Page 16 of Jack

“I’ll make a couple of phone calls, and it will be all right. Once we figure out what’s going on here, I’ll have someone drive it to our house, so you don’t have to worry about it.” Charlotte thanked them both. “Do you need anything, ma’am?”

“Just my girl to be all right.” Bailee sat with her while Denver went to make the phone calls. It really wasn’t that big of a deal to have it moved, but there was no point in leaving it out there to be vandalized. “I just wish we’d have eaten in the rig if it was going to cause all that much trouble.”

Before she could say anything, Emma was brought into the room. She looked a little out of it, and the nurse explained that the doctor had said she could have something for the pain. Whatever it was, it looked like it was doing the trick for her.

“They’re going to keep her overnight. Just to make sure that she’s here to get some meds when she needs them.” Bailee wondered what would have happened to her if they were to have released her since she and her mom both lived in their rig. She was going to make arrangements to have Charlotte stay with them and Emma when she got out of the hospital. It was the only way that they were going to get some rest, she thought. “Once the doctor looks over the scans, then we’ll come in and put some stitches in her head. It’s a good-sized cut but shouldn’t put her down for very long.”

After explaining that she was a red head and would need a bit more to knock her out, the nurse laughed and said that the doctor had a red-headed wife and knew how that was true. After she left, Charlotte went to the bed and held onto Emma’s hand. Bailee felt her eyes fill with tears. After so many things going on with mothers lately, it was nice to see a family get along so well.

“Emma is my step-daughter. When her father met me, she was about two at the time. We dated for a while, and Emma and I became close to each other. Then, when her dad died suddenly, we were all each other had.” She told her she was sorry. “I am as well. We didn’t have a lot of time together, Frank and I, but we certainly loved this little girl. She’s done so much for me that I don’t know that I would have made it without her bullying me all the time. In a good way, you understand.”

“Yes, of course. She told me how you bullied her at times as well. The two of you are good together.” She said that they had to be because they were in cramped quarters all the time. “Yes, I can see how that would make a difference in a relationship. I don’t know that I could have been in a rig for as long as the two of you have been.”

“Like I said, it was for the best.” Charlotte looked at Emma. “We, the two of us, have sold off everything that we owned to make this work for us. I wanted to see the country and she wanted to drive so that she was her own boss. I have no idea how much longer she plans to do this, but I’ve never been so proud of anyone as I am of her. We have a bit of a savings account thanks to her and we’re doing something that very few mother and daughters get to do with each other.”

“I would imagine that you two are the exception to the rule about families getting along so well. Taylor, you’ll meet her later. She’s having issues with her mom right now. I heard from the courthouse that she’s been arrested for threatening a sitting judge, along with a few other things that are going to get her jail time. Now that woman is a nutball.” The two of them talked for a while, waiting for someone to come in and talk to them. Denver came back to tell them that the rig had been taken care of, and she could tell that Charlotte was relieved about that. She had looked it up earlier and couldn’t believe the cost of a simple rig. And theirs had extra stuff in it for them to live.

It was nearly midnight when they admitted Emma. She didn’t want to stay, but her mom said she’d feel better if she had. That was when she told them that their house was open for them and that they’d be proud to have them staying with them until she felt better. She had a feeling that the only reason that Emma agreed was because her mom did so quickly. It was lovely to see such a bond between two people like she was.

After setting up Charlotte in one of the guest rooms, she and Denver went to bed, too. Tomorrow was going to be a long day as they had meetings all day with different vendors that wanted to come to the town. She was excited and scared at the same time. So many people were depending on them for new jobs and businesses coming in that it made her slightly nervous, too.

The next morning, Charlotte heard from Emma about when she was going to be discharged. The rig had been brought to the house and she was happy to see that Charlotte was able to get herself some clean clothing. It was wonderful, too, that she got to see a first-hand look at the inside of the little home they’d been living in for the past five years.

“I don’t think that I could have done it.” Bailee thought about some of the magic that was in the family and wondered if they could tweak the rig a bit so that they had a lot more room. That was a question for later, she thought. She wanted to make sure that everything else turned out fine for the two women before the center was finished.

Several hours after having her breakfast, Bailee was ready to face the meetings that she had set up. Off and on, she would check on Emma, but for the most part she was glad to be getting these meetings done with. She’d know better than to have them all on the same day again. It was trying for her to have to keep straight what each meeting was about. She felt like she was in a tennis match with things going back and forth.

However, at the end of the day, it was a great accomplishment to know that seven more businesses were coming to town that would hire two hundred people. Next week, they were going to do the groundbreaking for the parts place for wine barrels being made right here in their little town.

Dever was picking up something for dinner as they both had had a fulfilling day. Emma was in the living room relaxing and her mom was on the phone with someone. Once she left the room, Bailee asked her how she was doing. She could tell that she was in a bit of pain, but she said it was nice to be settled someplace other than a hospital bed.

“I would imagine. And something bigger than the bed that you two share.” She said that there was that as well. “I’m hoping that you guys live close enough that we can get together sometimes. I fell in love with your mom, and she’s having a good time house-hunting with the realtor.”

“She’s going to be spending the most time in the place so it might as well be her that finds us something. I think she’s finished with traveling now and wants to settle in one place.” She nodded and then said that she’d spoken to her a bit. “Not that I’d turn her down if she wanted to go with me at times. Being home at night has been the most appealing thing you offered us. Mom wants to put in a little garden and have a place where she could sit and read. I’m betting that we won’t even own a television set when we get someplace. We’ve enjoyed the peace and quiet for too long for us to go back to wanting all that noise again.

“I can understand that as well. I was going to ask you, do you still feel up to having dinner with us all tomorrow night? I don’t want to make you do anything that you don’t want to do.” She said other than a pounding headache, she felt pretty good. “Good. I was going to cancel if you thought you couldn’t do it. I can’t wait to get this project, along with a few more, started. It’s going to be so good for the area.”

There was more to it than that but she didn’t mention it just yet. Bailee was thinking that it would be wonderful if it turned out that Emma was one of the others mates. However, since she wanted it to happen, it wouldn’t. But time would tell, she supposed. Tomorrow was going to be another long and scary day with all the meetings that she had coming up.

Chapter 7

Gilda was about as pissed off as she’d been in a long time. Not only was she mad at her daughter, but the entire world seemed to be against her. Now here she sat in the jail with nothing to do. All she’d wanted to do was to make sure that her daughter would take care of her for the rest of her life and she wouldn’t do it.

Then there were the children. She knew for a fact that children were time-consuming. She’d never been so glad to have Henriette out of the picture soon. The old bat couldn’t be around much longer. The fact that she’d been around this long boggled her mind. Why couldn’t she just die like the rest of the old people did? Who knew. She was probably making a deal with the devil, and that’s why she was still around. No matter how much she wanted the old bat dead, she just wouldn’t die.

“You have a visitor. Would you like to have them come back here, or would you like to go to the conference room?” She said that she wanted out of there. “That’s not what I asked you. Where did you want to have this meeting?”

“Who is it?” When he didn’t answer her, she wanted to get out of this place and beat the shit out of him. It was bad enough that they never got close enough to her to allow her to touch them. “I’ll meet them in the conference room, I guess. But if it’s someone that I don’t want to meet with, then you’ll have to take me right back.”

He didn’t say anything but for her to back against the far wall. It was all she could do not to slam his head against the bars and be done with him. But that would be too much work, and she didn’t have it in her to make herself do anything that someone else should do for her.

Her daughter was in the room when she was brought in. After they actually chained her to the table and her legs to the hook on the floor, the cop stood against the far wall and waited. She told him three times that he needed to leave them alone, but all he did was put his hand on his gun and tell her to get on with it.

“I suppose you came in here to get me out of here. I’m not so sure how I feel about being around you after all you’ve done to me.” Taylor asked her what she was talking about. “What are you doing to get me out of here? I’m hoping that you know, too, that I’m not going to put up with the crappy way you’ve been treating me, Taylor. I demand that you do as you’re told and make my life better.”

“Your life is just the way that it should be.” She snorted and didn’t say anything else. “There are some things that you missed when you were in the courthouse that I’m here to explain to you now. First of all, it’s the money. I’ve given you the money from the insurance policy that was Dad’s. You’ve already spent it all, but I’m being generous today. Also, as per your request, there is no more money going out of your accounts, such as payments due on your house or any kind of stock prices. You only have the cash that I’m giving you.”

“Good. And there won’t be any more of it going out for investments either, correct?” She explained to her that without investments, her money could soon be gone. “You’ll just give me more. That’s the way that I want it.”

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