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Crystal slowly got out.
Jason said, “You don’t look like Dad.”
Ryan said, “Uh, hi.”
Tommy said, “A cat.”
And Luke, bless him, said, “It’s going to be okay. We’re not as bad as we sound.” He gave Crystal his million-watt smile, the one that always worked on the girls of North Shore, Ohio. It apparently impressed eight-year-old girls, too, because Crystal took a tentative step toward him.
Just then the front door exploded and a blur of black came blasting out. Face-off ran toward them at breakneck speed, ninety-five pounds of fur and mutt, barking like the beast he was.
Crystal screamed.
Jules sprang from her arms.
Face-off headed straight for the little girl. As she cowered and screamed, the dog caught sight of the kitten and veered.
Jules tore off across the lawn, Face-off at her heels.
“Shit,” Mitch muttered, hampered for a moment by the fact that he was still on the far side of the car. “Get that dog!” he shouted.
Luke had already begun the pursuit. Jules made a dizzying circle around the huge lawn, followed by dog and four boys. Around and around, faster and faster, Face-off barking his head off, Luke and Mitch shouting, the other boys yelling in glee, Crystal standing by the car screaming, a shrill, high wail that went on and on.
Mitch veered right, trying to block Face-off. The dog saw him and put on the brakes, skidding toward Mitch in the wet grass. Mitch tackled him. Jules skittered under the wire fence and into the pasture, where she was lost in the tall grass.
The kids skidded, too, ending up in a messy tangle.
Face-off licked Mitch’s face. Ice-cold mud seeped through his jeans.
Slowly, Crystal’s wailing tapered off into silence.
Mitch got to his feet. The dog jumped up, planting a couple of muddy paws on the front of his jacket. “Down!” Mitch said, and the dog—reacting to the no-nonsense tone—obeyed. “Sit.” A quivering sit. “Jason, come get this dog!”
Jason untangled himself from the other boys and grabbed Face-off by the collar. “I’m sorry, Dad,” he said quietly. “I thought I had him locked in the laundry room, but the door doesn’t work too well since Tommy broke it last week.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Mitch said. He turned to look at Crystal who was sobbing quietly. “You guys are going to have to do better. She’s not used to boys. She’s a little girl, and she’s just lost her mom. Don’t you remember how that felt?”
“I remember,” Jason said in an even quieter tone, and suddenly all the anger left Mitch. He walked over to Crystal and picked her up. She felt skinny, warm and fragile, and her hair spilled over his arms.
Despite the mud, she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed in earnest. “Jewels is lost.”
“No, she isn’t. She’s just hiding, because she doesn’t understand that Face-off only wants to play. Listen, we’ll lock up Face-off better this time, and put a bowl of milk on the stoop, and Jules will come home. I promise.”
There was a pause. “I hate your dog,” she finally sobbed.
She might as well have said, I hate you. I hate your family. I hate that you’ve brought me here.
Mitch held her tightly. He was still breathing hard from chasing the dog, but that didn’t explain the peculiar ache in his chest.
CHAPTER TWO
TWO WEEKS LATER, what was left of Jenny Litton’s world fell apart.
She stood at the sink in the ladies’ room at Kyle Development and pressed a cool, wet paper towel to her cheek. That helped some. A moment before, she’d been in the toilet stall with dry heaves, and her whole face was flushed. She swallowed, trying to quell the nausea. As the manager of the real-estate development company, she had no time to be sick.
Perspiration was beaded on her upper lip and she dabbed there, too. Then she wadded the paper towel and took out her lipstick. She smeared Plantation Rose across her lips with a hand that quivered slightly.
Giving in to a sudden impulse, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead to the glass of the mirror. Cool and smooth, it felt comforting. She opened her eyes and stared at her own face a fraction of an inch away. Apart from the redness in her cheeks, she looked much the same. Her makeup understated and carefully blended, her silver-blond hair well cut and turned under at the ends. Small studs in her ears. Nothing flashy for Jenny Litton. Nobody from here to Savannah would ever accuse her of flash.
But even as she looked at her own reflection, even as she should have felt satisfaction at that last thought, her eyes filled with tears.
Sad tears, because she missed Kathy. Kathy had been her best friend, the only one who’d known about the baby. And she missed Crystal. She’d talked to the little girl every night by telephone. Crystal didn’t have too much to say, and the words unsaid bothered Jenny a lot.
She straightened, wishing she hadn’t let Crystal go with Mitch Oliver, even though Jenny’s lawyer had insisted it was the only thing she could do. You don’t have a case. You’ll hurt the child more if you fight for her—let her think she’s going to stay—and then lose her anyway. If Kathy really hadn’t wanted Mitch Oliver to be Crystal’s guardian, she would have changed her will. The lawyer had reminded Jenny—as if she’d needed any reminders—that she had enough to worry about in her own life.
Jenny’s stomach gave another quick heave, and she pressed a hand to it. At any moment one of the other women who worked at Kyle Development might walk through that door, and it wouldn’t do for the polished-up and buttoned-down Jenny Litton to be standing in front of a mirror watching herself cry.
She pasted on a smile and headed out the door.
“Oh, there you are.” Her secretary, Yvonne Rolland, looked up from her desk as Jenny passed. “It’s eight o’clock. I thought maybe you weren’t in yet. That would be strange, non?” Yvonne had a French mother and was given to sprinkling in a little of the language.
Jenny nodded, taking a stack of mail Yvonne handed her, wondering when Yvonne would notice how much time she was spending in the ladies’ room. In a few weeks it wouldn’t matter anyway; everyone would know her secret.
She’d told Kathy. Kathy, I’m pregnant and I’m scared. Delane doesn’t want the baby. Kathy had looked shocked for less than a second and then she’d hugged her friend. Well, I never thought this would happen to you. Okay, I know how much you loved Delane. It’s going to be tough seeing him at the office, but you’ll be okay. Women have babies on their own these days.
Well, maybe other women made those kinds of mistakes, but Jennifer Litton didn’t, and the shame of it washed over her.
She’d slept with her boss.
She bit her lip, took a few steps away and pretended to sort through her mail. As office manager, Jenny supervised a relatively small staff—just a couple of secretaries, the payroll clerk and the eight-person sales crew that sold upscale properties in Hilton Head. Her co-workers knew she’d broken up with Delane a month ago, but not why.
“Uh, Jenny?” Yvonne hesitated, then said, “I thought you’d like to know. Delane is back in town. He’s coming by the office today at ten. He wants to have a meeting with everyone. It’s important, he said. You’ll need to be there, too.”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. Not today, she thought.
“I’m sorry,” her secretary said softly.
“It’s all right.” She’d fallen out of love with Delane Kyle for good the day he’d offered to pay for an abortion, but not offered to take any responsibility for their baby. Reflexively, she put a light hand on her belly. Don’t worry, baby, I want you very, very much.
“Well, I’m glad you’re not mooning over him. I know it’ll be awkward.” Yvonne averted her eyes.
Jenny put her chin up. “I can handle it.” She’d known that if she kept her job at Kyle Development, she’d certainly see Delane from time to time.
She wanted more than anything to turn tail and run, to go someplace where nobody would ever need to know about the circumstances of her pregnancy.
But she was hanging on to her job. Overseeing the Hilton Head office was a respectable job, one with good pay and benefits. Benefits the baby would need.
Besides, she wasn’t the only one who ought to be ashamed. Let Delane Kyle feel the good hot scald of it. Let him watch her belly grow and go home and try to sleep at night!
The thought of his discomfort gave her some satisfaction, and by the time she and her co-workers gathered in the large conference room, Jenny felt more in control.
“Wonder what’s up?” That was Rick Caldwell, one of Kyle’s best salespeople. He poured himself a cup of coffee and took his seat at the shiny conference table facing Jenny. “I mean besides the obvious.”
Sales of the expensive condominiums ringing Hilton Head’s newest golf course had hit a bit of a snag.
Rick stroked his mustache. “I can’t understand it. The economy’s good, and the population’s aging and playing more golf. Hilton Head’s been overbuilt, but hell, when hasn’t it been?”
No one answered. People stirred their coffee or shuffled papers. Jenny finally spoke up. “Things will work out. I really think this slump is just a hiccup.”
Rick gave her a thumbs-up. “Yeah, you’re right. Not like me to be so down, and really, I do think with some more time, some more advertising in the bigger newspapers…Hell, maybe if Delane would stop being such a playboy in Charleston and pay a little more attention to what’s going on down here—” He stopped abruptly.
“That’s all right,” Jenny said quickly. She looked around the room, and realized people were watching her while pretending not to. “Don’t worry about it. I told you, Delane and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.” She swallowed. She was respected at the office, but she knew what people thought—she was a good manager, fair and organized, but a little cool, a little unapproachable. Even though she’d got used to it, the realization sometimes hurt.
One of the sales staff, an older man, cleared his throat. “I wish Delane didn’t have so much on his plate. So many projects going forward so fast, we could use him here…”
There was some generalized grumbling, and Jenny was grateful she was no longer the center of attention. She checked her watch. Ten after ten. Delane was late as usual. The conference room was glass on three sides, bright with a nice view. But the sun streaming in made it warm. That was the reason she had perspiration on her lip again. She took a quick swipe with her finger and her eye caught the portrait that hung on the one solid wall.
Delane Kyle, the youngest son of one of Charleston, South Carolina’s, premier families. He’d apparently been considered a bit wild in his younger days, but when he’d come into his trust fund, he’d turned into quite a businessman, with holdings here and at Myrtle Beach to the north. Kyle Development, the company he’d founded, had grown very fast.
Delane Kyle was handsome in a lean, smooth kind of way.
Not like Mitch Oliver.
Jenny’s mind conjured Mitch. He was not smooth. He was tall, with shoulders as wide as the island, and everything about him was big. Dark hair, a little shaggy, an emphatic wedge of a nose, a faint scar below his eye. Though his features were blunt, they were as regular as if they’d been carved by a sculptor who’d really known what he was doing. She pictured his unmanicured, competent-looking hands, that masculine, barest stubble of a dark beard—
For heaven’s sake! She’d been thinking about Mitch Oliver for two weeks. Didn’t she have enough on her plate without mooning over a man she barely knew? She pulled out the schedule of the week’s sales presentations and made herself concentrate.
At ten twenty-five, Yvonne opened the door and stuck her head in. “Sorry, folks. I just got word. Delane isn’t coming.”
There was some low-key grumbling before Yvonne continued, “His lawyer’s here.”
At that moment, Timothy Suddington stepped around Yvonne and into the room.
The staff exchanged glances as Suddington went to stand directly in front of the portrait of Delane.
He plunked a briefcase down on the table, and an eerie kind of quiet settled over the room. “I think y’all know who I am,” Suddington said. “You know that I handle Delane Kyle’s legal work, both business and personal. This morning, Kyle Development filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. District Court, Bankruptcy Division, in Columbia, South Carolina.”
There was silence. Hot shock ran through Jenny, and she pressed a quick hand to her lower belly.
Then everyone spoke at once.
“Hell, I knew we were down on sales but—”
“How can he be bankrupt? He’s got a Ferrari and a yacht docked right here in Harbor Town—”
Jenny’s thoughts were racing, but she managed to put up a hand. “Wait, everybody. Wait, this can’t be as bad as it sounds—”
“Easy for you to say,” one of the women said. “You don’t have a kid to watch out for.”
This isn’t the time for another trip to the bathroom! Jenny told her stomach firmly. “Nobody’s said anything about our jobs. Tim, you need to tell us more. I happen to know Delane came into his trust a few years ago. It was a lot of money.”
They were all looking at Timothy Suddington now. He said, “Jenny, you know I can’t talk too much about Delane’s personal matters. I’m his lawyer. Just his lawyer.” He looked genuinely sorry to be fulfilling that role today, and in that second, Jenny realized that any money Delane had had was gone.
She pressed a protective hand to her stomach again.
Suddington made a fist, brought it down lightly on his briefcase. “I’m sure you all know that appearances can be very deceiving. Delane—with good intentions—tried to play with the big boys. He expanded Kyle Development too quickly. The business was fundamentally sound, but no matter how hard he tried, Delane had cash-flow problems—”
“Skip the bullshit.” It was Rick, the man who had been concerned about sales. “What’s happening here?”
“The office will close at four today. Please make sure that when you clean out your desks, you take your personal belongings home. Anything left here at the close of business today will be tagged and taken by the court as a business asset.”
There was a roaring sound in Jenny’s ears. She managed to say, “At least I have the payroll checks done.”
Suddington said, “I’m sorry, Jenny. You can’t distribute those checks. I’m sure if there are any assets, the bankruptcy court will eventually see that everyone’s paid—”
Dear God, the man was saying they couldn’t even meet the last two weeks’ payroll. As the reality of that sunk in, people gasped. One of the women started to cry.
Jenny felt like weeping, too. She had a big mortgage and a baby on the way.
Emotions zoomed through her: anger, fear, determination, fear, fear, fear. Shame again—after all her work and planning, she was out of a job! Then for a second, she felt hysterical laughter well in her, and she fought the sensation down, scared anew at how out of control she was.
It was a good thing after all that she’d let Crystal go with Mitch Oliver. At least he could give the little girl a place to live. Which was more than Jenny might be able to do.
WHEN CRYSTAL GOT HOME from school, she saw that Jason was in his room. Jason wasn’t as big as the other boys. And he was pretty nice except he didn’t like it when her cat sat on his desk and looked at his hamster. He always said, “That cat looks hungry. Get that cat outta my room.”
But the kitten wasn’t around today. Crystal thought maybe she was hiding from Face-off again. So maybe it was okay to look in Jason’s room now, and see his hamster. She really liked Nosy. Nosy had eyes like shiny black beads and fur that was very soft. Jason let her pet him sometimes.
She stopped in the doorway to see if Jason would ask her to come in. All the boys went in and out of each other’s rooms, but she didn’t know if she should. Her momma always said to knock, but here if the door was shut and you knocked, the door would probably come open just from your knocking. Most of them were busted.
She stopped in the doorway. Jason was sitting there looking at the computer real hard. Then he looked up at her and said, “Whatcha looking at?”
That was just his way of talking. Crystal said, “Can I see Nosy?”
“So, like what’s stopping you?”
She came into his room. Jason was kind of her friend. Uncle Mitch was nice, he let her call Miss Jenny every night. Crystal was happy to call Miss Jenny, but sad too because she didn’t know when she’d get to see her again. Miss Jenny had said Crystal had to come here and Mrs. Winters had said Crystal had to come here, and once, she heard Mrs. Winters telling Miss Jenny that the judge would say Crystal had to come here and live, and so she knew it didn’t matter if she wanted to stay with Miss Jenny.
Uncle Mitch said maybe Miss Jenny could come for a visit some time. Crystal was happy and sad about that. She didn’t want to cry when Miss Jenny left and she was pretty sure she would.
She was trying and trying not to cry about anything.
Besides, Uncle Mitch was nice, and when he came home from work at night he always asked her about what happened that day, just like her momma used to. It wasn’t Uncle Mitch’s fault that even if she felt like talking, one of the boys would talk first.
Luke was nice, too, but he played hockey and that seemed to take a lot of time for a game. The twins were big and wild and she didn’t like them at all. But that very first night when she came here, Jason had said, “My mom died, too, and I was sad,” and then Crystal knew he would be her friend even though he was a boy.
Now she looked into Nosy’s cage, but he wasn’t running on his Ferris wheel or sniffing at his wood chips. He was just sitting there breathing. So she looked at Jason. “Are you doing your homework?”
“Nah, sending e-mail to my friend who lives in New York. I’m good on the computer. See, I’ll show you.”
