“You and Kelly need to eat and I cooked.” Plopping down next to her, he rubbed her back as she leaned forward, her head in her hands. “But more importantly you need to relax.”
She popped up straight, looking his way. “How can I relax with all this going on?”
“I know it’s not easy.” His palm moved smoothly down her back, kneading the tight, sore muscles. “But there’s nothing you can do tonight to solve anything.”
She jumped up. “There must be something I should be doing.”
“No there isn’t.” He caught her leg and tugged her back. “Sit and talk while the girls are in the back for a few minutes.”
When the phone rang, he dropped his hand from her thigh and reached around her for his phone.
“Hello, Mother.”
Allison sank to the floor and flipped through the magazines as he talked. Sports, Investing, Men’s Health, Boating. On the bottom of the stack lay a book - “Understanding Control Freaks.”
Why did he need this? Her heart pumped faster. Did he think she was a control freak? She shoved it back under the stack.
“I told you I don’t know about Christmas yet.” His voice bristled with anger.
“She’s fine. Yes, she’s very nice and liked you too.” He nodded to Allison.
His parents. That’s probably why he’s reading the book. Or maybe even a client. It couldn’t be her. She glanced back at the pile of magazines that he’d placed on top of the book. Could it?
“I don’t know, but you’ll be the first to know if we decide anything. I’m thinking of Caroline, too.”
What’s he talking about? If who decides anything? She and Brett? Brett and Caroline?
“Dad.” His face blanched and he leapt off the couch, stepping over her legs. “I told you I didn’t need any help. I wish you hadn’t done that.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I need to go now. Tell mother I’ll talk to her soon. Good-bye.”
He threw the phone down on the chair. “Damnmit. Why can’t they let me run my own life?”
He spun around, a vein pulsing across his forehead. “My father ran into a friend of his at the golf course who knows someone down here. He suggested I call him for advice. To help me with my business plan. Maybe even get me a loan. Damn.”
He shoved a clenched fist into the open palm of his other hand with a loud smack. “Why can’t they let me do things at my own speed? Just because I have the rest of my life detailed out to each minute they think I don’t have a clue. I am sick of living like that. Can’t they see that? I don’t want that.”
This wasn’t good. This definitely was not good.
As Allison hopped to her feet, she tripped over the magazines and scattered them, the “Control Freak” book now exposed and staring at her, the light bouncing off the shiny book jacket.
“I need to go, Brett. I think we’ve all had an emotional weekend and need some rest.”
He dropped his head back. “I’m sorry for the outburst. You see me at my worst around my parents.”
“It’s okay.” She ran to the door and yelled down the hall. “Come on Kelly. I forgot something I need to do before tomorrow.”
Brett followed her. “You don’t need to run, Allison. We haven’t eaten.”
Her heart pounded. “You can save the extras and won’t have to cook tomorrow night.” She had to get out.
“Maybe we do need some sleep. I’ll call tomorrow.”
She looked up at this handsome face. Confusion and pain warred for dominance in his eyes. She wanted to sooth him, but she was drained. And confused herself.
Why did they have to be so different?
Allison set the black purse on the bedspread. It would match the black suit she’d selected for tomorrow. The same suit she always fell back on when she needed to feel her best. She had doubts it could work its magic in this situation, but she had to try something. Matching shoes stood next to the purse at the end of her bed.
She surveyed the results. Everything ready except her briefcase. She snapped open the locks. Lifting the papers from her dresser, she reviewed the meticulous plan she’d created over the last two days.
Problems, Solutions, Goals, Tasks. Her next week detailed to the hour. She replaced the paper clip and dropped it in the leather case.
As Brett ran from control and planning, she created more.
Her throat closed with emotion. It would never have worked. Why didn’t she see it before?
Allison sat in her car outside Brett’s house for fifteen minutes before she summoned the courage to ring his doorbell.
Her stomach turned over and her skin switched from hot to cold, to just plain clammy.
“Allison? Was I expecting you?” Brett towed her in. She hadn’t moved since he opened the door.
“Where’s Kelly?” He glanced over her shoulder.
“No. You weren’t expecting me and Kelly’s with a neighbor.”
“Is something wrong?” He wrapped his arms around her and cocooned her in warmth. Maybe if she just stayed here, everything else would go away.
No, that wasn’t the answer. She pushed away.
“Have you gotten another call from that woman?” His brows drew together in concern. “You know Michael said not to talk to her. You did speak with him today didn’t you?”
“Yes. First thing this morning. Thanks for sending the voice mail.” Her voice was weak.
“Then what’s happened?”
He wasn’t fooled, but she tried to smile. “There’s some good news and...” she motioned to the den. “Can we sit?”
“Oh, of course.” He moved ahead of her, picking up a football and dropping it in a box.
She peered into the cardboard container filled with books and papers. “What’s this?”
He shrugged. “Just some old stuff I was going through. College yearbooks and other junk. Rob’s wife called and wanted to borrow one to show her son pictures of his dad. She couldn’t find theirs.”
“Oh.” She looked back to his face, remembering the sadness he had endured earlier in the year. “It must be tough to look back.”
He squinted as though a flash of pain ran through him, then reached for her arm. “Come on and tell me what happened.”
She sat on the edge of the sofa cushion next to Brett. “The bad news is my boss, Walter Carson, had triple by-pass surgery over the weekend.”
“Wow. Is he going to be all right?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “He’s fine. He’d been having a few problems, but they had been able to take care of them with medication. Until now. Anyway, he’s decided to retire early and I have a new boss.”
He rested his elbows on his knees and turned his face to hers. “Is that bad?”
“Probably not. It’s only temporary. They want to divide Walter’s job into two positions and I’m being considered for one of them.”
“That’s great news, Allison.” He kissed her cheek, his lips warm on her skin. “Just what you’ve been working for.”
“Yes, well...” He was so close. “It’s not definite yet. There are two other employees they’re looking at and, in the meantime, I have to take on a few more projects. Sort of as a test, I guess, to see how I do.”
He pulled back, frowning. “But you’ve been there for ten years. Don’t they already know how you work?”
“Yes - ” She tried to interrupt, but he rushed on.
“And how can you possibly take on any more? You already work longer hours than anyone there. It doesn’t sound fair to me. Are these other employees taking on projects too?”
Didn’t he understand? Of course it was fair.
“I don’t know. They’re in another office. Where the new president is.”
“Ohhhh.” His dropped his head, nodding slowly.
“What does that mean?” She leaned down, trying to see his eyes. “This is a wonderful opportunity.”
His head jerked back to the side toward her. “Calm down. I didn’t mean anything.”
> “Yes you did.” She backed away from his intense gaze. “You think they’re taking advantage of me and the other employees have an edge because they know the president.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you were thinking it.” Her nails dug into her palms as her fingers clenched tighter.
“What?”
She jumped up, placing her back to Brett.
“I can do this. I’m very organized and I can handle more work. It won’t be for long and then they’ll see I’m the right one for the job. It’s why I got my MBA. What they promised me.”
“Allison.” She felt him stand up behind her. “You’re getting very worked up over this. What will happen if you don’t get it? Sometimes--”
“Don’t even say that.” She swung around. “How can you not believe I’ll get it? You’re not the only one that can be successful you know.”
“Hold on, Allison. I wasn’t talking about your abilities.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “I was going to say sometimes it’s other factors. Things out of your control.”
“No. That is not how it works.”
Why is he saying this? Her chest grew tighter, heavier.
“I have goals. I’ve been planning for this. And I can work harder. I am in control.”
“And what about Kelly? How will you find time to be with her and do all this extra work?”
Stop it. He should be encouraging her not saying these things. She could still be with Kelly. Now her throat was getting thick.
“It will only be temporary. This is important for her future.”
His eyes narrowed. “How do you know it’s temporary? Once they see how much you’re willing to do, they may want you to do more.”
She shrugged his hands away and stepped back. “You don’t know anything about what they’ll do or what I need. This is important to me.”
“I know your career’s important, Allison. I just don’t want you to get hurt if you don’t get this promotion. When it isn’t your fault.” He shifted his weight to one side and crossed his arms over his chest. “You seem to be putting way too much importance on it. And you may not be able to control the outcome this time with a project plan.”
“I can control it and I will control it.”
The blood rushed to her ears. “Just because you don’t think it’s important to plan, to document, to see to the details...” She waved her hand in the air. “I don’t know how you can get anything done that way anyway. If I hadn’t done the plan for the carnival, what would you have done? Just relax and chatted about it until something happened?” Resting her hands on her hips, she raised her chin in the air. “It doesn’t work that way and you should know this. You worked in a large company.”
“And that’s exactly why I quit. Control. Planning. Details.” His words were clipped, the volume increasing. “I’m sick of everyone wanting to plan life to the minute. It’s all I’ve known all my life. And my parents still won’t stop.”
“I am not your parents, Brett. But I can understand why they pester you. You won’t share anything with them. You just clam up and walk away with your determination to do everything your way.”
“Like you aren’t determined to do everything only your way?” His face flamed. “How happy do you think you’ll be when you’re all alone every night toiling away at your job? When you can’t, or won’t, fit a personal life into that rigid schedule of yours. Not everyone wants to live according to a plan, you know.”
Her jaw began to ache from pressing her teeth together.
“Well you’ll be just as lonely if you can’t get over your obsession with thinking others are trying to control you. You need to accept where you come from and quit fighting everything your family does just because you don’t agree with it.”
“I’ll be just fine. I know what I need to be happy.”
“Well so do I.”
She snatched her purse from the floor. “I don’t know how we ever thought we could have a relationship. We are just too different.”
She whipped around and raced to the door, slamming it as she escaped.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“How long will you have to do all this extra work, Mom?”
Kelly rested her head in her arms on the kitchen table opposite Allison, rolling a pencil back and forth a few inches from her nose.
“Only a few more days, sweetie.”
Surely it wouldn’t last much longer. It had already been three weeks and instead of projects ending, the new management kept finding more for her to take on.
“Is the promotion that important to you?”
Of course it was important. It’s what I’ve been working for, hoping for, Allison wanted to say. But instead, she slumped back against her chair and watched her daughter. Kelly had always been so patient about Allison’s time spent working and during graduate school, seemingly more interested in being with her friends than what Allison was doing. But the last few days Kelly had moped around the house alone. Was this really about Allison’s work?
“I promise to take a break after Saturday. We’ll go Christmas shopping and decorate on Sunday.” She reached over and covered Kelly’s hand. “Can you give me just a few more days?”
“Sure,” Kelly said, her tone not convincing. She raised her head and looked at her mother. “It just seems you’re working harder than ever, but you aren’t very happy anymore.”
Allison clenched her teeth, then released her jaw immediately at a shot of pain. Why did everyone think she was miserable? Even Suzy kept asking her what was wrong.
“I’m just a little busier than usual right now, that’s all.”
She couldn’t be unhappy when she was finally getting what she wanted.
Kelly stood the pencil on its eraser, then flipped it through her fingers. “Why don’t you see Mr. Tyler anymore? Did you have a fight?”
The question Allison had been dreading. It had only been a few days, but Brett’s absence was obvious. She straightened her papers on the table as she snuck a glance at Kelly. Had she and Caroline talked about it at school? What had Brett told Caroline? She lined up her pencils next to her notepad. Well, there was no reason to delay the truth.
“Even though I won’t be seeing Mr. Tyler anymore, it won’t affect your friendship with Caroline, sweetie.” She tried to keep her voice even, as her throat began to close. “It’s just that sometimes people find out they want different things in life. You’ll discover this as you start dating.”
“But you were so happy around him.” Kelly shrugged. “More relaxed.”
This kid was way too smart.
“Even Grandma and Grandpa said so.”
She couldn’t believe her parents were talking about her to Kelly. “What did they say?” Allison asked, trying to act nonchalant.
“Just that they liked Mr. Tyler and it was about time you found someone to make you happy.”
“I’m happy,” Allison jumped out of her chair, her blood pressure soaring. She clutched the edge of the counter. She was happy. She was up for a promotion. Her daughter was doing well. The only problem she had was solving the lawsuit with James’ parents.
And Michael assured her almost daily everything would work out. He’d suggested they ask for an audit of the trust fund left by James, a detailed accounting of how the money was being used. He’d also interviewed friends who knew James. Everyone backed up Allison’s story that James was a proud father.
Although the lawsuit was groundless, she knew James’ parents could drag it through the courts for a long time if Michael couldn’t find some way to stop them.
The edge of the counter dug ridges into her fingers, shooting pain up her arms. Once they settled the lawsuit, she’d be back to normal. She let go and rubbed the indentations with her thumbs.
At least the rest of her life was back in order now. She knew what she would do each day. She and Kelly were back on a schedule.
No surprises.
No Brett.
No exc
itement disrupting their time.
No Brett.
Suddenly she didn’t feel like working anymore.
“Sorry, sweetie.” She turned back to Kelly. “I didn’t mean to get upset.”
Kelly was sitting up in her chair, her eyes wide. She’d never raised her voice around Kelly. What was wrong with her?
“I think I’ll get ready for bed. Maybe I need some sleep. Why don’t you go to your room and I’ll come tuck you in after I take a shower.”
Combing her hair fifteen minutes later, the tears threatened again. Brett loved her hair down. Her hand fell to her bare leg, the brush bristles digging into her thigh.
When would she stop thinking about him? They hadn’t been together very long, but he’d permeated every part of her life.
She began pulling her hair back into a braid then stopped. It didn’t look so bad on her shoulders. It did make her look a little less...stiff.
Rifling through a drawer, she located a coated band and jerked her hair into a ponytail. She did not need anything else reminding her of Brett. And her hair looked just fine pulled back.
The Friday before Christmas Allison was sitting at her desk staring out the window in an exhausted daze when Michael finally called.
“It’s almost all over, Allison.”
She dropped her pen to her notebook.
“What?” was all she could squeak out.
“The audit revealed that James’ parents have been taking money from the trust for their own use.”
“Stealing?” This couldn’t be true.
“It appears they’re having financial problems and were using the paternity suit as a way to intimidate you and divert attention away from the fund.”
“But they’re rich.” She remembered the Mercedes they drove to Duke, the trips to Europe each summer and those outrageous checks they sent to James each month.
“Not anymore.” She heard him shuffle some papers. “I have the details, but the bottom line is you can prosecute for what they’ve done and I’m sure we can make it stick.”
“Prosecute?” His parents were stealing from their own grandchild? How desperate had they become? “If I don’t prosecute is it all over?”
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