By Candlelight

by Janelle Taylor

  “I agree,” he said. “I’ve got some business stuff we should discuss since we’re getting married. Things you should know.”

  A business discussion was way down on Kate’s list. She had more immediate concerns. “Maybe tonight we could meet at Geno’s again? That restaurant near my place? Do you remember?”

  “Sure.”

  “How about on the garden patio? We’ll have dinner—and talk.” She knew she was being a chicken. She should invite him to her house for such a powerful issue, but there was always the threat of April being around. Better to at least start her confession in public.

  “I have one question to ask right now,” Jake said.

  “Oh?”

  “Since we’re officially engaged, I’m assuming it’s all right to spread the word. I haven’t told any employees yet. I wanted to talk to you first.”

  Kate’s chest constricted. She knew he was being careful because he sensed her ambivalence. “Would it be all right to wait till tomorrow?”

  Jake hesitated. “Is there some special reason? Because I have to confess, I’ve told my brother what my plans are. As far as he knows, I haven’t asked you yet, but he knows I will.”

  “I just want to set things straight. Tonight,” she insisted, bolstering her own courage.

  “I’ll see you then,” he agreed, his tone a bit bewildered at her strained words.

  April rotated her neck several times, driving the kinks out. She had been given the scripts for three commercials, and they were attempting to film the first one. The one for the West Bank Hotel was postponed indefinitely, but the other two, where she spoke about Talbot Industries’ plans for development in and around Portland, were on schedule.

  There was a lot of standing around time. Lighting was key, and she couldn’t believe how many times she had been called back for a makeup redo. The advertising agency had brought in trays of fruit, cheese and breads if anyone worked up an appetite. April had been munching on grapes and half a bagel, then vigorously brushed her teeth before the next smiling moment.

  Too bad Mom couldn’t have stayed. She was the best. April had tons of friends who viewed their parents as the enemy, but she had never felt that way about Kate. Now, her dad, she hadn’t been that close to; she could freely admit it. Not that she hadn’t loved him and vice versa. But he was another generation older, and hey, he could have easily been April’s grandfather. The generation gap was just too huge.

  His death had caused April to grow up in ways she hadn’t understood at first, but was beginning to notice in small ways now. Most of her friends bugged her these days. Their petty interest in rumor, and who was doing what with what cool guy, held no appeal for April. Ryan was the best, but even he could irk her sometimes. He had taken up smoking cigarettes, and it bothered April to no end. And though she had told her mother that he was college bound, she had seen no serious moves by him in that direction. He seemed content to sit around with his guitar and lazily thrum away.

  Bogus. April had said as much to him, and Ryan had shrugged and asked, “Don’t you ever want to just get away? See the world. Drive across the country and stand at the edge of the Atlantic.”

  “I’d like to do a lot of things,” she had retorted with typical practicality. “But I’ve got to earn some money to do them, and I need college to get the right job and career.”

  “Man, you are so uptight.” He had shaken his head along with another cigarette from his pack, sticking the smoke between his lips and holding it there while he strummed on.

  It had started an uneasy feeling inside April’s stomach. On their camping trip with friends, she had found herself alienated from most of the party when she showed no interest in smoking. She had joked to her mom about the screwdriver she had tasted at Ryan’s dad’s, but she hadn’t revealed that most of her friends were steady beer drinkers, and that she had taken the sip more as a way to fit in.

  She didn’t get it. Whereas everyone she knew seemed to be floundering around, searching for themselves, she had always been on a clear path. Maybe it was being an only child. Maybe it was just her. Whatever the case, she was ambitious and she knew it. And she just wanted everyone to stay out of her way, Ryan included if he was going to act like a do-nothing.

  This breakthrough with the commercial was a start. Not that she had seriously considered modeling as a career. Heck, no! She liked to eat way too much, and she didn’t obsess over her looks. She was pragmatic enough to know she was odd that way. In fact, it really drove her crazy when her friends worried aloud about their hair, or weight, or zits. Good grief. It was so high school.

  Speaking of, classes started in a week, April reminded herself, as she stood by the counter of food, contemplating her future. Senior year. She had always wanted to be a senior. It seemed so glamorous, so adult, when she had been a lowly freshman and sophomore. But now that it was upon her, she felt oddly let down. Like, is this all there is?

  Yet, college loomed, and though she looked forward to it, she also felt unsure and adrift. Mom had told her that her feelings were normal, but Mom was a natural born cheerleader, always looking on the positive. Somehow April sensed she was at a crossroads. She supposed it was silly and fanciful, but she really felt that the path she picked now would seriously matter. As if there were good and evil just waiting out there, and she needed to be sharp to choose the right way.

  Bogus again, probably, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.

  A couple of weeks ago she and a friend had rented that Tom Cruise movie, Risky Business, where he was a senior in high school chock-full of self-doubts. The hero’s main goal was to get through high school without messing up his future. Unfortunately his choices—and, worse yet, his friends’ choices—nearly made that impossible.

  April saw herself in much the same position. Tiptoeing through this last year, so as not to ruin her future. She didn’t want to be infected by the same insecurities that plagued her friends, but she knew, at some level, that she was. In fact, even though she constantly congratulated herself on being past all those petty worries her friends wallowed in, lately she had been feeling anxious and unsettled.

  Grimacing, April munched on another sprig of grapes. Her father’s death had started this, she knew. Oh, yeah, she’d had her worries before, but when she had realized that she and her mother were totally alone in the world, she had suffered nightly anxiety attacks until she had understood that Kate was going to be okay. It was incredible that Mom had reconnected with Mr. Talbot—Jake—and was actually going to marry him! She was pleased as punch, thrilled to her toes. And if she, April, achieved a little security out of the match, well, why not? She just wanted everything to go as planned.

  Oh, please, she thought suddenly, knowing she shouldn’t want it so badly. But Jacob Talbot was a catch, and so was Mom, come to that. April was quite aware of her mother’s beauty, and it was more than skin deep.

  Skin deep. That was the worry about this modeling thing. It really was only skin deep, and April already had doubts about measuring up.

  Just be yourself, Mom always said, and let’s face it, mother knew best.

  “April?” The director motioned her back to the point where he wanted her to stand. “You ready.”

  “You bet.” She flashed him her smile. Things were going perfectly. There was absolutely no reason to be feeling this worry gnawing away at her insides…no reason at all. Fighting off her plaguing doubts, April walked back in front of the cameras where the floor had been crisscrossed with tape to show her where to stand.

  Nope, she reminded herself. Everything was going to be just peachy. There was absolutely no reason to worry.

  And that reminded her that she had Jake Talbot’s money tucked in the back pocket of the jeans she had worn to the shoot. She had planned to hand it over to him today; it had sat forgotten behind the kitchen telephone forever. But then he hadn’t been on the set like she had hoped.

  Next time I see him, she told herself, smiling for the camera.

&n
bsp; The people from Diamond Corp. were the epitome of indecision. Jake glanced around the boardroom table at the envoy of executives and lawyers and wondered what the deal was. They had hemmed and hawed for the better part of an hour, and his patience had worn to a nub.

  “You either want to do a joint venture on the property by the airport, or you don’t,” Jake pointed out reasonably. “Talbot’s putting up the land; you’re investing the cash. It’s pretty straightforward.”

  Dennis Watley, from the law firm of Watley, Bishop, Pettygrove and Darm, gave Jake a look meant to quell his tongue. But Jake, unlike his father, liked to speak for himself whenever possible. He preferred not to have a lawyer be his mouthpiece.

  Diamond’s lawyer, however, was the only voice at all from the group of suited executives seated around the table. He steepled his fingers and frowned down at them. “There are some concerns.”

  “Such as?” Jake ignored a second, reproving look from Dennis.

  No one wanted to talk. Jake leveled his gaze at Marcus Torrance, president of Diamond Corp. What was going on? The man pretended he didn’t feel Jake’s drilling gaze. He was content to let his lawyer field the questions.

  “You’ve had a spot of trouble,” the attorney revealed reluctantly. “We’re worried that it could affect the profitability of the deal.”

  Jake listened in disbelief. “You’re talking about the explosion at the West Bank.”

  “Among other things.”

  “We’re building miniwarehouses. It’s not like our customers are going to boycott us because there’s been some vandalism,” Jake pointed out, annoyed.

  “We feel it’s more than that. It looks as if you have a saboteur interested in destroying all Talbot properties.” He lifted his hands apologetically. “It’s not in our best interests to proceed right now.”

  Jake shot another glance at Marcus, who had pursed his lips and fastened his stare on the page in front of him. Although what Diamond’s lawyer said was true, no one from their company should have had access to that information. The West Bank, okay. That was front page news. But the strip mall vandalism wasn’t even common knowledge at Talbot yet, because Jake had asked Gary and Pam to keep it under wraps. So far, it had stayed out of the papers, and the saboteur theory hadn’t been mentioned anywhere yet.

  “Who told you we had a saboteur?” Jake demanded, jumping right to the heart of it.

  “That’s not the issue, Mr. Talbot.”

  “I disagree,” Jake retorted. “It sounds like it’s the issue exactly. Whoever gave you that information must have suspected it might affect our joint venture.”

  “I’m sure you understand why we can’t move forward at this time.” With that the attorney closed his folder and gazed at Jake steadily, ignoring his demands completely. The rest of Diamond’s entourage bustled around to put their things away as well, and they hurried out of the boardroom en masse.

  When Jake was alone with Talbot’s corporate attorney, he said, “What’s going on, Dennis?”

  “I’m not sure.” Dennis was sober. “But whatever’s happening, this deal is put on hold indefinitely. I suggest you call your commercial real estate agent immediately and get that piece of property back on the market.”

  Jake nodded tersely, boiling inside. But the analytical part of his brain was moving in new directions—and not liking what he was finding.

  “There’s a mole in the company,” he said unhappily.

  “A spy?” Dennis shrugged. “Sounds like a disgruntled employee with an attitude.”

  “It could be one and the same…”

  As Jake ran on the treadmill later that afternoon, swiping a towel at the sweat that beaded again and again on his forehead, he came to some unpalatable conclusions. There were only a half dozen people who knew about the pending deal with Diamond Corporation and who also knew about the sabotage at the strip mall and West Bank Hotel.

  Those people were the ones closest to Jake himself. Employees he had purposely culled from the company roster to work exclusively for Jake after Phillip, Sr., had turned over the reins to him. His personal secretary Pam was one of them. So was Gary, his foreman.

  And then there was Phillip…his brother…

  Jake sighed. He had talked over the damage with his father the other night, and he had also tried to make some sense out of Phillip’s desire to cut a piece of the company off for himself. Their father had seemed to think giving Phillip one of Talbot’s properties and letting him make it or break it on his own was a good idea.

  But Phillip, Sr., didn’t know about the leak to Diamond Corporation. Could that have been the younger Phillip’s doing? As a means to make that particular piece of property available to him? He had to know that if the joint venture with Diamond was in place, Talbot would not be able to give the property to him. Could he have whispered the word “saboteur” in Marcus Torrance’s ear and effectively squelched the deal once and for all, making way for Talbot to deed that property to Phillip Talbot, Jr., no questions asked?

  Jake didn’t like the path of his thoughts, but he couldn’t help himself. And if that were true, was Phillip merely an opportunist, using the vandalism to Talbot as a means to his own ends? Or, could he have had some hand in the destruction himself?

  No! Phillip would never take a chance on hurting someone like what could have happened at the West Bank.

  But then Jake remembered how upset Phillip had been to learn he and April had been injured. It had seemed like a normal reaction at the time, but…

  With a sick feeling, Jake decided he really didn’t want to know; but then, he was president of Talbot Industries now, and who else was there to dig to the truth? No one had a greater stake in the welfare of Talbot than he had. And brother, or no brother, if Phillip, Jr., were involved, he would have to face the authorities with his involvement.

  Jake grimaced. He didn’t like his choices at all.

  Kate arrived at Geno’s half an hour ahead of the appointed time. She had been strung so tight that April, who had been regaling her with the blow by blow of her filming, had finally complained at Kate’s inattention.

  “Hey, what gives? You’re miles away!”

  “Oh, I was just lost in thought,” she murmured, feeling almost ill. As soon as she told Jake the truth her world would shatter. She knew it. It couldn’t be any other way.

  Ryan was at the house, guitar resting on his thigh, humming a little as he idly strummed away. This appeared to irritate April, who threw him a speaking glance that he didn’t see. Another day Kate might have wondered if the bloom was off the rose regarding their relationship, but today she was too tense.

  April switched gears. “What did Jillian say about your ring?” she asked. “I mean, last Friday you were on a date with her friend.”

  “She didn’t see the ring,” Kate said repressively.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I wasn’t wearing it.”

  “Why not?” April repeated, her eyes widening. “Mom, you didn’t give it back, did you!”

  “No, I’m just, taking my time,” she muttered, inclining her head meaningfully in Ryan’s direction, though he appeared completely oblivious. “I’m not ready to make announcements yet.”

  “What’s the hold up? This is the man of your dreams. Your boyfriend from high school. It’s—it’s—well, it’s romantic! I can’t even believe it.”

  “Neither can I,” Kate admitted. And as soon as this evening’s over, it may no longer be true.

  April gave up her inquisition, but she continued to dart looks in Kate’s direction while Kate prepared to leave. Now, thinking back, Kate couldn’t help feeling like a coward when she considered how she had told less than the truth to Jillian.

  Apparently Michael had really liked Kate. Jillian had told her as much without overplaying it because she knew of Kate’s interest in Jake. And though Jillian was glad that Kate had “fallen in love,” a part of her really wanted to double again. So, while Kate and she had wrangled for the phone
time and again, doing their best to keep some kind of control over the office, Jillian had kept up a constant barrage of quiet little suggestions.

  “We could do brunch at my apartment,” she posed as Kate caught the receiver on the fly.

  Another time she said, “This is great barbecuing weather. How does a juicy burger sound, loaded with ketchup and onions?”

  Later, she became even less subtle. “Let’s go out again. I know Michael had a fabulous time.”

  “I ran out of the restaurant!” Kate declared.

  “You were worried about Jake and your daughter. He knows that.”

  “Jillian…”

  Jillian lifted her hands in surrender, but it just made Kate more uptight about seeing Jake again and getting to the truth. Jake’s engagement ring was in her purse. Kate considered telling Jillian about it, but she didn’t have the courage. She was afraid it might jinx everything if she spoke too soon…

  “Michael’s a great guy, but I can’t,” Kate finally said in a regretful voice. “It’s all timing. I’m with Jake, at least for the present.”

  Jillian nodded. “I guess I knew that. But, Kate, you sound so fatalistic about it.”

  “Do I?”

  “Like a funeral dirge,” Jillian admitted, her eyes searching Kate’s as if to discover her secret.

  It had unnerved Kate a bit. If she didn’t get this thing settled soon, the whole world would be staring at her and trying to decipher what made her tick.

  So, here she was. The waiter brought her a glass of Chianti, and she tried on several ways to broach the subject.

  Jake, I can’t get pregnant, but don’t worry you’ve already got a child.

  Jake, I know you care a great deal about April. If you found out she was your child, what would you do?

  I was lonely and lost without you. And pregnant. I married Ben to have a father for April, but she’s yours.

  April’s yours. Yours…yours…

  “Kate?” Jake’s voice behind her head nearly rocketed her from her chair.