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“I do,” Heather said, since nothing more seemed to be expected. This situation was getting increasingly fascinating. She couldn’t help wondering, though, just how wise it was to spill her secrets to the man married to Todd’s boss. She knew how much Megan relied on Todd. How would she feel about anything or anyone who upset the man’s orderly existence? Just to protect her own interests, would she throw a monkey wrench into Heather’s plan?
Heather was still debating what to do an hour later when Jake Landers finally came through the door, looking harried and nothing at all like a lawyer. Instead, in his worn jeans and chambray shirt, he fit her notion of a rugged cowboy to a T. Rugged and handsome, Jake exuded masculinity.
“What’s the big emergency?” he asked Flo.
Flo jerked her head in Heather’s direction. “You have a client.”
Jake gave Heather a once-over, then focused his attention on Flo once again. “I thought I told you not to schedule any appointments without consulting me, not until this baby thing is wrapped up.”
Heather stifled a grin at his naive belief that there would be a time in the near future when the “baby thing” would be wrapped up. Wasn’t she here precisely because that never happened?
“Your wife is pregnant, not sick,” Flo told him. “I’m sure she can spare you for a few minutes. Besides, this isn’t just any client. This is Heather Reed.”
When Jake failed to look impressed, Flo added pointedly, “Liza Whittington, you know, on ‘Heart’s Desire.’”
Jake looked more perplexed than ever. “Excuse me?”
“On television,” Flo said. “The soap. The one I watch during lunch.”
Understanding dawned, though the man hardly looked as if he’d finally realized he was in the presence of greatness as Flo seemed to be implying. He shot an apologetic look at Heather. “Sorry. I don’t watch a lot of daytime TV.”
“It’s okay. I’m not on anymore, anyway.”
“Jason shot her,” Flo said. “Good riddance, too.” She regarded Heather apologetically. “Sorry, but you have to admit you were a real schemer.”
“The worst,” Heather agreed. It was what had made the part so appealing initially. It had been a chance to play against type. Usually she was somebody’s perky sister. Only later, when she’d realized the ramifications with the fans, had she regretted the decision to take the role.
Jake appeared to have heard enough about the soap opera. After one last scowl at Flo, he motioned for Heather to follow him.
In his office, he gestured toward a credenza along the wall. “Coffee?”
She shook her head. He poured some for himself, then took a seat behind an impressive desk. That desk, combined with the bronze sculpture she recognized as a Remington, reassured her that despite his reportedly lackadaisical ways, Jake Landers was very successful at what he did. But could she trust him?
Right now he was studying her with what she supposed passed for an appropriately somber, lawyerly look, though on the soaps the men cast as attorneys rarely had such a twinkle in their eye.
“What can I do for you?” he asked. “I don’t do a lot of entertainment law.”
“I seem to remember that you played a big role in getting that syndicator to back down when he threatened to pull the plug on your wife’s syndication deal,” she said, recalling what she’d read in the trade papers at the time. She’d followed the story avidly, just as she did anything that might include a mention of Todd. Of course, if anyone had accused her of that, she would have denied it.
Jake grinned. “Let’s just say that in that instance I was highly motivated.”
Heather fiddled with her bangle bracelets, something she did only when she was nervous. Finally she said, “Look, maybe you should tell me about this lawyer-client confidentiality thing before we get started.”
He nodded. “Okay. Anything you tell me, I am ethically bound not to repeat.”
“Not to anyone?”
“Not to a living soul.” He regarded her closely. “You haven’t killed someone, have you?”
Startled by the question, Heather stared at him to see if he was serious, then caught that twinkle back in his eye. Normally, she enjoyed black humor, but at the moment she was way too tense to appreciate it.
“No, of course not,” she said. “Nothing like that. It’s just that you know the other person involved.”
“I do?”
“Todd Winston.”
Jake nodded slowly, apparently digesting that. “Is he in some sort of trouble?”
She grinned at his disbelieving expression. “I know. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? Dudley Do Right in trouble.”
“Todd strikes me as a very ethical man.”
“He is,” she agreed, then took a deep breath and added, “He’s also the father of my child.”
Jake very nearly choked on the sip of coffee he’d just taken. “Would you mind repeating that?”
“Oh, I think you heard me.”
“Does he know about this?”
She shook her head.
“I see.”
“Is this going to be a problem for you?” she asked, regarding him with concern. “I know how tight he is with your wife. That’s why he and I broke up, in a way.”
Jake held up his hands. “Whoa! Back up. What does Megan have to do with this?”
“Nothing, not directly, anyway. It’s just that when Todd went to work for her and gave up the dream we shared to be on Broadway together, it pretty much ended our relationship. We split up.”
“And you had his baby?”
She nodded. “After he’d left.”
“And he doesn’t know?” Jake asked again, as if he might have misunderstood her the first time.
“Nope.”
“How old is this child?”
“She’s three.”
Jake whistled. “Does he know you’re here now?”
“Not yet. I just got in. I took a room at a motel, but Henrietta gave me a job at her place across the street. She said I could use the apartment upstairs for as long as I’m here.”
“You don’t plan to stay?”
“Only long enough to settle things with Todd.”
“Settle things how?”
Her bangles clinked noisily. “I’m not exactly sure. That’s why I came to see you. I can’t manage on my own anymore. Angel’s the greatest blessing in my life, but she’s a handful. And trying to be an actress doesn’t exactly bring stability. She deserves to have more than I can give her. It took me a long time to admit that. It’s not too late, is it?”
“No. I’m sure we can get you child support. Fortunately, I have an in with his boss.” Jake allowed himself a smile. “I’ve seen the books. I know what she had to pay him to get him to move out here. You won’t have any financial worries.”
“That’s not it,” Heather said, leaning forward in her chair. “Not exactly. I know with money I could hire a nanny or something, but I want Todd to help out. Maybe shared custody. Angel needs to spend time with her daddy.”
“Oh, boy,” Jake murmured, but not so low that Heather missed it.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You sounded like you don’t think he’s going to go for that.”
“Really, I shouldn’t have said anything. This is a different situation entirely.”
“Different from what?”
“Never mind. Heather, let me think about this. Can you stop by tomorrow? We’ll go over your options and decide on the best course of action.”
“Sure. What time?”
“Make it eleven. Megan’s taping then, so I can get away from the studio for an hour and still be back to see that she eats a proper lunch.”
Heather bit back a smile as she recalled what Flo had said about his hovering. “I’ll be here. I won’t have long, though, since I imagine Henrietta will want me to help with the lunch crowd.”
“Folks around here show up promptly at noon, leave by one. You’ll be okay.”
“What about the judge? I notice he was there much later than that.”
Jake chuckled. “The judge tries to snatch whatever private moments he can with Henrietta. His schedule drives everyone at the courthouse nuts. She doesn’t seem to appreciate the gesture, though.”
“I noticed.”
“Did she run him off again today?”
“Pretty much.”
“Henrietta has a stubborn streak, but so does the judge. He’s been after her for years now. My bet’s on him.”
“Even though she’s held out for years?” Heather said skeptically.
“Believe me, if Henrietta really wanted him gone, he’d be gone. She’s just tormenting him.”
“An interesting technique.”
“It’s certainly fun for the rest of us,” Jake said. “Now, as for Todd, if you run into him in the meantime, try not to get into anything with him just yet. We need a plan first.”
“No problem. You’ll probably see him before I will,” she said.
He glanced toward the window, which faced the town’s main street. “Oh, I doubt that,” he said dryly. “Where’s your daughter right now?”
“With Henrietta.”
“Well, don’t look now, but Todd is about to join them.”
3
Todd always made it a point to stop by the Starlight Diner at the end of the day for a homemade meal and a chat with Henrietta. He’d developed a real fondness for her biting wit and her apple pie.
In New York he’d still be in the office at this hour, but out here he was on an earlier schedule. Because of the time difference, the New York offices of Megan’s empire were closed. Jake had her out of the studio here and home by midafternoon. Todd wrapped up his West Coast contacts shortly thereafter, then ate between five and six. There had been a time not so long ago when he would have considered that a late lunch.
Afterward, thanks to his disgustingly barren social life, he burned the midnight oil at home on the mountains of paperwork that never seemed to get done in the office. If it wasn’t for the frequent trips he made back East, the situation would have been intolerable. But Megan regularly trumped up excuses for him to fly to New York, so he could get his fix of decent restaurants, Broadway plays and dates with some of the women he’d left behind. Not that any of them had a hold on his heart. They were little more than stand-ins for the one woman he’d dared to love.
Still, in some ways, his time in New York was better than it had been before he’d left. He made it a point to see people, rather than holing up in his office night after night. Apparently he was simply the kind of man who found a rut to fall into no matter where he lived.
Ordinarily the sameness soothed him, but tonight he felt restless, the way he often did when the air crackled with electricity just before a thunderstorm. The sensation was so intense, he looked at the horizon, but there was no evidence of a storm building. That must mean the restlessness was purely internal.
He hesitated outside the diner and considered changing his routine by going for pizza down the block, then shook his head. Who was he kidding? He enjoyed having Henrietta fuss over him, and the new cook occasionally tried out recipes for something besides chicken fried steak or meat loaf. Of course, the cook did it at his peril, since most of the customers hated the experiments and Henrietta only tolerated them because he was the best cook she’d had in years.
When Todd finally walked in, he was startled to find Henrietta with a bright-eyed toddler trailing in her wake and chattering a mile a minute.
“I know you’re desperate, but isn’t she a little young to be your new waitress?” he asked, after giving Henrietta a dutiful peck on the cheek.
The girl was dressed in denim overalls and a bright green T-shirt. Her little feet were clad in colorful sneakers adorned with daisies. The cheerful appearance was at odds with her solemn expression as she stared at him silently. She gave the disconcerting impression that she was assessing him. Apparently he passed muster, because before he could guess what she had in mind, she’d lifted her arms.
“Up,” she demanded imperiously.
“You’d better do as she says,” Henrietta advised, laughing. “She’s only been here a couple of hours, but she already tends to think she’s in charge. My kids actually volunteered to go off and do their homework, because they couldn’t keep up with her. Her name’s Angel.”
Todd backed up a step. Why was it everyone was trying to foist kids on him lately? Granted, this one wasn’t an infant, but he wanted no part of her. Just thinking about doing as she asked caused a cold sweat to break out on his forehead. She was still too little, too fragile to be trusted to someone like him. He never saw any child under four without thinking there was tragedy and heartache just waiting to happen.
“Sorry, I think maybe I’m coming down with the flu or something. I probably shouldn’t get too close. In fact, I think I’ll go on home. I’m not feeling much like food tonight.”
Surely he could find something edible in his refrigerator. Hadn’t he bought a half-dozen frozen meals the last time he’d gone to the store, just for emergencies like this? Of course, he usually relied on those when the special here was liver and onions, but tonight’s turn of events was equally distasteful.
Henrietta regarded him with her typical motherly concern. If she was skeptical about his sudden illness, she didn’t let on.
“Any fever?” she asked, touching his forehead with cool fingers before he could retreat. “Nope. I doubt you’re contagious. Sit down and I’ll get you some chicken soup. If there’s anything wrong with you, that’ll cure it.”
“No, really. I’d better go.”
“Sit,” she insisted.
Filled with trepidation, Todd sat, keeping his wary gaze on the little girl who continued to stare at him with evident fascination even after Henrietta had disappeared into the kitchen. She inched closer.
