Will had decided on that name because it made his office sound bigger than it was.
“Oh, yes, Mr. Michaels. How may I help you?”
She twisted her chair around to turn on her computer as she listened to the man’s complaints.
“Yes, I’m so sorry. We’ve had a particularly heavy load the past couple of weeks, but Will has added a new associate. I think he’ll be terrific at helping lower the wait time.”
After a pause, she said, “He’s more than competent. He just got out of the marines and he’s quite capable of handling any situation. His name? James Barlow.
“Yes, as soon as he’s had a chance to study your files, I’ll have him call on you so you can meet him. I think you’ll be impressed.” Another pause. “Yes, Mr. Michaels, I appreciate your calling. Goodbye.”
“Nicely done, Carrie,” Will said, standing in the doorway, Jim beside him.
Carrie recovered quickly. “Thank you. Jim, Mr. Michaels is with Liberty Insurance, one of our most important customers. He’d like to take you to lunch as soon as you’ve looked over his files.” After a quick glance at Jim, she trained her eyes on some of the files on her desk. Pulling six of them out of the pile, she offered them to Jim. “I’m sure Will won’t mind if you use one of the chairs in his office to look them over. And the coffee is ready.”
Will added his consent, then said to Carrie, “I bought doughnuts. Bring your drink and come into my office.”
Carrie would’ve preferred to take a pastry and return to her desk, but she’d joined Will too many times for him to accept that she was too busy.
Acting on her resolution from last night, she squared her shoulders and picked up her drink. Then she followed the two men to Will’s office.
“We need to bring you up to date on some changes,” Will said as he sat down.
Carrie’s stomach heaved and she braced herself. He might have decided that she had to go. Jim was certainly a better risk than she because he was a big man.
“We decided to go ahead and order another desk and computer and whatever else is necessary for another investigator. We’ll need it whether it’s Jim or someone else, so it seemed silly to wait.”
Carrie swallowed carefully. “I agree.”
She could feel Jim’s gaze on her, but she stared at Will, waiting to see what else he had to say.
“We ordered the desk this morning and paid a bonus to get it delivered this afternoon.”
“Oh, good.”
Will smiled at Jim. “See? I told you Carrie wouldn’t be upset. Now, I think you and Jim should go get all the supplies he’ll need, including some filing cabinets.”
“I could do that by myself, and Jim could use my computer while I’m gone,” she suggested, careful to keep the panic out of her voice.
“No. He may have some preferences that we don’t know about,” Will said with a grin. “I’m going to work on my computer while you’re gone. Then I’ll go out this afternoon when you’re here to accept delivery on the desk and anything else you’ve bought.”
“All right. Just let me make a couple of calls. Then I’ll be ready to go.” With a smile, she took her soft drink back to her desk, without ever having touched a doughnut.
Good thing. Having to play the role of disinterested person where Jim was concerned made her stomach a little queasy.
WILL LOOKED AT JIM, a smile of pride on his face. “See? I told you it was your imagination. She was selling you to Michaels when we came in. And she didn’t object at all to our plans.”
“And you think she was just having an off day yesterday?”
“Sure. We all have one every once in a while, especially ladies. But don’t tell Vivian I said that.”
“No, I won’t. Nor Carrie.”
“Right,” Will agreed with a big grin. “You’re catching on.”
“We have women in the military now, too, Will.”
“Oh, I guess so. Okay, here’s the company credit card. Give it to Carrie.”
“What limit do I have?”
“Get what you need. If you’re worried about the price, ask Carrie. She handles everything for the office. That’s why I want her to go with you. Bring back what you can carry and get the rest of it delivered today. Pay extra if you have to.”
“Okay. By the way, Carrie didn’t get a doughnut. Mind if I take one to her?”
“Of course you can. Take one for yourself, too.”
“Nope. I had breakfast. I don’t want to overdo it.” Jim took a napkin and picked up a doughnut for Carrie. Then he went back to the outer office.
Carrie was on the phone, and he set the treat in front of her without a word. Then he leaned against the wall and scanned the files she’d given him, waiting for her to finish her calls.
She hung up the phone and picked up the doughnut. “Thanks, Jim. I’m a little hungry.”
“Too bad you don’t live with Will and Vivian. Betty would feed you.”
“Yes, she would,” Carrie said smoothly, not adding that she’d had many a breakfast at Vanessa’s house.
Jim also handed her the credit card. “Will said to give this to you. He said you’d know what we could afford.”
“Yes. Are you ready?”
Jim nodded, keeping an eye on Carrie’s face. He still didn’t believe she wanted him there. “Shall we use my rental?”
“No, I’d prefer to take my car.”
He followed her out of the office to the parking lot.
“Did you have fun last evening?” he asked casually.
“Yes, thank you.” Neither her tone nor her facial expression gave him any clue as to what she’d done with her evening.
“Vanessa was upset that you weren’t there.”
Carrie got behind the wheel of her little car before she answered. “I guess that means I’ve been going over to their house too often.”
“Why would you say that?” His knees were against the dashboard. As soon as he was sure he would have a job, he was going to buy a car. One big enough for him.
“I’ve been worrying about that lately. It’s so easy to accept. Vivian and Vanessa are so welcoming, and Betty acts like you’re two-timing her if you eat anywhere else.”
“So what’s the problem? They obviously enjoy your company.”
“But I never invite them to my apartment for dinner. So I’m sponging off them.” She turned on her blinker and pulled into the parking lot of a busy office-products store.
Jim got out, glad to stretch his legs. “I kind of thought you were avoiding me.”
After one quick look his way, she started walking toward the store. “Of course not.”
“I got the impression yesterday that you didn’t want me here,” he persisted, catching up with her so he could see her face.
She gave him a smile and a shrug. “I’m afraid I don’t do change well. I’ll adjust. You’re going to be quite a help to us. In fact, if I don’t mind my p’s and q’s, Will may shove me out the door.”
“Is that what you’re worried about?” he said, catching her by the arm. Feeling her tense up, he removed his hand. “You know better than that, don’t you?”
“Yes. It was just a bad joke.” She entered the store and grabbed a cart, immediately discussing supplies. For almost an hour, she kept the subject on business.
Jim had to admit he wouldn’t have done the shopping as thoroughly or as efficiently without her. Soon she had a salesman walking the aisles with her. When they checked out, she didn’t even bat an eye at the total.
The smaller items were in two big sacks and Jim picked up both of them. The rest would be delivered.
“I can carry one of those,” Carrie protested.
“You’ve done all the work so far. This is the least I can do.”
After they loaded the sacks into the backseat and got in the car, he said, “I can see why you’re so valuable to Will. That shopping trip was impressive.”
“Yes, it’s a woman thing.”
Jim eyed her sharpl
y. “I wasn’t implying that you couldn’t do the rest of your job. I would imagine you’d be much better at certain deceits than me.”
“Yes, women lie better than men, don’t they?”
“Damn it! I was trying to pay you a compliment, not insult you.”
She said nothing.
“I swear I didn’t have this much difficulty getting along in the military with either men or women. What’s the problem?”
She stopped at a red light. “I’m sorry, Jim. I’m not used to—to sharing. I’ll try to be more agreeable.”
She spoke in clipped tones, no emotion in her voice.
Jim couldn’t figure out what the problem was. But he warned himself to be on his toes.
When they got back to the office, Jim spent half an hour organizing the supplies. He put them in a pile on the floor to await his desk.
Around noon, Vanessa arrived. “Carrie, how about lunch?”
“I’d love to, Vanessa, but someone has to stay here to await Jim’s desk and supplies deliveries. Maybe another day,” she added with a smile.
Instead of accepting her excuse, Vanessa stepped to Will’s desk. “Can you and Jim stay here while Carrie and I go to lunch? Then she’ll come back and wait for the deliveries while you two go?”
“Sure, that’s fine with me.” Will called out, “Is that okay with you, Jim?”
He agreed to the plan.
“Good!” Vanessa exclaimed. “Because I want to hear all about Carrie’s new boyfriend!”
Jim stared at Carrie and wished he was going with them. He’d like to know that information, too!
THOUGH SHE WAS practically busting, Carrie said nothing until they reached Vanessa’s Honda.
“I can’t believe you said that!”
“What?” Vanessa asked, surprise on her face.
“That I had a new boyfriend!”
They got in the car before Vanessa replied. “Wasn’t that why you didn’t come to dinner last night?”
“No! I never said such a thing.”
“You said you had other plans, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean a boyfriend,” Carrie said, wishing she’d never said anything because now she knew what the next question would be.
“So what were your plans?”
Since finding each other again, Carrie and Vanessa didn’t keep secrets. Now Carrie wished that wasn’t true. After all, the problem was Jim—and he was Vanessa’s beloved big brother.
“I didn’t think I should intrude on a family dinner,” Carrie said stiffly, staring straight ahead.
Vanessa stared at her, not bothering to start the car. “What? But you come to family dinners all the time.”
“I think I’ve been sponging off of your family too much, Vanessa. I never return the favor.”
“Carrie, you can’t expect to invite the entire family over to your apartment. Where would you put everyone?”
“I know I can’t do that. But you could come over to eat once in a while.”
“We had pizza at your place last week, didn’t we?”
“Yes, but I didn’t fix anything.”
Vanessa said on a laugh, “I don’t fix anything when you come over. Maybe you should invite Betty and Peter over instead of me.”
Carrie gave her friend a cool look. “Maybe I should.”
Vanessa turned toward her, her lips caught between her teeth, as if she was holding back the words. Finally she asked in a somber voice, “What’s gotten into you? Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No, never! You’re very important to me, Vanessa, but—” She ran a trembling hand through her hair. “I don’t know. Everything has changed.”
“What’s changed, Carrie?”
“You have a huge family now, Vanessa. You don’t need me.” It pained her just to say the words.
“There will always be room for you in my family no matter how big it grows, Carrie.”
Her eyes filling with tears, Carrie looked out the car window. Her throat felt so tight suddenly, she couldn’t speak, though Vanessa called to her.
Finally Vanessa touched her arm, and Carrie turned to her. She could see the hurt in her friend’s eyes as she said, “I love having my sisters. And Jim coming home is wonderful. But none of them replaces you. The twins are both married, and I don’t think Jim will be interested in hanging out with me. But you…you know me—” she gave a forced grin “—and you love me anyway. Our friendship is so important to me.”
“It’s important to me, too, but I don’t want to feel like I’m intruding.” As much as she didn’t want to hurt Vanessa, Carrie knew she had to carry through her decision. There was nothing left to say except the blunt truth. “We can still do things together, but I won’t be coming to any more family gatherings.” She tried to discreetly wipe away her tears, but Vanessa reached out and hugged her.
Through her own tears, she said, “Whatever you say. But don’t think I’m going to tell Mom. You’ll have to do that yourself.”
Carrie nodded. “I’ll find a way to explain it.”
After another hug, Vanessa started the car, and Carrie turned to face the road.
She was determined not to feel sorry for herself. It was her decision, and she felt it was the right one. She’d spent too much time in a fantasy land. It was time she ventured out into the real world.
WILL ASKED LATER, when he and Jim went to lunch, “So you and Carrie got along all right this morning?”
“We managed,” Jim said, staring into his Coke. “I think I’ve figured out the problem. She feels threatened because I’m a man. She’s afraid you won’t need her anymore.”
Will stared at him, and Jim, after a moment, said, “You don’t think so?”
Will shook his head. “She’s too smart for that. I irritate her when I try to protect her, because she’s not very big. But there are a lot of things that require a woman. She knows that.”
It was Jim’s turn to shake his head. “I tried to compliment her twice this morning, and she turned them both back on me, accusing me of being sexist.”
“That doesn’t sound like Carrie. Maybe I’ll ask Vanessa what’s going on.”
“We might know more if we knew where Carrie spent her evening last night,” Jim added, not looking at Will.
Will chuckled. “Interested, are you?”
“No, of course not! I mean, Carrie is attractive, but I’m not cut out to be—to have a relationship.”
“Once burned, twice shy?” Will asked.
“Not in the sense you mean. I—I fell in love with a young woman but she died in a car accident.”
“Jim, I’m sorry.”
Jim toyed with his spoon. “Yeah, I don’t seem to bring good luck to people I love. So I’m not looking for anyone.”
“Jim, surely you don’t believe that. Just because one woman—”
“And everyone in my family,” Jim said slowly. “That’s why I wasn’t sure I should contact the girls. They all seem to be doing well.” Jim cleared his throat and picked up his glass.
“You believe you’re a jinx?”
“Yeah. That first night I was worried about Rebecca’s baby. I’m glad everything went right for her.”
“Jim, you can’t be serious. You had nothing to do with your parents’ death. Nor could you have been expected to take care of your brothers and sisters at your age. I don’t know about the woman, but I don’t think—Were you driving when—”
“No, I’d shipped out a couple of days before Lani was killed.”
“Then that definitely wasn’t your fault. And Wally was killed in a war. The miracle is that you came through it without a scratch.”
“Not exactly without a scratch,” Jim said, frowning. He still believed he had a bad effect on people he was close to, but maybe he was wrong. It just seemed that all the people he’d loved had died. That was why he was hesitant to become fond of his sisters.
“That’s right. You said you were wounded,” Will said.
&nb
sp; “A couple of times,” Jim muttered.
“Where were you wounded?” Will asked, letting his gaze rove over him.
“I got some shrapnel in my leg and I had a crash landing that broke my arm.”
“We’re glad you made it through,” Will said. “But seriously, Jim, I think you need to apply some logic. You think you cause bad luck, but you don’t think it was luck that you came through okay?”
“I know how to take care of myself, Will.”
“So now that you’re an adult, take care of those you love. That solves your problem. Right?”
“Maybe.” Jim shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t going to argue with Will.
The waiter brought their orders, which, much to Jim’s relief, ended that conversation.
As they ate, he mentioned the appointment he had later with the apartment manager where Carrie lived. “I thought I’d look at it before I said anything to Carrie.”
“Good idea,” Will said through a mouthful of BLT.
Yeah, Jim said to himself. Will thought it was a good idea…but would Carrie?
Chapter Six
“Say hello to your new neighbor!”
Carrie looked up from her desk at Will’s cheerful greeting. She’d been so wrapped up in her work that she’d hardly noticed a couple of hours had passed since she’d returned from lunch with Vanessa. She gave Will a confused look. “What are you talking about?”
“Vanessa told us about the empty apartment in your building, and Jim rented it today.” He clapped a rather sheepish-looking Jim on the back.
Carrie didn’t move for several seconds, trying to withstand the sinking feeling deep inside her. How was she going to avoid Jim when he lived right across the hall? Still, she remembered her manners and her professionalism. “That—that’s nice, Jim. When are you moving in?”
“Today,” he said, staring at her.
“But it doesn’t come furnished,” she exclaimed, frowning.
“I can camp out until I get some furniture. It will save me a lot of money.”
“I told him he should take the rest of the day off to shop, but he said he doesn’t know where to go. I’m no good at that kind of stuff, Carrie. Can you show him where to find things?”
A Soldier's Return Page 6
