As Long As I Have You

~ Chapter Twenty Two ~

Kirsten had never likened her childhood home to purgatory, or even hell for that matter, but standing in her stepmother's living room this morning definitely made her rethink the notion. The air felt uncomfortably warm and the prospect of looming judgment lingered in front of her with a hint of eternal torture waiting just around the corner. Her blouse clung to her in a nervous sweat and from where she sat all breathable air had been inexplicably sucked out of the room.

It wasn't to say things weren't going well, but that was only because she had yet to tell her family about her plan for saving Travis Enterprises. Coffee and a light breakfast made it easy to deflect conversation at first, but it didn't take long to see Danny was only going to endure so much. When Elizabeth started clearing away dishes he seized the moment and insisted she bring them up to date on the progress with Beaumont Industries.

They moved to the living room with fresh cups of coffee and tea, and she recalled the details where Elizabeth would have last heard of things, but skimmed over the more personal moments, something she definitely didn't need her brother hearing about. They watched her with anticipation and confusion while she stammered here and there until she finally found her way to blurting out that she had flown to Las Vegas and gotten married in exchange for the sale of their company's stock.

The room fell expectedly silent as all three digested the meat of her words. Elizabeth sat in her overstuffed wing chair, the cup of tea she was sipping frozen for only a second. She seemed to process the information with relatively little distress, and with a nod of acceptance took another sip from the flowered cup and said, "If you think this is best, my dear."

Unsurprisingly, Danny wasn't so supportive.

He looked between the two women, then set his coffee mug on the table. "Have you gone completely mad?"

Elizabeth calmly took another sip of her tea. "Your sister has clearly thought this through, Danny. The agreement is only for a year; it saves hundreds of jobs and Carl's reputation, not to mention your own standing as the new President and CEO."

He turned on his mother with another wave of incomprehension. "You're taking her side?!"

"I'm not taking sides. I'm agreeing with her rationale and course of action. Your father meant well in keeping Sam's theft quiet, but it also put us in a very precarious position without a lot of options or time to come up with another solution. Kirsten's decision is somewhat unconventional, but—"

He nodded his head violently. "Unconventional? Don't you mean reckless? Or completely insane? How about just plain stupid? She doesn't even know the man!"

Kirsten knew Danny well enough to let him vent, but now was just as good a time as any to try and reason with him.

"I'm not stupid, Danny, and I do know Evan. I just never told anyone. We met months ago at a gallery and we've been friends ever since."

That was mostly true, she reasoned to herself.

"Evan knew Dad was in trouble and already agreed to buy company stock. I was able to piece as much together when I went through Dad's notes and calendar. But then the cancer came on so fast nothing could be finalized and we were all left holding the bag. Once Evan explained the full situation to me I agreed his offer would be the perfect solution for us both."

Not quite as true, but close enough.

"Fine. We need Beaumont Industries. That doesn't mean you need to be married to the guy. What do you think Dad would say if he knew you pulled this stunt?"

Her temper flared for the first time. "Maybe he would've said, 'Danny, you're the new President and CEO, and you've worked by my side for the last three years, but I'm going to ask your sister to take a crack at this, even though she'll most likely screw it up.'  Is that what you want to hear?