“Literally word for word,” Lace said, grinning.
Claire’s whole face was turning red, and she hid, with her head half-ducked, behind her hair. “You guys are so embarrassing.”
“So how about you give me your number?” Lace said, leaning up onto the table with her elbows, her phone clutched in her hands. “And I’ll give it to Claire when you’re not around. Then she won’t have to be embarrassed.”
Katie giggled though Claire looked like she could easily commit homicide right there at the Thanksgiving table.
Ben chuckled, not a flush in sight. “All right. You ready?”
“So ready,” Lace said, enjoying herself a little too much in Katie’s opinion. But Ben rattled off his number, and Lace grinned at him like they might be going out later. The conversation flowed from there to other things, and Lace asked when Heather’s art exhibit would be.
“It’s during the Christmas festival,” Katie said. “I think it’s December ninth to the eleventh. It’s just three days.” She glanced at Theo. “I think we’re going on Friday night.”
“Yeah, the first day,” he said. “We can’t miss Heather’s painting.”
Warmth filled Katie over and over again until she was sure she could’ve roasted a turkey with only her body. When dinner was over, she snuggled with Theo in the shade, hopeful that this would be the first of many holidays with him.
Sixteen
Theo worked nearly non-stop for the next couple of weeks. The scandal in Boston had faded, but it hadn’t gone away completely. The woman still hadn’t filed any charges against Singles Network, but she had pressed charges against the man she’d met for coffee.
Ben kept telling him that that was exactly what she should’ve done. Held the individual who did the crime responsible. Not the company who’d developed the app. Theo agreed, but he still didn’t feel like the situation was resolved.
Things with Katie had improved, but he was so busy he rarely saw her for more than a few hours a week on Sunday afternoon. She didn’t seem bothered by the limited attention from him, but of course, he hadn’t known why she’d gone dark back when he’d missed their meeting.
He was trying, but there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to do everything. He had to eat, shower, work out, make phone calls, send emails, meet with clients, and develop websites and apps. It was difficult to add Katie and Heather to that equation, though they were who he wanted to be spending his mental energy on and his time with.
The Sunday before the Christmas festival, he spent the afternoon helping Heather and Katie decorate their Christmas tree. Heather bubbled on about the festival, and how she couldn’t wait to see all the paintings. He learned the festival sort of echoed the State Fair in that ribbons would be awarded in some categories. Baking, quilting, painting, photography, and more. And Heather had entered in both painting and baking.
“What did you make?” he asked her.
“Sourdough bread,” she said. “The starter is really tricky.”
“I don’t even know what that means,” he said, glancing at Katie, who seemed to be wearing a perpetual smile today.
“It’s the mixture you use to host the yeast,” Heather said. “That starter and yeast is what makes the sourdough sour when other breads aren’t.”
Theo blinked at her. “You win for knowing that,” he said.
Heather smiled at him. “My grandma taught me that.”
“Oh?” Theo’s eyes flew to Katie’s, noting that her smile had slipped a bit.
“Yeah, she visited us for a few weeks before we moved here,” Heather said as if she hadn’t noticed her mother’s mood shift. “I text her sometimes to ask questions. Mom says she was a great baker.”
“She is,” Katie said, hanging another ornament.
Theo kept slipping the hooks through the balls and handing them to Heather to hang. In no time at all, the tree was done, and he stood back with Katie and Heather to admire it. He had a flash of what his future could be, right here in this house, with these two. And he wanted it very much.
They spent the rest of the day curled up inside, something playing on the TV. When it was time for Theo to go, he kissed Katie and hugged Heather, saying, “I’ll see you guys on Friday.”
The next morning, Ben entered the office with a piece of paper in his hand. “What’s that?” Theo asked dubiously. Ben never entered a room empty-handed, but Theo liked the muffins, bagels, or doughnuts he usually brought much better than a piece of paper.
Ben grinned as he set the paper on Theo’s desk and slid it toward him. Theo reached between his monitors and brought it closer. “What is this?” He scanned the top of the page, which was their standard pre-signing notice.
“You’re joking.” His heart started pumping out extra beats, and he sank back in his chair. “You got The Grocery Guys.”
“They want an app that includes online ordering as well as delivery options.” Ben sat across from him, and Theo pushed down his monitor so he could see over it. “I think we should give it to a different team,” he said, turning serious.
“Here?” Theo asked. “Or in Dallas.”
“No matter what, it’s time to hire more people,” Ben said. “They’re already drowning in Dallas, and there’s no way we can handle Gladstone, Island Airways, and The Grocery Guys.”
“Fisher’s handy with computer science,” Theo mused. “I wonder if he’d know anyone in the Getaway Bay area. We have room here for more people.”
“It would be good to expand outside of Texas.” Ben shrugged, though he’d said the same thing in the past.
“Let’s start that process.” Theo pulled out his phone. “I’ll text Fisher.” Ten minutes later, he had a meeting with the man in his penthouse on the twenty-eighth floor at Sweet Breeze for the following morning.
As Theo approached the door the next day, his nerves made him stop and pull a mint from his pocket. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous to talk to Fisher. He’d known the man for a while, and he’d come to lots of Nine-0 Club meetings over the months he’d been in Getaway Bay.
He knocked and waited, surprised when Fisher himself opened the door wearing a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, and an apron around his waist. “Come in,” he said. “I’m trying to feed the baby.”
Theo blinked at Fisher’s retreating back and then entered the penthouse. This looked like a home, where people lived and enjoyed each other’s company. A little boy played in the living room, making noises as he ran a truck along a very expensive-looking couch. “Say hi, Micah.”
“Hi,” the little boy said.
“And this one.” Fisher sighed and looked down at the other child in the highchair. “He’s decided he doesn’t like vegetables. He’s barely one.” Fisher took the chair in front of the baby boy and picked up the spoon. “Look, bud, I don’t care if you eat them. But it makes Mom happy, okay? So open up.”
The boy didn’t open his mouth, and Fisher gave up. “Fine. But you’re telling her.” He stood and went into the kitchen, where he washed his hands and wrung out a washcloth. He cleaned up the baby and got him out of the chair. “Go play.”
The baby toddled off, falling after a couple of steps. Theo had no idea what to do with small children—or this version of Fisher.
“So, you need more people?” Fisher asked. “Coding experts?”
“Preferably,” Theo said. “We’re doing high-end website and app development for big players in their industries. They set the standard. When people see their apps, they want to emulate them.”
“Then you want Jack Harper,” Fisher said. “He lives up on the bluff, and he’s mostly a hacker.”
Theo frowned and moved over to the dining room table with Fisher. “A hacker?”
“He’s retired from the FBI,” Fisher said, pulling out his phone. “Let me text him.”
“How do you know him?”
“Oh, Jason does some private contracting with the police sometimes,” Fisher said like it was no big deal. “He knew him,
and I met him once at a dinner at their house.”
“Hm.” Theo waited, wondering if that was who he really wanted to build an app for someone who wanted to deliver organic groceries in sixteen cities around the country.
“He says he’s coming down to town on Friday.” Fisher shook his head and chuckled softly. “He’s such a strange guy. Only leaves his house once a week.” He glanced up at Theo. “So is Friday okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” Theo said. “Wait. What time?”
Fisher glanced up at him. “Jack doesn’t schedule times. He shows up when he shows up.”
Theo shook his head. “What? Why?”
“He doesn’t want anyone to know where he’s going to be at a specific time. He rotates which days he comes down to town, never sticking to the same schedule when he does.” Fisher started tapping on his phone. “I told you, he’s a bit odd.”
“But he can work full-time on extravagant apps?” Theo asked. “I don’t know, Fisher….”
“Oh, he’s glued to the Internet,” Fisher said. “And his devices.” He turned his phone so Theo could see that Jack had texted Fisher at least four times in the last twenty seconds they’d been talking about the man. “See? He’ll get the job done. And he’s good.”
“Fine, tell him yes.” Theo needed someone to get the job done, and he needed someone good. He could still get to the Christmas festival. He could.
The hours and days blurred together until Friday arrived, and even then, he was in a mad rush to finish one of the features in the Gladstone app before Lawrence stopped by to see the progress.
Lawrence played with the app, asking questions and requesting new features as well as changes to the ones Theo had already coded. “It’s not that simple,” he said. “You think I can just put a box there, but that’s a whole new level of code.”
Lawrence looked at him, his face full of seriousness. “Can you do it?”
“Of course I can do it,” Theo said. “But it’s a week’s worth of work, not something I run in and change few letters around and have you try it while you’re here.” Most people didn’t get that about computer science. They thought it was so simple to add things to forms or options to lists or for just this one thing to appear. But it took new code, testing, trial and error, and sometimes Theo would have to scrap everything he’d done and start over.
“I’m not in a hurry,” Lawrence said. “I’d like the option of my business customers to be able to use a regular version of the app.”
“No problem,” Theo said, glancing at the clock. Jack hadn’t shown up yet, and he’d been working with Lawrence for a couple of hours. They finished up shortly after that, and Theo sighed as the office became his again. Ben had taken off early so he could call his mother and then go meet Claire for dinner.
His phone buzzed, and he hoped with everything in him that it was Jack, saying he was on his way up. But it was Fisher, and it was an address. Another message came in that said, Jack wants you to go up to his place. He didn’t come down today after all. Something about someone watching the house.
Theo didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his keys and headed for the door. The Grocery Guys had not officially signed, as they wanted a dedicated team of developers in place before they did. While Lawrence was not in a hurry for his app to be done, The Grocery Guys were. Apparently, their biggest competitor already had an app, and they were playing catch-up.
He drove through downtown, cursing the Friday afternoon traffic. Once he got on the road that led up to the bluffs, things got better, and he pushed his car to several miles above the speed limit. After all, the sooner he got to Jack’s, the quicker he could get back.
He pulled in to the specified driveway and peered up at the gate. He couldn’t even see a house, so how in the world would someone be watching it? Theo pressed the buzzer and waited.
“Name,” someone barked.
He gave his whole name, adding, “Fisher DuPont sent me up to talk to you about app development?”
The gate rumbled open, and it seemed like it needed a new motor, because it took forever. By the time Theo got through and down to the house and up to the front door, at least five minutes had passed.
An older gentleman with white hair opened the door. At least Theo knew what he had to look forward to. “Are you Jack?” he asked.
“Yes.” The man glanced over Theo’s shoulder. “Come in.” He stepped back and Theo entered the house.
Jack did not need a maid, and the fresh scent of lemons hung in the air. “This way.” He led Theo to the right and then left down a hall to an office. The room was drenched in darkness, and when Jack shuffled over to the windows and opened the blinds, Theo saw the command center where the man surely spent most of his time.
This room could definitely use a good cleaning, but Theo could appreciate the four screens, two on each side of the luxury desk chair. Three used coffee cups sat on the edge of the desk, behind the monitors, and the books in the built-in shelves were only collecting dust.
“Tell me about your business,” Jack said, and Theo had the distinct impression that he was the one giving the interview that day. So he sat in the only other available chair and started talking about the web and app development arm of his company.
“You’d specifically be working with The Grocery Guys,” he said, swiping open his phone and pulling up their current website. “They want to add online and mobile ordering, as well as instant delivery options.” He passed his phone to the other man. “They need a lot of attention, and they want their app done as soon as possible.”
Jack looked at the phone for a few moments, pulling the screen down as he scrolled. “Let me show you something, son.” Jack set the phone on his desk and gestured for Theo to come around to the other side.
Son rang through Theo’s ears. He was almost fifty years old, for crying out loud. True, Jack probably had fifteen years on him. Maybe twenty. But son? Still, he obliged without saying anything, and looked at the monitors in front of Jack.
“This is a project I’ve been working on for a while.” Jack launched into a story about a man that he’d spent a decade looking for. He now had websites and databases he cultivated from old FBI files, and every time Theo thought he might be able to interject and say he had to go, Jack would start a new story.
And his phone sat so close and yet so far away. Three feet, on the other side of Jack’s body, so Theo couldn’t just grab it and text anyone for help.
All he could do was pray that someone, somewhere, would know of his predicament and come save him.
Seventeen
“Mom, we’re going to be late.” Heather stood at the front door, wearing her bright blue dress, her hair all plaited and ready to go.
“I know.” Katie looked at her phone. She’d sent half a dozen messages to Theo, and he hadn’t responded once.
“Is he coming?” Heather asked.
Katie couldn’t stand to see her daughter disappointed. She’d worked so hard for this night, spending every day after school with Tina as she finished her painting. She’d delivered it on Monday, according to the schedule, and she was practically bursting to find out if she’d earned a ribbon or not.
“Remember that you did your best,” Katie said, collecting her keys and purse and starting for the front door too. “You can’t control anything other than that.”
“I know, Mom.” Heather smiled up at her. “Is Theo coming?” So much anxiety ran through her daughter’s expression.
Katie said, “He’s going to meet us there.” Instant regret stung her lungs, but she couldn’t stand to see Heather upset before they’d even gotten to the festival. “Claire and Ben are already there,” she added. “And Lace is going tomorrow after her jobs.” She put her arm around Heather and opened the front door. “So let’s go. I’ve been ready forever.”
“Mom.” Heather rolled her eyes and went first down the steps. Katie watched her, offering a silent prayer that she would at least have a third place ribbon. An honorable mentio
n. Something. Anything.
The drive over to the community center seemed to take no time at all, and still Theo hadn’t texted. Katie put her arm protectively around Heather as they walked in.
“There she is,” Claire said brightly, focusing only on Heather. She hugged her and said, “We waited for you guys, so we haven’t seen it yet.”
Katie positioned herself next to Ben as they started walking toward the entrance to the exhibits. “Where’s Theo?” she hissed through clenched teeth. She could not imagine a single scenario where he would be unable to be here. Not one—unless he’d chosen something else, deemed it more important, over this festival.
But how could he do that when he knew how important it was to Heather?
“I don’t know,” Ben said. “He had a meeting with someone this afternoon, but it should’ve ended by now.” He pulled out his phone. “Let me call him.” He stepped away, and Katie fell back too.
“Just a minute,” she called to Claire and Heather, and they turned back to her. “Ben’s calling Theo.” Her blood boiled through her veins, and it was so uncomfortable Katie wanted to scream. Anger, bitterness, frustration, and anxiety frothed together, making a very big mess inside her.
“He’s not answering,” Ben said. “Which is so unusual. Something must be wrong.”
Katie could only nod. “Well, we’ve waited long enough.” He was supposed to meet them at their house thirty minutes ago, and with the drive, he was easily forty-five minutes late. “Let’s go.”
“But I want Theo to see it,” Heather whined, already the beginning of her breakdown happening.
“The festival goes for two more days, hon,” Claire said. “Come on. Let’s go see it. Don’t you want to see if you got a ribbon?” She looked at Katie, who mouthed a silent Thank you, and got Heather moving toward the entrance.
They wandered the quilts, pointing out the intricate patterns in the winning creation. Onto the baked goods, and Heather had a bright white ribbon on her loaf of sourdough bread.
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