When he comes to lie back down, I turn toward him.
“I love you. Thank you for finding a way here.” I tell him simply. He probably knows how big of a deal it is to me, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t recognize it.
“I love you too.” He presses a kiss to my forehead and draws me into his chest.
“So, tell me about the meeting,” he says as his fingertips brush up and down my shoulder.
“Well, I’ll start by saying it was nothing like I thought it would be.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“I get there, expecting an interrogation of sorts, and both Sutter and Philipsen are sitting in the conference room waiting for me. My anxiety is off the charts by this time, but I sit and listen to what they have to say. They told me a group of women came forward about Lance and how he was taking advantage of his position. And started sexually harassing a couple of them and blackmailing them into dates—all the things he was doing to me, except they didn’t get fired.” I laugh, but it still really bothers me.
“The women came forward threatening a lawsuit, but the owners nipped it in the bud.”
“What do you mean?” Ledger asks.
“The owners offered a settlement, a rather hefty one at that, as well as a recommendation for another job if they wanted to leave.”
“So, why did they call you in?”
“Well, they heard I had evidence of Lance’s bullshit, which I do, so they wanted to cover their asses. Since I wasn’t under an employment contract with them, I could make their lives a living hell, I guess.”
“That’s shitty,” he grumbles.
“Very. But the best part is they made me an offer. Sign off on a settlement and get paid.”
“What the fuck?” Ledger being upset on my account is adorable, but he doesn’t see it the way I do yet.
“I accepted, signed off on their bullshit that I wouldn’t use any of the information I had to sue them at any point in the future. They accepted that Lance was a shithead and fired him without a recommendation, so he’s blacklisted. And they give me two hundred and fifty grand.”
I hold my breath, waiting for Ledger’s reaction.
“Well, that’s unexpected.” He says it so calmly, it’s almost disappointing, but he also doesn’t know what I want to do with that money, so I may get the reaction I’m after either way.
“It was. I didn’t even hesitate to take the money. Six months ago, I think I would have fought tooth and nail to do what I perceived as right, but now? What’s right is what will make my life in the future the best. And that, my dearest love, is taking that money and putting it into Bluebell Landscaping and expanding the company.”
Chapter 37
Ledger
Did I just hear her right?
It can’t be that easy, can it?
“What?” Her question makes me realize I haven’t said anything yet.
“I’m just shocked. Why would you want to put that money into Bluebell?” What I’m really asking is if this means she wants to stay with the company and in Bluebell Falls.
She shifts so that she’s lying on her pillow, facing me, and I sink down to get on her level.
“When I took the job as your assistant, I took it as an in-between. I took it as a stepping stone to the next big thing I was going to do. The universe works in mysterious ways, though, because I’m happier being a lowly old assistant than I ever was at the financial firm.”
“But you have so much more to offer than just being an assistant,” I counter, not trying to push her away but trying to make her see she’s capable of so much more. I want her to be so much more in the company.
“Well, that’s where we agree. I want to put this money into the company, but I have some thoughts on how to grow the company and turn it into a nationwide thing.”
Pride.
