Finally, he sat back in the wrought-iron chair in the breakfast room and he knew he had well and neatly painted himself into a corner. He’d even called Martin Biggs and offered to give him a huge bonus if he’d go for him. But the man had other plans that didn’t include a trip. And all Martin wanted was the laughing Santa tie back.
Steven raked his fingers through his sandy hair, then pressed his hands on the cool glass of the tabletop. Coffee long ignored had turned cold and buttered toast was soggy and unappetizing. He knew he should have let Annie tell Ron Dial it was all off, but it was too late for regrets about that now. Too late for regrets of any kind.
“Hey, Dad,” Wyatt said, and Steven turned to see his son and Jared running into the room. Both boys were dressed in ninja warrior outfits and had black bands tied around their heads with smeared black smudges under their eyes.
“Hey, champ,” Steven said as he sat back in the chair.
“Bishop said you were still here, but I didn’t believe him. It’s almost as weird as you really coming home last night for dinner.” Wyatt plopped down on the chair next to Steven and kept talking. “Whatcha doing?”
“I had some work to do,” he said, hoping this wouldn’t be a repeat of yesterday morning. He wasn’t up to business explanations today.
While Jared sat down across the table, Wyatt rested his chin in his hand and looked up at Steven. “So, Dad, are you working on the Harrington acquisition?”
“Trying to,” he said, then sat forward and closed the book of notes by his briefcase.
“Can I help?”
“I don’t think you can this time, champ.”
“Jared’s going home soon, so why don’t I come down to the office with you today, and I can see if I can help you out?”
Steven reached across to ruffle Wyatt’s hair, then pushed back his chair and stood. “Sorry, we can’t do it today. I told you we could when things are a bit more smooth.”
“What’s so rough about today?”
Steven looked down at his son, and he knew what was so rough about today. He was about to do something he knew he shouldn’t do...but something he had to do. And with a woman who made him lose all perspective and sensibilities. He was going to Tahoe. But just for a few hours. He’d drive up with Madison, see the Kincaids, fake a business emergency, then leave by himself.
Nobody would be any the wiser. And there wouldn’t be any repeats of what almost happened at her office. “I’m only going to the office for a couple of hours this morning, then I have to do something else,” he said, putting his notes on Harrington’s in the briefcase.
“What do you need to do?”
“I think I’m going to go to work for Harrington’s this evening to get a feel for the territory.”
Wyatt looked at Jared, who was reaching for an apple from a plate in the middle of the table. “When Dad’s thinking about buying a business, that’s an acquisition, you know, he sometimes spies on them.”
“It’s not spying,” Steven said as he snapped the briefcase shut.
“He goes to work just like anybody and he gets to see how they do things. And no one knows it’s him. Once he helped sell boats, and another time he did stuff with bricks, and they thought he was just some guy working there. Pretty smart, huh, Jared?”
Jared took a bite of apple and nodded.
The idea Steven was off the hook with Wyatt lasted only until his son said, “Can I come along with you and spy, Dad?”
“I have to do it by myself.” He saw Wyatt’s face fall. “Hey, it’s part of my cover.”
“Like a real spy,” Wyatt said, his expression easing a bit. “What are you going to do?”
“Just see some people out of town, and pretend that I work for Harrington’s. Then I’ll be back, but it’ll be late tonight. Why don’t you have Jared stay again and—”
“Can’t,” Jared muttered through a mouthful of apple. “We got to go to my grandma’s tonight, and everyone’s got to go or my mom gets real mad. I told Wyatt he could come, but he said he had to do things.”
“Why don’t you go with Jared?” Steven asked.
“Don’t want to.”
“Okay, then you get to bed when Bishop says and tomorrow you can come down to the office with me. How about that?”
“Oh, yeah, that’d be great,” Wyatt said quickly.
Steven didn’t understand that “I told you so” look that Wyatt flashed to Jared, but he was beyond trying to figure out anything. “Where’s Bishop?”
“Upstairs,” both boys said in unison.
“I need to get something from the office, then I’ll talk to him on my way out and let him know where I’ll be.” He picked up his briefcase and looked down at Wyatt. “See you tomorrow?”
“I’ll really help you, Dad,” he said solemnly. “I promise to help you real good.”
“Thanks, I need all the help I can get,” Steven said as he started for the door.
Chapter Ten
Just before noon, Madison felt as if she were facing her doom, not just an arranged weekend with a hired husband. But she couldn’t shake that feeling of dread.
She stood in Ron’s office with her overnight case by her feet while she watched her producer pace the space like a caged animal.
“They said the new guy would be here by noon,” Ron muttered and looked at the wall clock for the hundredth time in the past hour. “They asked me. I said noon, and they said he’d be here.”
“Then he’ll be here,” Madison said. “I’m sure they would have called if there was a problem.”
“Sure,” he muttered. Then he looked right at Madison. “Aren’t you getting dressed up for the trip?”
She looked down at her white cabled sweater, corduroy slacks and suede boots, then back at Ron. “What’s wrong with this? We’re going to a cabin, aren’t we?”
“Sure, yeah. I should be glad you aren’t wearing one of those T-shirts you’ve got with cartoons all over them.”
She wouldn’t tell him she’d almost worn a sweatshirt with one of her favorite characters on it, the little alien with a green helmet saying, “Surrender or be blown into a billion microcells.” “I’m presentable,” she said.
“The pills have worn off, haven’t they?”
She grimaced. “I think so.”
He dropped heavily into his swivel chair and darted a look at the clock one more time. “Two minutes to twelve. Come on, come on,” he muttered intently as if he could will someone to come to the door.
When a knock sounded, Ron was out of his chair so quickly Madison barely had enough time to turn and see him pull open the door. The next instant, she thought she’d fallen into a black hole where imagination ruled reality. Hallucinations. And she’d thought those pills had worn off.
She was imagining that Steven was standing in the doorway with a smile that made her breathing catch in her chest. But this Steven she’d conjured up was different. The suit and overcoat were gone in favor of jeans, a denim windbreaker and running shoes. But the eyes were still the same. And they were looking right at her as if the owner knew the answers to the mysteries of life.
Then he was in the room, speaking and holding something out to her. “I think these are yours. I found them in the Jaguar on the floor.”
She looked down and saw the pill bottle in his hand. No hallucination. Not any more than the evening with him had been one.
“Oh, great,” Ron said and took the pill bottle. “I’ve been in serious need of these babies for the past two days.”
Madison found it was all she could do to keep eye contact with Steven. If anyone knew what happened between them, he did, but he didn’t look embarrassed or angry...or ill. “They said you were sick. Why did you come all the way down here to bring back the pills?”
“I’m here for Harrington’s. I’m going to Tahoe.”
If he’d hit her in the stomach he couldn’t have shocked her more. But if he saw her shock, he didn’t react to it when she gasped, “What?”
“You’re sick.”
“I’m better.”
“But—”
“It was the twenty-four-hour flu.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “We’d better get going. They told me you were expected in Tahoe around six. We’ll make it if we leave now.”
Ron hurried around behind the desk, picked up an envelope, then turned to hold it out to Steven. “Directions to the Kincaid place and their phone number in case you get lost. I gave it all to that Annie person, but—”
“She gave it to me,” Steven said. “There’s no problem.”
“Great.” Ron put the envelope back on the desk. “What about the car? I never thought about it, but I suppose a rental would be—”
“I’ll take my car,” Steven said. “We can add the expenses to the bill.”
“Fine. Then it’s all settled.”
Madison backed up a step when Steven came toward her and reached for her overnight case. As he straightened, he looked right at her and he was so close she could hear him take a breath. “This is yours, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
“Are you ready to leave?”
She was far from ready to be with him again, especially when she didn’t have a clue about what happened or didn’t happen between them before. “I...I guess so.”
“Good, let’s get on the road,” he said, then turned and headed for the door.
She swallowed hard, then went after him, but when she got to the door, Ron called, “Madison?”
She glanced back at Ron. “What?”
“Break a leg.”
“With my luck, I probably will,” she muttered and went out into the corridor after Steven.
* * *
WYATT CLOSED THE DOOR after Jared left with his mother, then he went into the study and sat down in the big, leather swivel chair behind his father’s desk. He flipped on the computer, ran through some files and imagined himself at the office making deals just like his dad did.
But looking at a computer with a screen rolling with words lost its appeal quickly. When he found a card game, he opened it and started playing.
He didn’t even realize Bishop had come into the room until the big man said, “Four ladies and an ace. A great hand to draw to.”
Wyatt jumped at the sound and accidentally hit the redial button on the keyboard. The cards floated back to their starting pattern, wiping out his game completely, and he grimaced at the screen. “Oh, man, I was going to win.”
“If it was for real money, I’d feel bad,” Bishop murmured. “You’ve been in here since Jared left.” The man knew everything. “How about getting out for a while and coming with me to the store to get supplies?”
Wyatt swiveled around and tipped his head back to look up at the big man who towered over him, and the “what if” game he and Jared always played about Bishop came back to him. What if Bishop was in the witness protection program, and that’s why he was being a housekeeper? What if some drug dealer was after him and he was hiding out here?
“Well, do you want to come?” Bishop asked.
“Do I have to?”
“No. You’re old enough to stay here by yourself for a couple of hours. If you want to, fine, and while I’m gone, why don’t you get started on cleaning up your room? When I get back, I’ll check it out.”
Wyatt grimaced when he remembered the mess he and Jared had made upstairs. He sat forward, closed the file, then turned off the computer before looking back at Bishop. “If I come, can you take me someplace to get my dad a Christmas present?”
“If you know where you want to go.”
“Sure, I know where.”
“Okay, be ready to leave in five minutes.”
Bishop turned to go, and Wyatt got up to get ready, but as he stepped around the desk, he almost tripped over his dad’s briefcase propped against the desk leg. He caught it before it fell over on its side, but as he picked it up, he called out to the big man who was already out the door into the foyer. “Bishop?”
The man turned to look back in the study. “Is there a problem?”
He hurried to the doorway and held up the briefcase. “My dad forgot this.”
The man shrugged his massive shoulders. “Leave it there. I’m supposed to call him at eleven tonight, so I’ll make sure I tell him it’s here then.”
“But he never forgets it and that might be too late. It’s got all of his business papers in it. He needs to have it with him now.”
Bishop crossed his arms on his chest and studied Wyatt with narrowed eyes. “Well, what do you suggest?”
Wyatt looked at the leather case, then back at Bishop. He knew what to do. “I’ll call him and tell him.”
“He’s not at the office. He’s on the way to his business appointment.”
“Then I’ll call him in the car,” he said and went back to the desk, put the briefcase on it and reached for the phone to dial the car number. But after two rings he got a prerecorded message. “The mobile customer you’ve called is away from the phone or traveled beyond the service area.”
He put the phone back, then looked at Bishop. “He’s out of range or he’s not in the car. What’s the number he gave you to call?”
Bishop slipped a small notebook out of his back pocket and flipped it open. He read off a long number while Wyatt punched it in. A horrible high-pitched sound came over the line, then another recorded message. “The number you’ve reached is not in service at this time. If you think you’ve reached this recording in error—”
“Darn,” Wyatt muttered as he hung up the phone. “It’s not working.”
“Then it probably will be or he wouldn’t have asked me to call him there. So we’ll go to the store and call him at eleven or wait until he reaches us or leaves a message on the machine.”
Wyatt stared at the briefcase, then flipped the latches and opened it. A thick file with Harrington Acquisition Recommendations was right on top. And Wyatt knew that he had to do something right now. “No, he’s left behind everything he needs, and I have to help him.”
“Wyatt, I don’t—”
It took all his courage, but he made himself look at Bishop. “We have to find him and take it to him.”
“Wyatt, I’m not—”
He surprised himself by not backing down. “My dad needs this. It’s up to me to get it to him. And you have to help me. It’s my...my Christmas present for my dad to take it to him, and you said you’d help me with the present. Didn’t you?”
“I thought we were talking about a tie or a book.”
He was, but not now. “Well, are you going to help me?”
The silence in the room was deafening, and Wyatt braced himself for something horrible. But the big man simply said, “I don’t see how we can go after him.”
“We can use the Jeep and go.”
“To Tahoe?”
Wyatt’s mouth dropped. “What?”
“That’s where your dad had to go. And it’s a five-hour trip, no matter how you cut it.”
Tahoe? Snow and skiing and vacations? Wyatt swallowed hard. His dad hadn’t even mentioned it. “Are...are you sure?”
“He’s driving to Tahoe for the meeting, then coming back later tonight.”
Wyatt swallowed hard. “I need to get this to him really soon.”
Bishop glanced at his wristwatch, then back down at Wyatt. “It’s one o’clock. Your dad was leaving for Tahoe at noon. What do you suggest we do? It’s your present. It’s your call.”
Wyatt took a breath into his tight chest and said, “You drive me to where my dad is and we give him the case, then we come back here.”
Bishop studied him for a long, uneasy moment, then said, “Get some warm clothes on while I get a map for Tahoe so we can find where your dad’s going to be.”
* * *
BY THE TIME the Jaguar was climbing into the mountains west of Tahoe, the light was failing and Steven snapped on the headlights. A scattering of s
now flurries was beginning to fall from the dark skies and a growing breeze stirred the huge fir trees near the road.
Madison shifted in the seat, the uncomfortable silence eating at her. Since they’d left the city, neither person had said a thing that wasn’t necessary. She clasped and unclasped her hands, and jumped when Steven finally spoke again.
“You’re as nervous as a cat about this weekend, aren’t you?”
She was nervous being this close to him with questions pounding on her. “I guess so.”
“Have you thought of anything else I need to know?”
She hadn’t been thinking about cover stories, but about the weekend and how to get through the next couple of days. About hallucinations and dreams and reality that she couldn’t separate. She glanced at him for the first time in a long while, and knew if she’d thought he was attractive before, he was almost painfully male now in the casual clothes.
His hair lay against the collar of his jacket, and his hands gripped the leather-covered steering wheel easily. For a fleeting moment she had the memory of his touch on her, skin on skin, her straining to his touch, the barriers being pushed aside. She shivered involuntarily and hoped it was an imagined memory, not a real one.
“Do you need more heat?” he asked as he glanced at her with shadowed eyes.
That was just what she didn’t need. “No, I’m fine,” she said, hugging herself and rubbing her upper arms with the flats of her hands. “I was just trying to think of anything you might need to know before we get there.”
“How about how we met?”
She swallowed hard, the moment when she’d run into him at Harrington’s etched clearly in her mind. “What?”
“Mr. and Dr. Love, how did they meet?”
She glanced out the side window at the soaring mountains and the light sprinkling of snow coming from a leaden sky. “At the university.” That sounded reasonable.
“Berkley?”
“Uh, yeah, Berkley,” she said, the place where she’d done a lot of her graduate work. She felt the car labor a bit on the grade and the road start to get shiny with moisture. “Where did you go to school?”
The Christmas Husband Page 13
