Bride by the Book (Crimson Romance) (21 page)

Angie could hardly repress a shudder of horror. “Not me, Peter. I’ve gotten too old for all-nighters. But I’ll make sure you have a big pot of strong coffee.”

And after this one, Angie thought she might get out of the game-writing business for good. In her opinion, it resembled the business-software field a little too closely.

• • •

It was almost ten o’clock by the time Angie managed to get Peter settled in the bedroom-office she had created for him. He sat before one of the big computer screens, studying the screen and sipping coffee so strong, Garner was certain a spoon stuck in it would dissolve.

She came toward him, uncertainty in her blue gaze, and he realized she wasn’t certain he wanted her to come home with him. He enfolded her in his arms, shaken at the tender feelings she evoked in him, and wondered how she could doubt how much he wanted her.

“Let’s go to the cabin,” he said gently. “You need to get away from here for a while.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I suppose I do. So long as I’m here, Peter will feel free to come in and ask questions, even if I’m in bed sound asleep.”

He waited while she packed a few items into a small suitcase and took it from her. “Are you going to tell Peter goodbye?”

“I’ll call him from your place,” she said, grinning. “Let’s not take any unnecessary chances.”

He drove to his cabin, amazed at his own joy and eagerness to be there with Angie. After he had carried her suitcase inside, he came back to the porch where she sat on the glider with Dixie at her feet, facing the peaceful water and talking to her mother. Fireflies blinked in the air and bushes all around, but Angie did not appear to notice them for once.

He sat down beside her and handed her a glass of iced tea. Then he put his arm across her shoulders and listened in, unabashed.

“You’re going to have to get him to a doctor, Mom,” she was saying. “Something’s really wrong. I just didn’t realize it until … someone pointed it out to me. He’s not acting like himself at all. Remember how he used to hide under his desk so he could avoid business discussions?”

Thanks to the vagaries of cell phones, Garner could hear Celia’s side of the conversation almost as clearly as he could hear Angie’s.

“You’ve got to help me, Angelina,” Celia said. “I can’t deal with him at all. He won’t listen to reason. It’s as if he’s possessed. Now that’s a word I never thought I’d use, but that’s the closest I can come to this attitude of his. I have no idea what could have gotten into him.”

“Mom, if there’s something wrong inside his head, or if his brain chemistry is deranged, he may as well be possessed. He won’t be able to think logically at all. You have to get him to a doctor and find out what’s wrong.”

“He was in for his physical not long ago,” Celia reminded her. “Everything was perfect.” There was a brief pause. “Or so Vernon said.” Another pause. “I’ll bet he didn’t even go for that physical. He hates going to the doctor.” Garner could almost feel her gathering outrage. “I’ll bet he just told me he went, and that everything was fine.”

“You mean he probably didn’t get a physical?” Angie put a hand to her forehead. “Mom, you’d better call that doctor tonight just to make sure. Daddy has never behaved like this before. Or, if he went and something was wrong, he may be hiding it. But even if he went and everything was perfect, there’s something major wrong with him now.”

Garner listened while Angie and her mother talked over the problem Vernon Brownwood presented and what to do about it. Angie thought Celia ought to make an appointment with a neurologist, while Celia leaned toward a psychiatrist.

“You’ll never get Daddy inside any office that says ‘psychiatrist,’” Angie said. “Find a good neurologist and warn him of the problem. If he thinks it’s psychiatric, he can make a referral, and you can haul Daddy right straight over there, no matter what he says.”

“I’ll get things started tonight,” Celia said. “I taught several people who became neurologists, and I know just the one who can help me with Vernon.”

Now that Celia had decided upon a course of action, Garner noted that her voice took on added vigor. He had no doubt Angie’s father would soon be under the care of a doctor. But he had plenty of doubts as to whether Angie realized what that would mean in terms of her own plans.

Angie clicked off the call and leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder. “That’s done. Mom is on the warpath now, and she’ll haul him to a doctor no matter what he says. And if he lied to her about having his physical, God help him.”

Garner buried his hand in her golden hair and massaged her scalp gently. “Your mom sounds like she can be terrifying.”

“Daddy’s going to think so.” Angie sighed and added, “I just hope there’s nothing wrong with him that can’t be cured by a couple of prescriptions.”

“Let’s hope there’s nothing wrong with him at all, other than a bad temper. From what I’ve read, he’s eccentric, but he’s never been known as an unreasonable man.”

“He wasn’t when I was a child.” Angie sipped some tea. “I’d almost forgotten, but you’re right. He didn’t change until I went to work at BrownWare, and it was so gradual, I guess I just got used to it and thought he had always been that way.” She gazed at the bushes near the porch, where several fireflies blinked their phosphorescent lights at regular intervals. “I’ve never seen lightning bugs before. This place is so beautiful.”

Garner glanced over the lake, which reflected a long silver streak of moonlight down the middle and firefly-studded bushes around the edges. It had taken him a good two years to arrive at the stage of appreciation Angie had already entered.

He ignored her change of subject and told himself it was for her own good. “Angie, if there is something wrong with your father, you may have to go back to Palo Alto for a while.”

“If he goes in for surgery or something, I’ll go back so I can sit with Mom during the surgery,” she agreed. “But I won’t be staying in Palo Alto. I live here now, and I’m not leaving.”

Garner laid his lips against her temple and felt the warmth of her soft skin. “In that case, maybe we’d better go to bed. You’ll want to be up early enough to stop by your place and see what Peter is up to.”

“Actually, I was thinking of leaving him alone. He’ll make his way to your office all too soon, believe me.” Angie rose with him and slipped her arm around his waist, much to his delight. “Mom will let me know what happens when she gets Daddy to the neurologist. In the meantime, I’m not going to worry about it anymore.”

“I know several ways to make you forget your troubles,” he said, leading the way inside. “They all involve taking off your clothes.”

Angie laughed. “They do? What happens when the clothes are off?”

“That’s when things really get interesting.” Garner let Dixie amble inside then shut and locked the door before sweeping Angie up into his arms. “But let’s go someplace private in order to discuss that.”

Angie laughed happily. The sound wrung his heart, even though he fully intended to enjoy the night with her to the fullest. Clearly, Angie had no idea what lay ahead and didn’t intend to speculate on the subject.

Garner admitted that he didn’t either, but he figured he had a better vantage point on what might lie ahead, thanks to his past experiences.

But he would wait as long as he could before he insisted that Angie give more thought to her next actions. Now that he had found her, he did not want to lose her. In fact, he felt downright selfish enough to look for ways to keep her with him, no matter what.

He wanted that, even though he knew that for Angie’s sake, he might have to let her go.

• • •

The next afternoon, Garner watched as Angie and Peter huddled over Peter’s tablet computer and several sheets of paper. Peter rearranged the sheets of paper and gesticulated emphatically. Angie studied them a moment, then nodded and switched out a couple of sheets.

Peter glared down at the sheets, frowning then his face lightened. He gathered the sheets carefully and numbered them with a pencil. Then he sat down in Angie’s chair, completely oblivious to the fact that he had taken over her desk.

Angie looked up, saw Garner watching and smiled in a resigned way. He beckoned to her and she came, adopting that businesslike persona she considered appropriate in a professional secretary. For some reason, that look of hers turned him on.

“Maybe I should charge him rent,” he said, gazing into Angie’s eyes.

“Maybe you should.” She gazed back as if she liked looking at him. “He can certainly afford it, and he’s definitely disrupting your official business.”

“Maybe we can shift him over to Cliff’s office if a client comes in,” he began, but before he could continue, the front door opened and a man—a very angry man—surged inside.

The man was shorter than Peter and had thick, rumpled blond hair. His irate blue gaze fell upon Peter, who remained hunched over his precious sheets of paper in fierce concentration. He slapped the door shut and charged across the floor like an enraged bull.

“So this is what you’re up to, you Quisling! You Benedict Arnold!” he yelled.

Peter looked up in mild surprise. “Oh, it’s you, Vern. What are you howling about now?”

Garner drew in his breath and wondered if he was about to watch a murder. Vernon Brownwood’s face reddened even more, if possible.

Angie sighed. “It’s Daddy. I might have known this would happen if Peter answered the phone at my house.”

“Do you think they’re going to come to blows?” Garner started forward. “Maybe I’d better—”

“I doubt it. Peter isn’t interested, and Daddy is mostly hot air and wild accusations.”

Vernon caught Garner’s movement and whirled. His gaze focused at once on his daughter. “So. This is where you’ve holed up. You’re not content with destroying everything I’ve worked for, I see.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Daddy,” Angie said, with what Garner now recognized as enormous control. “I have a whole new life. I’m not even working in the software industry any longer. I’ve had it with development labs and production deadlines and the whole nine yards. I come to work at nine
A.M.
and I go home at five
P.M.
I have weekends and holidays off. In short, I now have a life. So go back to California and try that on Fonda.”

“Fonda’s just a secretary,” Vernon shot at her. “You’re a top level software engineer, and you ought to know what kind of hours that requires—”

“I’m now
just
a secretary, too,” Angie shot back. “And I love it. And I’m never going to be a software engineer again. Never. And I’m not going back to California, either. I own property in Arkansas now, and this is where I’m going to stay.”

“You think I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vernon shouted. His face reddened in a way that made Garner think he might be bordering on a stroke. “You’re lying. You’re all lying. But you aren’t getting away with it.”

“Come on, Vern,” Peter said, barely taking his attention off his papers and tablet. “What can anybody possibly be getting away with that has anything to do with you?”

“The two of you are conspiring to steal VP-Base and completely rewrite it. Did you really think you could keep me from finding out?”

Angie’s mouth dropped open. She shut it, studied her father a moment then looked at Garner with a wide-eyed expression of astonishment.

Peter glanced up at his old friend, shook his head and went back to his papers. “You’ve finally lost it, Vern. Why would I want to steal VP-Base and get into a whole mess of legal trouble when I can just program this game of Angie’s and make a bundle? And it’s a heck of a lot more fun for me than the programming for VP-Base, whether we go with a new algorithm or the old one.”

When Vernon’s face grew even redder, Garner decided to step forward. “Mr. Brownwood, I’m a lawyer. Why don’t you step inside my office so we can discuss your lawsuit?”

At this, Vernon swung around and glared toward Garner. “You’re a lawyer? Why didn’t you say so? I want these two thieves put out of business. I want them stopped. I want a restraining order.”

“Then step right this way.” Garner stepped back and gestured. “Sit down and let’s discuss the matter. Most of the ills in the world can be resolved by means of a good lawsuit. If you sue for enough money, people have a tendency to take you seriously.”

Vernon stalked toward him. “That’s it in a nutshell. They aren’t taking me seriously, and VP-Base was my idea in the first place. They have no right to steal it.”

Garner seated the irate man with all due courtesy and shut his office door after exchanging a long glance with Angie. He hoped she received the message and got herself and Peter Van Holden out of the office and back to her home.

It appeared she did. He heard sounds indicative of movement, and a moment later he heard the front door open and close. But a few minutes later he caught a glimpse of a blond head at the front door again. A moment of thought, while he slowly and carefully outlined aloud the costs and probable progress of filing a lawsuit, told him that Angie had likely taken Peter next door to Cliff’s office.

“I’m ready,” Vernon announced, when Garner had finished his spiel. “How soon can we file?”

Garner groaned inwardly. The last thing he intended to do was file a lawsuit against Angie, but someone had to give her time to come up with a plan to deal with her father. The longer Garner talked to him, the more he felt certain that Vernon Brownwood had something badly wrong inside his head.

“Then we will get started right now,” he said, and pulled out a fresh yellow legal pad. “I just need to ask you a few questions.”

With any luck, the question-and-answer session would last a good hour. He had the usual set of questions ready, plus he fully intended to investigate Vernon’s history all the way back to his grandparents. That should take a good while.

His phone rang, and he glanced at the caller ID. It was Angie, calling from her cell phone.

“Garner Holt,” he said in his crispest tones.

“My mother is on her way,” Angie said. “The doctor told her Daddy never showed for his physical. As soon as she found out he’d gone to the airport, she booked a flight right behind him. She just landed in Little Rock and rented a car. She’ll be here as soon as she can.”