Manhunting

Chapter Eleven

A month later, Jake sat in an Adirondack chair on the back veranda of the resort with his feet propped on the rail, watching the sun rise over the lake, and tried to feel content. It wasn’t happening. The old nagging feeling that he used to get had grown into a full-fledged monkey on his back, and it had been making him miserable and irritable since Kate had driven away. People had taken to avoiding him whenever necessary, and even Ben had lost patience with him finally.

“Look, if you’re that unhappy, do something about it,” he’d said the night before, slapping his cue down on the table. “Just stop taking it out on the rest of us.”

Jake had slapped his own cue down and stormed out of the bar, feeling equally angry and stupid.

The feeling had stayed with him all night and into the morning and was plaguing him still. Come on, Jake, he told himself. You live in God’s country, you are gloriously free, you have no responsibilities and no real worries. You’ve got it made.

Somehow it wasn’t enough. “I’ve got it made,” he said aloud, trying to convince himself. Will, who was backing out the door to join him, carrying two steaming coffee mugs, snorted with contempt.

“You’re disgusting,” Will said, looking down at him.

“What did I do now?” Jake asked.

“Well, you’ve alienated everybody in town, for starters,” Will said. “I can’t believe you were mean to Mrs. Dickerson.”

“I wasn’t mean to Mrs. Dickerson,” Jake said, taking one of the cups. “I just said that cowboy hats looked stupid on women.”

“She was wearing a cowboy hat.”

“She was?” Jake frowned. “Damn. I didn’t notice.”

“It was bright red.” Will hesitated and then plunged on. “This is about Kate, right?”

Jake glared at him.

“Well, it’s obvious when she drives away, and you start acting like Godzilla immediately afterward.” Will glared back at him. “Call her.”

“It’s not Kate,” Jake said and got up to move to the rail and stare out at the lake.

“Yeah, right,” Will said.

“No,” Jake said. “I miss her like crazy, but it’s not Kate. I mean, she’s part of it, but it’s more.” He shook his head. “Something was wrong before she got here. She just made it worse.”

“So, what is it?” Will sat down to listen.

Jake went over all the possibilities before he forced himself to face the awful truth. “I’m bored,” he admitted.

“Hallelujah,” Will said. “The dead walk.”

Jake turned and sat on the rail to face his brother. “I’m not leaving Toby’s Corners. I like it here. I belong here.”

“So I was wrong,” Will said. “The dead are only staggering, but it’s a start. We’ll take it.”

Jake sipped his coffee and thought for a moment.

“Have we got any money?” he asked, oblivious to Will’s sarcasm.

“Sure. We’re rich.”

“No.” Jake looked at him patiently. “Money. The real stuff. Not the hotel, not the land. Money.”

Will considered. “I’ve got a fund stashed away for emergencies. It’s not much. Maybe fifteen thousand.”

“I want it,” Jake said.

Will started to make a smart comment and stopped. “All right,” he said. “Will I ever see this money again?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Jake said, grinning down at him. “You should have thought of that before you started calling me a potted plant and introducing me to pushy blondes.”

“Speaking of pushy blondes,” Will began, and Jake shook his head.

“I don’t want to talk about her,” he said.

“I’m sure you don’t,” Will said. “Question is, what are you going to do about her?”

“I don’t know,” Jake said, looking back out over the lake. “I’m considering my options.”

“That ought to keep you occupied for the next twenty years,” Will said with disgust. “You’re real good at considering your options.”

Jake scowled down at him. “You’re starting to sound like Kate.”

“Well, she’s an intelligent woman,” Will said. “We’ve got a lot in common.” He cocked a skeptical eye at his brother. “I don’t care about the money or whatever it is you’re going to do with it. But if you think playing around with it is going to make you a happy man, think again. This is about Kate and you know it.”

“I keep thinking,” Jake said, “that if I could just get her back down here, we could work everything out.” He frowned as he thought. “She was happy here, she just didn’t have anything to do. But she was happy here.” He looked back at Will. “Wasn’t she?”

“Yes. She was. Get her back,” Will said.

“How?” Jake asked him.

“Well, you could try calling her and asking her to come back,” Will said.

“No,” Jake said. “There’s nothing down here for her. I can’t ask her to come down here just for me.”

“You’re pathetic,” Will said.

“Not pathetic enough to expect her to give up her life just because I want her back,” Jake said. “There’s got to be another reason for her to come back. There’s got to be another way to get her back.”

Will looked at him with disgust. “Have her kidnapped. Tell her you’re pregnant and she’s the mother. Leave a trail of bread crumbs.”

Jake scowled at him. “I don’t think Kate likes bread crumbs. I need help here. You are not helping.”

“Well, then, leave a trail of something she likes,” Will said, getting up to leave. “Just do something instead of moping around looking like a kicked dog and snarling at everybody.” He left, banging the screen door behind him.

“The only thing she likes is managing other people’s businesses,” Jake said to nobody in particular. And then after a moment, he added, “And me.” It was a new approach, and it brought to mind a new option. He sipped his coffee and stared at the lake while he considered it.

Then he put his mug down on the rail and went to Nancy ’s.

Two weeks later, Kate sat in her luxurious office, speaking patiently into her phone with Chester Vandenburg, the vice president of a company that she had been working night and day for the past six weeks to save. Part of her furious concentration was because the company had six hundred employees and four times that many stockholders, and she felt an edge of panic every time she focused on how close the whole thing was to going under. All those people. All those poor people.

The other part of her concentration was an effort to avoid remembering how much she hated the city, how much she despised her job, and above all, how much she missed Jake.

“All right, Mr. Vandenburg,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. “Would you like to explain to me why you just voted the CEO of your failing company a million-dollar raise?”

She tapped her pen hard against the desk as she listened to his dulcet tones explaining the need to cherish good management “Good management is the backbone of industry, Miss Svenson, and surely-”

“That good management is shipping your firm right down the tubes, Mr. Vandenburg,” Kate interrupted, still tapping her pen savagely. “It’s Titanic time over at your place, and you just gave the iceberg a nail for ripping a hole in your hull. Have you any idea of the view your stockholders are going to take of this? Roughly the same view that the passengers did on that other disaster, except that this time, Mr. Vandenburg, this time it will not be women and children first. This time everybody’s going down with the ship. Do you feel any guilt about this at all, Mr. Vandenburg? About the employees and stockholders you just screwed? Have you any moral fiber whatsoever?”

She stopped when she heard her voice rising to a shriek.

His voice came over the line, oily and unctuous. “I don’t think you understand big business, Ms. Svenson. Perhaps if-”

“I was raised on big business, Mr. Vandenburg. I cut my teeth on stocks and bonds and wrote my first school paper on leveraged buyouts. My third-grade teacher was quite impressed. I cannot help but feel, however, that she would be even more impressed with the magnitude of your ability to ignore what is happening under your nose at the same time you are facilitating it.”

“Are you accusing me of impropriety?”

“Either impropriety or ineptitude on a truly magnificent scale,” Kate snapped. “With you, possibly both.”

Mr. Vandenburg cleared his throat ominously. “Perhaps it would be better if the firm of Bertram Svenson, Ltd. assigned someone else to our little problem,” he threatened.

“What a good idea,” Kate said. “I suggest the SEC.”

She heard a click on the other end of the phone as Mr. Vandenburg hung up, and then her door opened.

“It’s just me,” Jessie said as she backed in holding two waxy white paper bags. She dropped them on Kate’s desk. “Sugar and caffeine,” she said. “Apple fritters and black coffee. You look like hell.”

“Thank you,” Kate said. “I feel like hell. I always knew I worked with scum, but I never realized it was this bad.” She pulled a foam cup from the bag and pried the lid off. “This smells good. Are the fritters from Debbie’s?”

“Yep. She sends her love and said to tell you that business is great and she’s thankful for your advice every day.”

“I need more Debbies and fewer Vandenburgs,” Kate said. “Unfortunately, it’s a Vandenburg kind of town.” She sipped her coffee and stared wistfully at the fritter Jessie shoved in front of her.

“Who’s Vandenburg?” Jessie asked as she opened her own coffee.

“One of several jerks I am currently trying to keep from financially murdering their own companies.” She sighed and then looked at her best friend, who was blithely chomping away on a fritter. “You know, I used to enjoy this, but now… I’m losing my edge, Jess.”

“You?” Jessie snorted. “Never. How many morons did you slash today?”

“Not enough,” Kate said. “I want to stay and fight the good fight, but this is ridiculous.” She leaned back in her chair. “I’m so tired of this, Jessie.”

Jessie dropped her fritter on the floor in surprise. “You’re kidding. That’s great.”

She bent to pick up her fritter and Kate said, “No, it isn’t. This is my career.”

“You have a very clean floor,” Jessie said, examining her fritter. “There’s no dirt on here at all.” She bit into the doughnut again, chewed, swallowed, and said, “So have this career somewhere else. Like, say, Kentucky.”

“No,” Kate said.

“You’d go back if Jake wasn’t there,” Jessie said. “You miss it.”

“Maybe,” Kate said. She pulled her fritter toward her and looked at it sadly. “I’m so miserable, I’m not even hungry.”

“You miss Jake, too,” Jessie said. “I can’t believe you’re being such a wimp about this.”

“I am not a wimp,” Kate said. “It’s been six weeks, and he hasn’t called. He probably wouldn’t recognize my name.”

“Oh, please,” Jessie said. “Spare me.”

“He’s probably forgotten I exist. Six weeks.” She looked at Jessie, the hurt plain in her eyes. “Six weeks, and he hasn’t even called once. I’ve given up checking my machine. I buried it under my dry cleaning because every time I go home there’s either no blinking light or, worse, there is one and it’s somebody trying to sell me something.” She shook her head and gestured to her office. “This is all I’ve got, Jess. And I hate it.”

Her secretary buzzed her again. “Tim Davis of Davis Enterprises on two.”

“Yet another jerk,” Kate said and picked up the phone. “Hello, Tim.”

“What the hell is this about not laying off the Princeton plant?”

“It’s not cost-effective,” Kate said. “The money you save in the layoffs will be counteracted by your retraining fees and start-up costs when the plant kicks into gear again. Also, it’s very bad PR, laying off people who have worked for you for twenty years.” Kate clenched her jaw to keep from screaming. “That kind of thing is right up there with ripping off the pension fund. And speaking of the pension fund, I was just going over some interesting figures.”

“Who the hell are you working for?”

“My daddy,” Kate said. “He’s a son of a bitch, but he never stole from widows and orphans. Clean this up, Tim.”

He hung up on her, and she dropped the phone back in its cradle. She looked over at Jessie and said, “I hate this. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.”

“What you need here,” Jessie said, “is a plan.” She reached across Kate’s desk and pulled a memo pad toward her.

“Oh, no, I don’t,” Kate said.

“Why not?” Jessie said. “It worked before. Give me a pen.”

“Yes,” Kate said. “It worked beautifully. That’s why I’m back here, lonely and miserable…”

“Now as I recall,” Jessie said, ignoring her, “first we set goals. In this case, I think the goal should be to get you married to Jake.” She stretched her arm across the desk and took Kate’s pen.

“Jessie,” Kate began, and Jessie overrode her again.

“Now, what’s keeping you from marrying Jake?”

“Well, he’s not speaking to me, and that’s a real drawback,” Kate said, sarcastically.

“We don’t know that he’s not speaking to you,” Jessie said. “We just know that he’s not calling you. There’s a difference.”

“At the moment, it escapes me,” Kate said, but Jessie wrote down, “1. He won’t call,” and then looked at Kate again. “What else?”

“Jessie,” Kate said, but Jessie said, “Look, the man loves you. You love him. And I’m going to get you back together. What else?”

“He thinks he might love me,” Kate corrected. “He was still pondering the question when I left.”

“Okay,” Jessie said and wrote, “2. He thinks he might love her.” She looked down at the list and said, “This is coming along nicely. What else?”

“Well,” Kate said, seething as she thought about it, “he hates confrontation. But he also hates women who manipulate him, which pretty much cuts off all form of human contact except sex.”

“How does he feel about sex?”

“He’s heavily in favor of it,” Kate said, wondering gloomily if he still was, and if so, with whom.

“Okay,” Jessie said, and wrote down, “3. He hates confrontation and manipulation.”

“Plus,” Kate said, “he’s not working. He’s just wasting himself, and that drives me crazy.”

“Well, it is his life,” Jessie began, and Kate overrode her.

“It’s a terrible waste and he knows it. He’s just running away from commitment of any kind. And what really makes me crazy is that he uses the opposite argument for keeping me away. He says there’d be no career for me there, so I have to go. But there’s no career for him there and he gets to stay.”

“Well, you would go nuts not working,” Jessie pointed out fairly, but she wrote down, “4. He’s not working. 5. He runs away from commitment. 6. He thinks there’s no career for her there.”

“Okay, read me the list,” Kate said gloomily, and Jessie did.

“Is that it?” Jessie said. “We can fix this stuff.”

“No, there’s another one,” Kate said. “He doesn’t want to get married. And I do. I want it all. Commitment, rings, the church, the whole thing.”

“Okay,” Jessie said and wrote down, “7. He doesn’t want to get married.” She shoved the list across to Kate. “Piece of cake.”

Kate looked at her in disbelief. “Jessie, this is awful. What do you mean, piece of cake?”

“Well, you’re going to have to do some compromising,” Jessie said. “If the man doesn’t want a career, he doesn’t want a career.”

Kate frowned and said, “Maybe. What about the rest?”

Jessie pulled the list back and studied it. “Well, number one really is easy. He won’t call? You call him.”

“And sit and listen to his embarrassed silence on the other end? No.”

“Then go down and see him. It’s only a four-hour drive. You miss Nancy. Penny’s down there. It’s been a month. Go visit.”

“I don’t know…” Kate said.

“Do you want him or not?” Jessie snapped.

Kate thought about Jake, about how good it felt just to be with him, about how right she felt whenever he was around. “I want him,” she said.

“Great,” Jessie said. “Now number two. He thinks he might love you.” She looked up at Kate. “It’s been a month. He may know for sure by now.”

“Which is why he hasn’t called,” Kate said. “I hate this list.”

“Do you love him?” Jessie demanded.

Kate swallowed and said, “Yes.”

“Well, you haven’t called him, either,” Jessie said. “Silence does not necessarily indicate a lack of interest. He could just be as big a chicken about this as you are.”

“Chicken?” Kate said, but Jessie moved on down the list.

“Now, number three, he’s going to have to give in on. I mean, you either confront or manipulate. Personally, I favor confrontation.”

“I know,” Kate said. “That is abundantly clear to everyone who knows you.”

“So, go down there and confront him. Tell him you love him and you’re insisting on marriage.”

“And when he says, ‘I think I remember you, vaguely,’ I can just crawl under the nearest rock.”

“Stop it,” Jessie said. “You know damn well he remembers you more than vaguely. Now, number four.”

“I’m still not happy about numbers one, two, and three,” Kate said, but Jessie said, “Number four we’ve already decided you’re giving in on. If he doesn’t want a career, he doesn’t have to have one. Number five is really number seven so we’ll put that off. Number six-”

“I don’t remember the numbers anymore,” Kate said. “What was number five?”

“Number six is a career for you down there. That we can do if we just work on it,” Jessie said. “Look, you keep telling me how overworked this Will character is. And the place must be full of little craft shops and stuff like that run by people whose idea of bookkeeping is a legal pad under the register.”

“Jessie, none of those things is a full-time job,” Kate said.

“Not one of them, maybe,” Jessie said. “But maybe all of them are.”

“What?”

Jessie shrugged. “Do them all. Once people start to hear about you, they’ll come in from other places, too. All of that stuff together would keep you busy enough doing freelance consulting.” She sipped some coffee. “I also think you ought to buy into Nancy ’s bar. You need to have something to fix, and that could take years.”

“ Nancy doesn’t want to sell,” Kate said.

“She doesn’t want to sell all of it,” Jessie said. “You could talk her into half, expanding with the money you’d put in. You could convince her.”

“That wouldn’t be right,” Kate said. “It’s her bar. It wouldn’t be right for me to try-”

“It’s good for the bar. It’s good for Nancy. And it’s good for Toby’s Corners,” Jessie said flatly. “Stop being such a wimp. Do it.”

“Carl Avery of Woolf Technologies, line three,” Kate’s secretary said, and Kate groaned and picked up the line.

“Kate! Darling, how are you?”

“What do you want, Carl?” Kate said. “I’ve been talking to morons all morning. I have no patience left.”

“Well, then, I’ll get right to the point,” Carl said cheerily. “This dividend you wanted us to pay? Bad idea, Katie girl. Very bad. I’ll just pencil that out, what say?”

“Over my dead body,” Kate said, taking her pen back from Jessie. “Your stockholders are due a dividend. Pay it.”

“Kate.” Carl chuckled. “Kate, Kate, Kate.”

“Carl,” Kate said, tapping her pen hard against her desk, “pay it or I’ll put you on my SEC Christmas-gift list.”

“Kate,” he said with much less enthusiasm, “this is not good business. That’s what we pay your firm for- good business advice.”

“Carl,” Kate said, “what you want to do is morally repugnant and marginally illegal. This is good business advice.”

“I’ll talk to your father,” Carl said abruptly.

“Good idea,” Kate said. “Maybe he’ll send me to bed without my supper. Who do you think you’re kidding?”

But Carl had already hung up.

“I’m telling you,” Jessie said, “Toby’s Corners is full of Debbies. And no Vandenburgs except on the golf course. And no- Who was the moron on the phone?”

“Carl Avery,” Kate said. “A long-standing client and potential felon.”

“Well, there are no Carl Averys in Toby’s Corners, either.” Jessie finished her fritter and licked the sugar off her fingers. “You could help little businesses and make Nancy ’s bar famous-”

“Maybe Nancy doesn’t want a famous bar,” Kate said.

“Well, she’s going to get one. Which brings us to number seven,” Jessie said. “Marriage and commitment.”

“Ouch. That is the big one,” Kate said, wincing. “Are you sure we solved one through six?”

“Shut up,” Jessie said. “You’re going to have to propose.”

“No,” Kate said.

“Yes,” Jessie said. “If you want something in life, you have to go after it If Jake is allergic to marriage, you’re just going to have to make the first move.”

“He’ll say no,” Kate said. “You don’t know Jake.”

“No, but I know you,” Jessie said. “And no man in his right mind would say no to you.”

“Jake’s not in his right mind.”

“He loves you.”

“Maybe,” she said, and Jessie groaned.

“Look,” she said. “This is your choice. Are you going to choose to be happy with Jake and Nancy and Penny down south, or miserable with Vandenburg, Avery, and Whatsis up here?”

“Well, if I stay up here I have you, too,” Kate pointed out.

“No, you don’t,” Jessie said. “If you walk away from this, I’m never speaking to you again.”

“Let me see that list again,” Kate said, and Jessie handed it to her. Kate brushed the fritter sugar off it and studied it. It was a lousy list, but it was doable. “All right,” she said. “I’ll do it.”

Jessie shoved the phone toward her so fast it almost skidded off the desk. “Call Nancy. Buy into that bar.”

“Now?”

“Of course, now,” Jessie said. “Let the company pay for the call. Do it.”

Kate froze, staring at the phone. “Just like that. Change my whole life, just like that.”

“Yeah, just like that. What the hell.” Jessie looked at Kate closely. “You look strange. Are you okay?”

“I’m terrified,” Kate said. “I don’t think this-”

“Don’t be dumb,” Jessie said. “This will be a piece of cake. Trust me. Call Nancy.” Jessie picked up Kate’s fritter and waved it at the phone before she bit into it. “I’m telling you, call Nancy.”

Kate thought for a moment, picked up the phone, and began to dial. She bit her lip while the phone rang, and then said brightly, “ Nancy?”

“Kate? At last,” Nancy said. “I’ve been calling and calling.”

“You have?” Kate said. “My secretary didn’t-”

“We didn’t have your business number. I’ve been calling you at home for the past two days. You have at least five messages on your machine. Don’t you ever go home?”

“Well, lately only to sleep,” Kate said. “What’s wrong? Is Jake okay?”

“No,” Nancy said. “You’re not answering your phone. He thinks you’re either dead or with another man, and he’s not sure which he’d hate more. Will and I have been pushing the ‘other man’ theory.”

“Why?” Kate said, confused.

“Motivation,” Nancy said. “He’s miserable without you, but he won’t do anything about it, so we’re hoping jealousy will goose him into action. If he shows up at your front door screaming, ‘Where is he?’ you can thank us.”

Kate started to laugh. “He misses me?” she said. “He really does?”

“Well, he won’t admit it, but believe me, ‘misses you’ is an understatement. We’re thinking of having him committed. He even insulted Mrs. Dickerson. He’s really miserable. I think you’d better come back and save him.”

“Well, actually, that’s what I called about,” Kate said. “Not saving Jake, but coming back. I’d like to-” she took a deep bream “-I’d like to buy into the bar. But not manage it,” she added hastily. “Not get in your way. I wouldn’t…”

“Go ahead, get in my way,” Nancy said. “I think it’s a great idea. I’ve been going over that master plan you made. I like it. Move back here and we’ll do it.”

“You’ve been going over the plan?” Kate said. “That’s wonderful.” Kate blinked her surprise at Jessie, who said, “I told you so,” around a mouthful of fritter. “That’s terrific,” Kate said. “I’m stunned. I guess great minds do think alike.”

“It wasn’t actually my great mind at first,” Nancy said. “It was Jake’s.”

“Jake’s?” Kate’s voice broke with surprise.

“Yeah. He’s spent the past couple of weeks in here every night, explaining to me about how much better my life would be if you were here.” Nancy laughed. “I’ve seen transparent excuses before, but this one was practically invisible. He wants you back. Bad.”

A couple of weeks. Jake had been thinking about this for a couple of weeks, leaving her in hell… “Well, why isn’t he calling me, then?” Kate demanded.

“I don’t know,” Nancy said. “I don’t explain Jake. Come down here and ask him. And bring money. Your half of this dump is not going to come cheap. We’re going to get you so invested in this place that you’re never going to leave again.”

“I’m already that invested in that place,” Kate said. “But if I’ve been sitting up here miserable for six weeks while Jake’s been sitting down there miserable for six weeks just because he didn’t want to call and tell me he’d made a mistake, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

“Pay me first,” Nancy said, “because there’s definitely going to be hell to pay.”

When Kate hung up a few minutes later, Jessie was finishing the last of the fritter. “So let’s go to your place and I’ll help you pack,” she said to Kate as she licked her fingers. “We can have you on the road by nightfall.”

“No,” Kate said. “I have Vandenburg, Avery, and Davis to shove onto someone else. I have to fax my father my resignation and I’m not even sure where he is right now- Hong Kong, I think. I have to call a real-estate agent to sell my condo. I have to convert most of my investments to cash. And I have to decide about how I’m going to handle this list with Jake.”

“Don’t delay,” Jessie said. “If you delay, you will back out.”

“I can’t back out,” Kate said, staring into space trying to decide whether she was delighted or horrified. “I just bought half a bar.”

One week later, Jake sat in the hotel office, staring into a computer screen while his fingers danced over a numeric keypad. He was so mesmerized by what he was doing that he didn’t hear the door open.

Kate stood in the office doorway for a moment, amazed. The only thing she’d ever seen Jake do with that sort of absorption before was make love to her. That reminded her of why she was there. She closed the door behind her and sat down in the chair across the desk from him and tried to remember that Nancy had said that he wanted her back, and that Jessie had said all she had to do to be happy for the rest of her life was to confront him.

With her list.

She looked at him, haloed in the lamplight, and she knew she didn’t want to confront him; she wanted to crawl into his lap. He looked big and broad and safe and like everything she’d ever wanted.

And he hadn’t even noticed she was there yet.

“Hello,” she said loudly. Jake looked up, startled.

They stared at each other for a moment while Kate waited for him to ask her what she was doing there.

“Hi,” Jake said. He started to say something else and stopped.

Another moment passed before Kate said, “I suppose you’re wondering what I’m doing here.”

And he said, “No. I’m just glad you’re here. You look great.”

“Thank you,” Kate said. “So do you.”

They stared at each other for another moment. Come on, Kate told herself. Get this over with. Confront him. “I bought into Nancy ’s bar,” she began.

And Jake said, “I know. She told me. Last week. I think it’s great.”

“Oh,” Kate said. “Well, that means I’ll be moving down here. In fact, I’m here.”

“That’s great,” Jake said again.

They stared at each other again, and finally Kate gave up. What was the point of confronting him. He didn’t care, anyway. He was just sitting there, saying, “Great” like a big dummy. Anger, confusion, and misery warred in her, and anger won.

“I think I’ll be going,” Kate said tightly, standing, and Jake sprang up and said, “Wait a minute.”

“I’ve been waiting six weeks,” Kate snapped. “That’s long enough.”

“You’ve only been here ten minutes,” Jake said. “Don’t exaggerate.”

“I’ve been gone six weeks,” Kate said. “You didn’t call. Did you even notice I was gone?”

“Of course, I noticed,” Jake said. “It was awful.”

“Six weeks,” Kate said. “Six miserable, lonely, horrible weeks.”

“Hey, I was miserable, too,” Jake said.

“Then why didn’t you call?” Kate yelled.

“Well, I was thinking,” Jake began.

“You were thinking? For six weeks, you were thinking? Do you know how miserable I’ve been for the six weeks you’ve been thinking?”

“See?” Jake said reasonably. “This is why I hate this kind of stuff.”

Kate began to pound on the desk. “Do you have any idea how awful it’s been? I’ve cried for you, damn it. And I never cry.”

“Kate…” Jake began, appalled.

“Six weeks!” Kate yelled. “And don’t think I moved down here to chase you, either. I hate it in the city, and I love it here, and I’d move here even if you weren’t here!”

“Well, see,” Jake said soothingly. “That’s something else we’ve got in common.”

“We have nothing in common,” Kate snapped and wheeled around to go out the door. Jake beat her to it by a second and stood in front of her, blocking her way. “Just give me a chance,” he said.

“No,” she said. “Get out of my way.”

“I can’t,” he said, reaching for her, shaking his head. “I can’t let you go again. And you love me. You cried for me. You said so.”

“I’ll get over you,” Kate said. “In fact, I may be over you now.”

“No, you’re not,” Jake said, and pulled her to him and kissed her.

Kate had forgotten how mind-bending Jake’s kisses could be, how hot his mouth felt on hers, and how good and solid and right it felt to have his arms around her, and above all, how much she just needed to be with him. When she leaned into his kiss, she felt him relax against her, and they held each other close long after the kiss ended.

“Tell me you’re not over me,” Jake said.

“I’m not over you,” Kate said into his chest. “I’m never going to be over you. It’s my curse in life.”

“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Jake said fervently. “I thought you were really going to walk out.”

“I was,” Kate said. She took a deep breath and tried to pull away from him. “I may still. I have a list of demands.”

“You can have them,” Jake said, pulling her back close to him so she couldn’t walk away. “All of them. Anything you want.”

“You won’t like them,” Kate said.

“I’ll live.” He looked down at her and smiled, and she felt herself melting into him again. Before she could surrender completely, she pulled Jessie’s list out of her pocket and shoved it at him.

“What’s this?” he asked, taking it with one hand while keeping the other arm wrapped around her just in case she changed her mind, and she said, “Those are my demands. You’re going to hate them.”

He looked at the list and said, “You have really terrible handwriting.”

“That’s Jessie’s,” Kate said, feeling like a fool. “Give it back. It’s dumb.”

“No,” he said and read, “‘Number one: He won’t call.’” He looked at Kate, confused.

“Well, you didn’t call,” Kate said.

“I’ll call. I’ll talk morning, noon, and night. Does it have to be on the phone?”

“Give me the list.” Kate said, reaching for it but he held it out of her grasp.

“‘Two: He thinks he might love her,’” Jake read. “Why does this list make no sense?”

“You said you only thought you loved me,” Kate said. “It was a worry.”

“Your worries are over,” Jake said, looking at her with such certainty that she was stunned. “I’m nuts about you.”

“Oh,” Kate said.

He went back to the list. ‘“Three: He hates confrontation and manipulation,’” he read. “Well, that’s true enough. What’s the problem?”

“You’re going to have to choose one or the other or we won’t be talking much,” Kate said. “Do you want me to confront or manipulate?”

Jake sighed. “Confront. You will anyway. What’s number four? ‘He’s not working.’” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Want to bet? Come here.” He drew her around to the other side of the desk, sat down in the desk chair, and pulled her into his lap, still holding on to her. “Okay, this is iffy because it’s not exactly a career. See the nice computer?”

“Yes,” Kate said.

“I’m playing the market again,” Jake said. “It’s not a career in the finest sense of the word, but…”

“What?” Kate said and leaned forward in his lap to look at the screen.

“You were right,” Jake said. “I was rotting. But I don’t want to go back to the rat race. So I thought I’d just stay here and be a slow rat. And maybe, someday, maybe, I’ll try Templeton Financial Services. Like it?”

“I’m amazed,” Kate said, and Jake pulled her back close to him while he looked at the list.

“‘Five: He runs away from commitment.’” Jake read. “Forget that. I’m committed. ‘Six: He thinks there’s no career for her there.’ I took care of that already when I talked Nancy into the bar idea. ‘Seven: He doesn’t want to get married.’”

“I do,” Kate said. “I really do. Rings, in a church, the whole thing.”

“Good,” Jake said. “I spent a lot of money on these.” Taking a deep breath and holding her close to him with one arm, he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small ring box.

“Rings?” she said, sitting up away from him again as he handed her the box. “You bought rings? You didn’t call me for six weeks, but you bought rings?”

“I wanted to have them when I proposed,” Jake said, watching her as she opened the box. “I do not enjoy this stuff, and I thought that maybe I could just hand them to you and you’d be so stunned…”

“I am stunned,” Kate said, looking at the rings. There were two carved wedding bands and a solitaire.

“There’s more,” Jake said. “I bought a house.”

“A house,” Kate said. “You bought rings and a house.”

“It’s just an old cottage on the lake,” Jake said, looking worried. “Did I screw up again?”

“You bought a house,” Kate said. “What are you going to do with the house and the rings if I don’t say yes?”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Jake said fervently. “I’ve been having nightmares about that.”

“Propose,” Kate said.

“Will you marry me?” Jake said.

“Yes,” Kate said and put the solitaire on her finger.

Jake pulled her back close to him and said, “Thank you,” with such heartfelt gratitude and relief that Kate was amazed all over again.

“You really do want this,” she said.

“I really do want this,” he said.

“Then why six weeks…” she began, and this time he interrupted her.

“Listen, I know you’re sure about this, but you’re sure about everything,” he said, his voice filled with love and concern. “I’m not sure about anything. I worry. And let’s face it, it’s not always going to be easy with us.”

“I know,” Kate said.

“I wanted to be sure when I asked you,” Jake said, looking at her with more love than she could bear. “And now, I’m sure.”

“Oh,” Kate said and swallowed. “I still can’t believe you bought a house and ring and let me cry for six weeks. Don’t ever-”

“That’s what I mean,” Jake said. “I don’t think I ever will, but I just didn’t know how to ask you. I didn’t even know how after I was sure. Look how badly I handled this. And we’re going to hit this again. I will try my best, but I’ll screw up and you’ll fly off the handle and we’ll fight.”

Kate swallowed again. “I know.”

“But the important thing for me,” he said, looking into her eyes, “is that whatever problem we have, we can solve, because nothing will ever be as bad for me as being away from you. Nothing.”

“Oh,” Kate said.

“Kate?” Jake asked when she’d been quiet for a while.

“I’m just overwhelmed,” Kate said, trying not to cry. “I thought I’d come back here and you might be glad to see me, and you might tell me you thought you loved me but you weren’t sure, and you might even reluctantly marry me, but I never thought…”

Jake held her tighter. “Have I been that big a jerk? I thought you knew-”

“No,” Kate said. “But I do now. Now that you’ve told me.” She flashed her solitaire in the lamplight and then looked at it more closely. “These carvings. On the band. Are these fish?” she asked finally in a strangled voice.

“I had to have them made specially,” Jake said.

“Fish?” Kate asked again, looking at him and loving him so much, she was almost paralyzed by it.

“Some of our best moments were in front of the fish,” Jake said. “I didn’t want to get you an ordinary ring. You’re not an ordinary woman.”

“Fish,” Kate said. “Have I mentioned that I’m going to love you till the day I die?”

“You’d better,” Jake said. “Because that’s how long you’re going to have me around.” He waited a beat and then added, “Unless you kill me in bed. Go ahead and try. I don’t mind.”

Kate looked at the ring on her finger again. “I’m engaged,” she said, and flashed it in the light again.

“Well, you’ve been that before,” Jake said as she admired her ring. “That’s why I think we should get married this weekend.”

“What?” Kate said, startled. And when she turned her face to his, he kissed her, pulling her so close she felt like he’d never let her go. She kissed him back, loving the way his lips felt on hers, the gentle tickle of his mustache on her skin. And when he broke the kiss, she clung to him and buried her face in his shirt because it felt so good to be pressed against him, so safe to have his arms wrapped around her. He felt like home, and she’d never been there before.

“Engagements don’t work with you,” Jake said into her hair. “Those other guys, they waited too long. They let you get away.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kate said, turning her face up to his again. “If you think I’m leaving you, you’re crazy. You proposed and I’ve got the fish to prove it.”

“Of course, that was partly your fault,” Jake went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “You and your plan.”

“Hey.” Kate straightened. “My plan worked just fine. I got you, didn’t I?”

“And I was part of your plan?” Jake grinned at her. “I don’t think so. I think I hijacked you, babe. Blindsided you while you were twit-hunting. The best thing that ever happened to you was me showing up and that plan going south.”

Kate started to protest and then stopped. He was smiling at her with so much cheerfully confident love that she went dizzy just looking at him. He was tall and dependable and successful at life, a guy with a great sense of humor who was terrific in bed and would love her to the point of madness to the day she died.

“What was I thinking?” she said, and relaxed back into the warm arms of the best plan she’d ever made, planning to stay there forever.