But beneath Christina’s scrutiny, she wasn’t nearly as confident as she had been walking out of the ladies’ room. She cleared her throat and tried to sound as innocent as possible as she asked, “What?”
“You’re glowing,” Christina declared. She narrowed her eyes as if to make sure they weren’t playing tricks on her. “My God, you’re glowing.” She shut the door to her office so that no one else could overhear. There was more than a little disbelief as well as curiosity on her face.
“I was half out of my mind when I realized that the power failure hit just as you were probably on your way up. That you were most likely stuck in the elevator. I tried to reach you on your cell and when mine said the signal wasn’t getting through, I just knew you were in one of the elevators. I felt so guilty and so bad for you.”
“Guilty?”
“Because you were coming to see me. But you’re glowing,” she repeated in awe.
“Well, it was pretty awful,” Gloria said. At least in the beginning.
Christina circled her slowly, taking in every angle. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. “Then why aren’t you ghostly pale?” she challenged, sounding every bit like an interrogator.
Gloria could feel her cheeks burning. But there was no way she was going to tell Christina what had happened. Not after the way she’d carried on about how they all had to swear off men for their lives to get back on track.
She raised her chin slightly. “I just walked up five fights of stairs. That usually gets people flushed.”
Christina read the body language. Despite the years they’d spent apart, she was still familiar with Gloria’s moves.
“Flushed, yes,” she emphasized pointedly, “but not glowing.” She fixed her younger sister with a penetrating look that had edged out the relieved expression she’d been wearing only seconds ago. “Okay, give. What’s going on?”
Gloria shifted slightly. Along with gaining sobriety, leaving the shadowy world of alcohol had caused her to lose her ability to lie successfully. She gave it a shot anyway. “Maybe I’m outgrowing my claustrophobia.”
Christina eyed her closely. “And maybe there’s another explanation.”
“Like what?” she asked innocently.
“Like a man. Were you alone in the elevator?”
She was about to say no, but what if Jack told his father that he’d ridden up with her? She knew he wouldn’t give Patrick Fortune any explicit details, but still, that would place her in the middle of a lie. She decided to go with the truth, at least partially.
“No, I wasn’t.”
Like Sherlock Holmes discovering the all-important clue, Christina’s face lit up. “Aha.”
“No ‘aha,’ Tina. I was in the elevator with Jack Fortune. You know what I think of him.”
Christina was silent for a moment. “Do you remember reading Macbeth in college?”
Gloria shook her head. She didn’t like the tone of Christina’s voice. Or where this conversation was heading. “Nope, sorry, except for my major, college was pretty much a blur.”
“There’s a line in it about Lady Macbeth. Something about the lady protesting too much.”
Gloria pretended that the line—and the insinuation—meant nothing to her. “I guess I’ll have to read it sometime.”
“Yes,” Christina agreed. “You will.”
“Let’s go to lunch,” Gloria urged, wanting to get her sister onto a different topic. “I’m starved.”
Christina retrieved her purse out of a drawer. “Okay, let’s go catch an elevator.”
Just that word brought back all the intimate details of her ride with Jack, and she felt herself blush.
Gloria stared at her watch. It felt as if the minute hand was glued in place, only moving when she looked away. But it was moving. Moving beyond the time that Jack had told her he would be by.
For their meeting. For his watch.
It was Tuesday. Where was he? He was far too controlled to be late, and yet, here he was, late.
Or not coming at all.
She walked around the showroom, annoyance and confusion marking her every step. If he wasn’t coming, why hadn’t he called?
Turning, she reached for the phone behind the counter, then dropped her hand. It wasn’t her place to call him. He’d been the one to arrange the time and the day. He was the one who wasn’t here. That meant it was up to him to call, not her.
Frustration nibbled away at her as she continued to roam restlessly.
Gone were the drop cloths, the telltale signs of a shop in transition. The glass displays were all in place, sparkling and ready, their virgin shelves waiting to make first contact with the unique pieces of jewelry she was going to display.
The store was only a few days away from opening. Trying desperately not to dwell on the feelings that had been awakened in that dim elevator car, she’d pushed herself hard to get the shop ready. It had involved calling in favors from previous connections she’d made, pleading with carpet layers, glass cutters, a whole host of people she’d needed to get the place in order. All of her design equipment had been delivered late last night. The safe she’d had put in the day after her elevator encounter now housed the precious gems she had at her disposal.
The security system had cost extra because she’d asked for it to be installed immediately. But the gems were safe. Everything here was state-of-the-art.
She was exhausted, hardly getting five hours of sleep a night, but it was all worth it, every hour, every inconvenience. She was ready.
Gloria looked at her watch again, muttering under her breath. Where was he?
She’d wanted to show Jack everything, to prove to him that she was every bit as savvy a business person as he was. She wanted to impress him, she thought ruefully. Like some young teenage girl showing off for the guy who’d caught her attention. Who’d made her heart race.
Gloria clenched her hands, digging her nails into her palms as she paced, her eyes never far from the glass doors. Waiting for a knock.
Damn it, she was a grown woman, thoughts about impressing men didn’t belong in her head.
They weren’t in her head, she thought, fighting off mounting despair, they were in her heart and that was the problem.
She’d allowed him to get to her.
What the hell was wrong with her? Didn’t she realize where things like that led? Nowhere. Not for her, at least. What did she expect, anyway? Violins? Undying love because they’d made love in an elevator? Even if they had connected, he was only here temporarily. Everything about him told her he was itching to get back home, back to New York.
Home for her was here. She knew that now. They were from two different worlds. Just because she still believed in happy endings didn’t mean they were destined to come true. It just meant that she was still harboring illusions.
No, delusions.
She curbed the urge to throw Jack’s watch across the showroom, smashing it against the opposite wall. That would be childish and it wouldn’t change anything. Even though it probably would make her feel better for a couple of minutes.
Squaring her shoulders, she returned the repaired watch to the box she’d kept it in.
At that very moment Jack was sitting in an office clear across town, frowning at his reflection in the window.
He knew he was supposed to be at the mall, with Gloria, but somehow he couldn’t make himself get up out of the chair. Hadn’t been able to get up for over an hour now.
Okay, so he was a coward, Jack thought. But even Navy SEALs didn’t risk their lives until they knew the lay of the land and what they were getting into. And he had no idea what he was getting into, except that what he had felt in that elevator last week had really scared the hell out of him.
What he’d felt for Gloria Mendoza was too much like the emotion he’d buried along with Ann all those years ago. He didn’t want to have those feelings again, didn’t want to get involved again.
Besides, the woman was clearly a handful. H
e liked being in control and he hadn’t been, not that day. Not of the situation, not even of himself. It had felt as if all systems were go and he had no idea where it was that they were going. Only that he was hanging on for dear life.
He stared at the phone on the desk. He should at least call, he told himself.
His hand remained still.
He didn’t like this side of him. He’d never fled from a fight in his life, but hell, fights he could handle with aplomb, it was the non-fighting part of this that had him stymied.
There was no future in any of this, he insisted silently. The woman drank, just like Ann had. And, just like Ann, she might wind up killing herself. He couldn’t live through something like that. Not again.
Besides, he was going back to New York in a couple of weeks. Sooner if he could convince his father that he wasn’t needed here any longer.
Why the man had had him come out in the first place was still a mystery. After all, his father had seemed pretty certain of the woman’s business acumen. Had sung her praises whenever the opportunity arose.
What the hell did his father need him for?
There were a myriad of questions assaulting him and absolutely no answers.
Chapter Thirteen
Gloria was across the room when the phone in the showroom finally rang.
For the past hour she’d been attempting to convince herself that she didn’t care one way or another if Jack called. She’d pretended to be distracted with setting up several pieces of new equipment in the back office. But the second the phone rang, she’d raced to answer it, all the while wondering why he hadn’t tried to contact her on her cell. Was the battery running low?
“Hello?” She covered the mouthpiece so Jack couldn’t hear her breathing hard.
His deep voice resonated in her ear. “I’m not going to make the appointment.”
There wasn’t a single note of apology in the statement, nothing. Gloria’s back went up. She felt like an idiot, watching the clock and waiting for him. Once an idiot, always an idiot, a small voice taunted her.
“I kind of figured that out on my own, seeing as how you said ten and it’s after twelve now.”
“There’s a lot of traffic on the road.”
Didn’t she even merit something a little more inventive than that excuse?
“I suppose there would have to be, considering that there are several ways to get here.” She reined in her temper, but it wasn’t easy. Did he think she was a fool? “How long do you think the traffic is going to continue?” she asked sarcastically.
There was a pause on the other end, as if he was thinking over her question. Or fabricating an answer. “Can’t really say. Why don’t we just cancel?”
She felt something freeze in her heart. “Today or forever?”
“What?”
She couldn’t tell whether he hadn’t heard her or was annoyed with her question. Either way, she didn’t feel like repeating herself. “Never mind.” She stared at the box in front of her on the counter. “I’ve fixed your watch,” she reminded him.
“Fine.” He sounded distracted, as if this was difficult for him. Did he have trouble lying to her because he cared or because he lacked creativity? “I’ll get back to you on that.”
“Fine,” she echoed.
But it wasn’t. It wasn’t fine at all. It was incredibly painful.
He’d hung up and she found herself listening to a dial tone.
Wanting to strangle him.
The man was running, she thought. Running for his life.
She dropped the receiver into the cradle. Boy, she could sure pick ’em, couldn’t she? Gloria shoved the watch away from her before she was tempted to drop it on the floor.
When was she going to learn? She’d allowed herself to climb out on that limb again, the one that left her vulnerable and exposed, and for what? For a man who was obviously scared out of his mind by the idea of commitment. She wouldn’t have thought that of him, but there it was, he was trying to pull off a vanishing act.
“Okay,” she murmured to the telephone. “I’m going to make this really easy for you, Jack.”
Picking up the receiver, she began to dial another number.
Patrick Fortune thoughtfully regarded the young woman walking into his office that Tuesday afternoon. She looked pale, but other than that, even more exceptional than the last time he had seen her. There was a fire in her eyes that had been missing then. He wondered if it had to do with his son. He certainly hoped so.
“I’ll call you back, dear,” he told his wife. “Yes, I love you, too.”
Hearing him, Gloria found herself wishing that Jack had taken after his father in the most important things.
Patrick gestured to the antique chair in front of his desk. “Take a seat,” he invited, then peered more closely at her. “You look a little pale, Gloria, would you like some water?”
“No, thank you. It was just the ride up in the elevator,” she explained.
Although, if she were being honest, she’d have to admit that she’d been feeling out of sync before she’d even set foot in it. She blamed it on Jack. He’d thrown her entire system off ever since the elevator incident.
With the carelessness of a man who was accustomed to being the center of female attention, he’d wantonly yanked her into a space where she was utterly vulnerable, dreaming dreams that would never come true.
Patrick filled in what he felt she’d left unsaid. “Afraid of another blackout? I assure you that it’s not going to happen again. I’ve seen to it that we have a new, state-of-the-art generator as backup, the kind they use in hospitals.” He studied her expression for a moment. “But you don’t really care about that, do you, Gloria?”
“No, sir.” She took the box that contained Jack’s watch out of her purse and placed it on the desk. She saw Patrick eyeing it, though he made no attempt to reach for the box. “I was wondering if you could do me two favors. First, would you please give this to Jack?” She pushed the box farther toward him.
Patrick raised a brow and Gloria nodded, silently permitting him to open the box. A quizzical expression came over his face. “This is his grandfather’s watch.” He knew how much the watch meant to his son. Had Jack given it to her as some kind of token of his affection? Was she breaking it off between them now for some reason?
“I know,” she acknowledged. “He told me. I replaced the crystal for him. It broke,” she tagged on, hoping Jack’s father wouldn’t think to ask how his son had come to break it.
It was obvious that he still didn’t understand why she was asking him to act as a go-between. “Why don’t you give it to him yourself?”
Okay, here we go. “That’s the second favor. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, I really do, but if you don’t mind, I’d rather go it alone from here on in. Meaning, without Jack,” she added in case he thought she was turning down his generous loan, as well. “I have enough business experience—”
“No one’s doubting that, Gloria. I just wanted to take some of the burden off your shoulders.”
She sat up a little straighter. “My shoulders are fine, sir. They’re stronger than they look.”
A smile curved his thin lips. “Yes, I know.” When she looked at him, a confused expression on her beautiful face, he explained, “Your mother’s been filling me in a little about what you’ve gone through. And how you fought your way back. It couldn’t have been easy.” He looked genuinely impressed. “You’re to be commended.”
Gloria looked down at her hands. “Thank you,” she murmured, embarrassed. And then she realized that Patrick had given her the perfect way out. “So you understand, I want to do this my way.”
He understood more than she thought. Patrick shook his head. “Been giving you trouble, has he?”
She began to protest, then thought there was no sense in it. The man could probably see right through her. “Yes.”
Patrick laughed softly to himself. “He’s very stubborn. I’m afraid h
e gets that from me.”
The difference was, when Jack’s father was being stubborn, he made you think it was your idea and not his that he was sponsoring. A rueful smile slid across her lips. “Someone forgot to give him your charm.”
The compliment brought a smile to his eyes.
Patrick could already envision the young jeweler as his daughter-in-law. The more he saw her, the more he learned about her, the more convinced he was that Gloria was just the kind of woman Jack needed in his life. His equal, an independent woman who could stand on her own two feet and yet could complete a union by her very presence. In a way, she reminded him a little of his own wife, Lacey. Jack could do a lot worse.
His smile was warm as he regarded her. He’d been flattered by the best. But in this case, she sounded sincere. “Exercising a little of your own charm right now, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t know about that, I just—” She stopped abruptly as she saw Patrick Fortune raise his eyes to look at someone behind her. Shifting in her seat, for a split second she felt just the slightest bit dizzy. What she saw didn’t help any. Her eyes narrowed. “Traffic clear up for you?”
“‘Traffic’?” Patrick echoed, looking from one to the other for an explanation. The expressway beyond his window was moving rapidly without a mishap in sight.
“Yes.” She never took her eyes off Jack. “He missed our appointment this morning because he said there was too much traffic.”
Now things were starting to make sense, Patrick thought. Right now, he was standing hip-deep in the middle of a lovers’ quarrel and if he didn’t leave quickly, he might be hit in the crossfire.
Rising, he addressed his son although he was nodding at Gloria. “Gloria came to me, asking that you be removed as adviser.” He wasn’t about to cite her reasons. “I’ll let the two of you sort this out.”
Removed as adviser. It was exactly what he wanted, exactly what he’d come by to propose—again—to his father. But the fact that she had asked for it stung, wounding his male pride.
Fortune's Heirs: Reunion Page 14