Missing (10 page)

“I’m not saying I
have
to meet her. I’m not secretly
hoping to be her new stepmother or anything. But, if it would make things
easier for you, I’d be happy to meet her.”

“Okay,” he said, having no idea what else to say. “Thanks.
I’ll think about it.”

“Yeah. No worries one way or the other. It’s a standing
offer.”

She sighed and relaxed against him, and he wrapped both arms
around her, deciding there were too many conflicting factors in this situation,
and he’d have to wait until he had the time and privacy to untangle them.

After a minute, Lynn reached over and picked up the framed
picture on the side table beside them. “Is this Victoria?”

Nathan smiled at the image, which was one of his favorites
of Victoria. She had been hamming it up for the camera, striking a dramatic
pose with her long hair flying around her face. “Yes. That was a few years ago.
We were in Athens. At the Parthenon.”

“She’s beautiful. And I guess that’s Elizabeth? She doesn’t
look like she wanted to get in on the picture.”

There was something striking about the image, with Victoria
center-stage, grinning widely, and Elizabeth behind her and to the side,
balanced by the ancient Greek column opposite her. She was wearing the big
sunglasses she’d always worn, with the wind blowing her hair across her face,
mostly hiding her features.  But she was slim and elegant in her long sweater,
leggings, and tall leather boots.

“She wasn’t having a good vacation,” Nathan admitted, his
throat hurting at the memory of all the fighting they'd done on that trip.

It was one of those times he’d realized he was working too
much and neglecting the girls, so he’d decided a vacation would fix it.

Elizabeth had assumed his attempts to spend time with her
had all been forced, artificial—and she’d resented it. Vocally.

He’d handled it all wrong, as he always had.

Only now—only too late—had he learned to be a better father.
He hoped he was a better one now with Victoria.

He wanted so much to be a better one with Elizabeth too.

Lynn put the picture down and picked up the other one on the
table. Nathan was in this photo, and his pretty, brown-haired daughters—ages
three and six—were on either side of him with identical ecstatic grins.

Nathan had to look away from the photo, away from the image
of everything he’d lost.

If Lynn had said something, asked about his reaction,
pursued the topic in any way, he would have had to send her out of the study.

But she didn’t speak at all. She readjusted herself in the
chair so she could put her arms around him, and they sat like that together for
a long time.

Lynn fluffed out her hair. Then,
when it ended up looking too tousled and sexy, smoothed it down a bit more.

She’d reapplied some mascara and subtle lipstick, and now
she buttoned an extra button on her vintage silk blouse so it didn’t reveal any
cleavage.

There. She looked pretty good. Attractive but eminently
respectable. Certainly someone to whom a man could introduce his teenage
daughter.

She could hardly believe Nathan had decided to do
it—introduce her to Victoria. He’d called a few days after last weekend and
asked if she’d been serious about being willing to meet his daughter. Victoria,
evidently, kept bringing it up, and he was afraid she’d be hurt if he didn’t
make an effort to include her in his personal life. He didn’t want his daughter
to think he was shutting her out.

Lynn, of course, had agreed. She wanted to meet Victoria
anyway, and she’d been deeply touched by their conversation a week ago, after Nathan
had hung up from his conversation with her.

Nathan had felt so real then. Almost needy. Like he was
helpless in the face of caring for his daughters, making sure they were never
hurt. She’d wanted desperately to comfort him. She wasn’t used to seeing him
like that.

She liked it.

“Hey,” a soft voice came from her doorway.

Lynn whirled around, instinctively self-conscious about
being caught primping, although she knew it was a ridiculous response. “Hi,”
she said, grinning at Beth. “Don’t you ever go home?”

“Not if I can help it.” Beth stepped into the office,
looking pulled together and inexplicably elegant, even in her basic black
slacks and sweater. She pushed her glasses up higher on her nose. “You look
nice. Do you have a date?”

“Something like that.”

“Are you nervous? Isn’t it the guy you’ve been seeing for a
few months now?”

Lynn’s lips parted. “Does
everyone
know I’ve been
dating someone?”

Beth laughed. “Of course, we all know. There’s a pool going
on the man’s identity.”

“Great. Who’s the top contender?”

“Steven Sherman,” she replied, referring to an attractive,
young senator. “They figure you’re keeping it secret because dating you
wouldn’t be good for his political career.”

Lynn laughed, half-annoyed and half-amazed that her staff
had been able to come up with such a good story to explain her altered personal
life. “It’s not Steven, so I hope you didn’t bet on him.”

“I didn’t bet on anyone.” When Lynn looked at her
quizzically, Beth explained in a sheepish tone, “I don’t have extra money to
waste that way, and it’s your business who you date. I hope he makes you happy,
though.”

Lynn smiled, feeling oddly maternal toward the girl. “Thank you.
So far, he does.” For absolutely no good reason, she felt compelled to add, “I’m
actually meeting his daughter this evening. That’s why I’m kind of nervous.”

“Ooh. Wow. Big step.”

“Not really. I mean, yes, it’s a step. But I think it’s
mostly because it’s more convenient for him—to not have to deal with his daughter’s
nagging him all the time about who he’s dating. We’re not serious. I mean,
we’re on purpose keeping it casual.”

“Who do you think you’re kidding?”

Lynn jerked her head over to the girl, surprised by the
personal tone from her intern, who had always been very careful about
maintaining boundaries.

“I’m sorry,” Beth burst out, evidently realizing what she’d
said. “I didn’t mean to be presumptuous. I just—”

“It’s fine. Really. It wasn’t presumptuous.” Lynn looked at
the girl for a long minute, releasing a breath. “What makes you think we’re not
keeping it casual?”

Beth appeared reluctant and didn’t answer.

“Beth?” Lynn prompted.

“I don’t know. It’s just pretty clear that you’re starting
to like him a lot.”

Lynn processed the words. Then she sighed and turned back to
stare into the mirror, absently patting her hair. Finally, she admitted, more
to her reflection than to Beth. “Yeah. I guess I
am
starting to like
him.” A
lot
.

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Not if he wants to keep things casual. Which he does. Things
are complicated for him, and he wouldn’t have hooked up with me at all if we
hadn’t agreed to keep it casual.”

“He’s not married, is he?”

“No, he’s not married.”

“Then it should be fine. I bet he’s starting to like you a
lot too. You’re smart. You wouldn’t have let yourself fall for him if it were
hopeless.”

Lynn gazed at Beth, amazed and pleased by the girl’s
insight, but she herself wasn’t quite so confident. “I don’t know. I’ve fallen
for a lot of men when it was hopeless.”

Beth smiled unexpectedly, the expression transforming her
face. “When you were my age? That’s to be expected. I don’t think it’s hopeless
now.”

“And you’re basing that optimism on…”

“The belief that we learn something as we get older and that
life doesn’t invariably suck.”

Lynn stared for just a moment. Then she burst into laughter
and stepped over to pull Beth into a tight hug.

Beth returned the hug. Since Lynn knew by now that the girl
didn’t let her walls down easily, the trusting gesture meant something to her.
When she pulled away, Lynn said, “I’ve got to get going. Walk out with me?”

They gathered up their stuff and left the building together.

“Have fun,” Beth said, as they stood on the sidewalk before
parting. She started digging into her bag. “I’m sure the girl will love you.”

“I’m just aiming for 'barely tolerate.' Are you heading over
to the coffee shop this evening?”

“Yeah.” Beth found what she was looking for—a pair of sunglasses—and
she swapped her regular glasses for them. “I’ve got homework to do, and it
feels kind of homey there. Better than sitting in the dorm room.”

Lynn gave a friendly wave and started to turn away. Then she
glanced back and called, “See you tomorrow.”

“You too,” Beth said, turning back too. Her shiny dark hair
blew across her face, and the sunglasses made her look as glamorous as a model.

Lynn froze for a moment, chasing a thought that just eluded
her.

“What’s the matter?” Beth asked, evidently confused by Lynn’s
expression.

“Nothing.” Lynn shook her head roughly, losing whatever
she’d been about to grasp. “See ya.”

***

Lynn was meeting Nathan and Victoria
in a private room of a restaurant in a ritzy hotel.

She understood why he’d made that choice. Obviously, if
she’d been seen in public having dinner with Nathan and his daughter, it would raise
a number of questions they’d prefer to avoid, but inviting her into the Livingston
home would cast a more intimate light on the dinner than any of them wanted. So
the private room was an appropriate compromise.

She was two minutes late when she arrived at the hostess
desk and then, on introducing herself, was led by a side hallway into a small
private dining room.

“Sorry I’m late,” she explained, seeing Nathan and Victoria
were already there. “It took forever to find a cab.”

Nathan stood as she entered. He was handsome and
sophisticated in his normal business attire, but something about his expression
looked rather stiff.

She normally would have kissed him, but—since his daughter
was present—she let him take the lead in greeting.

“You’re not late,” he said, leaning over to give her a soft
kiss on the side of the mouth. “We just got here ourselves.”

“Well,” Victoria said, standing up with a smile and a very
curious expression in her big gray eyes, “We’ve actually been here for almost
fifteen minutes, but we’re pretending we just got here so we’ll seem cool and
casual.”

Nathan slanted his daughter a disapproving expression, but Lynn
laughed out loud.

Victoria was tall and slender, with beautiful, healthy dark
hair and lovely classic features. She looked vaguely familiar, but that was
probably because of her resemblance to her mother. Ariana had always been
gorgeous, Lynn remembered, but Victoria looked like Nathan around the eyes and
mouth.

“I’m Lynn,” she said, smiling and stretching out a hand to
the girl. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Victoria shook her hand, and Lynn was pleased that the
girl’s grip wasn’t feeble and flimsy like a lot of young girls’ handshakes.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Victoria slanted her father a
quick, little look. “Dad’s afraid I’m going to embarrass him.”

“Keep it up,” Nathan said, watching his daughter with cool,
narrowed eyes. “And you’ll achieve that particular goal.”

Lynn was quite sure that, if Nathan was worried, it wasn’t
because he thought his daughter was going to embarrass him. This was an awkward
situation—particularly given the nature of their relationship—and Nathan
wouldn’t want either Victoria or Lynn to get the wrong impression about this
meeting.

After all, he wasn’t introducing his daughter to her new
stepmother.

Victoria snickered, Lynn smiled, and they all sat down at
the table.

The first few minutes were taken up with studying the menu
and deciding on orders, which provided a nice distraction from making real
conversation.

When the server had left with their orders, Victoria said to
Lynn, “Dad told me you’re the editor of the
Cooler
. I read it a lot.”

“Do you?” Lynn asked, pleased with this remark, even if it
was just for civility's sake. “Thank you. Do you keep up with politics?”

Victoria shrugged her slim shoulders. “Not that much,
really. But I like some of your stories. My friends and I think they’re a lot
more
real
than what other papers cover.”

Lynn smiled at the girl’s compliment.

“You seem kind of young to already be a main editor,”
Victoria added, studying Lynn closely when her lashes weren’t lowered.

“Victoria,” Nathan began.

“I know it’s rude to talk about people’s age, but I thought
looking young would be a good thing.”

“It
is
a good thing,” Lynn put in. “But I’m not as
young as you’re probably thinking.” Then she added, answering the question she
knew Victoria wanted to know, “I’m over thirty.”

Victoria nodded, looking a little relieved.

The server came in with their wine and Victoria’s soda, and
the conversation broke for a few minutes while Nathan tasted the wine and the
server poured.

When Lynn was taking her first sip of a very good Merlot,
she noticed that Nathan was watching her.

The look in his blue-gray eyes was deep and unreadable, and
his shoulders still looked stiff. She realized suddenly that Nathan had
absolutely no idea how to act in this situation. It was entirely new to him—and
much harder than it was for her.

She wondered just how afraid he’d been of hurting Victoria
to decide this meeting was the best option.

She smiled at him warmly and was pleased when his face
relaxed a little.

“I love your bag,” Victoria said, gesturing toward the large
python-embossed satchel Lynn had hooked on the back of her chair. “Where did
you get it?”

Lynn turned to glance back at her bag. She replied sheepishly,
“I got it at a thrift store. It was super-cheap.”

“Really? It’s great. How much did it cost?”

“Fifteen dollars.” Lynn slanted a look at Nathan, to see if
he thought talking about the price of her handbag was crass, but he was just
watching his daughter mildly.

“Wow.” Victoria reached down and pulled up her oversized
clutch with a silver chain instead of a shoulder-strap. “I should look at
thrift stores.” Her eyes moved between her own little purse and Lynn’s.

“But yours is designer. Mine isn't. That’s where the price
difference comes.”

“Yeah,” Victoria agreed. She stroked her little bag. “I got
this in New York last weekend.”

“It looks like it. It’s fantastic.”

“It should be. It was kind of expensive.” Victoria darted
her eyes to her father, who was distracted by the server, who had just come in
to ask something about the appetizers.  When she saw it was safe, Victoria
leaned in toward Lynn. She blocked her mouth from Nathan with one hand and
whispered, “Three thousand dollars.”

“
What
?” Nathan demanded, turning back toward them as
the server left. “You spent three thousand dollars on that little thing?”

Victoria frowned, her chin sticking out.

“It’s a designer bag,” Lynn said softly, not wanting it to
seem like she was siding against Nathan but also not wanting Victoria to get in
trouble. “That’s what they cost.”

Nathan glared down at Victoria’s clutch and then over at Lynn’s
bag. “And yours cost fifteen?” It was clear he’d never thought about the price
of women’s handbags before and was having trouble wrapping his mind around it.

“Well, I bought mine secondhand,” Lynn explained. “And it’s
not designer.”

“It looks fine to me.”

Victoria held her little bag protectively. Evidently, Nathan
just gave the girl a credit-card and only paid attention to the most outrageous
of purchases. “Are you mad?”

With a sigh, he shook his head. “No. But that’s going to be
the only bag you buy this year, unless you want to start shopping at thrift
stores like Lynn.” He ran a hand through his hair, and Lynn realized he once
again wasn’t sure how to deal with his daughter.

“I can take you some time,” she volunteered, intentionally
sounding casual so no one took it as a serious invitation. “If you want to go.”

“Okay,” Victoria agreed. Then she turned challenging eyes
back to her father. “Maybe we should take Dad too, since I’ll bet his shoes
cost as much as my bag.”

Lynn couldn’t quite repress a chuckle at the girl’s
cleverness.

Nathan’s eyes narrowed, although he didn’t look genuinely
displeased. “I assure you they did not.”

“Oh Dad, who do you think you’re kidding?”