Jennifer Crusie Bundle (47 page)

Christine remained undisturbed by the news.

“Look, maybe if I talked to him—” Tess began, and both Park and Nick said,
“No.”

At that moment Kent came out of his office, followed by Welch.

“We're just leaving,” Nick said to Kent. “We'll be out as soon as we've—”

“Now, let's not be hasty,” Kent said.

“Hasty?” Tess said, outraged, but Nick clamped a hand over her mouth before she could go on.

“Good thinking,” Welch said to Nick. “This is why I want you for my lawyer. You scope out the situation and move on it.” He turned back to Kent. “I mean it. The only way your firm is handling this book is if Jamieson and your son are in charge. I don't want you anywhere near my account. Got that?”

“Hello?” Nick exchanged a look with Park. Then he smiled genially at Welch. “Well, that would be just fine with me, sir, but we've been fired. Sorry.”

“Wait a minute—” Kent began.

Welch grinned at Nick. “Thinking of setting up your own practice?”

“Absolutely,” Nick said, and Park nodded.

“Now there's no need for that,” Kent said. “I may have let the wine do the talking last night, but I'm a big enough man to realize the error of my ways. You're not fired.” He glanced at his son. “Either one of you.”

“I'm marrying Gina,” Park said. “Get used to it or fire me again.”

Kent smiled antiseptically at Gina. “Welcome to the family, my dear,” he said with absolutely no enthusiasm.

“Thank you,” Gina said, and took Park's hand.

“Well, it's a start,” Park said to his father. “Work on your warmth.”

“And now Nicholas,” Kent said, turning to Nick and Nick said, “No.”

“No?” Tess said, but for once Kent was ahead of her.

“What do you want?” he said grimly.

“Partner,” Nick said. “I deserve it. Give it to me.”

“It's a family firm, son…” Kent said.

“Then adopt me,” Nick said. “Because I'm walking without it.”

“And I'll be with him,” Park said. “God knows, I'd never make it without him, anyway.”

Welch looked at Tess. “You enjoying this?”

Tess shrugged. “Moderately. I'm still not happy about that damn book.”

“It's a good book,” Welch said.

“It's a dishonest book,” Tess said.

“Young lady, that's no way to talk to your elders,” Kent said.

“That's no way to talk to my wife,” Nick said at the same time Welch said, “Shut up, Patterson.”

Kent glared at Tess but tried to soften the loathing in his voice. “If you're going to marry a member of this firm, my dear, you're going to have to do some growing up.”

“No, she doesn't,” Nick said. “She stays the way she is. And technically she's not marrying a member of this firm. She's marrying me, and I'm still fired.”

“No, you're not.” Kent's face creased in pain for a moment and then he said, “I'll get the partnership papers drawn up this afternoon.”

“Works for me,” Nick said. Then he turned to Tess. “Stop harassing my biggest client.”

“Back off, Jamieson,” Welch said. “I didn't hire you to protect me from her.”

“You'll change your mind,” Nick said. “She's stubborn as hell.”

“I'm getting married,” Gina said suddenly, amazement dawning in her voice.

“I'm not,” Tess said.

“Yes, you are,” Nick said. “The only person more stubborn than you is me. Besides, I just made partner, so now I can give this marriage thing all my attention.”

“Don't bet on it,” Tess said.

Welch looked at both of them and laughed.

Tess transferred her attention back to him. “I want to talk to you.” She pulled him to one side, away from everyone else.

“If you're going to yell at me about the book, forget it,” Welch said. “I like it the way it is.”

Tess put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. “That book is crap, Lanny.”

Welch closed his eyes and then, after a moment, he opened them and grinned at her. “Twenty-eight years and it seems like yesterday. Damn, I've missed you.”

“What?” Tess's surprise made her scowl disappear. “You're not paying attention here. I just insulted you.”

“Twenty-eight years ago I was stuck in that commune, trying to figure out why everything suddenly sounded so damn stupid,” Welch said to her. “There was Daniel, strutting around like an Old Testament prophet, and he sure as hell sounded like he knew what he was talking about. And Elise.” A smile eased onto Welch's face. “Your mother was something else, Tessie. Feminism and free love. Hell of a woman, Elise.”

Tess blinked, and Welch returned to earth.

“But I just couldn't buy it anymore,” he told her. “All that antiauthority-peace-and-love stuff. It sounded pretty, but I knew it wasn't working, knew it wouldn't work. It was all starting to sound like such garbage, but everybody there believed it, and hell, I was twenty-six. What did I know?”

“You knew everything,” Tess said, startled. “I thought you were God.”

“And then one day,” Welch said, “I was sitting off by myself, trying to figure out why I was so damn uneasy, and you showed up with your hair sticking up and a black eye. You said, ‘This turn-the-other-cheek stuff is crap, Lanny,' just like you did now, and I knew you were right. You were the only one in the whole damn place who had a clue.”

“And that's when you taught me how to pick my fights,” Tess said, remembering. Suddenly there was a lump in her throat. “And then you left me.” She was horrified to hear her voice quiver.

Welch looked startled by the emotion in her voice. “I had to,” he said. “You showed me the way out.”

“
I
did?” Tess swallowed the lump in her throat. “No. No, you just got bored and left.”

“No,” Welch said. “I got smart and left. The only thing I regret about leaving is not taking you with me.”

“Oh, hell.” Tess closed her eyes. “Oh, damn, I wish you had.”

Welch snorted. “Yeah. Your mom wouldn't have batted an eye if I'd kidnapped you. Sure.”

“She probably wouldn't have noticed,” Tess said. “I can't believe you left because of something I said.”

“You were a touchstone, Tessie,” Welch said. “I always knew whether something was true once I'd floated it by you.”

“I was eight,” Tess said, dumbfounded.

“Yeah, and you were still smarter than everybody around you,” Welch said. “That's why I went after Jamieson. I wanted to hear you laugh at that damn book with me. Validation.” He snorted at her in contempt. “I thought you would have caught on by now, but I was wrong. I should never have left you with your parents. They screwed you up good.”

“No, they didn't.” Tess glared at him and then relented. “Okay, let's try this again. Your book isn't crap. It's just too simplistic.”

“I'm not rewriting that book,” Welch said. “I'm tired of writing. I'm going into politics.”

“Oh, there's a surprise.” Tess put her hands on her hips and frowned at him, and he grinned back at her. “Knock it off,” she said. “I'm not eight, so stop patronizing me. Here's the deal.”

“There is no deal,” Welch said.

“You rethink that book and make it balanced—”

“It's satire, damn it. It's not supposed to be balanced,” Welch snapped.

“—and I'll campaign for you.”

“What?”

Tess grinned at Welch's stunned expression. “Well, somebody's got to look out for you, and obviously Henderson can't watch you all the time. You ate steak last night. You need me, Lanny. Fix that book, and I'll help keep you from becoming the Jesse Helms of Kentucky.”

Welch looked dumbfounded.

“I'm your touchstone, Lanny,” Tess said. “You said so yourself. We did all right together that summer. And I'm telling you straight on this, that book is too biased. Satire or not, it's mean, Lanny. You've got to fix it.”

“No,” Welch said, but his voice was thoughtful.

“Come on, Lanny,” Tess said. “Think how much fun we can have in politics. And I've learned a lot about schmoozing from Nick. I can be a real asset. You need me. And I'll have plenty of time since I'm not teaching at Decker now. I'll need my afternoons to work at the Foundation, but my weekends are yours.”

“Jamieson might have something to say about that,” Welch grumped. “And you know damn well you've got the Decker job.”

“I think I'd rather be in politics.”

“No,” Welch said. “God, no. I insist you take the Decker job.”

“What about the book?” Tess said, and Welch closed his eyes for a moment in defeat.

“We'll talk about it,” he said finally, and Tess leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you, Lanny,” she said. “I'm really glad you found me again. And from now on, I'm going to take care of you.”

“Oh, God, no,” Welch said again.

“C
HRISTINE
,
RENT A CHURCH
,” Nick said without taking his eyes off Tess as she harangued Welch. “I'm getting married in two weeks.”

“It's going to take you longer than that to talk her into it.” Christine picked up her steno pad. “Make it six weeks.”

“Let's make this expensive.” Nick folded his arms and, ignoring Christine, watched Tess argue with Welch. “Might as well make it a big wedding and invite society. Should be good for the firm.”

“Tess will want a small wedding.” Christine made notes as she spoke. “Out of your house, not a church.”

“Fancy caterers,” Nick said. “Champagne fountains. The works.”

“Tess likes Chinese,” Christine said. “Rice wine. Fortune cookies.”

“And an orchestra.”

“It won't fit in your house. Maybe a classical trio.” Christine looked at Tess. “No. Tess would prefer jazz.”

Nick watched Tess's rear suddenly curve as she bent to kiss Welch on the cheek. “Order a wedding dress, too. A tight one. No hoopskirts.”

“Tess will want to find her own.” Christine thought for a moment and made another note. “There's a vintage-clothing store on Twelfth Street.”

Nick suddenly transferred his attention back to his secretary. “Did you get all that?” he asked.

“Yes,” Christine said serenely. “You can rely on me.”

Nick shot her a suspicious glance, but when she gazed back at him without expression, he turned his eyes back to Tess.

“This is going to be a great wedding,” he said.

S
ix weeks later, when the orchestra was finally gone from the poolside, Tess wandered through her house in the white crepe wedding dress she'd found at the vintage-clothing store on Twelfth, sipping champagne and contemplating her future. She moved through the rooms loving all the color that she and Nick had poured into the house over the past weeks and yet feeling a little melancholy. She was married now. She was respectable. Responsible.

She sat on the stairs and looked out at the pristine pool. Angela climbed into her lap, and she stroked the cat and sighed.

“Excuse me?” Nick said from behind her, and she turned to see him scowling at her through the stair rails. He was as beautiful as always, impeccably dressed in his tux, not a hair out of place. “You just got married,” he told her with mock severity. “You're supposed to be in ecstasy. If you're short on ecstasy, I've got a master bedroom you should see.”

“I know,” Tess said. “I'm the one who painted it yellow.”

“I don't mind the yellow,” Nick said. “But did you have to paint the ceiling blue and glue on all those glow-in-the-dark stars? I turned the lights off last night and almost had a coronary when I rolled over.”

“Well, I figured I'd be spending a lot of time up there staring at it,” Tess said. “You know, on my back with the lights out.”

“I know there's a message here I'm not getting,” Nick said.

“Now that I'm Mrs. Jekyll, I have to behave. Gina read me the riot act on this, and she's right. No more risky sex.”

Nick started to laugh and then smothered it when he saw she was serious. “So now you're planning on spending the rest of your life in the missionary position?” His grin broke through again.

“Hey,” Tess said. “I'm adapting. Give me a little credit.”

“I'd rather give you a wedding present.” Nick came around to the front of the stairs, took her hand and hauled her to her feet, dumping Angela to the floor in the process. “It's in the dining room.”

“The dining room's empty. We sold the table, remember? And then you refused to buy the red one I liked, so…” She followed him around the bottom of the stairs and then stopped, stunned.

The dining room was filled with the biggest grand piano she'd ever seen. And it was bright red.

Nick leaned against it. “I found it in a thrift shop, believe it or not.”

Tess walked toward it, her smile growing wider by the minute. “I don't believe it.”

“Well, it was black when I found it,” Nick said. “I had it painted red. Like it?”

Tess stroked the lacquered red top as she slowly circled the piano. “I love it. Does it play the Minute Waltz?”

“Not unless you press the right keys,” Nick said. “This is a people piano.”

“I don't play the piano,” Tess said.

“Neither do I.”

Tess stopped and looked back at him. “Then what are we going to do with a dining room full of a piano that neither one of us can play?”

“I was hoping you'd ask that.” Nick loosened his tie. “Let's strike a blow for humanity.”

Tess was still laughing when he boosted her up onto the piano and climbed on top with her, rolling until he was under her.

“I love you,” Nick said as he pulled her close. “But if you ever turn into Mrs. Jekyll, I'm kicking you off this piano.”

“I knew you'd turn into a tyrant once I married you.” Tess straddled him and began to pop the studs from his shirt. “With you acting like this, how long do you think this marriage is going to last?”

Nick propped himself up on his elbows and met her eyes, and he wasn't laughing anymore. “I think this marriage is going to last forever,” he said. “Is that all right with you?”

Tess caught her breath, suddenly swept up in the enormity of being married and the immensity of her love. “No,” she said, and then she leaned down into his arms. “Forever isn't long enough. I'm going to love you longer than that.”

Nick wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes for a moment. “Thank you for marrying me,” he said finally.

“Anytime,” Tess said. “Anytime, anyhow, anywhere.”

“Now and here, forever,” Nick said, and kissed her, and then they didn't say anything at all