by Lyn Cote
Gracie shook her head at him. “It’s probably just my shampoo or soap.”
“Oh.” He wanted to say that it was a good scent. He liked it, but…
“You have the twins again.”
Gracie folded her arms in front of her. “Annie’s busy tonight working at her new job—she’s a cashier at the student union cafeteria. And Troy went to talk to our minister. He doesn’t know what to do.”
She didn’t sound happy. “How did your conversation with your sister go today?” he asked.
“It didn’t go well.” Gracie’s face drooped into a deep frown.
“Why?” Jack’s hand itched with the urge to touch her face. A weird sensation, another unexpected impulse.
“She was mad at me,” Gracie explained, “because I’ve stayed home and taken care of the boys.” She leaned her back against the counter. She looked a lot better than she had yesterday morning. Now, her hair fell in short dark waves around her face and she wore a fresh shorts outfit in fine red and white striped cotton.
He made himself consider what she’d just said. It didn’t make sense. “I don’t understand.”
“My sister said that Troy should stay home and take care of them, not me.”
He stared at her. “Is that why she left?”
Gracie lifted one shoulder. “No, but she said I don’t know what’s been going on between Troy and her—”
“Is she supporting herself with that job at the cafeteria?” Jack cut in.
“She got a grant and a scholarship and is living with two other women in a one-bedroom apartment near campus.”
“And she wants her husband to quit work and stay home with their sons? Who’s supposed to pay the rent and feed them?”
Gracie lifted both shoulders and then bowed her head. “Dad says I should keep my nose out of Annie’s business. You know, no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. He says it’s up to Troy and Annie to fix this. I just don’t understand how she can justify moving out—leaving her children—over something like her going back to school.”
Gracie’s dark waves fell forward. He suppressed the unexpected urge to smooth them back so he could read her expression. “But…but you said Troy reneged on their deal. Maybe she didn’t think she could do both.”
Jack set the glasses on a tray. Golden rays from the setting sun pierced the mini-blinds over the sink and cast a halo on Gracie’s hair and back. He paused, transfixed.
“She said that I didn’t know what it was like being a wife and mother.” Gracie continued the thread of their conversation as he stood, gazing at her. “She said Troy took her for granted—‘devalued her,’ as she put it—and she wasn’t going to stand for it anymore. This just isn’t like Annie. She’s a great mom and I know she loves her kids more than anything else.”
“Well, she has funny ways of showing that.” He opened the refrigerator and took out a lemon. Why does Gracie look so different to me tonight?
“Dad says that if Annie doesn’t want me taking care of the boys, I have to let Troy put them in day care and come back to work.
“He did?”
“So I’ll be back soon.” She finally looked at him.
He handed the lemon to her since she stood between him and the sink. “Wash this, please?”
As she reached for it, her arm brushed against his. A crazy buzz zipped up his arm.
Seemingly oblivious to her effect on him, she ran water over the yellow fruit and scrubbed it with her hands. “Enough of my problems. Now I want to know why you said yes to your father’s job.”
She’d switched topics on him, forcing him to face the decision he’d made. Jack frowned. “It’s hard to say.”
“Try.” Gracie dropped the wet lemon into his palm.
He began slicing it into wedges. Chink-chink, the knife hit the cutting board. The lemon scent tickled his nose. It’s not just Gracie. Why am I so aware of everything tonight? “Just before I walked into the café this morning, I got a call from Tom in California.”
“That’s right, you said he called. What did he want?” Gracie moved a step closer.
With the point of the knife, he flicked out the seeds of the lemon wedges. He concentrated on his explanation, not on Gracie so close to him. “Tom didn’t say much, but he asked if I’d accepted my dad’s job. When I asked him why, all he’d say was that nothing ever stays the same and that I should take the job.”
“Nothing ever stays the same?” Gracie repeated, tucking in her chin. She stared downward.
“Tom’s phone call gave me…a funny feeling.” Jack glanced at Gracie’s slender, shapely legs and swallowed the sudden thickness in his throat. “I can’t put my finger on it, but I just felt I should take the Hope Medical job.”
“That’s interesting.” She turned to face him. Taking another step closer, she lowered her voice. “But I know what you mean. I had an odd feeling last Friday night when Tom stopped in right before his flight. There was something he was holding back from us.”
He nodded and lifted a small glass bowl from the cabinet above. Only inches separated them. He inhaled the citrus and her scent, a delicious combination.
Taking the bowl, Gracie began arranging the lemon wedges in it. “When will Hope sign our contract?”
Jack looked out the window to keep from watching her deft hands. “I faxed their central office our standard contract and Dad said he’d have the Hope lawyer go over it and get back to me if they want any changes.”
“Okay, then. We have a new project, I’ll be back to work no later than Monday, and we both have a funny feeling about Tom.” Gracie placed the bowl of lemon wedges on the tray.
“How did my mom connect with your dad?” He picked up the tray.
“One day when she stopped by on her lunch break from the library, she mentioned that she needed an addition to her house and some changes, such as enlarging doorways in case she needs a walker or wheelchair in the future.”
Jack felt his insides congeal at the thought of what his mother might face in the future. “I’m staying here until she’s off crutches. I guess I should be glad of the Hope job, since your dad already has gotten Mom’s building permit. I’d hoped I’d have more time to get together the capital to pay for the changes she needs. Or better yet, I wanted to try one more time to get her to sell this and move into a ranch-style—”
Gracie shook her head. “I think your mom’s right to stay in her neighborhood. If she needs help—”
“I’m the one who should help her.”
“Of course. But I think your mom wants to help herself, keep her independence and her pride…in being able to handle this herself. Early retirement has to be hard to swallow for a woman so young.” Gracie rested her hand on his sleeve.
An electric-like current raced up his arm from her touch. He glanced down.
Gracie removed her hand as if self-conscious. “I’m glad you took the Hope job. It sounds like your dad needs your help, too.”
The shocking sensation of her touch lingered in his arm. He focused on it, rather than on the irritation he felt at being obligated to help his dad in order to get money to help his mom.
Before Jack could reply, his cell phone rang. Handing Gracie the tray, he slipped the phone off his belt and answered.
“Jack?” his father said.
“Yes.”
His father’s voice came clipped as though he were in a hurry. “I want you to come to a Hope Board member’s house tomorrow evening. It’s a pool party. Dress casual.”
“Pool party!” he exclaimed. I don’t do business at pool parties.
“Yes, the Board members want to meet you socially before we sign the contract.”
“Why can’t I just come to your offices or you come to mine?” Jack stalled.
“A few members want to ask you just how undercover you can do the job for us. They’re concerned about security.”
Somebody’s paranoid. “This isn’t necessary—” Jack started.
“Someone may
be sabotaging our system. We’ve been careful not to send any of our plans to solve it via e-mail. We need this to be discreet.” His dad rattled off the address and hung up.
Fuming, Jack snapped his phone shut and turned to Gracie. “Do you own a bathing suit?”
The sound of splashing water and laughter made Gracie lean close to Jack’s ear so he would hear her. “Be polite,” she reminded him. “Smile. Answer questions with non-geeky words. Ask if anyone has any questions, okay?”
He exhaled laboriously. “Okay.”
Gracie knew that anyone who overheard her would think she was bonkers, but Jack—the penultimate, non-user-friendly computer guru—needed these reminders. Especially with Tom, our Mr. Charm, away in San Francisco.
Jack knew Gracie meant well and he appreciated her giving him pointers. He was used to having Tom with him to interpret his technical explanations to “non-computer” people. But he wanted to know—was this all a big mistake? Was this meeting about computer problems at a pool party—of all places—just another ploy by his dad to involve him not only in his business but in his life?
But most of all, why had Gracie worn a bright yellow swimsuit tonight? Her legs moving under the short skirt of green with yellow swirls distracted him, made him edgy.
Their hostess, Mrs. Dunn, a too-thin surgeon’s wife, informed them her husband was a head surgeon and led them to the other guests. At one end of the oval pool, a group of well-tanned doctors and their spouses lounged on patio furniture.
Jack’s dad stood up. “This is my son, Jack, and his executive assistant, Gracie.” Cliff went around the group of doctors, introducing everyone, all in crisp shorts or swimsuits and tropical wraps.
Jack shook hands and forced a smile. Then he and Gracie sat down facing the Hope group, their backs to the pool. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
Cliff chuckled. “I told you my son’s all business.”
Gracie rested her arm on the deck chair’s armrest and dangled her slim wrist over its edge.
Jack again wondered why he kept noticing things about Gracie. We’ve worked together for years. Is it this meeting that’s put me on edge?
A female doctor sat forward in her chair. “I’m Dr. Sarah Brown. I’d like to get an idea of what you think you can do to solve our problems.”
At Gracie’s cue, a clearing of her throat, Jack nodded, acknowledging the woman’s question. “It’s hard to say.” He remembered to smile. “I haven’t had a chance to look over your software and the damage already done to your system.”
“Do you think it’s the work of a hacker?” another doctor asked.
“I can’t say.” Jack shrugged. “But do you have any idea why someone would want to tamper with your system?”
“A few people have asked me the same question,” said a distinguished-looking doctor with silver hair and broad shoulders, not looking at anyone but Jack.
At the man’s words, Jack felt a coldness that overwhelmed the people around him. “I’m sorry. I’m not good with names.” He lifted his eyebrows in question.
“I’m Dr. Harry Collins. And everyone on the Board will tell you that my consuming hobby is computers. I tried to get the Board to hire someone like you over two years ago. But no one would listen to me.”
Again, an uncomfortable silence—one so pointed that Jack couldn’t mistake it.
“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” Grace murmured.
The tension eased and Jack relaxed in his chair. “Another thing—what my dad has described is the type of damage research labs or financial institutions might experience. Has anyone asked themselves why Hope has been targeted? What information do you have that someone might want and for what purpose? Or who might have the intent to harm your reputation?”
No one spoke. They just stared at him.
Suddenly, splash! Water cascaded over the assembly at the end of the pool. The women nearest the pool squealed and covered their hair and faces.
Gracie chuckled and ran her hands through her hair, which curled up with the moisture. Gracie’s trim arms suddenly fascinated Jack.
Their hostess, Mrs. Dunn, stood up and strode to the poolside. “Boys! I told you, no cannonballs while the adults are meeting!”
“Sorry.” About five kids around junior high age climbed out. “We didn’t know we were this close to the diving board,” an especially thin kid added. Then they all dived, one by one, back into the deep end but without much splashing.
Gracie fluffed up her damp hair and then let her arms drift back to where they’d been. A bead of water dripped from her hair, trailing down her soft cheek.
Tensing, Jack stopped himself from brushing away the droplet.
“Back to business,” Cliff said, “I don’t think any of us have come up with a motive for this. Has anyone?” He glanced around.
“No.” Dr. Dunn spoke up, facing Jack.
“No disgruntled computer-savvy employees?” Jack probed, feeling that they were holding something back from him. “No one with a grudge against Hope? Any business rivals who would benefit if your system is discredited and audited?”
“No,” Dr. Brown said.
Jack felt Gracie’s attention on him. An unusual warmth rose through him. “Anyone who has sued Hope and not gotten what they thought they deserved?”
Frowns on most faces appeared in the lowering light of evening. Dr. Collins, Jack noted, sat with his arms folded as if separated from the group and this discussion.
“Maybe,” Cliff conceded.
“It might pay you to give me the names of anyone you suspect of having a grudge against Hope. I can always do a covert computer check on them and see if they are up to something.”
“You can do that?” A young voice came from behind Jack.
Jack craned his neck around. The other kids climbed out dripping and giggling and joined the kid who’d asked the question. “Yeah, I can.”
“Cool.” The kid, along with the others, dived back into the pool.
The doctors and their wives chuckled, lightening the atmosphere.
“That was our son,” Mrs. Dunn said. “It’s a new generation. Damon had to explain to me last week what an MP3 player was.”
Jack wondered if the kids would have a better grasp of the problem than the secretive group of doctors and spouses he was addressing. They’re not telling me something.
“You should all take more interest in what’s happening in software,” Dr. Collins said in an odd, challenging voice. “You’ll all be left behind…as I told you more than once.”
“I can’t keep up with everything!” Dunn snapped. “I have enough just keeping up with what’s happening in my field and taking care of patients. You don’t have a family, Harry. Everything takes time. And we can take care of this computer problem just as we have—by hiring an expert.”
Murmurs of agreement followed this. Dr. Collins rose and stalked away.
Lights around the pool came on automatically, probably due to a light sensor or timer.
Gracie smiled. “Any more questions?”
Jack looked from face to face. No one replied. “Then, I will give you one more warning.” He pressed his lips together. “No system is impregnable. I will go through your software and see what has caused this problem. Then I’ll go through your archived files to see where and how the hacker—if there is one—has gotten into the system and devise new ways to keep him or her out.”
One said, “A female hacker! We hadn’t thought of that!”
Another commented, “Equal rights in hacking.”
Jack ignored them. This wasn’t a humorous matter. “Remember, I’ll need a list of possible suspects.”
“No problem.” Cliff rose. “I’ll make sure you get it.”
“Then, after my preliminary examination, I’ll most likely design a new software accounting program for you and then assign all new passwords. If you have a glitch or someone decides to hack into your files for the fun of it, those measures should be enough. I could
design you a high-security system, something that a defense lab would require, but I don’t think you need anything that elaborate.” Jack lifted his hand. “That’s it.”
The group gazed at him.
Gracie cleared her throat.
Jack smiled on cue as he became aware that Gracie now stood at his elbow. He glanced at her. She gave him a dazzling smile and he warmed at her approval.
“Great!” Cliff said. “Sounds like you have what we need. We’ll get together with our lawyers and finalize the contract.”
Most of the men surged out of their seats and shook Jack’s hand. A few slapped him on the back. He smiled politely, realizing just how tense he had been over this and how relaxed Gracie appeared. After congratulating themselves on hiring him, they moved away toward a bar and table of refreshments.
“Want to swim now?” Gracie asked at his elbow. Then she leaned toward his ear. “Good job,” she murmured. “Tom couldn’t have done better.”
Before Jack could reply, his cell phone rang. He lifted it from the pocket of his shorts. “Hello.”
“Hi, Jack, it’s Tom. I’m on my way home from O’Hare.”
“Tom? You’re back early.” Jack watched Gracie shrug out of the wrap skirt over her bathing suit.
“Right. I’ve got news. It couldn’t wait. See you first thing tomorrow.” Tom hung up.
Gazing at Gracie’s trim waist, Jack said with difficulty, “It was Tom. He’ll be in the office tomorrow morning.”
Gracie slipped off her sandals. “Well, at least we’ll find out if there is something funny or if he just landed us another job.”
Jack shoved his phone into his shirt pocket and then took off the shirt and draped it over his chair back. “Which will be really irritating now that we’ve taken on this project.”
Gracie laughed at him and dove into the pool.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she swam away, her slender form and white skin outlined by the underwater pool lights.
Chapter Five
The next morning, Gracie perched at her computer station at the LIT office and stared at the file name “Sassafras.” A mere six days ago, she’d started her letter of resignation. But those six days had been so full of changes and frayed tempers that the short passage of time felt painfully prolonged.