kissed him one last time before she drove off.
When she did, she forced herself to not watch his fading image in her rearview mirror. Or to think about how tonight was not only her first one-night stand, it was also probably the best sex she’d ever had in her life.
The faster she drove, the louder doubt rattled behind her like a string of tin cans tied to a wedding car.
She was never going to see him again. She didn’t even know his last name.
It was best that way.
Wasn’t it?
May
Couldn’t anything be simple? Caitlyn Moore silently lamented.
Just once?
Apparently not, she affirmed as she listened to Jason Hallowell, head electrical engineer for Moore Entertainment, drone on about the problem.
“If Clark Ball leaves early, we will not get the work done in time to pass the electrical inspection. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, ma’am, that this will be the second time we’ve failed it.”
No. He didn’t need to remind her. The reality was an albatross, constantly following her. They were racing against the clock, and if they failed the inspection again, it would probably mean that they’d have to delay the Memorial Day soft opening of Moore Entertainment’s newest theme park, Cowboy Country USA.
Caitlyn would rather eat dirt than delay the opening. She had to prove to her father that she was capable. She could pull this off despite his doubts and worries.
Even more important than proving herself, this was the one thing she could do to help her father get well. He’d suffered a massive heart attack earlier in the week, and he was under strict doctors’ orders to avoid stress so that his body could heal. Caitlyn had dropped everything and flown into Lubbock from Chicago the moment she’d gotten word that he was ill. But she soon realized that sitting at his bedside wringing her hands wasn’t helping anyone. That’s when she decided the proactive approach would be to take a hold of the reins at Cowboy Country and make sure that the park opened as planned.
When her father heard of the plan, he’d balked and blustered—even through the tubes and the admonitions of nurses who sedated him when he wouldn’t calm down. So Caitlyn did what any loving daughter would do. She told her dad that she loved him, but she wasn’t coming back to see him until he promised that he could remain calm.
“Dad, I’m your best chance for making this project successful,” she’d said.
“Well, that’s not very good news,” he’d said. “You’re a beautiful girl, and I’m sure you’re good at all that animal research you do, but Caitlyn, this is the real world.”
“Dad, I’m not a girl. I’m twenty-nine years old, and I’m more than capable of handling this. I mean, everything is in place. The park is practically ready to open its doors. I can do this. You have to trust me.”
By that time the sedative was kicking in. Through heavy eyes that were threatening to close, he said, “We’ll see. Make sure you keep the appointment with Hayes Consulting. They can help you. They’re expensive and hard to land an appointment with. So whatever you do, keep that appointment. Janie will tell you when it is. And listen to this Hayes guy, Caitlyn. He knows what he’s talking about.”
With that, he drifted off to sleep. Her mother had smiled at her through watery eyes. Validation that she was doing the right thing, the only thing in her power that would allow her to take some of the pressure off her father so that he could focus on healing.
Little did she know what she was actually getting herself into. To the uninformed eye, the park may have looked like it was ready to open, but the reality was, things were a mess. As of now they hadn’t passed the necessary inspections and they didn’t have the permits needed to open their doors. If they didn’t make the grade on this latest inspection, there was no way they’d open on time.
It was little things like this episode with Clark Ball that kept threatening to set them back.
“Jason, I’m sorry. I told Clark he could leave early today. I ran into him yesterday when I was making my rounds and he asked. I believe his wife is having medical issues. He said he needed to be there for her.”
“Ms. Moore, ma’am, I’m very sorry if his wife is sick. Truly I am. But he’s been cutting out early at least once a week for the past three months. Besides, he may have asked you yesterday, but he asked me on Monday, and I told him he could not leave early today. He knows it’s all hands on deck this week if we are going to get the work done.”
“Are you sure there’s no other way?” she asked, immediately regretting the question.
Heavy silence hung on the other end of the line. “I wouldn’t be making this call if there was another way. I don’t have time for this. None of us do if we’re going to meet these deadlines. However, I have to say I’m disappointed that you seem to be missing the point that by asking you after I told him no, Clark has deliberately defied my authority. That’s insubordination.”
“I understand that, Jason, and no, it’s not right. I will speak to Clark. We will come to some kind of understanding. I’m sure he will be reasonable once he understands the situation.”
Again, her words were met with silence before Jason murmured a stiff, “Thank you, ma’am.”
Somehow, Jason always seemed a little disappointed when he talked to her. She could offer him a fifty percent raise, and she was certain he’d greet the news with the same stony stoicism followed by and unemotional, thank you, ma’am.
He wasn’t the only one. The crew leaders did their jobs well, but they all had a way of making Caitlyn feel as if they were simply tolerating her, as if they could see right through her bravado. Maybe she needed to give them more credit, because she wasn’t at all sure that Clark Ball would be reasonable and eager to work things out. Jason had been too polite to call her bluff.
She squared her shoulders. She was the boss. Her number one objective was to make sure Cowboy Country passed all necessary inspections so they could open the park as scheduled on Memorial Day.
“Where can I find Clark right now?” she asked.
“He’s supposed to be working on the wiring over at the Twin Rattlers Roller Coaster. I don’t mean to tell you what to do, ma’am. But if you plan on talking to him, I wouldn’t wait much longer because he says he’s leaving at noon.”
“Thanks, Jason. I’ll head over there now. I’ll let you know once I’ve talked to him.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I’d appreciate it.”
She hung up the phone and sat back in her chair for a moment. She hated being the bad guy. She really did. That’s why she preferred working in the lab, doing research and development for Moore Entertainment. She was a zoologist by training, and she’d been perfectly prepared for the low entry-level salary that came with most R&D positions, but her father had hired her just out of college. Despite his reputation for being a hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners kind of businessman, he’d
