He remembered some of the sharks who were department heads and smiled. “I bet the place is experiencing a real feeding frenzy these days.”
Betty came and removed their plates, refilled Rebecca’s coffee cup and Jake’s water glass and left before she responded. She leaned her crossed arms on the table. “I always thought I was fairly competent at reading and understanding people, until I had all this dumped into my lap. I freely concede that I’m in way over my head at the moment. I don’t have the training, the ability or the personality to take over the helm and run the place, not the way you do. Obviously you can see why I’m here, why I wanted to talk to you, to explain what’s happening.”
“Ambition and greed aren’t difficult to identify, ‘Becca. You can find it in every business endeavor. Hell, it’s part of the human experience.”
“There’s more going on, Jake. Since Dad died we’ve had what I believe to be acts of sabotage taking place in the plant—shipments delayed, bills of lading misplaced, equipment breaking down. Somebody’s working hard to make us look bad. And it’s having the desired effect.”
“What do you think I could do about it?”
“My father had a great deal of confidence in you. He never told me why you left. In fact, he refused to discuss you with me at all, but I well remember how pleased he was earlier with the way you justified the decision he made to hire you. If you had a falling out with him then I think we need to look at the present picture without allowing the past to distort the situation. You are the only person who knows the business well enough to be able to step in and pull it through this crisis. The company needs you.”
Jake didn’t answer right away. Rebecca forced herself to remain quiet, hoping she’d said enough, hoping she hadn’t said too much to turn him off the idea. She was convinced that Jake Taggart was the only person who could help save the company.
When he finally spoke, she was shaken by his response. “I want no part of that life,” he said in a flat voice. “I’m content where I am.”
Rebecca couldn’t afford to accept his decision. She glanced around the room, which had fallen silent with the departure of the other diners. She could hear the couple who ran the place talking in the kitchen. Her gaze went to the grimy windows and, looking past them, to the desolate landscape.
In an effort to buy herself needed time to think of a different approach, she asked, “This is where you grew up?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s rather isolated, isn’t it?”
His small smile was lopsided. “Yep.”
“What is there here for you to do?”
The fact that he’d been asking himself the same question during the past few days didn’t endear her to him. “I don’t need much to survive.”
“My father used to say that you thrived on challenge.”
He nodded toward the window. “There’s challenge enough.”
“Is there?” She tilted her head slightly and looked at him. “Physically, I suppose there is. But mentally? Emotionally? What kind of challenges are you finding here?”
“What is this? A new form of job interview?”
She nodded. “That’s exactly what it is, Jake. CPI needs you and your talents. You must know that. Your leaving was a blow to the company as well as to my father, whether he ever admitted it or not. I don’t think either one fully recovered from your absence. If you’d been there, none of this would have happened. The transition after my dad’s death would have been orderly and without the turmoil we’ve been going through.”
“No one’s indispensable, ‘Becca.”
“True. But some positions are more easily filled than others.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the card he’d placed there earlier. He gave a flip to his wrist, and the card landed between them. “Who’s Woodrow Forrester?”
She didn’t need to read the card. “He’s in charge of accounting. Dad hired him not long after you left. He’s the one who pointed out the urgency of the situation we’re in. When I told him about you and what I felt you could do for us, he volunteered to come looking for you.”
Jake drummed his fingers on the table. Then he ran his fingers through his hair. “It wouldn’t work,” he finally muttered.
“Why not?”
He just shook his head, refusing to say anything more.
Her chest ached and she realized that she’d been holding her breath. She forced herself to fill her lungs with much-needed air, praying for inspiration. She’d counted on the fact that once he knew how serious the situation was, he would be willing to return.
Regardless of her personal reaction to him, she knew that Jake Taggart was exactly what the company needed.
“Is it because of me? I mean, what you said earlier about my appearing uncomfortable around you? Is it that you don’t want to work for me?”
“I’ve never given a thought about your opinion of me, one way or the other. As far as I was concerned, we both worked for the same company and had similar goals. We didn’t have to like each other.”
She glanced down at her clasped hands. “It isn’t that I dislike you, Jake,” she said slowly, searching for words that might make a difference to his decision. “I used to feel— That is, there were times when I felt as though you could read my mind, as though I had no secrets where you were concerned.” She gave a nervous chuckle. “Let’s face it. You can be rather intimidating at times.”
He didn’t say anything right away. Instead, he waited until she looked up at him before he said quietly, “You’ve got a very expressive face, ‘Becca. It isn’t difficult to tell what you’re thinking most of the time.”
She kept her gaze steady. “Then you must know how badly I need your help at the plant. I’ve tried these past few months to keep everything together. I’ve taken on more staff, mostly in personnel, to free me for other areas. I never wanted to be the one running things. My father understood that, which is why he trained you for the job. He’d intended to retire and—” Her voice broke and she couldn’t go on.
Jake looked around the small café, feeling uneasy about the turn in the conversation. He’d told her no, hadn’t he? He’d told her that he was happy where he was, but was he being completely honest with himself? Hadn’t CPI been his focus for several years?
Leaving the company had been one of the toughest things he’d ever done. He’d felt betrayed by Brock Adams and the choices the man had made despite Jake’s warnings. Jake had expected more from Brock than that. Hell, he’d looked up to Brock, admired him, wanted to be just like him...until the day Jake realized that his own integrity was more important to him than his ambition.
Rebecca’s voice broke into his thoughts. “I understand you live in those mountains.” She nodded toward the windows.
“That’s right.”
“Is
