Winning Whitney, page 21
part #3 of Alaska Blizzard Series
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Whitney frowned.
“I never liked your mother,” the older woman said abruptly, “but the one thing I hoped for when she got pregnant was that she would produce a beautiful daughter, a grandchild I could dote on, spoil, dress in pretty clothes. I had three boys and only one lived to adulthood, so my desires were purely selfish, but you were everything I could have wanted. Beautiful, intelligent, and kind, with enough sass and spunk to make me proud. Your father and brother are such disappointments it’s hard to put into words. Your father is a philandering playboy whose only interests are women, golf, and spending money, not necessarily in that order. Your brother is self-absorbed, lazy, and careless with money. Neither of them understands business, but want the power and status that goes with running the company. I know it may be hard to believe, but I’m not getting any younger…”
Whitney bit her lip to keep from laughing and her grandmother gave her a pointed look.
“Did you just laugh at me, young lady?”
“A little?”
Lillian chuckled. “I suppose I was being glib. Anyway, I’ve known for close to a decade I had two choices to protect the family legacy: either groom you to succeed me or sell the company. You were more stubborn than I anticipated, however, so I had to come up with a plan. Your desire to go to Harvard actually played right into my hands. What better way to prepare you to take over than with a business degree from an Ivy League school?”
“Imagine that,” Whitney responded, shaking her head. “But you acted like I was breaking your heart.”
“I had to or your father might have gotten suspicious and you were too young for me to burden you with these types of plans.”
“You were that sure I would do your bidding?” Whitney was distinctly uncomfortable with where this was going.
“I was sure you would ultimately become a strong, self-assured woman I could count on to do the right thing, both in business and in life. If you weren’t on the right track, you wouldn’t have agreed to the deal I offered you. Again, I wasn’t always enamored with your choices, but everyone has to grow up in their own way and times have changed since I was a young woman, so I waited.”
“And?”
“I was planning to fly to Anchorage and surprise you on your birthday—privately, of course, not like your father did. He has no appreciation for timing or discreetness, and I’m sorry about that. Even if I disliked your young man and the people you’ve been spending time with, public displays of vulgarity are both inappropriate and unbecoming of people of our stature.”
“How can you like or dislike Jack? You don’t even know him.”
Lillian smiled. “Not personally, no, but I had him thoroughly checked out.”
Whitney groaned. “Gran, how could you?”
“You can be angry—or you can ask me what I found out.”
Whitney nodded in spite of herself, unsure where this was going but the twinkle in the older woman’s eye told her it couldn’t be too terrible. A flight attendant arrived with a tray of snacks and appetizers, delaying her response as she waited impatiently for the woman to leave.
Lillian poured a cup of tea for each of them and then leaned back, a butter cookie in her hand.
“Yes, I want to know what you found out,” Whitney said, attempting not to grit her teeth.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I didn’t find anything. His mother died just before he graduated high school and his older sister took care of him until he left for college. He had two girlfriends in college and married one of them. No rumors of affairs, drugs, or anything else of any consequence. No police record, no rumors of sexual harassment, and actually such a good guy I hired a second private investigator to see if the first one wasted my money!”
Whitney was startled at first but then she burst out laughing. “He is a good guy, Gran. Why do you think I love him so much?”
“Tell me what happened between the two of you. Is this because of your father?”
“Indirectly. I… We met four years ago and had a brief fling. He’d filed for divorce but when he admitted he was still technically married, I was mortified and told him I wasn’t that kind of girl. I gave him my number but said not to call me until he could show me a divorce decree. Four years later he walked into my friend’s hospital room in Anchorage.” She gave her an abridged version of their relationship. “Before I could come clean, Dad showed up and ruined everything.”
“I see.” Lillian took a dainty sip of her tea. “So you demanded absolute honesty from him while telling lies of omission yourself at every turn.”
“Pretty much.”
“And he’s upset.”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know—my grandmother is dragging me to Dallas to handle some family drama so I can’t be there when he gets home from his trip.”
Lillian frowned. “Don’t be smart. You know exactly why you need to be there.”
“Actually, I still don’t. I understand you want me to take over instead of my father or Brett, but I’m nowhere near ready for that.”
“And I’m not dead yet,” Lillian pointed out. “Nor am I planning to slow down any time soon. I have at least five more years in me, and by that time, you’ll be ready.”
“Gran, I love you and your plan was brilliant, but the truth—may I be frank?”
“Of course.”
“If there’s any chance at all that Jack will forgive me, I have to be with him in Anchorage.”
“Twenty-four seven?”
She paused. “Excuse me?”
“You have to be in Anchorage every minute of every day, even when he’s on the road and playing hockey all over the continent?”
“Well, no, but… What are you getting at?”
“While I’m grooming you to run the company, you’re going to be the face of Raven Cosmetics, just like we always planned.”
“Just like you always planned.”
“Don’t even try to tell me you don’t miss it. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have done those photo shoots in New York while you were in college or that commercial in California. And by the way, technically you’re in breach of contract with Raven Cosmetics by working with the vineyard—you’re not free to work with anyone else.”
“The contracts are dated for the day after my birthday, which is the day my current contract expires, and the commercial won’t be released for another month.”
“Well, aren’t you the crafty one?”
“I learned from the best.”
“Listen to me. I’m old-fashioned and a bit set in my ways, but everything I’ve done has been to secure your future. Initially I thought my way was the only way, but as I watched you learn and grow, I realized I had to do the same. This isn’t the 1950s anymore and a modern young woman like you needs more than what I had. And I want you to have it. Live in Alaska with Jack and fly to Dallas, New York, or wherever necessary as the face of Raven. Join me for board meetings, contract negotiations with new vendors, the occasional planning meetings with our research and development team…maybe have a baby at some point. By that time, Jack will probably be ready to retire and if he loves you enough, he won’t mind living in Dallas or wherever you need to be to run this company. Tell me the idea doesn’t excite you?”
Whitney blinked away unexpected tears, trying to breathe. Every single thing she wanted professionally was at her fingertips, but without Jack, it was a sad, hollow accomplishment.
“I see by your hesitation the situation with Jack is more serious than I thought. Call and tell him everything. It doesn’t appear you can make a rational decision about anything until you’ve sorted that out.”
“I don’t know what to tell him.”
“Nothing has changed since we made our deal six years ago except the Theo situation and we’ve already discussed that. You were contractually bound to Raven Cosmetics until your twenty-fifth birthday. At that time, we were to renegotiate the terms in such a way it will include a position within the company that would allow you to explore options beyond being our spokesmodel. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes, but—”
“On your birthday, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We cannot tell anyone until then, though.”
“But the board has to vote on what’s included in my contract.”
“Exactly.”
“Why would they vote for what I want?”
“Because you’re going to convince them to.”
* * *
Jake pulled back and one-timed the puck, sending it just wide of the net and missing yet another scoring opportunity. Dammit. What the hell was he doing tonight? Certainly not playing hockey worth a damn. Minnesota was wiping the floor with them and he hadn’t helped at all. Between sleepless nights, the guilt chewing its way through his conscience, and the picture he’d seen in the news of Whitney this morning, he was in a bad place, both mentally and emotionally. He wanted to swing at something, but he’d scored more penalty minutes in the last week than he had the entire rest of the season; Coach Sylvester had given him a warning about any more fights.
Sergei and Kane had been tasked with keeping his temper in check and he hated feeling like a child, but he itched for a fight. Constantly. Most of the time he was the even-tempered one, but that picture of her posing with the staff at Raven Cosmetics had sent him over the edge emotionally. When had Whitney gone back to Dallas? He’d been furious she’d lied to him about her name and background, but Kane had spoken to Hailey and they’d both sworn up and down Dallas hadn’t been in the plans. Though it was possible she’d lied to everyone, his gut told him she hadn’t. She wouldn’t lie to Hailey, not at this point. For her to go back something had to have happened. Too bad he’d been such a jerk she didn’t think she could talk to him about it.
He’d wanted to call her but pride kept him from reaching out. It was probably more embarrassment than pride, but he couldn’t distinguish much when it came to his feelings about her. They all melded together like cake batter ingredients in a mixing bowl, a messy jumble that didn’t do much until it had been in the oven for a while. His problem was he didn’t know where the figurative oven was, where to look for it, or what it would look like when it came out anyway. In other words, he was fucked.
He skated to the face-off circle and leaned forward, stick on the ice as he waited for the ref to drop the puck. His opponent mirrored his stance across from him, glancing up to give him a smarmy smile.
“So how good is Raven pussy? She have 24-karat pubes?”
Jake dropped the gloves so fast the other man never saw him coming. A right hook knocked his helmet off and the follow-up blow with his left hand sent the Minnesota center down with Jake on top of him. He felt Sergei’s massive arms pulling him up, but he kept swinging until he couldn’t anymore. The refs were pointing to the tunnel and he realized they were kicking him out of the game. Shit. Coach was going to ream him a new one. It would be worth it, though. He’d pounded the little bastard good. Hopefully the penalty the Blizzard had to take wouldn’t result in the other team scoring.
How the fuck had this guy known about Whitney? And Raven pussy? What was that about? Guys made crude comments sometimes, but that one had been personal. He had to talk to her but not on the phone, not the way things were between them. Something had to give, though, because this wasn’t good for him or the team, and if she was in Dallas, his gut told him that wasn’t good either. The problem was, he didn’t know if she wanted, or even needed, his help. If he knew Whitney, and he did, she’d balk at any attempts to intervene, no matter how bad things were. He’d have to ask Hailey what she knew. Then he’d decide what to do next.
Chapter Thirty-One
It had been nearly seven years since Whitney had set foot in Dallas and it was strange. On one hand it was familiar, the city she’d been born and raised in, but on another it wasn’t home anymore. Home, she’d realized as she walked out of the airport, was wherever her sweet, wonderful Jackson was. Boston, Anchorage, or Timbuktu, but if he was there, that’s what she considered home. He probably didn’t love her anymore, but that had nothing to do with how she felt and she loved him more than ever.
Walking into her grandmother’s mansion had brought back so many memories she’d been trying to forget, and instead of dealing with any of the emotions pulsing through her veins, she did nothing but think of Jack. His smile. His kiss. His steely blue eyes. She missed him so much it hurt, but she’d apologized and tried to explain herself multiple times. If he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, forgive her, she wasn’t sure what else there was to do. She wasn’t ready to give up, but she had to get through the meeting on the horizon here in Dallas before she’d have the energy for anything else. Jack was important, but this was equally important because she needed to settle things with her family.
Technically, she’d get her freedom on her birthday, but taking on her father and the board of directors would take that freedom to another level. Running away had afforded her a general freedom; settling the issues with her family and Raven Cosmetics once and for all meant a kind of freedom she’d never imagined. She’d had a taste of it in Anchorage while waiting for her twenty-fifth birthday, but it had been like having one foot in one life and the other foot in another. It was time to bring them together, one way or another. If only doing it without Jack didn’t hurt so much. She needed to call him. She’d been in Dallas two days now and he thought she was still in California, but things had been so awkward between them she hadn’t been sure what to say. She had to stop doing that, though. If there was any chance at all for them to have a future, she needed to bring him into the fold when she made decisions.
Impulsively, she pulled out her phone and dialed his number. They hadn’t spoken in days, longer than that since they’d had any normal contact like texts, so her heart pounded as she waited for him to answer.
“Hey, Whit.” His voice was distant and she mentally cringed at the lack of warmth.
“Do you have a minute?”
“Sure.”
“I wanted to talk to you about some new developments in my life.”
“I saw it on the news.”
“Wh-what?” She hadn’t been expecting that. “What do you mean?”
“I saw the pictures of you with your grandmother at the main headquarters of Raven Cosmetics.”
“I didn’t realize those pictures had gone public.”
“Well, it was on some random news feeds and the PR department for the Blizzard gets media alerts about anyone related to the team or the players, so they sent it to me.”
Damn, it had happened again. “I didn’t know I was coming. My grandmother showed up in L.A. and kind of blindsided me but—”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. A lot better than I’ve been in a long time, to be honest. Things are happening really fast, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you, explain what was going on.”
“Are you going to work for Raven?”
“I think so, but—”
“Without even discussing it with me?”
“We haven’t really been talking the last week or so,” she responded defensively.
“I’m sorry about that, but I needed a little time to think about everything. I was really frustrated and embarrassed at Casino Night, but I was starting to understand it from your perspective. And now you’ve done it to me again.”
“Jack, I—”
“It feels like this is a thing with us,” he interrupted. “You do your thing and I find out after the fact. Is there ever a time where I come before your secrets?”
“Yes, of course, but this was different.”
“Honey, I told you once that I loved you enough to let you go after your dreams. I think we’ve reached that point.”
“What?” She was too shocked to say anything else.
“I need someone I can rely on, and while I don’t blame you for the lies you told or the things you hid to keep yourself anonymous, I can’t see any way for this to work out between us. You need to do this—whatever it is—and I’m kind of an afterthought. It was fun, Whit, and the chemistry between us is intense, but I think we’re at different places in life. I have to be here, settled and focused on hockey while you need to be everywhere, exploring the world. And that’s okay. You’re young, this is the time in your life you should be doing those things.”
“I’m…young?” Her age had never come up before and it hurt her feelings a little.
“You’re only twenty-four. You still have a lot to do, you know?”
“I have a lot to do?” She felt like a parrot as she kept repeating his words, but they were almost veiled insults and he’d never spoken to her like this before.
“You’re going to do great things, babe, but maybe it would be better for us to end things now. Before one of us gets really hurt.”
“You think… I’m going to hurt you?”
“It’s been one half-truth or lie of omission after the other and I already lived with a woman who treated me like an afterthought. As much as I care about you, I can’t go through it again.”
She was so shocked at this turn of events it took her a minute to decide what to say. “I don’t know what to say,” she admitted finally. “I wanted to explain, and tell you why everything has been so crazy, but it sounds like you’ve already made up your mind.”
“We can do this in person, spend some time talking it out if you want. I’m not trying to be an ass. You know how I feel about you, but the way things are, well, it’s not working for me. Can you get a flight home in the next few days?”
“I can’t leave just yet. I have an important meeting coming up. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“You told me you were through with all that and made it sound like the commercial for the winery was the direction you were going. That wasn’t true, was it?”
“It was!” She cursed herself for the tears that filled her eyes. “I didn’t know Gran was going to show up and give me a bunch of new options! Don’t you even want to hear them?”
