Victoria Pade - Not Strictly Business! - Prodigal Son / The Boss and Miss Baxter / The Baby Deal

“Did he confide in anyone?” Jack asked.

“Probably not. You hanging in there?”

“Do I have a choice?”

Jack looked at his uncle. Like all the Hanson men, he was tall, with brown hair. His eyes were lighter and he was nearly twenty years younger than his brother. Maybe that was why David had always been closer to his nephews. Maybe that was why David had been able to be there for them, Jack thought. George had been more like a father than a brother to David.

“You always have a choice,” David told him. “You could walk.”

“I gave my word to the board. I’m here for three months to clear things up and then I’m gone. I’m trying to get ahold of Evan and Andrew.”

David frowned. “Good luck with that.”

“Mrs. Wycliff is going to follow the money. That always works.” Jack shook his head. “They should be here. We should do this together.”

“You’ve never been close. Why expect it now?”

“Good point.” Jack didn’t have an answer. “Who am I kidding? If I had the chance to bolt, I’d take it.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” David said. “You could have told the board no and you didn’t. You have a strong sense of responsibility.”

“Great. Look where it got me—here.”

“Is that so bad?”

“It’s keeping me from my real job.” Jack leaned forward. “Why don’t you take over? You know more about Hanson Media Group than any of us. You could run the company.”

“Not my thing,” David said. “Even if it was, I would respect my brother’s wishes. He wanted one of his sons to be in charge.”

“We don’t know that,” Jack said. “And we won’t until the will is read.” He swore. “What was my father thinking? Why on earth would he want us to wait three months to read the will? It’s crazy. Nothing can be settled until then. For all we know, he’s giving his majority shares to the cat.”

David grinned. “He didn’t have a cat.”

Someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” David called.

His secretary walked in with a tray and set it on the coffee table. “Anything else?”

David smiled at her. “Thanks, Nina. You didn’t have to do this.”

“No problem. Oh, you had a call from the printers.”

David groaned. “I don’t want to know, do I?”

“Not really,” Nina said cheerfully. “Don’t worry. I’ve already fixed the problem.”

With that she left.

Jack reached for one of the cups of coffee. “Tell me Andrew and Evan will at least come back for the reading of the will.”

David looked at him. “Are you hoping to cut and run the second their plane touches down?”

“It crossed my mind. I have a law practice to get back to.”

“Maybe you’ll appreciate your career more if you have to suffer a little here,” his uncle told him.

Jack narrowed his gaze. “If you start talking about Zen centering, I’m going to have to punch you.”

David laughed. “You know what I mean. You shouldn’t take things for granted.”

“I don’t. I’m not here to learn a life lesson. My father convinced the board that I was the only possible heir and now they’re pressuring me to take over. It’s all about self-interest. His, theirs, mine. My father didn’t give a damn about what I wanted. He’s doing his best to control me from the grave.”

“George loved you,” David said. “In his own way.”

“That’s like saying the black widow spider doesn’t mean it personally when she kills her mate.” He took another drink of coffee. “You’ve always defended him, even as you stepped in to take his place as our father.”

David shrugged. “I wanted to help.”

“You should have had a family of your own.”

“So should you. Speaking of which, I put out a press release about the new people you’ve hired. One of the names was familiar.”

“Samantha was the best person for the job,” Jack said, refusing to get defensive.

“I don’t doubt that. I’m simply saying it was interesting to see her name again. I remember her from your time in grad school. The one who got away.”

“She was never that,” Jack told him.

“You talked about her as if she were.”

“That was a long time ago. Things are different now.”

“Is she married?”

“No.”

“Then maybe fate is giving you a second chance.”

Jack looked at his uncle. “If you start drinking herbal tea next, we’re going to have to have a talk.”

David chuckled. “I’m just saying maybe you’re getting a second chance.”

“I don’t believe in them.”

David’s humor faded and he gave Jack a serious look. “Not every woman is Shelby.”

“I know that.” He put down his coffee and stood. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. As for Samantha, she’s a co-worker, nothing more.”

David grinned. “You’re lying. But we’ll play your game and pretend you’re not.”

“Gee, thanks. And if you hear anything on the whereabouts of my brothers, let me know.”

“You’ll be the first.”

“Oh, my,” Helen said as she looked around the condo. “It’s very …”

“Plain? Beige? Boring?” Samantha asked with a grin.

“I was going to say very ‘not you.’ But those will work as well.” She stepped forward and hugged Samantha again. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me, too. Getting out of New York was number one on my to-do list. You made that happen.”

Helen sank onto the sofa and dismissed Samantha with a flick of her wrist. “Oh, please. I got you an interview. I certainly didn’t get you hired. It’s not as if Jack would ever think to ask my opinion of anything. You got the job on your own.”

Samantha settled next to her friend and touched her arm. “You look tired. How do you feel?”

“Exhausted. Shell-shocked. It’s been two months. I guess I should be used to it by now, but I’m not.” Tears filled her eyes, but Helen blinked them away. “Damn. I promised myself I was done with crying.”

“There’s no time limit on grief.”

“I know.” Helen squeezed her fingers. “You’re sweet to worry about me. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Okay. I’m pretending to be fine and that should count for something. Most of the time I do okay. I can now go for an hour or two without falling apart. In the beginning I was only able to survive minutes. So that’s an improvement. It’s just I miss him so much and I feel so alone.”

Samantha didn’t know what to say. Helen really was alone in all this. She didn’t have any family of her own and George’s sons hadn’t exactly welcomed her with open arms.

“Have you tried talking to Jack?” she asked. “He’s not unreasonable.”

“I know,” Helen said as she dug in her purse. She pulled out a tissue and wiped under her eyes. “He’s very polite and concerned, but we’re not close. I tried. I tried so hard, but no matter what I did, those boys resisted.” She sniffed. “I suppose I shouldn’t call them boys. They’re all grown men. They were grown when I met them. It’s just that’s how George thought of them. As his boys.”

Samantha angled toward her friend. “I don’t get it, either. They should have adored you.”

“Oh, I agree. I did everything I could think of. On my good days, I tell myself it wasn’t me. George was a wonderful man, but he was never very close with his sons. I don’t know why. Whatever problems they had existed long before he met me. Oh, but I loved him so much.”

“I know you did.”

Helen smiled. “All right. This is stupid. I didn’t come here to cry. I want to talk about you. Tell me everything. Are you loving your job?”

Samantha accepted the change in subject. She didn’t know how to help her friend, so maybe distracting her would allow her a few minutes away from the pain.