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Despite Mrs. Garcia’s warm tone, Jodi shivered. September. Only three months to raise twice her current savings balance.
* * *
AFTER DROPPING OFF Tyler at her neighbor’s apartment and returning to work, she sat at her desk, numb. Her ex-husband, Peter, hadn’t returned her voice mails and her eyes lingered on her bare left hand, her mind inventorying her belongings. She shouldn’t have flushed away her wedding rings—even though she’d been pushed to her limit by Tyler’s wails for his vanished father. They would have helped to pay for the tuition to Wonders Primary.
Impulsive, her mother used to call her, just like her father. And look where that’d gotten him. How it had affected their family. She shrank from the memory but it found her anyway. If she hadn’t accepted a friend’s last-minute invitation rather than going home for chores, she would have been there when a borrowed skid loader dislodged and the auger her father had been lifting crashed down. Because of her absence, he’d been pinned for two hours before her mother returned from work and discovered him, the delay costing him his arm and their family their livelihood.
She buried her head in her hands. Her parents hadn’t blamed her, but she’d never forgiven herself. Never again would she put what she wanted ahead of duty. Yet when she’d tried keeping her failing marriage going for Tyler’s sake, that had backfired, too.
Her phone buzzed and she snatched it off her desk when she recognized the number.
“Peter?” It was a rare day when he returned her calls. Thank goodness today was one of them.
“We need to talk.” His distracted, impatient voice sounded as distant as ever.
“Yes. About Wonders Primary—” she began, knowing it was a long shot to ask, but for Tyler, anything.
“What? No,” he barked, and she flinched, recalling previous times he’d used that tone with her. And Tyler. “I’m getting remarried.”
Her mind skittered over that thought like a tongue probing for a cavity. After a moment, she relaxed. No pain. Tyler was her only priority, and the reason, according to her ex, that they’d split. For the hundredth time, she regretted her impulsive decision to marry Peter. On the other hand, that rash decision had brought her the greatest joy in her life: her beautiful boy.
“Congratulations,” she said, hoping he’d found a partner who would give him a “perfect” child. He’d resented having a son who couldn’t keep up with the other kids, who brought stares and snide comments from strangers. Her nightly research for autism treatments and insistence that Tyler’s condition was beyond her or their son’s control had only angered him further.
“I’m suing to lower my child support.”
Her office seemed to tilt and spin. He might as well have reached into her chest and seized her heart.
“No!” she exclaimed. “Tyler needs more money to go to a school for autistic children.”
“That was your label,” Peter blustered. “Not mine. You spoiled him. All that coddling. That’s why the kid wouldn’t walk until he was two.”
Jodi squeezed her eyes shut and counted backward from ten. “It’s a medical diagnosis, Peter. It’s not my fault.”
“Look. I don’t have time for this. My lawyers are sending papers over this week.”
She heard a beep, then silence, yet she kept the phone pressed to her ear for a moment, willing him to come back on, to say that he’d help.
Hands shaking, she dropped her phone in her purse and opened a file. Anything to steady her. At first she saw only a blur of numbers until her whirling mind settled enough to make out a purchase agreement. The Idaho farmers had agreed to sell their land to her employer, Midland Corp. Several families had even accepted her company’s offer to let them stay in their homes, rent-free, as contracted workers. They’d farm their old land for a paycheck instead of profits.
Despite her day, she felt some satisfaction in this hard-won deal. It was one of several she’d made that had helped Midland become the world’s largest food producer and owner of agricultural land.
“Ms. Chapman?” Her secretary’s voice came through the intercom.
“Yes, Linda.”
“Mr. Williams would like to see you in his office immediately.”
Jodi rubbed her throbbing temples. Of all the times to get a summons from her boss. “Please tell him I’ll be right there.”
The familiar sound of fingers tapping on keyboards, phones ringing and fax machines spitting out paper filled the corridor as she strode toward Mr. Williams’s office.
“Hi, Gail.” Jodi placed her hands on the granite counter before her boss’s door, noticed her chipped nail polish and yanked them down to her sides. “Mr. Williams wants to see me?”
Gail slid a candy bowl her way and lowered her voice. “You might want reinforcements.” She glanced at the door behind her. “He’s in a tear.”
Jodi’s stomach twisted and she ignored the treats. Focusing on work instead of her crisis felt impossible. Facing an irritated boss on top of that might be more than she could handle.
Well. There was nothing for it.
She took a deep breath, put on her business face, knocked and then strode inside. Her boss half rose from his seat and waved her to a chair. He was an imposing, florid man whose white comb-over contrasted with his helter-skelter black eyebrows. His thick glasses made his eyes seem to look everywhere and nowhere at once. When she perched on the edge of her seat, he shoved a folder across his desk.
“Got another acquisitions deal for you, Jodi.” He tugged at the striped tie that half disappeared into his neck roll. “Espresso?”
Knowing better than to argue, she accepted the minimug and sipped, careful not to make a face. It sure wasn’t chamomile, and she could have used the soothing blend to settle her jangling nerves.
“Good, eh?” Mr. Williams beamed and Jodi nodded, bolting back the rest of the foul brew.
“Did you mention something about a new deal?” It took every ounce of her dwindling energy to keep her voice steady.
Her boss held out the folder. “I believe you’re familiar with this area.”
Jodi grabbed the file while her mind replayed her conversations with the Wonders Primary director and her ex. How would she find a way to pay for Tyler’s care if her husband wanted to contribute less?
She started when Mr. Williams cleared his throat, and then she flipped the file open and froze at the location typed on the cover sheet.
Cedar Bay, Vermont. She dropped it back on his desk, blinking rapidly.
“This looks like a large deal. Surely Jake or Micah—” She sought to rein in her rising voice. “Brady—” Logic, not emotion, she reminded herself. She’d made too many mistakes in life by ignoring that rule.
“Don’t have the connections there that you do, and we need this land to stay ahead of the competition.” Her boss twisted the end of a gold-plated pen, the point appearing and disappearing. “Besides, they already tried, with the exception of Brady, who’s still tied up in Mexico. Look, Jodi, it’s your hometown.”
“I haven’t been there since I left for college.”
“You still have family there.” Her supervisor pointed his pen at a nearby picture. In it, the executives mugged in red Santa hats or antler headbands. “I met your aunt at last year’s holiday party. Grace, I believe?”
Of course Mr. Williams would remember that detail, just as he stored every tidbit, small or large. Her mind worked frantically. How could she get out of this? She needed to stay in town and sort things out for Tyler.
She rose. “I’m sorry, Mr. Williams. But Cedar Bay will be a conflict of interest.”
“A conflict for whom, I wonder?” Her supervisor waved her to take her seat again. After a tense moment, he opened the file and read from it.
“Layhee, Trudeau, Drollette...” His voice droned on through the long list, each familiar last name making her pulse pound harder than the last. “...and Remillard,” he finished.
His sharp gaze met hers. “Recognize any of those?”
All of them, Jodi thought. “A few,” she said.
“Then that’s the in we need. We’ve been trying to take over this prime dairy land for years. Put all of our best men on it.” He pulled out his pocket-handkerchief and dabbed at his glistening forehead. “I mean, we put our best senior executives on it, but we haven’t made any headway as a result of some fellow by the name of—” he glanced down at the chart “—Daniel Gleason.”
Jodi wasn’t surprised. Of course Daniel would be behind the resistance to Midland’s buyout. His family had farmed in Cedar Bay for centuries, and if anyone could hold out against her corporation, it’d be charming, clever, stubborn Daniel.
“Says here he’s twenty-seven. That’s your age.” Mr. Williams peered at her through his thick lenses. “A friend of yours?”
“Hardly.” Irritation rose as she recalled how often her popular ex-classmate had bested her throughout their childhood, from being the first to cross the monkey bars to edging her out as valedictorian. Then there was that moment of weakness when she’d nearly fallen for him. “The opposite, actually.”
Mr. Williams grunted, then nodded at a painting of the company’s former CEO. “I was once a junior exec like you, Jodi. But my mentor taught me the secret to moving up in life. Know your enemy. This Gleason fellow’s our enemy. Who better to make our case than someone who knows him well? Plus, you can take your son with you. Stay at your aunt’s for a couple of months and get Tyler out of the city for the summer. Fresh air and all that. Once you’ve acquired five thousand acres, you’ll be back in time for the Bears preseason.”
Five thousand acres? The small hairs on the back of Jodi’s neck pricked. This was a large deal, a herculean task, even with her connections and a summer to accomplish it. And just how well had Mr. Williams gotten to know her talkative aunt? She always praised the benefits of country air in hopes of tempting Jodi out for a visit.
But Jodi remembered how unpredictable and dangerous farm country could be. It was the reason her parents had left town once Jodi finished her senior year in high school. As for why she hadn’t accepted her aunt’s offer to stay with her during college breaks, that story ended with a different kind of heartbreak.
More important than her tumultuous hometown history, however, Tyler did best with routines, things he knew and expected. She couldn’t imagine a worse place for him.
She cleared her throat.
“I haven’t spoken to Daniel Gleason in ten years, so I’m afraid I wouldn’t be of much help.” She edged toward the door. “If I may be excused, sir?”
Her employer intercepted her. “Jodi, I’ve seen your talent and ambition. In fact, you remind me of myself at your age. Look how quickly you wrapped things up in Idaho and every other deal we’ve given you. Succeed on this, and I’ll give you a promotion to midlevel executive.”
Jodi gripped the doorknob, afraid her weak knees would give out. Midlevel? Even her fellow junior executive, ambitious Brady Grayson, couldn’t hope for such a steep corporate climb at their age. Her mind ran over the numbers that came with the promotion’s raise, seeing that Wonders Primary would be in reach. Almost. If her ex’s lawsuit failed, it might work.
“And of course there’d be a closing bonus of, say, five thousand.” Her boss waved the folder beneath her nose like a matador.
Jodi blinked at him, disbelieving. Suddenly her dreams were within her grasp, the chance to provide the care her son needed, a brass ring at her fingertips. She wasn’t going to fail after all.
“Fine.” Mr. Williams sighed at her extended silence. “How about eight thousand? But that’s my best offer, Jodi.” Mr. Williams raked his fingers through his hair wisps. “You drive a hard bargain. Do we have a deal?”
She nodded and felt her palm pumped up and down. A tide of joy rolled through her before unease dragged it away. Going home meant returning to a place—and a person—she’d vowed to forget.
CHAPTER TWO
A WEEK LATER, at Burlington International Airport, Daniel Gleason shifted in his work boots and peered up at the arrival and departure board. Jodi’s Chicago flight was on time, meaning it must be landing. Any minute now and she’d stride through the terminal gate and back into his life. A foreboding feeling settled in his gut. Would her local roots make the community trust her more than the other Midland suits? Sell their farmland to her? Worse, would seeing her rekindle his old feelings? He gulped back that bitter thought.
“Yep,” a farmer beside him murmured. “The corn should be a foot taller by now.” The man pulled off a John Deere cap and scratched his bald head. “Rain better slow up soon.”
“Every path’s got a few puddles,” Daniel quoted absently, his mind focused more on the appearance of his lovely—and cunning—childhood competitor. The woman who’d walked out on their relationship ten years ago without a word.
“Heard you had some kind of socialist plan to get us out of this mess, Gleason.” His neighbor’s eyes slid Daniels’s way.
Daniel waited a beat, then gave the man a reassuring smile. “A co-op isn’t socialist,” he said evenly. “It’s practical. If we produce organic products from humanely treated animals, we’ll get a higher price per pound of milk. It’s our best strategy for making it through this economy, and the weather. But we can’t apply for the upgrades grant unless we form the co-op.”
The farmer spat chewing tobacco into a handkerchief. “Still sounds socialist. And I didn’t fight in Vietnam to go commie now.”
“But—”
A voice announced a disembarking plane, interrupting Daniel.
“That’s my wife.” The vet clapped a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Look, kid. I served with your dad and I know you’re trying to keep his farm going since he can’t. But we’ve got to look at more realistic solutions. We’ll talk more at the next town council meeting.”
It’s my farm, too, Daniel wanted to interject, though he knew better than to be disrespectful. Patience and persistence would win his neighbors to his cause. And losing was not an option. Like his ancestors, he valued a life shaped by his own hands and the independence that came with it. He’d protect his farming community’s traditions, no matter the odds or the adversary. His pulse stuttered. Even if it was Jodi.
“Now disembarking, Flight 152 from Chicago, Gate A,” a boarding agent announced into a microphone. Passengers streamed by her podium and Daniel stepped forward, his heart beating out a forgotten rhythm.
Then he spotted golden hair...and there she was, Jodi, more beautiful than he remembered. Thinner, the youthful roundness of her face replaced by finer contours of jaw and cheekbones, dressed up in a yellow tank top and a flowered skirt instead of the jeans he was used to, her waves smoothed straight. But she was still the gorgeous girl next door. His breath caught at the vision she made as her hair flowed around her face while she secured a struggling child in a stroller.
Tyler. Grace had filled him in on Jodi’s son and divorce when he’d offered to pick her up at the airport. It was part of his “keep your friends close and enemies closer” strategy. He didn’t have to worry about the “know your enemy” tactic, however. Every one of his earliest memories included Jodi—some of the best and a few of the worst.
“Daniel?”
Jodi’s large blue eyes peered from him to the handwritten sign he held and she frowned as she read it, her lips silently forming the words Jodi Lynn. He forced his eyes from her full mouth, the sight doing something funny to his heart until he caught himself. Those feelings were from a lifetime ago. One he had no intention of reliving.
“What are you doing here? And I don’t go by Jodi Lynn anymore. Please put that sign away.”
He lowered it. “I wasn’t sure if you’d recognize me. You’ve been gone awhile.” Despite his efforts, it sounded accusing and he hurried to continue. “And Grace had a DAR meeting, so I offered to pick you up.”
She peered up at signs bearing the taxi symbol. “Thanks, but I can manage on my own.” Her son began to cry, his voice sounding hoarse, as if he’d been doing it for hours. Maybe he had, poor kid. Grace had mentioned the boy was autistic and that keeping him calm in new situations could be a challenge.
Daniel took her carry-on so that she could attend to her child. “Jodi. Face it, you’ve got your hands full and your aunt wanted me to help you.” After he’d convinced Grace not to miss her meeting, he added to himself. He needed to know what Jodi planned.
She sighed, although it was hard to tell if the frustrated sound was aimed at him or the plastic-framed glasses her son flung into the crowd.
A man in a business suit stopped short and spilled his coffee down his shirt. He snatched up the eye gear by its band and advanced their way, his scowl directed at Jodi until Daniel stepped in his path.
He forced an easy smile and held out a hand. “Thanks for that. Wouldn’t want a child to lose his glasses.”
The traveler opened and closed his mouth like the bass Daniel had hooked last Sunday.
He nodded toward a row of boarding-pass kiosks. “Looks like you’d better get going since you’re in such a rush.”
When the man scurried away, his tie flapping over his shoulder, Jodi turned to Daniel. “You didn’t have to do that.” She straightened her spine and looked him in the eye. “I can fight my own battles.”
He didn’t want to suggest that it looked like her hands were already full with her cranky preschooler, but that was the reason he’d stepped in.
He passed Jodi the glasses. “Like the one you’re fighting for Midland Corp.” He figured it was safer to put this conversation on professional grounds right off the bat. “Or is it more personal than that?”
Jodi’s face remained neutral and he wondered if she felt guilty for coming home to sell out her former neighbors. It was one thing for her parents to lose their farm. Another matter for a community to lose its way of life. He wouldn’t let her get away with it.
“This isn’t personal, Daniel,” she said at last, her voice muffled as she bent over her son and pulled the glasses over his head. “It’s business.”
His jaw tightened. “It involves people’s lives, so I’d say it’s personal.”
“Baggage for Flight 152 now unloading on Carousel C,” the overhead announcer blared.
When she spoke, Jodi sounded cool and matter-of-fact. A stranger’s voice. “Let’s table that if you don’t mind. Now, if you’re my chauffeur, we should get my bags. Oh, and this is my son, Tyler.”
Amazing how much the child resembled his mother. “Hey, Tyler.”
But the boy ignored him and gnawed on his stuffed elephant’s ear. The kid looked stressed.
