Drawing Hearts

by J. M. Jeffries

  Jasper cleared his throat. “Louisa liked being the daughter of a man who owned a casino. That gave her a level of respect that she craved. She always had money.” He frowned. “Even though money and respect didn’t seem enough to make Louisa happy. I spoiled her.” His voice trailed away. “I wanted her to have a happy, fun-filled childhood and I never figured she’d grow up to be a thief. I guess I was wrong.”

  “Stop,” Miss E. ordered. “There is a point in any person’s life where acting badly becomes a choice, not an excuse. We all know the difference between right and wrong and Louisa knew that, too. Why else would she hide her behavior?”

  “What are we going to do about her?” Kenzie asked. “She’s committed fraud and I don’t even know what else she’s done that’s a felony.”

  “She’s my daughter,” Jasper pleaded. “I can’t let her go to jail.”

  “You may not have a choice,” Scott said quietly. “The state of Nevada is very sensitive about any wrongdoing that affects gambling. People come here thinking they have a chance at the big win and if they think we’re cheating them, they’ll stop coming.”

  Jasper looked down at his hands, misery stark on his face. “What if I made restitution?”

  “You mean bail her out, again?” Scott said, his voice harsh.

  “We’re not sending her to jail,” Miss E. said firmly. “Scott, find another way to deal with this. Jasper, we’re not going to let her go to jail, but we’re not letting her get away with this.”

  Reed’s father would have made him go to jail if he’d messed up like this, no matter what hits his own reputation took. His by-the-book father would have been there for him, but he wouldn’t hide behind the excuse of Reed not knowing right from wrong.

  Scott tapped on his tablet. “Give me a while and I’ll track down all her bank accounts. If she agrees to make restitution and get some help, we could work with that.”

  “What kind of restitution?” Jasper asked.

  “Give me some time to think about that,” Scott said. “I’m not in the business of forgiveness.” He pushed away from the table and stood. He refilled his mug with coffee and glanced at the sideboard. “Where are the treats, Donovan?”

  “Didn’t have time,” Donovan said.

  “I don’t know about you,” Miss E. said, “but I need a shower and a brownie.”

  Reed scooted back, as well. “Let’s get some lunch,” he said to Kenzie.

  She nodded and waved goodbye to her grandmother and brothers.

  * * *

  “I feel sorry for Jasper,” Kenzie said after the waitress set her hamburger down in front of her. “He loves his daughter and living with the guilt of her sins is going to be difficult. He has to look at us every day and know what his daughter did to cripple us.”

  “Your grandmother handled the situation with great restraint.”

  “Where was that restraint when we were growing up?” Kenzie said with a grin. “We behaved well because we knew there were consequences. My grandmother may look like a sweet little old lady, but she would not hesitate to make us pay for our sins with an iron fist. If I’d done what Louisa did, I’d be a night janitor in the hotel for the rest of my life.”

  “But you wouldn’t,” Reed said as he dug into his hamburger. The French fries were done exactly the way he liked them. He poured ketchup over the steaming fries.

  “But I thought about things,” Kenzie said with a wry chuckle. “I knew some buyers in bad financial straits who sold designer samples on eBay even though that was against company policy. People did it anyway. Not me, though.”

  “And you let that go?” Reed asked curiously. He’d had a few employees who’d developed software on their own time. He could have claimed their development, but he didn’t.

  “It was the difference between eating or paying rent,” Kenzie replied. “For Jasper’s daughter the choice is ‘Ooh! Do I want Prada or Louis Vuitton?’”

  “You sound angry.”

  “I’m angry for my grandmother and Jasper. Jasper’s a nice man. No matter what Louisa has done, he will never stop loving her.”

  “And Miss E. wouldn’t love you if you did something untoward?”

  “She’d love me in my orange jumpsuit, but I’d still pay for my actions.”

  “Ouch!” Reed said. “Your family constantly surprises me.” Reed had friends who did nothing but fight with their families. To see the Russell family cooperate in such a smooth manner made him want to be a part of it.

  “You shouldn’t be surprised. We’ve had our rivalries, but when push comes to shove, we’re a line nobody else can cross.”

  Reed had that same kind of relationship with his father. “I grew up seeing a lot of stressed-out military families. My dad was able to keep everything together and I always wondered how he did it.” He remembered the stress of moving from one assignment to another, moving across country to the Pentagon and from the Pentagon to another base and then another. His childhood had been five schools in ten years. The first time he’d stayed in one place for more than two years had been high school. While many military children adapted easily, Reed had always felt awkward moving to yet another school and having to make friends all over again.

  Kenzie thought for a moment. “There’s something to be said about stability, but I think the idea of moving and remaking yourself every couple of years is kind of exciting. Fashion is all about remaking the line to accommodate each season and the new trends that spring up. I had to figure out what women were going to buy and why.”

  “I had to figure things out from the point of view of technology, and technology seems to change faster than fashion. And that was pressure.” Pressure he was happy to leave behind. He could enjoy the little things in life and one of the things he was enjoying was Kenzie.

  He liked everything about her. He liked the way she looked at him. The way she treasured her independence, her can-do spirit. He especially liked the way she loved her grandmother, her brothers, her two nieces and her sister-in-law. Family was important to her. He’d made his own place in her family, but his place wasn’t quite the same as hers. She belonged and he was an outsider who’d made a connection with them.

  “You’re thinking too hard,” Kenzie said, putting her hand over his. “Where are we going, Reed? You and I?”

  Her hand was warm and a delicate contrast against his skin. He turned her question over and over in his mind. “I like being with you. I like the way you think, the way you talk and the way you look. I want something real. Something real with you. You’re real.” He stood, sliding out of the booth and holding out his hand. “Let’s go to the circus. Circus Esperanza is in town. Arrived yesterday.”

  “I do owe you a ‘good time’ under the big top.”

  His eyebrows jiggled. “Yes, you do. Maybe you can buy a trapeze and we can try it out some night. How hard can sex be in the air?”

  She just laughed. “Harder than you think. I’ll stick to pirate costumes.”

  The memory of her in her costume started his heart beating super hard.

  She slid out of the booth, grinning at him. “I need to change and then we can go.”

  He glanced down at his suit. “Me, too.” He took her hand and led her to the elevators.

  Chapter 13

  Kenzie watched the clowns race around the center ring doing somersaults, rolling in the sawdust, shooting water at each other. The audience laughed uproariously. A part of her had always been apprehensive around clowns. Who knew what was under all that face paint that made each one look jovial and silly?

  Next to her on the bench, Reed munched on popcorn. At each antic, he burst out into laughter. He looked as if he was ten years old and was so irresistibly charming, she felt a lurch in her heart and a shiver of excitement. I’m in love with him.

  After one e
xuberant laugh, a lock of blond hair fell into his eyes and she wanted to push it back the way her grandmother had always done for her and her brothers.

  Reed was a beautiful man and he had absolutely no idea he was. He really didn’t understand about the women he said were attracted to his money. She was sure money was part of the attraction, but he had a kindness to him, a way of making people feel important. His innate charm was what attracted people to him.

  He’d commented on the chaos of his childhood as a military dependent, but those experiences had made him what he was. He could look at chaos calmly. He could examine every side of a problem and find a solution that satisfied everyone. He was quietly tenacious. People turned to him knowing he would find the answer. Sam rushed in to solve a problem because he needed it done. Reed was more cautious. Kenzie went with her gut. Her gut was telling her now that Reed was the right man for her. She was in love with him. The thought scared her.

  He was the kind of man who wanted a lifetime commitment. She didn’t know if she was ready for one.

  The clowns gave way to the dancing dogs. Kenzie watched, laughing in the appropriate places, but her thoughts were miles away. How did she tell this man she loved him? Their backgrounds were so different. He went to MIT and she went to UCLA. He was changing the world and she was just making it look pretty. Other than the hotel and casino and her grandmother, they had nothing in common. But then again, she and Sam had everything in common and they couldn’t make their relationship work.

  Her attention was drawn back to the center ring. Acrobats tossed themselves around while aerialists sailed overhead. Elephants paraded around the outer edge of the three rings, and women in feathered headdresses and sparkly outfits swayed back and forth from their perches behind the elephants’ ears. The music rose to a crescendo and as the acts took their final bows, people started to stand and make their ways to the folded back openings at either end of the huge tent.

  The show was over.

  “Are you okay?” Reed asked when they were back in his car and heading back to the Mariposa.

  “I’m fine. I need to talk to my grandmother about something. Can you drop me off at her RV?”

  “Of course.”

  * * *

  At Kenzie’s knock, Miss E. opened her door. Light from inside streamed out as Kenzie smiled at her grandmother. She wore a faded blue chenille robe she’d had since Kenzie could remember.

  “Do you have a moment?”

  Miss E. stepped away from the door and let Kenzie in.

  “Would you like some tea?” her grandmother asked.

  “I’d love some.” Kenzie settled herself on the sofa while Miss E. busied herself in the tiny galley.

  Kenzie composed her thoughts.

  “I thought you were going out with Reed tonight?” Miss E. set a cup of tea on the side table. She added a plate of Hendrix’s brownies.

  “We went to the circus.”

  “The circus. You’ve never wanted to go before because you were afraid of clowns. Though from what I’ve read, a lot of people find clowns uncomfortable. Which reminds me of when you were young and we would have tea while you worked out your problems.”

  Kenzie took a sip. “I have feelings for Reed,” she blurted out.

  “And that’s a problem?”

  “I thought I loved Sam and look how that turned out.”

  “You didn’t love Sam.”

  “Really!” Kenzie’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “It certainly felt like love.”

  Miss E. took a bite out of a brownie. She leaned back in her recliner, studying Kenzie. “Sam was a learning experience. Mistakes are only mistakes when you don’t learn from them. What did you learn from your relationship with him?”

  “Never date a man who takes more time in the bathroom to get ready than you do.” Reed got ready in ten minutes. No primping in front of the mirror for him to make sure every wave in his hair was perfectly positioned.

  “What else did you learn?” Miss E.’s lips quirked at the edges as though trying to suppress a smile.

  “Never date a man who doesn’t understand your love for your family.” And who accused her of being selfish because of her feelings.

  Miss E. nodded. “Exactly.”

  “Sam wasn’t a team player unless you were on his team and supporting him. If I didn’t support him in anything, he sulked and made me feel miserable because I had a different perspective.” In retrospect Sam was a little boy in so many ways. Reed was a man. He didn’t sulk, he didn’t get angry if she differed in her opinion of something and he didn’t blame her if things went wrong.

  “In Sam’s favor,” Miss E. said, “he is very charming.”

  “But you told me once never to trust charming.”

  “And you were at that stage when you wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “I was fifteen and you were the enemy.”

  Miss E. burst out laughing. “I wasn’t the enemy. I was your grandmother with a wealth of experience and knowledge. You just needed time for everything to percolate.”

  “That’s the nicest way you’ve ever said ‘I told you so,’” Kenzie said with a laugh.

  “Thank you.” Miss E. regally nodded.

  “But Reed...”

  “I like Reed. Your brothers like Reed. You like Reed. It isn’t going to get any better than that.” Miss E. took another bite of her brownie.

  Kenzie sighed. “I think I love him. But...”

  “Then you need to do something about it. But like always, Kenzie, for you things take time. Be careful.Don’t overthink this.”

  “In other words, I need to just go on with my day.”

  Miss E. reached over and patted her cheek. “Exactly.”

  “Thank you for the advice...”

  “I didn’t give you any advice, I just helped you come to the same conclusion you would have come to after you’d worried for two or three days. Tell Reed how you feel. I think you’ll be very surprised at what he says in response.”

  * * *

  Kenzie tapped her fingers nervously on the conference table. Miss E. sat at the head of the table, a cup of tea in front of her with a half-eaten cookie on a plate. Kenzie’s stomach was in knots. She hadn’t seen Reed for several days and she felt awkward having finally verbalized her feelings for him. Her brothers sat around the table. Lydia talked quietly with Hunter. The tenderness on Hunter’s face made Kenzie gawk at him. Her big brother, the one who’d teased her unmercifully in their childhood, was in love. Lydia looked serene and Hunter looked happy. She wanted that. She wanted that with Reed.

  Scott and Donovan leaned against the buffet munching on brownies. Scott grinned at something Donovan said and they turned and headed to their chairs.

  Reed opened the door and walked in. He scanned the room and when his gaze lit on Kenzie a broad smile appeared. He grabbed a cookie from the sideboard and a bottle of water and sat next to her.

  “I can’t help feeling angry,” Kenzie said to him.

  Reed opened his laptop. The screen came to life and he tapped his password and a spreadsheet appeared. “That’s natural. I’ve spent the past few days tracking down every bank account Louisa has and she’s a very wealthy woman. She didn’t need more money. Her trust fund alone has nearly twenty million. Her mother is easily worth twice that from the divorce settlement and has gone on to marry and divorce richer guys than Jasper.” He frowned at the screen.

  “I know Miss E. has feelings for Jasper and is trying to make the best of this situation, but I can’t help but think that if it were any one of us orange would be our new favorite color.”

  “Get everything out now,” Reed said. “By the time she and Jasper arrive, you need to be calm.”

  “I want her punished,” Scott put in.

  “Scott,” Miss E. said tra
nquilly, “she is going to be punished. We’re going to take away the most important thing to her—her money. And this will get around. There will be no hiding for Louisa, and her reputation will suffer.”

  “I want her banned from the Mariposa,” Scott said.

  Miss E. nodded.

  “I want the money back,” Kenzie added. “All that money will go a long way toward converting the amphitheater into a wedding chapel.” She’d already worked out a basic floor plan for the chapel and the accompanying shops and talked to a number of designers about featuring their gowns. “I have ideas for destination weddings. Louisa is standing in the way of my genius. There was no need for her to steal one penny.”

  Reed patted her hand. “Angry much?”

  “I am angry. How many people could I have employed and helped to stimulate the economy? She’s hoarding the money for herself.”

  Miss E. held up a hand. “Take a breath, Kenzie. We need to be calm and rational.”

  The door opened and Jasper entered, his daughter in tow. Every head turned to look at her. Louisa hesitated.

  “What’s this?” She entered slowly, her sleek body almost catlike.

  “Sit down, Louisa,” Jasper said as he took his place next to Miss E.

  Her gaze darted across the room. She sat, her posture stiff.

  “Louisa,” Miss E. said, “you need to pay back the money you stole from the casino.”

  Louisa’s eyebrows rose. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  “Yes, you do.” Disappointment showed on Jasper’s face. “Don’t compound the problem by denying it.”

  “Daddy.” She shook her head. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Scott opened a file. “You can deny it all you want, but we were finally able to trace the money you skimmed off the casino to a holding account in your name in Belgium.”

  “It took a lot of digging,” Reed said, “but I found it. You shouldn’t have used Jasper’s name. We almost lost you in Hong Kong, but then I found a bank account in Belgium in your father’s name with you as a signatory.”