“Luckily, he’s only a man after all, and I convinced him in the end.” She gives me a crafty smile. “After our first night together, I saw what needed to happen. First, I had to make Daddy love him—which wasn’t too difficult, considering Caden and him share a passion for farming. I bided my time, doing everything I needed to do to make Caden happy and cultivate his relationship with my father. In the end, it wasn’t hard to convince the family to make him head of operations.”
Each word she speaks is like a blade cutting away at me.
It’s so similar, too similar. Not in scale, but in practice. Caden must have seen it. There’s no way he didn’t. Yet, even then, as we were making plans, he kept this from me.
I nod, not wanting to be distracted by my own turmoil. I want her to finish the story so I can be on my way. “What happened?”
“He was awesome, just like I knew he would be.” She puts her hand on her chest. “It was me that recognized his potential, me that understood how great he could be, and my moves that made it happen. When I convinced Daddy to put him in charge, our market share had been slipping, but under Caden, everything bloomed again.” She leans toward me, like we’re co-conspirators. “How much has your yield improved since he’s been here? And don’t tell me it hasn’t.”
“Production has improved.” That’s all I’m willing to say.
“Anyway, my plan was coming together exactly as I wanted. Caden was gaining power. I was gaining power. I needed one more piece to make it all come together: Caden and I needed to get married. With him by my side, it would be only a matter of time before Daddy gave the company over to me.”
Well, isn’t this a tangled tale. I narrow my gaze, studying the woman before me.
This entire plot is reading like an overwrought soap opera. Back when I was a kid, my mom watched All My Children. All Meredith needs is an evil laugh and she’d fit right in with the cast.
I’m not sure what’s truth and what’s not, but I do think Meredith believes her story—it’s the gleam in her blue eyes, the blind ambition, that competitive sneer when she says her brother.
But in a strange way, I understand her.
Because underneath the saga, isn’t she just jockeying for her place? She saw Caden as a path to get what she wanted and used it. My guess is she’s lived in her brother’s shadow her entire life and saw a way out of the darkness. Now she doesn’t want to let it go.
Can I blame her? I don’t think I can.
“Then what?” I prompt.
“It took some convincing, but Caden came around.” She waves a hand through the air. “He tried to back out a few times, but I explained to him that we were perfect together, and eventually he agreed.”
This part does not sound like Caden at all. I raise a brow. “Was the night he left one of those times?”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t let him leave. That would ruin everything.”
“But he did leave.”
“Yeah, and Daddy isn’t happy about it.” She presses a hand to her heart. “Like it’s my fault or something. Do you see how I need to bring him back?”
I’m not sure what Caden’s side of the story is, or how he got entangled in this mess, but I do feel a sting of pity for this woman. She doesn’t understand that Caden isn’t the answer to her problems.
“Thank you for talking to me, Meredith. I appreciate your honesty.” I meet her gaze, leaning forward. ”I hope you’ll take this as well intentioned as I mean it, but Caden is never coming back.”
She’s already shaking her head. “He will as soon as I talk to him, convince him. Once he sees I didn’t follow through on my threat, he’ll forgive me.”
My head tilts. “What threat?”
“It was nothing, just one of those stupid things you say but don’t mean in the middle of a fight.”
“Which is?”
“I told him I’d ruin him and make it so he never worked again.” She rolls her eyes. ”But, God, I wasn’t serious.”
That must have been the final straw. I stand. “Thanks for your time. Stay in town if you need to, but you’re not going to get anywhere. You’ll be wasting your time, but obviously I can’t stop you