Can't Buy Me Love (21 page)

“I’m
just not fond of the idea of visiting the state prison on weekends. Even if
they do stick him in some white collar facility.”

“By
disown, I sort of mean that you’d stay away from your father completely.”

Lena
sighed. “I should. I know I should. But he’s still my father. Warts and all.”

Frank
speared a hunk of pork chop with his fork, and waved it at Lena. “Why do you
have any loyalty at all to that man?” he asked with sincere curiosity.

And
Lena shook her head and said, “He used to be different. He’s always been
driven, but he changed after Mom died.  And Dad’s the only parent I’ve got
left.”

“Some
parent,” Frank said gruffly. “Well you’ve got me, anyway. I’m not quite old
enough to be your father, but I’m close. And I’m sure prouder of you than your
Dad ever seems to be.”

Lena
smiled over at her friend. “Thanks. Really. That means a lot. More than you
know, probably. And yeah, I’m certainly closer to you than I am to my father.”

Frank
stood up then. “Dinner was great, especially since I just invited myself. But I’d
probably better help you clean up and then get going. I’ve got a few things to
do yet this evening, and I’d like to make it an early night if I can.”

“No
need to help with the clean-up, Frank. Everything will just go into the
dishwasher. And really, I’m so glad you came. Come anytime. And I’ll look
forward to meeting Frankie on Saturday night.”

“Thanks,
Lena. I’ll catch you at the shelter sometime this week. I left you a few notes
on your desk so you know what’s up after the weekend, but nothing that needs
attention right away.”

“All
right. I’ll take a look in the morning and call you if I need to. Have a good
few days off.”

“Oh
geez. I nearly forgot to ask you. Speaking of days off, would you mind
switching days with me next weekend? Can you work Sunday for me, and I’ll take
Monday for you?”

“Sure.
That works.”

“Frankie
wants to introduce me to folks at her church. It won’t be a regular thing, but
I’d like to go once. She talks about her friends there all the time, and I know
this is important to her.”

“I
don’t mind. I don’t even mind working schedules out with you if this becomes a
regular thing. We can alternate weekends, or even look at bringing someone else
on part time. We can figure it out if we need to.”

“Well
I appreciate it,” Frank said gruffly.

“Any
Monday that I don’t have to work is a good Monday in my book,” Lena grinned.

“OK
then. Let me see if Winston will let me say goodbye to him, then I’ll head out,"
Frank grinned as he headed down the hall toward the open crate. Squatting down
in front of the door, he reached his hand gently forward to let the skittish
dog sniff him. Winston edged up to his hand, gave his palm a quick lick, and then
retreated to the back of his crate. “Hey, that’s progress,” Frank chuckled. “Soon,
he’ll let me scritch his ears.”

Giving
her good friend a solid hug, Lena thanked him again for coming over. She hadn’t
wanted to be alone tonight, but asking anyone for company on such short notice
had seemed like too much of a bother. Having Frank just show up was perfect. And
she didn’t even feel the need for a spoon and a carton of Cherry Garcia
tonight. Maybe just a good book and an empty spot on the couch, in case Winston
decided to join her.

She
loaded the dishwasher, rinsing out the sink and cleaning off the cooktop and
countertops. Leftovers into fridge. Wine bottle into recycling. Wine glasses
next to sink for thorough washing later. She was just drying her hands on a
clean dish towel when there was another knock on her door.

Good
heavens, it’s like Grand Central Station around here. Now what?
she thought, once again peering through the peephole on her front door. Poor
Winston was never going to get fed at this rate.

“Jeanette?”
OK, this was a surprise. Lena wasn’t sure that Jeanette had ever just appeared
anywhere without careful planning, let alone on her doorstep.

Her
stepmother looked cautious, but determined. “Hi Lena. I’m sorry to just drop by
like this. But would you mind terribly if I came in for a few minutes?”

Lena
stepped back, gently pulling her into the room. “Mind? I don’t mind at all. Come
on in. Is everything OK, Jeanette? You’ve never come by here before without
Dad.”

“Everything
is fine. Well, no, not exactly fine, but... that’s what I wanted to talk to you
about.”

“Then
please, sit down. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?”

“No,
but thanks for offering.” She moved into the living room and sat down in one of
the comfortable chairs, setting her purse on the floor next to her.

“You
look good, Jeanette,” Lena said softly. And she did. She had good color in her
cheeks, the vacant gaze in her eyes was gone, and she looked like she had
purpose again.

“Thanks,
Lena. I feel better. A lot better, actually.” She looked her step-daughter in
the eyes and said, “I checked myself into rehab for a few weeks. I'm going to
AA meetings. I’m sober for the first time in about six years.”

Lena
sank down onto the chair next to her and gaped at her stepmother. “Six
years
?”

Jeanette
looked amused. “You didn’t realize that?”

Shaking
her head, Lena thought back to Jeanette’s behavior over time. “No,” she
answered slowly, still thinking. “I noticed in the last six
months
,
maybe.”

“I
was hiding it well for a long time. It’s only been in the last year or so that
I’ve been drinking more. And a lot of the heavy recent drinking has to do with
what your father has done at work.” She interrupted herself with a grimace. “I’m
sorry. I don’t intend to sit here and say things about him behind his back, but
I know that he told you today about what’s been happening at the office.”

Lena
nodded. “He did.”

“And,
I presume, what he sees as his solution.”

With
a rueful smile, Lena nodded again.

“So
I came over here to tell you not to do it. Don’t marry a man you don’t love,
Lena. Not for any reason. And definitely not for
this
reason – where William
got himself into a mess and now wants you to bail him out. That’s not only
unfair to you, but it’s wrong.”

“Jeanette…”

“Let
me finish, Lena. This is hard for me, and I need to just get it out. Look. I
married your father for the wrong reasons. It turned out all right in many
ways, but it hasn’t been easy. After realizing the mistakes he’s made at work,
and the poor decisions he’s made as a result, and then watching him not take responsibility
for any of it… Well, I’m just not sure this marriage is something I can remain
a part of. I want to see how this all plays out, but if it doesn’t change your
father in some significant way, I’m going to need to leave.

“When
you brought me home from that Cancer Society dinner, I had no idea how I’d
behaved that night. I fell asleep before you left, and I didn’t remember any of
it. But a very old and dear friend of mine came over the next day, as concerned
as you were. Helen had quietly videotaped me on her phone, and she showed me
the video and then deleted it. But it was bad, Lena. I had no idea how
embarrassing my behavior was. It took you and her to show me. Not your father. Your
father enabled my drinking, even encouraged it. But he never tried to get me
help. As soon as she left, I picked up the phone and called another friend I
knew who had been in rehab and got a recommendation for a place to go. And I
checked myself in.”

“I
had no idea, Jeanette. I’m so sorry.”

“For
what? You did everything you could. And I’m grateful. But drinking can be a
coping mechanism, dear. And that’s how I used it. I used it to cope with a
husband who cared more about money, power, and control than he cared about me. But
that’s over. If he can’t change, I have no reason to stay in that kind of a
relationship. I’m stronger than that now.”

Lena
leaned back on her couch. “Believe it or not, I understand. And I don’t blame
you.”

“One
of the things about AA is that they urge you to make amends to those you hurt
along the way as a result of drinking. I wanted to apologize to you. I wasn’t
the kind of step-mother you needed, not after you lost your Mom so young. I
wish I could make that up to you, but I hope you understand that I’ve always
been very fond of you. And, if it’s not too late, I’d like for us to be
friends. I admire who you’ve become, Lena. Despite what your father says, although
I think he’s mostly annoyed that he can’t control you,” she smiled. “But you’ve
worked hard to get where you are. And I’m proud of you.”

“I
don’t quite know what to say…”

“Good,
because I’m not quite done. Look. I like Chase. I’ve always liked him. He’s a
nice young man, he’s honest, he’s smart, and Lord knows he’s easy on the eyes. But
I’ve watched you two for a long time, and it’s only recently that I’ve seen any
kind of a spark between you. Don’t let your father douse that. If you marry
Chase for the wrong reasons, you may end up like me. And I don’t want that for
you. OK. Now I’m done.” She smiled. “That’s a lot to take in. I’m sorry.”

Lena’s
gazed with affection at her stepmother. “First of all, there’s nothing to
forgive. You were always kind to me. I never felt like you resented me or didn’t
want me around. And you may not have been the stay-at-home-and-bake-cookies
kind of mother, but you always made sure I was taken care of.

“About
Dad. If you’re worried that I’ll be upset with you if you leave him, believe
me, I won’t. I’d understand. And I’d do whatever I could to help you. That’s
not to say that I want you to leave. Just that I’d get it if you did.

“And
Chase. I have no intention of marrying him so that he can dig my father out of
the mess that he made for himself. I’m not sure what’s happening with us,
particularly now that Dad has muddied the waters, but that’s something we’ll
need to work out. Maybe. If it’s not too late,” she amended quietly.

“Is
there anything I can do?”

“Thanks
for offering, but I think the ball is in Chase’s court at this point. If he decides
I’m just like my father, there’s nowhere to go with that. If he decides I’m
nothing like him, we may be able to work things out.”

“I
hope you can work it out. But if the man doesn’t see what a treasure you are,
he’s blind. And dumb. And you deserve better.”

Lena
laughed. “Thanks, Jeanette.”

“My
pleasure. Thanks for letting me come in for a bit.”

“You’re
always welcome. And I’m so glad you’re doing so much better. I was really
worried about you.”

“I
know you were. But I’m going to get through this. The urge will always be
there, especially when your father does or says dumb things. But I’m better
than this. I’m better than a bottle of gin or vodka.”

“You
are.”

Jeanette
picked up her purse and stood to go. She carefully hugged her stepdaughter and
said, “Good luck, Lena. Let me know if there is anything I can do.”

Lena
looked at her with concern. “Will you be OK? If Dad loses everything?”

“I
will. Maybe a shake-up in our lives will fix a few other things that are
broken. So don’t worry about me in any of this. If nothing else, I can find a
job. I’ll be fine.”

“Good
night, Jeanette. And thanks again for coming over.”

“Good
night, Lena.”

Nineteen

Chase
had thought long and hard about William Magill. He knew he’d help, but he just
didn’t know how he’d help, or what conditions he would put on that help. But he
knew that he wanted to do something, even if he was never able to work things
out with Lena. He had hurt her badly. And while he knew that helping her father
wouldn’t fix things, and wouldn’t make up for the things he’d thought or said,
he still wanted to do this. But he didn’t intend to make it easy on William. He
wanted the man to think hard about what he’d done, and to never make the same
mistakes again. And if he could come up with something that had the added bonus
of showing support to Lena, he’d like it even better.

Talking
to Jared and Gina helped his thinking, and before long, he had the makings of a
plan. But before he put it in place, he quietly asked one of the investigators
working for his legal team to do some quick research. The man was speedy – in
less than 24 hours, Chase had all the information he needed. His next step was
to have his secretary schedule a meeting.

William
immediately accepted, without attempting to modify the day or time, so Chase
knew that the man was hoping for something that would get him out of the
situation he was in. Maybe he was hoping that Chase would ask him for Lena’s
hand in marriage, he thought cynically. Regardless, when his secretary ushered
William into his office early on Tuesday morning, Chase stood up and greeted
him kindly.

“Chase,
my boy,” the man blustered as he rushed importantly into Chase’s office. “Good
to see you. Good to see you, son,” he said, shaking his hand firmly.

Chase
motioned to one of the chairs at his small conference table. “Please, Mr.
Magill. Come in. Have a seat.”

“William,”
the man corrected him.

Chase
nodded. “William it is. Can I offer you some coffee? Tea? Water?”

William
shook his head as he set his briefcase down on the table and adjusted the cuffs
of his suit. “No, but thank you. I had my morning latte, and that’s enough for
the day.” He sat down at the table, and looked over at the man across from him.
“So what can I do for you, Chase? My secretary said that you asked for this
meeting rather urgently.”

Chase
reached over to his desk and pulled off the folder that he’d been carefully
compiling over the past week. Sitting down at the table across from William, he
opened the file in front of him and watched as William blanched.

When
he spoke, his tone was low and angry. “That’s sensitive information you’ve got
there, Chase. May I ask where you got it?”

Chase
leaned casually back in his chair. “It was actually fairly easy to find, sir. I
had one of the investigators working in my legal department do a bit of digging
after talking with Lena last week.”

William’s
face went from white to beet red. “What?” he exclaimed. “She told you…?”

Chase
interrupted his rant before it could even get started. “I overheard your
conversation in the hallway of her building. I was particularly interested in
the part where you were insisting that she convince me to marry her. Apparently,
using any means necessary. So I asked her why, and yes, she told me.”

William
continued to fume. “That girl had no right…”

But
Chase interrupted him again. “That
woman
, William, is your daughter. And
she’s a rather amazing woman, given the example you seem to have set for her.”

William’s
face remained bright red, but he stopped talking.

“Now,
do you want my help?” Chase asked quietly. “Or would you like to talk poorly
about Lena and then have me show you to the door?”

It
took a few moments, but William slowly nodded. “All right. Let me hear what you
have to say.”

Pulling
several years’ worth of financial summaries from the file, Chase laid them out
in front of William. “Here’s the thing, William. You’ve always been a very
strong businessman. You’re savvy, smart, and you’re charismatic. You’ve spent
decades making good decisions that have grown your business from a very small
operation to one that pulls in millions of dollars each year. You’ve made sound
investments, you’ve provided charitable donations, and you pay your employees
well. If I only looked at the first 30 years of your work, I’d find no red
flags.

“Unfortunately,
you seem to have let your greed run away from you in the past year. What
happened, if you don’t mind my asking?”

When
William didn’t answer, Chase prodded him. “Should I assume you did something
incredibly stupid, like started up with a younger woman, and now need to
support two households?”

William
sputtered. “What? Of course not!”

“Then
what?” Chase persisted.

Finally,
William seemed to deflate. He sighed. “I don’t know.”

“You
don’t know.”

“I
guess I saw myself getting old, Chase. And not wanting to let younger
businesspeople like you pass me by. I took some chances I shouldn’t have.”

Chase
nodded, understanding what William seemed to be saying. He searched the older
man’s face for any sign that he wasn’t being honest, and decided that he was
being as truthful as he could be.

“Look,”
he said firmly. “I would be willing to help you out of this mess. But there
would be several conditions.”

William
looked up hopefully. “Such as?”

“First,
I want you to get over whatever it was that turned that greed switch to ‘high’.
If you can’t do that, we’re done before we start, because you’ll just do
something equally wrong down the road. And I have no intention of letting you
drag me with you.”

William
sighed. “I can do that. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Chase
just looked at him pointedly. “Second, you lay off Lena. No more ridiculous
demands of her, and no more snide remarks about her career. If you can’t be
proud of her, then walk away. But stop trying to control her life.

“Third,
I’ll be getting something out of this. It will require an enormous amount of
money up front to dig you out of the mess you’re in. I expect to be repaid,
with interest, and to then earn a percentage of future profits, to be worked
out by our lawyers. And we
will
be getting the lawyers involved,
William. Whatever that percentage ends up being will be donated to a charitable
organization of your choice. It can be the Helping Hands Shelter, or some other
organization, but it needs to benefit folks other than you and your top
management staff.”

William
nodded thoughtfully. “All right. I can agree to both of those terms.”

“Good.
There’s one more thing, and this is non-negotiable. Helping Hands needs more
weekend volunteers, especially since I walked out on them. I’m going back,
starting next weekend. You’ll be joining me.”

“
What
???”

“It’s
only a few hours a week. And it will help to provide you with a bit of
perspective. And perhaps help you with my first two conditions. You can stop
volunteering when I’ve been fully repaid on my investment, but until then, you
go with me when I go each week. Do we have a deal?”

William
looked disgruntled. “Do I have a choice?” he muttered.

But
Chase just grinned. “Sure you do. All of this information? This easily
available information? Someone else will find it, and probably soon. Oh, I won’t
hand it to anyone, or even tell anyone to look for it. But the first time you
don’t make payroll, someone will find it. And then, my guess is prison. So yes,
you have a choice.” He shrugged as he pushed the file toward William. “You can
think about it, sir. I’m not in any rush.”

William
just looked over at Chase. “You’ll do all of this without any legal
ramifications?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“How
much involvement will you want in decision-making?”

“Me
personally? Not much. But I’ll assign someone from my senior team to be very
involved. You can have a say as to who that would be.”

After
a few moments, William nodded. “Very well,” he said quietly. “I accept.”

“Good.
I think that’s a wise move, sir. Send me the contact information for your legal
representatives, and I’ll have my own lawyers be in touch. We’ll draw up the
paperwork this week, and you should be in the clear financially by early next
week.”

William
leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his face. “Oh hell. Chase, I
appreciate this. I know I haven’t handled any of this well. I’m not used to
making bad decisions like this, and I’m definitely not used to things crashing
down on me. I really do apologize for trying to manipulate you and Charlene. She’s
a good girl. And she doesn’t deserve this.”

“I
agree.”

“I
hope my own behavior hasn’t affected your feelings for her,” he added softly. “I’ll
tell her everything this weekend, Chase, unless you’d like to do it?”

But
Chase shook his head. “No, you can tell her. And I’ll see you at Helping Hands
at 10:00 on Saturday morning.” He chuckled then. “You may want to tell her
before then, in case she shows up at work that day. Unless you want to surprise
her.”

William
nodded as he picked up his briefcase, pushed back his chair, and offered his
hand. “I’ll send you over all the information you need this afternoon, son. And
again, I thank you.”

“You’re
welcome sir,” Chase said as he stood up and took the older man’s hand with a
firm shake. “I’ll be in touch.”

When
William called Lena that afternoon and asked her to join him for dinner the
following evening, Lena accepted with some trepidation. She loved her father,
but she was not interested in hearing him try to berate her into marrying
Chase, or complain about the state of his marriage. And both, she thought, were
distinct possibilities. Still, she agreed to meet him at a restaurant in
downtown Denver the following night.

They
arrived at the restaurant only minutes apart, and were immediately shown to a
quiet booth in the back of the crowded room. They chatted for a few moments
about nothing of importance while they took care of ordering dinner. Once the
waiter had left them with a basket of dinner rolls, full water glasses, and
chilled butter in the shape of small flowers, William turned to Lena.

“I
went to see Chase yesterday afternoon.”

Lena
briefly closed her eyes. “I see. May I ask why?”

“He
asked to see me.”

Her
eyes flew open. “He what?”

“He
offered to help me, Charlene,” her father said quietly.

Lena
took a sip of her water as she took in this information. “OK. Why did he do
that?”

William
smiled. “I think partially because I’ve always been a good businessman. I’m a
good risk, unless I do something stupid again. But I’ve learned my lesson.”

“OK…,”
she nodded.

“And
partially, he’s doing this because he cares about you,” William said gently.

“I’m
less convinced by that argument,” Lena smiled ruefully. “But all right. I hope
that’s true to some extent.”

William
continued. “He placed a few conditions on the loan, Charlene. And a couple of
them involved you.”

“Uh
oh,” Lena said, setting her water glass firmly on the table in front of her,
and leaning forward. “Go ahead. I’m listening,” she said quietly.

Her
father smiled. “The first is that I stop trying to manipulate you, and start
just being proud of you. And the truth is, Charlene, I’m damn proud of you. I
know I haven’t told you that before, and I know I haven’t ever shown it. But I
am. You have a good head on your shoulders, and your heart is in the right
place. You’re a lot like your mother, you know.”

Lena
was speechless. It was pretty much the highest compliment her father could pay
her. She just stared across the table at him, wondering when the aliens had
come, kidnapped her own father, and left this stranger in his place.

“The
second condition is that I spend some time at the Helping Hands shelter, volunteering.”

Lena
just gaped over at him. “What?” she managed to stutter out.

“I’ll
be there on Saturday morning at 10:00, apparently,” William said with a wry
smile. “So go easy on your old man on his first day.”

Lena
shook her head, a smile starting to form on her face as she thought about the
conditions that Chase was placing on this business transaction. “I won’t even
be there on Saturday, Dad. My second-in command will be – his name is Frank. But
wow. I think I need to go mount a few video cameras this evening.
And
give Frank a heads up. Seriously? You’re going to volunteer?”

Her
father nodded his head and shrugged. “It appears that I am, yes.”

“Well
that’s wonderful. Wow. So what does Chase get out of all of this?”

“Very
little,” William admitted. “He’ll be repaid for the money he puts in, and
insists that a percentage of profits go to charity. But he’s not asking for
more than that, Charlene. And that is why I think that he’s doing this more for
you than for me, or for his business.”