He turned and walked quietly out the door.
15
TWO DAYS LATER, while Dori and Little Jim were watching the Power Rangers on Saturday-morning cartoons, a parcel arrived in the overnight mail for Little Jim. Dori saw the return address and her stomach clenched. Most of the time she’d been able to keep thoughts of Tanner at bay by concentrating on her son, but seeing his hand-writing on the package brought an image of his hand holding the pen, the same hand that had touched her so lovingly.
“Who’s it from, Momma?” Little Jim hopped up and down in his excitement over the unexpected delivery.
“From Tanner.” She handed him the box. “For you.”
Little Jim sat down right where he was and started fumbling with the box. “I can’t open it, Momma.”
“I’ll get the scissors.” She helped him open the box and stepped back to let him enjoy unveiling the contents all by himself. She wasn’t surprised when he pulled out a new White Ranger.
He let out a whoop of joy and hugged the toy to his chest. “I’ve got my White Ranger back, Momma! Tanner got him back. And he cleaned him up, too!” His green eyes shone with happiness.
Dori decided not to point out that this was a different White Ranger. She’d learned from Crystal that Jimmy Jr. had destroyed the original one. Crystal had offered to replace it, but Dori had asked her to hold off. It would be just like Tanner to send a new one, Dori thought, and she didn’t want Little Jim to become confused by getting two. And sure enough, Tanner had come through. Dori pressed a hand to her heart as if that could ease the aching there.
“Let’s clean up the mess,” she said, stooping to pick up the box. A note fell out. Little Jim’s name was on the outside. “Looks like Tanner sent you a message,” she said.
“Can you read it to me?”
Of course Tanner would have known that Little Jim hadn’t learned to read and she’d have to help out with the note. He wanted her to read his message and think of him. Doggone his cleverness. She opened the note with shaking fingers and started to read out loud.
Dear Jim,
The White Ranger insisted on staying with you because he says you’re the kind of guy he’d like to have on his team. He thinks you’re very brave, and so do I. I think your mother’s very brave, too. Tell her hello for me.
Love, Tanner
Little Jim clutched his toy close as he gazed up at his mother. “When’s Tanner coming back, Momma?”
Dori pressed her lips together and swallowed hard. “He won’t be coming back, sweetheart.”
“Momma, you’re crying!”
“No. I just got something in my eye.” She grabbed a tissue from the pocket of her jeans and blew her nose. Then she turned toward the television. “Hey, we’re missing our show!”
IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS Crystal amazed Dori with her efficient handling of the custody matter. She’d explained to Dori that James wasn’t much good at backing down, so he’d washed his hands of the whole thing. Crystal worked with a lawyer and had a new agreement written.
One Saturday morning early in November, Crystal appeared at Dori’s house with a copy of the tentative agreement. Dori offered her a cup of coffee and she accepted. They sat at Dori’s kitchen table, and while Dori scanned the agreement, Crystal enjoyed a view of Little Jim and his friends playing on the swing set in the backyard. As she watched him play and commented fondly on his good coordination and cheerful nature, Dori realized with surprise that Crystal had become a friend. The week before she’d invited Crystal to go trick-or-treating with her and Little Jim and Crystal had shown up for the event in a fairy godmother costume.
“Do these terms sound fair to you?” Crystal asked. She looked apprehensive as she waved her hand at the agreement her lawyer had drawn up.
“I think they sound very fair.” The agreement gave her custody of Little Jim, and the Devaneys had visitation rights every other weekend.
“After what’s happened, you’re very generous to allow us this much.”
“I would never want Little Jim to lose contact with his daddy and his grandparents.”
Crystal looked very relieved. “Then I guess we’re ready to set up a hearing.”
“Fine. I’d like to get it settled.” Dori got up and went over to the counter where she picked up a packet of snapshots. “I had a set of Halloween pictures made for you.”
“Oh! Let me see!” Crystal reached for them eagerly and lingered over each shot, chuckling at Little Jim in his White Ranger outfit standing next to her in her fairy godmother costume. “These are terrific. They’re going right up on the refrigerator.”
“I thought they were good, too.”
“I hope we can get the hearing over with by Thanks-giving, so it doesn’t muddy up the holidays. I can’t believe it’s the ninth of November already.”
“Is it? What do you know.” Dori hadn’t taken note of the date. But she wasn’t likely to have anything particularly unusual happen to her today. The baby-sitter would arrive at twelve-thirty and she’d go to work. Then she’d come home and she and Little Jim would have popcorn and watch television, a privilege she still treasured, but which wasn’t out of the ordinary now.
Crystal tucked the pictures into the envelope and put them in the purse she’d hung over the back of her chair. “Those snapshots are wonderful. I think it was seeing those walls of pictures in your bedroom the night Little Jim disappeared that made up my mind for me. That was heart-wrenching.”
Dori slid the agreement across the table. “It was all I could think to do to keep him close.”
Crystal cradled her coffee mug in both hands. “You’re a good person, Dori Mae.” She sipped her coffee. “I’ve learned a lot from you.”
“How’s Jimmy Jr. taking all this?”
“Oh, he’s been surly, but lately he’s started dating a nineteen-year-old. He can pull the wool over her eyes, I guess, and I understand now that’s what he needs to bolster his ego. If he marries her, I’ll probably have to check her mouth for bubble gum before the ceremony.”
Dori laughed. “I hope he finds somebody he can be happy with.”
“First he has to be happy with himself. His father’s never given him much credit for being capable, and Jimmy always thinks he has to prove himself.” She ran a manicured fingernail around the rim of her coffee mug. “I’d always hoped you could help him grow up.” She smiled. “Instead, you helped me do that.”
Dori reached across to squeeze Crystal’s hand. “I have a lot to thank you for. All this business with the lawyers. Tell me the cost and I’ll pay half.”
Crystal shook her head. “No. Let James pay. He owes you at least that much, although he’ll never acknowledge it.” She gazed at Dori. “You probably wonder why I stay with him.”
“Crystal, that’s your business. I—”
“I’ve asked myself the same thing. The truth is, I’m lazy. I don’t want to go through the hassle of divorce and I’d be lonesome living by myself. If I were your age, I might consider starting over, but not at fifty-three.”
“I understand. I truly do.”
“I’m sure you do. You’re a perceptive young woman. And you know—”
The doorbell sounded, and Dori excused herself to answer it. Another package had arrived in the overnight mail from Dallas, and this time it was addressed to her. This package was slimmer than the one Little Jim had received two weeks before. Heart pounding, Dori carried it back to the kitchen.
Crystal glanced up, obviously curious, but she didn’t ask any questions.
“Um, it’s something from Tanner.” Dori laid it on the counter, unopened.
“And you want some privacy before you open it.” Crystal pushed back her chair and stood.
“You don’t have to leave yet,” Dori protested, although Crystal had hit the nail on the head. She was dying to open the package but didn’t know how she’d react to whatever was inside. She did want privacy.
“I need to get going, anyway.” Crystal picked up the
custody agreement. “Thanks for the coffee and the pictures. I’ll let you know when the hearing is scheduled.” She hesitated and glanced out the window at the children on the swing set.
“Did you want to say goodbye? I can call him in.”
“No, actually I…” Crystal made an impatient gesture. “Never mind. It’s too soon.”
“Too soon for what?”
“I was thinking of asking if Little Jim could spend the night, but you probably don’t want to do that yet. I wouldn’t trust us, if I were in your shoes.”
Dori felt a nervous clutching of her stomach at the thought of Little Jim being away from her for the night.
“I’d bring him back first thing in the morning,” Crystal said. She looked pathetically eager. “I—I miss him something terrible.”
Dori looked into Crystal’s eyes and saw only goodwill there. She had to start trusting the Devaneys at some point, because the new agreement would give them the right to have Little Jim every other weekend. She might as well start now. “Sure,” she said. “I imagine he’d love to go. Especially if you bake cookies with him.”
“That was my plan.” Crystal came over and hugged her. When she backed away there were tears in her eyes. “Thank you. Thank you so much. If you want time to get him ready, I’ll come back whenever you say.”
Dori figured the longer she had to think about it, the more nervous she’d become. “If you don’t mind taking him a little dusty, he can go now.”
“Bless you.”
“Let’s go get him.”
AS DORI HAD SUSPECTED, Little Jim was happy to go spend a night with his grandmother, who had become an important person in his life. She’d stood up for his rights, and he trusted her as he might never trust his father and grandfather. Dori was just as glad that her son maintained some suspicion toward those two men. They were unlikely to change much.
Ten minutes later Crystal drove away with Little Jim ensconced in the passenger seat of her blue Cadillac, and Dori went back to the kitchen. She called to cancel the baby-sitter and picked up her package from Tanner.
She stood there holding it for a moment and tried to imagine what he could be sending her. Perhaps it had something to do with the custody case. She’d wondered if his lawyers had kept in touch with the Devaney lawyers and if part of Crystal’s efficiency had been prompted by Tanner’s lawyers breathing down her neck. Crystal wanted to do the right thing, no doubt, but Dori knew she wouldn’t want costly lawsuits any more than James would. Crystal liked her life-style.
So Tanner was probably sending her an update. Something impersonal. Still, her heart raced as she pulled the tab and took out an official-looking document. So she’d been right. A note in Tanner’s handwriting was paper-clipped to the first page.
Dear Dori,
This is the best I can do.
Love, Tanner
Kind of an odd thing to say, she thought as she glanced at the first page. Then her eyes widened and she groped for a chair as her knees grew weak. She started reading, stumbling over all the whereas and wherefore clauses, but getting the central meaning of the document in front of her. She put her head in her hands and tried to steady her breathing.
The papers, when signed, would make her a full partner in Jones Construction.
TANNER HAD PARKED his red Dodge Ram a block away from Dori’s house where he could see the overnight mail truck arrive. He noticed Crystal’s Cadillac was in the driveway. According to reports from his lawyers, Crystal was hurrying the custody case along, both for Little Jim’s sake and for her own. She understood, even if her husband did not, that the Devaneys would be sued within an inch of their lives if they didn’t move quickly. But he still gave Crystal credit for standing up to her husband on Little Jim’s behalf.
After the mail truck left, Tanner wondered if Dori was reading the document he’d sent, or if she’d put it aside because Crystal was still there. A short while later, Crystal came out with her grandson and they both climbed into the Cadillac. Good. Tanner had asked Crystal to spirit Little Jim away if possible, but he hadn’t been sure Dori would agree to it. Having Dori all to himself, even for a short while, would improve his chances a thousand percent. There were some methods of persuasion he wouldn’t be able to employ with her son around.
He glanced at his watch and decided to give her fifteen minutes to read the document. Franklin had stammered like a schoolboy when Tanner had announced what he wanted in the way of a partnership contract. When Franklin had recovered from his shock, he’d mentioned that this was a damned far cry from the prenuptial agreement Tanner had asked him to prepare for any prospective bride. Franklin had repeated all Tanner’s lectures about why he didn’t want to have partners, let alone a wife who could ruin his business with one nasty divorce. And now Tanner wanted to make this woman a full partner, give her fifty percent of all he owned, before she’d even agreed to marry him? Franklin had suggested that perhaps Tanner needed a checkup. He seemed to be having a breakdown of some sort.
Franklin had been more right than he knew, Tanner thought as he watched the front of Dori’s house. He was having a breakdown, and Dori Mae Fitzgerald was the only one who could put the pieces back together. He’d gone into this venture wanting exactly what she’d accused him of wanting, a little wife—somebody who wouldn’t threaten his precious business or interfere too much in his schedule, somebody who would adore him and tell him how wonderful he was without making demands of her own.
And then he’d met Dori, who insisted on being a whole person and not an adjunct to some important man. She wanted equal footing, and this was the only way, short of bankrupting himself, that he could think of giving it to her. It was no paper title; the document specified that she’d have definite duties as his partner, including attending meetings and making recommendations on all projects. She’d have a lot to learn, but a woman of her intelligence would have no problem adjusting. She probably knew more than she realized. After all, she’d grown up around a father who was in construction.
Yet he could imagine her turning him down flat. He could imagine it in painful detail. That’s why he wouldn’t give her too much time before he moved in.
After fourteen minutes he started up the truck. As he pulled into her driveway, he couldn’t remember being this nervous in his entire life. But then, nothing had ever been as important as her answer. He strode to the front door with more confidence than he felt and pressed the bell.
DORI WAS STILL STARING at the contract when the doorbell rang. She glanced up at the calendar again. Definitely the ninth of the month. And Tanner had been known to use her magic number to his advantage. Her heart thudding, she left the contract lying on the table and walked to the door.
Although she’d expected to see Tanner on the other side of it, the breath still whooshed out of her when she saw that he was really, truly there. All signs of his injuries were gone, and his eyes shone clear and blue, and filled with love for her. It took all her resolve not to fling herself into his arms. But she still had to decide what to do, and the decision was so very important.
“May-I come in?” he asked gently.
“Of course.” She stepped aside and he came through the door, bringing with him a remembered scent, a remembered way of moving that turned her insides to jelly. Before she closed the door she got a glimpse of the truck he’d driven this time. It was a far cry from the battered heap he’d arrived in several weeks ago.
But Tanner looked the same. His jeans still hugged his hips and reflected many washings, and his Western shirt was as faded as the one he’d worn when she’d first glimpsed him in the Double Nickel Café.
She licked her dry lips and gestured toward the couch. “Would you like to sit down?”
“Sure.” He ambled over to the couch, but she noticed the tense line of his shoulders and decided he wasn’t as nonchalant as he looked.
“Coffee?”
“No, thanks.” He lifted off his black Stetson and laid it on the arm of the couch.
>
Dori took the easy chair opposite him, so that the coffee table separated them. Her gaze lingered on his face as she mentally retraced the sweep of his cheekbones, the curve of his jaw, the laugh lines bracketing his mouth and the faint horizontal lines across his forehead where he’d wrinkled his brow with worry. She’d probably given him a fair share of that worry lately. “Little Jim really loves having his White Ranger back. He thinks you found the original one. I didn’t have the heart to tell him his daddy destroyed it.”
Tanner nodded. “I figured that had happened. That’s why I took all the tags off the new one.” He smiled, and Dori’s heart swelled with longing. “The thank-you note he dictated to you was great. And the drawing.”
“I want him to learn good manners. A gift deserves a thank-you.”
He leaned forward. “Just to clear the record, what I sent you today wasn’t a gift.”
Her breathing grew shallow at the fierce light in his eyes. “Then what was it?”
“A business deal. I’ve discovered I can’t run my company without you.”
She gripped the arms of the easy chair. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Ask anybody who works for me. I can’t concentrate. I waffle on decisions and let details slip through my fingers. I need somebody with a clear head to help me run things.”
“You could hire an assistant.”
“I don’t want an assistant.” His gaze was as direct as a laser beam. “I want an equal. Somebody who will tell me to take a long walk off a short pier when necessary. Somebody tough and independent, with a good head on her shoulders. Somebody exactly like you.”
“To help you run your business?”
“For starters. If you’ll agree to that, I want you to be my wife.”
“People buy into businesses, Tanner. They don’t just become partners with a stroke of the pen. I wouldn’t have any equity in Jones Construction.”
“You already own the heart of the man trying to run it now,” he said quietly. “How much is that worth?”
Holding Out For A Hero Page 17