“I don’t care why you want one. You’re a terrible employee. You’re lazy, you’re inefficient and until recently, you were stealing from me.”
Her cousin glared at her. “I stopped doing that, just like you asked. You should be nicer to me.”
“Because you’re not stealing now?”
“Because I went looking at apartments and I found the one I like but I can’t afford it.” She sighed heavily. “Even with Heather’s paycheck. So I need a big raise.”
Amber had always been the professional victim in the family, but this was impressive, even for her.
“You know that’s not how jobs work, right? You don’t get a raise based on need. They’re based on performance.”
“I thought you wanted Heather to have a chance to get away. I thought you cared about her. If I can’t afford an apartment on my own, how is that ever going to happen?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe by taking responsibility for once in your life.”
“You’re family. You have to take care of me.”
“Technically, I don’t.”
Amber’s good mood faded. “I want that apartment. Either you help me or I’ll make Heather rent it in her name.”
Sophie swore. “You’d do that to your own kid to get back at me?”
“Oh, please. I’d do it because then I get the apartment. Not everything is about you. So if you don’t help, then it’s on you. Heather’s name is going to be on the lease and we all know I’m not very responsible about paying for things.”
What had been a game now became more real. “You’d do that to your own daughter?”
“It’s not my fault you won’t pay a living wage. Besides, I like having Heather around. She takes good care of me. You’re the one who wants her to get away. If it were up to me, she would stay here on the island. I had to. If I hadn’t gotten pregnant, who knows where I would have been. But I was stuck and now she’s stuck, too. It’s only fair.”
Sophie didn’t know what was real and what was part of Amber playing her. But she knew for sure giving in to blackmail was a bad idea.
“Good luck with that,” she said. “There won’t be a raise.”
Amber stared at her before walking toward the door. “Okay. I’ll be sure Heather knows that. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Dugan has a new girlfriend. She’s moved in with him. You might want to check that out.”
* * *
Heather listened raptly while Elliot explained his marketing philosophy. Every now and then, usually late in the day, he would start talking about the business and different campaigns he’d been a part of. He would explain the various options and why he’d chosen what he had and how successful it had been or how spectacularly it had failed.
Last week he’d talked for an hour about the failure of “New Coke” all the way back in 1985. Listening to him was like taking a master class in marketing and sales.
“Why CK and not another outlet?” he asked her. “Why not PetSmart or Etsy? They have similar products for about the same price.”
“Everything at CK is better,” she said automatically, tucking her feet under her.
She was in the oversize chair opposite his desk. It was after six and the building was quiet.
His expression turned pitying. “How you love the party line. What is better? Define better.”
“It’s, um, CK branded and...” She realized she didn’t have an answer.
“My point exactly. Market differentiation is a real thing, Heather. Why this pen and not the pen next to it? Why Dunkin’ and not Krispy Kreme? There has to be a reason. It can be perceived rather than real but it has to exist. It starts with us knowing everything we can about our existing customer and our potential customers. Who are the Henrys?”
She had no idea what he was talking about. She frantically tried to remember if there was a well-known marketing firm with that name, or a wealthy family or a company. She knew he didn’t mean the Shakespeare Henrys.
“High-earning, not rich yet,” he told her. “Millennials with money. In our world, we want Henrys with cats.”
“Because they have the income and they’re still forming their lifestyle. If we can convince them that CK is the best brand for their cats, they’ll buy all kinds of things.”
“Exactly. We’ll provide them quality, service and cachet. In the right circumstances, price isn’t all that important.”
“You know everything.”
He smiled. “I wish that were true, but it’s not. I have a good education and years of work experience.” His expression sharpened. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
The question surprised her. “No,” she said automatically, then wondered why he asked. It couldn’t be for himself. She loved working with him. Elliot was smart and knowledgeable and while he was very handsome, he had to be in his fifties and she just wasn’t interested in him in—
“Oh, dear God. I’m not asking you out.” He rubbed his temples. “Children are always a problem.”
“I’m not a child.”
“Figuratively, Heather. Not literally. I was just asking because a boyfriend would tie you to the island.”
“A boyfriend can also get you pregnant,” she said before she could stop herself. At Elliot’s startled look, she added, “My mom got pregnant when she was eighteen. My dad was a cowboy, visiting for the rodeo. I have no idea who he is. They had a weekend and then he was gone. I came along nine months later.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That I was born?”
Elliot smiled. “Of course not. That you never knew your father. From what you’ve told me, your mother took a difficult situation and made it worse.”
“It’s a gift,” she said lightly, thinking of the apartment-hunting fiasco. “I’ve always been cautious about getting involved with a guy. I’m afraid of what will happen.”
“You are aware of birth control, aren’t you?”
She flushed. “Yes. It’s not all about being afraid of getting pregnant. I don’t want to be tied down.”
“And yet you do nothing to try to leave. Why is that?”
“I don’t know. I can’t just walk away. My mom won’t make it without me. I wasn’t lying before, when I first started working for you. I pay for everything. I have since I was sixteen. She depends on me.”
“And you let her.”
“That’s not fair. You don’t know what it’s like. You don’t know what she’s like.”
“That’s true.” He looked at her. “But I do know that people who take advantage of others will do so until they are forced to stop. If you’re waiting for her to have an epiphany about her behavior, it’s not going to happen. It’s like feeding a stray animal. It will return to where the food is for as long as there is food. You’re playing the game using her rules. Maybe it’s time to create a few of your own.”
“That’s a lot of mixed metaphors.”
He chuckled. “Yes, it is. I apologize for that. But the truth is still the truth. Your mother treats you the way she does because you let her. She won’t be responsible for herself until she has to be, and as long as you’re taking care of her, she has no reason to change.”
“I can’t just walk away.”
His smile faded. “If that’s true, then you’re trapped here forever, Heather. Because if you want to be more, you have to leave. I’m sure you already know that.”
She wanted to tell him he was wrong, but however much the words hurt, she knew they were the truth.
“I don’t want to be a bad person.”
“You’re not. Have you ever been on a plane?”
“What? Once, when I was little. I went to Disneyland with my aunt Kristine and her family.” Her mother had been furious not to be invited and had railed against the unfairness of it for months.
“The flight attendants always tell you if there’s a drop in ca
bin pressure, to put on your mask first, then help others. You can’t save others if you’re dead.”
“That’s blunt.”
He shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s also true. Save yourself. Once you have a college education and a good-paying job, you’ll be in a position to help your mother. Right now you’re drowning and you don’t even know it.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sophie was 90 percent sure Amber had been messing with her about a woman living with Dugan. Okay, 80 percent, but it was a strong 80 percent. There was no way. They were seeing each other and he wasn’t the kind of guy to cheat.
Or was he? What did she actually know about him? Until a few weeks ago, she hadn’t had a clue about his past. She’d thought he was just some guy who was into being, you know, calm, and stuff. They’d had sex twice before she’d even learned his last name. Did she actually know anything about his character?
It wasn’t as if they’d agreed to be exclusive. A case could be made they were barely dating and once she’d found out who he was, she’d refused to sleep with him. That was no one’s definition of a relationship.
Which meant she shouldn’t care if he was seeing anyone. Seriously, why did it matter at all? So she didn’t care. Not her. Not a bit. When she saw him on Sunday morning at the weekly Tai Chi class, she would casually ask. Or not. Because she didn’t care.
That logic lasted until three thirty the next day when Sophie couldn’t stand it anymore. She left work and drove to Dugan’s house where, propelled by righteous indignation, she marched up to the front door and rang the bell.
A woman answered. A beautiful woman with perfect features and long, dark hair and big eyes the color of spring leaves. She was curvy in all the right places, with long legs and a smile that could light up a village.
“Hi,” the woman said cheerfully. “Can I help you?”
Sophie considered herself pretty. She wasn’t over-the-top, but she was enough above meh to not have to explain herself. She and the creature in front of her shared the same basic body parts that men found attractive—breasts, a decent ass, a face, but somehow it was as if they were from different species. And Sophie had a bad feeling her branch of the family tree was not the superior one.
“I, ah, thought...” She did her best to pull herself together. “I’d like to speak to Dugan, please.”
The smile widened. “Oh, sure. Come in. I’m Judy, by the way.”
“I’m Sophie.”
Judy? Judy? Shouldn’t her name be something like Electra or Sasha or Andromeda?
Judy stepped back to let her in, then turned. “Dugan, honey, you’ve got a visitor.”
Dugan called out something Sophie couldn’t hear. Judy motioned to the living room. “He’ll be right here. Have a seat. I need to get back to the kitchen.” She held up flour-covered hands. “I’m baking bread.”
“Of course you are.”
Judy smiled again before turning and walking away. Sophie took in her skin-tight jeans, trim thighs and the fact that her butt was indeed a perfect upside-down heart, before wondering if it was too late to bolt. Only she’d given Judy her name, so Dugan would know she’d stopped by and if she ran now, he might guess she’d been intimidated by his houseguest.
Dugan walked toward her from the direction of his office. At least she thought that was what was over there. To be honest, she’d never much explored the house beyond the kitchen and the bedroom. The other rooms had seemed less important. Now she wondered if maybe she should have shown more interest in him and his life. Was that why he’d taken up with Judy?
It wasn’t that she was in love with him, but she liked him and she thought he liked her and what the hell was going on?
As he approached, she did her best to shift from stunned to pissed. Anger was power, she reminded herself. Rage was good, too. Rage and a strong need for revenge. That would get her through.
“Hi,” he said, stopping in front of her and bending down to kiss her.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said, glaring at him. “You have a woman in your house.”
His welcoming expression turned knowing. “Ah, so that’s why you came by. It’s been about forty-eight hours. The island network is impressive.”
“I found out yesterday.”
“And waited all this time to come by?” One corner of his mouth turned up. “It’s not what you think.”
“You don’t have an incredibly beautiful woman living with you? When did this happen? We had a thing.”
“Did you want to go sit down?” he asked.
“No, I do not want to go sit down. I want to know about Andromeda.”
“Who?”
She glared at him. “Judy. Is that even her name? Who names their kid Judy?”
“It’s a family name.”
“Whatever. You’re sleeping with her. We had a thing.”
“You said we were done.”
“What? No, I didn’t. I said I couldn’t sleep with you anymore because of who you are. That’s different.”
He didn’t say anything.
“What?” she demanded. “Are you mad about the sex?” She lowered her voice. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I just can’t. It’s too weird. You know too much. It makes me uncomfortable.”
“That I’m not someone you can push around? Or is it that you’re scared I’m smarter than you?”
“You’re not smarter.”
One eyebrow rose.
She sucked in a breath. “We might be the same level of smart,” she admitted grudgingly.
“But I’m more successful.”
“Don’t be smug. You teach Tai Chi.”
“I have billions.”
“You gave them away. I don’t know what you have but it might not be much.”
“I get royalties from the software.”
“You’re sleeping with Judy!”
“No, I’m not.”
“Oh, please. She’s in your house.”
“She’s my ex-wife.”
Sophie opened her mouth, then closed it. They’d been married?
“Holy crap, are you kidding? You were married to her?”
“For a while, yes. It didn’t work out. She’s married to someone else now. About once a year she takes off and visits me. She rants about how her husband makes her crazy, she drinks champagne and cries, then in a few days, she goes home. It’s no big deal.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “We’re just friends, I swear. I’m not sleeping with her.”
Sophie shrugged free of his grasp. “I don’t like it,” she admitted. “I don’t like it at all.” Which was her way of saying she wasn’t sure if she believed him.
“How much don’t you like it?”
“A lot.”
“Okay. I’ll get her a room at the Blackberry Island Inn. She’ll be gone today.”
“What? You’re going to kick her out? She’s in the middle of baking bread.” Sophie had no idea what that entailed, but she was pretty sure the process shouldn’t be interrupted.
“I don’t want you upset.”
He wasn’t making any sense. “You had to know having her stay here in the first place would be a problem.”
“Not really.” His good humor returned. “You’re not exactly conventional, Sophie. For all I knew, you wouldn’t be bothered at all.”
“With you having a woman in the house?”
One shoulder rose.
“It does bother me,” she said. “But I still can’t sleep with you.”
He grinned. “I know. It’s okay. You’ll come around. It’s only a matter of time until your baser instincts overcome your competitive reluctance.”
She didn’t like that, so she ignored it. “Why do you care what I think? Why don’t you tell me to go pound sand?”
“Go pound sand?” He chuckled. “I don
’t think I’ve ever said that.”
“But you get the point.”
“I do.” He moved closer and put his hands back on her shoulders. This time when he leaned in to kiss her, she let him. Their mouths brushed.
When he straightened, he said, “I’m crazy about you. Haven’t you figured that out?”
Crazy about her? What did that even mean? “I, ah, appreciate you getting her a room at the inn. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Anything else?”
“Not really.”
His eyes brightened with humor. “You’re going to leave now, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I should get home to check on the kittens.”
His humor faded. “One day you’re going to stop running from me. Just a heads-up. I’ll be here for you when that happens.”
More words that didn’t make sense, she thought, scurrying for the front door. She wasn’t running away. She was making the best use of her time. The kittens needed her.
* * *
Signing a three-year lease on the downtown bakery space took a lot less time than Kristine would have thought. She handed over the check, took her copy of the keys and that was that.
Stacey had been pleasant, chatting during the brief meeting. As if this sort of thing happened all the time. Kristine supposed that for her, it did, but she kept waiting for someone to burst in, demanding to know if her husband was aware of what she was doing.
In the end, the whole event was relatively anticlimactic. Twenty minutes after she was done, she opened the door to what had once been the Blackberry Island Bakery and walked inside.
As she’d seen the space less than a week ago, there weren’t any surprises. The display cases were exactly where they had been and the flooring was just as in need of replacement. In the back, the cabinets looked as they had.
She turned in a slow circle, trying to breathe it all in. She’d done it. She’d signed a lease and now this space was hers. She’d already talked to Jerry, her contractor, and gone over the changes. He was going to fit her in around other jobs and would need about a month to complete all the work. That gave her enough time to buy mixers and cookie sheets and other supplies, and figure out a grand-opening date.
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