“What do you think?” I knew she wanted my opinion, perhaps she was even going to ask me to back her investment. How the hell had I gotten myself into this mess? I couldn’t say anything or do anything until I got back to Chicago and straightened up that mess. At the same time, I had two live wires just waiting to electrocute her. Steve, and now Corey. Those weren’t her problems — they were mine.
“First of all, I’m glad you had a great time. I’m sorry we had to leave early but that happens in my world. Business things come up that I have to take care of first hand. So, we had to leave. There’s also this matter between Corey and Daphne. We have their child with us. If Corey is set on leaving Daphne, I need to be there to catch her and her child. I’ve made that my responsibility.”
“You’re a good man, Chris.” Her voice was soft and complimentary, and I liked to think I heard a bit of possessiveness in it.
“I’m glad you think so.” I just hoped when the lid blew off, that she still thought that. I needed to change the subject. “Hey, you can look down now. We are over the States.”
“No, I’ll take your word for it. Looking down makes me dizzy. How much longer?”
I laughed. “I can tell you’re not going to be much of a traveler.”
“No, I guess not. Especially after being on your jet. I know it can’t get any better than this.”
I wondered if she realized that I never had answered her question. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, I just wasn’t prepared for it.
Later that evening, we dropped Marga off at Daphne’s. Odd, that I should already be thinking of it as Daphne’s property. Corey was nowhere to be found and Daphne was going to great efforts to mask her bloodshot eyes from crying.
“Did you have a wonderful time, darling?” she asked Marga and in response was shown the gifts and even treated to a slightly rumpled white bag that contained a strawberry creampuff. Daphne laughed as she removed it, the cream now a milky stream that ran down her arm.
“I’m sure it was very beautiful when you bought it,” she said nobly, and I could see the twinkle in her eyes. Daphne’s world was Marga. I would see to it that it stayed that way.
Back in the car, we headed in the direction of my place. Lillie spoke up. “Could you ask the driver to pull into a motel somewhere, please?” She was busying herself gathering up her belongings, getting ready to leave.
“What do you mean?”
“Chris, what are you thinking? I have nowhere to go but a motel. The house is gone, remember?”
“Yes, I know. And my attorney handled everything. The money should be in your bank account already.”
“Well, I appreciate that. Please send me a bill for his services.”
“Hey, why are you being so formal all of a sudden?”
She looked at me, startled. “What do you mean? Our vacation is over. It’s time to get back to the real world.”
“And what does the real world mean to you?”
“What I mean is that I have nowhere to live, no job, a huge ambitious plan, and I need to get started on something. I can’t thank you enough for taking me along. There was a very special time to me, Chris.”
“Lillie? Why are you leaving me? Did I say something?” I was stymied by her change in attitude.
“Chris, nothing is changed between us, I guess, unless you want it to end. I hoped we’d still see one another. As soon as I’m settled, I’ll let you know where to find me.”
I sat forward, withdrawing my arm from around her shoulder so I could face her. “No, no, no, you don’t understand. You’re not staying in a motel. You’re going home with me. I’ve already set it up that way.”
She cocked her head. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but don’t you think that was just a little presumptuous?”
“Why would you think that?”
She sat for a moment, forming her words. “Chris, we both know that this relationship between us, while it is wonderful, it’s never going to be anything more than what it is now. We have different goals in life. Me? I want to get my business off the ground and when I do, I want to have my own little Marga. I want to find someone who loves me more than anything else and wants to raise a family. You are not that person, Chris. You said it yourself—you’ve reminded everyone so many times. You don’t ever want to be married or have a family. You didn’t think I was going to give up being a mother and just flit around the world in a jet with you, did you?”
The way she said it made it sound dirty. I was struggling with an answer. I’d had my mind made up for so many years, I couldn’t just rethink it all in a matter of seconds. “Okay, you win. We’ll find you a room for the night and if you want my help, I’ll be there for you. This isn’t what I had planned, Lillie. Not at all. But, you’re right. I have said that. You deserve to have the life you dream of. To tell you the truth, I don’t know what I pictured.”
She put her hand over mine, rubbing the back of my clenched fist. “Chris, I’m sorry if this sounds cold. Especially after you’ve been so good to me. We are both adults, and I understood that our vacation was sort of like a long date. I hope I helped with Marga, but I can’t depend on you to keep me fed and clothed from here on out. Don’t you see, what that would make me?”
I said the words for her. “A kept woman.”
“Exactly. I’m better than that, Chris. I deserve more than that for myself. I’m not like you, I can’t be alone. I want people I love, and who love me to be around me. I had a close family and I’m sorry, because I know you didn’t, and maybe our childhoods influenced who we are today. I just thought all this was understood.”
I shook my head. I didn’t say anymore. The driver pulled into the parking lot of a Ramada Inn. I watched through the window as he put her luggage on a dolly and followed her inside. I turned my head to look straight out the front windshield. Damn, what a fool I am.
Chapter 19
Lillie
I was shaking as I pushed open the door to my room at the Ramada. Why didn’t he stop me? I could feel the tears building in the limo and knew I had to get away from him while I was still holding back. He didn’t even argue with me. Didn’t see me inside. Why not?
I looked at the diamond bracelet on my wrist and tried to feel warmth from him—but the diamonds were cold and impenetrable. Just like Chris. Why had I gone with him? I knew why. I was in love with him, and had been since the evening we spent at the restaurant and he’d told me about his childhood. He was relatable, smart, professional, handsome…the list went on and on. But, he was also cold and calculating when he felt someone getting too close to him. I hated that part of him. If I couldn’t get close to him, it made all the intimacy we’d shared a sham. I pulled off the bracelet and slid it into my purse. I suddenly felt dirty.
I showered and went through the clothes in my suitcases. I hung up the things from Paris and left my Chicago clothes in the suitcase. They represented separate lives, separate Lillies. The question was, which one would I be in the future?
A hot shower only helped to warm my cold limbs. It was after midnight. Christmas and all the sparkling lights in romantic cities was over. Even my little, temporary pretend family was gone. Marga had gone home to her mom, Chris had gone home to his family—his business.
I wanted to talk to Mama and Papa, but it was very late there, and I wouldn’t wake them. I’d called them from Paris and wished them Merry Christmas. I could hear envy in Mama’s voice and suspicion in Papa’s. I was no longer his little girl. I was a grown woman and off to a kind of lousy start, if I had to say so myself.
I settled into the bed with its sterile sheets and uniform-like accommodations. It lacked the charm of the cities I’d just left. But, this was my life and I was being indulgent to even be in a Ramada. I really couldn’t afford it for long. Tomorrow, I look for a job, I resolved.
The next morning I pulled on Chicago clothes and ran across the street to the convenient store for a tall coffee, Hostess cinnamon roll and a Chicago Tribune. I sat cross-
legged on the bed and felt the loneliness consume me. Nibbling slowly, I tried to pretend I was with Chris in Paris and all was well. I leafed through the paper, catching up on the news and finally, with a sigh, turned to the classifieds. I wanted more than anything to resurrect the bakery, but that took money and I had none. I eyeballed my purse, knowing that extremely expensive bracelet lay inside. Can I bring myself to hock it? I asked. I knew I couldn’t. It was all I had left of Chris.
I called a taxi and had it drive me by the old house. I’d left my car at a neighbor’s and needed to retrieve it. The house was still empty. It looked forlorn and abandoned; pretty much the same way I felt. I began to cry and indulged myself all the way back to the Ramada.
Okay, get your shit together, I told myself. I opened the closet and began laying out outfits that would be suitable for job hunting. I selected a navy suit with a boxy, double-breasted jacket. I had some not-so-scuffed navy shoes I could pair with it and if I took time with my hair, maybe the interviewer would be drawn to focus on my face and not my heels.
I pulled out a pen and circled several jobs. It was the week between Christmas and New Year’s – a poor time to look for a new job since most of the executive-level people were on vacation. There was one place I knew was open and I needed the money. I put in a call to the temp agency and let them know I was available. “You’re kidding,” responded the sour-faced girl I’d met the first time. “We figured you’d be off the market.”
“Well, you figured wrong and I need a job, so please, refer me, will you?”
“Okay, we’ll let you know if anyone wants to interview you,” was her standard line.
So, this is what heartbreak feels like. I flipped on the television and there was a holiday movie on. She was a princess and he, the poor boy who was trying to make good so he could get her attention. Yeah, right, I said to myself. I was really in a sour mood.
I never even noticed when the sun set; I’d pulled the thermal black-out drapes closed and skipped dinner. There was no dinner for the depressed.
The next morning, I drove past the bakery lot. I could see some papers posted on one of the columns that remained. Curious, I got out and went to retrieve them. There were notices from the county that the building had been condemned and was to be auctioned for non-payment of property taxes. What?
I got into my car and called Papa. He answered, and his voice sounded tired. “Papa?”
“Oh, my Lillie, it’s so good to hear your voice.”
“Papa, this is important. The county put a notice on the building. It says they’re going to auction if off for non-payment of property taxes. Papa, can this be true?”
There was a long, drawn-out sigh at the other end. “Yes, it’s true. I had to cut the corners.” It had become his standard response.
“Papa! You can’t cut that corner. If it hadn’t burned down, they would have taken the business away from us and you couldn’t have stopped them unless you paid those taxes! How much is owed?”
“Oh, I’m not sure any more. With penalties and interest, maybe about a hundred thousand?”
“Dollars? Papa, are you serious?”
“Well, I had to cut…”
“Yeah, I know, those corners. I can’t believe this. And to think I was going to try and rebuild the business to surprise you. I’m living in a motel with no money and no job. There’s no way I can salvage it now.” I was heartbroken, and it fit in so well with the depression I was nurturing.
“I’m sorry, Lilly. I did the best I could.”
I fell apart then. I knew it was hard for him to admit that and he wasn’t able to help me. He’d let me down, Mama down and himself down. But he was my father and I owed him my understanding and love.
“It’s okay, Papa. I’ll make out.”
“I thought you were in Europe? How can you take such a vacation when you have no money?”
In a sense, he was right. I should have stayed home and found a job, dealt with my own problems and not ignored them and left to the playground of the rich. If anything, it only pointed out the fact that I had nothing.
“Papa, the money is in the account – from the house. Do you want me to bail out the building, so we can get some money from it?”
“No, no, Lillie. Just let it go. Flemming’s Bakery belongs to the past. Leave the house money in the bank. Take some out if you need to, until you get on your feet. Mama and I need it, too. It’s expensive here. More than what I’d planned.”
I nodded and in that moment, I realized what a lousy businessman my father had been. I didn’t want to admit it, but he made bad decisions and it cost us, big time. I vowed to be better at it – to build and protect my investment. It was time to start over.
“Papa, I have to go now. Tell Mama I love her. The house money is in the bank,” I repeated and disconnected.
Chapter 20
Christopher
I hired a private detective—a guy who’d been in Navy Intel and knew his way around computers and how to blend in. I sent him to Steve’s house and when he reported back, I knew I’d been right. Steve had never left for the islands. It had been a cover to give him time out of the office, out from under my supervision. He was planning his coup. I could smell it.
I was missing Lillie with every fiber of my body. I wanted to go to that lousy Ramada and carry her out—even if it meant kidnapping her. I couldn’t. Not until I took care of Steve.
I knew she’d find out the part I’d played and right now, it would be enough to guarantee I’d never get close to her again. Worse than that, there was an off-chance I could be framed for the fire and if Steve had his way, it would mean he could activate the clause in our contract that stipulated that any felonious act would be cause to terminate it. That meant if Steve could convince the authorities that I’d ordered the fire, he could take over my holdings in the shops we co-owned. I couldn’t bring Lillie into that. My fear was that she’d be brought in anyway – as the prosecution.
My detective, Sean Malloy, knew his stuff. The first thing I did was put the office staff on vacation the remainder of the week and lock up the building. I gave Sean full access to the computers, including the bookkeeping programs. He was intense, suspicious by nature and had the advantage of knowing code at an international level. I stayed out of the way in my office, finishing up my year-end numbers. There was no sign of Steve; he thought we believed him to be in the islands.
On the third day Sean showed up in my doorway. I felt his energy approaching before I heard him; my senses were so attuned to incoming danger. It was making me a nervous wreck. I was keeping a bottle of Seagram’s on my nightstand at the apartment, which certainly didn’t help my physical health. I felt like I was falling apart. I missed her. I’d failed her. She would hate me.
“What’s up?” I asked him when he appeared.
“I found something…well, a lot of somethings.”
“Come in, sit down.”
He walked in, his posture stiff and military. He laid a flash drive on my desk. “If you could load that, sir, I’ll show you.”
I did as he asked and suddenly a number of spreadsheets were splayed across the screen. He walked around so he could lean over me and touch the screen. “You will note that there are duplicates here, sir.”
“Two sets of books.”
“Yes, sir, and I don’t need to tell you that they don’t match in their figures, or in their expenditures.”
“Go over the high points for me, would you?”
“Of course, sir. If you’ll bring the two marked December up to the foreground? Now, these aren’t complete because naturally the month hasn’t ended, but there’s something her that you won’t find in the other months. There is an expenditure for twenty thousand dollars to a ‘Mr. Dillon.’ I’ve gone through the accounts payable and the employee records. I’m unable to locate any Mr. Dillon on the payroll or as a supplier. Would you have any idea who Mr. Dillon is?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know him, but I have a prett
y good idea who he might be.”
“Yes, sir. One more thing, sir. You’ll see that according to those records, the expenditure was authorized by you.”
“What?” I leaned closer and sure enough, my initials were in the column for approvals. But there was more. The check was drawn on the company and it was dated two nights before the fire at the Flemming’s Bakery. “That son-of-a-bitch!”
“Yes, sir. It would appear so. I believe we could make a case for your having been framed.”
“How do we get to this ‘Dillon’?”
“Already in the works, sir. I have a system in the other room searching for all the transactions in the city banks that involve that exact number. I’ll find it, don’t worry. When I find the bank, that will lead us to the man. A check in that amount does not go unnoticed by the government, sir. There are rules in place.”
“Good work, Malloy. Is there more?”
“Yes, sir, there is. There is an accounts payable vendor noted as ‘M.P. Enterprises, Inc.’ You’ll see if you look through the previous months, and indeed I’ve found it in the last two years, a monthly payment from your company to them in the amount of two hundred and fifty-thousand dollars. Sir, there is no M.P. Enterprises on record with the IRS or any state revenue-collecting office.”
I stared at the screen. That was three million dollars a year! Going to who? That was when the truth shouted at me and I knew. M.P. Enterprises, Inc. was Steve’s wife, Marjorie. Oh, she was a stripper, alright. She’d stripped me of at least six million dollars and most likely, that was where Steve had been getting the cash to buy the real estate he’d used to leverage his way into my employ. I was, in essence, paying him to rob me.
I pulled out my phone and called my attorney. “Willard, sorry to interrupt your holiday. I need you at my office. Now. Come to the door at the back in the employee lot. I’ll let you in.”
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