“All right, Cami Jackson, you can go anywhere in the world you want to go. Where is it?”
She rested her forehead on the steering wheel. Hearts Bend. She’d go to the inn and convince Ben to stay in Tennessee and marry her.
She jerked upright. “No, no, no, girl. Scrub that thought now.”
What she really needed to do was have it out with Dad. But did she have the energy? This was crazy. She had a night free and no place to go. Annalise was right. She needed a social life.
Firing up the Beemer, Cami stared at the garage wall, working up the nerve to drive across town and knock on Brant Jackson’s door.
16
Dad’s swanky Green Hills townhome loomed in front of Cami. No wonder she didn’t want a townhome—Dad’s was always so unwelcoming. So un-homelike. Expensive but cold.
Cami parked her BMW in the driveway, drew a deep breath, and knocked on his front door—a solid black slab of wood. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon, and she welcomed the cool shade of the porch.
On the drive over, she’d realized this argument would be a continuation of the one they’d had in his office a few weeks ago.
Dad was still dressed in his work slacks and shirt, his collar open and a book in his hand. “Cami, what are you doing here?” He stepped aside for her to come in.
“You know why I’m here.” She crossed his threshold and stood in his unadorned entryway. He’d moved here after Cami graduated from college and bought her own place. He’d divided all the furniture and dishes they’d had growing up between Annalise and Cami. As far as she knew, he’d taken nothing of their childhood home to this place. “Geoffrey Swanson? Really? You didn’t even ask me.”
“I don’t have to ask you. He’ll be a good second.”
“Then you keep him. He’ll be a good pain in my backside.” Cami moved from the foyer to the living room. The entire place looked like a Peeps chick had upchucked its marshmallow center.
White walls, white floors. The only adornment was the unlit foyer chandelier and the one over the dining table, which was a whitewashed oak.
Mama had loved color, and Dad seemed to have washed every ounce of it out of his life and soul.
“Let’s take this to my office.” Dad headed for the room on the left and settled in the black leather desk chair behind his large cherry desk. Okay, he had some color in this bland place. The wall on the right was a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, but the rest of the walls were bare.
Cami took the seat across from Dad.
“I guess I should’ve talked to you about Geoffrey, but?—”
“Yes, you should have. You ship me off without talking to me, then you hire my second-in-command without even so much as a by-your-leave. Dad, if you want Indy to succeed, you have to let me do my job.” She stood, stretching as tall as she could above the desk. “I’m the future head of Akron, and you need to back up and stop treating me like a first-year intern.”
She wanted to growl—no, roar, Stop treating me like the fifteen-year-old who let Mama die!
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have hired Geoffrey without consulting you.”
“You shouldn’t have hired him at all. I will hire my own staff. In fact…” She paused to consider her next words. “Geoff is fired. I’ll hire my own second-in-command.”
Dad regarded her with his steely expression. “Don’t embarrass him. Keep it quiet. I’ll find something else for him.”
“Don’t embarrass him? But you didn’t mind embarrassing me by promoting him and sending the email.”
“I didn’t see it as embarrassing you, Cami.”
“Well, it was humiliating. Would you have done that to Eric or William? Promote someone in their department, then send a company-wide email without telling them?”
“You’ve made your point.” His tone set her back. Soft, contrite, almost repentant.
“Th-thank you.” Cami eased back down to her chair. “But I have to ask, what’s with the environmental survey of the inn, Dad? What are you up to? Ben was furious. He wants out of the deal. He claims I knew you’d pull a stunt like this, and if I didn’t, I’m not strong enough to stop you. Everyone in Hearts Bend is afraid you’d demo the whole town if you had the chance.”
“That’s ridiculous. I blame Haley Danner. She painted me in a horrible light at the town council meeting even though Linus declared Akron was a friend to Hearts Bend.”
“Then prove it. Fix the inn. Let’s renovate. Were you really intending to tear it down? Were you going to talk to me about any of this? The inn is my acquisition, and I promised Ben I’d take care of it. Then you come rolling in with Dean’s crew and?—”
