Читать книгу The Secret Between Them - Cathryn Parry - Страница 12
ОглавлениеTHE KIMBALL FAMILY Law Firm was in the same old brick building that Kyle remembered from his youth. Natalie’s father, Asa, had run the law firm back then. Now he was retired and spent the winters in Florida, leaving Natalie in charge.
A receptionist in heavy-framed glasses met Kyle in the lobby and offered him water or coffee while he waited. Kyle chose water. The receptionist—Zena—settled him in an empty conference room at a glossy conference table so big a person could play Ping-Pong on it. Sun from a skylight lit up the room, and several large floor plants thrived. The walls were covered with framed postcards. Wallis Point in the past.
Kyle had always wanted to be rooted, to belong somewhere, and this room gave him the feeling of history. His mom had grown up in Wallis Point, and even though there weren’t any close relatives left, it comforted him that there were people in town who remembered her. It had never sat well with him that Joe had, in effect, kicked him out of the rink and forced him to leave town as an eighteen-year-old.
He was home now.
He peeled at the label of the water bottle that Zena had given him. He opened it and took a long, refreshing swig.
Natalie came into the room. Her heels clicked on the old wood floor, which had been restored to a bright sheen. Her hair was up and she wore a high-necked blouse under a gray business jacket. He might have been intimidated by the lawyer look except for the Disney Beauty and the Beast bandage she had wrapped around her thumb.
She put a stack of folders on the table and sat at the corner beside him. “Thanks for coming in today.” She gave him a smile that helped the stiffness in his back relax a bit. “How are you doing?”
“Fine,” he said politely, “m—” He choked back the word ma’am. He needed to remember this wasn’t the military.
Natalie smiled gently at him. “Joe met with me several times over the past month. I got to know him better. I remember him from skating at the twin rinks as a kid, of course, but...” Natalie tapped the folders. “Kyle, he wanted you to have this.” She opened the top folder, and Kyle felt himself holding his breath.
She slid a key across the table toward him. “This is the key to 18 Linden Lane.”
Not the key to the rink. Kyle deflated. This was something he hadn’t expected at all.
“Joe’s house,” he said. From the age of ten to almost eighteen, Kyle had lived there. He knew this key well. Somewhere, tucked away in a duffel bag in his apartment in Maryland, he had a copy.
Natalie also took a letter from the folder and handed it to him. “This is from Joe, to you.”
She’d mentioned it during her initial phone call, but Kyle had forgotten. Frowning, he placed the letter on the table, but he didn’t open it.
His hands were shaking. He didn’t know how he felt about this. “If Joe was thinking about me so much, why didn’t he call me? You found me on the internet easily enough.”
Natalie smiled sadly. “I don’t know, Kyle. I’m hoping he might have answered some of your questions in his letter. I don’t know for a fact because, of course, I didn’t read the letter—though I admit to wanting to.”
“Why did you want to?”
“Because Wallis Point is a small town. I care very much about what happens here. The rink is a community rink.”
He glanced at the Disney bandage on her thumb. “You have kids?”
Natalie nodded. “A daughter. She’s three. She’s in her princess stage. A future ice princess, she hopes.”
“So...what about the rink?” he asked, his heart beating hard. “Where are the keys for that?”
“That’s a good question.” Natalie sat up straighter, took in a breath. He got the impression she was struggling to keep the smile on her face.
“Joe did want you to run the hockey rink...”
But. There was a but there.
“There’s a stipulation,” she added.
He squeezed his palm around the thin metal house key. “What kind of stipulation?”
Before she could answer, a commotion sounded outside. Both he and Natalie turned toward the open door. Zena’s loud voice was greeting people in the lobby.
“Jessica’s here?” he asked.
“Maybe.” Natalie got up and shut the door, then sat back down, facing him.
“Isn’t she joining us for the will reading?” Kyle asked.
“All things considered, I decided it’s best I talk with you both separately.”
“Why?”
“As I said, Joe did want you to run the hockey rink. I believe it was his intention that you come home permanently and take over ownership and management of the Wallis Point Twin Rinks.”
“Yeah, that’s what I want, too. But what does that have to do with Jessica?”
There was a soft knock on the door. “Come in,” Natalie called.
Zena stuck her head in. “You’ve got a phone call you’ll want to take. Also, I’ve got Ms. Hughes and her friend settled in the small conference room.”
And her friend. Hell, that has to be Sebastien.
“Thank you,” Natalie said to Zena.
Kyle was gripping the water bottle so hard it crumpled. After Zena left, he said, “Is Jessica part of the rink deal with me?”
“Yes, she is,” Natalie said. “You see, it was Joe’s intention that you both work together to bring the rink back up to speed.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“You might want to read Joe’s letter.”
That was the last thing he wanted. If he could go beyond the grave to see Joe now, he would punch him.
“Does she know about this?” Kyle asked.
“No, not yet.”
“I doubt she’ll go for it,” Kyle said matter-of-factly. The thought calmed him. Yeah, Jessica would definitely turn this down. He doubted she’d want to run the rink with him.
He met Natalie’s gaze. “Can I make Jessica an offer and buy her out?” he asked. “It’s better that I do this on my own.”
“Technically, you can’t. At least, not yet.”
Kyle didn’t like the sounds of this. It wasn’t the lawyer’s fault that this deal was so insane—that was Joe’s doing. Likely, Natalie had no idea that Joe blamed Kyle for killing Jessica’s Olympic chances. “Give it to me straight and simple, no legal jargon, please.”
“Before you can buy her out, both of you, together, need to put forth a good faith effort into restoring and running the twin rinks profitably for six months, at which point the facility will belong to you both equally. Then you can make your own agreement as to whether to buy or sell.”
“Six months?” With Jessica? Cripes, he thought. “What if I don’t ever want to sell and she does?”
“I’ll help you through those questions when the time comes.” Natalie leaned forward and tapped her papers. “But, Kyle, that’s not the part of the will that I’m concerned about right now.”
“It gets worse?”
“First things first. You both need to agree to work together. If either of you refuses the opportunity, then the property will be sold outright and the money given to charity.”
“What the hell kind of inheritance is that?” Kyle demanded.
“I’m sorry.” Natalie sighed. “I tried to talk Joe out of it, but he said he had very strong reasons for setting up the arrangement this way. I mitigated it as best I could. I warned him about the importance of discussing it with you in advance, but his response was to write the letter that I gave you. Jessica will receive one, as well.”
Natalie stood. “Kyle, please read his letter, plus the will on the table, and I’ll be back in a few minutes. I have a quick phone call to return, and then I’ll be back to discuss your concerns and desired course of action before I see Jessica. Please sit tight.”
Natalie left, closing the door behind her.
Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and finger. He should have known that Joe would pull something like this on him.
Under the table, Kyle moved his leg. He should also be thankful that Joe hadn’t known about his injury. If he had, Kyle doubted he would’ve wanted him managing the place at all. Joe had no patience for people who didn’t show full competence at their job.
Kyle put his head in his hands. Until these last few days, he’d never thought too much about his relationship—or lack thereof—with his stepfather, but in truth, Kyle probably had joined the military just because Joe had been so down on it. A Vietnam vet, Joe hadn’t had a good experience, or so Kyle assumed. He really didn’t know much, because Joe refused to talk about it. Joe just raged. Foul moods. Brooding. With Kyle, he’d been brutal.
With women—Kyle’s mom, with Jessica and Jessica’s mom—he’d been the perfect gentleman. It was all an act, though.
Kyle had never known his own father. He’d died in a snowmobile accident when Kyle had been a baby. His sled had fallen through lake ice up in Maine. Kyle’s grandmother, before she’d passed away, had told Kyle that the authorities hadn’t found the body until the spring thaw. Kyle’s mother had met Joe when Kyle was really little. His mom had doted on Kyle. Her life was wrapped around his. It had actually taken her a few years of grieving for her deceased husband and then careful, platonic dating before she’d trusted Joe enough to marry him.
Those first years had been great. But Joe’s darkness came out after Kyle’s mom died.
He felt a lump in his throat. He remembered his mom as gentle and fragile. When he’d lost his leg, he’d felt glad that she wasn’t around to see it. It would’ve devastated her. Still, he had no doubt she would’ve supported him no matter what he did with his life. He’d supported his mom, too, in all her decisions. He remembered the day she had asked him what he thought about her marrying Joe.
“He has an ice rink. Marry him, Mom.”
So she had. And for a while everything had been good. But after his mom got sick and passed away, everything about Joe turned bitter.
If it weren’t for the rink, who knew what would’ve happened to Kyle? He’d always felt the rink had saved him after his mom’s death. Now he wanted it to save him after losing his leg.
Natalie returned, shuffling her folders. Busy and official, she sat and looked brightly at him. “So, after reading the documents, tell me what you think?”
Kyle hadn’t touched Joe’s letter, still on the table. He hadn’t even glanced at the will.
Kyle leaned forward to face the lawyer. “I don’t care what you have to do, Natalie. Whatever you have to promise Jessica to make this deal happen, please just do it.”
“You don’t have any questions for me?”
“No. Get Jessica on board any way you have to.”
“All right.” Natalie nodded as she pushed back her chair. “Let me talk with her and I’ll get back to you in a few minutes.”
Kyle nodded. He had a good idea of Jessica’s thoughts regarding partnering with him. “You’ve got your work cut out for you.”
Natalie tilted her head. “Why do you say that?”
He couldn’t explain years of history to her, ending with the guilty fact that he had caused Jessica’s career-ending injury. He just shook his head. “Honestly, it would be a lot easier if you could help me put together a deal now to buy the rink behind the scenes. Somehow that has to be possible.”
Natalie shook her head. “No, it’s not viable, Kyle, because at this point, if the rink goes up for sale you’d be competing with land developers with deep pockets. The land alone is what makes the property quite valuable. And at this point, I’m bound to take the highest bidder. That isn’t the case in six months. In six months, if the business is profitable, then we can arrange for you to achieve financing and buy out Jessica’s share. But first you need to partner effectively with her.”
Partner effectively with her? Frustrated, he sighed. “Maybe you should just let me talk to the bank?”
Natalie reached over and put a hand on his arm. “As a member of this community, and one with a child who I hope will someday use the skating rinks, I’m heartened that you want to keep the facility open. However, without a track record of running a business, I don’t see the bank giving you such a large loan, under any circumstance.” She smiled. “Let me talk with Jessica. I’d like to hear what she has to say before we make any plans.”
Kyle shut his eyes. He was doomed.
JESSICA UNZIPPED HER coat and unwound her woolen scarf from her neck. The law office felt stifling. Sebastien seemed comfortable, though, strolling around, hands in his pockets, checking out the framed old postcards on the walls. They’d been in the conference room for twenty minutes now.
“Do you still think this will is about you getting a nothing piece of jewelry?” Sebastien asked. “This seems like too much of a production, asking you to show up here, then waiting like this. Maybe you’re inheriting something that’s worth some money?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Jessica sighed. She was starting to feel guilty about not attending Joe’s funeral. Once he’d been the closest thing to a father figure that she’d had. Then, after she’d left skating, she hadn’t even wanted to see him. He reminded her of those other, more painful times. And she hadn’t wanted to be his physical therapist at first, either. “I don’t know why he even chose me.”
“Joe never said anything to you? Never a hint?”
“No. He just made that offhand comment about his ring that one time.”
“Well, did he have a lot of money? Because this law firm doesn’t look cheap.”
Jessica had to admit, she liked the vibe of it more now, with the daughter running it, than when she’d consulted with the father. Today, the decor was homey and inviting, a mixture of modern and antique, but with renovated and restored architectural features. Really, this whole town had so much historical character—she’d fallen in love with it at first sight.
She and her mother had shown up one cold February, similar to this one, and they, too, had taken a winter rental near the beach. Not as nice a place as where Sebastien lived, but the raw beauty of the New England beach in winter had made an impression on Jessica. She’d wanted to stay in Wallis Point forever. She’d begged her mom. She’d been so tired of moving around.
Natalie came into the room, a folder in her hand. She wore a cute light-gray suit and black pumps. Jessica rarely got to dress up anymore. As a physical therapist, she wore a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers—the uniform of her trade.
Natalie smiled at her. “Hi, Jessica. Thanks so much for coming today. I’m sorry I left you waiting.”
“This is my friend, Sebastien. Sebastien, this is Natalie Kimball.”
“I was admiring your postcards,” Sebastien said.
“Thanks,” Natalie replied. “I collect them. I love learning about the local history.”
“It’s interesting that the beachfront arcades look nearly the same a hundred years later,” Sebastien remarked.
“Take a look at the panels with the turn-of-the-century citizens strolling the boardwalk.”
“I saw them.” Sebastien smiled. “Great old bathing suits.”
“I sometimes wonder what people back then would think if they were transported here to modern times,” Natalie mused. “Bikinis. Flip-flops.”
“Tattoos,” Sebastien added, laughing.
Natalie smiled. Jessica sincerely doubted that Natalie had any tattoos. Jessica had a small one, well hidden. She wanted another, but it seemed as though Sebastien was sort of horrified by the idea.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve wondered why I asked you here,” Natalie said, seating herself at the table across from Jessica. “The reason is that Joe Mansell has left you a half share in the twin ice rinks, together with Kyle Northrup, and—”
“No, thank you.” Jessica pushed back her chair and stood. “Kyle can have the ice rinks. I’m not interested.”
But Sebastien gave her a look. He glanced at Natalie and raised a brow.
“Joe left you a letter,” Natalie said kindly. “Would you like to read it before you make your final decision?”
“No, thank you,” Jessica repeated. She looked at Sebastien to back her up on this.
“I’ll read it,” Sebastien replied, seating himself at the table.
“No.” Jessica took the letter that Natalie offered and stuffed it in her purse.
“Why, Jess?” Sebastien asked, turning in his chair. “Is there something you’re not telling me? You’re not even willing to listen.”
Tears pricked in her eyes. It was wrong that her boyfriend thought that of her. She’d assumed after their conversation yesterday that he’d understood how painful this topic was for her. She’d told him she’d been here before. Literally here, in this room. She’d been seventeen years old. Jessica had read in the newspaper about young athletes who’d emancipated themselves from their parents. Her mother was...well, she was figure-skating royalty. She’d won a gold medal in the Olympics, and she wanted her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Jessica had wanted to please her. In the beginning, it had been fun. But in the end, she was suffocating with the pressure and expectations.
“Sebastien, could I talk with the lawyer alone, please? I don’t want to work in an ice rink. I thought you understood this.”
“Do you realize how much that property is worth? I’m saving you from yourself here. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.” Sebastien turned to Natalie. “Tell Jessica what it’s worth.”
Natalie pressed her lips together. “Close to two million dollars,” she admitted.
“Jess, don’t you understand what kind of money that is? How much work it takes to earn that outright? How many hours I have to spend traveling and not even come close to that?”
“Technically,” Natalie said, directly to Jessica, “you would be required to work with Kyle for six months to try to make the business a success, in good faith, before you’d get your half. In addition, if you don’t agree to this term, then the land and the rinks will be sold, immediately, and the money given to charity.”
“There you go—please do give it to charity. I prefer a children’s charity, if at all possible.” Jessica said it with a deadly calm. Then she looked pointedly at Natalie. “I talked with your father once. He knew about my past history and my concerns.”
“Jess, be reasonable,” Sebastien murmured.
She gritted her teeth. Her mother used to talk to her this way. And Jessica had listened, coming as close to being destroyed as she ever wanted to come again.
She’d had thoughts of suicide at the time, which had terrified her. Her mother had icily told her there would be no legal emancipation, but that Jessica could do whatever she wanted, her mother was going back to the West Coast, convinced Jessica would never make it in Wallis Point on her own.
But Jessica had. She’d cut her hair and changed her looks. Stopped the training regimen, the diet. In the early summer she’d moved herself into a cheap studio apartment in an old motor inn near the center of town. She’d waitressed at a busy beach restaurant. People didn’t recognize her. She’d felt free. She felt herself healing. In the autumn she’d gone to community college, taking whatever courses interested her. And because she really had sustained injuries over the years and she wanted to understand her body, how to stretch and heal, she had studied physical therapy. Eventually that led to her current career.
She hadn’t wanted to come to this office today—Sebastien had convinced her. The first time she’d come here, Asa Kimball, of the Kimball Family Law Firm, had convinced her to start with a simple conversation with her mother instead of filing emancipation papers. So they’d both come in and he’d mediated a discussion between them. Her mother had been furious with her but a verbal deal had been struck. Her mother never reneged on it and neither had Jessica.
And they hadn’t spoken since.
“Why did Joe Mansell leave the ice rink to Jessica?” Sebastien asked Natalie.
The young lawyer took a deep breath, but her smile stayed on her face. “Why don’t we review the terms together and then we can talk about that?”
Jessica covered her solar plexus with her arms and leaned forward. She was developing her own suspicions regarding Joe. She hadn’t quite understood when he’d first come in, insisting that she be his physical therapist after his knee operation. She’d tried to refuse, but her boss believed that clients should choose the therapist they felt most comfortable with, and Joe had remained adamant that his therapist should be Jessica.
“Why?” she’d asked him.
“Kyle was responsible for your injury when he deliberately flooded the ice that day,” Joe had said. “It’s his fault you were hurt and left skating.”
Her blood had turned cold. Kyle had had nothing to do with her injury or her decision to pull out of skating.
She pulled Joe’s letter from her purse, took her time opening it, drawing one finger inside a crease in the envelope flap, making a long, slow, jagged tear in the heavy paper as she eased it open.
“What are the terms?” Sebastien was asking Natalie. He drummed his fingers on the table. “May I read the will?”
“Yes, of course, if Jessica would like.” Natalie nodded at Jessica. “First, though, let me give you an overview, in layman’s terms.”
“Great.” Sebastien crossed his arms. “We’re listening.”
Natalie pursed her lips. “As I explained to Kyle Northrup, his stepfather’s intent was to keep the skating rink open to the community. As such, he believed it best that Kyle have assistance from Jessica. Jessica, he believed, had knowledge from the figure skating community and Kyle from hockey. It’s a twin rink facility, and, in that business, the love, knowledge and understanding of both worlds is important for success. Joe believed that you two were his best hope.”
“I don’t have love for ice rinks,” Jessica said flatly.
“What are the terms?” Sebastien asked Natalie.
“If Jessica agrees to participate, then in six months an assessment of the business will be completed. If it’s profitable, then half the business is Jessica’s.”
“Can she force the sale of the business at that point?” Sebastien asked, cutting to the chase.
“If she chooses to sell at that point, then Kyle will have first option of purchase,” Natalie said quietly.
“He gets to set the price?”
“No, an independent assessor sets the price based on the rink’s business value.”
“Will they take into consideration the value of the land?” Sebastien asked. “Because let’s not kid ourselves. The land attached to the rink is the valuable part. I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t developers chomping at the bit to purchase it, tear down the old rink, and build something a lot more profitable, like condos or a modern hotel.”
Silence filled the room, as Jessica stared at the half-torn envelope, her thumb still.
“I’ve always found that the bank assessors take all factors into consideration,” Natalie said calmly.
Jessica glanced up at her. She gave the lawyer credit for poise.
Natalie looked her square in the eye. “I won’t pretend this isn’t unorthodox. Believe me, I consulted with other specialists in estate law before agreeing to go forward with it. His will may be irregular, but it is legal.”
Sebastien put a hand on Jessica’s. But the strange thing was, instead of comforting her, it made her seize up inside. Warning bells were going off all over.
“What if the rink isn’t profitable?” Sebastien asked. “What then?”
“Then it’s sold to the highest bidder and Jessica gets half.”
“So...Jessica has to participate for six months to get the deal,” Sebastien said. “What exactly does participate mean?”
Jessica felt like throwing up. She’d made a conscious decision never to participate in anything related to that world again. The loss of control she’d suffered—the manipulation—had nearly destroyed her. She’d had to lie to get out of it, and that lie was the reason Joe blamed Kyle for her injury, which then led to Kyle leaving Wallis Point.
And the fact that Sebastien was even asking this stuff when he knew how upset she was... She clenched her hand into a fist and put it in her lap.
Natalie was answering him. “It means...” The lawyer glanced at her as she spoke. “It means that Jessica needs to put in a good faith effort, specified as attendance at the rink at least thirty hours per week.”
“I can’t do that,” she blurted. “I have a job, commitments.” I have dreams. She gritted her teeth and stared at Sebastien.
After their talk on Saturday morning, they’d had a great weekend at his place. They’d walked on the beach, watched movies in bed, cooked. She’d never felt happier with him.
But now...after what she’d told him about her mom and her, he could just do this? Sentence her back to those days?
Sebastien turned to Natalie. “Thirty hours per week is a lot. Will she be compensated for those hours?”
It was as if she was watching from outside her body. A feeling of betrayal came over her. Her heart felt as if it had stopped in her chest. She was sure her mouth had dropped open.
Natalie smiled sadly at Jessica, and Jessica felt her face heating. Natalie saw her embarrassment, but Sebastien apparently didn’t.
“The agreement doesn’t specify a payment,” Natalie said gently. “I’m sorry.” She stood. “I’ll leave a copy of the will here on the table. Perhaps you’d like to read it, along with Joe’s letter, and I’ll be back in twenty minutes to discuss it further.”
“Yeah,” Sebastien said, glancing at Jessica for the first time, and giving her a “buck up” smile. “I need to talk with Jess.”
Natalie set the document on the table, then shut the door on her way out.
Jessica’s hands were still clenched in fists in her lap. She stared down at Joe’s letter. Halfway opened. The jagged rip she’d made but couldn’t finish.
“Jess,” Sebastien said softly.
“Jessica,” she said woodenly. “I’m Jessica.”
“Jessica, I know you don’t want to do this. Honestly...do you think I like being on the road all the time? I don’t. But, Jess, I do it. I do it because it pays well.”
She swallowed. Gazed at her thumb, the cuticles ragged. “I know about not having money.” She’d supported herself, all that time. All those years, alone, away from her mother. “I did it...” To save my soul. “...because I was being destroyed, and destroying other people in turn. It needed to stop. I needed to keep myself safe.”
I’m not a machine, she added silently.
He took her hand, smoothing over the jagged cuticle with his thumb. “I care about you, Jessica... I really do want to marry you,” he said quietly. “But I don’t...I never wanted to get married without being in the right financial place to support a family. I’ve been saving, but it’s not happening the way I’d hoped. I won’t lie, it’s tough out there. The economy is lousy, and this inheritance of yours is easy money. If you did this, if you sacrificed for us the way I’ve been sacrificing for us, then we’ll be able to get married. Don’t you see?”
She stared at him. “You want to marry me? Still?”
“Of course. Isn’t that what we talked about?”
Not exactly. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that her heart was pounding and her throat felt dry. She fumbled for the bottle of water on the table.
“All I’m saying, Jess, is that we can use the money from the sale of the rink to go through with it. We could afford to buy a home in Wallis Point, a real nice place together. We could afford to have kids.”
Her head was reeling. This was exactly what she wanted, too.
“Well, Jess? Jessica,” he corrected himself. “What do you think?”
Just then there was a knock and the door opened. Natalie again. She sat down and smiled at Jessica. “I’ve spoken with Kyle. He’d like to go ahead, if you would.”
“I...” Jessica was acutely aware of Sebastien, staring at her. He’d offered to give her all her dreams.
“Why don’t you let me know what your reservations are,” Natalie said to Jessica. “I’ll talk to Kyle and see if we can smooth anything out.”
“She’s worried about losing income,” Sebastien said to Natalie. “If she works thirty hours a week at the rink, then she won’t be able to work at her real job much more than a few hours a week.”
“Is that correct?” Natalie asked Jessica, politely. “Is the loss of income your only reservation?”
Jessica gazed over at Sebastien. She really, really wanted to marry him and have a family of her own. Children she could love and give a happy childhood to, the kind she hadn’t experienced. She could take care of them, nest in her own home with them. She wouldn’t have to move back and forth from her beach rental to her summer studio rental at the change of seasons. She’d have a home that was hers.
Then everything would be fine.
She wanted that life more than anything.
Hesitantly, she nodded to Natalie. “It’s true, I can’t afford to work for free or to lose my physical therapy job.”
“You’re not worried about Kyle working with you?” Natalie asked.
Jessica shook her head. It was sort of a lie. But more than the guilt of having to face Kyle again, and more than the worry that she’d been a source of estrangement between him and Joe, she didn’t want to have to explain that history to Sebastien.
Sebastien was her safe place—her hope for the future. She didn’t want to ruin that any more than she already had.
Natalie stood. “Very well. Let me talk with Kyle and see what can be done.”
* * *
KYLE PACED THE ROOM. He couldn’t sit still. He had no idea what was going on with Jessica, but he could guess.
The door opened, and a little girl toddled inside. She had sturdy legs and plump fists. She tilted her head up at Kyle, clearly unafraid of him. Her blond curls bobbed as she spoke. “Hi! Who are you?”
“Kyle,” he answered.
“Hi, Kyle.”
“Oops, sorry about that!” Natalie stepped inside, picked up the girl and kissed her forehead. “Mommy’s working. I told you to stay with Daddy,” she said gently. She and the girl disappeared from sight.
Finally, she came back into the room. “Again, I’m sorry for the wait. I’ve spoken with Jessica.” She sat at the table and placed her palms flat.
Kyle tried to read her expression. “What did she say? Is it good or bad?”
“Frankly, I believe she can be swayed,” Natalie said. “There’s one point she’s uncomfortable with, and if you’re willing, I recommend you negotiate.”
Wow. That was a shock. He sat, nodding. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“She’s concerned about losing salary. She’s a physical therapist and is worried about cutting her hours.”
“Money is her sticking point?” he asked, flabbergasted.
“It is.”
“She’s not mad about working with me? She didn’t say anything personal about me?”
“No, she did not.”
He shook his head. Maybe things with her weren’t as bad as he thought. Maybe she’d forgiven him for their history. Maybe she hadn’t noticed that he’d assumed she was pregnant when he’d seen her on Valentine’s Day.
“So...what do you suggest I do now?” he asked the lawyer.
Natalie was silent for a moment. “As the will document notes, you received a substantial cash inheritance from Joe, as part of the estate. Jessica didn’t receive any such thing. I’m guessing you’d intended that money for living expenses while you get the rink online, but if we can’t get Jessica to work with you to begin with, then it won’t do much good there.”
Kyle slowly nodded. “Right. I could give her part of that.”
Natalie looked relieved that he’d suggested it. “I believe an offer to her is the best course. On the other hand, you could offer nothing and take your chances. But honestly, Kyle, she might walk.”
He didn’t want that. “Make her an offer on my behalf. Go in strong.” A Marine on a mission, he was prepared to do whatever it took to make the rink his place.
Natalie nodded and stood. She left the room, leaving the door ajar this time.
While he waited, pacing again, he faintly heard Natalie’s soft voice speaking from a room down the hall. She must have forgotten to shut the door. The words were a low murmur rather than anything clear.
This was torture. He stuck his head into the hallway, and noticing no one, he headed toward Natalie’s voice. His leg wasn’t cooperating that well—phantom pains, maybe because he’d been sitting for so long. But he was in his old, familiar “walking leg” prosthetic. He didn’t make a sound with it as he passed two offices, a small kitchen and a watercooler.
He stopped outside the open door of a smaller conference room. Natalie was making his offer, just as they’d discussed.
Please, Jessica, Kyle thought. Take it.
“That’s not enough,” a male voice—Sebastien—answered. “She’ll need more money than that.”
What the hell? Was the boyfriend negotiating for her?
“How much more?” Natalie asked. “Because Kyle has offered you half of the cash he inherited from Joe. That’s an extremely generous offer on his part, and not what he was required to do.”
Damn straight. Kyle was debating walking in there and telling them so himself, when suddenly Natalie exited the door, nearly bumping into him.
“Oh!” Natalie said. “Were you listening?”
“Yeah,” he murmured. And then he didn’t think, he just marched into the open conference room, intending to face Jessica.
But Jessica and her boyfriend had their heads together, sharing what looked like a romantic moment. She was leaned in close to him, and he was murmuring something into her ear.
For a moment, Kyle lost his breath. Stupid of him. It shouldn’t hurt to see her like that. Kyle wasn’t meant to be with anyone romantically. He was fine with that state of affairs.
Jessica glanced up. She sucked in her breath when she saw Kyle. Her eyes widened.
Kyle focused only on her. The rest of the room seemed to melt away.
“I won’t take your career away from you, Jessica. Whenever you have time, all I ask is that you squeeze in your hours at the rink. You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to do there. I’ll take care of everything that needs doing. You can sit in Joe’s old office, away from everybody, doing whatever pleases you. I just want you in this partnership with me, however you need to do it to make it work for both of us—so that we both get what we want.”
Her mouth dropped open. For a moment, no one made a sound.
Kyle figured he’d screwed up. He probably should have gotten on his knees and begged her forgiveness.
Well, dammit, his knees were tired. It was best she made her decision soon, because his leg wasn’t going to allow him to stand here all day.
* * *
A PARTNERSHIP. THAT would make both of them happy.
Kyle understood her better than her own boyfriend did. Then again, Kyle had lived her history with her. He’d been in that rink with her for most of her time training. He’d seen what she’d gone through. And vice versa.
Maybe she was crazy, but something about Kyle drew her...enough to overlook her guilt. Enough to be curious about him.
He seemed fine. He’d come back from his tours of duty unscathed. He didn’t seem to blame her for the fact that his relationship with Joe had suffered.
“All right,” she said, her eyes lowered. Because Sebastien was present, she forced herself to stand and cross her arms, acting more businesslike than she felt. “You have a deal, Kyle. I’ll do this under the terms that you and Natalie specified.”
Kyle stared at her, directly into her eyes. Again, that silliness—her knees felt weak. He’d bulked up so much—it was apparent now with him standing there in a wool sweater. And his beard was so bushy and full. He looked nothing like the wiry, defiant teenager he’d once been. But he still seemed capable and honest.
He tilted his head and looked at her, almost as if he was reading her mind. As if he saw something in her that nobody else did. Maybe she should have been worried, but she wasn’t.
In a flash, the moment was over.
“Kyle, may I see you a moment, in private?” Natalie murmured to him.
He nodded, and with deliberate steps he left the room.
Jessica gazed back at Sebastien. He was fiddling with his phone, scrolling through his messages.
I’m alone in this, she thought. Six months. I have to do six months in that rink without him, on my own.
She tucked the half-opened envelope with Joe’s letter back into her purse, too dispirited to read it just now.
* * *
“KYLE, I HOPE you understand there’s more to making your business successful than just paying Jessica to show up and doing everything else yourself,” Natalie said, her soft voice filled with concern.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, and without breaking stride he swiped Joe’s envelope off the table and stuck it in his back pocket. He also pocketed the key to Joe’s house.
He wasn’t concerned about doing all the work, whatever needed to be done. Based on their past history, he fully assumed Jessica would be avoiding him most of the time. He was prepared for that.
“Where’s the key to the rink?” he asked Natalie.
She exhaled. “I can’t give it to you just yet. I’ll need to walk both you and Jessica through the facility on the first Monday in March. That will give you two weeks to give your notice on your job and to settle your affairs in Maryland. Is that acceptable to you?”
It made sense, actually. But his mind couldn’t help racing ahead, to the important stuff. “What’s going on with the rink? I drove over yesterday, but it was closed. It looked deserted.”
“It’s been closed for most of the winter, except for weekday afternoons when the high school hockey team holds their practices.”
“What about the kids’ leagues at night?” Kyle asked. “And the high school games on Saturday? And...public skating in the morning?”
Natalie shook her head. “Joe had to cut back. His poor health necessitated it.”
Wow. Kyle swiped a hand over his face. “Do I have any employees to work with?”
“I spoke with several of them, and there are three who want to come back.”
A skeleton crew. Shit. “Do I know any of them?” Kyle asked.
“Carol from the office, plus Patrick and Mike who do maintenance work and operate the Zambonis.”
Kyle had no idea who any of them were. His heart was sinking fast. What did he expect? That this would be a walk in the park with two good legs? Right.
“Let’s not worry about that for now,” Natalie said. “You and Jessica will figure it out together.”
He refrained from snorting. Natalie didn’t need to doubt his attitude. Instead, he nodded at her. “Thanks. Those three employees will be good for me to start with.”
“And Jessica,” Natalie repeated. “You’ll have Jessica.”
No, he would never have Jessica. If anyone had Jessica, it was her boyfriend. The two of them were close enough that he’d accompanied her to Natalie’s office and had done a lot of the negotiating for her, too, it seemed.
Kyle sighed. What he had from Jessica was strictly a business agreement to sign on with him for Joe’s crazy deal, just long enough to meet the insane six-month waiting period to make sure that the rink ended up in Kyle’s hands.
He had no doubt he’d be required to buy her out at the end of the summer. That was fine with him. Preferable, even. She was welcome to Kyle’s money until then—that wasn’t a problem in his mind, either.
The only thing he did care about was that the rink wasn’t being sold to a stranger. Torn down so some rich developer could get even richer putting up more condos. Taking away what had meant most to Kyle.
Kyle shook off the worries. He’d gotten Jessica to agree to Joe’s terms. That was all he needed to start his new life.
Well, he hoped that was all he needed, because in no way did he deceive himself that Jessica Hughes would ever really be his partner.
