Chapter 14
On Thursday afternoon, the special meeting was held. Russell Thorpe conducted the meeting from the chair at the head of the table. He was puzzled and suspicious at their early submission.
But Jed had told him brusquely, angrily, that he had talked it over with the others and they had decided to give in.
"You've got me over a barrel. i may sell out," said Jed. "I can't afford a long court fight. We'll merge the companies, get that out of the way, then I'll decide what to do. I may go to California."
"Yeah?" said Russell warily. "You can feel free to stay on, Jed, old boy. We can use you as manager. I don't care much for the detail work of the company.
I may take to the road and spend my time looking for new clients."
His chest expanded. He was seeing himself already as the pompous president of the firm, issuing orders and letting others scurry around to carry out the menial "detail work." Jed wanted to punch him in the nose. He restrained himself. That would come later.
At the meeting, Jed forced himself to sit back and maintain a sullen silence. He wanted to convince Russell he was an unwilling participant in the negotiations. There were several members present of the law firms that handled the business of Crown and Westfall. Mavis was there, Larry and Edythe Westfall, Jed, Russell and Kittie, who was intensely bored.
Mavis looked calm and unconcerned. She had secretly agreed to sell to Jed, but Russell of course thought she would sell to him.
Edythe was pale, and seemed very nervous. Jed thought at first that she was putting on an act for Russell's benefit. Presently he realized it was not an act. She was genuinely upset and dubious about the move. She feared Russell and his tricky ways.
Larry was pale too, and weary. Why weary? Jed wondered about that, too.
Russell presented the merger issue in a detailed speech. Kittie examined her long red fingernails and yawned in the warm air of the board room.
The lawyers took over then. One of them explained the details of the merger plan and the steps that would have to be taken.
Jed listened alertly to this presentation. They confirmed what he and Edythe had already figured-that the stocks were approximately equal in value.
Then came the vote. It was unanimously for the merger. The lawyers beamed. They liked the cordial good will of the two firms, they said.
Jed glared at Russell. Russell looked suspiciously at Edythe and Larry.
They agreed on the steps to be taken, and that the merger should be finalized within the next few weeks.
"It is a little unusual to move so rapidly in an operation of this sort," said one of the lawyers. "However, since all are agreed-"
The meeting broke up. Jed, Mavis, Edythe and Larry went to Jed's apartment to talk more privately. He got out some champagne he had bought for the occasion. But his guests were gloomy.
"Drink up," Jed urged. "You were all great actors this afternoon. The merger is going along fine. Russell doesn't suspect a thing."
Mavis sipped pensively at the chilled glass. "I can't help worrying. Russell is so damned smart. What if he comes up with some legal maneuver and takes over everything?"
Edythe shuddered, turning chalky white.
"He won't. I've checked and double-checked," Jed reassured her. "And besides that, Edythe and I are going to see a lawyer ourselves about Greg. Yes, we are Edythe! I'm sure Russell can't take Greg. A man who has been married three times, who is now married to a .girl less than half his age? The courts are not going to take him away from a devoted mother to award Russell the custody of a child. But I'll let a lawyer tell you that. You should have seen one long ago instead of letting Russell blackmail you and Larry."
"Oh, Jed, I'm afraid. If I stir up trouble-" said Edythe. "If he takes Greg away from me-"
She was really scared, and that wasn't good, Jed decided. He forced her to go to a lawyer with him the next day, and they talked over the whole matter. The lawyer was reassuring, but Edythe was still not convinced.
"What if Miss Westfall and I got married, and I adopted the child legally?" Jed asked brusquely.
Edythe interposed. "Jed, we are not going to get married!"
"What if?" Jed repeated.
The lawyer wiped away a smile. "I think that would end the matter. Mr. Thorpe would then have no legal basis at all for claiming the child. Not unless you should become involved in criminal activities or-Well, we need not go into those aspects, I'm sure."
Jed told the lawyer to keep it all quiet and not do anything until the merger was completed. He promised.
After they left the office, Edythe stormed at Jed, "I told you I would not consider marriage! I'm not ready to get married again. If I ever marry, I want to think it over first, for a long, long time."
"Honey," he said calmly. "If you put ne off, if you make me postpone my plans, I'll treat you worse than I ever have. I'll take you up to my place, lock you in, make you stay there until you give in. I'm going to marry you, and you're not going to stop me."
"I have a mind of my own! I won't be forced into things!"
"But honey, you enjoy things so much after you've been forced into them." His mischievous eyes gazed into hers. Her lashes dropped, and her cheeks flushed a deep red. He had one weapon over her that she could not resist.
During the end of June and the first part of July, the lawyers drew up papers, held conferences, obtained auditor's statements on finances, and followed all the procedures they had outlined. Mavis Thorpe and Jed secretly completed a deal whereby he bought out all her stock in Crown Company. She said she would stay on in town until after the merger, so that Russell would not suspect anything.
Jed almost went wild, waiting nervously for all the papers to be signed, the negotiations completed. If Russell figured out the answers, and made counter-moves, he would be sunk.
Edythe would not come up to Jed's apartment during those weeks. She did not want Russell to guess anything about their relationship. She did tell Jed that Russell was after Larry night and day to buy his stock from the boy. That was why Larry was so pale and tired. He was involved in all-night drinking sessions with Russell, trying to jolly him along, to keep him from learning the true situation.
Finally toward the end of July the papers were ready for final signature, the lawyers ready for a final formal meeting to merge the two companies.
"We certainly did that fast," one of them said proudly.
Jed felt like saying it was the slowest, most agonizing operation in history. He refrained.
It was a hot July afternoon when they all gathered in the board room at the Crown Company. The air conditioners were on. Edythe was shivering as she sat down at the table. Jed seated himself next to her, and touched her hand. It was ice-cold.
He wanted to reassure her, but he was feeling rather shaky himself. What if something went wrong? What if Russell pulled a switch and they all fell neatly into a trap, like a scene from one of the silent movies? All kinds of horrible possibilities flashed through Jed's mind as the meeting began.
It took a couple of hours-the reading of papers, the announcement that the merger had been filed in court, the long legal proceedings that made it official. The merger was finally concluded. The lawyers congratulated all parties of the new Golden Crown Trading Stamps Company, and then the Westfall Golden Stamp Company and the Crown Trading Stamps Company went out of business permanently.
Jed's shoulders felt stiff as he stood up to shake hands with the lawyers. He had been under tension for weeks. Now it was over.
The lawyers filed out.
Mavis Thorpe arose nervously. "I might as well leave, also," she said, picking up her gloves.
"Wait, Mavis," said Russell, leaning back in the chair at the head of the table. "Why don't you sell out to me now? We might as well clear up all the little details." He was smiling blandly, confidently.
Mavis looked at Jed questioningly.
"I believe I have a couple of announcements to make first," said Jed. He relaxed, grinned, and leaned against the back of a chair to observe Russell's suspicious face.
"You want to sell out, too?" asked Russell. "I may not be able to pay you much, but I could offer about half-price."
"Nope," said Jed. Larry was staring at the table. Edythe's hands were clasped tightly together. Mavis was standing beside her chair, her breath coming quickly. "In the first place, Mavis Thorpe has sold all her shares to me."
"What? You double-dealing witch! I ought to beat you up." Russell's face turned crimson as he glared threateningly at Mavis.
Larry said, gently, but effectively, "Shut up, Russell. Your bullying days are over." All of a sudden, the boy sounded like a man.
Russell glared at Larry incredulously. He could not have been more surprised if Kittie had turned on him and had bitten him.
"And in the second place, congratulations are in order. Edythe Westfall has consented to marry me. We plan to be married in August."
"What?" Russell bellowed. His face was so red, his eyes so bulging that Jed feared a stroke. "You don't know her-Edythe, damn you! I told you what I'd do if you don't do what I tell you!"
"You probably mean taking Greg away from her." Jed walked over to Edythe and put his hands firmly on her trembling shoulders. "We have engaged a lawyer. I shall adopt Greg as soon as Edythe and I are married. No court would award a child to a man like you, three times married, now married to a young woman less than half your age. So kindly don't bother my fiancee with your threats any longer. Or you'll have to deal with me."
Russell's face turned from crimson to purple He stuttered with rage. "I'll see-we-we'll see about-You witch! You double-damned w-witch!"
"Shut up, or I'll punch you!" cried Larry, jumping up.
"That won't be necessary, Larry," said Jed, coldly furious. "I think he will see reason. Edythe, Larry and I hold 63 per cent of the stock in Golden Crown Company. If Russell wants to sell out at a decent price to us, he had better be-decent." He gazed mockingly at the crumpled figure of the stocky man who had come so close to mastering them all. Russell was a pricked balloon. All his dreams had escaped like gas and vanished in the air.
"I didn't know ... when did you get to know Edythe?" Russell finally asked.
"Oh, that's a long story. And no affair of yours," said Jed. "But you're finished here, Russell. I won't stay in business with you. I'll buy you out now for a fair price. Every week's delay will bring the price down. What do you say-are you going to sell out to me?"
Russell heaved himself out of the chair. He was so dazed, so humiliated, he scarcely seemed to know what he was doing. "I'll let you know," he mumbled. "Got to see ... my lawyer...."
He went out. Jed drew a deep sigh and let go of Edythe's shoulders. Mavis was crumpling her gloves.
"It's over," said Mavis. "It's over. He's finished now."
"Unless he has more tricks up his sleeve," said Edythe anxiously. She turned to Jed. "Are you sure he can't take Greg-"
"I'm sure. I told you."
"And the company," said Larry. "Gosh. I wish Dad could have been here today. He would have been proud."
Edythe smiled at Larry. "Yes, the company is saved from him, anyway. Thank goodness."
"Congratulations to you both," said Mavis sincerely. "On the wedding, I mean. I think that's wonderful. May you both be very happy."
"Thank you," said Jed quickly, before Edythe could deny anything. "And thanks for all you've done. Selling me the stock, and everything."
Their eyes met, and a swift message passed between Mavis and Jed. He knew what she was thinking, that she was grateful to him for restoring her confidence and licking the man who had tried to destroy her.
"I'll be leaving town," Mavis said. "So I won't be here for the wedding. Best wishes, love to you both, and success with the company. Keep it in the family."
"We'll do that," said Jed.
Larry held the door for Mavis as she left. "Do you want me for anything else?" he asked, adding rather wistfully, "I'd like to get some sleep, without Russell calling me and asking me to do the town with him."
"Run along. Take a vacation," said Jed, generously. "Go somewhere for a few weeks and grab some rest. Then you can take over while Edythe and I are honeymooning."
"Oh-say-great. When is the wedding?" Jed put his hand firmly over Edythe's opening mouth. "August twentieth. Be back for it."
"Okay. Fine." Larry grinned and walked out.