Free Oil Patch Romance (Mail Order Bride Series) by Susan Leigh Carlton Page A

he said, turned and returned to his office.
     
    “Close the door, sit down and keep your mouth shut.  Understand?”
     
    “Yes.  Bill, I… “
     
    “I said, keep your mouth shut,” Bill roared.  Heads in the outer office turned in their direction, unsure about what was going on.  “I just got off the phone with the corporate office.  They received the evaluation and have transferred Laura back there.”
     
     
    Jonathon interrupted, “Bill, that’s not… “
     
    “I said shut up,” Bill yelled.
     
    “Corporate feels you are too valuable to fire, despite my recommending it.  I doubt anyone here will work with you , when they hear what you did.  I’m under orders not to tell them.  I don’t think Laura will tell them.  Wait a minute, you did tell her didn’t you?  Were you at least that much of a man?”
     
    “I told her all of it.  She’s devastated.  I think she has gone home.  Last night, She told me she loved me.  We were going to have a future together.  That’s all gone now.
     
    “I think it would be best for me to resign, I don’t want to cause any more problems than I have.”
     
    “I might have known, you’re a quitter too.  I can’t believe you and Rebecca are from the same family.  She’s not going to believe this.”
     
    “Does she have to know?” Jonathon asked.
     
    “I submitted a request to be transferred to a project in Katy.  She will wonder why I’m leaving here, and I refuse to lie to her.  So, I’m going to tell her.  I’ve come to care for he a great deal.  I just hope this doesn’t ruin our relationship too.”

Chapter 13:  Can We Talk?
     
    After the second day Laura was absent from work, Jonathon began worrying.  He knew she wouldn’t want to talk to him, so he didn’t attempt to call.  He didn’t even know whether she had a phone.  He decided to take a day off from work, knowing he wouldn’t be missed.
     
    He knocked on her door, standing to the side, so she couldn’t see him through the peephole.  She didn’t open the door, instead, asking the identity.  After hesitating, he said, “Laura, it’s Jonathon.  I have to talk to you.  Please open the door.”
     
    “No! Please leave.  I don’t want to talk to you.”
     
    “Laura, please open the door.  I promise not to come close.  Please?”
     
    He heard the safety chain being removed and the door opened.  She stood there, eyes bloodshot, and hair unruly.  “What do you want?” she asked in a voice as cold as ice.
     
    “I was… am worried about you.  No one has heard from you or anything, Bill wouldn’t tell me anything.”
     
    “There’s nothing to tell.  You’re getting what you wanted.  I’m not assigned here any more.  I hope you’re satisfied,” she said.
     
    “I called the corporate office and talked to personnel.  I told them I had made a stupid, spiteful mistake and needed to correct it.  I offered to resign if they allowed you to stay here.  Since the transfer has already been effected, they wouldn’t do anything about it. 
     
    “I told them I would quit unless they brought you back into the Beaumont office.  They reminded me I had a non-compete clause in my contract and couldn’t work, but I let them know I didn’t care, that my father wanted me to manage the farm anyway.
     
    “They relented because this project cannot go forward without us working on it.”  He looked into her puffy eyes, and said, “It was not an idle threat.  If you are not back in the Beaumont office, then neither am I.  It’s all I can do.  I’m trying to make it right, but I know I can’t wipe away the hurt I’ve caused you.  Please?”
     
    “You really did all of that?” she asked, her lips quivering.
     
    “I did.  And I meant every word.  You have a bright future ahead.  Don’t throw it away, because of a stupid thing I did.  I’m going,  I won’t bother you again.”
     
    “Wait.  What are you going to do?” she