Kara Lennox - The Good Father

“What?” Okay, now Max was sure he’d dropped down a rabbit hole. Was this some new ploy?

“Just give me a sales job. Straight commission is fine. I have contacts. I can get you some great accounts.”

Max didn’t doubt that was true, but…“Why, Eddie?”

“The situation at the company has become intolerable. Your contribution to the marketing department was grossly undervalued, and nobody seems to be able to take up the slack. Things are in chaos-and I’ve become the whipping boy in your absence. I think Dad figured if he bought you out, then pulled the plug, you’d be forced to come back.

“I can’t work in that kind of atmosphere anymore,” Eddie concluded. “I like it here. This place feels good.”

“But you’re gonna be a vice president someday,” Max argued. “You’d be giving up literally millions of dollars. What does Rhonda say? What about the kids?”

“The kids’ college funds are taken care of. As for Rhonda, she wants out of New York. She doesn’t need much, never did. She would love it here.”

Max could hardly believe his good fortune. Eddie was one of the best salespeople Max had ever met, in any industry. “When can you start?”

They worked out a few details and shook hands on it, after which Max was eager to share the news. Jane was the first person he wanted to tell. But when he checked her office, it was empty.

He checked the break room; she wasn’t there, either. Maybe she was talking to Carol. But when he entered the reception room he didn’t see Jane. Just Carol, looking fidgety and worried.

“Oh, there you are.”

“Where’s Jane?”

“She wanted to wait for you to get out of your meeting, but in the end she couldn’t. She made some excuse…in fact, I think she said something about packing. If you two are taking another business trip, you might want to let me know.”

Packing? That didn’t sound good.

“Did I not tell you?” Eddie said. “It’s too late.”

Max’s blood pounded in his ears. It couldn’t be. She wouldn’t accept another job. Of course she had to think about what was best for herself and Kaylee, but…no. He wouldn’t jump to conclusions until he’d talked to her.

“She didn’t look happy,” Carol said. “You didn’t do something to upset her, did you?”

As usual, Carol said exactly what was on her mind. “Not that I know of.” Everything had been fine this morning, although Kaylee’s untimely interruption hadn’t sat well with Jane.

“Carol, Eddie’s our new account executive. Give him all the appropriate paperwork, would you?” It wasn’t how he wanted to make the announcement. But suddenly his priorities had shifted. “I have to make some calls.” Or rather, one call. What had Jane wanted to talk about?

He stepped into his office and dialed Jane, first her cell, then her home phone. She didn’t answer either.

Hell, Port Clara wasn’t that big. He would just go find her. And he would make damn sure she wasn’t tempted to sell out to the first fast-talking headhunter who crossed her path.

J ANE SNIFFED BACK TEARSas she packed up her kitchen into cardboard boxes. She’d been putting this off. Since she wasn’t fit to focus on artwork, and she couldn’t possibly talk to Max while his brother was here, she’d decided it would be a good time to pack.

One nice thing about living on a boat-packing didn’t take long. Most of her possessions-those few things Scott hadn’t claimed-were already in storage.

The tears weren’t because she was leaving the Princess II for good. She mourned the loss of a relationship that hadn’t even really gotten started. The time simply wasn’t right for her and Max.

His priority was his business. And hers was her daughter. When Kaylee was older and could understand more, then Jane might try dating again. But now, it wasn’t working. Kaylee had formed such a strong attachment, and so quickly…Jane had made a mistake, and it was time to undo it. Clearly she wasn’t ready for a relationship. She needed to be just Jane for a while, so she could be sure she wasn’t grabbing on to the first available man because she wanted security, as she’d done with Scott.

Max didn’t represent security anyway. He’d told her flat out not to count on commitment from him. He’d just escaped from a job and a family that were constricting him. Why would he jump into another situation where he would feel obligated to put other people’s needs ahead of his own?

Anyway, his last serious relationship had ended when the woman wanted permanence and Max didn’t.

An emphatic knock at her door made her drop a frying pan she was about to pack, which barely missed her foot. She whirled around and saw a very anxious face peering through the window.

Max. Oh dear. She wasn’t ready to face him, but he’d caught her playing hooky from work, so she hurried to unlock the hatch and let him in.

At first he just stood there, and they stared at each other mutely. The bewildered look on his face made her heart ache, and she wanted to shrink away from it.

Surely when she explained, he would understand.

“Come in, Max,” she finally managed.

He walked down the three steps, all the while taking in her, the salon, the half-filled boxes and bubble wrap. “You’re moving?”

She wanted to touch him, to make some connection with him, but the urge was inappropriate just now. “Well, yes.”

He stared at her and she looked away. How in the world was she going to explain this to him?

“Did something go wrong with your divorce settlement? I swear, if Scott swindled you-”

“No, it has nothing to do with him.”

“Then what’s going on? You said this morning you needed to talk to me. So talk.”

“I was upset, and your brother was visiting and I wasn’t sure if I could hold it together in front of him. I know it’s important to you to make a good impression on Eddie-”

“To hell with Eddie. Why are you upset? If you got a better job offer, why didn’t you tell me? I know I’m the one who said I didn’t want to hold you back, but we can talk about a raise-”

“What? Max, I would never walk out because I got a better job offer.”

“Are you walking out, though?”

She hesitated, not wanting to just blurt it out this way. If there was any way she could stay on…“I’ll stay until you find someone to replace me. I won’t leave you in the lurch, I promise.”

“Jane, you better tell me what’s going on.”

She was perilously close to losing it again. It would be so much better if she could explain things calmly and rationally. But her emotions were too close to the surface, and Max was agitated.

Max squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Is it another man? Oh, God, you’re not going back to Scott, are you?”

“Max! That you could even think I would do that-” She almost growled in frustration, turning away and stomping to the kitchen to continue her packing. He had to know her better than that.

She chucked a couple more pans into the box, not even bothering to cushion them with paper. They made loud, satisfying clunks as they hit. But out of the corner of her eye, she also watched Max.

He walked to one of the chairs, moved a half-filled box to the floor, and sat down. Then he reached for a roll of brown packing tape, ripped off a few inches, and slapped it over his mouth.

The gesture brought a smile to her face, and her anger evaporated. In that moment she realized she loved him. Loved him and was in love with him. A man who could admit he was wrong, one with a sense of humor even in a crisis-how often did she run across one of those?

But her being in love wasn’t enough fix everything.