Michelle Celmer - The Millionaire's Club - Connor, Tom & Gavin - Round-the-Clock Temptation / Highly Compromised Position / A Most Shocking Revelation

“Leaving?” Nita asked. “Where are you going?”

“To stay with a friend in Odessa.”

Boy, Jane really was mad if she had to leave for a few days to cool off. And the timing couldn’t have been worse. Nita didn’t have time to take care of the farm and her daddy. She hoped whatever was eating Jane, she would get it out of her system soon. “When will you be back?”

“I won’t.”

Nita was sure she’d heard her wrong. “Say again?”

“I said, I’m not coming back.”

For a second, she too stunned to form words. “B-but…you have to come back.”

“I left my forwarding address in the office. You can send my last check there.”

She started to turn, and Nita shouted, “Wait a minute! You can’t just leave. You’re part of the family. You belong here with us.” She turned to her daddy who sat stonefaced, his eyes on the television. “Daddy say something.”

“Yes, Will,” Jane said. “Say something.”

His mouth clamped tighter into a hard, stubborn line.

Nita turned to Jane, a sick feeling rolling around in her belly when she saw the determined, stubborn look on Jane’s face. Nita had seen that look enough times to know Jane meant business.

No. There had to be a way to fix this. Jane couldn’t go. Being the only other female on the farm, she was Nita’s only ally, her confidant. Jane understood Nita in a way no one else ever had, and never once judged her for her unconventional thinking. She wasn’t just a housekeeper, she was family.

“Tell me what happened,” Nita said to Jane, feeling desperate. “What can we do to fix this?”

“Why don’t you ask that hardheaded old fool? I have to go.” Jane spun on her heel and a minute later Nita heard the front door slam. She turned to her daddy.

“What happened? What did you do to her?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Nita, I’m going to go see if Jimmy needs me for anything,” Connor said. He must have figured Will might be more willing to talk without an audience. Either that, or he didn’t want to get involved. Not that she blamed him. It was her own family and she didn’t want to have to deal with it. She just wanted everything to go back to normal.

“That’s fine,” she told Connor. “I’ll be out there in a bit.”

When he was gone, she turned back to her daddy. “Jane, a member of our family, just walked out that door and you damned well better want to talk about it.”

“I’ll hire a new housekeeper.”

Jane was right about one thing, he was hardheaded. Nita sat on the edge of the couch. “Daddy, please talk to me. What happened?”

He mumbled something Nita didn’t catch. “What was that?”

“I said, she told me she loves me.”

Nita let out a surprised laugh. And here she’d thought something horrible had happened. “Is that all?”

He looked at like she was nuts. “What do you mean, is that all? ”

“Are you telling me you didn’t know? Jane has been in love with you as long as I can remember. Since you never dated I thought…well, I thought maybe you two had something going on the side.”

He looked downright scandalized. “Of course not!”

“Do you have feelings for her?”

“She’s been my friend for a long time.”

“I’m talking about romantic feelings.”

His dark eyebrows pulled into a frown. “That part of me died along with your mother.”

How sad that would be if it were true, but Nita didn’t believe it for a minute. He was an affectionate, caring person. She was sure he could love again if he’d only let himself.

“When Jane told you she loved you, what did you say to her?”

“I told her that in my heart I’m still married to your momma, and I made a vow to be faithful to her.”

Nita winced. That one had to sting. To be rejected for the ghost of a marriage long since dissolved. “Daddy, Momma’s been gone almost twenty years. She would want you to be happy.”

“I am happy. I have you and Rose and I have the farm. I don’t need a woman to complete me.”

Nita sighed. There was no reasoning with him now. Poor Jane had to be devastated. To wait so long to speak her mind only to have her feelings shot down. No wonder she’d left. And Nita would miss her something fierce if she couldn’t convince her to come back.

Jane had been around for so long Nita couldn’t even imagine life without her. She’d cooked and cleaned and made sure the house ran like a greased wheel, had taken care of them all when they were sick. She’d been the female confidant Nita and her sister Rose had needed growing up. Jane had taken them shopping to buy their first bras, explained about periods and womanhood when the time came. But she’d never once overstepped her bounds and tried to take their mother’s place.

She’d been like a wife to Will in every way besides the bedroom. They played hours of Gin Rummy, watched movies together and bought each other special gifts for Christmas and birthdays. And Nita suspected that deep down, though he wouldn’t admit, he loved Jane, too.

After all these years, Nita didn’t understand how he could let her go without a fight.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Will said. “What’s done is done. Tomorrow you can go into town and pick up a paper. We’ll look in the classifieds and find a new housekeeper.”

“Whatever you say.” Nita patted his arm. Let him think it was resolved. Little did he know, the discussion was far from over.

“I think I should come home for a while.”

“Rose, there’s nothing you can do here.” Nita cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder while she removed a pan of charred potatoes from the stove and dumped it in the sink.

“With Daddy down and Jane gone things are bound to get crazy around there,” her sister said. “I can help.”

Nita ran cold water in the pan to stop it from smoking. Instead it sizzled and snapped and sprayed grease all over the sink and counter. Whoops.

She waved away the cloud of steam that billowed up in her face. “We’re doing fine,” she lied. “I can handle things.”

Jane had only been gone three days and the entire house had fallen apart. Dirty clothes overflowed from the laundry room, dishes from yesterday’s breakfast were still stacked on the kitchen counter, and once again she’d annihilated dinner. One more night without a decent meal and the hands were going to up and quit on her.

“I’m worried about you. I’ll feel better if I’m in Royal.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Rose, and God knows she could use the help, but Nita knew her sister preferred the city. She would go stir-crazy being on the farm. Nita would never ask her to compromise her happiness by coming home.

“Rose, you don’t have to do that.”

Connor walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder into the sink, one eyebrow lifted. He’d just showered and put on fresh clothes and, boy, did he smell good. Like fabric softener and some kind of masculine soap.

“It’s been ages since I’ve visited,” her sister said. “I miss you guys.”

“And you’ll be here next month for Thanksgiving.” Nita might have been imaging it, but she swore she heard sadness in her sister’s voice and wondered if there was something wrong, something Rose wasn’t telling her. Rose always had been the type to hold things inside, while Nita let the entire world know what was eating her. “Unless you need to come home now.”

“Of course I don’t need to. I just thought you could use the help.”

“Nope, I’ve got things under control.”

“Well, if you want me to come, don’t hesitate to call.”