"Huh?"
Jessie shrugged. "Well, yeah. That’s why I asked for the key."
"They’re moving the company to Richard’s house?" Mitch said incredulously. "Why are they going to do that?"
Jessie wrinkled her nose. "Excellent question. A last resort, sort of."
"Back up," Martin said as he pulled Jessie onto his lap. "Why are they moving at all?"
"Because Richard literally shoved Alex Sheldon’s investment back at him, although according to Miranda, he didn’t put it in the right place."
Mitch exhaled sharply. "I can’t say I blame him, but that must have been a Hell of a lot of money."
"You have no idea," Jessie said. "And to make it worse, when Richard explained the situation, no one wanted to quit. Not the engineers, not Miranda, not Emily. They’re all sticking with him until he can work this out. So now the pressure’s on."
"Can’t you give him a loan, my little aristocrat?" Martin said playfully as Jessie popped the last bite of her cupcake into his mouth.
"Do you think that isn’t the first thing I said when Miranda and Emily told me? And Richard seemed to seriously consider it, but I can’t get at most of my money until I’m twenty-one unless my guardian signs two pieces of paper."
Martin looked at Mitch after a second. "Correct me if I’m wrong," Mitch said slowly, "but isn’t Lucy your guardian?"
"Legally, yeah."
"The same Lucy Hendrickson who is also Richard’s mother?"
"One and the same."
"And Lucy won’t sign?" Mitch asked after a moment.
"Not only will Aunt Lucy sign the papers I drafted up myself, she will also make her own substantial investment. Unfortunately, none of that matters if Richard won’t take it."
"Why is Richard still mad at his mom?" Martin asked.
"I—don’t know," Jessie said, and Martin was sorry to see how sad she looked. "The last couple of weeks have really sucked—"
"For the most part," Martin said with a smile.
"For the most part," Jessie grinned. "But it sucked pretty hard for Richard just all around, and I think this is his way of not dealing."
"So, um," Mitch said, moving over as Jessie and Martin started to make out, "what about Alex? What happened to him?"
"Hmm?" Jessie said as she came up. "Oh yeah, looks like he’s packed up and left for at least a couple of months. Some big deal thing in Asia he needed to attend to. Or whatever. I think he was just afraid of being on the same continent once Michael recovered."
Mitch shook his head, still trying not to look at Jessie and Martin. "I still cannot believe that Michael—" He laughed, not sure how to describe Michael’s injury.
"Believe it, Mitch," Jessie said in such a way that Mitch sat up straight. "I saw it myself right before I hit my alleged undead father on the head. Dear old Tom—" she practically spat the name—"had a gun in Miranda’s back, and Michael wanted to make sure he didn’t get to use it on her. And trust me, no one was more surprised than I was to see Michael do anything remotely unselfish."
"And Miranda?" Mitch asked.
Jessie shrugged. "It’s on. And you know what? I’m not going to get in their way. At all. Because she’s happier now than she has been since, well, Michael left, and I think he’s changed."
Mitch frowned. "Yeah, well, you enjoy that Jess," he said as he stood up. "Me, I’m never going to forget what I saw that bastard do to my wife and I don’t care how many times he gets shot."
"Fair enough, Mitch," Jessie said, "but you might want to remember that I also have a pretty good memory of how nasty he can be, and I’m still telling you, don’t get in Miranda’s way."
Mitch sighed. "Yeah, who am I to tell anyone how to go about their affairs?"
CHAPTER 5
Zainab was laughing a few hours later as she stretched out in bed. "You continue to be full of surprises."
Robert rested his head on the pillow and took some deep breaths. "Come on, that wasn’t really a surprise, was it?"
"I don’t usually get that dressed up just to go to bed." She flipped over and smiled. "Or is that sort of a Catch-22? Would we not have ended up in bed if I hadn’t been so dressed up?"
Robert sighed. "I think you’re just trying to get me to admit that I had this planned."
"I know you’re intrusive, I don’t think you’re manipulative."
"What about your friends?"
"No, they’re not manipulative either, although at least one of them is intrusive at any given point—"
"I meant, what do they think of me?"
"You know exactly what they think of you, and I’d say it shouldn’t be something that should concern you."
"It doesn’t, except that I don’t like the idea of you leaving and then going to a house full of people who can’t stop telling you how wrong I am for you."
"First of all," she said, playing with his chin, "you’re getting really sloppy. Jessie isn’t living with me—"
"But she’s around enough—and no, I have not been driving by your house."
"Second of all, they have no idea."
"Really?" Robert said, smiling as he looked her over. "Because Emily is pretty sharp. Annoying, but sharp. Miranda could maybe use a little more time at school—"
"Miranda isn’t stupid."
"She just has lousy taste."
"Don’t we all?"
"If you think that, then why are you here?"
"Why shouldn’t I be, Robert?"
He smiled. "Because of Jessie. Because of everyone else. Because of Richard. Because to the untrained eye it might look like I broke you up on purpose—"
"I know that’s not what happened."
"So am I forgiven?"
"It’s not an issue."
"Why don’t you care?"
"What do you want? You want me to be really mad so you can have an excuse to feel bad? Do you think you should feel bad?"
"Let’s just say I don’t usually conduct my investigations that way."
Zainab raised her eyebrow. "I know you were here with Jessie."
"And that doesn’t bother you?"
"How bothered would you like me to be?"
"I don’t want you to be bothered, but I want you to care."
"Why? Do you care about Richard?"
"No, but I do think he can’t be nearly as smart as he thinks he is to let you go."
"He didn’t let me do anything—I left on my own. I was with him by choice."
He kissed her. "And now you’re with me. By choice."
"Now you’re getting the hang of it."
"So why did you choose me?"
"Because I like you, Robert. But why do we need to look at it so closely?"
He rolled on top of her. "True, when there are so many better things we could do with our time."
CHAPTER 6
The next day, Emily and Miranda arrived at Richard’s house at eight. Miranda was carrying the files and laptops while Emily balanced two large pans of food. Richard opened the door. "What’s that?"
"Breakfast and lunch," Emily said as she walked into the kitchen.
Richard raised his eyebrows and shook his head. It wasn’t that bad yet—was it? "What about dinner?" he asked sarcastically.
Emily peeked her head out of the kitchen. "You can help me cook that."
"Is that food?" Vijay called out from the living room. "I’m starving!" In less than thirty seconds, Vijay, Carlos and Jordan had piled into the kitchen. By the time Miranda and Richard walked in, Emily was handing out plates of scrambled tofu, roasted potatoes and tempeh bacon. The guys, who’d always laughed about Emily’s food choices, hungrily scarfed the food down. Emily refused to let them have seconds until Miranda and Richard had been served.
Miranda went to set up with the rest of the crew while Richard lingered over his food in the kitchen. "I didn’t realize how much I’d missed your scrambled tofu."
Emily looked hurt. "How do you expect me to still love you after you’ve told me that you for
got about my tofu?"
Richard laughed, grateful that she didn’t belabor his memory of his early days with Zainab. "I really appreciate—" he started to say.
Emily held up her hand. "Richard, we’re all going to do whatever it takes, okay? And if I have to bring in breakfast and lunch, well, you know how much I like to cook. You just do all the other stuff you have to do, okay?"
Richard hugged her, and Emily felt like her heart might break. "You’ve got it."
~~~
Miranda and Emily set up their base of operations in Miranda’s old room. They made phone calls, wrote drafts and hashed out ideas. Between eight-thirty and six they only stopped for lunch and only because Emily wanted to make sure that the engineers ate.
The team spent a lot of time developing version two of their prototype in Richard’s basement, and working on the theoretical models on his network. Richard was angrier than he’d let on about having to give up Alex’s investment, but just then it didn’t matter. He loved sweating it out with these guys, all of whom he’d known since college.
At six o’clock, the doorbell rang twice. "Great," Emily grumbled. "The guys must be in the basement."
"I’ll get it," Miranda said, getting up from the floor. She needed a little stretch.
She ran down the stairs and opened the door. And there he was again.
"Michael!" she said. "What are you doing here?"
"You told me to call Richard," he said simply.
"I meant call on the phone, not ‘call’ in that nineteenth century way."
"Would you believe I did try that but Richard didn’t answer?"
"Oh, yeah, actually, I would. Richard and the guys have been heads down all day in the basement and on his network."
"You see my problem then."
"And the fact that I told you we were all working here now had nothing to do with it."
"Not one thing."
Miranda was about to say something when she heard Emily bound down the stairs. "Is everything okay?"
"Fine—everything’s fine."
"Good, because I was—" Then Emily saw Michael. She hadn’t seen him up close and in person since the day he’d thrust her hands down his pants at an art gallery and she’d left him writhing on the floor gasping for breath almost three years ago. She looked at Miranda, who was holding her breath. Then she looked at Michael. She sucked her cheeks as if she was tasting something sour. "Michael. Hello."
Michael glared at her, remembering what Miranda and Richard had told him about Emily’s role in ending his marriage over two years ago. He looked at Miranda’s pleading eyes. He set his face to neutral. "Emily—Graham, is it? Hello."
Miranda bit her lip. "Michael was here to say hi to Richard."
"Uh huh," Emily said, looking at the two of them. She’d never fully believed before that Miranda could have—she couldn’t continue the thought. But as she saw them together now, she couldn’t deny the magnetic pull between the two. She forced herself not to shudder. "Good, because Richard needs to make dinner anyway. I’ll go get the guys."
She ran down the stairs and tapped Richard on the shoulder. He looked up. "Your cousin’s here," she said quietly through a forced smile. "And he’s with his other cousin now."
Richard frowned. "Emily—"
"And you’re making dinner, so why don’t you get your ass upstairs anyway?"
Jordan looked up. "Did someone say food?" Before Richard could say anything, the rest of the team piled up the stairs.
"Behave," Richard said as they walked up the stairs.
"Don’t I always?" Emily commented with a smirk.
Miranda was introducing Michael to the guys when Richard and Emily made it upstairs. Michael smiled uncomfortably, knowing that most of them probably remembered him from that weekend on the Cape almost four years ago. Miranda for her part was grateful that no one brought it up—and that Emily didn’t know all the details of that disaster.
Richard raised an eyebrow. "Michael, why don’t you have your sling on?"
"Because I went to physical therapy today, and they said I don’t need it."
"Really?"
"I promise. Then they gave me some PT exercises, and believe me, I’d rather be in the sling. But I’m actually recovering pretty well, thank you."
"Glad to hear it—but don’t overdo it."
"Who, me?" Richard laughed as he mussed up Michael’s hair.
"Stay for dinner?"
"I thought you’d never ask. What are you having?"
"I thought we’d go old school and maybe do spaghetti and meatballs."
"Oh, thanks a lot," Emily called out from her huddle with Carlos about something she and Miranda had written.
"I’ll cook the meatballs separately," Richard assured her. "And I’ll even make that garlic bread with olive oil that you like so much."
"You should let me help," Michael said once Emily looked away.
Miranda slapped his uninjured arm with the back of her hand. "Not one shred of meat or cheese in the sauce, or you’ll have me to answer to," she said quietly.
Emily just happened to look up as Michael kissed Miranda’s forehead. "I don’t know, I think I like it when you play rough."
"You won’t if I do it on that arm," she said, sticking her fingers on his other bicep, but then kissing him back.
"Ahem," Richard said. "Michael, if you’d just come this way," he said, leading Michael to the kitchen.
Emily caught Miranda’s eye. "He cooks?"
Miranda smiled. "Very well." Emily grimaced, then went back to work with Carlos.
By the time Michael and Richard came out with the food thirty minutes later, hunger had forced the conversation to devolve into rating the best stupid movie ever. "Oh come on, it has to be Fled," Carlos was saying. "That movie had nothing, but it was still hilarious."
"No, no, no," Jordan said. "Fled looks like Citizen Kane compared to Mister Deeds."
Vijay was twirling his spaghetti and shaking his head. "No, I keep telling you, Adam Sandler movies cannot be included. They actually finish what they start."
"My vote goes to Star Wars: the Phantom Menace," Richard solemnly said as he sat down.
Michael rolled his eyes. "You really need to let that go."
"I’m still voting for The Man Who Knew Too Little," Emily insisted. "That movie was about nothing, but it had some of the best lines."
"And I keep telling you," Miranda said, gesturing with her bread, "that it has to be Running Scared. Extra points since Billy Crystal was actually trying to be dramatic, and Gregory Hines looked really good."
Before Michael could say anything, Emily wrinkled her nose. "Come on, Miranda, we know what you really want to vote for."
Miranda looked confused, then suddenly turned white. "I don’t know what you’re talking about," she said helplessly.
"I saw the case, sweetie. The first step in solving a problem is admitting you have one."
Miranda started blushing and bit her lip. "That could have been Zainab’s," she said at last.
Michael looked at her with his devilish smile. "Oh, honey, your taste in movies is legendary. Just tell us now and it’ll be easier. Trust me."
Miranda looked at Emily and gulped. "Jamie Kennedy isn’t that bad," she said quietly.
Carlos nearly choked on his meatball. "Malibu’s Most Wanted?!? Jordan, didn’t you have to take someone to that after you lost a bet?"
Michael laughed so hard he turned red. "That’s fine," Miranda finally said. "I just won’t take you to see any other movies with me."
"Ooh!" Richard, Vijay, Carlos and Jordan lowed, now turning their attention to Michael.
"Oh well," Michael said, biting into his meatball. "Then I guess I’ll have to find other ways of entertaining you."
Even Emily smiled as Miranda turned purple and everyone else laughed. Then she looked at Miranda, then Richard, then Michael, all of whom were laughing with everyone else and didn’t notice her. Then a thought occurred to her, and suddenly
she was seething.
Ten minutes later, she stood up and walked over to Richard. "I’m going to help you clean up," she said quietly.
"Alrighty then," Richard laughed, but Emily didn’t smile. She collected the dishes then walked into the kitchen. Richard drew his chin back, but followed her.
The other five looked at each other uncomfortably. They didn’t hear any water running. "So," Miranda said after a minute. "Any games this weekend?"
Vijay looked at Jordan, then grinned and jumped up. He put his ear to the kitchen door.
"Vijay!" Miranda hissed. "Would you please stop acting like a twelve-year old?"
"You know you want to know," Jordan said.
"I think I already know," Michael said testily.
"Oh, wow!" Vijay said after a minute. "Hey Carlos, remember when you didn’t get your documentation in on time?"
Carlos shuddered. "Yeah."
Vijay pointed to the door. "This is much worse!" Carlos and Jordan scrambled up.
Miranda waved her hands. "Guys!" she said desperately. "Give them a little privacy!"
But that was a moot point a second later when they heard a crash. Michael looked shocked. Miranda’s jaw dropped. "Emily threw something?" she whispered.
Carlos shook his head. "No, I think that was Richard."
"Richard?" Michael said with surprise.
Vijay hit Jordan’s shoulder. "See? I told you he had a thing for her!"
"You guys!" Miranda said as Michael made a face.
"No one is asking you to be a hero!" Emily shouted the next second, so loudly everyone could hear easily from the kitchen. "Just grow up already!"
"And of course you always know what’s best for everyone, right?" Richard shouted back.
"Yeah, fine, I have managed to screw up my life royally, but I don’t think you’re qualified to give out any lectures."
"What gives you the right to be so judgmental with everyone?"
"How about that I can easily see what’s plainly in front of me—unlike you! Get a little perspective, swallow your God damned pride and do the right thing!"
"I am trying to do the right thing!"
"Well, try a little harder, or I quit!"
Vijay stepped back just in time before the door swung open. Emily looked at all of their shocked faces. "Yeah, okay," she said walking to the door, "I’ve got to go home. See you tomorrow." Richard came through the door just then, and Emily turned around. "If you do the right thing!" Then she slammed the door.
Let's Move On (The New Pioneers Book 4) Page 3
