Tender Touch

by Emery, Lynn

  Damon let out a long breath. “Mother is stubborn. She thinks I didn’t put forth enough effort to save my marriage. But she didn’t have to live with Rachelle’s tantrums and self-centered behavior.”

  “Our mothers are alike. My mother can be overbearing, even bossy. And your mother is...” Jade hesitated to go further.

  “I’ll say it. She’s a dictator in a designer silk dress.” Damon laughed. “Oh she rarely raises her voice, but Marlene Cormier Knight has a will of steel. Another reason we understand each other.”

  “Now that’s something we definitely have in common.” Jade nodded and sighed. “It’s funny how our parents see things.” She thought of her mother. Clarice was so sure she knew what her daughters needed.

  Damon shook his head. “Amazing that they want to control us even as adults.”

  Yet Jade wondered at his reaction to Rachelle. Could he still have feelings for her?

  “Sometimes the past is hard to leave behind.” Jade gazed at him steadily. “What’s the song say? It’s never as good as the first time.”

  “Not one of my favorites. Besides, you just blew that myth out of the water.” Damon returned her gaze for several seconds. “And you?”

  Jade thought for a fleeting moment that this was an evasion. But the soft look of longing in his eyes touched her. “It was over long before the divorce. I need to be with someone whose commitment to me will stand the test of time.”

  Damon responded to the question in her eyes. “Then I’m your man.”

  Jade rested her chin on his chest and closed her eyes. “Lucky me,” she whispered.

  * * *

  “This isn’t fair, Jeanne!” Lanessa shot up from the chair across from her supervisor’s desk. “I’ve been working here for seven years, busting my butt!”

  “I’m concerned about you, Lanessa.” Jeanne Proctor remained calm. Her voice was even and low. “Sit back down...please.”

  After a few seconds, Lanessa dropped into the chair but crossed her arms in a defensive pose. “I bet you care about me.”

  “Listen, you’ve been a rock around here. More than anyone else, I could count on you when push came to shove. But—” Jeanne took a deep breath.

  “Yeah, here it comes.”

  “Your work performance has been slipping for months. And you come in late as many as three days a week.”

  Lanessa scowled at her. “Why are you picking on me? What about the rest of the staff? I could tell you a few things about some of those folks.”

  “We’re here to talk about you, Lanessa. Now I’ve got your attendance record right here. You’ve been late nineteen times in the last thirty days alone.”

  “I told you, I’ve had some personal problems. My ex-husband has tried to cut my alimony.” Lanessa wrung her hands.

  “I went back over six months. You call in sick frequently, Mondays and Fridays most often. This is the fourth time we’ve talked discussed the issue in the last year, Lanessa.” Jeanne pushed the open folder toward Lanessa with her sign-in sheets and record of leave taken from the office. “See for yourself.”

  Lanessa did not glance at the papers. “Look, I know I’ve been late a few times—okay, a lot. But cut me some slack, Jeanne. I’ll do better, honest.”

  “That’s you’ve been telling me for months.” Jeanne closed the folder.

  “Oh, so you’re getting all your ducks in a row to fire me, right? It figures.” Lanessa slumped in the chair.

  “I could have fired you a long time ago. I want to help you save your job. But I’ve got to see a change, a serious effort on your part.” Jeanne leaned forward.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Call the State Employees Assistance Program. Get counseling.” Jeanne handed her a pamphlet.

  “I don’t need counseling. Soon as I show my ex he can’t push me around—”

  “Lanessa, this is not a request. Your job is on the line.” Jeanne stared at her with a firm set to her jaw.

  “I’m a civil service employee. You can’t push me around.”

  “I’ve got documentation of the times we’ve talked about your tardiness and calling in sick. You just completed a supervisory plan. The result of my review isn’t good. I could take formal personnel action right now.”

  “Listen, Jeanne, I’m doing my best.” Lanessa pressed her fingertips to her temples. “I just need time.”

  “Call the number, Lanessa.” Jeanne did not soften as she had so many times before. “It’s for your own good. I really believe that.”

  Lanessa stared at the pamphlet for several long moments before taking it. Without speaking, she left Jeanne’s office.

  * * *

  “We’re talking about millions of dollars at stake here, Mike. I don’t want any mistakes.” State Representative Sherman Ortego spoke in a mild voice, but the hard glint in his eye told a different story. “I don’t want the rule change to go through.”

  “Senator Ortego, relax. We’ve got to cut the daily payment rates for a short while until the heat is off. In a few months, we can quietly push them back up,” Mike Testor said. He tried to maintain his cool demeanor, but being under the scrutiny of one of the state’s most powerful men was unsettling.

  They sat having drinks at the City Club in Baton Rouge. The exclusive club had an air of old money, old family and old connections. Memberships could not simply be bought by anyone who could afford the considerable fee. For seventy years politicians and businessmen met here for the comfort of being able to speak freely. After all, once they passed through its polished oak doors, no one knew who they shared a table with inside. There were no prying eyes. Businessmen could sit with a friendly state legislator or U.S. congressman and not worry that a reporter would make wild accusations.

  “The cuts don’t bother me as much as the moratorium on nursing home expansions.” Ortego lowered his voice. Even here he was reluctant to let it be known that he had business interests in the string of lucrative nursing homes in south Louisiana. “The cut won’t seriously affect profit.”

  “Like I said, we can raise in few months, like I said,” Mike put in quickly. He was anxious to reassure the formidable man.

  “Just make sure Lang understands the importance of issuing those certificates. We all stand to lose if these reformers get their way.” Ortego glared at Mike as though it were his fault that advocates for the elderly and disabled wanted more public funds diverted from institutions.

  “Listen, those folks don’t have clout—we do, no matter how many grandmothers they roll down to the state capitol building.”

  “With recent scandals about conditions in nursing homes and mental hospitals, who knows? That report on 60 Minutes didn’t help one damn bit. Now the feds are coming. We’ve got to get those beds before the Justice Department orders the state to make drastic changes.” Ortego fingered his glass of scotch but did not pick it up.

  “The feds will take a long time to get their report back. Then the state will have a month or so to reply. Hell, we can do all kinds of things by that time.” Mike smiled with satisfaction.

  “Don’t kid yourself young man,” Ortego snapped. His words wiped the smug expression from Mike’s face. “The governor doesn’t play ball. What’s worse he’s surrounded himself with men who don’t share our views.”

  What Ortego meant was the governor’s top officials had no financial interest that made them partial to business as usual in the state. The power brokers, used to the previous administrations, were dismayed to discover that public talk did not change behind closed doors. The new cabinet members said the same things in private, cut costs and no favoritism.

  “But there is just so much he can do,” Mike protested. He looked uneasy. Sherman Ortego was the quintessential insider. If he said there was reason to worry, then things were bad. “I mean, they can’t be everywhere at once. If we can get them onto some other problems—say, the Department of Insurance, or what about the Department of Transportation and Development?” He wor
e a look of hope.

  Ortego glowered at him. “You haven’t been paying close enough attention. The governor and his people are not stupid! They already have a handle on those things, too.”

  “Oh.” Mike looked deflated.

  “Chester Howard, the commissioner of administration— all of them know the moves we can make.”

  Mike pulled a meaty hand over his face. “Then what are we going to do?”

  “Get Lang to act and act quickly. Supply Dumaine with what he wants, drown him in paper. And shut Franklin up, or I’ll have someone I know take care of him.” Ortego spoke in a low, menacing voice.

  Mike turned pale. “You mean...” he croaked. He’d heard of Senator Ortego’s dangerous temper. His ancestors had been known to hire assassins.

  “Don’t be a fool, man! I’m talking about putting the state auditors on his trail. The idiot plays fast and loose with his books. Tell him about my concern. He’ll get the point. He’s not that much of an idiot.” Ortego sneered. He seemed pleased at the prospect of making Franklin squirm.

  “Yes, sir.” Mike Testor suddenly lost his taste for the fine wine he’d been enjoying.

  * * *

  Rachelle crossed her legs and lifted her shoulders back. The knee-length skirt showed her shapely legs to advantage. Her curves were made more pronounced by the contrast with the black pin-striped fitted suit jacket she wore to match it. A crisp white shirt and tie completed her outfit.

  “So, Nicky. Are we all set?” She gazed at him.

  “We are nothing, Rachelle. And quit calling me Nicky.” Nick ignored her attempts to entice him. He turned his back to prepare a drink at the bar in his spacious town house. “Jade will be at the restaurant.”

  “How can you be so sure of yourself?” Rachelle retorted. She wore a look of irritation at his dismissal of her. “Why should she even listen to you? With your record of stretching the truth, I sure wouldn’t.” She got up and snatched the drink from his hand.

  “Because she’s basically a suspicious person.” Nick looked down to watch the ice cubes bounce as he swirled his drink.

  “Humph, who wouldn’t be with you for a husband,” Rachelle retorted. “But even she’s not that gullible.”

  “I’ll tell her we need to discuss business. We have still own real estate jointly, so she’ll think I’m up to something.”

  “That’s it? That’s your grand plan to get her there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Please! She blew you off the last time you tried to sweet talk her. I’ve been wasting my time.” Rachelle put all the contempt she could muster in her voice.

  “She’ll be there. And when I tell her you’ve been seen with Damon more than once, Jade and Damon will be history.” Nick wore a nasty smile.

  “A pretty thin strategy, if you ask me. They’ll fall back into each other’s arms in no time.” Rachelle gave a disgusted grunt at the thought.

  “Have you been reading the newspapers lately?” Nick said.

  “No, and what does that have to do with anything?”

  “A scandal is close to coming to a boil at the Department of Health and Hospitals. Within the next few weeks, things are going to get hot for Jade’s boss and his buddies. He—”

  “Spare me the boring details. So Jade will have a tough time for a while, which will be fun to watch. But so what? Damon will run to her side and play the devoted lover. I want her out of his life.” Rachelle’s pretty mouth turned down in a rancorous expression that transformed her features.

  “I’m going to see to it that they turn on each other, not to each other.” Nick gave her a wink.

  Rachelle looked up at him sharply. “How?”

  “Leave that to me. My uncle is a very well-connected man. He has lots of inside information.”

  “What in the world are you talking about? What—”

  “All you need to know is that I can make it happen, sweetheart. Believe me, when I’m through Jade won’t give Damon Knight the time of day.” Nick’s face took on a hard, scheming look. “And he’ll be just as suspicious of her.”

  “Nick, you’re more devious than I thought.” Rachelle spoke with new admiration. “But Jade might decide to remain loyal to him.”

  Nick shook his head slowly. “She’ll spit in his face. I know Jade.”

  “Maybe you don’t know her as well as you think. Damon certainly has changed.” She gave a slight frown of true puzzlement. “He’s different somehow.”

  “You mean waving your butt in his face didn’t make him sit up and beg.” Nick gave a snort of scornful amusement. “You’ve always overestimated your ability to conquer the male libido, Rachelle. Besides, your little escapades did quite a bit to tarnish your shiny veneer.”

  “You didn’t complain back in college. As a result, you did beg for it more than once.” Rachelle raised an eyebrow at him. “I still remember what you look like.”

  Nick still wore a look of detachment. “Hmm, and you screamed like a banshee when I used to give you those long strokes.”

  “Don’t be crude,” Rachelle said in a raspy voice. She swallowed hard and wiped her face with a napkin.

  “But, sweetheart, that’s how you like it.” Nick walked to her slowly and put his drink down on the coffee table. He stood looking down on her.

  “You make me sick. I ought to—”

  “Don’t mess with me, Rachelle. Damon knows only about one affair. I could fill him in on much more. You had him fooled before you got married, but he’ll listen now.”

  “And I could tell Miss Too-Good-to-Be-True Pellerin about the other girlfriend of yours who has a baby by you. A father twice, all within two years of your wedding.” Rachelle raised an eyebrow at him.

  Nick tensed, alarm flickered across his face. “How did you find out about—”

  “Never mind. Look, let’s call truce. We won’t get far by clawing at each other. Damon’s mother is going to talk to him again about being on good terms with me.”

  “His mother doesn’t despise you for deceiving her darling son?” Nick looked skeptical.

  “Trust me. Marlene wants us together for purely selfish reasons; money and family name. Besides I don’t think she knows all the details of my...our marital problems.” Rachelle stood and smoothed down the fabric of her suit.

  “You’re good, I’ve got to give you that much.” Nick laughed. He raised his glass to her in a mock toast. “Nobody does it better.”

  “Just make sure Jade shows,” she spat at him. “I can’t wait to see the look on her face. What he sees in her is a mystery to me.”

  “Jade is one helluva sexy woman. She’s got a sweet, warm kind of quality that makes it nice coming home to her. It’s hard to explain, especially to some people.” Nick gave her a look from head to toe.

  “Save the sappy act for someone who doesn’t know what a dog you are, okay? Just do your part. If we’re lucky, we both get what we want.” Rachelle picked up her leather Coach purse.

  “Yes, dear,” Nick said in a false voice like a man subdued. He chuckled at the angry oath she uttered before slamming the door behind her.

  * * *

  Lanessa sat nursing a drink at Club Monaco. The elegant old bar catered to the well-to-do and pretenders to wealth in the black community. The bar was of a rich, dark varnished oak as were the tables and chairs. A first-class restaurant was on the other side of carved swinging doors.

  The clink of dinnerware could be heard. But Lanessa was intent upon her own troubles.

  “Hey, Lanessa. How’s it going?”

  “Wonderful. Everything is just peachy,” Lanessa muttered. She did not bother to look at her new companion.

  “The wheels of state government still rolling along smooth eh? Heard your sister is movin’ on up. You still working with what’s- her-name in documents, I guess.” The man leaned closer to her.

  Lanessa turned to him. “Well, well. If it isn’t Glenn Curtis, ace reporter. So my star falls while Jade’s rises. Trust you to dig up all the di
rt you can find,” she snorted. “Still freelancing and sending tidbits to the national trashloids, right?”

  “Here, let me buy you another one of those.” Glenn signaled the bartender. “I’m into legitimate news stories, babe; the Times-Picayune, the Baton Rouge Advocate to name a few.”

  “Yeah, right, and I’m engaged to Prince Charles. Queen Elizabeth is fit to be tied about it.” Lanessa gave a short, rough laugh.

  Glenn ignored her joke at his expense. “So like I said, Jade is runnin’ with the big dogs. Bill Lang is a real powerhouse. She ought to do well.”

  Lanessa gripped the glass in her hand. “Yeah, she’s making important decisions. His top assistant. What have I done with my so-called career? Nothing.”

  “Hey, get Jade to help you out. She’s positioned just right to get you in near the top.” Glenn watched her take a long pull of her drink. “Jade in on the big stuff. Figures. She always had brains.”

  “Sure. That’s my little sister. Mother always said Jade had all the brains. Me? I’m skating on my looks.” She gazed at herself in the mirror. “What’s left of ’em. Jade got looks and smarts.”

  “Is she in on the hospital expansions and Medicaid decisions? They say Lang even lets her attend top-level meetings.”

  “Jade is in the driver’s seat. Signing off on all kinds of rules, reviewing policies to make sure they’re what Lang wants— while I’m just a gofer for every jerk on the sixth floor of the state capitol building.” Lanessa was deep in self-pity.

  Glenn hitched closer to her. “So she’s got delegated authority. Little sister is in on the real deal.”

  “Yeah, she’s in D.C. First class all the way. Jade is—” Lanessa seemed to snap out of a fog at the eagerness in his voice. “Wait a minute, what’s your interest? I’m not saying anything you can use to smear my sister.”

  “No reason to get upset. Hey, we’re just talkin’ casual-like.” Glenn wore a placating smile.