Bourbon & Branch Water (17 page)

“I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“Yes, it is. And you need to be punished for
the hurt you’ve caused thus far. And I’m going to make sure you never do it
again, to anyone.”

Ella sobbed again.
“Please,
Russell.”

There was a pause. “
I
want us to get along, Ella. If we’re constantly at loggerheads, there’s no
future for us.
Come here and lie across my lap.”

“Really, Russell. We don’t have to do this.”

“
Do you want a divorce?
”

“No! You know I love you.
I…I just need…want…oh, I don’t know.”

There was silence
for
a few seconds before Russell spoke up.
”
I
think you do know what you need. You’ve been asking me for what you need for
some time and I’ve been too stupid to realize it. But we’ll deal with that now
and from now on. Come here.
Skirt up.”

“Russell, what if someone should come in.
This is so humiliating. I can’t believe you’d do this to me.”

“No one will come in. Miss Stillwater is in
the hall and the door is locked. Come on, Ella!”

“Is this what you want?”

“Yes. I think so. Leland described it this
way.”

“Please, Russell. This is a nightmare.”

“Don’t be melodramatic, Ella. It’s a
spanking, nothing more.”

“You’ve never spanked me before.”

“Hush.” There was a sharp crack of flesh on
flesh and Ella cried out.

“Ouch!”

Several more cracks could be heard and Stormy
blushed to imagine Ella bent over Russell’s lap getting her rear tanned.
Actually, it was rather a pleasant idea, even though it wasn’t a charitable
one.

“No more snotty behavior, Ella.” Smack,
smack, smack. “No more sniping at me and ordering me around.”

“Okay! Ouch! Russell, you’re hurting me!”

More spanking noises. “Are you going to be
better and be pleasant to me and everyone around you?”

“Yes! Oh, Russell, that hurts! I’ll do
better, I promise.”

There was a pause in the spanking. “You’d
better, Ella. I won’t tolerate it anymore and will spank you again if you get
uppity.”

“Yes, Russell. I’ll be nicer.”

Three more smacks and then quiet for a moment
before Russell spoke up, his voice softer and nearly inaudible. “You can get up
now, Ella. I’m sorry it had to go like that, but you have to admit the behavior
was getting worse and worse.”

“Yes, yes, I suppose so.”

“I only want you to be happy, Ella, and if
you put more effort into being pleasant to people, they’ll be more pleasant to
you, too. It’s a win-win situation.”

“I guess you’re right.” She blew her nose
again. “I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. Here, have a glass of
water and get yourself ready for this meeting. I’m sure Miss Stillwater will
have some news for us.”

“I hope she can force the Randolphs to see
reason. People will fall into sin and depravity if this bourbon distillery goes
forward.”

Russell Porterman came to the door and opened
it. “Miss Stillwater, I know our time is short, but let’s talk. I want to hear
what you have in mind.”

Miss Stillwater, Stormy thought, was
completely taken aback and still foundering on the rocky shores of the lie she’d
told. But an idea was forming, one that might settle the case and be acceptable
to Ella. Hope blossomed in her heart.

* * *

Jeff arrived a few minutes before the meeting
time and was shown the way toward the conference room. The receptionist was
swamped with phone calls and the postman was there, so she couldn’t lead the
way. Instead she pointed and gave him an apologetic smile.

As he walked down the corridor, he passed by
several cubicles and recognized Stormy’s voice coming from one of them. He
approached, hoping to surprise her in a pleasant way, but stopped in his tracks,
hearing the tension in her voice.

“I can’t have this conversation with you now,
Cary. It was underhanded of you to say that it was an emergency. I have clients
waiting in the conference room.”

Stormy had never mentioned a “Cary” but Jeff
knew Cary Holyfield from some dealings in Las Vegas. It was only logical to
assume this was the same Cary. Anything else would be too much of a
coincidence. There was a strident note in Stormy’s voice so he stood there and
listened for another moment.

“What do you mean? I told you I won’t go out
with you. I’m going to hang up now, Cary. Please don’t interrupt me like this
again.”

Jeff took a step closer, but Stormy was still
on the phone.

“I-I don’t understand. What do you mean you
saw me in the parking lot? I have a car there, of course I’d be in the lot!”
She must have been listening to Cary because there was silence for a moment. “Oh.
Jeff Hand is not someone I want to discuss with you, Cary. I don’t care what
you saw. It was raining and he was in Fire Gorge…on business. He stopped by and
I got into his car to have brief conversation. What business is it of yours?
No, Cary, please don’t tell your father. Please. I need you to keep this
between us. Please.” Jeff heard a catch in Stormy’s voice and could tell she
was on the verge of tears. He walked into the cubicle, but her back was to the
entrance and she didn’t notice him there. “Yes, okay, I’ll go out with you.
One
time, Cary. That’s all.” Jeff
cleared his throat, and Stormy turned, a startled expression on her face upon
seeing him. “I have to go. Good-bye.”

“Wait, Stormy,” Jeff said. It was patently
obvious that Cary had seen them together and was blackmailing Stormy to date
him over the matter. Jeff wouldn’t stand for it. Stormy was
his
girl and he would defend her. “Give
me the phone.”

“Jeff…I…”

He held out his hand. “The phone.”

Slowly, she handed over the phone.

Jeff spoke slowly and distinctly into the
handset. He didn’t want any misunderstandings between himself and Cary. “Cary,
it’s Jeff Hand.”

The man sneered as he answered. “Oh. Waiting
for your turn in her panties, are you, Hand? Well, you can nix that idea. I’m
aware of your fraternization and I can make it very uncomfortable for both of
you.”

He could, Jeff knew it, but the look on Stormy’s
face was desperate. There was no way he was going to drop this. “Here’s the
thing, Cary. You think you know something. I won’t corroborate it. You can’t
prove anything and I think you and I both know that harassing
Stormy
at work, when
you’re her boss’ son, is creating a hostile workplace for her. Unless you want
your father sued for gender-based sexual harassment and hostile workplace, you’ll
have to forget what you think you saw.”

“No way, Hand. I will make sure everyone
knows that you’re behaving unethically.”

“And blackmail to get a woman to date you is
ethical? Don’t be a boob, Cary.”

“I’ll get her fired.”

Jeff was getting a little exasperated and he
let it show in his voice. “Wrongful termination. Anything else?”

“You stay out of this, Hand.”

He looked over at Stormy who had tears
forming in her eyes which she wiped away quickly. He addressed his question to
her. “Do you want to go out with Cary Holyfield, Stormy?”

“No! I knew him in high school and he’s been
pestering me. I have no choice, though, Jeff. You have to see that. We’ll both
be in deep trouble if—”

“Enough, Stormy.” He couldn’t let her
continue and confirm Cary’s allegation while the other man was listening. Jeff
put the phone back to his ear. “That about sums it up, Holyfield. You have no
evidence, you have nothing but threats and bad intentions. I suggest you stay
clear of Stormy. I’ll make sure she files suit otherwise.”

“You would, too, you bastard. I’m as good a
lawyer as you are. You wouldn’t win.”

Cary had his own practice, that was true, but
it was not true that he was a better attorney. He hadn’t a leg to stand on and
his voice was a lot less confident. Jeff countered. “Try me
.”

That caused a pause. “You can keep your
Indian princess, Hand. I don’t want her. You can fuck her and you can go fuck
yourself.”

Jeff handed the phone back to Stormy. “Hang
up.”

“Yes, sir.” She said no more, putting the
phone back in its cradle.

Jeff wanted to hug her, to soothe her, to
reassure her. He realized he was falling in love with her and it seemed natural
to want to comfort her. But the fact remained that they were legal opponents.

“Go fix your makeup, Miss Stillwater. I’ll
meet you in the conference room.”

“Jeff, I’m—”

He held up his hand. They had taken enough
chances already. He couldn’t let Stormy risk her job any further by saying
something regrettable. He hoped he didn’t sound cold when he said, “It’s over.
Let’s deal with the case
.”

* * *

Stormy looked at her reflection in
the ladies’ room mirror and grimaced. Her mascara was smeared and the dark
circles under her eyes were even worse, if that was possible. It killed her to
think Jeff had seen her looking like this. But it might not matter anyway. He’d
said it was over, and he’d sounded like he meant
everything
was over.

She hadn’t had time to talk to the
Portermans
about her burgeoning idea, so there was a good
possibility that they’d be blindsided by it and make her look like a fool if
they protested against it. She’d surely be fired when Mr. Holyfield learned
that she’d mishandled the case so badly. Cary’s threats had her stomach
churning. And now, it appeared her relationship with Jeff was over. Could the
day get any worse?

Stormy fixed her makeup as best she
could and made her way to the conference room. The
Randolphs
had arrived and the two couples were sitting stiffly as they tried not to get
into a staring match across the table. Jeff sat beside the
Randolphs
,
his legal pad and pen in front of him.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said, “hello,
Mr. and Mrs. Randolph.” They nodded at her.

She sat next to the
Portermans
and wished she had a pen to play with. She’d
been so flustered that she’d left all her notes and papers on her desk. Well,
she’d just have to wing it. “I’d like to present a proposed settlement,” she
said. The
Portermans
looked at her with surprised
expressions. Stormy cleared her throat, more nervous than she’d ever been
before. If the two couples didn’t go for this, she was in the hurt locker.

“I propose that the distillery
proceed-”

“Miss Stillwater-” Russell said,
but she interrupted before he could step on her proposal.

“Please hear me out. We’ve
established, through the environmental impact study, that the distillery is
unlikely to be an environmental hazard. We have further established that the
water usage is unlikely to impact the
Porterman
ranch
adversely.”

“But-” said Ella.

Stormy held up her hand, and the
woman frowned, but remained silent. “However, we have not addressed the fact
that there would be a potential negative impact on the community.”

“Miss Stillwater,” Jeff said his
voice professional and remote, so cold to
Stormy’s
ears. “There are many jobs at stake here. I fail to see how that negatively
impacts the community. Those jobs are needed badly in these economic times.”

“Jobs are important, Mr. Hand, but
moral turpitude is also important, I’m sure you’d agree.”

“Morality is quite subjective, Miss
Stillwater.”

“Perhaps,” she said. “But I have a
solution to the moral issue.”

Jeff’s eyes got a little brighter.
Maybe he was not completely cold where she was concerned. But Stormy remained
aware that he was her opponent.

“I propose,” she said, “that the
distillery go forward, but that twenty-five percent of the profits be donated
to Fire Gorge’s alcoholics recovery program, and any other town charity that
the
Randolphs
stipulate.”

There was squirming from the
Randolphs
, but the
Portermans
’
posture got a little less stiff. “That’s right,” said Russell, and Stormy
wanted to hug him for supporting her surprise proposition. “We think
twenty-five percent is fair.”

Stormy tried not to show her
amazement at Ella
Portermans
’ lack of protest, but
then she noticed that the
Portermans
were holding
hands under the table, and she realized a silent communication had occurred
between them.

Jeff spoke up. “That’s an interesting
proposition, Miss Stillwater-”

“Fifteen percent,” Leland
interrupted.

“Mr. Randolph,” Jeff said, but he
was interrupted again.

“Fifteen,” said Leland firmly as he
locked eyes with Russell.

“Twenty,” said Russell.

Leland nodded. “Done.”

Jeff smiled and Stormy realized
that she’d done the right thing. She’d settled the matter and now all that was
left was the paperwork. “Mr. Hand?” she said.

“This will be acceptable, Miss
Stillwater. If the
Randolphs
are agreeable, I see no
problem with it.”