Lambert's Peace (22 page)

With a small smile, Julie said, “No, it's okay. We are going to adopt next year.”

Taylor rested her hand over her heart. “Wow, that's wonderful.”

Julie leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. “It was hard at first … when we found out. But life comes with unexpected curves and dead ends. The Lord has blessed us in so many other ways.”

“Life does come with ups and downs, doesn't it?”

Julie paused for a moment, then said, “Ethan tells me you have a job opportunity in California.”

Taylor sipped her coffee then bobbed her head yes.

“What about Will?” Julie asked, her expression pure and earnest.

“What about him?” Taylor retorted, gently setting her cup down.

“Honestly, Taylor. I mean, well, he's in love with you.” Taylor crossed her legs then uncrossed them. “What makes you say that?”

Julie laughed. “It's written all over his face. It was the talk of the kitchen cleanup crew Thanksgiving Day.”

“We're keeping our relationship as friends.”

Julie cocked one eyebrow. “Really? You know it's written all over your face, too.”

Indignant, Taylor scoffed, “What's written on my face?”

“That you, my friend, are in love with Will Adams.”

Will headed to Ethan's office with a cursory glance down the hall toward Taylor's office. Her light was on, but he had yet to see her.

He'd been unable to sleep, so he'd taken an early run along the freshly salted White Birch streets, praying and asking for the Lord to intervene in his relationship with Taylor.

The memory of her kiss made his lips buzz, and he worried things would be uncomfortable when they saw each other.

When he knocked on Ethan's door, his cousin motioned for Will to come in.

“What's up?” Ethan reclined in his desk chair and locked his hands behind his head.

“Are those production reports right? We're up ten percent?”

Ethan nodded then said, “I just got off the phone with Julie.”

Will crossed his arms and cocked his head to one side. “And she confirms our increased production?”

“She ran into Taylor at Peri's.”

His heart thumped once. “That's nice.”

“She asked Taylor about the two of you.” Ethan's crooked, mischievous grin lit his face.

“Why would she do that?”

“Because the whole family can see that you two love each other.”

Will rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “Can we forget about Taylor for a minute? About our production—”

“Can you forget about Taylor?” Ethan refused to let the topic fade.

“Can we get some
grown-up
work done?”

Ethan shook his head. “I'm telling you, Taylor—”

“Yes?” Taylor popped her head into Ethan's office. “Did you call me?” Her green eyes scanned the room. Ethan laughed, slapping his knee.

“No,” Will said, shooting a sharp glance at Ethan. “Sorry.”

Taylor hesitated, looked Will in the eye for a lingering moment, then at Ethan. “What's so funny?”

“Nothing,” Will said with a stifled smile when she looked back at him. Her gaze contained no emotion, as if her kiss never happened.

Taylor shrugged and continued down the hall.

Will leaned forward, placing his hands on Ethan's desk. “If you weren't my cousin, I'd fire you.”

Ethan laughed. “Right …”

Will took a deep breath. “Can we get back to the business of Lambert's Furniture?”

A little before eight p.m., Taylor's cell phone rang. Bleary-eyed from staring at the computer screen for almost thirteen hours, she batted her eyes to clear the fog from her contact lenses and answered with a raspy hello.

A low laugh sounded in her ear. “Did I wake you?”

Taylor straightened. “No.”

“Good. This is Alex Cranston.”

“Yes, I recognize your voice.” She got up to pace, resting her hand on the small of her back. “Welcome to Boswell Global.”

“Thank you.” She checked her cheer to maintain a professional tone. “That's wonderful.”

“Corporate wants you right away, Taylor.”

“Before Christmas?” Taylor understood Boswell Global would own her once she signed on the dotted line.

“By December 11, actually. That'll give you the rest of this week and next to make arrangements and drive out.”

“Of course.” She didn't sound strong or confident. Not what Alex needed to hear.

Will's handsome face suddenly appeared in the doorway. He made an eating motion and whispered, “You want something to eat?”

Taylor held up one finger. To Alex she said, “Sounds good.” For some reason, she didn't want Will to know. Not yet.

“I'll e-mail the formal offer. The salary is … “

Taylor gripped her middle when Alex said the amount—more than she'd asked for—and reminded her of their benefits package.

“Amazing,” she said, tapping her fingers on the old polished desk. “Hard to turn down.”

“They'll make you earn it.”

“I can imagine.”

A sharp memory of the corporate life stabbed at her. Long hours. Stress. Missed lunches. Fast-food dinners. Nonexistent personal life. She wondered if she was ready for the heavy commitment.

Will leaned against the door frame. He wore a navy button-down that matched his eyes. “Dinner?” he mouthed.

Taylor shrugged, listening to Alex, then shook her head no.

Will waited for a second, then left. For a brief, intense moment, she longed for him.

“So do I have a formal yes?” Alex prodded.

Taylor hesitated a fraction of a second. “Yes. You do. I accept.”

“Excellent. Excellent. Listen, I've got a meeting, but why don't you give me a call tomorrow at your convenience, and we can talk start date and other details.”

After saying good-bye to Alex, Taylor sat in front of the computer trying to remember what she was working on before his call.

But she couldn't. Unable to concentrate, she gave up, powered off her computer, and headed home, her emotions swirling with a mixture of exhilaration and anxiety.

Hands on his hips, Will looked at each face sitting at the boardroom table.

“What do you guys think?”

Bobby propped his elbows on the arms of his chair, his lips pursed. “I can't believe David Thomason called and offered us his business.”

Ethan stood and walked around the long table. “This is amazing.” He shook his head but smiled.

Grandpa agreed. “I've known David a long time. Thomason's produces quality furniture, but, Will, I'm sure his business practices are a mess.”

Will nodded. “We'll perform a due diligence, of course. Ethan, I'd like you to do one on his environmental practices. Are they up to code, etcetera.”

Ethan reached for his palm computer. “Will do.”

Grandpa rapped on the table with his knuckles. “Wait, Will, are you boys saying you want to buy Thomason's?”

Bobby pushed away from the table then picked up his papers and laptop. “I need to meet with a new distributor down in Boston.” He glanced around the room. “I'm for it. Let's buy Thomason's if the price is right and the due diligence report is good.”

“I agree,” Ethan said.

Will grinned. “I'll call Dave and set up a meeting.”

Grandpa stood. “I think you boys are making the right decision.” He walked to the door. “I'm going to see how Grant's doing down in production.”

“Thanks for coming in for this meeting, Grandpa.” Will waved at him as the elder Lambert exited. Grant Hanson had returned to work a few days ago, rested and healed. He'd taken over his supervisory duties without missing a beat.

“You know, Will,” Ethan started, returning to his chair, “we could really use Taylor to help us with the due diligence and merging these two companies.”

Will ran his hand over his hair. “We could.”

“I mean, we can manage, but she'd be invaluable.”

“Except for one thing. She's moving to California.”

“Why don't you just ask her to marry you and stop this silly dance?”

“She doesn't want to marry me, Ethan. I've told you that.”

“Have you formally asked her to marry you?”

“No, but she's made it clear she's moving on.”

“Will, put it out there. Ask her to marry you. All she can do is say no.” Ethan reached for his palm computer and stood.

“Whose side are you on?”

Ethan laughed as he walked toward the door. “Yours.”

Will walked down to Taylor's office, pensive. “Knock, knock,” he said outside her door.

She smiled and waved him in, finishing her conversation with Markie. “I think we're going to have to require this field, or we could lose the order information.”

Markie sighed. “I agree, but it's just more for us to fill out.”

“I'll try to find a shortcut or create a quick key or something. But we're going to have to use it.”

“Let me go play around with it, too.” Markie stood. “Hi, Will,” she said as she left.

Will sat next to Taylor in Markie's vacant seat. “How's it going?”

“Good. Making headway.”

“David Thomason called. He offered to sell us Thomason's Furniture.”

Taylor's eyes widened. “Will, that's incredible. Are you going to take him up on it?”

“Probably.” He hesitated. “I'm here to offer you the job as CFO.”

“You're kidding.”

Awake most of the night, fighting anxiety, Taylor mentally designed a new inventory work flow for the production department to use once the new business system went online.

She tried not to think of moving three thousand miles away—tried not to think of Will's job offer or the ever-present memory of the sleigh ride kiss.

Around three a.m., she tiptoed downstairs and microwaved a cup of hot chocolate. She prayed in the family room then sat quietly, staring at the red, blue, green, and white lights of the Christmas tree.

Jesus came to bring peace, but all she felt was anxious, tired, frayed, and jittery. At six a.m., she woke again after dozing on the couch. From the kitchen, she heard the sounds of Mom making breakfast. “Hey, sweetie,” Dad said, peering into the family room. “Sleep on the couch?”

She got up, straightening and plumping the couch pillows. “I came down for hot chocolate and the Christmas lights.” She kissed him on the cheek as she passed, remembering how scared she was after his heart attack. What would life be without Grant Hanson? She didn't want to know.

From the stove, Mom offered to make Taylor a couple of eggs and toast.

“No thanks. I'm not hungry.” Taylor went up to take a shower.

A little after lunchtime, in her Lambert's Furniture office, Taylor drew a deep breath and dialed Alex's number. “Alex Cranston.”

“Alex, hi, it's Taylor.”

“Good morning.”

She grinned. “Actually, it's afternoon here.”