Not Strictly Business!: Prodigal Son / The Boss and Miss Baxter / The Baby Deal

She’d changed out of her jeans and sweatshirt—both covered in sewn-on flowers—and into a loose top and flowing skirt that nearly touched the top of her bare feet. She was a kaleidoscope of color, causing him not to know where to look first.

There was her hair, long and flowing and curly, but pinned up on one side. Her blouse that fell off one shoulder, exposing pale, creamy skin. Her feet with painted toes and at least two toe rings. Her arms, bare except for jingling bracelets.

“So you’re back,” he said.

She closed the door behind him. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been a little conservative since you moved here. Oh sure, you’ve been playing basketball in the halls and wearing bright colors, but not in the way I remember. This is the first time you’re exactly like you were.”

She smiled. “That’s about the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Come on,” she said, grabbing him by the arm and tugging him toward the kitchen. “I have wine and I’m going to let you be all macho and open it.”

“It’s what I live for.”

They settled in the dining room with a bottle of wine and some appetizers. Charlie retreated to an ottoman where he curled up on the cushy surface and quickly went to sleep.

“I can get him down if you want,” Jack said, jerking his head toward the dog. “He’s great, but he sheds.”

“No problem. A few dog hairs will make the condo seem more lived in. Right now it’s still too perfect.”

“And we wouldn’t want that.”

She dipped a chicken wing into spicy sauce. “Life’s beauty is found in the irregular and unexpected. Ever see a perfect waterfall? A symmetrical sunset?”

“Technically the sun goes down in the same way every—” He broke off and grinned when she swatted him with the back of her hand.

“You know what I mean,” she said. “I’m talking about the clouds, the colors and you know it.”

“Maybe.”

“My point is, dog hair is fine.”

“Great. Maybe you’d like to take over grooming him, too.”

“I wouldn’t mind it. He’s a great dog.”

“I agree.”

She sipped her wine. “I’ve noticed a bit more positive press in the past couple of days,” she said. “There were at least two mentions of the upcoming advertisers’ party. How Hanson Media Group is getting some things right.”

“I saw them, too. David is doing a hell of a job trying to counteract the negative stories.”

“You really like him.”

“In some ways he’s more like my father than George ever was. Or maybe a big brother. He’s not that much older than me. He was always there, making time in ways my father wouldn’t. Even though he traveled a lot, he kept in touch. He took the time. Sometimes that’s all that’s required.”

“I know.” She grabbed for a piece of celery. “After my father walked out, I missed him terribly. Sure there was the whole trauma of going from the rich princess to the kid in castoffs, but it was more than that. Given the choice between getting the money back and getting my father back, I would have gladly picked him. But either he didn’t get that or he didn’t care.”

“I know he walked out on your mom, but didn’t he see you at all?”

She shook her head. “One day he was just gone. That played with my head. How was I supposed to believe my father had ever loved me when he walked away and never looked back?”

She sipped her wine. “Mom was great. She really fought him. Some of it was about the child support. It’s crazy that a guy that wealthy paid almost nothing. But he could afford excellent lawyers and they knew all the tricks. As for seeing me, he would make promises and then not show up. There was always a good reason. Eventually my mom stopped pushing. She saw that it was hurting me more to hope.”

Jack couldn’t imagine what kind of man simply walked away from a child. His own father—no poster child for perfect parenting—had at least gone through the motions. He’d shown up to graduations and big events.

“It was his loss,” he said.

“Thanks. I used to tell myself that, too. Most of the time I even believed it. I grew up determined not to repeat my mother’s mistakes. I didn’t care if the guy had money, as long as I was important to him and we wanted the same things.”

Her words hit him hard. Ten years ago, he’d been that guy, but she hadn’t been willing to see that, or maybe she’d just never thought of him as more than a friend.

“Vance?” he asked.

“I thought so. He’d been married before, so he was cautious. I liked that wariness. It made sense to me. I could tell he liked me a lot, but he wanted to take things slowly and I respected that, too. In hindsight, I was an idiot.”

“In hindsight, we all are.”

“Maybe. But I was a bigger idiot. He talked about how his first wife had been obsessed with how much money he made. She wanted the best, the biggest, the newest. I decided not to be like her, so I didn’t ask for anything. It took me a while to figure out that had been his plan all along.”

Jack didn’t like the sound of that. “He set you up?”

“I think so.” She sighed. “Yes, he did. It’s hard for me to say that because it makes my choice even more crazy. He’s a cardiologist in a big, successful practice. When we talked about getting married, he was concerned about losing that. I wanted to reassure him.”

Jack grimaced. “Prenuptial?”

“Oh, yeah. I was sensible. I read the whole thing. But I didn’t bother to get a lawyer. Why spend the money? Later, I realized he’d played me. He’d made a joke that his first wife was so stupid that she wouldn’t have been able to get past the first page. But that I was really smart and would understand it all.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know if it was ego or my need to prove I wasn’t her. Either way, I did read it, but I didn’t get a lawyer to and I missed all the subtleties.”

Jack practiced criminal law, but he’d heard enough horror stories from co-workers practicing family law that he could guess the outcome.

“It wasn’t what you thought.”

“Not even close. Not only couldn’t I touch his practice or any income from it, but everything of mine was community property. I got nothing of his and he got half of mine. The only bright spot is I didn’t have a whole lot to take half of.”

He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I learned an important lesson. My mother used to tell me the trick was to marry a rich man and keep him. I think the real trick is to not need a man at all.”

“Speaking on behalf of my gender, we’re not all jerks.”

“I know.” She squeezed his fingers. “I blame myself as much as Vance. There were warning signs. I didn’t pay much attention to them.”

While he knew intellectually that she was right—that she did have to take some responsibility—his gut reaction was to hunt down Vance and beat the crap out of him. Talk about a low-life bastard.