"What?" he said looking down at his wife who wore a stony expression. "How dare you talk to me like that!"
"Oh, do shut up," Jessie said as she deliberately folded her napkin and carefully placed it on the table in front of her. "I know you two have been having an affair, and I know there have been plenty of others before her. I put up with it because I thought boys will be boys, and you always came home to me and the kids. But I'm sick of it, and I'm sick of you."
With that, Jessie stood and bowed at my mother murmuring her thanks for a lovely evening. She walked out of the dining room. My mother shot me a concerned look, and I nodded as she got up and followed Jessie into the foyer. Lincoln rushed out behind her, casting a hateful look in my direction before leaving the room.
Sloan stood staring at me, shaking her head as she tried unsuccessfully to come up with something to say. She finally gave up, throwing her hands in the air. She said, "You're hateful, Jackson Yates."
I simply nodded and watched her leave the room. The three of us who were left at the table sat in silence until Norma piped up and said, "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! That was one hell of a showdown, Jack!"
Leah and I burst into laughter, and Norma soon joined us. We recounted the looks on the two traitors’ faces as I'd
unveiled their plan. My mother soon returned to the room and said that Jessie was going to take the children to visit her parents while she and Lincoln tried to work things out.
"That was not very nice of you, Jackson," my mother gently scolded. "But I understand what happens when you feel like your back is against the wall. And it was good of you to promote Leah after all the hard work she's done to make sure the business keeps running smoothly."
"She deserves it," I said, smiling at Leah who blushed a little and looked away. "And so much more."
"Well, kids, now that the show is over, I got to get myself home to bed," Norma said as she stood up and walked toward the front door. "It was quite a spectacle, Jack. I'm glad you're in control of things again."
"Thank you for all your help, Norma," I smiled. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"Shucks, darlin'," she grinned as she waved her hand at me. "It was nothing!"
My mother walked Norma to the door, leaving Leah and me alone in the dining room. I walked around the table and sat down next to her.
"Thank you for the promotion," Leah said as she raised her bright blue eyes and looked into mine. "I'll do my best to measure up to your expectations."
"You deserve it," I said as I reached out to take her hand. She pulled back as she looked away, leaving me more than a little confused.
"Jack . . ." she began, "I think it's really obvious that I'm extremely attracted to you, but I think that if we're going to work together, it's better if I don't act on that attraction. It might be seen as unprofessional, and I'm not sure the guys in the warehouse would respect me if they knew I slept my way to the top."
"What are you talking about?" I said, genuinely shocked to hear her talking like this.
"I mean, it's nice that you find me attractive and everything, but . . ." she bit her lip as tears welled up in her eyes.
"But what?"
"But, you know, when you're with me you're really just . . ." she hesitated and then in a small voice said, "slumming it."
"What the hell?" I blurted. "Who told you that?"
"Sloan," she admitted. "She pointed out that you and I come from very different places, and that to think this was some kind of Cinderella story would be a mistake. We're just too different."
"Leah, listen to me," I said as I slipped my fingers under her chin and lifted her face so that she was looking at me again. "If tonight has taught you anything about me, you should know that Sloan Morgan knows nothing about who I am or what I value. I value you. Both as an employee and a woman, and I want to learn more about you."
Leah shook her head sadly as the tears dripped down her cheeks.
"What? You don't want to get to know me?" I asked feeling my chest tighten as I spoke the words. It hadn't occurred to me that Leah might not want more.
"No, I do, but I just don't see how this could possibly work, Jack," she said sadly. "We can't work together and try to date each other. It'll be too complicated and way too messy, and I don't want the business to suffer."
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that we can work together, but we can't be anything more than co-workers," she said as she got up from the table and walked toward the stairs. "I'm going to try to find Riley and me a place to live, so we should be out of your way by next week."
"But you're not at all in my way," I thought as I watched her go.
Chapter Forty-Four