Tarletons had lived for decades on the tip of a small barrier island just north of the city. Their fifteen acres were more than enough for the compound that included the main house and several smaller buildings scattered around.
An imposing gated iron fence protected the enclave on land. Water access was impossible due to a high brick wall at the top of the sand. The beach itself was public property, but no one could wander onto Tarleton property, either out of curiosity or with dangerous motives. Hurricanes and erosion made the wall outrageously expensive to maintain, but the current Tarleton patriarch was by nature paranoid and suspicious, so security was a constant concern.
When she saw Jonathan’s car parked beneath the house, her heart sank. He was usually not home this time of day. She’d been hoping to slip in, say hello to Gerald and put the envelope in her purse on Jonathan’s desk.
She could have carried out her errand at the main office where she worked most of the time, but this particular scenario demanded privacy. The decision to turn in her resignation had her stomach in knots. Jonathan would be either furious or perplexed—or both.
After reading her brief note, he would demand an explanation. Naturally. She had been practicing her speech. In a rut. New challenges. More time to travel. When she said the words in front of her bathroom mirror, they almost seemed believable. The part that made her wince was acknowledging how good Jonathan and his family had been to her.
Lisette’s mother had suffered a debilitating stroke when Lisette was in grad school. For almost seven years, Lisette had worked two jobs and barely managed to keep food on the table and pay the stable of women who helped care for her mother’s considerable needs.
Being hired by Tarleton Shipping six years ago had literally changed her life. The generous salary and benefits package had relieved her financial worries to a great extent and had enabled her to spend quality time with her mother.
When her mom had a second stroke and passed away last fall, Jonathan had insisted that Lisette take ample time to mourn and to handle her mother’s affairs. Not many other bosses in a corporate setting would have been so generous.
And now Lisette was about to repay Jonathan’s immense consideration by abandoning the company...by abandoning her boss.
He wouldn’t see this coming, but it was her only choice.
She wanted marriage—a husband and a baby and a normal, ordinary life. Mooning over her boss for another year or two or five was never going to bring those dreams to fruition. She’d had a silly crush on Jonathan, but he’d never once given any indication that he felt the same. She needed a fresh start, a new setting, a chance to meet another man and get Jonathan out of her system once and for all. Her personal life had been on hold for so long she barely knew how to begin, but she knew instinctively that she had to move on.
Her heart slugged in her chest. She didn’t want to face him. Guilt and other messier emotions might derail her plan.
When she opened the door at the top of the stairs, again with a code punched in, she stepped into a house that echoed with quiet. Maybe Jonathan wasn’t here after all. Maybe a friend had picked him up. Or maybe he was with Mazie and J.B. The newlyweds loved entertaining.
Finding Gerald Tarleton dozing in his favorite recliner was no surprise. Lisette tiptoed past, careful not to wake him. Perhaps if Jonathan was gone or at least upstairs, she could slip in and out without a confrontation.
The upper levels were the family’s living quarters. At the back of the main floor, overlooking the driveway, were two rooms that had been outfitted with every conceivable feature to make the offices here as good as or better than the ones downtown.
The smaller of the two was Lisette’s domain. She had started out with Tarleton Shipping in accounting but quickly moved up the food chain until she became Jonathan’s executive assistant, a title she had held for the past three years. Her job was to do anything and everything to make his life run more smoothly.
And she was good at it. Very good.
A quick visual exploration confirmed that no one was in either office. Now that she was here, her misgivings increased tenfold. She reached into her purse for the crumpled envelope and extracted it. The door between the two offices stood open.
Last night she had composed and revised a dozen versions. Resigning via a letter was cowardly. Jonathan deserved to hear her decision directly. But she couldn’t do it. She was afraid he would try to change her mind.
Her hands were sweating. Once she did this, there would be no going back. Just as she was ready to approach his desk and place her missive in a prominent position, a deep male voice came from behind her.
“Lisette. What are you doing?”
Rattled and breathless, she spun around, managing to stash the envelope in her skirt pocket. “Jonathan. You startled me. I thought you weren’t home.”
He cocked his head, giving her a quizzical smile. “I live here,” he reminded her.
“Of course you do.” She wiped her hands on her hips. “When you weren’t at the office, I thought I might come out to the house. You know. In case you needed me.” The lie rolled off her lips.
Jonathan barely seemed to register her awkward phrasing. For the first time she saw that his face was pale. And he seemed tense. Distracted.
“Jonathan? Is something wrong?” He couldn’t have known what she was about to do...could he?
He stared at her. “It hasn’t been a great day.”
“I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?” Maybe fate had saved her from really bad timing. This was not the look of a man who would take her resignation with equanimity.
“I don’t know.” He spoke the words slowly, almost as if he were in a daze.
Now his demeanor began to worry her. The Jonathan she knew was sharp and decisive, a brilliant boss who ran his massive company with an iron fist but was also scrupulously fair.
She touched his forearm briefly, mostly because she couldn’t help herself. “What’s going on? Did we lose the Porter deal?”
He shook his head. “No.” He shuffled a few papers on his desk. “I sent you some emails last night. Why don’t you handle those? Then I might dictate a few letters.” He winced and put a hand to his head, his pallor deepening.
Lisette knew about the headaches. She and Jonathan worked together closely, and she was well aware that he had been plagued by the pain for months now. “Have you taken anything?” she asked quietly. “I can see that you’re hurting.”
His grimace spoke volumes. “Yes. But not long ago.”
“Why don’t you go upstairs and lie down? You can forward your cell to the phone here. I’ll come get you if it’s anything urgent.”
Even hurting and not at his best, Jonathan Tarleton was handsome and charismatic. He carried an aura of absolute control. Seeing him so vulnerable was both shocking and unsettling.
“An hour,” he said gruffly. “No more. I’ll set the alarm on my phone.”
* * *
Jonathan climbed the stairs slowly. Reality began to sink in. This situation wasn’t going to improve. He could get another opinion, but what was the use? He’d been to multiple doctors. This last set of tests was the first time he had received a definitive answer.
In his large, well-appointed bedroom, he cursed beneath his breath and admitted to himself that he needed the pills. He had to think clearly, and right now his head felt like someone was using it for a bongo drum.
Once he was sprawled on his comfortable mattress, he lay very still and waited for the meds to work. Knowing that Lisette was downstairs helped. Though he didn’t doze, he let his mind wander. Slowly his body relaxed. Stress was a killer. The irony of that