CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Addy lay in Trent’s arms that night, unable to sleep. Her mind kept playing over the wonderful evening she’d had with his family.
She could tell that they were a unit. Completely connected in every way.
She had wondered her entire life what that would feel like. Did he know how lucky he was? How lucky they all were to have one another?
Would she ever feel that way herself? Could she feel that way with Trent? What was still stopping her from accepting that he was good for her?
Thoughts of her mother kept surfacing.
So far, in the past week, her mother had been trying. Addy had contacted a few of the ladies who played Bonco and asked them how it went. Everyone gushed at how wonderful her mother had been. She’d even brought a dessert to share.
Which was one of her mother’s classic ingratiating moves. But Addy was still willing to wait and see how she handled her first volunteering job.
It was strange. The more she thought about it, the more she had been forced into a maternal role in that regard. A month ago, Addy would have been solely focused on how her mother made her feel, how she’d done or said something to hurt her. Now she didn’t even think about that side of their relationship. Her main goal was to mold her mother into a better person.
There were two more days until the end of the month. She didn’t tell Trent, but she was feeling kind of anxious about moving onto his land.
She’d even considered moving her trailer to her mother’s driveway. But as soon as the thought surfaced, she’d rejected the idea. The farther away from her mother she was right now, the better.
For the past few years, Addy had lived in parks, next to a group of people she knew. If she needed something, she only had to step out her front door and ask someone.
Trent’s land was miles from anywhere. Sure, Kristen and Tyler’s place was about a mile across the valley. Gail and Trisha were a little farther away. All of them less than five minutes away by car.
But the thought of being alone out there was different than she was used to. Though if she expected her mother to change, so could she. Since she’d left Haven, she’d kept people at arm’s length. Never allowing herself to grow close to anyone. Maybe now she could afford to let someone in. Someone like Trent.
Addy spent her last two days working for FREE filling in the small group on the next assignment in North Dakota. She was asked several times why she was looking ahead when things still hadn’t been settled with the McGowans.
“They close on the land in two days,” someone said in the small meeting that following evening.
“I understand. Part of my job”—she glanced over to Estelle and nodded—“part of our job is to always have the next location prepped and our team prepared. I’ve been assured that in two days, the McGowans will hold a small press conference to let the public know what their intentions are with the land they have purchased. We’ve agreed to hold off until we know more.”
“Does Beau know?” Brian asked.
“Yes.” She looked in Brian’s direction and smiled. “After having a meeting with Trent McGowan, it was his idea to go into a holding pattern. Now since tomorrow is my last day, Estelle has baked cookies and provided drinks.” She smiled. “So if there is no further business . . .” The small group remained silent so she motioned for everyone to enjoy the food set out.
She walked with Estelle to the back table and knew instantly she wasn’t going to be able to avoid Brian.
“Do you have a second?” he asked, holding a small plastic glass and a cookie in his hands.
“Sure.” She nodded toward a set of chairs, but he set the cup and cookie down and opened the flap of the tent.
She held in a sigh and followed him outside into the darkness. He continued to walk until they were a few feet from the tent.
“What’s up?” she asked when he finally stopped.
“I wanted to say that I was sorry.”
“For?” she asked.
His eyes avoided hers. “I was pretty sure I knew what path I wanted to go down in life.”
She stood silently, waiting for Brian to continue.
“I had a lot of pent-up anger for this place.” He sighed and looked off into the darkness.
“I felt the same way,” she supplied.
He nodded. “Yeah, I got that from you. At least when we first came back. I continued on that thought until . . . recently.”
“Everyone can change. That’s the good thing about life.” She touched his arm.
He glanced down at her hand. “There was a time, shortly after I joined FREE, that I thought we were supposed to be together.”
Her hand dropped and she frowned slightly at the meaning behind his words.
His eyes moved up to hers. “But now I understand where I belong. What my purpose is.” He took a step back, and she wondered where the strange look in his eyes had come from. “I’m sorry for the things . . . for everything,” he said again, then turned and walked away.
She watched him disappear down the trail and wondered what that was all about. Then one of the newer volunteers poked his head out and called, “Addy, you’re missing your own party.”
The next morning, she found out that Brian had left the camp. When she asked the group that he’d been staying with, they didn’t know where he had gone.
She spent her final day with FREE preparing for her speech at the press conference, which was to be held at city hall that evening. She’d gone to the last meeting unprepared and didn’t want to be caught unready this time.
Just before the meeting, Addy took her time dressing in her nicest slacks and blouse. In the back of her mind she knew Trent would enjoy the outfit. She thought vaguely about shopping for a few more outfits to fit her new life—and for a few things she knew Trent would like that went under her clothes.
Trent had stopped by around noon and had lunch with her, but then had gone back to his mother’s place.
“Our plan is to show a unified front.” He had taken a deep breath. “Which means showing up together.
“I understand.” She had silently been thankful for the extra time alone before the meeting. “Go, I’ll see you there.”
He had leaned down and kissed her until her toes had curled up.
“We’ll be free of all this after tonight and you can start your new life tomorrow.” He smiled. “Moving day.”
“Moving day.” Was leaving FREE the best thing for her? She no longer felt the desire she had when she’d started the job years ago. Sure, she still wanted to fight against injustices, but her desire for something more outweighed that.
Her stomach was in knots when she walked into the meeting hall. Even though Estelle was there next to her, Addy immediately searched the crowd for Trent and his family. When she spotted them, she relaxed a little.
She took a seat near the front as the room filled up with townspeople. When she looked around, she realized that she knew most everyone there.
Then she was shocked to see another familiar face.
“Isn’t that your mother?” Estelle asked.
“Yes.” Addy stood up and walked over to her. “Mom?”
“Oh, I didn’t expect . . .” Her mother shook her head. “Of course. I had forgotten you’d be here.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
Her mother’s eyebrows shot up. “It is on that list you gave me.” She pulled the piece of paper from her purse. “Attend every town meeting.” She shook the paper in front of Addy.
“Oh, yes, I’d . . . forgotten.” She sighed. “I’ve been preoccupied. Would you like to sit with us?”
Her mother followed her to the front, and Estelle moved down one seat so Addy could sit in between them.
“What’s this one about?” her mother asked as they waited for the mayor to call the meeting into session.
“Well, there are several issues that will be addressed.” She looked down at the meeting agenda she’d been given at the door.
“Will you speak? It says FREE on the list. Isn’t that who you work for?”
“Yes, I’ve prepared a short talk.”
Estelle leaned over so she could see her mother. “Your daughter is a very good speaker. You should have heard her last presentation.”
Addy held in a chuckle. She’d botched it the last time she’d stood in front of her hometown. Now, however, she was more prepared.
Trent sat up front and tried not to fidget. He hated talking in front of a group. Even if he only had a few things to say and he knew everyone in the hall, he hated it.
He sought out Addy and was surprised to see her mother sitting next to her. The two women’s heads inclined toward each other as they spoke and looked down at a paper.
For the first time, he realized how much they looked alike. He’d never thought that before, maybe because of how Victoria had acted, but now, something had changed in the woman.
When Addy looked up in his direction, he wiggled his eyebrows and glanced over at her mother. Addy gave him a thumbs-up just as the mayor called the meeting to order.
He sat and waited his turn to speak. When his brother stood up, the entire meeting hall grew silent.
Tyler read from the family’s planned speech. Trent watched a few reactions around the room. Then he noticed Dennis Rodgers standing in the back corner with a few of his men.
The man had a smirk on his lips like there was some inside joke Tyler was missing.
A lot of reactions bubbled up when Tyler told the crowd their plans of building an education center. And when he informed them that they planned on releasing their father’s drilling methods to the public, more outcries and questions came from the crowd.
Over a dozen hands rose when Tyler asked the group if they had any questions about their plans.
There were many questions about how the school would affect the population. Where would people live? What kind of money would this bring into the town? What did this mean for the drilling portion of the McGowan business?
Trent helped his brother answer most of them. There would be several buildings with dorm-like apartments for rent. The school would bring in big-oil employees from all over the world and offer certification programs, which would bring more money and business opportunities into Haven.
They tried to answer everything quickly, but the mayor broke in and mentioned that any further questions could be discussed after the meeting or in private.
“Sorry, people, we could be here all night if I don’t stick to the schedule.” She checked her agenda. “Next up is Addy Collins for FREE, Friends Respecting Everything Environmental. Addy, you have the floor.”
Trent watched Addy stand up and move to the microphone and wondered what she was going to tell everyone. He could tell she was nervous, but she took a deep breath and relaxed slightly.
“I want to thank this board for hearing our concerns and thank the town of Haven for hosting our group for the past few months. In light of this wonderful news from McGowan Enterprises, our group will be departing Haven. We’d like to invite anyone concerned about their environment and the world we all live in to join FREE in our future endeavors.” She took a breath. “Some of you may have heard that I will be staying on in Haven for a while.” He watched her face flush slightly. He realized that he couldn’t imagine life without her.
What would he have done if she’d decided not to stay in Haven? If she’d decided not to be with him? Things had changed so much in the past few weeks. How had he become so dependent on having her in his life?
“I want to thank every one of you for the kindness you’ve shown me in the past few months since I’ve returned home. I’m so honored to have been welcomed back so easily. If you’d like to find out more about FREE, I’ve placed packets at the rear table.” She motioned toward the back where Dennis and his group stood.
Trent’s eyes stayed on the group of men as Addy finished her speech.
When the meeting was adjourned, he and his brothers were bombarded with questions. Most of them from members of their own crew.
“We’ll be holding a corporate meeting Tuesday to answer most of your questions,” Tyler said loudly over the growing crowd. “But I believe I can put most of your main concerns to rest. This in no way changes your current employment with McGowan. We will be starting a new hiring process once construction is underway. For a list of those positions, come to the meeting on Tuesday evening.”
It took Trent almost ten minutes to wiggle free of the crowd. He knew he left his brothers facing a firing squad of issues, but he just had to talk to Addy. He wanted to tell her how proud he was of her. How lucky he was that she’d decided to stay.
He slipped out the side door that opened to the dark parking lot and started making his way toward her Jeep.
A hard blow slammed the side of his head; his left ear rang as pain shot through his entire body. He easily dodged the next fist that plowed in his direction. But the one after that landed solidly across his temple.
Something crashed as he started falling toward the cement, and everything went black.