Manhunting (25 page)

Kate thought about Jake, about how good it felt just to be with him, about how right she felt whenever he was around. “I want him,” she said.

“Great,” Jessie said. “Now number two. He thinks he might love you.” She looked up at Kate. “It’s been a month. He may know for sure by now.”

“Which is why he hasn’t called,” Kate said. “I hate this list.”

“Do you love him?” Jessie demanded.

Kate swallowed and said, “Yes.”

“Well, you haven’t called him, either,” Jessie said. “Silence does not necessarily indicate a lack of interest. He could just be as big a chicken about this as you are.”

“Chicken?” Kate said, but Jessie moved on down the list.

“Now, number three, he’s going to have to give in on. I mean, you either confront or manipulate. Personally, I favor confrontation.”

“I know,” Kate said. “That is abundantly clear to everyone who knows you.”

“So, go down there and confront him. Tell him you love him and you’re insisting on marriage.”

“And when he says, ‘I think I remember you, vaguely,’ I can just crawl under the nearest rock.”

“Stop it,” Jessie said. “You know damn well he remembers you more than vaguely. Now, number four.”

“I’m still not happy about numbers one, two, and three,” Kate said, but Jessie said, “Number four we’ve already decided you’re giving in on. If he doesn’t want a career, he doesn’t have to have one. Number five is really number seven so we’ll put that off. Number six—”

“I don’t remember the numbers anymore,” Kate said. “What was number five?”

“Number six is a career for you down there. That we can do if we just work on it,” Jessie said. “Look, you keep telling me how overworked this Will character is. And the place must be full of little craft shops and stuff like that run by people whose idea of bookkeeping is a legal pad under the register.”

“Jessie, none of those things is a full-time job,” Kate said.

“Not one of them, maybe,” Jessie said. “But maybe all of them are.”

“What?”

Jessie shrugged. “Do them all. Once people start to hear about you, they’ll come in from other places, too. All of that stuff together would keep you busy enough doing freelance consulting.” She sipped some coffee. “I also think you ought to buy into Nancy’s bar. You need to have something to fix, and that could take years.”

“Nancy doesn’t want to sell,” Kate said.

“She doesn’t want to sell
all
of it,” Jessie said. “You could talk her into half, expanding with the money you’d put in. You could convince her.”

“That wouldn’t be right,” Kate said. “It’s her bar. It wouldn’t be right for me to try—”

“It’s good for the bar. It’s good for Nancy. And it’s good for Toby’s Corners,” Jessie said flatly. “Stop being such a wimp. Do it.”

“Carl Avery of Woolf Technologies, line three,” Kate’s secretary said, and Kate groaned and picked up the line.

“Kate! Darling, how are you?”

“What do you want, Carl?” Kate said. “I’ve been talking to morons all morning. I have no patience left.”

“Well, then, I’ll get right to the point,” Carl said cheerily. “This dividend you wanted us to pay? Bad idea, Katie girl. Very bad. I’ll just pencil that out, what say?”

“Over my dead body,” Kate said, taking her pen back from Jessie. “Your stockholders are due a dividend. Pay it.”

“Kate.” Carl chuckled. “Kate, Kate, Kate.”

“Carl,” Kate said, tapping her pen hard against her desk, “pay it or I’ll put you on my SEC Christmas-gift list.”

“Kate,” he said with much less enthusiasm, “this is not good business. That’s what we pay your firm for— good business advice.”

“Carl,” Kate said, “what you want to do is morally repugnant and marginally illegal. This is good business advice.”

“I’ll talk to your father,” Carl said abruptly.

“Good idea,” Kate said. “Maybe he’ll send me to bed without my supper. Who do you think you’re kidding?”

But Carl had already hung up.

“I’m telling you,” Jessie said, “Toby’s Corners is full of Debbies. And no Vandenburgs except on the golf course. And no— Who was the moron on the phone?”

“Carl Avery,” Kate said. “A long-standing client and potential felon.”

“Well, there are no Carl Averys in Toby’s Corners, either.” Jessie finished her fritter and licked the sugar off her fingers. “You could help little businesses and make Nancy’s bar famous—”

“Maybe Nancy doesn’t want a famous bar,” Kate said.

“Well, she’s going to get one. Which brings us to number seven,” Jessie said. “Marriage and commitment.”

“Ouch. That is the big one,” Kate said, wincing. “Are you sure we solved one through six?”

“Shut up,” Jessie said. “You’re going to have to propose.”

“No,” Kate said.

“Yes,” Jessie said. “If you want something in life, you have to go after it If Jake is allergic to marriage, you’re just going to have to make the first move.”

“He’ll say no,” Kate said. “You don’t know Jake.”

“No, but I know you,” Jessie said. “And no man in his right mind would say no to you.”

“Jake’s not in his right mind.”

“He loves you.”

“Maybe,” she said, and Jessie groaned.

“Look,” she said. “This is your choice. Are you going to choose to be happy with Jake and Nancy and Penny down south, or miserable with Vandenburg, A very, and Whatsis up here?”

“Well, if I stay up here I have you, too,” Kate pointed out.

“No, you don’t,” Jessie said. “If you walk away from this, I’m never speaking to you again.”

“Let me see that list again,” Kate said, and Jessie handed it to her. Kate brushed the fritter sugar off it and studied it. It was a lousy list, but it was doable. “All right,” she said. “I’ll do it.”

Jessie shoved the phone toward her so fast it almost skidded off the desk. “Call Nancy. Buy into that bar.”

“Now?”

“Of course, now,” Jessie said. “Let the company pay for the call. Do it.”

Kate froze, staring at the phone. “Just like that. Change my whole life, just like that.”

“Yeah, just like that. What the hell.” Jessie looked at Kate closely. “You look strange. Are you okay?”

“I’m terrified,” Kate said. “I don’t think this—”

“Don’t be dumb,” Jessie said. “This will be a piece of cake. Trust me. Call Nancy.” Jessie picked up Kate’s fritter and waved it at the phone before she bit into it. “I’m telling you, call Nancy.”

Kate thought for a moment, picked up the phone, and began to dial. She bit her lip while the phone rang, and then said brightly, “Nancy?”

“Kate? At last,” Nancy said. “I’ve been calling and calling.”

“You have?” Kate said. “My secretary didn’t—”

“We didn’t have your business number. I’ve been calling you at home for the past two days. You have at least five messages on your machine. Don’t you ever go home?”

“Well, lately only to sleep,” Kate said. “What’s wrong? Is Jake okay?”

“No,” Nancy said. “You’re not answering your phone. He thinks you’re either dead or with another man, and he’s not sure which he’d hate more. Will and I have been pushing the ‘other man’ theory.”

“Why?” Kate said, confused.

“Motivation,” Nancy said. “He’s miserable without you, but he won’t do anything about it, so we’re hoping jealousy will goose him into action. If he shows up at your front door screaming, ‘Where is he?’ you can thank us.”

Kate started to laugh. “He misses me?” she said. “He really does?”

“Well, he won’t admit it, but believe me, ‘misses you’ is an understatement. We’re thinking of having him committed. He even insulted Mrs. Dickerson. He’s really miserable. I think you’d better come back and save him.”

“Well, actually, that’s what I called about,” Kate said. “Not saving Jake, but coming back. I’d like to—” she took a deep bream “—I’d like to buy into the bar. But not manage it,” she added hastily. “Not get in your way. I wouldn’t...”

“Go ahead, get in my way,” Nancy said. “I think it’s a great idea. I’ve been going over that master plan you made. I like it. Move back here and we’ll do it.”

“You’ve been going over the plan?” Kate said. “That’s wonderful.” Kate blinked her surprise at Jessie, who said, “I told you so,” around a mouthful of fritter. “That’s terrific,” Kate said. “I’m stunned. I guess great minds do think alike.”

“It wasn’t actually my great mind at first,” Nancy said. “It was Jake’s.”

“Jake’s?” Kate’s voice broke with surprise.

“Yeah. He’s spent the past couple of weeks in here every night, explaining to me about how much better my life would be if you were here.” Nancy laughed. “I’ve seen transparent excuses before, but this one was practically invisible. He wants you back. Bad.”

A couple of weeks. Jake had been thinking about this for a couple of weeks, leaving her in hell.... “Well, why isn’t he calling me, then?” Kate demanded.

“I don’t know,” Nancy said. “I don’t explain Jake. Come down here and ask him. And bring money. Your half of this dump is not going to come cheap. We’re going to get you so invested in this place that you’re never going to leave again.”

“I’m already that invested in that place,” Kate said. “But if I’ve been sitting up here miserable for six weeks while Jake’s been sitting down there miserable for six weeks just because he didn’t want to call and tell me he’d made a mistake, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

“Pay me first,” Nancy said, “because there’s definitely going to be hell to pay.”

When Kate hung up a few minutes later, Jessie was finishing the last of the fritter. “So let’s go to your place and I’ll help you pack,” she said to Kate as she licked her fingers. “We can have you on the road by nightfall.”

“No,” Kate said. “I have Vandenburg, Avery, and Davis to shove onto someone else. I have to fax my father my resignation and I’m not even sure where he is right now—Hong Kong, I think. I have to call a real-estate agent to sell my condo. I have to convert most of my investments to cash. And I have to decide about how I’m going to handle this list with Jake.”

“Don’t delay,” Jessie said. “If you delay, you will back out.”

“I can’t back out,” Kate said, staring into space trying to decide whether she was delighted or horrified. “I just bought half a bar.”

One week later, Jake sat in the hotel office, staring into a computer screen while his fingers danced over a numeric keypad. He was so mesmerized by what he was doing that he didn’t hear the door open.

Kate stood in the office doorway for a moment, amazed. The only thing she’d ever seen Jake do with that sort of absorption before was make love to her. That reminded her of why she was there. She closed the door behind her and sat down in the chair across the desk from him and tried to remember that Nancy had said that he wanted her back, and that Jessie had said all she had to do to be happy for the rest of her life was to confront him.

With her list.

She looked at him, haloed in the lamplight, and she knew she didn’t want to confront him; she wanted to crawl into his lap. He looked big and broad and safe and like everything she’d ever wanted.

And he hadn’t even noticed she was there yet.

“Hello,” she said loudly. Jake looked up, startled.

They stared at each other for a moment while Kate waited for him to ask her what she was doing there.

“Hi,” Jake said. He started to say something else and stopped.

Another moment passed before Kate said, “I suppose you’re wondering what I’m doing here.”

And he said, “No. I’m just glad you’re here. You look great.”

“Thank you,” Kate said. “So do you.”

They stared at each other for another moment.
Come on,
Kate told herself.
Get this over with. Confront him.
“I bought into Nancy’s bar,” she began.

And Jake said, “I know. She told me. Last week. I think it’s great.”

“Oh,” Kate said. “Well, that means I’ll be moving down here. In fact, I’m here.”

“That’s great,” Jake said again.

They stared at each other again, and finally Kate gave up. What was the point of confronting him. He didn’t care, anyway. He was just sitting there, saying, “Great” like a big dummy. Anger, confusion, and misery warred in her, and anger won.

“I think I’ll be going,” Kate said tightly, standing, and Jake sprang up and said, “Wait a minute.”

“I’ve been waiting six weeks,” Kate snapped. “That’s long enough.”

“You’ve only been here ten minutes,” Jake said. “Don’t exaggerate.”

“I’ve been gone six weeks,” Kate said. “You didn’t call. Did you even notice I was gone?”

“Of course, I noticed,” Jake said. “It was awful.”

“Six weeks,” Kate said. “Six miserable, lonely, horrible weeks.”

“Hey, I was miserable, too,” Jake said.

“Then why didn’t you call?” Kate yelled.

“Well, I was thinking,” Jake began.

“You were thinking? For six weeks, you were thinking? Do you know how miserable I’ve been for the six weeks you’ve been thinking?”

“See?” Jake said reasonably. “This is why I hate this kind of stuff.”

Kate began to pound on the desk. “Do you have any idea how awful it’s been? I’ve cried for you, damn it. And I never cry.”

“Kate...” Jake began, appalled.

“Six weeks!” Kate yelled. “And don’t think I moved down here to chase you, either. I hate it in the city, and I love it here, and I’d move here even if you weren’t here!”

“Well, see,” Jake said soothingly. “That’s something else we’ve got in common.”

“We have nothing in common,” Kate snapped and wheeled around to go out the door. Jake beat her to it by a second and stood in front of her, blocking her way. “Just give me a chance,” he said.

“No,” she said. “Get out of my way.”

“I can’t,” he said, reaching for her, shaking his head. “I can’t let you go again. And you love me. You cried for me. You said so.”

“I’ll get over you,” Kate said. “In fact, I may be over you now.”

“No, you’re not,” Jake said, and pulled her to him and kissed her.

Kate had forgotten how mind-bending Jake’s kisses could be, how hot his mouth felt on hers, and how good and solid and right it felt to have his arms around her, and above all, how much she just needed to be with him. When she leaned into his kiss, she felt him relax against her, and they held each other close long after the kiss ended.