Sixteen
This time, Rose didn’t have to call Bryce. He got into contact with her all on his own. It was a relief in a way. For almost a year, Rose had hoped that she would find out the tiniest bit about how to get in touch with him. Even once they were married, getting him to actually answer the phone was a task.
But apparently, you speak his name on the television, and like the Devil himself, Bryce Kilpatrick appears before you.
“Yes, dear?”
He was silent for a long moment.
“You want to talk about that call?”
“What do you mean?”
Rose knew what he meant, of course. She knew precisely what he meant, because it had been such a shock to the talk show people that they wanted to spend all their time talking about it, and none of the time talking about the matter at hand: the fact that she was being falsely accused of something that neither she, nor any of her predecessors, had done.
And because she hadn’t told him sooner. The first he heard of it was on the television. Rose didn’t doubt for a moment that he’d been watching.
“You know what I mean.”
“I did exactly what you told me to do. I told them the truth: neither I, nor my predecessors, have ever issued such a memo, nor have we ever undertaken dumping efforts with or without a memo.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“But that’s why I called them. I did exactly what you asked for me to do.”
He let out a long, low breath. Rose knew he was angry. Maybe it was wrong of her, but she was angry, too. Angry that he had put her in this position. Angry that he was so aloof all of the time. Angry that she was forced into this company, then she got punished just for wanting it to succeed.
“You told them that the girls were mine! You didn’t tell them the truth.”
“I told them the truth. Not a word of a lie.”
He went quiet. Rose guessed that he was doing math in his head.
“You.”
“What about me?”
“You were her.”
“Who was I? I was your employee. I was that.”
“In Denver. You were in Denver.”
Rose decided she’d had enough of playing dumb.
“Oh, so you do remember me.”
“I was drunk,” he said. He had been drunk. So had she.
“That’s understandable.”
“I didn’t even think.”
“I suppose you didn’t.”
The anger in Rose’s gut cooled. It didn’t go away, but she was feeling almost downright sympathetic, when she was being honest with herself. If he claimed that he didn’t know who she was, then she believed him. Hell, she’d been pretty sure that was the case. Somehow, it didn’t actually make her feel any better.
“You’re serious, then. They’re my girls?”
“I always thought they had your eyes.”
He scoffed on the other end of the line. “You did fine, other than that.”
“What, you think I should have lied?”
He let out a long, low breath, audible through the phone. “No, I don’t think you should have lied.”
“Then what should I have done?”
The long pause told Rose that he didn’t have a real answer for her. “I don’t know. Shifted the conversation somewhere else.”
“I tried.”
“I know you tried. But you should have succeeded.”
“You’re right. I should have tried succeeding.”
“I know. Not helpful.”
“Not the least bit helpful, no.”
“So I don’t have an answer for you. I just know that the distraction hurt your message.”
“Well, I’ll keep that in mind next time, then.”
“You do that.”
“What now?”
Violet fussed in her crib. Rose reached down and shifted the baby onto her hip before picking the phone back up.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what do we do next? Maybe I’m crazy but I didn’t assume that we would be done as soon as we get off the phone.”
“You didn’t assume correctly. You’re not done.”
“What now?”
He let out a breath. “We’re going to have to put together something to try to build the company back up. Maybe make you some money in the process.”
“How are we going to do that?”
Bryce thought about it for a moment. Only a moment.
“We’re not going to do anything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? We just hope the problem goes away?”
“Hardly. It’s not going to go away.”
“Then what?”
“I’m going to go hire someone for you. They’ll get in touch with you, when the time comes.”
“So?”
“So you’re just going to have to trust me for now. It’ll be taken care of. Until then just relax, okay? Take the day. I’ll come home and talk to you about plans when the time comes.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m not a good teacher, Rose. It’s not something I ever wanted to be. I’m just a businessman.”
“I never asked—”
“So I’m going to do what I can to help you, and I’m sorry that it’s going to mean doing some of it for you. I know you’re going to do just fine, okay?”
She didn’t believe him. But there wasn’t much choice. And she had to get off the phone anyways, because Violet was stinky and starting to get very insistent that someone investigate the source of her stink. Rose wasn’t dumb enough to ignore it long.