be blacklisted from getting any job,” Cindy added.
“If my father has his way,” Max said, “you’ll be out of work here immediately. We’re talking about the long term here, guys. What might be easy now, what looks like the smart move, could run us all over a cliff, not just us, but the whole town. We’ll be the first to fall, though, make no mistake about that.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Lauren
Lauren, Max, Cindy, and Patrick split into respective couples to tackle different chores in separate areas of the lodge, but before they did, Lauren turned to Cindy and pulled her away for a private chat.
“Did you tell him?”
Cindy shook her head. “Probably for the best now, what with all this happening.” She smiled bittersweet and glanced down at her stomach.
“We’ve got good reason to hope, Cindy. This could work, and we could save the lodge. I didn’t think it was feasible, but that just goes to show you that anything is possible.”
Cindy looked around the house, shaking her head. “It really would be a shame to lose it.”
“We will not lose it,” Lauren answered with a nod before turning back to cleaning for the big event, which was only a few days away.
Lauren crossed to the kitchen where Ruthie was absorbed in creating several authentically historical meals, including hot gravy over hunks of toasted bread called sop, plus a variety of hearty soups and stew recipes.
“You’ll help spread the word, right?”
“You know I will. I tell all who will listen. You hear me, child.”
Lauren cracked a little chuckle. “I do. You could make the difference, Ruthie.”
“I will.”
Lauren wandered from the kitchen into the lobby to find the big doors open. She stepped up to close them and froze to see Max standing with his father just a few yards away between the lodge and the driveway.
Chapter Forty-Four
Max
The irony wasn’t lost on Max that his own temper was rising, bluster and anger gathering in him, even as his father stood before him with a reasonable air, and something approaching a smile.
“Be sensible, Max. We’re family, for chrissakes!”
“Then drop the matter and do the right thing.”
“Can’t do that,” Eaton said. “Somebody has to protect our company and our family name.” After a little pause, he cracked another condescending smile. “I don’t blame you, Max, really I don’t. You’ve always been in love with the girl. I worried about that, about the fact that she would use it against you. You’re a good man, Max, a good soul, but you’re weak in that way. The poetry, that Bible nonsense you read to my mother—you get carried away with these things. You always did.”
Max wanted to speak, but his emotions were pounding in his skull, and no words found their way to his tongue.
His father went on, “Don’t get me wrong, they’re attractive enough qualities in a man, I tried to emulate them myself, but they’re not good qualities in a businessman, they’re suicide. Love makes you weak.” After another arrogant little pause, he added, “Even as a man, what I’d hoped you would learn from this is that a woman is a dangerous thing to trust, son.”
“No,” Max said, “don’t do that, don’t blame her.”
“Look at Jane,” Pops said. “You think I trust her? You think I’d make myself vulnerable to a woman like that? She’s there to serve a purpose, and that’s all. That’s the way things should be. If you learn one thing from me in life, just one thing, let it be this; family—blood, that’s what matters. Outsiders will betray you. You can like them, you can love them, you can help them, you can sympathize and even empathize with them if you must, but never, ever trust them, because they will betray you. It’s only a matter of time.”
Max sensed Lauren’s nearness.
His father said, “Max, you were the one who was so concerned about the company’s image. Look at what you’re putting us through, a town hall meeting, a vote? It will be a circus.”
“If you’re ashamed of what you’re doing, maybe that’s a good sign that you shouldn’t be doing it.”
“I’m doing what I have to do, you’re just too lovestruck to see that.”
Lauren approached from behind Max, taking her place by his side.
His father ignored her and went on, “To see us fighting like this, it’s not the image we want to present.”
“It’s exactly the image I want to present,” Max said. “I want people to know there’s somebody in this family who cares about right and wrong, about fairness