together?” Piper asked. The doubt was clear on her face and in her tone.
“I think it’s the cleanest solution.” I spread my palms. “No lawyer’s fees. No mess. Just a clean split down the middle. Wecan get the place appraised when we take possession, and I’ll give you the chance to buy me out of my half. Or I’ll buy you out, and you can walk away with a tidy bit of cash.”
She chewed her lower lip, eyes drifting back to check on her sons. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Look. I don’t want to fight you. I like the work you’ve done on the lodge so far, and I see how well you’ve integrated with the team.”
Piper’s eyes lifted to meet mine, and for the briefest of moments, I saw the impact of my praise written in the clear blue of her irises. Maybe she was like me: not used to hearing the praise she so desperately wanted. Then she shuttered her gaze, and I questioned whether I’d seen that expression at all. “Right,” she said.
“There’s more at stake than the house. If we get in a legal fight, I can’t keep you on the team. It’s a conflict of interest. So I’d have to let you go. You’d have no job, and I’d have no hope of getting the lodge open before the end of the ski season this year.”
“You need me, and I need you. Again.”
“The way I see it, this is the only way we avoid a disaster. We have to work together.”
“So you won’t fire me, even after everything that happened today?”
“Not if you don’t force my hand.”
The laugh that fell from her lips was all bitterness. “I’m starting to see how you’ve built your empire. You’re ruthless.”
“Just pragmatic.”
“Give me a day to think about it. And, Rhett?”
“Yeah?”
“Go home.”
SIXTEEN
PIPER
Rhett did no such thing.He didn’t bring up the house or my job or the legal battle he was proposing we avoid, but he sat his butt on a waiting room chair and entertained the boys while we waited. Then, when the doctors took us back and examined Nate, he stuck around and looked after my youngest. We had to wait for X-rays, then wait for the doctor to come back and tell us Nate’s wrist was broken and his ankle was only lightly sprained, then wait for a cast.
He sat right there with us, and I had no choice but to be grateful. By the time we left the hospital, my eyes were drooping and exhaustion made it hard for me to keep myself upright. Both boys fell asleep as soon as the car started moving.
I tried to insist that Rhett drive to the community center for his car, where I could get behind the wheel and drive the handful of minutes home, but he didn’t even acknowledge mysuggestion. It wasn’t until my car was parked outside my small rental home that he turned off the engine and handed over the keys.
I took them, staring at his dark eyes. We sat in the shadowed interior of the car, my sons still asleep behind us.
“Thank you,” I finally said.
“That sounded like it stuck in your craw.”
“You’re so annoying.”
His smile was a quick slash of white in the darkened car, and it sent lightning sizzling through my veins. Then he climbed out of the car, helped me get the boys inside, and didn’t leave until I’d closed and locked the door. I watched him walk away through the long, narrow window beside the front door, his dark hair gleaming gold under the buttery streetlights, and then I got into bed, exhausted and reluctantly grateful.
I didn’t know if he’d done that out of the goodness of his heart, or if he was angling to manipulate me into handing over half the house. Either way, I was glad I hadn’t had to sit in that hospital on my own.
And the next morning, when I made a big Sunday breakfast spread for two tired boys and guzzled coffee like it was water, I realized it didn’t matter. He was offering me a good deal, all things considered. I got to keep my job—for now, at least—and get half the house. My only other option was fighting him—and losing my job in the process.
The only thing that made sense was to accept his proposal.
