Fast Women (38 page)

"Hello, Nell," he said with his usual I-hate-you-because-you-broke-up-my-marriage chill. "Is Suze there? She's not at home or at The Cup."

"No," Nell said. "Can I take a message?" You adulterous weasel.

"Do you know where she is?" Jack said, and then as an afterthought, "Why are you home?"

"I quit," Nell said, figuring it was the easiest way to get rid of him.

"You quit." Jack was quiet for a few moments, long enough for Nell to wonder what the hell he was doing. Gloating didn't take that long, at least not for something as minor to Jack's existence as her employment. "I got the impression you were pretty much running the place," he said finally.

"Gabe got that impression, too," Nell said. "Don't worry, I'll find something."

"Of course you will," he said automatically, and she frowned at the phone. He wasn't gloating at all. "Well, best of luck," he said finally and hung up, and Nell thought, What was that all about?

Half an hour later, he called her back.

"She's still not here, Jack," Nell said.

"I know," Jack said. "I was just talking to Trevor, and he suggested you come work for us. And I think it's a good idea."

"What?" Nell said. "Jack, you hate me."

"That's a little strong," Jack said. "I don't think you helped my marriage any, but you are my sister-in-law.

You're family. I want to help."

Sure you do. He was up to something. Seven months earlier, Nell would have told him to stuff his lunch, but working with Gabe and Riley had taught her the benefits of finding out why people did things.

"That's so sweet of you, Jack," she said, making her voice as mellow as possible. "Really, I'm touched."

"Family is family, Nell," Jack said, equally mellow. "Why don't we have lunch at the Sycamore at twelve and talk about it?"

"The Sycamore," Nell said. "All right. Thank you."

"Anything for family," he said.

Nell hung up and thought, The lack of sincerity in that conversation was frightening. What could he possibly want with her? And why the Sycamore?

It must be Suze. He couldn't possibly be hoping she was going to talk Suze into going back to him. Not even Jack was that delusional. But the Sycamore? Maybe he was hoping it would get back to Suze? Make her jealous? "This should be interesting," she told Marlene.

She picked up the phone and called the agency, praying Suze would answer instead of Gabe. She did.

"I just got an invitation to lunch from your husband," Nell said. "At the Sycamore. I'm going."

"From Jack?" Suze sounded dumbfounded.

"He's up to something," Nell said. "And I don't have anything to do today."

"Well, take notes," Suze said. "We'll discuss it later."

"Any tips?"

"When he's charming, he can be really tricky. If he's knocking himself out for you, he's going to be hard to resist."

"This is me," Nell said. "He's a weasel."

"I don't care," Suze said. "He's good."

"Not as good as I am," Nell said. "I'll drop Marlene off on my way."

While Suze was on the phone, Gabe was trying to concentrate on a report. He gave it up gladly when Lu knocked on his door and came in.

"Nell isn't out there," she said, sniffing.

"I know Nell's not there," Gabe said, and then he got a good look at Lu's swollen eyes and quivering mouth. "What's wrong?"

"Jase and I are over." Lu swallowed hard before she sat down. "Explain men to me." She was trying so hard not to cry that her whole face wavered.

"They're all after one thing," Gabe said automatically, horrified at how destroyed she was. "What happened?"

"It can't be that," Lu said. "He got that."

"Okay, I'll kill him," Gabe said.

"No, you can't, I love him." Lu sniffed. "I know that's dumb, but I can't help it."

"What happened?" Gabe said again, holding on to his anger with everything he had. "I thought this was forever."

"I thought so, too," Lu said and sobbed again. "But he won't marry me."

"Oh, Christ," Gabe said, going cold. "You're pregnant."

"I am not!" Indignation cleared Lu's face. "What do you think I am, stupid?"

"No," Gabe said, taken aback. "I got confused on the marriage part."

"I love him," Lu said. "I want to marry him."

"You're too young," Gabe said automatically.

"That's what he said." Lu sniffed one more time and then straightened in her chair. "He said we had to wait until we'd both graduated. That's more than three years." Gabe silently apologized to Jason Dysart. "Okay, calm down. You proposed to him?"

"Well, he wasn't," Lu said, looking annoyed. "I mean he's been telling me he loved me for months, and he does, you know. He really does. He's wonderful. We're wonderful together. Like you and Nell."

"Bad comparison," Gabe said, grimly. "Nell left me."

"Did you ask her to marry you?"

"No," Gabe said, taken aback. "My God, no. What are you talking about?"

"I thought maybe it was a family thing," Lu said, miserable. "You know, you start talking marriage and they bolt."

"Lu, Jase is right on this one. Although I don't see why he dumped you," Gabe said, thinking, Like mother, like son. Why anybody ever got involved with a Dysart

"That was me," Lu said, looking miserable again. "I told him if he didn't marry me, it was over."

"That was stupid," Gabe said, and Lu burst into tears. "Well, I'm sorry, but it was. If you really love him, you don't give him an ultimatum and walk out the door, you stick around and fix things." He thought of Nell, her chin stuck out, walking past him. Quitter.

"Are you going to fix things with Nell?" Lu said, glaring at him through her tears.

"No," Gabe said. "I'm going to wait until she comes to her senses and comes back on her own. I don't like emotional blackmail."

"You and Jase," Lu said. "You're both willing to lose the women you love rather than do the right thing. You're willing to be alone forever."

She burst into tears, and Gabe went around the desk and hauled her up out of her chair. She leaned against him and he put his arms around her. "Look, if you're unhappy, go get him back."

"How?" Lu said wetly into his suit jacket.

"Unless he's an idiot, if you start with an apology and take back the ultimatum, I'd say you've got it made."

"I'm not going to apologize," Lu said. "I'm right."

"And alone," Gabe said, steering her toward the door. "Being right is cold comfort, honey. And to tell you the truth, you're not that right. Let me explain the art of compromise over lunch."

"You?" Lu said, blinking at him as she let him guide her out. "This should be good."

On the way out, he said to Suze, "We're going to lunch. Back in an hour."

"Lunch?" Suze said brightly. "You know, the Fire House does a nice lunch."

"I want a Reuben at the Sycamore," Lu said, bending to pat Marlene who was stretched out on the couch in her trenchcoat.

"Excellent Reubens at the Fire House," Suze said. "And it's quieter."

Gabe watched her smile encouragingly at Lu. "Since when are you a fan of the Fire House?"

"Oh, I've always been a fan of the Fire House," Suze said. "It's right around the corner from me. They do an almond-encrusted trout that-"

"What's going on?" Gabe said.

"Nothing," Suze said.

Gabe leaned on the desk, looming over her. "You are the worst liar I have ever met."

"Don't get out much, do you?" Suze said and turned her back on him to work on the computer.

"Is there something wrong?" Lu said.

"We'll find out when we get to the Sycamore," Gabe said and watched Suze's shoulders slump in defeat.

When they were gone, Suze buzzed Riley and said, "Is Gabe the jealous type?"

"In general, no."

"Because he's going to the Sycamore with Lu, and he's going to see Jack having lunch with Nell."

"Wonderful," Riley said. "If you mean is he going to go kick sand in Jack's face, no. If you mean is he going to come back in a lousy mood, yes. Why the hell is Nell having lunch with Jack?"

"Because he asked her to. Also it's a free lunch."

"There is no free lunch," Riley said. "You hungry?"

"Yeah, you and I having lunch at the Sycamore is exactly what this mess needs," Suze said. "I'm staying here. Somebody has to call 911 when the shouting starts."

"I was thinking more about Chinese takeout," Riley said. "You couldn't pay me to have lunch at the Sycamore today."

"Extra potstickers, please," Suze said.

"Vinegar with the fries, please," Nell said when the waitress had taken their order.

Jack laughed, and the waitress smiled her appreciation of Jack laughing. He really was a good-looking man, Nell thought, that rugged face, that silver hair, and those blue, blue eyes. It was so unfair. Men got better as they aged and women looked worse. How did that happen? It had to be perception, the idea that older men were richer and smarter, maybe. Of course, older women were usually richer and smarter, too, but those weren't selling points for women. High and tight were selling points for women.

"I'm glad you could join me," Jack said, and Nell refocused on him. "I know things have been strained between us, and that's not good for anybody. So how about coming to work for Ogilvie and Dysart?"

Nell thought, Me and the OD files. "I'd love to."

"I can't believe Gabe let you go," Jack said, picking up his wineglass. "You revitalized his place."

"Well, my work there was done," Nell said. "Onward and upward."

"You revitalized yourself while you were at it," Jack said, smiling at her over his wine. "I've never seen you look this beautiful."

Oh, please. "Thank you," Nell said. "I did a little remodeling."

"That color's great on you, too," Jack said, gesturing to her purple sweater.

"It's Suze's," Nell said and watched his smile fade for a moment. "We traded wardrobes. She got enough gray suits to do a Vertigo remake."

He sat back and surveyed her for a moment, and Nell told herself not to fidget. What the hell was he doing?

"It looks better on you," he said finally. "It really does." He sounded faintly surprised, which added a veneer of honesty to the compliment. "You look great."

"Thank you," Nell said, taken aback.

"You're fun to look at," he said and grinned at her as he lifted his wineglass. "Thank you for brightening my day."

He drank, and Nell thought, He's still a weasel.

"So nine at my office tomorrow, then," Jack said, putting his glass down. "And that's it for business."

The waitress brought their food, and Nell sprinkled vinegar on her fries and waited for Jack's next move.

"I would never have pegged you as the Reuben type," Jack said, starting on his Caesar salad.

"I'm not a type," Nell said and bit into her corned beef.

"I'm beginning to see that," Jack said, his voice warm. "You know, I've been dumb."

No kidding.

"I have to stop chasing these younger women. Start concentrating on the smart, sassy women my own age." He smiled at her over his wine again, and Nell thought, I'm twelve years younger than you are, you asshole, but she smiled back at him to keep him going.

"Yeah, there's a lot to be said for seasoning," she said, popping a vinegar-soaked fry in her mouth.

"And you do look spicy today," he said. "You sure you don't want wine with your lunch?"

Yeah, what wine goes with a Reuben and fries? "Diet Coke's my drink," she said. And Glenlivet.

The waitress had cleared off a table next to the wall and now she motioned two people to it. That looks like Lu, Nell thought and then choked on her fry.

"Are you all right?" Jack said.

Nell nodded, grabbing her Diet Coke to wash down the rest of the fry as Gabe stopped at their table.

"Jack," Gabe said, and Jack jerked a little and then turned around. "We don't see you down this way much."

Jack stood up to shake his hand. "I just came down to steal Nell from you. She's working for us now."

"Is she?" Gabe said, and Nell braced herself for the storm, but there wasn't one. "She's a terrific secretary." Gabe said, and nodded at Nell. "Best of luck," he said and went over and sat down across from Lu, which put him right in her sight line.

"He took that pretty well," Jack said, sitting down again.

"I don't think he wants me back," Nell said, feeling sick. "We had some conflicts."

"I heard that wasn't all you had," Jack said. "Suze said you and Gabe were an item."

"Well, we got deleted," Nell said, and then, since Gabe was watching, she forced a smile and said, "So that's two positions in my life I have to fill, boss and lover."

"Only one," Jack said, meeting her eyes. "I'm your new boss."