Wish List: City Love 4

by Belinda Williams

  He finally spoke. “I’ve just had a phone conversation with Michael Worthington.” I must have paled, because he raised his eyebrows at me. “I take it you’ve spoken to him before?”

  “Unfortunately.” I winced. Whoops. I should probably wait until I knew what this was about before I bad-mouthed Michael. I cleared my throat. “What did he say?”

  “He’s accused our firm of gross unprofessionalism. Namely, he’s suggested one of our planners sought to get emotionally involved with a client on the basis of their considerable wealth.”

  I jumped up from my seat. “What?”

  Glen held up a hand. “Sit down, Cate. I’m just relaying the details of our phone conversation.”

  I lowered myself slowly into the seat. “Was that all he said?” I asked, my voice shaking.

  “No. He proposed a lawsuit.”

  My hand flew to my mouth in shock and I was glad I was sitting down after all.

  “You need to know it’s got no basis. I’ve already checked that out,” Glen continued. “He’s just throwing his weight around. If, however, it came from the client, now that would be a different story.”

  I shook my head fiercely. “Glen, that would never happen. Dave is virtually estranged from his father!”

  “I didn’t know that,” he replied, then raised an eyebrow. “Is there anything further you might be able to tell me that may have given Michael Worthington cause to make such an accusation?” He sat back in his seat and waited.

  Stupid, I was so stupid. I hadn’t told Glen about my relationship with Dave, and now I was going to pay for it. The minute things had changed between us I should have marched into his office and told him the truth, but I’d been scared to. Scared he would question my professionalism by getting involved with a client, and worried it would damage the reputation I’d worked so hard to build in the firm. I shouldn’t have let the fact he was unapproachable deter me. Plus, Dave hadn’t pushed me about it either. He figured the financial plan was finished and now that it was being implemented he was only supposed to see me a couple of times a year. He’d told me to tell my company when I was ready.

  “Cate?”

  I swallowed and discovered I was gripping the chair so tightly it hurt.

  Glen tilted his head slightly, perceptive enough to recognize the most chatty and friendly of his planners was unusually mute all of a sudden. “Cate, talk to me.”

  I nodded. “I was going to tell you—” I paused when I saw his jaw tighten.

  “Go on.”

  And then it all rushed out, messy and honest, and I didn’t care because hopefully messy honesty would help my cause. “So you see,” I finished, “I already knew Dave before he became a client, and he actually requested me. I had no intention of approaching him to become my client.”

  “And you’ve met Michael, you say?”

  “Yes, I attended the family’s Christmas lunch a few weeks back. He’s equally as charming in person as over the phone,” I added sarcastically.

  Glen sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want you to think any less of me.”

  Glen pushed away from his desk and stood up, turning to look out the window. Like mine, it overlooked the building opposite and I was able to see his reflection in the pane of glass. “While I can appreciate the sentiment, Cate, a professional planner would have put those feelings aside and come to me before now.”

  I dropped my eyes to my lap, not liking the tone of his voice or the hard set to his face. “I know. I don’t know why I didn’t and I’m sorry.” It came across as inadequate even to my own ears.

  “Well, in my mind there’s only two possible logical explanations for your reluctance to tell me. The first is that Michael Worthington’s accusation is correct.”

  My head shot up and I saw my eyes rounded in shock in the glass. “What?” It came out a whisper.

  Glen turned around to face me. I blinked rapidly a few times, in a desperate attempt to hide my tears. Way to go, Cate. So much for maintaining professionalism.

  “Cate?”

  I stood up, ignoring the way my legs were shaking. “You think that I’m some sort of, of … gold digger?” I winced at the timbre of my voice. Shrill, panicked.

  Glen stood watching me with his arms crossed. He lifted a shoulder in an offhand shrug. “How well do I really know you, Cate? You’ve worked at this firm for what, twelve months? While I’m not going to deny you’ve impressed me considerably during that time, that doesn’t give you the all clear. We all have our pasts, if you get my meaning.”

  I reached out to steady myself on the edge of his desk. “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “I didn’t either, until I did some digging.”

  My fingernails hurt from pressing into the underside of the desk. “What are you saying?”

  Glen walked around the side of the desk until he was standing beside me. “Why did you leave your last job, Cate?”

  “I already told you that in the interview.” This was some sort of bad dream. It had to be.

  “Sit down, Cate.”

  I did as he asked because I wasn’t sure what else to do or say.

  He leaned against the edge of the desk, arms still crossed. “Michael suggested I make some enquiries with your last employer.”

  “You reference checked me before you offered me the job,” I protested.

  “Yes, I did,” Glen agreed, “but then I figured, what could it hurt? If you had nothing to hide then it wouldn’t come to anything and my original judgment of you would stand.”

  I tipped my chin up at him, because defiance seemed like a better option than fear. “And does it?”

  “I spoke to a David Timms.”

  Don’t cry, Cate. Oh God, please don’t cry.

  “I believe he was a partner at the accounting firm you used to work for. Is that correct?” Glen asked.

  I nodded, still too scared to say anything.

  “You had an affair with him.” It wasn’t a question.

  I forced myself to breathe, slowly, evenly, until I could speak again. “I don’t see how that is any of your business, or Michael Worthington’s, for that matter.”

  “You slept with your boss, Cate. I’d say that takes it beyond the realm of personal, don’t you?”

  “What would you like to know?” Huh. Even when my world was falling down around me, I could still do pleasant. It was good to know.

  “I want to know if I can trust you, because right now I’m not really sure.”

  Honesty, I was going to go with complete honesty. I wasn’t sure what else I had left right now anyway. “Of course you can trust me. I made a stupid mistake, Glen. Utterly stupid. I got involved with a married man who I worked for and I was fool enough to believe he meant it when he said he was going to leave his wife. I voluntarily left that job because of it. I hated myself for months afterwards. Still do, if you must know.”

  “Then why do it again?”

  “I haven’t done it again! Dave and I are willingly in a relationship together and Michael Worthington doesn’t like it. He’s never made any secret of it, but until now I wasn’t aware of the lengths he’d go to.”

  “Because he thinks you’re after Dave’s money?”

  “What he thinks and what Dave thinks are two very different things,” I said carefully. “Dave has made it extremely clear on a number of occasions that he doesn’t want his father’s money. He even suggested once that he wanted no part of his inheritance when the time came.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact that he’s still in line to inherit a sizable fortune.”

  I jumped up again. “I thought he was a plumber! We met because he rescued me from my hot water heater exploding. I had absolutely no idea who he was or who his family was until he made an appointment with me. You know what? I don’t have to stand here and listen to this. Check the files, Glen. It’s all in there. I’ve recorded the details of my phone conversation with Michael and Dave’s response.”
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  “I’ve already checked the files, Cate,” Glen said. “But there is one thing I still couldn't reconcile. When did you decide to get involved with Dave? Before or after you discovered he was more than a two-bit plumber fixing people’s leaking pipes?”

  I took a step back. My stomach twisted at the memory of the conversation with my friends suggesting I was a snob for not considering Dave. Oh God. Had that changed after I saw his house and learned more about his life? Was I really that shallow?

  He shrugged again. “The other David, the accounting one, was worth a lot of money too, wasn’t he? Or were you just after a promotion?”

  “Screw this,” I spat, surprised at the venom in my voice. “Believe what you want.” I turned on my heel and began marching from his office.

  “There is one other explanation.”

  I paused just inside the door but didn’t turn around.

  “You feel so strongly about this man you would risk your career for him. From what I know of you and now that I’ve seen your reaction, I’m thinking it might just be plausible.”

  “Excuse me?” I turned around to face him again.

  Glen sighed. “Are you really foolish enough to risk another job because of a man?”

  Echoes of recent conversations between Dave and me floated through my mind. Do you need me tonight, Cate? I need you. We’d never said I love you. In truth, I’d been too scared to go there, but what if ‘I need you’ was code for ‘I love you’? I knew why I was holding back. Not enough love and rejection in my past were pretty good reasons, but what about Dave? Why was he holding back? Right now it didn’t matter though.

  I squared my shoulders and looked Glen directly in the eye. “You’re right. I should have told you before. I’m something of a romantic. And yes, I’ll choose Dave over this job if I have to.”

  Chapter 37

  “You are not going to lose your job because of me.”

  “Not because of you,” I corrected, “because of your father. And I’m not going to lose my job.”

  I stiffened at the string of expletives that left Dave’s mouth, and watched as he paced the length of his kitchen. Part of me hadn’t wanted to tell him, but then Glen suggested a meeting with Dave. He’d known something was wrong the minute he set eyes on me anyway.

  “I’ll fucking kill the bastard,” he growled, expletives still going strong. “He’s gone too far this time.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” I said. “I haven’t lost my job yet.”

  “It doesn’t matter! Your integrity shouldn’t have even been brought into question. He’s trying to get to me, Cate, I know that, but he’s screwed you in the process. There’s no way I’m going to put up with it.”

  “So what are you going to do? March home yelling and screaming? I’d say that’s exactly what he wants.”

  “Shit.” Dave stopped in front of me. “I know you’re right, but it doesn’t stop me wanting to pound my fists into his face.”

  He would too, and Michael would come off second best, I had no doubt. “My boss wants to speak with you,” I told him.

  “Tell me when and I’ll be there.”

  “I know you will.”

  Dave blew out a long breath and dragged a hand through his hair. “Why are you even with me, Cate?”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.” His golden eyes searched mine as if they were looking for something. His powerful shoulders moved up and down with the effort of breathing and his face was flushed.

  “Because …” I love you, I wanted to say, but I wasn’t sure if I should. “Because I need you.” That was our secret code for love, wasn’t it? At least I hoped that’s what he heard.

  He shook his head, his mouth twisting into a bitter frown. “You don’t need me, Cate. How can you even think that?”

  “Dave—”

  “No, I’m serious. You need me and my shit like you need a hole in the head.”

  He was angry, I knew he was angry. Not at me, but his father. “Calm down. It’s not that bad.”

  “Not that bad! My screwed up, fucked up family is about to destroy your career, and it’s not that bad? This isn’t something you can put a silver lining around, Cate. Face it.”

  “I’ve come back from worse,” I said simply.

  I jumped as he turned and kicked the bottom of the kitchen cabinet in frustration. “You shouldn’t have to,” he snarled. “You’ve been through enough in your life without me adding to it.”

  “You’re not adding to it!” OK, now I was getting annoyed. I thought I’d done a really good job on the train ride to Dave’s house calming myself. I’d managed to convince myself that it would all work out somehow, but his reaction wasn’t helping. I decided to try a different approach. “Dave. You said yourself there’s not too many things in life worth getting worked up over.”

  “This is one of them!”

  I swallowed as his booming voice echoed around the open plan kitchen. OK, so this was Dave pissed. It obviously took a lot, but he was there – well and truly.

  “You need to calm down.”

  I inhaled sharply as he came within inches of my face. “No. I don’t. Not this time. And you need to go home.”

  “What?”

  “Go home, Cate. Let me sort this out.”

  “What? And leave you angry enough to kill your father? I don’t think so.”

  “Go home!”

  I jolted in shock, but it wasn’t due to his shouting, it was the anguished look in his eyes. I shook my head at him, close to tears. “No. Not going to happen. Sorry. I love you, you see, and that’s not what people who—”

  “What did you say?” His eyes narrowed and if I wasn’t mistaken the anguish had been replaced by fear.

  I shrugged. There would never be a good time, I realized, and now seemed like as good a time as any. “I said I love you and—”

  “Jesus Christ, no! No! You don’t, Cate. Don’t even think that! Not for one second.” He started pacing back and forth again, shaking his head and staring at the floor.

  OK, so not quite the response I’d being going for, but he was dealing with a lot, I could accept that. “It’s alright, Dave. I don’t expect you to respond, I just wanted you to know so it will help you see through all this mess.”

  “Don’t.”

  A tear slipped down my cheek. “What are you saying?”

  “Here. Take these.” He swept some keys off the counter and threw them at me.

  I caught them – only just – the metal digging into my palm.

  “Take Layla. Drive home. Park her in Lauren’s spot and I’ll pick her up later.” He didn’t look at me.

  “After you’ve been to see your father, you mean?”

  He didn’t answer, just stared hard at the floor.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” I said.

  “Leave, Cate,” he ground out. “Please.”

  I nodded, not that he would have seen it, and picked up my bag. Maybe he didn’t like people seeing him lose control like this? It was a far cry from the relaxed Dave everyone was familiar with. I hesitated once my bag was over my shoulder. Or perhaps he thought he was scaring me? Well, he wasn’t. I could deal with a bit of anger. I took a step toward him but he pressed himself back against the edge of the counter, as if he was trying to get away from me.

  “Cate.”

  Then again, maybe now wasn’t the time. The click of my heels on the tiled floor rang out in the silence as I made my way to the door. I didn’t look back as I stepped out into the night and he didn’t try to stop me.

  *

  “Here.”

  I accepted the glass of wine from Lauren gratefully.

  “You’ll probably need another one after that, thanks to seeing angry Dave.” In spite of myself, I smiled a little bit. Lauren was right. Dave’s angry face was a far cry from his happy face.

  She sat down beside me on her – actually, our – sofa. “Best to give him some space when he gets like thi
s.”

  “I take it you’ve experienced this before?”

  She screwed her face up. “Unfortunately. He can be a stubborn pig. I hope he didn’t say anything to hurt you?”

  “That depends.” I took a long drink of the wine and appreciated the way it tingled as it went down my throat. “It was more what he didn’t say,” I admitted.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Silly me thought it was a good time to tell him I loved him.”

  Lauren raised her eyebrows at me. “And?”

  “And? Not much. He seemed to suggest it was a bad idea and told me to go home. So here I am.” I took another sip of wine and knew it wasn’t the bite of the alcohol bringing tears to my eyes.

  “Oh, Cate. I’ll fucking kill him.” She threw her good arm around me and rubbed my back.

  I giggled, then sobbed, and clamped a hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” I managed.

  She rubbed my shoulder. “You don’t need to apologize. Dave on the other hand …”

  “He was angry, that’s all.”

  “Don’t make excuses for him. He’s such a neanderthal.”

  “And I still love him,” I said in disbelief.

  “Me too. Don’t worry. This is pretty rare for him.”

  “I hope so.”

  Lauren nodded. “It is. The last time I saw him like this was after the accident.”

  I stopped crying and stared at her. “That was over ten years ago.”

  “More like thirteen, getting closer to fourteen.”

  “That’s a whole lot of angry to bottle up.”

  “Exactly.”

  We sat huddled together on the sofa for a minute or two.

  “What was he like?” I asked eventually. “After the accident?”

  Lauren glanced over at me sharply and then sighed. “A mess.”

  “Really? I thought he was the one looking after you, after you moved in with him?”

  Lauren shook her head sadly. “I wish. I was the one taking care of the dumb bastard. Looking back now, it was probably the only thing that kept me going.”

  “I don’t understand.”