Battling Destiny (The Piper Anderson Series Book 6) (14 page)

I’ll grab my laptop and meet you in your office.”

“It’s not my office. It’s my father’s and every time I sit in there I hate it even more.”

Lindsey shrugged her shoulders and jogged off toward the room she was staying in to retrieve her things.

“What about Frankie?  I don’t like leaving her here all day with a nanny. It doesn’t feel right. Especially if you’re worried about what your mother may do.” Piper swept one of Frankie’s growing red curls away from her eyes.

“My mother is a lot of things, but she wouldn’t hurt Frankie. Nicolette has been with our family for ages and practically raised my sister. I’ll have Lindsey check in throughout the day. I just need you thinking of a way to keep Jules from completely falling for my mother’s shit and forgetting that I do the things I do to keep her safe.”

“I’m supposed to do all that without saying anything?” Piper raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

“I didn’t say I knew how you were going to do it, just that I need you to. You know Jules as well as anyone. Just think of what normally makes her come to her senses.”

“I have one trick up my sleeve.” Piper grinned as she headed back toward the dining room and blew a kiss to Frankie before disappearing.

Michael closed his eyes and kissed the crown of his daughter’s head. “We just need to get out of here and back to Edenville. Then everything can go back to normal. Well, as normal as you can call it when your Grandma Betty is around.”

“Jules, please wait up,” Piper called as she sped up to catch Jules and Tabitha before they could disappear into the waiting car.

“Piper, you don’t need to come with us today. Tabitha has been through enough, and she’s just trying to finish up the details for the engagement party.” Jules lowered her voice as she leaned in toward Piper who’d finally reached them. “She doesn’t need you having a bad attitude about everything and defending Michael’s absolutely selfish choices today.”

“I’m not going to. Michael told me what happened, and I just want to be with you and make sure you’re okay. I promise I won’t have an attitude or even interject my opinion at all.”

“But you do have an opinion and you’re on Michael’s side,” Jules said, raising her brows up defiantly.

“I don’t know enough about any of it to even have an opinion. You’re my best friend, and you’ve always stood by me. I just want to be with you today, and I don’t care about anyone else’s drama.”

“Are you going to make me feel terrible about not having Frankie with me today? I’m not crazy about leaving her again, but Tabitha really needs the company. You should have seen it this morning. It was awful to watch.”

“Frankie is with Nicolette, and Lindsey will be checking in too. She’ll be fine. Just let me come with you. Please.”

“Fine,” Jules relented, gesturing for Piper to get in.

“Where are we off to first?” Piper asked, trying to sound bubbly and excited for whatever tedious task lay before them.

“You’re coming?” Tabitha asked with a look like she suddenly smelled something unsavory.

“I’m looking forward to helping with the party details. It’s not something I’ve ever done before. So where do we start?”

“We’re meeting my daughter at the venue to make sure everything is on track for the party in two days. I’m sure by now she’s heard the news, though. She won’t likely be able to even focus on the party. She’ll be devastated.”

“I know, Tabitha. I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. No one would blame you if you stayed home today and just processed the changes.” Jules patted Tabitha’s shoulder, which was rigid with anger.

“I have no intention of processing anything. He is not taking away everything I have worked hard for over the years. If he thinks I’m just going to lie down and take this because he’s upset at his father, he has another think coming.”

“But everything is in his name, isn’t it? It’s his legal decision to do whatever he wants with the businesses and charities. Why would your husband do that if they weren’t speaking?”

“The will hasn’t been updated since before Michael moved away. There was a time when they were so close, and it was in the plans for Michael to take over everything. Once they had a falling out his father always hoped Michael would come back and things could go back to normal. I will tell you one thing, my husband never intended for Michael to dismantle his legacy and leave me and Josephine with nothing.”

“Why did Michael leave in the first place?” Piper asked. Jules wanted to snap at her for getting involved, but she actually wanted to know the answer too, so she stayed silent and waited.

“Because that’s what fathers and sons do,” Tabitha snapped back. “They were more alike than either of them would admit, and because of that, they didn’t agree on much.”

“What do you intend to do to keep Michael from moving forward with his plans? It sounds like he’s already got the ball rolling on most of it.” Piper shifted in her seat slightly and Jules could tell her friend was working another agenda. But again, Jules wanted an answer to the question.

“The only thing that will change his mind is seeing himself as part of this family and believing he could have a future here in Ohio again, at least in some capacity. Right now he’s just trying to get through the weekend and then leave us here like we’re strangers. If he stayed a little longer and saw Josephine and me as something other than just the wife and daughter of a man he hated, maybe he could stop making decisions out of spite and anger. He doesn’t want the burden of continuing his father’s legacy, and in the process he’s destroying our lives. I know he’s not that kind of man, but right now he’s making it hard to remember the sweet boy he once was. Does he intend to keep Frankie from me? Does he intend to never see me again after this?” Tabitha broke into a sob and covered her face with her hands as her shoulders shook.

“No,” Jules said adamantly. “He will not keep Frankie from you. I won’t let that happen. We don’t have much family, and I’m not going to let him just cut you out of her life like that. You are her grandmother and you have the right to see her whenever you want.”

“I know if you leave after this party I’ll never have the chance to make any of this right,” Tabitha choked out.

“I’ve already told him he doesn’t get to decide when Frankie and I leave. He’s my husband, not my keeper. I honestly can’t believe how he’s acting. I’ve never known him to make decisions just to spite people.”

“Neither have I,” Piper cut in. “He always has a reason for what he does. He’s very calculated and levelheaded.”

“Usually, yes. But the way I’ve seen him acting here is frightening. I don’t intend to just run off to Edenville and pretend none of this ever happened.”

“So you’re going to stay here?” Piper asked, and Jules knew her well enough to see she was fighting back her own opinion in the matter.

“Oh, please tell me you are staying. I can’t imagine losing everything in one week. My husband, our livelihood, and my grandchild. I won’t survive all of that.” Tabitha clutched at Jules’s leg desperately.

“I don’t know, really,” Jules explained, now feeling like it would be wrong to promise something she really wasn’t entirely sure about yet. Wouldn’t false hope be worse than leaving? All she had meant was that Michael wasn’t the decision-maker for the entire family. “I just want you to know that I’ll talk to Michael and try to understand more of what is going on. I feel like we’ve hardly had a chance to talk since all this started. I’m sure I can get through to him.”

Like a hot air balloon whose flame had been extinguished, Tabitha shriveled and shrank. Jules hadn’t given her the exact answers she'd been looking for.

The car slowed to a stop in front of a large museum-like building before Tabitha could voice her apparent disappointment and concern. At the top of the grand front steps stood Josephine, wearing a gray designer pantsuit and a scowl.  Jules felt a rock sinking in her stomach at the idea of having to face another person Michael had blindsided with the news this morning. Her anger at him was growing, but like a small fractal of light cutting through that darkness there was a part of her that wondered why a man who always acted with logic and forethought would now make rash and spiteful decisions. And the answer in her head kept ringing the same:
he wouldn’t.

Josephine had requested a moment alone with her mother, and the two stepped inside a small office while Jules and Piper headed into the large ballroom where the party would be held.

“I feel terrible,” Jules said as she bit down on her nails and then stopped suddenly when she remembered how much the deluxe manicure had cost Tabitha. “I don’t understand why Michael is doing this. Just because he can shut everything down doesn’t mean he should. We could make things work out here.”

“Are you saying you want to stay in Ohio?” Piper asked, unable to hide her concern at that idea.

“No, I’m saying it wouldn’t be impossible to spend some time out here and some in Edenville. Michael could run everything and not uproot their lives completely the way he is. Tabitha loves these charities. I know they aren’t completely clean of any corruption, but she’s had nothing to do with that. She shouldn’t be punished for her husband’s mistakes.”

“I’m sure it’ll all work out,” Piper said noncommittally, looking around the large room to avoid eye contact with Jules.

“Really, you’re going with that for an answer?”

“I told you I’d come out with you today and not interject my opinion. I’m just trying to be supportive.”

“Well, stop it for a minute and just tell me what you really think.”

“I think you’re stating things as fact when you aren’t really positive. You don’t know if Tabitha had nothing to do with the corruption of those charities. You’re giving her undue trust, and in the process you’re showing Michael you don’t trust him.”

“And what if Michael is just angry and acting like a stupid jerk because he’s mad? Do they deserve that? I’m not ready to tell them to stay out of our lives.”

“I’ve never known him to make decisions based solely on emotions. That’s kind of your department.” Piper smiled slightly but quickly tucked it away.

“What do you think I should do? And don’t tell me to trust Michael.” Jules bit nervously at her lip and glanced over her shoulder to see if Tabitha and Josephine were coming.

“I don’t think you should do anything. Don’t promise to stay and don’t plan on leaving. Give it all a little more time. Talk to Michael, and give him a chance to explain. I’m not saying to blindly trust him, I’m saying listen to what he has to say.”

“Is she telling you to listen to what Michael has to say? Isn’t that sage advice?” Tabitha asked as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere with Josephine by her side and startled them.

“Tabitha, this isn’t an easy time for any of us. I certainly never thought I’d be in the middle of something like this by coming out here.” Jules felt sweat begin to bead on the back of her neck at the idea of having a confrontation with Tabitha.

Looking as though she were an overfull volcano about to spew lava, Tabitha turned a new shade of red. But then as quick as the wave came, it seemed to subside. “I understand. This really isn’t easy for any of us. I’m afraid now, that’s all. I don’t want to lose you and Frankie. Michael doesn’t have a reason to run anymore, so I hope he doesn’t.”

Tabitha pulled Jules in for a tight hug and patted her back gently. Jules felt the weight of the world come off her shoulders. She thought for sure Tabitha was about to flip out on her. But she didn’t. Crisis averted.

“Now, this day is about Josephine. So let’s get down to business, making sure this event is perfect.” Tabitha turned toward her daughter and gently touched her cheek.

“Thank you, Mother,” Josephine said with a smile. “I’m sorry you’re in the middle of this, Jules. I’ve always wanted a sister and I can see you and I have so much in common. I hope that we can make this all work somehow.”

“I hope so too,” Jules said, wiping away a tear and pulling Josephine in for a hug.

As Tabitha and Josephine stepped away to get the attention of the party planner who’d walked in, Piper leaned in toward Jules.

“I know that look. You are planning something,” Piper whispered.

“There has to be a way to work all of this out.”

Piper rolled her eyes and shook her head at Jules. “Just be careful.”

“My middle name is careful.” Jules grinned at her best friend.

“No, you’re middle name is Marie, and you’re never careful.”

“You’ve got to be kidding with this shit, Michael,” Tim Abraham, his father’s point person in overseas purchases for the manufacturing business, barked as he charged into the office and closed the door tightly behind him.

“It’s not a joke. I’m shutting everything down. You’ll have to launder your money somewhere else.”

“Your father would roll over in his grave if he knew what a pussy you were being,” Tim retorted as he slammed his pudgy fist down on the desk. His wispy gray combover seemed to be glowing against his crimson face.

“There isn’t room for debate here, Tim. I’ve got the majority of the paperwork ready to be filed. It’s done. Now let’s talk about what that means for you. By scaling back the manufacturing company significantly we won’t be sourcing as heavily from outside the United States anymore. Your services won’t be necessary.” Michael leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest the way his father used to do.