Kate Educates Jacob #55

A Celebration Of Life

Licensed by Depositphotos

Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54

---

Kate’s Point Of View

My hormones were driving me crazy, provoking heightened, sometimes confusing emotions because of early pregnancy and my overwhelming need for closeness with my future husband. The reality of his heroics and what that meant to Natalia’s surviving sister had made me so proud, which in turn converted into a horny disposition.

“I’ve told you all about these missions, Kate. It’s a whole bunch of war stories you must have heard each ten times over.”

“Yeah, Jacob, but this one isn’t a story. Natalia has always been real to you. Her sister showing up here to offer her appreciation makes it real for me.”

“In what way?”

“I have a better sense of how much you made a difference in other people’s lives.”

We spent ages talking to Sierra and each other, baring our souls, confirming our love, and communing together as a couple. I forgot the time, eventually remembering my schedule. We had to run to a meeting with Henry and Alicia because it was her first tutor lesson.

They sat peacefully outside the front of our home, and I skidded to a halt on the gravel car park, holding Jacob back as we observed her first study period.

“She looks really focused, Kate. Perhaps we should interrupt.”

“Alicia enjoys learning. She’s consuming everything about GD that’s ever been written online.”

“A future CEO, perhaps?”

“If that’s her path, I’d welcome it, but I know how it feels to be forced down a road you don’t really want to travel.”

“I doubt anyone could influence Alicia into doing anything against her will.”

“I love her, Jacob.”

“Me too, darling.”

I gripped Jacob’s hand excitedly and pulled him towards a side entrance to our home, leaving our daughter and her tutor to settle into a new working relationship. Inside the house, Hannah and Tiffany waited at Lizzie’s cafe for a meeting that had also slipped my mind.

I turned sharply to Jacob, needing a private chat, so I stepped close, gripped his lapels, and placed my nose at the end of his, whispering.

“Sweetheart, we haven’t showered. I forgot Alicia’s tutor session and these meetings with Tiffany and Hannah.”

“What’s your point, Kate?”

“I’m letting things slip.”

“No, you aren’t. It’s been a couple of days where events overtook us. You’re at the top of your game. Tell Hannah and Tiffany we need another hour. It’s not like they need to rush off anywhere.”

“We’ve moved from the car rental company to running GD, the Granger Hall estate, and now bought a new home. We need the remote working sites up and running quickly so that everything can be managed effectively.”

“I’ll admit it’s taking a while. Why don’t I have the meeting with Tiffany about the new offices at Granger Hall while you deal with Hannah?”

“Perfect.”

We were permanently in sync, each predicting the other’s needs, completely united. We showered together, dressed casually, and rejoined our colleagues, refreshed and surprised that Lizzie was already serving lunch. I saw Alicia had sat on the opposite side of Lizzie’s bar, somewhere she could listen in discretely.

I beckoned her, seeing no reason for my adopted daughter to hide her presence.

“Come and join us, Alicia.”

“Are you sure?”

“Bring your things over to this side of the service counter and sit wherever you like, sweetheart.”

I was pleased when she sat close to me with a notepad and pen that she used to revise a lesson taught by Henry. In a week, Alicia had captured our hearts, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it.

Tiffany and Jacob sat on a nearby sofa, already discussing the new GD office complex at Granger Hall, which left me staring at Hannah, waiting for her to start.

“GD is in a mess, Kate.”

“I know.”

“Gunther is a great start, but we need to rid ourselves of deadwood.”

“I can’t do that, Hannah.”

“I have staff who are fucking clueless, Kate.”

She seemed irritated, and I guessed that wasn’t only work-related. I studied my best friend carefully, dissecting her mood and deciding how to get to the issues troubling her, both work and life-related.

“The people we’re talking about were recruited by your predecessor. It’s not their fault they can’t perform.”

“How so?”

“If you search through everyone’s human resource file, you’ll see their job descriptions are vague, and our recruiting process is flawed. We didn’t advertise well or ask the right questions at the interview, so we didn’t get the right people.”

“Then let’s fire the people who can’t perform and recruit again, doing it correctly this time.”

“I’ve asked Gunther to speak with the head of Human Resources. I suspect she might leave, and then he can find someone capable. You need to train or move people somewhere they can be of use and feel happier.”

“Okay, Kate, I’m all for being kind, but that’s not a great idea. It’s a waste of time and money.”

“If we fire a bunch of people for being less capable than we need because we messed up recruitment, and the market gets hold of that, what do you think our competitors will tell GD customers?”

Hannah’s jaw dropped, and the color drained from her face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a similar epiphany that Alicia was having. I felt a tiny surge of pride, hoping to have schooled my adopted daughter in a lesson similar to one my father taught me at a similar age.

“I hadn’t considered that, Kate.”

“Imagine the loyalty we’ll have in every employee if we treat them respectfully, having acknowledged we made a mistake. People don’t work well when they are afraid of being kicked to the scrap heap, Hannah.”

“That’s something very positive to spin to our customers.”

“Gunther is figuring out the costs to manage a retraining and new recruitment campaign.”

“So… we can recruit new people as well?”

“Yep. You can thank Jacob for that. The problems with wasting money he found got everyone doing the same, coming clean and offering solutions. Gunther’s desk is full of money-saving ideas.”

“Sorry, Kate. I jumped too soon.”

“I disagree, Hannah. You’ve only just started at GD, and the issue you raised is monumental. Our management culture has been awful since my father left due to illness.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Speak with Gunther and bring in consultants to do some heavy lifting in Marketing.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s a much better idea. We’ll hit the ground running while the team is coming up to speed.”

I topped up my cup with the cardamom tea, to which I was becoming addicted, while Hannah asked Lizzie for more coffee. It was time to nudge my best friend and find out what was really troubling her.

“How are things otherwise, Hannah?”

“Living wise or loving wise?”

Alicia coughed, slipped off her stool, and pulled my head down for a kiss on one cheek before she ran away in the direction of her bedroom. Hannah chuckled, shaking her head and raising one eyebrow.

“She’s clever, Kate.”

“Oh, you have no idea how much.”

Hannah stirred her coffee wistfully, thinking through a response to my question. I knew the changes in her life were tumultuous and that settling in wasn’t going to plan.

“I’m generally happy. Everything progresses well with Claude, relationship-wise.”

“But?”

“There’s a but?”

“Oh, come on, Hannah, you’re practically dripping in but’s.”

She twisted her lips as though struggling to contain powerful emotions. Hannah looked a little sad but not ready to cry.

“It’s Izzy… sorry, Isabelle.”

“What about her?”

“I’m in love with her, Kate. She totally floats my boat. I could listen to that girl for hours, and I love being near her. She fires up my soul like nobody ever did… well, except you, years ago.”

“Ahh. That puts Claude and Karl in some danger, then?”

“No, Claude and I are cool, and like I say, that’s all going swimmingly. He’s happy. Isabelle wanted to move on to Karl, and I told her there was no issue with that.”

“But you want Isabelle?”

“I love being around her so much, Kate.”

“So you lied to her about your feelings?”

“I don’t want to get inside the head of a girl not yet nineteen. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“I agree. But are you certain what you feel is actually real love, Hannah?”

“I don’t know. I’m still not clear of my marriage, with divorce looming large.”

“This could get awkward for you, Hannah.”

“I know. That’s why I have a favor to ask, Kate.”

I knew where Hannah was going, but she needed to make the journey mostly by herself.

“Go ahead. How can I help?”

“Isabelle is as bright as a button.”

“But she can’t work for you, right?”

“No. It wouldn’t be fair for either of us.”

“So, you want Isabelle to work for me?”

“Yes, please.”

“You’d still see a lot of her, Hannah. You guys are practically neighbors, and her new boyfriend lives only a few miles away. He’ll be here often, I guess.”

“Yeah, but I can deal with continued personal contact and friendship. If Isabelle works for me, I would constantly question whether there was a conflict of interests.”

“I know you well, babe. You’d never mistreat Isabelle.”

“But you know what a minefield this love-at-work dynamic is, Kate.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure what would have happened at the Car Rental business had Jacob not fallen into my lap.”

“Did you fall quickly in love with Jacob?”

“I loved Jacob from the first day I interviewed him. It wasn’t the reason he got the job, but I really couldn’t line-manage him. Besides the relationship between us, Jacob is far too capable to have a boss.”

I sipped my tea, reminiscing over Jacob and my early romance. Hannah was being honest, and I had to help. Isabelle was a firecracker, a force multiplier, and a disrupter if ever I met one. Her working for me was great, but I worried about my best friend because if she couldn’t settle, I might lose an incredible asset.

“You need to stop punishing yourself, Hannah.”

“About my husband?”

“Yeah. He and you were never compatible. I’m sure he’s happier now than when you both tore each other apart.”

“That’s hard to live with. It feels like I wasn’t enough.”

“That’s bollocks Hannah. You weren’t right, he wasn’t either. That’s very different.”

She was surprised when I barked, but I figured Hannah needed a little tough love. She recoiled in shame and held up both hands in submission.

“That sounded self-pitying when I said it.”

‘Yeah, just stop doing that, Hannah. It’s not you at all.”

“How did you do it, Kate? I know about the BDSM, your enjoyment of being a dominatrix, and the female-led relationship stuff, but how does that work in a full-time, day-in, day-out relationship?”

“Jacob and I have found the sweet spot where each of us gets precisely what we want and need from the other. We don’t judge or treat each other harshly. We both lead, using the best abilities we have.”

“You were always going to dominate, though.”

“With Jacob, it hasn’t been how I thought. We have domination and submission play, but that’s not how our relationship is founded. I trust Jacob with my life. It’s very comforting when you can do that, Hannah.”

She considered what I’d told her. I’d reached the end of my comfort zone in what I might reveal, and Hannah knew that. She swirled the dregs of her coffee around a stained porcelain mug, smiling at me.

“I need to find happiness on my own, Kate.”

“Start by being happy within yourself, sweetheart. If ever things don’t work out with Claude, he still has a job working for Jacob and living here or at Granger Hall.”

“I appreciate that, Kate.”

Hannah kissed me on the cheek and left happier than when we started our meeting. I grabbed her arm as she walked away with one final thing to say.

“Use the helicopter contractor to get into the city every day if you want to. I’m thinking about buying one to allow everyone an easier way to get around. A family up the hill a couple of miles does the same thing, Bourne Aviation.”

“Seriously?”

“Your time and comfort is important to GD, Hannah. Mine, Jacobs, and a few others are, too.”

She left, and I watched Jacob finish off his meeting with Tiffany, feeling pleased at having achieved so much in such little time. When Jacob joined me, he seemed equally pleased.

“Are you happy, fiancee?”

“Tiffany is awesome. She’s on top of everything. The building contractors left messages begging me to keep her off-site, and now I know why. She’s all over them like a rash.”

“Good, well, I have even better news.”

“Go on?”

“Isabelle will be working for me. You too, if you need her support.”

“Okay… umm, how did that come about?”

“Hannah has developed feelings for her and wants to avoid a conflict of interest.”

“Good for her.”

“For catching feelings?”

“No. For being honest about it.”

“Yeah.”

Isabelle working for me was great news, but I worried that hearts might be broken down the road with Claude, Hannah, Isabelle, and Karl. Their collective frail emotions were contained in a fragile bubble.

Jacob reached out his arm to help me off the stool, grinning.

“It’s something to stress over on another day, Kate. Perhaps A Walk In The Clouds will fix everyone.”

“Maybe. Are we getting ready for dinner, Jacob?”

“The day flew by without a snag. Yes. Let’s get dressed.”

A Walk In The Clouds had a very intimate dining room that sat eight people. Lizzie kept its existence quiet because although friends and family were important, Jacob and I needed private spaces.

Alicia and Suzanna joined us at Lizzie’s bar, and we followed her to an upstairs dining room on the roof.  The ultra-modern steel and glass room might be considered a goldfish bowl, except every pane opened outwards to let the outside in, and we weren’t overlooked by anyone except Jupiter, Venus, and Mars.  

“It’s the finest view in the house, Kate.”

“What a beautiful sunset, sweetheart.

We stood together in a line, holding hands, four souls united in a dinner celebration for one absent little girl who would always be remembered. Canyon walls sparkled yellow and orange with flickering shadows passing as waves across jagged ledges and sheer cliffs.

The scene took my breath away as Mother Nature proved once again that she was the most invincible force.

Birds of prey soared high on warm updrafts, circling above a dark, wild forest painted dark green with a blue hue and wispy mist rising. The sun blasted out a last farewell as it hung low in the sky at the end of our valley, finally disappearing below a mountain peak, leaving a hazy promise to return by morning.

I turned to our guest of honor and offered my arm.

“Shall we eat, Suzanna?”

“Thank you for being so kind, all of you.”

“It’s time to celebrate the life of someone much loved by you and my fiancee.”

“It is indeed, Kate. We should remember Natalia but not shed any more tears.”

We sat down on a circular table for four, laid out beautifully for a very special evening. Jacob was surprised because we hadn’t told him the reason for our private dinner. He lifted a menu and smiled, recognizing all his favorites.

“Chicken liver pate, followed by rib-eye steak with parsnip fries, Kate. You know me so well.”

“Before we dine, Suzanna has something she’d like to say.”

I sat back, holding Jacob’s hand while our guest composed herself for a speech she’d practiced many times. Her emotions were heightened, and she breathed heavily, twitching her head nervously.

“It is not my place to say this, Jacob, but I hope you’ll understand my words come from a place of love. I want you to remember Natalia as a person who lived and was loved, not as a girl who died and was rescued from hell by you.”

She slid a scrapbook over the table, and Jacob opened it. A photograph of a young child beamed back at him, with another of a family underneath. A simple message was handwritten between the photographs.

Thank You, Jacob.

“It’s Natalia on top and all my family on the bottom. The scrapbook is filled with copies of every photo I have of my sister. I have the same book back home with the originals.”

“Are you saying it’s time for me to move on, Suzanna?”

“Yes, sweet Jacob. You found Natalia and rescued her, now I’m doing the same for her with you. She would never want you to suffer.”

“Okay, but can we stay in touch?”

“I’d be disappointed if we didn’t.”

“Can we visit?”

“Yes, but remember, we live very close to the mine, Jacob.”

“I want to go there one more time.”

“You are always welcome in our home, Jacob.”

---

Next Chapter:

---