Kate Takes Care Of Business (6 page)

Kate’s father gave her a pointed glance as he ushered Mr. Hallman into the room. “I told Richard about my business proposal.”

My business proposal? What happened to ours?
Kate laughed out of nervousness. She glimpsed her reflection in the wall mirror. “Oh? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Dad looked around the room as if he expected to see someone else at any moment. “Would you mind if we borrowed your room for about an hour to discuss it in private away from the other shareholders? If they don’t know where to find us, we won’t be disturbed. Lucille needs some help if you’re free.”

Mr. Hallman lumbered into the main room and plopped himself down on the plush sofa. “And when you get back, Katey. Maybe you can talk some sense into your pig-headed old man before he makes a fool of himself at the meeting.”

Kate felt a sickening sensation of her life and her father’s, plunging downward. Dad’s troubled look only made it worse. “Okay, I’ll be with Lucille if you need me.” She picked her shoulder bag off the table and with a weak wave of her hand, left the room with the men’s voices trailing after her.

Kate closed the door and walked only a few feet down the hall before her phone chimed.

It was a text message from Lucille:
Don’t you go anywhere. You have to find out what they’re saying.

Kate looked back at the door. Things were getting heated now because she could hear their rumbling voices in the hall. She glanced down one end of the hall and then the other. She took a deep breath and padded back to the door. She pressed her ear close until she could hear them clearly.

“You of all people,” said Mr. Hallman. “It’s beyond me.”

“It’s not bad business to keep American jobs at home if we can still turn a profit.” Her father’s voice was restrained this time. “I believe in the same things that you do, Richard, the right to work and earn, the right to own what you earn.”

“You’re not acting like it.” Mr. Hallman was bitter. “It would take a huge investment of capital and time to set up with no guarantee of profit in the end. You’re undermining the vision of the company I thought we both shared.”

“No. I’m just trying to do what I believe is right for the continued growth of the company and the people who work for it. Come on, Richard. With all the state and federal grants available isn’t it worth investing in a single—”

“Are you trying to say I don’t care about the people who work for us?” snapped Mr. Hallman. “
I do
and that’s why I’m trying to hold on to the jobs we have but if you present this ridiculous plan at the meeting, I’ll be forced to—”

“Don’t say it,” her father said.

“Then don’t make me do something we’ll both regret, Adam. You can walk away from this and
anyone else
who’s involved and we’ll forget it ever came up.”

“I told you I’d keep it out of the media until the meeting but . . .” Her father spoke with aggressive, but desperate, firmness. “Richard, this is the best thing for our company and its people. I’m flexible on how we initiate the project, but I’m not changing my mind on the fundamental need to do it and do it
now.
”

“Then . . . if that’s the way it is, we have nothing more to talk about.”

Kate heard the squeaky movements of Mr. Hallman’s huge body as he rose from the leather sofa.

“Good day, Mr. Winslow.” After all these years it was no longer
Adam.

Kate jerked back from the door. Her pulse pounding, she scurried down the hall and hid around the corner like Nancy Drew in one of her favorite girl’s mysteries. She heard the door close. Peeking around the corner, she watched Mr. Hallman walk into the elevator.

Kate hurried back to her room and inserted her pass key in the lock. She opened the door. “Umm, sorry. I forgot my laptop.” She walked in and looked at her father.

He was sitting with his head in his hands.

“What’s wrong dad? Where’s Mr. Hallman?”

“It’s bad, Kate.” He let out a deep breath. “But I might convince the old goat . . . if you’ll help me.”

His earnest, solemn appeal was cryptic but concise. “Richard told me that Sterling has been unhappy since the two of you stopped dating.”

“Dad, you know I’d do anything to help but Sterling and I are just friends now.”

“But I know he still cares deeply for you, Kate. Both of you come from the same background, have the same friends, and share the same outlook on life.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s the same on everything, dad. Sometimes it’s not even close.”

Her father stood and towered over her. “But your differences are
less
than you think and because of those reasons it’s the last chance we have to influence Richard . . . and the company.”

Understanding exactly what her father was saying, Kate turned away, her whole body feeling engulfed in tides of guilt and despair.

He put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t you ever think about getting married and having a family?”

“Of course I do but not
now
and I know Sterling certainly isn’t ready to—”

“No, Kate, you’d be surprised what Sterling is ready to do . . . and how much his father will help him do it. Please, will you at least listen to what I have to say?”

And like a good daughter, she did, almost biting her lip until it bled as her father strongly suggested that the Winslow’s only hope to keep a stake in the company was for her to begin dating Sterling again . . . and then marry him as soon as possible.

Sterling appeared at Kate’s door a few minutes after four o’clock. He breezed in, looking at her with quiet belligerence as though he was still angry about something. “I’m glad you’ve changed your mind about the party tonight.”

Kate smiled in acquiescence. “Sure, I’m up for anything. Where did you want to go?”

“Jeff and Bridget called. They’re in town and we haven’t all partied together in ages. They miss you.”

“But what about Liz and Reid?”

“Sure, they can still come along if they don’t mind taking cab. Unfortunately, there’s not enough room for Liz and
Reid
.”

The way Sterling emphasized Reid’s name resonated in Kate’s heart and mind. Why was he still insisting on inviting him? She shrugged to mask her discomfort. “Sure, why not?”

“Good, then it’s settled.”

Kate nodded. Later, she could explain to Reid that she was only trying to keep the peace between her father and Sterling’s until the meeting was over.
That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it, Kate? Just keeping the peace in your life and everyone else’s like you’ve always done.

Sterling came over and put his arms around her. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed being with you.”

His mouth took hers, without resistance. It didn’t make a difference. No clamoring in her blood or her brain, just Sterling kissing her a little too hard, the same way he’d kissed her since they were teenagers. Kate thought of Reid’s lips on hers, making her feel as if she were dying and being born again. She withdrew from Sterling’s arms.

Sterling touched his lips with a quick wiping motion. “We’ll pick you up a little after eight. Bridget and Jeff will be excited to see you and it’ll give me another excuse to drive my new car. You’re going to love it . . . like a rocket on wheels.”

“Sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to see them.” Kate smiled.
And then maybe the night will end faster so I can get back to my room . . . hopefully with Reid.

The rest of the day, however, dragged, and grew more tedious with every passing hour. An unexpected torrential summer thunderstorm blasted the city. Kate told her father she was exhausted and wanted to rest up before going out tonight.

Kate prowled her luxurious suite like it was a prison cell. She tried texting and calling Reid in hopes of trying to explain what was happening but he never returned her calls.
What’s he so busy doing that he can’t get back to me?

For some illogical reason, she thought about Liz Presley but quickly banished the idea. Kate had enough on her mind trying to figure out how she could balance her father’s wishes with her desires without overloading her frayed nerves with unfounded jealousy and suspicion.

In the early evening, Kate set about dressing for the night. She was determined to give Liz some real competition . . . just in case. She decide to go New York retro and chose a black chiffon dress with a matching ruffled cape, sexy but sophisticated like a classic movie star.

Looking in the mirror, she brushed her dark hair until it shone and emphasized the violet of her eyes with purple mascara.
You can make this work, Kate. You have to . . . just until the meeting is over next week.”

She thought of Sterling’s bruising kiss from the afternoon. In so many ways he was still a teenager and being a few years younger than Reid only emphasized the difference. One kiss she wanted to forget but the other made her hunger from the memory of his mouth on hers.

Reid was a man.

But would he be
her
man?

CHAPTER NINE

Kate had a cup of coffee with her father while waiting for Sterling to show.

Dad was in a more optimistic mood. “You look gorgeous, Kate.” He sipped his martini. “I can’t tell you how happy Richard is too now that you’re going out with Sterling again. I think we’re going to come to an agreement after all.”

Kate held her tongue with effort. She
wasn’t
seeing Sterling again but now was not the time to tell her worried, beleaguered father the truth.

He turned to the wall mounted widescreen TV behind the bar and watched the business news of the day. “We have a recent business update from the New York Post,” the announcer said.

Kate sat up in her chair, interested. Reid and Liz wrote guest columns and blogs for the New York Post. The speaker continued: “The reported rift between the CEO and president of Hallman and Winslow may have increased to the point of breaking the once solid company in two.”

Kate put her drink down and starred at the screen.

“It appears that president Adam Winslow is committed to canceling
all
their current outsourcing contracts and returning the jobs to the United States regardless of the impact on the company’s dwindling cash reserves. This bold move has caused a serious breach between Mr. Winslow and his long time friend and CEO, Richard Hallman, who supports
increased
outsourcing as a means of stemming the tide of diminishing returns that has plagued the company since—”

Kate was speechless. She felt as hollow as the woman on TV sounded. She looked over at her father.

His shocked face was creased in despair. “I . . . I don’t understand. We haven’t released anything to the media yet . . . and it’s a lie
.
It’s a single investment, a business case study to see if it’s viable.” He gulped the rest of his martini. “Once this spreads, the shareholders will think I want to rip up all our contracts regardless of the cost and that Hallman is the only one interested in saving the company and making a profit. We’ll never reach an agreement now.”

Kate sat, motionless. A cold shiver spread over her as she remembered talking to Reid. How could he have done this to her after she trusted him? Treachery was never a pretty thing to face even if that face was the one she had wanted to kiss everyday since April.

Numb and reeling from the fear of what would happen next, Kate heard her father ask the inevitable question.

“Who could have done it? I promised Richard it would be handled in a press release that we both agree to. But now these lies? How could this have happened?”

Kate summoned all her courage. “I’m . . . I’m sorry, Dad.”

Her father stared at her in silence until the full comprehension of her feeble apology came to him. “You told that bastard Griffin?”

Bitter and embarrassed, Kate couldn’t meet her father’s condemning glare. Reid had charmed the information out of her when she was drunk. He had kissed it out of her and fabricated the lie to get back at her for what? Because of Sterling?
And you were about to drag him into your bedroom.

“Did you sleep with him?”

“No! And if I did it would have been none of your damned business anyway?”

She waited for his full wrath to unleash itself with more cruel accusations but none came. “I’m sorry, Kate, but I wish you had stayed home as I asked.” He put a hand on her dark bowed head. “But now it’s done and it’s too late for tears.”

“But it was my idea too, Dad.” Kate wiped the hot tears off her red cheeks. “Yes, Reid and I talked about it but I was just testing it before I got the courage to talk to you. I never said any of those things you heard on TV. You believe me, don’t you?”

Her father could only answer with a weary nod.

Whether he really believed her or not, Kate was afraid to ask.

“I’ll have Lucille change the press release to clarify the Post story. Hopefully we can control some of the damage before the meeting.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet. I may have to rethink our entire plan . . . if I want to save my job.”

Her father lumbered out of the chair and trudged away looking older and more tired than she had ever seen him.

After quickly changing and returning from her room, Kate stood alone in the lobby. Dad was right. It was too late for tears but there was still time to fix things once and for all. She took out her cell phone and made the only call that she could.

A few minutes later Kate heard a familiar voice call her name. She looked up and saw Reid rushing up to her. She closed her phone.

“Kate? Are you all right? He looked haggard.

“I’m fine. I haven’t felt this good in a long time.” She kept her gaze frozen on his.

“Where are you going? I thought we were all—”

“Did you see the news?”

“Yes and that’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Terrible accident on the interstate wasn’t it?” She slung her overnight bag over her shoulder. “But the police still haven’t blamed anyone for it.”

“Be serious. Do you think
I
did it? That I talked to the Post?” His gray eyes poured a deep look into hers.