“Sounds good. But, I gotta ask. How bad was your marriage that you had to move 500 miles away?” Katie paused, and Carson worried he might have broached a topic that was still off-limits. “If that’s not something you want to talk about yet, I understand.”
“No, it’s something you should know and understand. I’m just not sure where to start.” Another pause, and this time Carson did not interrupt. “Have you ever heard of AM&T, or Andersen Mining and Tool?”
“No on both.”
“It’s the largest mining company in North America, worth billions of dollars, and my family owns it. And you are lying in the grass with the daughter of the current CEO, a member of the board of directors, holder of almost a million shares, and the next-in-line to run the company.”
Carson propped himself up on one elbow, feeling his eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. “You’re serious?”
“Totally serious. As the only child, I’m first. When my great-great-grandfather Eldrid Andersen started the company in 1858, one of the by-laws he created was the line of succession.”
Carson shook his head. “But you said your maiden name was Barrie, not Andersen.”
“Yeah, about that. My married name was Kramer, and I was going to go back to Andersen after my divorce finalized, but that didn’t work out so well. So I had it legally changed to Barrie.”
“What do you mean? Why didn’t that work out?”
Katie sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“It can’t be worse than mine last night,” Carson told her.
“Fair enough.” She sat up and crossed her legs, picking at the grass. “Dad runs the company like a dictator. No one challenges him. He knows everyone and is connected everywhere in the state. So, if he tells the board I’m to be voted into the position, I’m in. It doesn’t matter if they like me or think I’m capable. And, if he says no, the opposite is true. And right now I’m definitely on the ‘no’ side.”
“Why?”
“I knew I was in line to run things, so, after graduating from Bennington, I educated myself about the business. I was there 14 hours a day, listening and learning. I had no social life. Dad was a great teacher, though. He made me start in lower-level positions so I knew the company inside and out, and it worked.
“When I was 26, I was at an industry event when I met Brendan. He was the owner of a small mining-tool company that wanted very badly to partner with our company, but that just seemed like a coincidence. He was handsome, charming, smart, and was really making a name for himself. He had this really thick New England accent, really strong, like he’d never read the letter ‘r’ in his life, but I liked it. It was distinctive. And he seemed to really like me. So we started dating, and things went pretty good. He also started talking with my father about that partnership.
“After about six months, Brendan started saying subtle things about getting engaged. He started visiting the company more and more, and he and my father had a lot of meetings, but at the time I didn’t have a high-enough position in the company to know the details. I just figured they were discussing the best ways to make the partnership.”
Carson looked at her, afraid to interrupt. Her eyes and expression were far away as she recounted the story. Clearly this was a big point in her life, much like the loss of Pam was for him. If she felt comfortable enough to share it with him, he wanted to hear it.
“I wasn’t completely surprised when he proposed, and there was no reason not to say yes. I felt like everything was going my way. I was a manager and about to become a junior vice-president and get on the board as a non-voting member, I was engaged to a handsome and successful man, and I was happy with both. And, better yet, I was planning the wedding of my dreams. Brendan just told me to do whatever I wanted and he would agree, and Daddy opened the checkbook to me, so I made it just like I’d imagined since I was a little girl.”
Carson snickered a little bit. Despite his desire to keep quiet, he couldn’t quite understand how women started planning their weddings before they reached high school.
Katie gave him a smile. “I know, I know. But I’m no different than any other girl. So we had a wonderful ceremony and, right after the honeymoon, there I was back in the office, spending just as much time working.
“That seemed to surprise Brendan. He tried to convince me it wasn’t necessary for me to be doing all this work, I had others who could do it for me, all I had to do was drop by every other day, sign some papers, and then go get a nice lunch at the club. That didn’t sit well with me at all, and it started causing some disagreements between us. He had been so supportive of my working, but after the wedding, it seemed like he wanted me to step away from the business.
“One day I was working on something and I learned about an antiquated business law in the state. It turned out it’s a lot easier – and cheaper – to merge two companies when there is a family relation between ownership. Well, what a coincidence!
“When I asked Brendan about it, he said he loved me and, yeah, he knew about the law, but that was just an extra benefit. In fact, he hadn’t wanted to create any doubt about his devotion to me, so he’d not even mentioned it, knowing it would make me suspicious about the marriage. But it would save both companies so much money it was foolish to go any other way. We just had to be married one year for the statute to take effect.
“My gut told me differently, so I asked
