Vegas heat

by Michaels, Fern

  "You're enjoying this, aren't you, Fanny?"

  "Uh-huh." Fanny tweaked Ash's ear. She laughed when she heard him groan.

  She was still laughing when she walked out onto the casino floor.

  Heading straight for her was Marcus Reed.

  18

  Fanny felt a head rush. Her step faltered. "Marcus!"

  "Good evening, Fanny. You look lovely. Was your opening

  last night everything you wanted it to be?"

  "And more. My grandson loved everything. He fell asleep

  on his feet twice. Did I misunderstand you? I thought you said

  you were leaving?"

  "I was supposed to, but there were some loose ends to tie

  up. I did manage to get close to the front windows. I'm not

  much for crowds, so I contented myself by pressing my nose

  to the glass and staring. I'm glad things worked out. You can't buy the kind of media coverage you received last night. It will continue for the rest of the month."

  "You worked like a Trojan, Marcus. It's a shame you didn't get your share of billing."

  Marcus shrugged. "That's not important to me. I did it because I wanted to do it. I was wondering if you'd like to have a drink with me."

  "I'd love to have a drink with you. Your poinsettias arrived a little while ago. My goodness, Marcus, they must have cost a fortune. You shouldn't do things like that."

  "Why?"

  "Why ... because it's so extravagant."

  "Do they make your apartment festive? Do you like the colors? Does it make everything very Christmasy?"

  Fanny laughed. "Yes. Yes. Yes. I adore the holidays. Everyone seems so real at this time of the year. They're kinder, nicer, that kind of thing. Are you fond of the holidays?"

  "Very much so."

  "How long are you staying, Marcus?"

  "Another hour or so. I wanted to say good-bye. I left rather abruptly the other day. If your invitation is still open, I'll be back for Christmas."

  "Of course. I'll just have coffee. I have a long night ahead of me. My friend Billie and her husband are here, and I want to spend some time with them before they leave tomorrow."

  "Coffee it is. Fanny, there's a rumor on the street. I heard it this afternoon. Are you aware of it?''

  "If it's what I think it is, yes. I try never to discuss my family with ... other people. I don't mean to offend you."

  "Not at all. Is Mr. Thornton all right?"

  "The elder Mr. Thornton is .. . okay. The younger Mr. Thornton ... the best answer I can give you is I don't know. Where are you headed this time, Marcus?"

  "Back to Chicago."

  "What do you do, Marcus? You never said."

  "In some circles I'm referred to as a hired gun. In other

  302 Fern Michaels

  circles they call me an advance man or a troubleshooter. My services are for hire. People call on me when things go wrong with their businesses. I assess the situation, make suggestions, offer remedies that I feel will work. It's interesting, but I never know where I'll be from one day to the next. It doesn't make for a very stable lifestyle. I get tired of hotel rooms, living out of suitcases and eating in restaurants. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a tall glass of cold milk. Sometimes I yearn to cook a hot dog and load it with everything. One of these days I might retire and do all those things."

  Fanny smiled. "Somehow I can't see you in slippers reading the evening paper while a dog poops on the carpet. You are so . . . bankerish. Is there such a word?**

  Marcus threw his head back and laughed till tears gathered in his eyes. "You could be right. You've given me food for thought. Tell me, have you heard from your son?''

  "No. I'm hoping he calls or writes soon. If we're lucky, he might come home for Christmas. The boys always loved the holidays. I say a prayer every night."

  1 'How are the rest of your children?''

  "If you mean Sunny, I can't answer that. I hope she's well. Sage and Billie are fine."

  "And how are you, Fanny? I'm asking because I am genuinely concerned about you. You can't be all things to all people. You need to be your own person."

  "I tried that, Marcus. I wasn't very successful. Sometimes I don't think there is a Fanny Thornton. I'm somebody' s mother, somebody's ex-wife, somebody's wife, somebody's friend. My husband is divorcing me. That makes two bad marriages. It doesn't say much for me. I have to think about that."

  "That's where you're wrong, Fanny. Maybe it wasn't you, maybe it was the two men you were married to. Don't be so quick to shoulder all the blame, and don't listen to other people when they feel compelled to blame you. Until they walk in your shoes, they have no right to pass judgment."'

  "Thank you for saying that, Marcus. Life is never easy, is it?"

  "Life finds a way of interfering in everyone's life. That's why it's called life, I guess. We are philosophical this evening. Whatever it is that's troubling you, Fanny, will pass. Time is a wondrous healer in all things."

  •Til remember that."

  "I enjoyed the coffee, Fanny, and your company." Marcus smiled as he brought Fanny's hand to his lips. She flushed. 4 'Fanny, are you going to have a Christmas tree?"

  "Of course."

  "A real one or a plastic one?"

  "Bite your tongue. Real of course."

  "Would you be amenable to going with me to the mountains to pick one out? I haven't done that in years. My childhood must be catching up with me. I could come early unless you want to decorate ahead of time."

  "I'd like that. Let's say the day before Christmas Eve."

  "It's a date."

  Fanny felt flustered. "Do you mean it's the date, meaning the day on the calendar, or it's a date as in ... date?"

  "Both."

  "Oh. I haven't had a date in years," Fanny confessed.

  "Me either. I'm sure there's a book on it somewhere."

  "I'm sure."

  "Good-bye, Fanny."

  "Good-bye, Marcus. Have a safe trip."

  "Tell me, how much did you win?" Fanny asked, a lilt in her voice.

  "Two bucks," Thad said. "Billie won eighty dollars about an hour ago, and she has five dollars left."

  "I love it when a customer loses money. It's going to be a long month. We're jammed to capacity. The hotel is booked solid through January 3. We're taking in a record amount of money."

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  "Fanny, what's wrong? Don't tell me nothing. I know you too well, and I can see that all is not right with your world." Billie's voice was gentle as she led Fanny away from the crowds.

  "Here, Thad, play my last five dollars, and if you lose it, we're going home."

  Fanny rattled off the day's happenings. "How is it possible I didn't see, didn't hear, didn't know or even suspect, Billie? I blocked it out, didn't I?"

  ' 'You were in love in the beginning. Yes, Fanny, you blocked it out. You didn't want to believe what was going on. How much longer do you think you would have let things go on before you woke up and did something?"

  "I think I had already made my decision on our anniversary. Yes, I loved Simon, but that sick love, and it was sick love, cost me my daughter. I've had it with love and marriage. I'm going to grow old by myself."

  * 'Fanny, you said you had one good year. Some people never even get that. It happened, it didn't work and you don't look back."

  "I feel like such a fool."

  "We've all been down that road. I don't know a single woman who hasn't felt that way at one time in her life. It's behind you. Are you sure Ash is okay?"

  "He said he was. He looks awful. He's concerned about Jake. I'll be driving them home in the morning. When are you leaving?''

  "Around noon. We could delay takeoff and have lunch. That's so I can brag about my wonderful Japanese-American grandson."

  "Okay, sounds good to me."

  "Didn't you leave something out of our conversation, Fanny?"

 
"You mean Marcus?"

  "Yes, Marcus."

  "I don't know how to talk about him. I know that must sound strange to you. He's a very nice person. He sent me a

  hundred poinsettias earlier. He does everything in such high numbers. I think he overwhelms me. He's a friend."

  "Relationships are always best when they start out with friendships. Thad and I are the living proof. I didn't know love could be like this. It's what I wish for you, my friend."

  "I think, Billie, my life is destined to turn out like Sallie's. Don't pooh-pooh this away. I'll live with that, too. I'm tired of fighting the tide. If something is meant to happen, it's going to happen. Ahhh, see that crowd! I think your husband just won one of our jackpots!"

  "Are you kidding? Where! Do you do those bells and whistles every time someone wins?"

  "Yep. That's to give the other customers hope that they, too, can win. Let's see how much he took the house for."

  "Five thousand dollars!" Thad said hoarsely.

  "Darling, that's wonderful! Now you can buy me a present from one of these exquisite shops."

  Fanny posed for the obligatory pictures before she walked away to meet Bess.

  "Fanny, wait a minute. I need to ask you something. I must be getting senile because each time I see you, it's on my mind, then I lose my train of thought. I want to close the books, and we never did reconcile that money Ash paid out once a month under cash. Five thousand a month is sixty thousand a year. That's a large sum of money. What should I charge it against? Did you ever ask him?"

  "No, I never asked him. I will tonight."

  "He's still writing the checks."

  "Still?"

  "Yes. He doesn't fill out the memo part. The signature on the back is just a scrawl. I suppose I could call the bank, but I didn't want to do that without talking to you first."

  "I'm seeing Ash later, and I'll ask him. He shouldn't be writing checks on the business account. We'll talk about it in the morning. I'm off at twelve."

  "Why don't you go up now? I can handle things down here. Jake might still be awake, and you can tuck him in."

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  "I just love that little boy. He reminds me so much of Birch and Sage when they were little. He asks a million questions and expects an answer. If the answer isn't something he likes, he asks again and expects a different response. Ash is so good with him, and Jake adores him. Okay, Bess, it's all yours."

  Fanny stepped from the elevator, her eyes squeezed shut. She opened them expecting to see a note stuck to her door. Her breath exploded in a loud sigh when she saw that her door was bare. "This is good."

  The blaze of red that greeted her made her blink. She really needed to disperse the plants, position them better so they weren't such an eye-blinder. She shed the red velvet gown and pulled on a silky hostess gown. Her high heels were replaced with feathery slippers that matched the gown. The word assignation rippled through her mind. She smiled.

  It took her all of thirty minutes to arrange the poinsettias in every room of the penthouse. "Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous," she trilled. She looked at her watch; 11:15. Time to sit down and go through the contents of the manila folder. She read the nine-page report slowly as she tried to digest the contents. Now, after all these years, the agency had finally located Josh Coleman, Sallie's older brother.

  Fanny read and reread the report. Josh was a widower with three children, two daughters and a son. He had three grandchildren, a boy and two girls. He lived on a five-hundred-acre farm in Mc Lean, Virginia, and raised Thoroughbred horses. The report said he was seventy-nine years old and in robust health. The summary at the end of the report read: Subject appears to be an upstanding citizen. His colleagues and friends have honored him many times for his contributions to the equestrian world. The Coleman farm is prime real estate. Subject's bank balance is not robust. His children are hardworking, upstanding citizens. Grandchildren are also hardworking. One grandchild (a boy) is mentally retarded. The elder Mr. Coleman is said to be devastated that the Coleman name is lost to the family. End of report. Attached to the last page was the bill for the agency's services.

  Tomorrow morning she would make a copy of the report and give it to Billie to take back to Washington. Why was it that sometimes the important things in life only came to light when it was too late? Sallie would have given up her entire fortune to find this brother.

  Fanny looked at her watch. Ten minutes to twelve. Almost the witching hour. She felt her heart take on an extra beat when the doorbell rang five minutes later. She swore her blood was singing in her veins as she ran to the door. She took a deep breath and thrust it open.

  "Daisy's sleeping with Jake. Is that okay?"

  "Sure." He's nervous and jittery. "Would you like a drink, Ash?"

  "Well sure. Scotch on the rocks. Make it a double."

  Fanny's eyebrows shot upward. Her smile was lazy when she walked over to the bar. He's afraid of me. He needs the scotch to go through with this.

  "I'm not wearing anything under this gown, Ash. It looks to me like you're . . . bundled up. How long do you think it will take you to get out of all those clothes?"

  "For God's sake, Fanny, I just got here. I need to finish my drink." Scotch dribbled down Ash's chin. Fanny tried not to smile.

  "Why don't I help you so we can move things right along here." '

  "You're taking all the ... fun out of this," Ash sputtered.

  "Do you want me to start talking dirty to you now or as you undress?" Fanny leaned over his chair and whispered in his ear. She felt the hot flush that stained his neck and his ears.

  "Where'd you learn . . . stuff like that?" Ash sputtered.

  "Just you never mind where I learned it," Fanny drawled. She whispered in his ear again. She swiveled his chair until he was facing the couch. With both hands on his shoulders she propelled him forward. He landed in an undignified heap.

  "I'm waiting," Fanny singsonged.

  "Stop rushing me."

  308 Fern Michaels

  "Are you sure you can get it up, Ash? I'm going to be really upset if you're leading me on."

  "It's up! It's up!" Ash squawked.

  "But is it hard?"

  "Like a steel rod."

  "You always used to say that and you lied. I wanna see."

  "You'll see it when I'm ready to show it to you."

  "You never used to be afraid to show it to me. You used to want me to take pictures!''

  "I'm not afraid!"

  "Then why are you undressing under the afghan?"

  "Because it's goddamn cold in nere "

  "It's 72° in here. That's warm. Very warm. Your face is flushed, the part that isn't black-and-blue." Fanny slithered around the back of the couch and leaned over. "For starters this is how it's going to be ... are you listening, Ash?" She whispered in his ea*

  "You can't possibly do that."

  "Reahy

  "Yeah, really '

  "When you're ready, you whistle, okay?" Fanny said sitting down across from the couch. She fired up a cigarette and blew a perfect smoke ring. "Is it going down or staying up?"

  "What do you think? How long is it going to take you to get out of that get-up?"

  "Blink."

  She was on top of him as the afghan flew across the room. "Are you in the spirit of things now?"

  "You said something about sizzling my socks off."

  "You want sizzle or you want a burn?" Fanny hissed in his ear, her hands everywhere.

  "Burn me, baby, burn me."

  "First we have to build the fire."

  "You need to stoke a fire.

  "No, no, that's stroke. Just do it. Ahhh."

  "You let me know when you're on fire, sweetie," Fanny said.

  "Now! I'm on fire now! This is good. This is really good. Ohhh, yeah, yeah, I'm blazing."

  "Are you an inferno yet?"

  "Almost, oh, yeah. More kindling. Stoke that fire, baby. Do it, do it, do it!"

  "Am I dead?" Ash
asked, a long time later.

  "Probably not, but you look it."

  "Where the hell did you learn stuff hke that? What'd you do, take a seminar or something?"

  "Or something," Fanny said. "Aren't you supposed to say, was it as good for you as it was for me?''

  "I don't have to ask, I know. Where'd you learn that ... you know that?"

  "I don't kiss and tell." Fanny grinned.

  "Do you know any other? You know ... different ... ah things?"

  "Why do you want to know?" Fanny drawled.

  "I just want to know. In case ..."

  "Incase what?"

  "Just in case. That's my answer."

  "Nan. That was my best shot," Fanny laughed.

  "It was a hell of a shot."

  Fanny laughed again. "I thought so. I couldn't do it again if my life depended on it."

  "Me either."

  "You up for a fried egg sandwich?"

  "Hell yes. You got any stray duds I can wear? It's a real struggle to get dressed."

  "I still have my old flannel robe."

  "It'll do."

  "I'll meet you in the kitchen. Do you want a beer or hot cocoa?''

  "Hot cocoa. It's almost like old times, isn't it, Fanny?"

  "Almost."

  310 Fern Michaels

  Over sandwiches and cocoa, Fanny and Ash talked nonstop. She showed him the report on Josh Coleman.

  "You should take Billie and go see the family. Mom would want you to do that. Take pictures, do that whole thing. More family. It's kind of wonderful if you stop and think about it."

  "Ash, Bess brought something to my attention tonight. I've been meaning to ask you about it for a long time and like Bess, I keep forgetting. Who do you write a check to every month for five thousand dollars? We need to know what to charge it against, and if you're going to keep on doing it, maybe we should set up another account."

  When Ash didn't respond, Fanny asked the question again. "Ash, did you hear me?"

  "Fanny, please don't ask me that. Let it be, okay?"

  "I can't do that, Ash, and you know why I can't do it. Is it your supplier? Who? Why can't you tell me? I won't tell anyone if it's a secret. You know you can trust me."