Black Ties and Lullabyes (17 page)

The next afternoon after she got off work, Bernie drove to the entrance of Creekwood Apartments, both surprised and annoyed to see that the workers had finished instal ing the new gate. It was closed and locked. Opening it required sliding a keycard, but since she didn’t have a card yet, she rol ed down her window and punched the cal button on the console.

Waited several seconds. Punched it again. Waited again. She’d just reached out to push it a third time when she heard a voice boom through the speaker.

“For God’s sake, wil you keep your pants on? I’m coming!”

Charmin. Sounding even crabbier than usual.

“Charmin. It’s Bernie. Can you open the gate?”

“Crap. It shouldn’t be locked yet. Nobody’s got their cards. I don’t have time for this. I’m too damned busy.” Busy? What on earth was keeping Charmin busy?

Was she trying to watch
All My Children
, order a pizza, and play Spider Solitaire al at once?

“Charmin?”

“Okay, okay! There. That should do it.” Bernie heard a click, and the gate swung open in front of her. She drove through it and started toward her apartment, only to let curiosity get the better of her. It was a little early to give Charmin a rent check, but it gave Bernie a real y good reason to drop in and see what was contributing to her bad humor.

Bernie parked in front of the manager’s office.

When she went inside, she got the shock of her life.

The TV was off, and Charmin’s butt was actual y
out
of the chair.
She was digging through a file cabinet, the phone pressed to her ear. She looked as if she was actual y… working?

“Yes, damn it, you have to be here at eight in the morning,” Charmin snarled into the phone as she pul ed a file from the cabinet. “Because those are your hours, Miguel!” She paused, listening, then raised her voice. “Since you hired on here, that’s since when!

Get your ass in here first thing in the morning, do you hear me? If I gotta be here, you gotta be here!” She walked back to her desk, slammed down the phone, and tossed the file folder on top of a stack of folders already there. She ran a hand through her dark, frizzy hair and blew out an angry breath.

“Bad day?” Bernie asked nonchalantly.

“How is stuff supposed to get done tomorrow if my maintenance man just wanders in here late like he always does, two hours after he finishes his Egg McMuffin?” She picked up a piece of paper from her desk and waved it. “I got a complaint list a mile long!”

“What’s new about that? You always have a complaint list a mile long.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t used to have an owner crawling up my ass to make sure it al got done.”

“Wait a minute,” Bernie said, suddenly coming to attention. “The new owner? He’s the one making you do al this?”

“He e-mailed me this list this morning,” she said.

“Some of this stuff I’ve never even heard about, and he wants al of it done ASAP. Today was hel .

Appliance deliveries. Unstopping johns. Replacing more of those damned handrails. I had to coordinate al of it. And starting tomorrow, a painting crew is coming in.”

Bernie couldn’t believe it. Jeremy had decided to renovate this place?

The most amazing feeling of delight and satisfaction shivered through her, bringing a smile to her lips. She didn’t know exactly why he’d changed his mind. She only knew that right at that moment, she was very,
very
glad he had. And the fact that it was driving Charmin nuts was just icing on the cake.

“What are you smiling about?” Charmin snapped.

“The fact that things are getting done around here.

That’s a good thing.”

“Good, my ass.” Charmin tossed the list back to her desktop, practical y snarling with disgust. “I missed
All
My Children
today because I’ve been running around taking care of al this crap for the tenants.”

“Isn’t that what a manager is supposed to do?”

“If I wanted to actual y work, I’d go get a real job.” She picked up the remote. “I missed one of my shows today already. If he thinks I’m missing
Bridezillas
, he can think again.” She turned her back to Bernie and hit the button to turn on the television. “I’m tel ing you, the guy’s a major dumbass who doesn’t know a damned thing about business. Why else would he spend al that money on a dump like this?” She made a scoffing noise. “What’s he trying to do? Turn this piece of crap complex into Buckingham Palace?”

“Excuse me?”

Bernie spun around at the sound of the man’s voice. And when she saw who the voice belonged to, the satisfaction and delight she’d felt earlier took a quantum leap.

The remote stil in her hand, Charmin glared at him over her shoulder. “Who are you?”

“Who am I?” Jeremy took a few steps forward, his hands shoved into his jeans pockets. “I’m the dumbass who’s spending al that money to try to turn this piece of crap complex into Buckingham Palace.” Charmin spun the rest of the way around, her eyes snapping open wide.

“And you must be Charmin,” he said.

For maybe the first time ever, Charmin seemed unable to find her voice. Her mouth just hung open, as if her jaw had final y snapped from overuse. Behind her on the TV, a blond Bridezil a was insisting that the doves released at her wedding had to be dyed Tiffany blue.

“Charmin?” Bernie said, nodding toward the television. “You’re missing your show.” Charmin quickly pointed the remote, silenced the TV, then slowly turned back around to face Jeremy, swal owing hard.

“Can I… help you?” Charmin said.

“Nope. This is something I can handle al by myself.

You’re fired.”

Charmin’s jaw dropped. “Fired? You can’t fire me!”

“I just did. And I want you out now.”

“Now?” She looked around the office, then zeroed in on the TV. “But my stuff—”

“Write down a forwarding address. Your things wil be delivered within twenty-four hours.” Her eyes narrowed angrily. “If you think you’re screwing me out of severance pay—”

“You’l get two weeks and whatever vacation pay you have coming. But I want you out now.”

“This is discrimination!”

Jeremy drew back. “Excuse me?
Discrimination?
”

“You’re firing me because I’m a woman! I’m going to sue!”

He looked at her dumbly for a moment, then turned to Bernie, shaking his head with disbelief. “God, she’s awful.”

“I believe I told you that,” Bernie said.

“From now on, when you have a point like that to make, make it a little stronger, wil you?” He turned back to Charmin. “Out.”

Charmin’s face was quickly turning purply red with anger, her teeth clenched so tightly her molars were in danger of cracking.

“You’l be hearing from my lawyer!” Charmin said.

She scribbled her address on a sticky note pad, grabbed her purse, and headed out of the office.

“God, I hope she sues,” Jeremy said, as Charmin slammed the door behind her. “I’d get al kinds of satisfaction watching my attorneys take her down in court.”

“If you need somebody to attest to her incompetence on the job, I’d be happy to testify.”

“And I’d be happy to take you up on that.” He picked up the to-do list from Charmin’s desk. “I’l send somebody over here from my facilities department to fil in as manager for a while until I can get somebody in here permanently.”

“It’l be hard to find the right person to manage this place,” Bernie said. “Lots of work, but not exactly a lot of prestige.”

“I know of an agency that can do some looking for me. I’l have them solicit some candidates and send me their resumes.”

“So,” Bernie said, taking a few casual steps toward Jeremy. “You’ve decided to renovate the place.”

“Yes.”

“You said that was like putting a Band-Aid on a severed artery.”

“As it turns out, I can get a big tax break for neighborhood revitalization,” he said, focusing on the list he held. “Then once the renovation is finished, I can raise the rents for new tenants. My accountant put together a five-year plan that shows that this place could actual y be a moneymaker.”

“Look me in the eye and say al that.” Jeremy looked up. “What?”

“God, you’re a terrible liar.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re going to lose your shirt on this place, aren’t you?”

Jeremy turned back to the list, and for a long time, he didn’t say anything. “I know you’ve never seen my bedroom closet,” he said final y, “but losing one shirt is hardly a problem for me.”

“You’re not the kind of man who takes kindly to losing anything. So what happened to this just being business?”

“If I don’t fix this place, you’l stay on my back for the rest of my life, so what choice did I have?”

“You always have a choice.”

“But what would people say if they knew I owned this place and it looked like a slum?”

“You don’t give a damn what people think, remember?”

“I need a business loss,” he said. “Something to offset the obscene amount of money I make every year.”

“Wel , this place ought to give it to you. I’m starting to think you real y are the dumbass Charmin said you were.”

He shrugged offhandedly. “Maybe I am.”

“And maybe you’re final y doing something good just for the hel of it.”

“Knock it off, Bernie. I’m no saint.” She took a few more steps toward him. “True,” she said, her voice softening. “But you’re not quite the sinner I thought you were, either.”

He glanced up and met her eyes, then looked away again.

“I’m only thirty-seven years old,” he said. “Where sinning’s concerned, I’m just getting started.”

“Glad to hear it. If you didn’t do a little sinning now and again, you wouldn’t be you.”

“You’re starting to aggravate me. Better quit while you’re ahead.”

She smiled. “Okay. I’m out of here.”

She dropped her rent check on the desk, gave him one last smile, and headed for the door. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this good. He was going to take care of these residents. Whether he knew it or not, now that she’d seen this tiny glimpse inside him, he could never completely hide from her again.

A few evenings later, Jeremy sat in the back of the limousine, sipping Scotch and staring out the window at the dusky Dal as skyline as Carlos headed for the Lone Star Museum of Art. The starkness of that particular museum—a monolith of concrete, soaring ceilings, and hol ow, empty space—had always depressed Jeremy, and the prospect of viewing the new exhibit of pre-Columbian art tonight didn’t do much to instil the warm fuzzies into him, either.

Carlos pul ed the limo to the curb in front of the museum. Max got out first and scanned the area like the good bodyguard he was. Jeremy got out of the car and walked into the museum with Max in his wake.

Max moved off to take his position against one of those cold concrete wal s, which seemed to suit his personality just fine. Maybe if he stood there without moving, partygoers would mistake him for one of the chunky, lifesize terra cotta figures in the exhibit, then gasp in horror when they saw him breathe. That might liven things up.

“So you decided to come after al .”

Jeremy turned to see Phil standing behind him holding a martini.

“Why, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Jeremy said, grabbing a glass of wine off a passing waiter’s tray. “You know how much I love pre-Columbian art.”

“Right. You love pre-Columbian art like a dog loves fleas. You’re here because Alexis promised to introduce you to a beautiful woman.”

“Yes. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

“Of course, ever since the news that you’re going to be a father, Alexis thinks the woman of your dreams is already right under your nose.”

Jeremy sighed. As soon as Phil told Alexis that Jeremy was going to be a father, she assumed a marriage was also going to be in the works. It took Jeremy a good thirty minutes to assure her that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t until he agreed to meet the astonishingly beautiful, accomplished woman Alexis had in mind for him that she final y decided he meant what he said.

“That’s because Alexis believes in fairy tales,” Jeremy said. “Bernie is the mother of my children.

That’s it.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I told you I’m not interested in her.”

“Yeah? You were interested in her at least once.”

“That was a mistake.”

“So she was just a one-night stand like al the rest?” Like al the rest? Hardly. Even weeks later, Jeremy could stil close his eyes and conjure up every nerve-zapping moment.

“Pretty much,” Jeremy said, looking away.

“I think you’re lying.”

Jeremy whipped back around. “What the hel makes you think I’d have any interest in Bernie?”

“Because she’s the only woman I ever saw who refused to take any crap from you.”

“And that’s supposed to be a
good
thing?” Phil just smiled and took another sip of his martini.

“Jeremy! It’s about time you showed up!” Jeremy turned to see Alexis approaching, impeccably dressed as always.

“Hel o, Alexis,” he said, as they exchanged air kisses. “You’re looking beautiful this evening.”

“You’re such a flatterer. I never believe a word you say.”

“Now you’re hurting my feelings.”

“Impossible. You’re a cold, cold man, Jeremy. At least that’s what the press is saying.”

“Al that acquisition stuff? Now, you know that’s just business. Sybersense is simply doing what’s best for its shareholders.”

“You’l get no argument from me,” Alexis said.

“There’s nothing I like seeing more than our stock going through the roof.”

“And where is this woman I just have to meet?” Jeremy said.

“Right over there,” Alexis said, nodding her head across the room.

When Jeremy turned to look, he had to hand it Alexis. The woman was a knockout. Even at a distance, he could tel her eyes were a bril iant blue.

She wore an emerald green dress that showcased her long, lithe body, and her chin was tilted up a degree or two, highlighing her sharp, patrician features.

Alexis waved at the woman, and she turned to look at them. Those ice-blue eyes instantly locked onto Jeremy’s. She smiled and walked over, her gaze playing over Jeremy with the kind of self-assurance that only the most beautiful women in the world displayed.