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Dakota Blues Box Set

Page 64

by Lynne M Spreen

“How sad.”

  “That’s what I thought, but it occurred to me that I was rattling around in my big house, all alone. One day I just kind of blurted it out, that she could come live with me.” He chuckled. “You almost never see Peggy struck mute, but there she sat, her mouth open.”

  I had to laugh. I could picture Peggy’s ancient face, the red lipstick working its way up into the crevasses around her mouth.

  “And that’s how we came to be roommates in our old age,” said Wes. “I still go to work every day, but in the evening, we have dinner together and watch TV or play poker. She’s a formidable opponent.”

  I sighed. I still hated Wes, but now not as much.

  “You don’t have to worry, Karen. We have health care people come in several times a week. One does therapy, and one helps her with her personal needs. And I’ve turned into a pretty decent cook. She especially likes it when I grill steaks out on the patio.”

  Steaks. I nodded my head like a simpleton.

  “Would you like to see her?”

  I shook my head. “I’m planning to return home tomorrow, but I’d appreciate if you’d tell her I said hi. Give her a hug from me.” I stood, feeling kind of wobbly. Who was this man? What happened to the jerk who’d punished me for resisting his advances, who’d borrowed company funds to maintain his sailboat, who’d fired employees who were old or needed health care?

  He walked me to the reception area and shook my hand again. He didn’t let go of it right away. “I have to ask,” he said. “Did everything turn out for you?”

  If he only knew all the ups and downs of my life since Global. For a brief moment, I considered making him listen, but I’d moved on.

  “Good,” I said. “Everything is good.”

  “Take care.”

  “You, too.”

  The door closed behind me, and I stood in the compression chamber, waiting for the elevator. My soul ached. I felt mortal.

  I’d grown up at Global. I’d married Steve right around the time I started working here. I’d come to this office building every day after my miscarriages, after losing my dad, and when my marriage was imploding. I’d made friends I still cared about—Peggy and Stacey and Ben, to name a few. Over the years, I’d become refined and knowledgeable and an expert in my field. I’d developed a reputation that carried over after my firing, and I’d created an entirely new business all my own, from what I learned here.

  So much history in this building.

  The elevator bell chimed, and I stepped inside. I felt the weight of grief as this chapter closed.

  I rode the elevator down, glum over everything I felt, remembered, and had learned from my visit. I was happy for Peggy, of course. But confused.

  A long time ago, Peggy told me she thought Wes wasn’t so bad, that he reminded her of her son, the one she hadn’t seen in years, who never returned her calls and wouldn’t have shared a meal if she’d been starving. Now that man was caring for her, affording her a place to grow old—older, that is. I felt less sad, thinking of how she’d landed in an exquisite house on the beach with a substitute son grilling steaks for her dinner.

  Ignoring the receptionist who was ignoring me, I crossed the lobby and pushed open the heavy glass door. The morning overcast was breaking up, and the bright blue sky began to appear around chunks of fluffy white clouds. I stood on the curb and filled my lungs with the fresh salt air of the southern California coast.

  I started the red Cadillac and put Global in my rearview mirror forever.

  AT DINNER, RITA TOLD me Heather had coded a couple of times, but last she’d checked, the girl had stabilized. As soon as we finished eating, she climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Grady followed, a folded magazine sticking out of his back pocket.

  It was too cold to sit on the patio, so I got comfortable in my room. I checked email, made some phone calls, and streamed a romantic comedy on my laptop. When the movie ended, I texted Curt.

  Are u still up?

  My phone rang.

  “They just finished loading the ship,” he said, “so it’s finally quiet. I was about to head for the sack. We leave at sunrise.” He yawned. His client operated a research vessel, and Curt would be spending part of his time in the Gulf of Mexico. “How was your day?”

  I told him everything, wrapping up with Peggy. “I wanted to see her, but didn’t want to hang around with Wes or be at his house. Too many bad feelings from the old days.”

  “You can send her an email,” he said. “She’ll understand.”

  “I will. How long will you be in Louisiana?”

  “Four or five days.”

  “Oh, good. We’ll get home around the same time.”

  There was a stretch of silence on the line. “They might want me for longer, like maybe a couple weeks,” he said.

  I sighed.

  “What about you?” he asked.

  I was thinking about heading out to Colorado but hadn’t told Rita because of the thing with Heather. Until we knew she was out of the woods, I didn’t feel like I could just come down the stairs in the morning with my suitcase, expecting a ride to the airport. “One or two more days. Then I’ll drop in on Jessie, then back to Dickinson. Hopefully you’ll get home right after me.”

  “I’ll always be after you.” His voice dropped to that sexy, rumbly pitch I loved so well.

  “You will?”

  “I will. And when I get home, want to know what I’m going to do to you?”

  “Um hmm.” I closed my eyes and let my husband talk.

  Chapter 16

  GRADY POURED ME TWO cups of coffee that morning. I thanked him, wondering if I appeared desperate for caffeine.

  “It’s for Rita.” He gave me a wry little smile. “She asked if you’d come upstairs and visit for a spell.”

  Busted for a false diagnosis, I grabbed the mugs and hurried upstairs.

  “Morning,” I called, nudging Rita’s door open with my foot. She grimaced and eased into a semi-sitting position. The covers on the other side had been hastily pulled up.

  “You’re hurting again.” I handed her a cup and sat in the wingback by the bed. Worn coasters on the nightstand bore the faded image of a bar in San Bernardino.

  “It comes and goes. I’ll be okay. But I was supposed to go to the office with Grady this morning. He’s meeting with his accountant. And with his old partner, Red.” She blew on the coffee. “I’m worried.”

  I set my coffee on the nightstand and waited.

  Rita frowned. “I’m afraid Grady will be in over his head.” Wincing, she shifted a little more.

  “Can I get you a pill or something?”

  Rita shook her head. Her skin looked dull, and her hair hung in lank strands. “I’ve taken everything I can. I just need to rest my back and not move. But there is something you could do for me. It’s kind of a big thing to ask.”

  “Fire away.” After the Heather debacle, I was eager to help.

  “Can you go to the meeting with him?”

  “Are you sure he’d want me there? We barely know each other.” In fact, I still wondered if he remembered me from hour to hour.

  “He already said it was okay.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “I know, I should have asked first,” said Rita, “but there wasn’t time. I told him you’re a retired corporate big wig and you’re smart. All you have to do is listen and take notes.”

  “This is about construction. It’s a new area for me,” I said.

  “Just back him up. Protect him.”

  I reached for my coffee, bumped the mug, and spilled a little. “From what?”

  “Red. He makes me nervous. I don’t trust him. Unfortunately, Grady does. I don’t want him taken advantage of.”

  “What’s he done to make you suspicious?”

  “Nothing for sure. It’s just a hunch. And Grady’s vulnerable.” She rubbed her temples. “I wish he would sell the business, but he loves being a part of it.”

  “All right. I’ll go.�
�� Although I was reticent, it was kind of exciting. I would see the business, which had to be impressive. It would be fun to pretend I was Grady’s secretary. And I wasn’t afraid of this Red character. In my career, I’d handled the slitheriest of snakes.

  Grady was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table when I came down.

  “Looks like we’re working together this morning,” I said, putting our mugs in the dishwasher.

  “Rita says you’re my Gal Friday.” He folded up his paper. “Rita thinks Red’s up to no good. I don’t see it, but she’s a sharp cookie and she says you are, too. So, if you bring a notepad and scribble a bit while keepin’ an eye on my partner, you might see something that spells trouble. Shiftiness. That kind of thing. Then again, maybe Rita’s imagination’s run wild.”

  “How will you explain my being there?”

  “I’ll say I’m testing you out for an office job. With any luck, they’ll ignore you.” He gave me a quirky smile. “Try not to look so pretty.”

  “Aww, Grady.” I showered and dressed in a pair of black slacks and a beige sweater. It was business-y without being too formal. I’d limited the makeup, trying not to look too pretty.

  He drove his work truck, a tricked-out crew cab with a light bar on top.

  “What’s that for?” I asked as we pulled out onto the highway.

  He glanced over at me with a grin. “Half the fun of being in construction’s the equipment.”

  Grady drove well, so I occupied myself looking out the window at the ocean. We went south on PCH to Dana Point, where he turned in to a recently-built corporate campus. His two-story office occupied the whole corner of a block of buildings. Grady strode through the door with a proprietary air. A receptionist greeted us with a smile. Employees looked up from their work to greet him. I got a good feeling from the place.

  Until we went into his private office.

  Two men waited in the conversation area across from his desk. Red was a barrel-bellied older man with a bloated face, streaky grey-blonde hair, and pale eyes. When we were introduced, he stuck out a sweaty paw and grasped my hand all the way up to my wrist. I would have had to been wearing a whalebone corset for my breasts not to jiggle.

  I loathed him instantly.

  My impression of the other man couldn’t have been more different. Brian looked to be in his late forties. He was built like an athlete, taut and controlled, and wore a light stubble on his jaw. His bicep flexed as he reached out to shake my hand. He called me “Ms. Grace,” and his grip was strong and warm.

  Grady sat behind his desk, thumbing through folders, while we took our seats across from him. I brought out my yellow legal pad and a pen.

  “You hangin’ around?” Red asked.

  “I’ll be taking notes.”

  “That won’t be any fun for you at all.” His mouth shifted in a leer. “There’s a mall right down the street. Whyn’t you go shopping while the men talk?”

  I gave him a flat smile. “I’m fine.”

  “No denyin’ that, little lady. You certainly are.” The creep seemed to be speaking to my breasts.

  Brian shook his head. “Dude, not cool.”

  Grady looked up from his reading. “Get off it, Red. She stays.”

  “Fine.” Red held up both hands in surrender.

  I looked down at my tablet to hide the disgust I felt.

  Grady got up with his folders and came around to sit with us. “Let’s get started. Red, you want to report on Hillford Center? How’s that going?”

  “Just dandy.” Red updated us. Hillford was the project closest to completion, but there were half a dozen more. Grady asked specific questions, some of which Red answered with smoke-up-your-skirt generalities, so I wrote those down for future reference. Brian shared his latest developments on finance and capital, which I found interesting, even as a neophyte. Over the next hour, I learned a lot about property development and took several pages of notes. Grady seemed happy. He was in his element, and I hoped he could continue for a few more years, at least.

  Then Red started pushing to buy in on a new project, a high-rise office building in Irvine.

  “This is the first I’ve heard of it,” said Grady.

  Red’s eyebrows rose. “We talked about it last month, right here in this office.”

  Grady looked down at his files. He was quiet for a full minute. “I don’t remember that.”

  “We sure did. Talked it all out. You were in favor. It must’ve slipped your mind.”

  Grady continued to stare at Red. I couldn’t tell if he was confused or pissed off. Seconds ticked away. My discomfort grew.

  Brian had been flipping through his notes. Now he tossed his legal pad on the table. “I don’t remember, either.” He looked at Red. “Unless you had some kind of private conversation with Grady when I was gone. Which we agreed not to do.”

  “Hell, I don’t know when it happened, or who was there.” Red looked from one to the other.

  “Maybe nobody was there, and you’re just trying to confuse things,” said Brian.

  “That’s a crock ‘a shit. Grady said he liked the idea, and that I should go ahead. So I did and now the seller’s waitin’ on us. We can’t just sit around pickin’ our noses. We gotta fish or cut bait.”

  All eyes were on Grady. “I don’t think—” He fell silent. Outside his door, we heard the rise and fall of employee voices and the distant ring of a telephone. Our eyes met. His held confusion.

  I turned to Brian. “Given the significance of this issue, would you like to express your recommendations for the record?” I clicked my pen. It sounded loud in that quiet room.

  “Good idea.” Brian nodded. “Here’s my take. We have enough commitments already. I say we ask legal to look into this and see if we can get out of the Irvine project without major financial repercussions.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Red sputtered.

  “Brian’s right,” said Grady. “Let’s focus on what we already got goin’. You can tell the seller we changed our mind.”

  “For cryin’ out loud—”

  “And that’s final. Anything else?”

  Red shot an angry look at Brian. “Thanks for nothin’, Candy Ass.”

  Brian snapped his briefcase shut.

  “Gentlemen, thank you.” Grady stood up and looked at me. He blinked as if remembering I was there. Then he grinned. “Let’s go report to the boss.”

  Red mumbled something on the way out. All I heard was pussy-whipped.

  Grady didn’t seem to notice.

  “I need to make a pit stop,” I said. “I’ll meet you at the truck.” The receptionist showed me to the ladies’ room down the hall. When I came out, Brian, standing a discreet distance away, was waiting for me.

  “Hey, Karen. Good job in there.” He held out an envelope. “Would you mind giving this to Rita?”

  “Not at all.” I tucked it in my purse, taking a long time to do so. I don’t know what came over me, but I wanted to prolong that little encounter, innocent as it was. The guy radiated heat, and I just wanted to bask in it for a minute.

  “Can I walk you out?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  “I heard Rita’s on the DL,” he said. “Is she okay?”

  “It’s her back.”

  “Again?”

  I wondered how he knew. “Yes, but she’s icing it and resting.”

  He held the door open for me. As I passed his broad chest, I caught the fragrance of sandalwood.

  Chapter 17

  RITA TORE OPEN THE envelope, read the note, and frowned. “Red’s stealing from us.”

  We were sitting in the alcove overlooking the ocean. She had showered and changed into sweatpants and a tee shirt, but still walked with a hitch.

  When she dialed Brian’s number, he answered right away.

  “I got your note,” Rita said. “Yes. I know. Absolutely, today. Lunch, the usual place. See you then.” She hung up.

  I raised an eyebrow. “The usual place?�
��

  “We’ve had lunch a few times.” Rita blushed. “He’s a friend, that’s it. I don’t have any room in my life for foolishness.”

  “He’s easy on the eyes, though.”

  "I hadn’t noticed.”

  “Me, neither.” I smiled at her, and she smiled. “He’s bringing the books, to show me exactly what Red’s been doing. I’ll have to tell Grady. That’ll be tough. They’ve been friends since they were boys in Oklahoma.”

  “I’m sorry you have to deal with this.” We sat in silence, lost in thought. For me, it was about time and friendship, how a good relationship can falter.

  “It’s not the first time. Brian and I have been running the business under the radar for a couple of years now. Red suspects and he’s pissed off at us about it. Probably thinks I’m having an affair with Brian.”

  “And Grady knows nothing?”

  Rita scrubbed at her face. “He’s suspicious, too. Not about Brian and me romantically, but about the business. Grady likes to feel like the boss, the big man, and I don’t want to take that from him. At the same time, somebody has to make decisions.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier if you and Grady were married?”

  “It would.” Rita looked out the window at the ocean, where a heavy gray sky hung over the water.

  “Then—”

  “I love Grady, but only as a dear friend.”

  I glanced over at the bed they obviously shared.

  She followed my glance. “He has health problems. But even if he could...for me, there’s no desire. We sleep next to each other. It’s comforting, and I treasure him. We’re the best of friends, but we’re not lovers.”

  Rita was a healthy middle-aged woman. I couldn’t imagine deciding to live this way, but maybe the assault wounded her so deeply this was where she found peace.

  “It’s fine,” she said. “We have everything but that.”

  “He does seem like good company. He’s funny and charming, he cares about you. At the meeting, I saw that he was well-thought of, and he was pretty much on top of things.” Until he forgot who I was.

  “If we married, he’d have companionship, and I’d have material wealth. But we have that now, so the only reason would be for some legal issue.”

 

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