“You’re sounding like a spoiled brat,” Lindy said.
Shane blinked. “Only you can take such liberties and call me that.”
“But I’m right.”
He exhaled slowly. “Yes. You’re right I have no excuse except to say that this weekend has me out of sorts. Your news on top of the fact that I have this nagging suspicion that something happened is simply not making for a good day.”
Lindy cringed. She’d been raised to be honest and it went against her grain to tell even a small white lie. But she had no better alternative. In this case, the cliché did not fit. The truth would not set her free.
“Look Shane, maybe nothing happened. Maybe it was a gag. Did you ever think of that? That someone just pinched you really hard on your neck.”
Shane’s jaw set and a muscle in his cheek twitched. “I know you dislike my friends, but none of them are that juvenile.”
She suddenly felt like Kevin Costner’s character in No Way Out. Hiding herself while in charge of finding herself. “Shane, besides Marci and Dan, most of the people you associate with are a bunch of freeloaders or women who just want to be Mrs. Shane Jacobsen. Think about that for a moment. I mean, what do you do that’s real? Honestly, some days I don’t know why you need a PA. It’s not as if the work you do is time-consuming.”
“You sound like my grandfather, who also gave me that lecture earlier today.” Shane let the acrid comment hang for a moment before adding, “He also wants you to come to Easter dinner tomorrow night.”
Lindy took a cleansing breath. Because of Grandpa Joe’s earlier message, she’d had some time to prepare for this dilemma. “I can’t make it.”
Shane stared at her, that beautiful jaw again slightly open. He snapped it shut before speaking. “You’re killing me, Lindy. I don’t need any more bad news or the grief of showing up without you.”
“Shane, I’m your employee. Employees do not go to family Easter dinners.”
“I thought you were my friend.” Shane sat there a long moment. “I even shared my personal journals with you. I’d never before let anyone see what I’d written.”
He had shared with her, and early in their work relationship, Lindy, starry-eyed with love, had let herself get too close to Shane. Her stomach churned as she remembered.
In one journal, Shane had written about the pain of losing a girl he’d fallen in love with at camp, the summer between fifth and sixth grade. Their love had been that sweet innocent kind between two shy people who hardly talk, yet somehow they know they are meant for each other. How Shane had looked forward to seeing her the next year, only to discover upon his arrival that she was on the charter bus pulling away. Years later, Shane still remembered the way she’d pressed her hand against the dirty glass as she disappeared forever from his view.
Yes, Shane had shared his journals with Lindy, and that day one thing had become certain to Lindy—she could never compete with what Shane envisioned his perfect love to be. Lindy would never be enough—never be the one.
But she’d stayed at her job, mostly because she hadn’t had the courage to stay away, becoming daily too attached, falling too hard for the man she cared way too much for, who could never feel the same way in return. But last night she’d well and truly crossed the line, and it gave her a raw, untapped strength. She hated hurting him with her next words, but in the long run it was for the best that a space be placed between them.
“You don’t pay your friends,” Lindy pointed out.
Shane shook his head, sending his blond hair falling forward across his eyebrow. “That argument is weak, Lindy. Weak. I can see I made a mistake worrying about you. That’s something friends would do.”
He stood up, his features etched with frustration as if he’d bitten bitter fruit. Lindy’s fingers longed to smooth away the lines her words had caused. She knew she’d sucker punched him.
First his parents had forgotten his birthday, and now she’d effectively killed their friendship. But her one-sided relationship with him had to stop. She’d known him too long and knew he’d never find that elusive woman he wanted. She couldn’t keep on loving him and remain sane. She had to let him go, even if it was the hardest thing she’d ever do.
“I’m sorry,” she said as Shane put his hand on the doorknob. Even to her own ears her apology sounded lame.
He gave her one last look. “You’re a great assistant, Lindy. Even though you don’t think I really work for a living, I do have some responsibilities. So, I’ll see you Monday morning. You are still planning on showing up, aren’t you?”
There it was. The perfect opportunity to get out professionally, even if it meant taking a pay cut. She’d already indicated she was leaving. Now all Lindy had to cement it was say, “but only until I find another job.” She opened her mouth, but the words finalizing her break with Shane refused to come.
“Monday morning,” Lindy agreed with a nod. She couldn’t look him in the eye, and instead stared at the floor.
The door clicked when he shut it behind him. Then—and only then—did Lindy look up. She stared at the door to her apartment. It desperately needed a fresh coat of paint.
“I’m thinking about paint.” Tears watered her eyes and rivered their way down to wet her cheeks. The opportunity had presented itself, but she hadn’t walked away. Would she ever be able to let Shane Jacobsen out of her life? Fool! Fool! Fool! She again resolved to seriously look for a new job come Monday.
Her home phone rang and Lindy picked it up. “Shane?”
“Is this Lindy Brinks?”
Disappointment mixed with relief. “Speaking.”
“I’m calling about your pizza. We’ve had some oven problems and it’s going to be at least another half hour before we can deliver it. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience. We’ll include a coupon for a free pizza the next time you order. You still want it, right?”
“Sure, send it.” She hung up the phone, a dark depression settling over her. Shane was like the pizza. She still wanted him, but it certainly wasn’t worth the trouble anymore. Too bad she was still hungry.
Chapter Two
“So where’s Lindy?”
“Greetings to you, too,” Shane said as he stepped through the front door of his grandfather’s massive Ladue manse. “Lindy sends her regrets. She can’t make it.”
“Why?” Grandpa Joe’s eyes narrowed and he stroked his white beard thoughtfully. “With her parents on opposite coasts, she doesn’t have any family here. Did she go out of town?”
“Lindy’s in town and I don’t know why she didn’t come,” Shane replied. “She said she had other plans. Besides, I’m her employer, not her keeper.”
Grandpa Joe’s snow-white eyebrows arched. “It sounds like you two have had a spat.”
Was that what had happened yesterday? A spat? Shane considered Grandpa Joe’s antiquated word. In all honesty, even though he’d been thinking about it nonstop, Shane still didn’t know quite what had happened. Even writing in his journal about the weekend’s events hadn’t given him any perspective.
Lindy, good old Lindy who had never once complained about her job, had suddenly hit him between the eyes with what she would and would not do. She was his employee, she’d declared, not his friend. If she’d remain his employee at all.
That still stung. And yes, he’d had to admit to himself in the past twenty-two hours that perhaps he had taken her for granted, that he’d considered her a friend, a sounding board. Perhaps he’d been wrong to have been so free with his confidences and personal requests. But he and Lindy had worked so well together, and never once had she complained.
Shane shifted his weight and followed his grandfather into the huge great room. The rest of the family had already arrived. “Shane!” His half sister Bethany came over and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. “How are you? I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.”
They probably hadn’t talked in ages, Shane thought. Older than him by five years, Bethany, his mother’s daugh
ter from her first marriage, was busy with her successful pediatric practice, her own two children, and her husband.
“So did you have a good birthday? Twenty-five now.” Bethany shook her head. “I can’t believe that in a few months I’ll turn thirty and that Olivia and Nick will hit that three-o mark just a few months after me.”
Shane glanced around the room, seeing his cousin Harry, his wife Megan, and Bethany’s clan. Shane’s half brother, his dad’s son by his first marriage, though, was strangely absent. “Speaking of, where is Nick?”
“He stayed in Chicago,” his half sister Olivia said as she approached. She leaned toward her younger sibling and said conspiratorially, “Word has it that Grandpa Joe isn’t too pleased with my twin brother. And Claire’s in Aruba on a much-needed vacation so she’s forgiven. But Nick’s not.”
“Ah, then maybe the heat will be off me for once,” Shane said.
Olivia’s blue eyes twinkled mischievously. “I doubt that. You know how gossip runs in this family. It’s all over that you had a pretty good party Friday night. Glad it was you and not me. So tell me, have you recovered?”
“All but my memory,” Shane admitted. Thankfully it was a cool night and the turtleneck he wore hid the telltale mark. “I even cleaned up some so that Cleo won’t throw a fit.”
“A wise move,” Olivia said. “Did Sara and Dad ever call?”
“Yeah, this afternoon. Of course it was like 7:00 a.m. Australian time, and of course Monday there.”
“Ooh,” Olivia said. “Did they even try to give you an excuse?”
“You know. New secretary. It was Easter weekend. That type of thing.”
“Cocktail, sir?” James, the family butler and groundskeeper of over twenty years, approached.
“Water is fine,” Shane answered. “And how is Cindy?”
“She’s fine, sir. I’ll tell her you inquired.”
“He’s so funny,” Shane said to Olivia after James had moved away.
“Unlike Dad and Sara, I can’t imagine a family event without James and his wife,” Olivia replied.
“True.” Besides being the family cook, Cindy had also been Shane’s first nanny. They were practically family. Of course, Lindy wouldn’t agree, Shane thought as he reached for the water James was handing him. She’d say they were employees.
The ringing of a knife tapping a glass interrupted Shane’s momentary bitterness. His attention diverted, he turned to see his cousin Harry holding up a champagne glass. “Everyone, before we go into dinner, Megan and I have an announcement to make. In eight months you’ll be welcoming the newest addition!”
Shane saw his grandmother Henrietta clasp her hands together and hug her husband. Then she went and hugged both Harry and Megan. “I think we need champagne,” Grandpa Joe told James.
“On its way, sir.”
“Congratulations,” Shane said later to his Aunt Lilly, Harry’s mother. His hand still clutched his water instead of the expensive bubbly. Lilly, however, was on her second glass.
“Isn’t it wonderful? First Darci, and now Harry. I’m so thrilled. My dad and mom are so thrilled. Look at them.” Lilly gestured toward Grandpa Joe and Henrietta. “New great-grandbabies on their way. After all, Bethany’s youngest is almost five.”
“Ah, but they’ll be Sanders babies, not Jacobsens,” Lilly’s husband Andrew said as he entered the conversation.
“Oh please, Andrew. My dad doesn’t care about that.”
“No, but you know the old coot wants a great-grandbaby with the surname Jacobsen.”
Lilly shot her husband a look of mock disgust. “My father is not an old coot.”
“I work with him. Yes he is.”
Lilly’s Jacobsen-blue eyes twinkled. She and Andrew had been married for over thirty-five years, and as president of Jacobsen Enterprises, Andrew was Grandpa Joe’s right-hand man. “Okay, I’ll admit he is. But maybe these great-grandbabies will keep him so busy that it’ll stop him from meddling so much.”
Andrew laughed, put his arm around her, and pulled his wife closer to his side. “Nah. I’m sure he’ll just turn his attention to your brother’s children. What do you think about that, Shane? Even though Claire’s the eldest, it’s only you and Nick who can pass on the Jacobsen name.”
“Huh?” He hadn’t been paying attention. Both Lilly and Andrew peered curiously at him.
“You aren’t worried that you’re next in Grandpa Joe’s quest to marry off his grandchildren?” Andrew asked.
Was he next? Grandpa Joe had made no secret of his matchmaking and meddling in Darci’s and her brother Harry’s lives. So was he next? Shane shook his head. Time to put an end to that idea. “You know I love my grandfather, but if he hasn’t been able to get me into the family company, do you really think he can pick my wife? He’ll have better luck with Nick, not me.”
Andrew laughed, which didn’t sit well with Shane. “Are you certain? I wouldn’t put it past him to start with you.”
Great. “I won’t let my guard down.”
Andrew gave Shane a manly pat on the back and Shane had the feeling Andrew knew something he didn’t. “You do that. Be sure you do that.”
“Dinner,” James announced.
AT THE END of the main course, Henrietta leaned toward Shane. As always, his grandmother smelled of fresh lavender. “Isn’t it wonderful news about Harry and Megan? This old house has been too long without tiny babies.”
Not knowing how to respond, Shane simply nodded. His grandmother smiled, and then placed her warm left hand over his right one. “You do know the pressure is going to be on you?”
Not again. “I’m not getting married.”
Henrietta patted his hand. “Oh no dear, not that. My husband thinks I don’t know anything, but there’s a bond between a mother and her son. Do you think Blake doesn’t tell me what’s going on? I know Joe’s been trying to get you to the corporate offices for quite a while. And with Megan’s job opening up, he’s really going to want you. After all, you went to Princeton like he did.”
Shane set his jaw stubbornly. That had been the one and only thing he’d ever done that had pleased his grandfather. “Family is family, business is business. I don’t want to mix the two.”
Henrietta gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know, but your grandfather will never understand that. When he sees what he wants, he goes for it. How do you think he won me all those years ago? Stole me away from Steve Boswell. I didn’t think your grandfather could be the one. But somehow he wormed his way into my life and swept me right off my feet. One day I just realized that although he wasn’t what I’d expected the dream to look like, he was the one that would make it all come true.”
Shane frowned. “Well, I’m not liable to just fall for someone he waves in front of my nose. Love is much more than that.” Isn’t it?
“Of course it is. But love isn’t just a feeling. It’s also a choice. You young people are much more modern these days, so much so that I think you wait for a moment that never comes. Speaking of not coming, what happened to that nice assistant you have? Lindy? I was so disappointed that she wasn’t able to be here tonight. But Joe said he’d ask her why tomorrow.”
That caught Shane’s attention. “Tomorrow?”
“Yes. I think he’s meeting her at 9:00 a.m.”
“Really.” The honeybaked ham that had been dinner flipped in Shane’s stomach.
“Dessert,” James said. He placed a coconut cake confection down. Despite the beauty of the dessert, Shane didn’t think he could tolerate one bite.
Shane stared down the table to where his grandfather sat deep in conversation with Megan. So Grandpa Joe was meeting Lindy tomorrow. Grandpa Joe’s words resounded in Shane’s head. Maybe I should just steal her away from you.
Was that why Lindy had refused to come tonight? Was that why she’d cut him out as a friend? Was she going to Jacobsen Enterprises without him?
Shane’s eyes narrowed. Grandpa Joe was as elusive as an eel when necessary. S
hane would just have to wait and ask Lindy tomorrow. After all, she never was very good at hiding things from him.
BY NOON Shane found himself pacing the small confines of the room that served as his and Lindy’s office. He’d expected her long before this.
Suddenly he heard the front door. He sat in his chair for a brief moment before rising again. Casual. He needed to act casual. He stepped into the living room just as Lindy shut the front door.
Trying to remain calm, he leaned himself against the doorjamb. And then, his body quickening, he just stared. Lindy wore a suit. While he’d seen her before in professional office clothes, something was different. Just when had she gotten those legs? Legs that seemed to run on forever and disappear underneath that short blue skirt? Wow. He’d always thought her pretty, but now…he’d never reacted to Lindy like this before. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. “Forget to call me again?”
Lindy drew herself up. The smile she gave him didn’t quite meet her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I thought I told you that I wouldn’t be in until noon.”
It was her cool tone that did it, the truth she didn’t reveal, that caused Shane to straighten and walk toward her. Despite her heels adding to her five-foot-seven-inch height, Shane’s six-foot frame still towered over her. To hell with being casual. “So tell me, are those clothes just for my benefit?”
“I thought I’d dress up for once. We always dress so casual,” Lindy replied. She shifted her weight, and Shane stepped closer to her. Lindy blinked.
“Oh Lindy, be honest. Do you think I wouldn’t figure it out?”
“You know?” Panic covered her face, sending powerful emotions flooding into her big brown eyes.
“Of course I know.”
“I didn’t think you’d…I mean, I didn’t tell you because—”
“I’m not a fool, Lindy. So tell me, did you enjoy your meeting with my grandfather?”
About Last Night... Page 3