well know.” “You do?” Harry asked clearly surprised. “With whom?” “Steve Anderson.” “You be careful,” Harry warned. “That boy is a menace to females.” Mary Kate laughed, “If you don’t mind, Dad, I’ve already been read this lecture.” Harry raised an eyebrow at that comment as he looked at his stepson. “You have, have you?” “Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Three bags full,” she answered in amusement. Then she became serious, “And
while I appreciate the concern, I will not tolerate anyone, including you, interfering in my private life. Is that clear? Who I may chose to date, if I chose to date, is not anyone else’s business. I’m a grown woman, perfectly capable of making my own choices of companions, romantic or otherwise, thank you very much.”
“Mary Kate,” Harry began. “Yes.” “If we didn’t care, we wouldn’t worry,” Harry said. “I know,” she replied with a smile. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.” “Steve’s not the man I would have picked for you,” Harry told her firmly. She shrugged. “If I were interested in settling down, I know that I wouldn’t give him a second glance.
He’s too smooth, too practiced. But, I’m not interested in getting serious. And Steve seems like he’d be good
for some uncomplicated fun.” Harry sighed. “Well, I guess you’re entitled to a little R and R. That’s what youth is for, having fun.” Mary Kate laughed. “How very generous!” Harry smiled at his daughter. When Mary Kate looked at Jase, she saw a storm brewing on his face.
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Chapter Twelve
“Gracious, Jase, you startled me,” Mary Kate stated with a small laugh the next day as she looked up from the monitor on her desk in her brand new office to see Jase standing by her desk. She hadn’t heard him come in, she had been that immersed in the problem before her.
He smiled at her. “Missy and I would like to invite you to lunch on your first day as a new VP.” She glanced up at the clock. It was eleven thirty. The morning had gone too quickly. “I’m afraid that
I’m not going to be very good company. I’m gnawing on a problem right now. I’ll grab something later.” “No, you’ll come out to lunch with Missy and me. We insist,” Jase replied firmly. “Well, if you put it that way,” she responded after a moment. She couldn’t help wondering why Missy and Jase suddenly wanted to be so friendly. But she suspected
the reason was that the tests had come back proving that she was their stepfather’s daughter. “Come on then,” Jase urged, as he pulled her chair away from her desk. They took lunch in the tea room down the street from the office. After the waitress left with their orders, Missy turned to Mary Kate. “Jase and I want to apologize.
We’ve both been pretty snarly to you at times over the past few weeks.” Mary Kate smiled. “You’ve nothing to apologize for. I probably would have reacted the same way, if the shoe had been on the other foot.” Missy shook her head. “I don’t believe that. And neither do you. You’ve been here for a while now.
We’ve had a chance to learn something about you. If it’s possible, we’d like to be friends.” “I think I’d like that as well,” Mary Kate said. Jase smiled at her. She really wished he wouldn’t do that. His smiles did strange things to her ability to breathe. “You’ve been at Devlin for a while, what do you think of the organization?” Jase asked. “I’m still getting my bearings,” Mary Kate responded. “It’s a very involved operation.”
Jase laughed. “That’s very true.” Missy looked at her stepsister. “Why do you run ten miles every morning?” Mary Kate laughed. “I wondered when people would start asking me that. Running is good exercise.
Besides that, I enjoy being out by myself early in the morning. It’s a calm, peaceful, part of the day.” “There hasn’t been much peace in your life, has there?” Jase asked , almost compassionately. Mary Kate smiled slightly, but the expression was forced. “There have been times that have been less than peaceful,” she admitted. “But on the whole, I don’t have many complaints about my life. Besides, what
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good would complaints do?”
Jase smiled at her again.
“I love him,” she thought in dismay. “I love Jase.” But the thought brought her no joy. Why did she fall in love unwisely? First with Edward, who had made her doubt her own judgment. And now with Jase, who was involved with her only female friend in Virginia. Quite a track record in picking men. And tonight she was supposed to play tennis with the local’s resident breaker of women’s hearts. “Batting a thousand, kid. What do you do for an encore?”
Missy broke into Mary Kate’s dismal thoughts, “I promised Jaime I would take him to see that new Disney film tonight. Would you like to come with us? We’re going out for pizza after the movie.”
“I already have a date. Otherwise, I would have loved to,” Mary Kate replied. “Give me some notice the next time, I’d love to go with the two of you.”
“A date?” Missy asked with a smile. “Who with? Someone handsome and romantic, I hope?”
“Steve Anderson,” Mary Kate told her stepsister.
Missy shook her head. “Oh, girl... He definitely qualifies. If any man can make a woman feel desirable, it’s Steve... But, you be careful around him.”
“I’ve already been warned,” Mary Kate replied with a chuckle. “Several times.”
Missy nodded. “He is a handsome devil. And, in spite of what I’ve just said, he’s basically a good man. After he was widowed, women just fell over themselves trying to console him. And, like a typical man, he took everything that was offered to him.”
“Thanks a lot,” Jase interjected indignantly.
Missy wrinkled her nose at her older brother, then continued speaking to Mary Kate, “What Steve needs is a good woman in his life. You could do a lot for him actually.”
Mary Kate laughed. “Don’t go matchmaking. I’m not interested in a fixer-upper. I’ve got better things to do with my life than to try to rehabilitate a womanizer. Steve and I, well, we’re just having a friendly tennis match and dinner. Friendly. No strings. No romance. No complications.”
At least, none on my part, she mentally qualified her remarks. I can’t speak for Steve.
“He’ll run you off the court,” Missy warned.
Mary Kate felt herself smile. “We’ll see about that. He might not have quite as easy of a time as he was anticipating.”
Missy laughed. “I’d pay to see that.”
“Too bad you already promised Jaime you’d take him to the film,” Mary Kate replied easily.
Missy nodded. “I won’t let Jaime down. I want to thank you for everything that you’ve done for him.
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Since John died last year, Jaime’s been pretty introverted. He’s come alive since you’ve been here.”
“He’s a good boy, Missy. I enjoy him immensely. He’s a very bright boy, but you knew that,” Mary Kate told her.
“He’s very much like his father,” Missy said as she nodded. “John graduated from medical school at fourteen.”
Mary Kate whistled. “Have you considered educating Jaime at home? Maybe engaging a governess, or even staying at home with him?”
Missy nodded. “I’ve thought about it. But I want him to have the peer interaction.”
Mary Kate smiled slightly. “There are two sides to that argument. Yes, it’s good for children to learn to get along with other people. But for a child who is far and away outside of the ‘normal’ range as Jaime is, peer groups when done by age can be very stressful, causing the child to think of himself as ‘abnormal’ or ‘strange’. And those done by abilities can place the child in a situation where a lack of emotional and physical maturity will also have negative affects on self image. There have been studies to show that those kind of peer group ostracisms negatively color self-perception well into adulthood. And peer interaction can easily lead to peer dependency, often with disastrous effects. I’ve seen so many kids get caught up in going along with the crowd and head for serious trouble.”
Miss
y nodded. “I can believe that. It’s something to think about. Thank you.”
“If Jaime were my child, I would seriously look into accredited home school programs. There are several very good ones out there that go from kindergarten through high school. I’ve known a couple of families who have had excellent results with home schooling their gifted kids. The kids have the ability to work at their own pace. And since the number of home schoolers is increasing all the time, I wouldn’t think it would be any problem to find a support group to give Jaime access to other home schooled kids with whom he could form playgroups or clubs. That would take care of the social interaction in a non-academic, hopefully noncompetitive, environment. The law about home schooling in Virginia is more restrictive than in some states, but it’s quite workable.”
“That’s quite a recommendation from a schoolteacher,” Jase replied thoughtfully. “And a member of the NEA.”
“I’m an aunt to Jaime before I’m a teacher or a union member. I’m trying to look out for what would be best for him,” Mary Kate said. “That little man is very special to me.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” Missy replied. “I still have some time to think about it.”
Jase smiled at Mary Kate as he brought a small, gaily wrapped, gift box out of his suit pocket. “This is for you. It’s something that you need. Please don’t refuse it.”
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Mary Kate took the box from him. “You didn’t have to do anything,” she told them. “You really didn’t.”
“This is from all of us. Harry, Mom, me, Jaime, and Jase,” Missy told her. “It’s an early birthday present. Or a late one. A very late one. Something to make up for all the years, although nothing ever can.”
Mary Kate unwrapped the box, taking care not to tear the paper. She opened the box. Inside she saw a set of car keys on a beaded leather thong. She lifted the keys from the box.
“Jaime made the key fob himself,” Missy offered. “It was his idea.”
“But there’s nothing wrong with my car,” Mary Kate protested.
“Nothing that a trip to the junkyard wouldn’t cure,” Jase said with a small smile.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her stepsiblings. “Does my car embarrass you?” she demanded, in a tone both Missy and Jase recognized as a danger signal.
“Are you really happy driving that vehicle?” Jase asked. “Or was it just all that you could afford at the time you acquired it?”
Mary Kate sipped her water. “The car looks bad. But the mechanical systems are all in fine shape. The engine and transmission each have less than 35,000 miles on them. The brakes were redone before I drove out. And the tires are less than a year old. It’s a safe vehicle. I was thinking of getting a few new body panels and having it repainted. That’s really all it needs.”
“Harry would be happier if you drove this one,” Jase stated. “It’s a sleek black Jag convertible. And they should deliver it to the office by the time we return from lunch.”
Mary Kate sighed. “I don’t know what to say. I’m overwhelmed. Thank you.”
Jase smiled at her again. “You’re welcome, Mary Kate. I’d feel better, too, knowing that you weren’t driving around in that VW. I’d hate the idea of you getting hurt in a car wreck.”
“I can’t say that the idea ranks high on my list of most favored possibilities either,” Mary Kate said. “You all might feel better about my driving the sports car. But I won’t be driving at all, if I get too many speeding tickets. If I have that many horses under the hood, I just might.”
Jase laughed. “You can keep it under control.”
Mary Kate grimaced. “I wish I could be so sure of that. I got two warnings and a ticket the first week I drove the Ferrari.”
“But as you pointed out to me, some time ago, you aren’t nineteen anymore,” Jase said.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t still have a reckless streak a mile wide.”
Jase smiled at her. “I haven’t seen it.”
Missy interjected, “I think we all have one. I know I do. I’ve been playing with the idea of taking up
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Mary Kate laughed. “Sounds like fun. If you do it, let me know. I’ll go jumping with you.”
Jase smiled at both of them. “It’s a strange sensation, free falling.”
“Yes, it is,” Mary Kate replied happily. “There’s nothing else quite like it.”
Jase looked at her, cocking his head slightly in question. “You’ve done some jumping?”
“In college. I had a professor who hit it big in the lottery and wanted to do something crazy. She paid for jumping lessons and a number of jumps for several of us. It was a blast.”
Jase laughed . “I can see that. When you get excited about something, your eyes just glow.”
Mary Kate looked at Missy. “How have you managed to put up with him all these years?”
“It wasn’t easy,” Missy teased. “Brothers should be strangled at birth.”
Mary Kate laughed. “No. They do eventually grow up. Maybe. But you know the joke ‘Why do men make easier progress in psychotherapy than women? Because when it comes time to regress to their childhoods, they’re still there.’”
“Thanks a lot,” Jase replied with a bark of laughter.
“So, Jase, you’ve done quite a bit of jumping?” Mary Kate asked.
“Mostly on static lines. A few HALO jumps.”
Mary Kate smiled and whistled through her teeth. “HALO jumps. You’re braver than I am.”
“I don’t know about that. The HALO jumps were required training. And lady, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about you, it’s that you’ve got guts.”
“Yeah, and if I keep eating this way, I’m going to have to get new clothes because I’m going to be too fat to fit into anything I own,” she teased. “Are we ready to go back to the office?”
Harry was standing in the parking lot, talking with Audra, leaning against Mary Kate’s new car when Missy, Jase, and Mary Kate returned from lunch.
“Mary Katherine,” Harry greeted her.
“Dad, you all didn’t have to do this,” she told him.
“Of course, we didn’t have to. We wanted to.”
“It’s too much, Dad. I can’t take it.”
Harry nodded negatively. “Yes, you can. It’s already titled in your name. It’s yours.”
“The insurance on this would kill me,” she protested.
Harry laughed. “The first year is already paid for. So don’t worry about it.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said appreciatively as she ran her hands over the sleek lines.
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“And it runs like a dream. Give an old man a ride in your new car?”
“Gee. I don’t know. I work for my father and he’s a real slave driver,” Mary Kate teased.
“Get in the car and drive, slave!”
Jase sat and watched the tennis match in progress later that evening. He had to admit that Mary Kate was giving Steve a run for his money. Personally, he thought Steve had a thorough trouncing coming after the number of times Steve had run others, including Jase, ragged on the courts, although he had every sympathy for his friend. Steve hadn’t lost a tennis match in the past two years. Looked like his record was about to be broken.
Alice Richards walked up to him and sat down. Alice was dressed in tennis whites. “She’s something, isn’t she?” Alice said as she looked at Steve being run all over the court.
“Yeah,” Jase replied. “She’s something.”
“I’ve already heard all about the new Jag Harry gave her today.”
“The car was from the family, not just from Harry. Mary Kate is far too frugal to replace her old car before the wheels would have fallen off. We’re far more comfortable with the thought of her driving a decent car.”
Alice nodded. “You really like her, don’t you, Jase?”
“I honestly don’t know what to make of Mary Kate. Just when I think I have a handle on her, I s
ee another facet of her personality.”
“This from the man who once told me he had never met a woman who he couldn’t know everything about in two dates?” Alice asked in disbelief. “As I recall, you said you would marry the first woman who didn’t bore you silly within a week. How long has Mary Katherine been here? A month? More?”
“I must have been exceptionally young and naive when I made that statement,” Jase replied, not removing his eyes from the court before him.
“I believe we were all of twenty. As I recall, you had just broken my heart by telling me you wouldn’t marry me.”
Jase looked away from the court and at Alice. “I don’t know why you’ve continued to put up with me all these years. I can be a real jerk at times.”
“No,” Alice disagreed mendaciously. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
They both laughed.
“Hmmm,” Alice continued, “You want to know why I put up with you?”
Jase looked at his long time friend. “I’m almost afraid to hear this.”
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“You’re a good man, Jason Alexander Wilton. You’re funny and kind, when you want to be. You’re good company usually. And I can count on you, most of the time, to make up the numbers when I’m putting together a dinner party,” Alice told him. “I guess I’ve always harbored the hope that maybe, someday, you would change your mind about us. We get along so well. And there are worse reasons to marry than friendship.”
“Alice, I...”
“Don’t say anything. It’s not your fault I’ve pinned my hopes to something which isn’t going to happen. I don’t know whether to be happy for you, or to be sad. Do you think she could be seriously interested in God’s Gift to Women?”
“She could be the best thing to ever happen to Steve.”
“Or the worst thing to ever happen to you?”
“Maybe,” Jase admitted . “Quite possibly both.”
After a moment, when Jase had turned his attention back to the tennis game, Alice continued, “Oh, Jase. Why don’t you just tell her how you feel about her?”
“No comment, madam reporter.”
“I wonder why that sounds familiar?” Alice replied in amusement. “Could be she’s said virtually the same thing to me?”
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