I'm Your Man

“Then I took a look at Maureen, too,” he said, smiling at her.

She smiled back. “He came along at a busy time, since we’d just started working on two new projects a couple of months before Carlos died. We’re trying to see them through, but it’s taking everything out of us.”

“She works very long hours,” Ted said, laying a hand on her shoulder, his fingers resting against her collarbone in a proprietary way, making Maureen uncomfortable. She’d never seen him possessive.

“It took me months,” he went on, “but I finally convinced her to take a vacation. We’re leaving two weeks from today.”

The implications of that statement reverberated through the room. They all knew Jess was supposed to be gone for six weeks.

Maureen was stuck. She needed to tell Ted that they would have to postpone their vacation, but she couldn’t do it in front of Daniel.

“Why are you here?” she asked Daniel, taking control of the discussion. “What did you hope to accomplish by just showing up?”

He dragged his hands down his face. “We had an argument.”

“You and Jess? About what?”

“About this harebrained scheme of hers to be on True Grit.”

Maureen might have agreed with him, but she wasn’t going to let him criticize her daughter. “My understanding is that she beat almost impossible odds to make it onto the program.” She and Riley had looked it up on the Internet that morning. “So many people apply, yet she was chosen. It’s a huge accomplishment.”

“I’m not denying that. I even had a hand in it, since I’m the one that got her training. She’s become quite an athlete.”

“I could tell. When I hugged her, I could tell. I would think you would be proud she got on the show.”

“Proud? What about her job?”

“She had a job?”

“You didn’t know?”

Maureen shook her head. “She never said. What was she doing?”

“She’s an assistant in my department at the university.”

“Since when?”

“Since Riley started kindergarten last year. She only works—worked—part-time, just while he’s in school. It was ideal. She would’ve been able to increase her hours as his school days got longer.”

“Would have?”

He nodded. “She’s supposed to be there now, for summer session. She quit.”

Why hadn’t Jess told her? How little she knew of her daughter’s life.

“So, you arranged the job for her?”

“Yeah. I stuck my neck out, too, since she didn’t have any experience, and there were other candidates more qualified. I thought it might get her interested in going to college. Her tuition would’ve been almost free.” He tunneled his fingers through his hair.

That soft, thick—Maureen caught herself. “She’s lived with you all these years and you don’t know what a dreamer Jess is?” she asked, not unkindly. “This is the big-fantasy kind of thing that Jess thrives on.”

Daniel leaned his arms on his thighs and turned his head to look at her. “I didn’t think she’d go through with it, in the end. She may be a dreamer, but she usually has little follow-through. I certainly never expected her to take off as she did. I was out of town. She left me a note.”

“And you hopped a plane without calling first? What if Jess hadn’t come here? What if I hadn’t been home?”

He frowned. “Where would you be? You’re always home.”

She really needed to get away more.

“Anyway,” Daniel went on, “Jess said in her note she was leaving Riley here, but I knew you probably couldn’t take much time off from work, and I’m off for the summer….”

“This works out perfectly,” Ted said, participating in the conversation for the first time. “We can figure out a way to keep the boy until we go on vacation, then he can go back to you for the remainder of the time.”

Daniel cheered up. “I could work with that—”

“No.” Maureen didn’t raise her voice. Her heart pounded in her ears. She could barely swallow. She felt both men focus on her, and for a moment she looked out the front window, not wanting to continue what was bound to be a hard conversation.

“No?” Ted repeated, shock in his tone. “Maureen, it’s the perfect solution. And obviously the boy loves being with his grandfather.”

Yes, he does. Way too much. “Jess left him with me. I’m sure she had her reasons.”

“Now, hold on a minute,” Daniel said. “Jess and I had an argument. She’s not used to being denied anything, and so she decided to get back at me by bringing Riley here. It’s not as if she doesn’t trust me with him.”

“How do I know that? The only thing I know for sure is that she wanted me to have Riley for the time she’s gone. The whole time. Period.”

“We need to talk about this,” Ted said with a telling glance at Daniel.

Daniel, obviously realizing that Ted was his ally in his cause, offered to go for a walk.

“Don’t you have a plane to catch or something?” Maureen asked, annoyed that the men were ganging up on her.

“I bought a one-way ticket.”

“Of course you did,” she muttered. “Fine. Go for a walk. Or go into my backyard.” Or go to hell.

He stood. “How much time should I give you?”

“Fifteen minutes?” Ted said when Maureen clammed up. “If you turn right when you leave the house and walk a few blocks, you’ll hit Cortland Avenue. That’s the commercial district. You’ll find a couple of places to get something to eat, if you want.”

“Thanks.” Then he was gone, and the air was filled with unspoken accusations.

Maureen didn’t trust herself to say the right thing. Angry, she pushed herself up and went to the front window, spotting Daniel as he made his way up the street, that jaunty walk of his annoying her even more.

“I don’t appreciate your interference,” she said to Ted, her back to him.

“Interference? This situation involves me, too. Why shouldn’t I be allowed my opinions?”

“Opinions are one thing. Decisions without discussion are another.”