Only Yours (Fool's Gold #5)(49)

Ethan had inherited the family business when his father had died. Although the company had focused entirely on home construction and renovation, he’d branched out into wind energy, building windmills in a facility outside of town.

“Are you interested in taking over the building part of the company?” Denise asked. Nevada had studied engineering in college and, when she’d finished her degree, she’d gone to work for her brother.

“Not exactly.” Nevada shifted until she was sitting on the grass. “I need to tell you something, Mom, and I don’t want you to get upset.”

Not words designed to make her relax, Denise thought, also sitting on the grass and taking off her gardening gloves.

“I can’t promise what I’ll feel, but I will do my best not to shriek so loud the neighbors hear.”

Nevada smiled. “I’ll take that.” She drew in a breath. “I’m thinking of changing jobs.”

“You want to do something else at the company?”

Her daughter stared at the grass, then back at her. “No. I want to go work somewhere else.”

“Why?”

“There are a lot of reasons.”

Denise didn’t know what to think. Nevada had worked for her brother for six years. As far as she knew, they got along fine. Ethan always talked about what a great job his sister did. But instead of asking, Denise once again waited.

“I never had to do anything to get the job,” Nevada told her. “It was understood I would join the company when I graduated, and I did. I didn’t have to think about what I wanted to do or where I was going to work. Mom, except for summer jobs, I’ve never been on an interview. I want to figure out how good I am.”

“Doesn’t that come from within, rather than from an external source?”

“I’m not talking about self-respect or self-esteem. I mean I want to know how good I am at my job.”

“Your brother thinks you’re great.”

“Does he have a choice? Could Ethan actually fire me?”

“Do you want him to?”

“No. But I do want the chance to prove myself.”

Denise studied her beautiful daughter and thought about how different their lives were. Denise had been nineteen when she’d met Ralph. While she’d been taking classes at Fool’s Gold Community College, she hadn’t had any serious plans for getting a degree.

Within six months, Ralph had proposed and she’d accepted. Her sole work experience had been a series of part-time jobs. Three months later, they’d been married and a couple of months after that, she’d gotten pregnant. She’d had the three boys in just over three years, had waited a couple of years, then gotten pregnant with the triplets. By the time she was Nevada’s age, she had six kids. Working had never been an issue.

The family business had provided enough money for them to live relatively comfortably. They’d bought this house just before the triplets were born and had paid for it in fifteen years. Saving for college for six kids had been a real challenge, but they’d managed.

When Ralph died, she discovered he’d left her a generous life insurance policy that would take care of her for the rest of her life. Ethan had taken over the family business and was bringing it to new heights. Each of the other children got a quarterly check from their share of the business.

Denise’s biggest problem was how to fill her day. After a lifetime of taking care of others, her house seemed empty and sometimes her days did, too. Maybe it was time to explore other options. She could always go back to school—start some kind of career. Whatever she chose would sure be a lot less work than being a stay-at-home mom.

But that was for another day. Right now, Nevada needed advice.

“Have you talked to your brother?” she asked.

“Not yet. I want to make up my mind first. I don’t want to leave him dangling.”

“Do you have another job in mind?” A horrifying thought occurred to Denise, although she was careful not to let her worry show. “Do you think you need to leave Fool’s Gold to prove yourself?”

“For a while I did, but maybe not. There’s a big job starting nearby. You’ve probably read about it in the paper. Janack Construction is building a casino-resort complex northeast of town. I thought I would see what I could do there.”

“Janack. Why is that name familiar?”

“Ethan was friends with Tucker Janack years ago. They were at cycling camp together.”

“Oh, right.” She remembered a skinny, dark-haired boy. His family had been extremely wealthy. Tucker’s father had picked up his son in a private jet. “They do big projects all over the world, don’t they?”

Nevada nodded. “They just finished that huge theme park in Rio. The land here has been held in trust for descendants of the Máa-zib tribe. His mother had Máa-zib blood in her.”

“You’ve done your homework,” Denise said, realizing this wasn’t an idle conversation. Nevada had already made up her mind.

“I think it’s important to know as much as I can about the company. This is going to be a good deal for Fool’s Gold. Part of the construction plans include widening the road into town. We’ll get the benefit of more tourists now that they’ll have an easier way to get here. Despite being on Máa-zib land, the facility will have to pay some local taxes.”