Timing (340 page)

Timing

197

IT WAS different from how I

I thought it would be. The fall

l out from

Knox’s

’ crime tore Cha

h ne

n y

e Pu

P tnam

m apart.

. Apparently there was more

scanda

d l than

n I knew abou

o t, and the FB

F I came and took people and files

away

a . As soon as I

I was cleare

r d to tra

r vel, I had to

t return to Chicago to

help put things in ord

r er so

s that the office could be closed. The

h re was no

time to return to the ranch and spend tim

i e with Rand. I simply

l had to

go fro

r m being

g in

n a hospi

p tal

l fo

f r two da

d ys to the

h airport. I could have

v

refu

f sed to go, but the com

o pany had been good to

o me, and I felt that I

needed to do a

s much as I

could. Rand di

d d not unders

r tand.

“You need to sta

t y,” he sa

s id on my l

ast

s night in the hospital.

“I need to

o go help, Ra

R n

a d,” I sa

s id, sti

t ll coughing from smoke

inhala

l tion. My

M lungs we

w re

r recovering, but it

i was sl

s ow progress.

“You need to sta

t y here

r with me.”

.

It

I was a good fight, but in the end, it was one he lost. He was

more

r upset t

han I

I felt

l he s

hould have be

b en.

“I’m

’ coming back. I

I told y

ou I

I was. What more do you want?

t ”

“I want you now.”

“You got me.”

“You’re going away.”

“For two weeks, tops.”

198

Mary Calmes

“I don’t believe you,” he said flat out. “You’ll get back there,

there’ll be exciting job offers, and you won’t come back. You’re easily

taken in by smoke an’ mirrors.”

“Well, it’s nice to hear you think so highly of me.”

His hands went to my face. “There’s no one I think more of. Just

stay here.”

“I told you I love you, and since I’ve only ever said it to my own

mother, Charlotte, and your mother, never to a man, you need to accept

it as the gift it is.”

“Stef—”

“I will come back because you’re going to be my home.”

“Stef—”

“Do you wanna be my home?”

“It’s all I want.”

“Well, then, I don’t see the problem.”

Rand’s mother and Uncle Tyler came to visit me at that moment

and interrupted him. They were both very concerned, even as I made

them swear not to call Charlotte on her honeymoon and tell her. It took

some convincing—they were afraid of what she’d do to them when she

found out the truth—but in the end, my charm prevailed.

Saying goodbye to Rand at the airport was harder than I thought it

was going to be. Funny, but now that I knew whom I wanted to spend

the rest of my life with, I was ready for my life to start. Back in

Chicago, back at work, I would have flashes of Rand. I would think of

him standing in the breeze, hair tousled by the wind, or looking down at

me with his molten eyes, or feel again his hands on my skin. I

wondered how he could ever think that I would not go home.

“Stef?”

Looking up, I saw my assistant, Christina Wu, standing in the

doorway, looking at me oddly.

“Yeah?”

“Are you all right? You look weird.”

Timing

199

What could I tell her? That I missed my boyfriend? “I always

look weird.”

She gave me smug smile. “It’s true, and it’s nice that you’re

admitting it. That’s the first step to getting help.”

“You’re hysterical.”

“I’m aware.”

I crossed the room to her, grabbing her hard, hugging her tight.

“What are you going to do now? Where are you going to go?”

Her brows furrowed. “Stef, you’re the one that got me a job

working for your friend Dave Barron. I start next Monday.”

David Barron had been more than a friend. I had slept with him

and only him for six months before he decided he wanted to keep me

and I disappeared. I had felt weird calling, even more so when he had

so obviously thought that the reason for the contact was romantic and

not the business that it was. It had been nice that he wanted my

assistant, needing a good one. I had given him a great one.

“Sorry,” I said, letting her go. “And sorry about that… I know

you don’t like to be touched a whole lot.”

“Make me sound like a basket case, why don’t you. I simply don’t

like to be touched by people who aren’t family or friends. I don’t

discourage all human contact. “

“Sorry.”

“And besides,” she said, surprising me by wrapping her arms

around me, “you’re the exception to the rule, Joss. I’m crazy about

you—everyone is.”

“Knox used to say that.”

She nodded. “Well, Knox will have a lot of time to think about it

while he’s serving lots of time for his double-homicide and fraud. Or is

it theft? What is it?”

“I have no idea,” I sighed, “I wonder how long he’ll be in for?”

“My guess is a very long time,” she said. “But don’t worry about

that. He’s gone, he can’t hurt you, and everyone knows what he tried to

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Mary Calmes

do to you. If we actually had a company anymore, you could write your

own ticket.”

“Weird that we’re closing.”

“I’m just glad that I work for you, one of the good guys, and not

one of the bad ones. Some of the other assistants have to testify against

their bosses and go through and give dates and times of meetings and

all kinds of stuff.”

“Lucky for you I am one of the good guys,” I teased her. “’Cause

trying to remember what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis would be a

pain in the ass.”

“Yes, Mr. Scattered, it would be.”

It was nice that some of the things in my life didn’t change.

I WAS into my third week in Chicago before I realized that time had

gotten away from me. Rand had been right, the job offers came

flooding in, but as I felt disjointed and not myself, it was hard even to

call people back and politely decline. I sent e-mails instead.

My conversations with Rand were short and sometimes terse. He

had moved quickly from understanding to sullen to silent. When he

stopped answering his phone, I checked in with May. She informed me

that he had taken a trip to hire the men for winter grazing and was not

expected back for at least a couple of weeks. Before I could get off the

phone, she wanted to know why I myself was not returning Charlotte’s

calls.

“I’m just not ready to rehash everything and explain about Rand.”

“Well, you best get ready before you have a very hurt and angry

girl on your hands.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said solemnly, hanging up minutes later after

telling her I loved her too.

How was I going to explain being madly in love with her brother

to Charlotte? She had missed the beginning and now I was supposed to

catch her up? It was daunting just thinking about. She would be pissed

that I had hidden things from her even in the midst of all the wedding

Timing

201

craziness. Walking home from work that night, I realized that for the

first time in ages I did not have my best friend to reach out to.

Normally Charlotte was my touchstone, but as it was, I didn’t have her

to turn to. When my phone rang, I didn’t even check the caller ID, I just

answered.

“Are you out of your mind not answering my phone calls?” she

yelled at me.

“Sorry.”

She growled.

“I am.”

“Oooh, I should beat you!”

“Come see me and you can.”

“Okay—poof, here I am!”

Looking up the street to my brownstone, I saw her waving from

the steps. I flew down the sidewalk and up the stoop into her waiting

arms. I hugged the life out of her, and she giggled.

“If Mohammad won’t drink from the stream—wait,” she stopped

herself, “that’s not right—how does that go again?”

I just laughed into her shoulder as she clung to me. When she

finally stepped back, her face lifted to mine, I watched her eyebrow

slowly arch.

“Crap.”

She grunted.

“I had no idea Char,” I told her, “I mean one minute I think he

hates me only to find out that he never did? It’s still surreal you know?”

“Yeah that’s great but first I wanna hear about your boss.”

“You do?”

“Well yeah,” she said like it was understood, “I heard there was

shooting.”

“You’re like a rubbernecker on the road.”

“Yeah, and?”

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Mary Calmes

I made a noise in the back of my throat but the pouty lip made me

spill. Who could resist the boo-boo face and the Bambi eyes?

“And then what?” She pressed me for more details, still riveted an

hour later as I recounted my experience with Knox Bishop and the fire.

We talked and ate, talked and had dessert, talked and went out for