Chasing Trouble (Texas Trouble) (19 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Emotion pushed up into her throat, and Jenny dropped her purse and the manual on a chair, then walked across the scuffed wooden planks straight into his hug. 

"Oh, Daddy...I've missed you," she said and there was no mistaking the tears in
her
eyes, in her voice, she was sure.  Jenny had cried more in one day than she'd cried in ten years.  Today had been a very enlightening and humbling day for sure.

"Nick said you were in town, but we hadn't heard from you, so...." her dad's deep voice rumbled into her hair.  "We've missed you...why are you back in town?  Did you leave the hospital in Henrietta?" he asked with concern and shoved her away from him. 

"Is everything okay, honey?"  His voice turned gruff and his eyes narrowed, "Did that Bowman bastard hurt you?"

Her lower lip trembled and she said, "Oh, daddy..."
before she threw herself into his arms again and blubbered like there wouldn't be a sunrise tomorrow, spilling out the whole story into his chest.

Jenny explained about the breakup, and what she was doing back in
Amarillo, and her family digested it without judgment.  That was more than she'd given them, she now realized. 

When she finished, she took a deep breath then let it out slowly and told her father, "I need your help, daddy...you know the business."

He snorted then said, "I used to know it, honey...it's been a long time and there have been a million improvements in rig safety since my time."

"I have a laptop computer and we can research it, but I don't know the terms, and
processes, so that's where you can help me...if you will."

"Sure, I'll try to
help you, darlin'," he told her.  "Now stop that caterwauling and go blow your nose, then tell me what you need."  His voice was gruff, but she saw the clouds that had been in his eyes for years had cleared some, and he almost looked excited.

"It's almost lunch time, I'll fix us some sandwiches and chips.  Ya'll go sit at the table," her mother commanded then headed for the kitchen.
  Jenny headed for the bathroom, where she splashed her face and pulled herself together. 

When she walked back through the living room to the kitchen, her dad wasn't in his chair, so she went into the kitchen and found him sitting at the round table by the backdoor.

"I'm going to run out to the truck and get my computer," Jenny announced then had a moment of pause.  "Do ya'll have internet?"  If not, she and her dad would have to go where there was wi-fi, because he had a learning curve too evidently.

Her mother looked back over her shoulder with a butter
knife slathered in mayonnaise held mid-air, "Sure, honey...Nick had it installed."

Jenny wondered if her brother was paying for it, then shoved that thought out of her head.  Her purpose here wasn't to judge anyone.
..she'd done enough of that.

"Okay, I'll be right back then," she told
them then walked back to the truck.

By Thursday night, between she and her dad, they'd revised the manual to a point that Jenny felt like it was beyond a good start.  At least now, she understood the pieces, parts and processes involved in oil well drilling.  What she didn't understand was a lot of the terminology and slang.  A
worm
was a new worker?  A
mud man
was in charge of keeping the drilling fluid the right consistency?  A
fish
was a foreign object dropped down the well bore? 

Some of the
terms were so outrageous and disassociated, there was no way she would remember them.  That was something she was going to have to study.  When she had time.  When she didn't have one day to finish her report and have it on Chase's desk. 

Although she felt better about the situation
now, had more confidence in herself, she couldn't have done it without her father's help, so it was a false security at best.  He wouldn't be around for the meetings when they discussed her recommended changes, and she was afraid she'd look like an idiot.  A sudden thought hit Jenny like a brick between her eyes.

"Daddy, would you be interested in helping me on a more permanent basis?"  She had no idea if Chase would agree to it or not, but she had to try.  It would help her daddy out of his depression, and it would help her do her job.

He grunted, then folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair to listen.  Jenny continued, "If you're up for it, I'm going to see if Chase will hire you as a consultant, to help me with the safety part of my job.  Or he could put you on the payroll, if you want, either way."

"I'm a roughneck, sugar...I've never been a company man.  I'm not a paper pusher," he told her shaking his head.

"I'll do the paper work.  You just help me put things in place to keep the rig workers safe...make the rigs safer.  Between us, we can make sure that what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else," she told him.

"I reckon, I'd be willing to talk about it," he said and shot a glance at her mother, who was standing at the sink seemingly holding her breath. 

Her dad might have been a roughneck for economic reasons, but that didn't mean he wasn't smart.  What she'd discovered working with him the last few days was her daddy was very intelligent, organized and thorough.  If all those qualities were directly related to oil rigs, that didn't matter.  It was what he knew, and his knowledge was valuable.  She thought he must have realized that that too. 

His mood was lighter, his voice more animated than she'd heard or seen it in years.  Perhaps that is what was wrong with him all the years after his accident, he felt worthless.  If that were true, he was so wrong, and she was going to make sure he knew that.  Maybe that is what was wrong with her brother too.  It looked like Jenny had judged them unfairly too.

Although he'd gotten most of the attention growing up, it wasn't because he was great at anything.  He tried a lot of things, really tried, she admitted reluctantly, he just hadn't been good at them, like school.  As hard as he tried though, he still failed.  Eventually he quit trying and went for fast and easy, instead of things he had to work to achieve.

Jenny knew what facing failure felt like now, and she didn't like it.  Maybe she and her brother had that in common, they just had different ways of dealing with it.  It was something she'd have to think about a little more, and try to come up with an idea to help her brother find his self-worth too.

Seeing her mother's shoulders slump when she heard his words, Jenny got up and walked over to the sink.  When she started shaking, Jenny put her arm around her and squeezed.  "You okay, mama?"

She shook her head, but didn't speak.  Jenny leaned close to her ear and whispered, "It's gonn
a be good, mama...you'll see."

Now all she had to do was convince Chase.  He had to agree, because if he didn't her daddy would probably be in more of a depression than he'd been in before...and it would be all her fault.  She'd come here, asked for his help, and now she was making desperate promises she wasn't sure she could keep.

She missed Chase.  With every day he was gone, her heart shriveled a little more in her chest and her anxiety that she wouldn't be able to get him to listen to her grew.  He hadn't called, and because basically he'd told her not to call him, she hadn't.  He was due back from his trip tomorrow, but even then he would probably avoid her.

Jenny
turned toward her dad who was flipping through the manual at the table. 

"Mom...Dad? 

He raised his eyes from the manual to regard her over his half-eye glasses. 

"Yeah?" he replied.

"There's a party Saturday night at the Rhodes mansion.  Would you two come?" she asked him hopefully, then added, "Nick's invited too...Mrs. Rhodes asked me to invite ya'll." 

Having
them there with her would make her feel better, if for nothing other than moral support.  She couldn't ever remember her mother and father going out on a date.  They deserved a night like this one promised to be.  And she could introduce them to Chase...maybe talk to him about her idea.

He studied her for a minute then he asked, "You sure?"

"Yeah, daddy...I want you at the party, so I can introduce you to Chase, and show ya'll off," she told him with a grin.

"Pssht...your full of shit," he told her, but the corners of his lips lifted, but the fell quickly.  "I don't have a suit," he said and tossed his pen down on top of the notepad beside the manual.

"Then, we're going shopping...I think we have enough here for now.  We'll work on the rest tonight and in the morning.  Let's go have some fun," she told both of them.  "Call Nick and get him to meet us at the mall."  Jenny had the money now, and they deserved this...it would also make her feel better about having unfairly judged them.

"Fun?  You call shopping fun?" he hooted then stood.  "I call that torture of the highest caliber."

"Aww, daddy it isn't that bad, we'll make it fun.  I'll buy us lunch too," she promised then walked around the table and put her arm through his.  He smiled down at her and a little ray of hope blossomed in her chest.  Everything was going to be all right.

Jenny walked into Rhodes Drilling on Friday morning at nine a.m. sharp with her finished report in her hand.  With a smile she stopped at Sarah's desk on the way to her office and asked, "Is Chase in yet?"

"Wow, you're looking like you feel better!" Sarah said brightly and her eyes moved over Jenny. 

During their shopping trip, in addition to a killer cocktail dress, Jenny had bought a few power suits, and the one she wore today was her favorite.  Red wouldn't have normally been her first choice, nor would the skirt that barely reached mid-thigh.  She was usually more subdued in her choices, but the suit had screamed to her, and she knew it would scream to Chase too.  When she put it on and looked in the mirror she knew she had to have it, along with the four-inch sling back leopard print stilettos that went so perfectly with it.

Ammunition, that's what she thought of the suit, so she didn't even flinched when she plopped down her credit card and shelled out two hundred dollars for it.  When she met with Chase, she was going to be loaded for bear and slaying him was her goal. 

She'd gone to the salon with her mother, and they both had their hair done.  She had hers highlighted and trimmed, her mother got a color and cut.  Jenny hadn't seen her mom smile like that in years, so it had been worth every penny.  And Jenny needed the extra confidence boost to get her through her growing pains at Rhodes Drilling.

"Thanks," Jenny said with a grin, then repeated, "So, is Chase in?"

"No, he said he won't be in until later this afternoon," Sarah informed her with a shrug.

"Can you buzz me when he gets here?  I need to see him...um, and don't tell him, please," she begged.  At Sarah's curious look she added, "We have some things to work out...growing pains.  I just want to surprise him with my report...maybe it'll put him in a better mood."

After a moment of hesitation Sarah smiled at her then agreed.  "I'm with you sister, he was in a funk before he left.  I hope he got an attitude adjustment while he was gone.  I've worked here five years, and I've never seen him so grumpy..." the woman said with a shake of her head.

Jenny knew why he was in such a sour mood, her, but she wasn't telling Sarah that.  "Maybe he's just busy," Jenny defended then told her, "Thanks for your help," before she turned away and walked down the hall to her office.

Trying to make the time pass faster, Jenny looked to find the company's health manual on the network and failed.  When she asked Sarah where she could find it, she was told there wasn't one, that they'd just decided to have medics at the drilling sites.  A thrill shot through Jenny when she heard that news. 

The health program for
Rhodes would evidently be her baby from the ground up.

She could set up the training
and certification program manuals however she pleased.  This was her specialty, right in her wheelhouse of knowledge, and it excited her.  She'd done the safety manual update with her father's help, but for this she didn't need anyone's help. This side of her job she knew she'd excel at.

The manuals she created, the regulations she recommended
, would set new standards in the industry.  That would make Chase proud of her, make him not regret hiring her anymore.  If she got the manual started and presented it to him with the safety manual, then explained her thoughts on setting up the programs, maybe he would realize she was the right choice for this job, after all. 

At least maybe he'd talk to her then...about business, if nothing else.

God, she was pathetic...pining after a man who had all but told his friends he was over her and her attitude...looking to him for approval.  Jenny heaved a sigh, then turned on her computer and started researching similar programs in other industries, furiously jotting notes, and printing pages.  At least she had to try to get him to listen to her, forgive her, she wasn't a quitter.

When Jenny looked up from her keyboard, the clock on the wall said
four o'clock and Chase had never showed up in the office...or at least Sarah had never called her.  She picked up the phone and dialed his assistant's extension.