She quietly sucked in a deep breath. Scattered was not an adjective people would be prone to use to describe her. Her phone pinged, and Kate pulled it from the pocket of her elbow-sleeved shrug. A glance at the screen showed a low balance text from her bank. She tilted the screen away from Jon and pressed her email app to see if there was an email from either Bob or HR about where she should put Jon. There was. The relief made her almost giddy. Or it could have been the close quarters of the elevator. She welcomed the whoosh of fresh air when the elevator doors opened and she stepped into the hall.
“Come on, I’ll show you your work space. HR probably told you that the analysts and statisticians and our staff work in an open access layout to facilitate working together.”
The left side of his mouth curved up. “In other words, cubicles. I got the tour Thursday.”
“Exactly. You’re here.” Kate pointed at a workspace across from the open side of hers, without a window. “Get yourself settled and I’ll go over the Growth and Income Fund’s open projects you’ll be working on,”
“Copy that.”
Kate crossed the walkway between their cubicles and, out of sight behind the partition, sank into her Hon chair, a perk she’d gotten with her last promotion to senior statistician.
The US financial markets didn’t open for nearly an hour and a half, yet she felt like she’d put in a whole day already. If she didn’t get a grip on the situation fast, the fund manager promotion wouldn’t matter. She’d be burned to a crisp long before the time the decision was made.
* * *
Jon removed his leather briefcase from his gym bag and placed it on the small side table connected to the computer stand before he stashed the bag under the table. He surveyed his work area. It was a far cry from the office he’d had at the private equity firm. But most people would say his position was a big comedown, as well. He flipped open his company laptop and pressed the on button. Not him. His purpose wasn’t to make his mark at DeBakker-Gelm. Jon opened his briefcase and took out the personalized employee handbook he’d received Thursday, flipped it open for his company username and password.
Nope. All he was looking for was extra income this summer to knock off his grandfather’s home equity loan and the possibility of some part-time mid-level remote work to supplement his community college instructor’s salary the rest of the year.
Working with Kate was a bonus. He was familiar with her intelligence, and her expertise could give him the knowledge he wanted to keep a hand in the investment sector while he taught. She wouldn’t hold the position she did at the fund if she didn’t know what she was doing. And her appearance certainly brightened up the drab office space, although he knew appearances could be deceiving. He watched the computer’s desktop icons load. It was a fact, that he had little trouble attracting women, beautiful women, and enjoying his time with them until he, usually, lost interest in them.
What was he doing, mixing thoughts of Kate, beautiful women, and relationships? This was work. Besides, he’d seen with his parents what happened in a relationship when two great minds bonded. Bickering, competition, battles for control, and no time or feelings for anyone else. An emptiness he hadn’t experienced in a long time hollowed out his insides. He clicked the email icon, set up his account on the computer and read the canned welcoming email from HR. Then he set up the account on his phone.
Jon stood. That was about the extent of his settling. Time to get to work. A new email alert flashed on the computer screen. A second email from HR joined the welcome. He clicked and read the message.
Bob thought you might be interested.
Interested in what? He clicked the attachment and scratched his head. It was a job announcement about a portfolio manager position. What was there about the position that he couldn’t read between the lines, that Bob would have HR send it to ... Jon glanced at the computer clock … someone who hadn’t been working here not quite a half-hour yet? In the usual job progression, one of the analysts or statisticians would be tapped for the position.
The squeak of the wheels on Kate’s chair sounded across the walkway between their cubicles and a buzz of humor ran through Jon. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Kate always had been the squeaky wheel. Not that he was interested in the position, but if there wasn’t something negative about the Growth and Income Fund, Kate would surely have the job. In three steps he was at Kate’s cubicle, which he noticed had a window view.
“I’m ready to get started.”
Kate clicked shut whatever she’d been working on, and he reflexively shifted his weight back on his heels. He wouldn’t have pegged Kate as the type of co-worker who hoarded information. But maybe that was the culture here. He hoped not. That could make his tenure here a very long couple of months. Or she might have been doing something nonwork that was none of his business. Yeah. He’d go with the last one.
“Okay, if Bob didn’t introduce you around, let’s start here. Staff should be arriving.”
“Sounds good. The only introductions Bob did were HR and you.”
“Then, we’ll start with the front desk.”
As Kate slipped by him to exit her cubical, he caught a scent that reminded him of the sugar cookies his grandmother used to make him. He sure loved those cookies. Jon shook the memory from his head. Work. You’re at work.
“Follow me.” Kate crooked a finger at him.
Jon held back the quip, I’d follow you anywhere and walked beside her.
“For the most part, my research is for the company’s Balanced and Growth and Income Funds.”
All-business Kate pulled him back into the world of work and rekindled his curiosity about the email he’d received. “I got a strange email about one of the funds from HR, just now, when I finished setting up my email.”
Kate stopped, hands on hips. “You sure it was from HR and not one of the fund managers trying to grab you for a project, rather than putting in an official request?”
“It was definitely from HR. An interoffice announcement about an open portfolio manager position.”
Kate’s stride faltered, and he reached over to take her elbow, pulling back when she steadied herself.
“What’s so toxic about the Growth and Income Fund that the company would try to pawn it off on a new employee.”
“Not. A. Thing.”
Jon cocked his head and studied the range of emotions Kate was fighting to keep out of her expression. “I figured if you hadn’t taken the move up, there must be a good reason for not taking it.”
Instead of filling him in with more, Kate grabbed the arm of a 20-something-looking guy walking past. “Scott, this is my new assistant Jon Smith. Scott is an analyst.”
The two men shook hands.
“Could you finish taking Jon around to meet everyone? I’ve got to go talk with Bob.”
“Sure,” Scott said.
Jon watched Kate storm away. He wouldn’t want to be Bob right now.
“What’s that all about?”
“The squeaky wheel getting some grease,” Jon muttered.
“Pardon?” Scott asked, his gaze following Jon’s.
“Nothing.”
But it was something. Kate turned a corner out of view. A big something, he’d say. One that he needed to pin down if he was going to get the most out of his time here.
Chapter 3
But you’re only a girl.
Kate shuffled the pages on her desk. Where had her older brother’s childhood taunt come from? Other than her boss Bob being in meetings every time she’d tried to connect with him, her first day with Jon had gone okay. She wasn’t at all surprised Jon had been a quick study and by afternoon was able to take on a research request on his own, albeit a pretty simple one. He’d probably done similar research at the equity firm—and a lot more. But she was the one in charge here, and it was her prerogative to give him the grunt work, if she so chose. Besides Jon had seemed sincere in wanting to stay at DeBakker-Gelm for only the summer. He’d expressed a curiosity about t
he Growth and Income Fund manager position, but hadn’t seemed interested in it.
She’d thought she’d finally buried her brother Josh’s childhood digs, and her father’s less blatant sexism—despite his pride in her accomplishments—when she’d landed the analyst job with DeBakker. Kate killed the insecurity that had bubbled up, threatening to break through the barrier she’d built against it and walked over to Jon’s cubical.
“Shouldn’t you get going to make your train?
“Throwing me out, are you?”
Kate wanted to disappear back into her cubicle and start over again, after she completely stomped down her old insecurities. What was with her? She did want him to leave because she was more than ready to go herself but reluctant to do so before him. Was it the high school connection? That was so juvenile.
“No, you mentioned this morning wanting to make your swim practice.”
Jon shrugged. “No big deal.” He motioned to his computer. “I have one thing I want to finish. I should still be able to make the train.”
“Okay. No need to stay late your first day. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to later.”
“Got it.” He drew an air checkmark. “Finish quickly and get out while I can. But plan to camp out here in the future.” He grinned, which for whatever reason, cleared some of the emotional fog that had her reverting to adolescence.
Kate laughed. “Just finish your work and have a good evening.”
“You, too.”
He turned back to the computer and she made a final pass by Bob’s office to see if he was still in. He rarely left before six. His office door was half open and the light still on. She knocked on the door and walked in.
“Kate.” He looked up from the papers he was reading.
“Are you avoiding me?” she asked.
“Not at all. I just sent you an email, figured you’d be gone home.”
Kate pulled a chair over. “Seriously? When was the last time you saw me out of her before six?”
“Last Thursday.”
Kate gritted her teeth. He was going to be like that? “What’s with HR sending my assistant the announcement about the portfolio manager position?” She sat before the steel in her backbone softened.
“That direction came from above.”
Again, from above. She steeled herself. What did it matter? If she didn’t get the promotion this time, she was out of here. “Okay. Be straight with me. Am I still in the running for manager?”
Bob’s posture relaxed. “Definitely, and you’re still my first choice. Humor the big guys.”
Kate rose. “I’m not going to humor anyone. I’m going to make sure there’s no question that I’m the person DeBakker needs to manage the Growth and Income Fund.”
Not waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and walked back to her cubicle, shaking in a combination of fury and “what have I done?”
Halfway there, her cell phone rang. Bob? She glanced at the screen. Her 21-year-old sister Ava.
“Hey squirt.” Kate worked at making her greeting sound upbeat. “To what do I owe the honor of you calling instead of texting?”
“It’s a surprise. Mom and Dad don’t know. Trey and I are engaged.”
Kate searched for the right words and went for humor. “Etiquette says I’m not supposed to congratulate a woman on her engagement, so what do I say?”
“Say you’re happy for me.”
“I am happy for you.” Kate had nothing against marriage—for other people. Ava and Trey had been dating since Ava’s senior year in high school. And Ava was finishing up her associate’s degree in early childhood education with a job waiting for her with the Genesee Central School District’s Pre-K program.
Ava’s voice flattened. “I’m not sure Mom and Dad will be. You and Josh are hard acts to follow. Mom and Dad only have associate’s degrees. Why do they think I need a BA in education?”
Kate laughed.
“It’s not funny,” Ava protested.
“No, it’s not. It’s ironic. You were too little to know, but Mom and Dad couldn’t understand why I needed a master’s degree.”
“That’s when you moved to New York permanently.”
“Maybe you weren’t too little.”
“I’m so glad you’re going to be here when I tell them, after the graduation ceremony.”
Oh, no. Kate gripped her phone. That was this weekend. With Jon’s appearance on the scene, she’d forgotten all about Ava’s graduation and party and the vacation days she’d scheduled for Friday and Monday.
“My graduation. You didn’t forget, did you?”
Guilt consumed Kate. “Forget my baby sister’s college graduation. Of course not.”
“Text me when you’ll be getting in Friday, and I’ll come pick you up at the Rochester Amtrak station. We’ll have a girls’ dinner out before we go back to the house, talk about maid of honor dresses.”
“Sweetie, you want me to be your maid of honor?” Kate’s heart swelled, obliterating the efforts of her conscience to remind her of all the times she hadn’t been there for Ava.
“Who else?”
“You’ve got it. Love you.”
“Love you.”
Two days away from work, with her new assistant barely on the job. Kate was surprised that Bob hadn’t asked her to change her time off. A lead weight dropped into the pit of her empty stomach. Two days with Jon reporting to Bob. Two days with her not in the office running interference between Jon and Bob and the powers that be.
For a fleeting moment, Kate calculated the possibility of getting a train early enough Saturday to make Ava’s graduation ceremony at Genesee Community College in Batavia. She shook her head. That wouldn’t be fair to Ava. She’d be breaking another promise to her. Kate sensed rather than saw someone approaching her in the narrow walkway.
“Good. I caught you. I thought you might have left,” Jon said.
There was no reason his words should have lifted her spirits. But they did a bit. “I was talking with Bob.” She studied Jon for a reaction. After all, she wasn’t 100% certain he didn’t want the manager position.
He shifted from foot to foot, and the lead in her stomach increased. What did he not want to tell her?
“I, uh, hate to ask since I’ve just started here. But could I take off Friday?”
Half the lead melted.
“Sort of a family emergency.”
“Your grandfather?”
“No, my father had surgery and will be coming home Friday. They thought it would be Monday, and the nursing service they scheduled isn’t starting until then. He’s having trouble with a reaction to the pain meds. My mother doesn’t think she can handle him on her own, even for a couple of days. Besides, she has some big charity thing going on this weekend that she can’t miss.”
The lack of any warmth in Jon’s tone wasn’t lost on Kate. She knew he wasn’t close to his parents, or hadn’t been when she knew him before.
“Yeah, I’m their last resort,” he said as if reading her thoughts. “After all, it’s not like I’d have anything important to be doing.” Jon rolled his eyes.
The rest of the lead evaporated. “Actually, I’m taking off Friday and Monday for my sister’s college graduation. You can do the same.”
“Thanks. How are you getting up to Genesee?”
“Train.”
“If you don’t have your ticket yet, let me give you a lift there and back.”
Five hours in close quarters with Jon. There and back. Confident. Handsome. Funny. And oh so smart Jon, who was and wasn’t the same boy who’d been around the edges of her life for 13 years.
Despite all efforts on her part, her pulse ticked up and her throat tightened.
* * *
Jon pulled his car into the Hudson Amtrak station parking lot, air conditioning blasting against the incredibly warm late-May morning temperature. He smiled as his mind replayed the myriad of expressions that had passed over Kate’s face before she’d agreed to
take him up on his offer. She’d insisted on taking the train to the station north of the farm so he wouldn’t have to go out of his way to pick her up. Then, he’d hardly had contact with her for the rest of the week, although she’d kept him busy with projects dropped in his in-box outside his cubicle or with various analysts.
“The Maple Leaf from New York continuing to Albany, Schenectady, and points west is arriving on track …” The public address system announced Kate’s train as Jon walked into the station. He looked up at the clock. 8:45, right on time. He looked over the few people entering the station from the track. No Kate. Although he hadn’t heard his phone’s text alert, he checked the phone anyway. Nothing there. She would have had to catch the train at the crack of dawn. Had she fallen asleep on the ride here? He continued toward the trackside doors, unable to quell a weird feeling that he’d been stood up, like this was a date or something.
At the doorway, he shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and looked out. There she was. His breath left him. What was that about? He dropped his hand as Kate walked down a step, stood, and looked up into the train. Her casual jeans and t-shirt made her look softer, younger than she did in her dress-for-success business clothes. More like she had when he’d crushed on her at school. His heart flip-flopped in an adolescent repeat of the state he’d been in for much of his teens.
An elderly woman appeared in the doorway. Kate descended another step and reached up to take the woman’s bag in one hand and offer her other arm to the woman, who took Kate’s elbow and slowly stepped down. They repeated the action and the older woman made her way to the platform. Jon warmed at Kate’s thoughtfulness.
“Excuse me,” a thin voice said behind him.
Jon walked out to make way for a frail looking man with a walker.
The elderly woman waved.
“That’s my girl,” the elderly man said. “She’s been downstate visiting our new great-granddaughter. “Since they appear to be the last ones off, I take it the other girl’s yours?”
“Yes, I mean, that’s Kate.” Jon stumbled on his words. “I’m here to pick her up. From the train. I’ll go help with their bags.” He closed the distance to the women in a few strides before he made a complete buffoon of himself.
No Time for Apologies: No Brides Club, Book 5 Page 3