by Gary Parker
“I wouldn’t say anything to your dad about what I told you,” Margaret said softly.
“Why not?”
“Think about it,” Margaret said. “You’re the most important thing in his life, and he’d never want you disappointed in him. If he thought you knew this, that I’d told you, it would crush him and he’d come after me. It would make what little connection we have even worse, a lot more unpleasant. You don’t want that, do you?”
Jenna rubbed her face and shook her head as she realized her mom had it all under control. She knew exactly what buttons to push to blackmail Jenna, to keep her from finding the truth.
Without another word, Jenna left the house. Climbing into her car, she hoped Rem would call before lunch. She really needed to talk to somebody, and he, an outsider to everyone she knew, seemed the only safe person to confide in.
Rem arrived at his office at about 1:30, Lisa at his side. Stanfield entered fifteen minutes later, alone this time but as punctual as ever, a tan suit covering her body, her hair pulled back in a way that made her cheekbones stand out. Rem admired the way Stanfield looked both tough and feminine at the same time, a difficult achievement for sure. Everybody took their places at the table in his small conference room, Stanfield across from him and Lisa. Rem held a bottle of water and offered Stanfield one, but she refused.
“It’s the day before Christmas,” Stanfield said firmly. “Let’s do our business and get out of here.”
Rem leaned forward. “Our business is already done,” he said. “You made an offer; we accepted it. Then you put a new condition on it. I can’t agree to that condition, so we revert to the original offer. We’re ready to sell based on that agreement.”
Stanfield scratched her earlobe. “I apologize for the added requirement,” she said, her tone softer. “My supervisor added it when I carried back the papers. But I’m afraid it’s nonnegotiable.”
“Lisa is as knowledgeable as me,” Rem said.
Stanfield nodded. “I’m sure that’s true,” she said. “But we want you; it’s that simple. You come or the deal’s off.”
Rem sat back, his jaw firm. Stanfield seemed determined to push him into something he didn’t want. Was she bluffing? His cell phone rang, and not wanting the distraction, he pulled it from his pocket and handed it to Lisa without checking the caller ID. Lisa stood, stepped out of the room, and answered the phone.
It surprised Jenna when a woman answered Rem’s phone, and she momentarily lost her voice. Who was this, and why did she have Rem’s phone?
“Yeah,” she said after a couple of seconds. “I’m trying to reach Rem Lincoln. Is this his number?”
“It is, but he’s not available. Can I take a message?”
Jenna started to ask the woman why she had Rem’s phone but then realized it wasn’t any of her business. She’d gone out with the man one time; what right did she have to ask anything? “No,” she said. “No message.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Jenna hung up and collapsed into a chair by her kitchen table. For reasons she couldn’t explain, tears suddenly filled her eyes. She’d waited all morning for Rem to call, but when noon arrived and she hadn’t heard from him, she’d done something she’d never have done even a week ago. She’d called his house. Roscoe had answered and told her Rem had gone back to Atlanta for some kind of year-end business deal. Disappointed, Jenna had started to hang up, but then Roscoe had offered her Rem’s cell phone number and she’d taken it and written it down.
It had taken over an hour after she’d hung up to work up the courage to call the cell number. Was that too forward, pushy even? But who else could she tell what her mother had revealed? Nobody in Hilltop, that was for sure.
Her hands shaking, she’d punched in Rem’s number. But what had it gotten her? Heartache, that’s what. Rem obviously lived with a woman in Atlanta. Why else would a woman have his cell phone? Her mom was right; Rem probably had lots of women. It was crazy for her to get interested in him.
Jenna wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and stood. All right, she’d made a mistake, but that was behind her and she wouldn’t do it again. Rem Lincoln was history.
Rem knew he had to make a decision but still didn’t know which way to go. To his relief, Lisa walked back in, and he turned to her. She handed over his cell phone and sat down beside him.
“Time to choose,” Rem said, pocketing the phone. “What’ll it be?”
“Up to you,” Lisa said.
Rem smiled and faced Stanfield again. “I’ve got a counterproposal,” he told her. “What if we take . . . what if I take five hundred thousand less? You hire Lisa as your consultant for three years. If you still need me, I come on a year from now as her assistant. This is a win-win situation. You get the leadership you need from a cocreator of the program, and it costs you less money. If necessary, I can still become available—but not until, and not unless, I have to.”
Stanfield’s eyes widened as she considered the notion, but Lisa didn’t like it. “I won’t let you do this!” she whispered, leaning close to Rem. “After our debts are paid, you’ll barely clear half a million, not nearly enough for all the work you’ve put in.”
Rem held up a hand. “I’ll clear enough,” he whispered back. “My mind’s set.”
He faced Stanfield again as she pulled out a cell phone. “I need to check with my supervisor,” she said. “But this sounds possible.”
She stood and walked to the hallway.
Rem rose too and closed the door. Lisa looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “I don’t get it,” she said. “You didn’t even want to sell when you left here for Christmas. What’s changed?”
He put his hands in his pockets. “I’m not sure,” he said. “But it’s just not that important to me anymore. The money, the frantic rush every day. I’m . . . I don’t know . . . I’ve got some things going on right now.”
“What’s happened?” Lisa pressed. “Your dad okay?”
Rem nodded. “Ornery as ever, but his health is no worse, if that’s what you mean. It’s not him, I don’t think.”
“Then what?”
Rem propped a foot against the wall. “It’s complicated,” he said. “But . . . I don’t know . . . I’ve run into some old friends back in Hilltop. There’s this preacher. I went to State with him, and he’s now a pastor back home.”
“You’re getting religion on me?”
“No, that’s not it. But Nelson—that’s his name—is a smart guy. Not one of these shout-until-your-head-falls-off kind of preachers, but intelligent, thoughtful. I’m interested in what he’s got to say, that’s all, like I’m interested in most everything else.”
Lisa took off her glasses and placed them on the table. “There’s nothing wrong with any of that,” she said. “I know a lot of great people trying to find some kind of spirituality. But that’s no reason to drop everything, all you’ve worked on, and head to the mountains. Why can’t you do your searching right here?”
Rem glanced out at Stanfield, but she had her back to him, her cell phone still at her ear. “Who was on the phone a minute ago?” he asked.
“Don’t know. Some woman.”
Rem pulled out his cell phone, checked his call log, and recognized the area code but not the number. “A woman?”
“Yeah, she sounded surprised when I answered.”
Rem punched the call return, and the number rang to an answering machine. Jenna’s voice told him to leave a message.
“Who is she?” Lisa asked.
Rem smiled. “Another old friend I met in Hilltop.”
Lisa tilted her head. “You’re leaving Atlanta for a woman?”
Rem started to answer, but Stanfield turned his way and gave him a thumbs-up before he could. Lisa muttered something about not believing what she’d just heard, but Rem ignored her and opened the door for Stanfield.
Stanfield strutted back in, and they started talking about the te
rms of their deal. Less than an hour later, she left the room.
Rem told Lisa he’d answer all her questions in due time, then sent her home and took a taxi to the airport. Although he’d just signed an agreement to sell something at a lot cheaper price than he’d ever imagined, he still felt at ease. For the first time in years, he had something he’d long missed . . . some free time. The question was, what was he going to do now that he owned it? Was Lisa right? Was he doing all this for a woman? Or was something else behind it, something even more important?
As his plane took off for Asheville, Rem’s mind clouded more and more with confusion. Somehow, though, he knew that the next couple of days would tell him a lot, perhaps more than he ever wanted to know.
10
Rem tried all afternoon to reach Jenna but with no success. As soon as he landed in Asheville, he called again, leaving his name and number on her answering machine a couple more times, but she didn’t call back. By the time he’d returned to Hilltop, night had long since fallen and he’d become more and more confused. Jenna had called him; what did she want and why hadn’t she called him back?
He drove by her apartment as soon as he entered town but didn’t find her. Frustrated, he tried to guess where she was—her mom’s house maybe? He piloted his Lexus in that direction, and Margaret met him at the door when he arrived, her hair neatly pressed, her eyes suspicious.
“I’m Rem Lincoln,” he said, still on the porch because Margaret hadn’t invited him inside. “Is Jenna here?”
Margaret shook her head, and Rem waited for some explanation, but she offered none.
“Do you know where I can find her?” he asked, exasperation in his voice.
“Why don’t you leave her alone?” Margaret said.
Rem stepped back half a pace and wondered what the woman had against him. “Is there a problem I should know about?” he asked.
Margaret sniffed the air as if walking past a garbage dump in July. “Jenna is happy,” she said. “She doesn’t need to get hurt again.”
Rem struggled to stay calm. Although he had no clue why, Margaret obviously thought poorly of him. “Look,” he said, “I’m a friend of Jenna’s and have no plans to hurt her or anyone else. I just wanted to see her a few minutes. She called me earlier today; I tried to call her back but couldn’t reach her. Do you have any idea where she is?”
“If she didn’t call you back, maybe it’s because she doesn’t want to talk to you.”
Rem became even more frustrated. “Do you know for a fact she doesn’t want to talk to me?”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed, and he saw genuine anger in them and wondered why she hated men so much. “No,” she finally admitted. “I don’t know it for sure, but I feel confident I’m right.”
“So you won’t tell me where I can find her?”
“I have no intention of doing such a thing.”
His fists clenched, Rem nodded as politely as he could manage, then stalked off the porch. Back in his car, he tried to figure out what to do. Should he go back to Jenna’s apartment and wait? But if he did that and she really didn’t want to see him, she’d get awfully upset, and he didn’t want that. Then where could he find her?
The grocery store? He headed the Lexus that way but saw as he drove up that it was closed. Where next? The hospital! Perhaps she’d gone to visit with the Stracks.
Knowing no other place to try, Rem headed to the hospital. One way or another he planned to find Jenna. If she didn’t want to see him, fine. If he’d scared her off last night, okay. But he wanted her to say that to his face. If she did, he’d leave her absolutely alone. Just make it plain, that’s all he wanted.
Jenna’s eyes widened as she walked into Mickey Strack’s hospital room and saw Rem standing with Brenda and Tom beside the baby’s bed. Brenda stepped to her and smiled thinly, and Jenna gave her a quick hug. Rem glanced at his shoes, then back at Jenna. His eyes looked moist, and she wondered why.
“I came here looking for you,” he explained. “Met Tom and Brenda here, Mickey too.” He pointed to the sleeping baby. A plastic bubble covered Mickey’s bed to protect him from infections.
Jenna’s heart hardened for reasons she couldn’t explain, and her anger quickly rose. Rem had no business here! She glanced at Brenda and Tom; both looked pale in the room’s dim light.
“They’re sending Mickey home in less than an hour,” Tom said. “They’ve done all they can.”
Jenna’s heart shriveled, and the sense of failure she’d worn the last day or so hit hard again. Although free of disease at the moment, Mickey would certainly catch something in the next few weeks, and that would be the end, and she could do nothing to stop it. She wondered if she looked as worn out as Brenda.
“It ought to be a crime,” Rem said, his hands in his pockets. “Treating a kid this way, turning him out without the treatment he needs.”
Jenna heard sincerity in Rem’s words, and she liked that. And he had so many other great qualities too, but she knew she couldn’t listen to him, couldn’t let herself feel anything but cold. Rem deserved none of her affection. He had a woman in Atlanta. She squared her shoulders and decided to send him on his way.
“Excuse us a minute,” she said to Tom and Brenda. They nodded, and she took Rem’s arm and steered him from the room. In the hallway, she faced him, her face tight. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I tried to call you back,” he said. “I left three or four messages; didn’t you get them?”
“I got them.”
“Then why didn’t you call me again?”
“I didn’t see the point,” she said, deciding to leave out the part about his girlfriend answering the phone. “You’re leaving tomorrow; we both know it.”
He shook his head. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Last night you didn’t seem worried about when I’d leave. You seemed fine to let things happen nice and easy like. But now you’re like a different person; you call me but then won’t take my calls when I call back. That’s crazy!”
“Maybe to you,” she said, “but not to me.”
“What happened?” he said. “You owe me an explanation.”
“I don’t owe you anything! We went to dinner, that’s it. Both of us got a little romantic on a cold winter night before Christmas. We kissed. So what? Let’s not make too much out of it.”
Rem shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’m trying to figure this out,” he said. “You called me during a meeting. Lisa answered the phone, but you wouldn’t give her a name or number.” He paused and stared at his shoes. Suddenly he glanced back up. “That’s it!” he sputtered. “Lisa answered my phone. You think she’s a live-in or something!”
He waited for a response, but Jenna kept quiet. No reason to argue with him, she figured. He could lie as easily as the next man. Her mother knew about that; now she did too.
Rem reached for her hands, but she pulled away. “Just go,” she said. “That’s the best thing; we’re too different.”
“But Lisa’s my business partner,” he explained. “She’s married to a guy big enough to crush my skull with one hand. I can prove it to you. Here, let’s call her.”
He pulled out his phone, and Jenna again saw his sincerity and wanted to believe him but knew that even if she did, it wouldn’t matter. She didn’t want to get hurt again, and Rem possessed every trait she’d ever feared in a man—he attracted women too easily and worked too hard and didn’t have a religious bone in his body. She might as well end this before it ever got started. She touched his forearm, her anger gone but her resolve still set.
“Go on home,” she said gently. “Let it go.”
He hesitated, the phone in hand. “You’re not going to give me a chance, are you?” he asked.
She slowly shook her head.
“You’re judging me,” he said. “Without any cause and without listening, you’re making decisions based on what somebody else did to you, Carl who left you at the altar, your mother’s advice, mayb
e a whole lot of other things I don’t even know about. But you’ve been hurt, and I’m being judged for it.”
“Maybe so,” she finally managed. “But I can’t help it.”
“It’s not too Christian though, is it?”
“What?” She looked at him, her heart grieved at what he’d suggested.
“You claim you’re a Christian,” he said, “but you’re not judging me for myself. That’s not right, is it?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Okay.” He pulled his arm away and stood up straight. “I’m leaving now,” he said. “I won’t bother you anymore. But you need to know I’m not a bad man. Too bad you’ll never find that out for yourself.”
She nodded. “Maybe I’ll run into you,” she said. “We can be friends.”
“I expect not,” he said. “I’ll leave tomorrow.”
She sighed. “Take care,” she said.
“What’s it to you?” he asked.
Tears moistened her eyes, but she brushed them away. She didn’t want to hurt him, but better him than her.
He faced her one more time, and the pain in his eyes seemed so familiar. She’d seen that pain before, somewhere . . . but where? She wanted to scream and make the memory come back. He’d said they’d met before high school, and she felt sure they had. He wasn’t lying about that, but she couldn’t push the moment to her consciousness.
“I’m sorry about the kid,” he said, breaking her thoughts. “I know you tried hard.”
“Everybody did,” she said, glad he hadn’t left yet. “But I guess it just wasn’t the Lord’s will.”
He stuck his hands in his pockets again. “The Lord’s will,” he said. “You think you know what that is?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t guess I do.”
“Let me know if you find it,” he said.
“I’ll do that.”
He leaned close, kissed her on the forehead, and then turned and walked away. Watching him leave, she got the distinct sense that she’d just made a terrible mistake. But given what she knew at the moment, what else could she do but let him go?