Brian’s shoulders collapsed, nearly breaking Lacey’s heart. He looked like an animal enmeshed in a trap, frightened, hurt, and miserable. “She’s right, Brian,” she added. “You can shut yourself away from those who love you to protect your heart, but in the long run, your heart will dry up from lack of use.”
“I-I can’t deal with this now.” He retreated. “I need to think.” At the door, he stopped. “Don’t give up on me, Cee.”
When he’d left, Lacey turned to Celia. “Hold onto what he said. He’ll come around.”
Celia’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “I hope so. I don’t know what I’d do without him in my life.”
“He’s never shared these feelings with either of us. He just needs to absorb what we told him and come to believe life with you is worth someday, perhaps, having to let you go.”
“I can wait, now I know there’s hope.” Celia straightened the lampshade Brian’s near collision had set askew. “What are you going to do about Bonneville?”
“Do? About losing him?”
Celia faced her, a tolerant look pasted across her face, like one dealing with a child. “That’s not an absolute yet. I thought he offered you a chance to bid on his new plan, the high-rise?”
Lacey stared at the other woman, amazed. “You’ve certainly caught up fast.”
Celia chuckled. “You and Jack may have run off, but Cam stayed behind in the executive break room and brought anyone who’d listen up to date—except for the part about Brian.”
“I feel so humiliated. My chance to make a name for myself in the firm is gone.” Would she even be able to show her face at work the next day?
“Why? The guy threw you all a curve. From what I heard, you and Jack put together a really excellent concept piece. Cam raved about it, even after Bonneville dumped you.”
Lacey seized upon Celia’s comments like a drowning person clutching at a life preserver. Earlier, when they met with the entertainer, she’d been so devastated by his news, she’d dismissed this option. Now… Maybe they could adapt some of their conceptual framework to a high-rise.
She smiled for the first time in hours. “Thanks for the idea. It’s worth a try.” She said a hasty good-bye, hugged her friend, and ran out to her car. Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of recapturing their project, but for the first time in hours, the horrible, wrenching sensation in her stomach subsided.
The next morning, Lacey swished by Jean’s desk, caught up in her positive mood. “Good morning, Jean. Is Mr. Dalton in yet?” She hadn’t heard from him since he’d dashed out of her apartment the day before, charged up by some new way to save the project, which he didn’t take time to share. While she waited to hear from him, she worked through the night on a new design concept. Charged with anticipation, she was anxious to tell him how she thought they could salvage the project.
Jean lurched from her chair and reached the door to Jack’s office before Lacey, looking more serious than ever. “Mr. Dalton’s not in there.”
Lacey finger-combed her hair, still damp from her hasty shower. “That’s okay. I’ll wait.”
Jean inserted herself between the door and Lacey, but the tight set of her mouth loosened slightly. “You must not know yet. Mr. Dalton, Jack, resigned. He cleared out his desk last night.”
Lacey backed up a step, the news slicing through her like a dagger. “He’s gone? What happened?” Was this why he hadn’t called?
“He was very close-mouthed about his reasons.”
“But…but the last time I saw him, he seemed to think he could rescue our project.”
As she started for the stairwell, Jean grabbed her arm. “I didn’t see his letter to Mr. Mackenzie. I found it on my desk, sealed, when I arrived a short while ago. I’ve seen him lose sure-bet clients before. Not often, but on occasion. He took those setbacks in stride. There’s more to this, but I don’t know what. I thought perhaps you knew something.” She gave her a hopeful smile.
Surprised and touched by the other woman’s rare demonstration of helpfulness, Lacey had no idea what was going on. “I, no…I had no idea he was leaving.” Mumbling thanks for Jean’s information, she fled down the stairs to her own office and sanctuary.
Once there, however, she wasn’t very productive. Jean’s words kept running through her head. “There’s more to this, but I don’t know what it is.”
Gone. After how many years with Mackenzie and Associates? Five? Six? Jack had so wanted to become the firm’s principal architect. Now, he’d simply walked away. To where? To what?
“Lacey?” Cam stuck his head through her door, then made a beeline for her visitor chair. “At least you stuck around. You’ve heard about Dalton deserting us? Can’t believe the guy would leave us in the middle of this Bonneville fiasco.”
“I just heard the news. What happened? The last I knew, Jack thought he could get Bonneville to reconsider.”
“Fool! Thought he could change Bonneville’s mind, even though I’d already talked my head off with the guy. Jack buttonholed Bonneville at the airport as he was about to board his private jet.”
That explained where Jack had shot off to but not his quitting the firm. “Why would he resign just for failing to do what we’d all been unable to do earlier?” Her boss mumbled something, but she couldn’t make out the words. “Excuse me? I didn’t catch what you said.”
He released what sounded like an infuriated harrumph. “I chewed him out.”
“You fired him?” Mackenzie terminated his golden boy?”
“Of course not! Granted, I was outraged he’d gone off on his own, thinking he could save the world. Might’ve suggested he was losing his touch, not principal material, but he knew I was just blowing off steam. Hell’s bells, I’ve lit into him more than enough times in the past. Just part of the game.”
He’d suggested Jack might not be named principal? Did he not know how sensitive Jack was when it came to receiving the title? Of course not. Cameron Mackenzie was on top of the game when it came to drumming up business but not where human relations were concerned. “Have you, uh, talked to him since?” she asked.
“Tried. He’s not taking calls. At least from me. Didn’t he call you?”
“No.” He hadn’t returned her voice messages either. Or texts. Why? Had she done something to trigger his leaving? “I didn’t learn of his resignation until a little while ago. I went to his office to tell him…” Was she ready to let Cam in on her alternate plan?
Cam hunched forward. “Tell him what?”
She didn’t have much choice. “I thought about Bonneville’s suggestion we bid on the high-rise and worked out some ideas at home last night. It may not result in as big a fee, but I think we could do quite well.”
“Really?” Cam leaned in further, a gleam entering his eyes.
Except she’d planned on Jack doing the design work. Jack, where are you? He’d abandoned her just like her father. She’d let down her guard and trusted the guy, the very thing she’d avoided all these years. Look where it had gotten her. Back to Square One, where she’d found herself at age six. Deserted once again.
“Lacey? Are you okay?” Cam asked, cutting into her thoughts.
“Yes. Yes, Cam.” She kept her voice even and stared him directly in the eyes, though her brain was skittering all over the place.
“With Jack gone, you’ll be in charge. You’ll need to put together something spectacular overnight. You up for the challenge?”
A month ago, even three weeks back, when she first encountered Project Veronica, she would have been flabbergasted at the opportunity. This was her big chance, even bigger than being teamed with Jack, because now she was head honcho. She should be excited, thrilled at the prospect. Instead, she felt like all the air had been siphoned from her.
Without Jack, the project was no longer fun, but solo lead would have to suffice as the most meaningful thing in her life. With what remaining energy she could still muster, she offered her boss her most enthusiastic fake
smile. “I’m definitely up for the challenge. I appreciate your confidence. I’ll have something for you in a week. Soon enough?”
“It’ll have to be. I’m counting on you. We all are.” He shook her hand and departed.
They were all counting on her. Her heart was broken, her spirit trampled and she’d just agreed to produce the design concept of her career in seven days. No pressure.
She stared at the notes she’d made the night before. They weren’t computing. The words blurred. Good thing she was seated, because her rubber legs would no longer support her. Any minute, she could lose her breakfast thanks to the roiling caldron in her stomach.
When she and Jack had talked about trust, they’d had to get past their fears about what the other might do to them, and they had. Or so she thought. Hadn’t she made it clear she didn’t expect a lifetime commitment from him? At least, she hadn’t then. Since? Maybe she was moving a different direction, but it was too soon, too scary to give it a name. Had Jack picked up on the change in her feelings and run off before he had to deal with it?
No. Don’t go there, Lacey. Jack was not her father or Alex, her former fiancé. Without realizing, she and Jack had crossed some invisible line in the last few weeks, and the trust they’d talked about in theory had materialized in fact. Wherever Jack had gone or whatever had made him go, it was for a good reason. She had to trust him to let her know why in his own time.
As if on cue, her cell dinged with an email from Jack.
Things didn’t go well with Bonneville. Lost my edge. Big time. Don’t know why. Have to find out. Can’t saddle you with a loser. You deserve much more. Please trust me. Us.
Trust him. She’d just come to that decision herself, but oh, it was so difficult with so many questions unanswered. She reached for the edge of her desk to hold on. Her world was spinning. You can do this, Lacey. You just have to keep hanging on, for both you and Jack.
The phone rang. Jack! She raced to answer.
“Lacey?” Janice. “Thought I’d check in to see how your presentation went yesterday.”
Her innocent, well-meant question was all it took to open the floodgates. “Oh, Janice! I don’t know…(gulp)…if…(gulp)…I can talk right now.”
“You sound like you’ve lost your best friend, but I’m still here. What’s wrong?”
“Our client decided to go a different route and wouldn’t even consider our plan,” she managed to get out. “Jack went after him but struck out. Now Jack’s gone. Resigned. Apparently blames himself for the project falling through.”
When Lacey finished her tale of woe, Janice said, “Repeat the part about the client reneging on the deal.” Her tone had changed.
“Our client turned out to be the megastar, Jake Bonneville. He didn’t even give us a chance to go over our plans. Just thanked us for our time and said he’d changed his mind.”
Janice didn’t reply at first. Then, in a tight voice, she said, “We need to talk. I’ll be at your office in fifteen minutes.”
Lacey hung up, relieved and only slightly curious about the change in her friend’s manner. So she’d lose precious minutes to rethink the design concept. She needed a break. If Janice could help get past the excruciating ache in her chest, she’d willingly trade in some creative time for a little relief.
When Janice arrived, she made a big show of closing the door and scooting her chair close to Lacey’s desk. “This is your boomer project, right?”
Lacey nodded.
“And you say Jake Bonneville was the client who wanted to build this retirement community?”
“Right. He said he was building the development for his mother because she refused to relocate to California.”
Janice’s eyes darted around the room as she digested Lacey’s words.
“Janice? What’s going on?”
Her friend hesitated slightly. “I am Jake Bonneville’s mother.”
The words didn’t register at first. Janice and Jake Bonneville? Didn’t make sense.
Janice must have sensed her confusion. “His real name is Ned Collier. Nathaniel, actually, which he hates. Jake Bonneville is his stage name, my father’s first name and favorite car. Ned thought they sounded more glitzy for a budding superstar.”
“He’s the one who travels?” It fit, but it was still a huge mental leap.
“I’m not surprised you were unaware of the connection. Most people around town have come to accept the fact I’m related to a celebrity and leave me in peace. They know I’m not comfortable with the lifestyle he’s had to adopt.”
Lacey’s head pounded as it had the day before. So much had happened, and not happened, in the last twenty-four hours. So much to process. Janice, their client’s mother. Why, she was the inspiration for this whole project!
“It’s sinking in, isn’t it?”
“It’s a lot to absorb.” Like a thunderbolt, another thought struck. “Did you know about this?”
Her friend closed her eyes briefly and clasped her hands. “Of course not! I’m just as surprised as you. Ned calls every so often, but he’s never even hinted about having business back here in Iowa, let alone spearheading a building project that involves me.”
Lacey rubbed her forehead, then pushed a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry. So many things I thought were one way two days ago have been turned upside down.”
“This is a shock for both of us.”
They sat back in their chairs, both attempting to absorb the news. Janice finally spoke. “Tell me again how I figure in this. What Ned—Jake—said about me.”
Lacey replayed the scene from the day before. “This retirement development was a way of giving you something you’d accept. That’s why it had to be tailored to baby boomers, not typical retirees.”
Janice rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Sounds like Ned. He’s always giving me things. Checking up on me. Ever since his father died, he’s taken me on as his responsibility.” She chuckled. “I’m barely fifty-five, and he treats me like I should be ready for the home.”
“You’re the same age my mother would be, if she’d lived,” Lacey said, marveling how the comparison had eluded her in all their discussions of baby boomers.
“Really?” Janice smiled. “Maybe that accounts for our compatibility? I like the coincidence.”
“Me, too.” Lacey held out a hand, which Janice readily squeezed.
In a hoarse voice, Janice said, “I can’t believe I caused all this.”
“What do you mean? You said you just learned about your son’s plans.”
“Maybe so, but if he hadn’t been trying to take care of me, he never would’ve come up with this idea.” She rose, went to gaze out the same window Jack had the day of their impromptu picnic, which now seemed like years before. “Where did you say this project was to be located?”
Lacey told her about the property west of town.
“I should have asked that question when you first interviewed me. Maybe I could have warned you or-or…done something to prevent this disappointment. That’s my father’s farmland. He left it to Ned before Jake Bonneville entered the picture.”
“Oh. I didn’t know. There was only a dummy corporation name on the title.”
Janice turned, offered a weak smile. “That’s Ned. Jake Bonneville has become big business.”
“He’s the business my firm wants. And now I’m charged with getting it back by revising our plan to fit a high-rise.”
Janice lifted an eyebrow. “High-rise? I hate heights.”
“You do?” The man was so out of touch with the very person he was trying to help. “Would you even consider living in the place he builds?”
“I’m touched he wanted to do this for me but not if it’s to be in this tower in the sky. I like the original idea. That’s where I grew up.”
“Well, I’ll be!”
Janice grinned. “I just handed you the project on a silver platter, didn’t I?”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” The thought
was dizzying, but she didn’t dare latch onto it until she knew for sure Janice wasn’t doing it just for her.
Janice rose. “Depends.”
“On what?” What kind of bargain would she have to make?
Janice moved around her chair, resting her hands on the backrest. “I want the team of Rogers and Dalton.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lacey pulled her car up to the curb of the nondescript ranch style home in Clive and rechecked the address Jean had provided. Yes, this was it, though she never would have guessed this to be the home of Marcia and Gordon Dalton. It was a nice enough neighborhood, and the place appeared to be in good shape, but it certainly wasn’t what she would have imagined for the domicile of the two jetsetters.
Even after she shut off the ignition, she remained in her car debating if she really wanted to do this. Jack would certainly not approve of her getting involved with his parents any more than she already had, but he hadn’t left her much choice. Three days of phone calls and two trips to his apartment had failed to locate him, let alone talk to him. His parents either knew where he was or could contact him for her.
“Lacey!” Marcia Dalton exclaimed when she came to the door. “We didn’t miss our lunch date, did we?”
“No, Marcia. I need your help getting Jack back to work.”
Marcia’s forehead folded into several wrinkles, but she motioned for Lacey to enter.
The interior belied the rather unexceptional outside of the house. Rather than several small rooms, Lacey found herself in a very au courant great room. The walls, a light dove gray, were framed by several comfortable-looking aubergine and charcoal gray sofas and easy chairs. Though exotic souvenirs from their many trips abroad flanked the room, a large photograph of Jack held the focal point.
Once they were seated, Marcia Dalton raised inquisitive but slightly wary eyes. “What’s this about getting Jack back to work? Where is he?”
Might as well get to the point. “Through no fault of his own, we lost the big project we’ve been working on. The one I told you about at the dance class. When Jack failed to get the client back, he assumed responsibility for the loss and resigned.”
Saved by the Salsa Page 24
