A Soldier's Return (14 page)

“I don’t know. It depends how mad he was after Friday night and whom he could complain to.”

“We know he has money. We know he’s spoiled by his father. I wouldn’t be surprised to find he got his father out of bed.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. Any reputable lawyer wouldn’t pursue the case once they saw the statements we took.”

“Yeah. I don’t think I thanked you Friday night, but you were right on target.”

“No need to thank me.”

She turned back to her work and Jim couldn’t think of anything else to say. They worked in silence for another hour.

Will finally came in a little before eleven.

“Sorry I’m so late. I figured Trevor would try something, but I didn’t think he’d be as fast as he was. What he said happened was quite different from every other telling of the events. Good thing we had those statements, Carrie. I took them to the lawyer who notified me this morning that they were filing a suit against Vanessa, her brother and me as owner of the house where the events took place.”

Jim studied his partner. “What did you do?”

“I went to his office and showed him the statements we’d taken. He tried to bluff, saying his client had wit
nesses. I told him I didn’t think that was possible. He’s promised to talk to his client again to see if he’ll reconsider the suit.”

“Is he a good lawyer?” Jim asked.

“Yeah, he doesn’t want to look like a fool. I’m pretty sure he won’t touch this case. If Trevor does file suit, he’ll have to find another lawyer.”

“That won’t be a problem since they’re a dime a dozen,” Jim muttered.

“Doesn’t matter,” Carrie said calmly. “The statements will show that Trevor’s version is false and I doubt they can round up witnesses that will challenge what we have. After all, there was a limited guest list and most of them were close friends of Vanessa.”

“Exactly,” Will said. “So we put it behind us and keep working. So where are we on the Riley case?”

“Exactly where we were on Friday,” Carrie said. “Riley and his wife are going to Vegas this Friday. They’re staying at the Bellagio Hotel.”

“Good taste in hotels, at least,” Will said. “I think it’s time for you two to make reservations, too.”

“No!” Carrie protested. “I can do this alone.”

“Carrie, this is a big job. For the sake of our company, we have to be sure to close the deal. This is the reason, other than being behind, that I wanted someone else to work with us. I don’t want to leave town with Vivian and Danny here.”

Carrie dropped her head, and Jim watched her, wondering if she would continue to fight his involvement. But when Will told them to make reservations on an earlier flight so that they’d already be in the hotel when the
Rileys arrived, all she said was “Jim and I will get together and decide. Then he’ll call the hotel. I’ve already called pretending to be Mrs. Riley. We don’t want to slip up there.”

“Good. Okay, I’ll leave it up to the two of you,” Will said. “Oh, and if we hear any more about a lawsuit, I’ll bring Jeff in on it.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot Rebecca’s husband was a lawyer.” Jim’s mind was on going to Vegas with Carrie, more than a senseless lawsuit.

Excitement ran through his veins, which made him chastise himself. After all, he wasn’t a kid. He was a professional. But all he could think about was going to Vegas with Carrie.

Carrie hoped to stall the discussion with Jim until she’d had time to gather her defenses. But he wanted to talk as soon as Will left them alone.

“I don’t see much to decide, Carrie. We have to be settled into the hotel before they get there. Do you know their flight number?”

“After talking to Susie and checking all the flights to Vegas, they’re either on the 12:15 p.m. flight on American, or there’s a flight that goes to Albuquerque and then Vegas that leaves fifteen minutes later.”

“I should think they’d take the direct flight,” Jim said, frowning.

“I’m not sure. They might prefer the Albuquerque flight because they’ll think no one is following them unless they’re on both flights.”

“Good thinking. So when should we leave?”

“If we take the 7:45 a.m. flight, we’ll get there at least four hours ahead of time. We can pay extra and check into our room when we arrive. We’ll make the reservation for the weekend, checking out on Monday morn
ing, but if we get what we need, we’ll come back early. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure, that will be fine. So shall I use my real name for the reservation?”

“Yes, they haven’t had any contact with you. That will be fine.” Carrie turned away. She’d done what she had to do. Dwelling on what would happen over the next weekend was useless.

A couple of minutes later, Jim informed her that he’d gotten their reservation for the Bellagio. Then he cleared his throat.

She was learning to read him. That sound meant there was more to the story. “What else?”

“Well, they—they were full, except for one of their bridal suites. So I told them we were newlyweds.”

“You what?” Carrie exclaimed loudly enough to bring Will to the door of his office.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, staring at Carrie.

Unable to put together a coherent sentence, she waved toward Jim.

“I, uh, the hotel didn’t have a vacancy in their regular rooms. They only had a bridal suite open and I told them—” He broke off and snatched a quick look at Carrie before he turned back to Will. “I told them we were newlyweds.”

“Good decision,” Will agreed. “Guess you’ll need some new clothes, Carrie. Every bride would have them. Remember, the only way to carry out a deception is to pay attention to details. Take some time off and go shopping, why don’t you?”

Carrie gulped and then calmly looked at Will and
said, “I don’t need to shop, Will, but I could use some time off today,” she said without any emotion.

Jim immediately said, “Maybe I should escort you to the mall, Carrie. I’m sure you can find something—”

“Don’t push it, Barlow!”

Jim backed off.

Carrie, her spine stiff, rose from her chair. “In fact, I’ll go now. I’m sure you won’t mind watching the phones, Jim.”

After the door closed behind her, Will looked at Jim. “I guess that was payback, huh?”

“I guess so, but I don’t mind watching the phones. And at lunchtime I can go get us some sandwiches and we can eat here, if you want.”

“Good idea,” Will said. “Carrie and I used to do that. We did most of our talking over lunch.”

Jim frowned. “Maybe she misses that. Tomorrow I should offer to bring back lunch. I hadn’t realized my joining you would cause so many changes.”

Will leaned against the doorjamb. “I hadn’t thought of that, but I guess my eating with you most days has made a difference in Carrie’s day. But usually that happens when Vanessa comes to have lunch with Carrie.”

“Yeah. By the way, you know I encouraged Vanessa to take self-defense lessons. I got the name of the place where Carrie went. Why didn’t Vanessa go with Carrie?”

“It was right after Carrie’s father’s death. She had cut herself off from Vanessa and I hadn’t met Vivian or Vanessa yet. It really pleased both of them when Carrie came back into Vanessa’s life.”

“I guess so. It took me a while to figure out why they were friends.”

“What do you mean?” Will asked, sitting down in Carrie’s chair.

“Wealthy people don’t usually form friendships with people who don’t have money.”

Will smiled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. Until I met Vivian.”

“She does seem different.”

“Yeah, she wanted to adopt all of you when she found out Vanessa had siblings. Herbert wouldn’t consider such a thing.”

“Carrie said something like that. I didn’t think she was serious.” Jim shuffled some papers.

“Vivian was serious about it. At the time she was only twenty and definitely under Herbert’s thumb. Back when a woman accepted her husband’s decisions without protest. Fortunately, women aren’t taught to obey their husbands anymore.”

“Even if they were, Carrie wouldn’t,” Jim said with a grin. “She’s a fighter.”

“She had to be or she wouldn’t have survived when her life was shattered after her father died,” Will said solemnly.

“I know. I have that troubled background more in common with Carrie than with Vanessa. We’ve both faced hard times.”

Will fiddled with one of Carrie’s pens. “I hadn’t thought about that, but it’s true. I guess you’re well suited to each other.”

“As workers,” Jim hurriedly said.

Will studied his face. “Only as workers?”

“I told you, Will, I’m a jinx.”

“I thought we’d agreed that logic dispelled that belief.” Will watched him.

“Nice try, but I don’t think so.”

C
ARRIE WENT BACK
to her apartment and changed into jogging clothes. She hadn’t gone out that morning because she hadn’t wanted to run into Jim. Now she could jog without that fear.

And she needed to calm down.

Thoughts of spending the weekend in Vegas with Jim, pretending to be newlyweds, was a little overwhelming. She needed to rebuild her defenses. If it was possible.

She’d been unsettled ever since Jim’s kiss Friday night. It had been so sweet, so dreamy. She almost snorted at her sappy thought. Life wasn’t dreamy! She knew that because of her past. She had to force herself to face reality.

The reality was as Jim had explained. It had been a romantic moment. He was a man. A man responded to sexual opportunity.

Not that Jim had gone beyond what was acceptable. No, unfortunately, he’d left Carrie wanting more. She’d been fighting that feeling ever since.

Damn it! She wasn’t being honest. She’d been fighting that feeling ever since Jim had walked into the office that first day.

Carrie began running faster, as if trying to outrun her thoughts. She needed to leave those thoughts behind, or the trip to Vegas would be a disaster.

She spent the rest of the day doing errands, including grocery shopping and a trip to the post office. The stores were open until nine every night. She wasn’t going to tell Will that, but she could do any shopping she needed in the evenings.

Later, as she was preparing her dinner, a knock on her door surprised her. She went to the door and looked through the peephole, then slowly opened it.

“Yes, Jim?”

“Just thought I’d check to see if your shopping was successful.”

“Not really.”

“Oh. Are you going to run in the morning?”

“I don’t know. I guess it depends on what time I get up.”

Jim grinned at her. “I could offer to wake you up.”

“No, thanks.”

He looked over her head and sniffed the air. “Something smells good.”

Carrie knew he’d like her to invite him to dinner, but she fought the urge to do as he wanted. “Yes, I’m cooking.”

“Will and I were talking today and he mentioned that you used to go pick up lunch for the two of you and you’d talk over lunch.”

She cautiously agreed. “Yes.”

“I thought I’d pick up lunch for the three of us tomorrow and we could visit while we ate.”

“I don’t mind watching the office while you and Will go out to eat,” she said abruptly.

“There’s no reason you should, though. We’re all partners, aren’t we?”

“Yes, but—”

“Let’s just try it tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes. We could schedule it at least once a week.”

“I suppose so.” Before he could suggest anything else, Carrie looked over her shoulder. “I have to take my supper off the stove,” she said hurriedly.

“Go ahead,” Jim said, and stepped into the apartment.

Carrie backed away, frustrated that she hadn’t handled the situation better and gotten Jim out of her apartment.

She took the pasta off the stove and drained it.

“Ah, you’re having pasta? I love pasta.”

Carrie ground her teeth. Then, after drawing a deep breath, she said, “I can give you some to take home with you.”

“That’s not necessary. I just thought— I don’t like to eat alone.”

Carrie gave up. “Sit down, Jim. Dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes.”

“Thanks, Carrie. Is there anything I can do?”

“Yes, pour some iced tea you’ll find in the refrigerator.”

She added to the salad and put it on the table. Then she put out more silverware. She poured the sauce on the pasta and put it in a serving dish. Jim, holding two filled glasses, reached the table.

“Wow, this looks great, Carrie.”

“It’s very simple.”

As they ate, Jim brought up a variety of subjects for conversation. Carrie knew he was intentionally trying to take her mind off his presence, and it worked…to an extent. She actually enjoyed the meal. But she never forgot Jim was sitting at her table.

After they finished eating, he insisted on helping her do the dishes, which took all of five minutes. When they finished, he suggested they watch television for a little while, but she refused, telling him she had some errands to run.

“Then I guess I should go and get out of your way,” he said with a smile.

“Sorry. Maybe another time,” she said, keeping her gaze down.

His hand lifted her chin up. “Thanks for the dinner, Carrie. I enjoyed it a lot. After we get back from Vegas, I’ll pay you back by taking you out to dinner.”

“That’s not necessary,” she assured him, pulling away from his hold. She moved to the door and opened it.

Jim walked through, thanking her again before she could shut the door.

She fell against the closed door, regretting she’d rushed him away. But she had no choice. If they’d remained together, she might let herself lose control.

Which brought her back to thoughts of Vegas.

If she couldn’t handle one small meal, how the heck would she survive a weekend with him in a honeymoon suite?

W
ILL LOOKED AT
V
ANESSA
as they ate dinner that night. “Did you sign up for your self-defense class?”

“I did. But I wish I didn’t have to take it by myself.”

“I’ll take it with you,” Vivian said, surprising both her husband and her daughter.

Will reached out his hand to his wife. “Vivian, I’m here to protect you.”

“Of course you are, dear, but you’re not with me all the time. I’ve never worried about it since Herbert died because Vanessa was an adult by then. But now with Danny… He couldn’t take care of himself if something happened to me in the next twenty years.”

“But, Mom, I’d take care of him,” Vanessa put in. “And so would Will.”

“I know that, but wouldn’t it be better if I have some idea of how to protect myself so that situation doesn’t arise?”

“Yes, of course,” Will agreed. “But do you feel fit enough after Danny’s birth?”

“Of course I do,” she said, giving him a challenging look, daring him to disagree.

Will didn’t. “I guess that takes care of that problem, Vanessa. Sign your mother up for that class, too.”

“Okay. By the way, did our matchmaking work on Jim and Carrie?”

Will grimaced. “There’s something between them, but Jim feels he’s a jinx to anyone he loves. He doesn’t intend to have a relationship with anyone.”

“Did he lose someone he loved?” Vanessa asked.

Vivian said, “Think, child.”

“You mean our parents? But that wasn’t his fault. And Wally was killed in war!”

“Apparently there was a young woman he loved and she was killed in an accident a few days after he shipped out,” Will explained.

“He wasn’t even there!” Vanessa almost shouted.

“I pointed out the lack of logic in his fears, but he said I hadn’t convinced him. That’s why he was so reluctant
to come to the hospital the night Jamie was born.” Will added, “He said it was a real relief that the baby was healthy.”

“But what can we do? We can’t let him go to waste!”

“He’s not a crop to be harvested,” Vivian protested.

“No, he’s much more important. He’s a good man, and they’re hard to find. And Carrie needs a good man. It would be so perfect!”

“I think we’re making progress,” Will said calmly.

“What do you mean?” Vanessa asked.

“They’re going on a honeymoon to Vegas.”

“They’re getting married?” Vanessa exclaimed joyously.

“No, Vanessa. I said they were going on a honeymoon. I didn’t mention marriage.”

Vivian put down her fork. “I think you need to explain yourself, Will Greenfield! I won’t have Carrie mistreated!”

“Neither would I, my love,” Will said with a grin. He explained all about the case they were working on and how they were sharing the bridal suite.

“How did Carrie accept that situation?” Vivian asked.

“She’s upset, but she knows it’s necessary. Anything else that happens is between the two of them.”

“But she might not want—”

“You know Jim. Do you believe he would continue if Carrie said no?” Will shook his head. “And after all, Carrie has taken that self-defense class. She might not be able to win against Jim, but she damn sure wouldn’t stop trying.”

“You’re right, dear,” Vivian said with a small smile.

“Does Carrie know how Jim feels?” Vanessa asked. “I mean about feeling guilty for the deaths in his life?”

“I doubt it.”

“Hmm,” Vanessa said, the wheels obviously turning in her head.

J
UST AS
J
IM GOT UP
to go get lunch for the three of them the next day, Vanessa strolled into the office.

“Hello, everybody!”

Jim and Carrie greeted her, and Will came out of his office. “Hi, there, Vanessa. What are you doing here?”