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administrative work of running the offices of a company that hosted wells in several parts of the state. Drummond’s own well had gone dry a couple of decades ago, but back then the company’s namesake family had decided to keep their headquarters in Drummond because it was central to all their other wells, and also because the family still had a home in the area. One of the reasons her father was such a local hero was because after the family sold Drummond Oil to a larger oil company, he had convinced that company to keep the headquarters in Drummond with a mix of tax breaks, business savvy, and one good-old boy, booze-filled weekend.
    But now Alexei Rustanov owned Drummond Oil. And he wanted to meet with her.
    “I’m no good at business meetings,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper.
    “I know you aren’t,” he answered. “But in this case, it’s real simple. You’ve got to convince Rustanov to keep the Drummond Oil headquarters here. Tell him we’ll do whatever it takes, give him whatever incentives he wants to keep the business here. If you have to grovel at his feet, do it. Now is not the time to finally grow a sense of pride, little girl.”
    Despite the circumstances, Eva found herself more irritated with her father than her manipulative ex-boyfriend. “It’s not about pride, it’s about my son. I can’t let him find out about Aaron.”
    Her father sat up, his head tilting to the side in angry confusion. “What do you mean, find out? You said you told him and he didn’t want anything to do with Aaron. I thought that was why you left his name off the birth certificate and didn’t seek him out for child support.”
    She winced. “It’s a little more like I figured he wouldn’t want anything to do with Aaron, so I kind of didn’t tell him.”
    “You kind of didn’t tell him.” Her father’s posture had become rigid with anger. “So let me get this straight, little girl. First you moved in with this Russian boy against my wishes. Then you got pregnant. Then you didn’t even tell him he had a baby coming and it was his. Then you put yourself in his sights again. And now he’s bought Drummond Oil, not even knowing you and him have a seven-year-old son?”
    When her father summarized the story that way, it did sound really, really bad. “I know I’ve put Drummond in a really terrible position, Daddy. And I’m really sorry. But he cannot find out about Aaron.”
    “He sure as hell can’t,” her father agreed. “If he finds out you’ve been hiding a son from him, Lord knows what he’ll do. I don’t know what happened between you two that has him suddenly buying up Drummond Oil and wanting to meet with you, and to tell you the truth, I don’t want to know, because my blood pressure is high enough as it is. But whatever you did, you need to get on that plane tomorrow, and go to New York to fix it.”
    “Tomorrow!” she said. “I can’t just drop everything and drive all the way to Dallas to go to New York.”
    Her father gave her a small, tart smile. “Eva, I warned you against getting mixed up with this boy, and now look where it’s gotten us. You can and will drop everything. And you will do whatever it takes to save our town, which we’ve both pledged to serve to the best of our abilities.”
    “Okay, Daddy, I’m just going to point out that you warned me to stay away from him because he was in your words, ‘fresh off the boat,’ ‘couldn’t even speak English,’ and ‘would never amount to anything.’ I have no idea if he’s officially got his citizenship or how his English is coming along, but you were definitely wrong on at least one of those accounts. He’s made something of himself and now he’s got you, me, and this whole town under his thumb.”
    To her surprise, Eva actually felt a bit of pride in Alexei welling up inside her. Who would have thought the Russian security guard who could barely afford a rundown efficiency would own her hometown one