Page 33 of Joy to Noel
“Thanks for telling me what happened that made you act like a jerk. ‘No legacy is so rich as honesty,’” I quip, playing on his Shakespeare reference, even though he probably doesn’t realize he was quoting the Bard.
Liam raises an eyebrow, amused. Then, he catches me entirely off guard when he quotes, “‘Our virtues would be proud, if our faults whipped them not.’ I’m afraid you were caught in the crosshairs of myfaults whipping my virtues, keeping me from getting too prideful,” he says. “I’m sorry for being a jerk.”
“Why do you know so much Shakespeare?” I demand.
Liam merely smiles, a sly, mysterious smirk. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Goodnight, MJ.”
I watch his retreating figure, listening to the crunch of the gravel under his feet. Then, I close the door and groan.
Chapter sixteen
Liam
It’s been two weeks since I discovered Mr. Wilson’s embezzlement scheme. Two weeks of slowly whipping the factory into shape, despite the fact that no new hires have been authorized yet. Two weeks of realizing that the expiration date to my time in Noel is nowhere in immediate sight.
Two weeks of trying to keep my interactions with Madison short enough to not become a distraction, while long enough to not cross over into jerk territory again. My enjoyment of our conversations and time together creates an uncomfortable tension, considering nothing good could come from growing too accustomed to her company.
I’m in the middle of a conversation with Beau about one of the ovens that’s been acting up when my phone rings with a call from Cal.
“I need to take this,” I say, gesturing my phone in the air. Beau nods, and I walk away. “Cal, give me just a second to walk off the floor to my office where it will be quieter.”
Once I make it to my office, I shut the door. “Okay, what do you need?” I ask Cal.
“I need you to make a short trip to Houston to meet with our lawyers and investigators. I want you to personally walk them through all the discoveries you’ve made so that they can present their case for criminal charges against Wilson. Can you be here tomorrow night ready to present the next morning?” Cal asks.
“Um, yeah, I can figure that out,” I say.
“Good, I’ll have Angie book a flight for you from Bentonville to Houston. We just need you here for one day of meetings, unless you want to stay an extra day as a break from small-town hell,” Cal says.
“No, if I’m gone too long, my cat will tear apart the cabin. I’ll just stay the one night,” I say. Cal confirms and ends the call.
I sit down to review my notes, not wanting to risk appearing unprepared when I talk with the legal team. As I look through the reports and papers, I debate whether to get an extra layer of certainty about my findings.
Thus far, I haven’t clued in Beau or any of the other employees to the fact that Wilson was embezzling funds. I didn’t want to risk jeopardizing the legal team’s actions if rumors started spinning out of control to the wrong ears. But in the weeks that I’ve been here, Beau has proved to be not only a reliable employee but a competent leader as well. He also had more interaction with Wilson than most other people here at the plant. Confirming some facts with him may not be such a bad idea.
Making up my mind, I page him to come to my office. When he arrives, I invite him to close the door and take a seat. Standing up from my chair, I walk around to the front of the desk, leaning against it and crossing my legs at the ankles.
“Beau, I need your help to answer some questions, but I have to ask for your absolute silence about the things I’m going to share with you. You’ve proved to be an honest, reliable leader here, which is why I decided to bring you up to speed on some information. But I need your word that you won’t repeat anything we talk about,” I begin.
Beau sits up straighter in his seat. “Yes, sir, you have my word. I’m glad to help with any questions I know the answers to.”
Nodding, I add, “One more thing. If I loop you in and get your eyewitness confirmation on some things, this could mean that you’ll be contacted by the Holden Inc. legal team in the future. Is that something you’re okay with?”
A flash of concern crosses Beau’s face. “I’m not in any trouble, am I?”
“No, not at all,” I reassure him. “This is all regarding some of Mr. Wilson’s actions while he was here running the plant.”
Relief crosses Beau’s face, followed by a hardened expression. “If I can do anything to set right what Mr. Wilson mismanaged, I’m happy to do so. I care about the success of this factory because I care about the success of this town and the families here. Plus the surrounding towns that rely on Pure Fur All for employment—a lot of people have a lot to lose if this plant goes under. Please let me help.”
So I do. I fill him in on the general details of my discoveries about Wilson’s embezzlement, and I watch the quiet fury on his face grow less and less quiet with each new detail.
“That low-life excuse for a man,” Beau growls when I finish my explanation. “He jeopardized the jobs and futures of so many good people here. He made us all think we were inept and unqualified, when he was the one stealing from our labor.”
For the first time, it hits me how this whole ordeal must feel to the employees here. How confusing and frustrating it must have been for them to be doing honest work but never quite hitting their marks—because no one told them what marks they should be hitting. How unnerving it must have been, thinking they’re failing and fearing for the future of their employment. People like Beau and Amanda who are genuine, hardworking humans.
Suddenly, what was once simply another broken puzzle to fix feels personal. Wilson wasn’t just stealing money from Pure Fur All or Holden Incorporated—he was stealing from these people. Stealing their money, their security, their peace of mind.
“Beau, I’m going to shoot you straight—the Pure Fur All executive suite has kind of been a mess in all of this. Their people should have caught what was going on a long time ago,” I say. Beau’s eyes flicker with fear. So I give him the only reassurance that I can. “I can’t promise that the Pure Fur All brand is going to come through this unscathed. But I can promise that I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure this factory keeps running and your jobs are secure. I’ll stay as long as it takes to ensure that the Noel production facility is an irreplaceable component of Pure Fur All’s success, okay?”
