“I’ll think about it,” Jonathan muttered.
“I believe the fish took the bait,” Lucky told Evelyn jubilantly after he hung up. “And unlike you, I don’t feel a bit guilty. If Jonathan’s spirits were any lower he’d need a block and tackle to lift them. He’ll phone Michelle, I guarantee it.”
“Let’s just hope she’s smart enough to meet him half way.” Evelyn sighed.
Jonathan paced the floor, his body taut as he wrestled with a dilemma. Was Michelle merely being polite because her mother was marrying his uncle? It could have been an offhand question. Where did you have dinner last night and, oh, by the way, how is Jonathan? If that was the case, he’d look like a fool if he called her.
But suppose Michelle regretted their argument and wanted to make up? She couldn’t miss him as much as he missed her, but she wasn’t indifferent to him. Maybe this was her way of extending an olive branch. If he refused it, they really would be finished.
As he strode to the phone, Jonathan’s face was alive with hope.
Michelle didn’t share his emotion. She’d been feeling low when she came home, and her mother’s call had put the cherry on the cupcake. It shouldn’t surprise her that Jonathan was dating—or even that his main squeeze was Ashleigh. She’d had the inside track all along.
If Michelle needed any proof of how little he was affected by their breakup, his behavior since then provided it. While she was moping around as if the world had come to an end, Jonathan was doing what he did best: charming the ladies, Michelle thought bitterly.
When the phone rang a few minutes later, she picked up the receiver, spoiling for an argument.
Jonathan was so happy to hear her voice that he didn’t notice the edge. “I’m glad I caught you in. I didn’t know what time you got home from work.”
Michelle’s breath caught in her throat. The sound of his voice brought him vividly to life. She could almost see his lean, intelligent face and lithe body. The longing that filled her was almost unbearable. But then she remembered Ashleigh, and all the other women he’d been romancing. Did he have that husky little note in his voice when he talked to them? Of course he did!
“Michelle?” Jonathan asked uncertainly, when she didn’t reply immediately. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No, it’s all right. I’m going out shortly, but I can talk for a couple of minutes. What’s on your mind?” she asked coolly.
He felt as if he’d been doused with a pitcher of cold water, but he reminded himself that Michelle had made the first move, in a roundabout sort of way. Maybe she didn’t know how receptive he’d be. He mustn’t overreact or he’d spoil everything.
“I was just sitting here listening to some music and I started thinking about you,” he said.
“I’m surprised to hear you have a free night. Mother said she saw you at the country club and the women were swarming around you like gnats.”
Michelle sounded jealous, he thought joyfully! “That’s an exaggeration,” he told her. “I didn’t even have a date that night. I was with a group of friends.”
“You aren’t dating Ashleigh anymore?”
“Well, I...as I told you, she’s an old friend.”
“We must have a different definition for the word friend,” Michelle said mockingly.
“What can I say to convince you? You always believe what you want to believe, anyway.”
“I’m sorry if I’m not as gullible as your girlfriends—at least, I’m not anymore.”
Jonathan sighed. “We’re doing it again. Why can’t we talk for five minutes without getting into an argument? I’d hoped things would be different between us, but they obviously aren’t.”
“Why would you think anything had changed?”
“When Evelyn said you’d asked about me, I thought it meant you wanted to hear from me. Clearly you didn’t.”
“My mother told you that?” Michelle asked in outrage.
“Indirectly. Lucky thought I’d like to know.”
“The kindest thing I can say is that your uncle misunderstood,” she said in a biting voice. “I thought I made it clear to you on our last memorable night together that I don’t want anything further to do with you. Ever! Is that clear?”
“Perfectly,” he answered coldly. “I should have known it was all a mistake. You’d rather dwell on your imagined insults than admit I had some valid questions.”
“Forgive me if I object to being quizzed after I make love—I mean, have sex.” She corrected herself hastily.
Jonathan’s anger died abruptly. “You had it right the first time,” he said softly. “We made love.”
“Maybe your version of it, not mine. Love implies trust, something neither of us has in the other.” When tears threatened, Michelle said abruptly, “I have to get ready for my date. Goodbye, Jonathan.” The finality in her tone was unmistakable.
He was torn between anger and despair as he hung up. The anger was directed at his uncle. How could Lucky have set him up like that? Jonathan’s jaw was rigid as he reached for the phone.
His conversation with Lucky was short and bitter. “What made you think you had the right to meddle in my life?”
Lucky feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t hand me that! If you and your partner want to play merry little matchmakers, find somebody else’s lives to louse up. Michelle and I are through, it’s over, we’re not even speaking any longer. I don’t know how to put it any plainer than that.”
“You talked to her?” Lucky gave Evelyn an apprehensive glance. “What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter. I could have told you it wouldn’t work.” Jonathan’s desolation showed through before he hardened his voice. “Just don’t ever do anything like that again.” He hung up abruptly.
“Well, back to the old drawing board,” Lucky said heavily. He told Evelyn what Jonathan had told him.
“If only we knew what the problem is between them. We know they love each other, so what is keeping them apart? The whole thing is ridiculous! I’d like to—” The phone rang before she could finish her intention.
It had been a crushing blow to Michelle to find out Jonathan hadn’t called her on his own. She realized, as he had, who the culprits were and her anger matched his. She couldn’t wait to call her mother, but Jonathan got to the phone first. After getting a busy signal, she paced the floor, pausing only to press Redial every couple of minutes.
When she finally reached her mother, Michelle’s grief and frustration boiled over. “This is probably the worst thing you’ve ever done to me! Do you know how demeaning it was to find out you told Jonathan to call me?” She rushed on without waiting for an answer. “Thanks to you, he thinks I’m sitting by the telephone every night, pining to hear from him. How would you like somebody to pity you?”
“I’m sure that wasn’t the reason he phoned you,” Evelyn said placatingly. “I’ll admit Lucky gave him a little nudge, but he wouldn’t have called if he hadn’t wanted to.”
“Our affairs don’t concern either of you. You have a full satisfying life. Why can’t you leave mine alone?”
“Because I want the same thing for you,” Evelyn answered quietly. “You and Jonathan love each other. That much I’m sure of. I don’t know what happened between you, but it can’t be important enough to cause all this unhappiness.”
“That’s a matter of opinion. You don’t know what this is all about.”
“Then tell me!”
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Michelle said stiffly.
“Because you’re at fault?” Evelyn asked guilelessly.
“I am not! He’s the one who accused me of being a fortune hunter. Just because I wasn’t friendly toward him until we got to Miami, he assumed it was because I found out he was rich. But that had nothing to do with it. Naturally I was wary of him at Shorehaven. I thought he was a shady character!”
“Is that what this is all about?” Evelyn asked incredul
ously. “I can’t believe it!”
“Well, there was a little more to it,” Michelle mumbled.
“I should hope so,” her mother exclaimed. “Otherwise you two sound like backward children.”
Michelle was in a quandary. How could she tell her mother that Jonathan had waited to make his accusations until after he’d gotten what he wanted from her? Or the hurtful way he’d degraded her passion by calling it “enthusiasm,” compounding the insult by comparing her to his other partners. Although he did give her performance high marks, Michelle thought bitterly. But those weren’t the kind of things you told your mother.
“All I can say is, you don’t really know Jonathan,” she said evenly. “He uses people for his own purposes. I’ll admit I was taken in by his charm, but I’m not stupid enough to believe he was ever serious about me.”
“You’re wrong about him,” Evelyn protested. “He jumped at the excuse to call you.”
“That just proves even womanizers have a conscience,” Michelle said curtly. “The only thing good about our relationship was the—” She stopped abruptly. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t have anything to do with him now if he got down on his knees and begged. Tell him to read his bankbook every night: That will make up for any loss he might feel.”
Evelyn could tell that nothing she said would make a difference. At the conclusion of the call she said to Lucky, “At least now I know what the problem is.”
“That’s a relief!” he exclaimed.
“Not really. Somehow, Jonathan got the idea that Michelle was interested in him only for his money. Unfortunately he didn’t mention it to her until after they’d made love.”
“That young jackass,” Lucky said disgustedly.
“True, but it proves how much he cares. Jonathan wants Michelle to love him for himself. Which she does, but torture on the rack wouldn’t make her admit it now.”
“What can we do about it?” Lucky asked helplessly.
“Nothing, that’s the sad part. If we interfere again, we might lose them. Michelle has never been this angry with me.”
“Jonathan, either. He never talked to me like that before.”
“We’re lucky they’re still talking to us at all. It breaks my heart to see them ruining their lives this way, but we’ll have to stay out of it or risk losing them forever.”
It was difficult to sit back and do nothing. As the days passed, Jonathan became more and more withdrawn. He was meticulously polite to both his uncle and Evelyn, but the joy had clearly gone out of his life. He functioned, nothing more
Michelle wasn’t faring any better. She was like a wary stranger when Evelyn talked to her on the phone. Their former warm relationship was gone.
“I wish it was because she hasn’t forgiven me yet, but I know that’s not the reason,” Evelyn lamented to Lucky. “It will be a disaster when they have to see each other ate the wedding. At one time I might have thought it would solve everything, but I realize that isn’t going to happen. I just hope they’ll be civil to each other.”
“I won’t have those two ruining one of the happiest days of our lives,” Lucky stated. “If necessary, I’ll tell Jonathan he isn’t invited.”
“You can’t do that! He’s as dear to you as a son.”
“It would sadden me greatly,” he admitted. “The only other solution would be if Jonathan went broke and begged Michelle to take pity on him. But I know neither of those things are likely.”
“No, I suppose—” Evelyn stopped, staring at him intently. “But what if she thoughts he lost all his money? What if she thought he was suicidal over it?”
“That’s ridiculous! Jonathan doesn’t care that much about money. He’d just go out and make more.”
“People in love don’t think clearly.” Evelyn smiled. “Michelle wouldn’t let pride keep her from preventing a tragedy. She’d tell him how much he has to live for and they’d both see how foolish they’d been.”
“It’s risky,” Lucky said dubiously. “If the plan backfired again they might never forgive us. Besides, Michelle wouldn’t believe such a wild story.”
“Maybe not if I told it to her, but she’d believe it if she read it in the newspaper.” Evelyn laughed delightedly at his bewildered expression. “All we have to do is take the front page of the financial section to a printer and have him change one of the paper’s articles to one of our own. The demise of Richfield Enterprises would certainly be news.”
“Do you have to wipe us out completely?” he joked.
“It’s for a good cause.” She picked up the morning paper and scanned the financial section. “This article on the rise in interest rates is about the right length. Take this down.” She handed him a notepad and pen. “How does this sound for a headline? ‘Local Millionaire Goes Bankrupt.’ Then we can say something like: ‘The financial world was rocked by the news that millionaire socialite Warren “Lucky” Richfield and his nephew and partner Jonathan Richfield have filed for Chapter Eleven.’ The rest of the article can explain that the company suffered reverses due to overextension and bad investments. You can write that part. ”
“It’s like asking me to write my own obituary,” he remarked in humorous complaint.
“It’s only money,” she teased. “Do you think you can have this printed up soon? I want to fax it to Michelle as fast as possible.”
“I’ll see that it’s done today,” he promised.
Michelle was shocked when she got home from work that Friday and received Evelyn’s fax. She telephoned her mother immediately.
“How could a thing like this happen? Richfield Enterprises must have been worth millions!”
“That’s what I couldn’t understand,” Evelyn said. “Lucky explained that it was a high risk business. They were overextended in the expectation that a new invention of his would make a fortune. When it didn’t, the bank called in a huge loan. There was no way they could meet it.”
Michelle vaguely remembered Jonathan saying he was used to taking chances, but everything always worked out. Evidently not this time. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
“Yes, things look pretty grim. Everything will have to go, the estate, the yacht. We plan to live in my house in New York.”
“Things are that bad?” Michelle exclaimed.
“It could be worse. At least we still have each other. That’s all that really matters. I’m proud of the way Lucky is taking adversity. It’s Jonathan we’re worried about.”
“It isn’t as bad for him. He’s young. He can start over.”
“That’s what we keep telling him, but he blames himself for what happened, even though it wasn’t his fault. We don’t know what to do for him anymore. He’s become more and more withdrawn and depressed. I’ve avoided mentioning it to Lucky, but I’m really afraid Jonathan might do something drastic.”
Michelle felt as if a cold hand had clutched her heart. “He’s not a quitter,” she protested. “After he gets through moping around, he’ll start over.”
“I’d agree with you if this only concerned him. But you know how he idolizes Lucky. Jonathan can’t live with the notion that he let his uncle down.”
“Don’t say that!” Michelle said sharply.
“I’m telling you his state of mind.” Evelyn pretended to sniffle. “I have to appear calm for Lucky’s sake, but I don’t know how much longer I can take all this tension. I really need you, Michelle. I hate to ask, but could you possibly come back and help me deal with all the problems?”
“I’ll get the first plane out of New York,” Michelle promised.
Her tense body refused to relax during the interminable flight and the long taxi ride to Lucky’s house. Surely her mother had exaggerated the extent of Jonathan’s depression. But suppose she hadn’t? A world without Jonathan was unthinkable! Never to see his laughing face again or hear his deep husky voice? But even if that wasn’t to be, she couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.
Evelyn and Lucky were waiting for her in the front
hall. When Michelle saw the doleful look on their faces her heart almost stopped beating.
“What’s wrong?” she asked apprehensively. “Jonathan is all right, isn’t he?”
“I hope so.” Lucky sighed. “He’s stopped answering the telephone.”
“Didn’t you go to his house to check on him?” Michelle demanded. “How do you know he’s okay? He may be—you can’t just sit here and do nothing!”
“I’m the last person he wants to see,” Lucky said.
“We were hoping you might go over and talk to Jonathan,” Evelyn said.
“He doesn’t want to see me, either.”
“Then I don’t know what to do,” Lucky said. “I guess we’ll just have to wait till he calls us.”
“Give me your car keys,” Michelle ordered. “Somebody has to act responsibly around here.”
She was too frantic with worry to realize that both her mother and Lucky were acting out of character. They were decisive people who should have been able to cope better.
Jonathan was out on his deck, morosely watching the sun go down. He was glad Carlos had finally left and he had the house to himself. He didn’t want to talk to anyone.
When the doorbell rang, he swore pungently on his way to answer it. Why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone? The breath was knocked out of him when he opened the door and saw Michelle.
They stared at each other speechlessly, both having difficulty controlling the wave of longing that swept over them.
Finally Michelle said quietly, “May I come in?”
“Of course.” He opened the door wider and stood aside. “Forgive my manners. I was just surprised. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I had to come when I heard. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” He didn’t know what she was talking about, but he wasn’t about to question his good fortune. “I don’t need to ask how you are. You look wonderful!”
Lucky In Love (Harlequin Special Edition) Page 23
