DAC_II_GenVers_Sept2013 (27 page)

“Next time I’m going to leave you in the burning building,” Walter replied. “And Jane is off limits. I screwed up and I’m fixing it.”

Clinton rolled up in the wheelchair. “How you going to do that, Romeo? You went off on her over her brother. Lame, Walter. Very lame.”

“
Et tu, Brute
?” Walter said to Clinton, who might actually have read some Shakespeare.

His head whipped around looking for the whistleblower about his misdeed. “Damn it, Daniel. Did you have to tell everyone?”

Daniel nodded as he walked up to Walter. “Of course. Why? Was it a secret? This is a seriously nice suit. Do we get to keep them?”

Walter scowled at his ex-best friend before he went to look for Ames. He found the photographer in the main lodge, changing lenses on six different cameras.

“They’re dressed, but it’s going to be like herding gorillas. You might have to beat on your chest to get their attention,” Walter said.

Ames grinned. “I’m glad to get you alone for a minute. I have some good news. Or at least I think it’s good news. Your publicity shy parents might not agree with me.”

“What’s that?” Walter asked, nervously adjusting his cuffs. He’d learned to let them slide long on his hands so that in the poses they would look just right.

“Bartoff intends to take their ad national. Now they want unlimited rights to the bent leg shot with the watch, and another seven shot folio of their choosing. This time they want some casual too,” Ames said, draping cameras around his neck.

“Casual? Like what. . .me in jeans and a polo?” Walter laughed. National meant more royalty money. That was appealing to him. It meant he might get to install solar panels in the parking lot over the winter. By spring, North Winds would have both solar and geo thermal power.

Ames pointed to the door with his head and started walking in that direction. “Casual as in t-shirts, jeans, and I don’t know yet. They’re sending over a list. We’ll look at it together. Anything you’re not comfortable with doing?”

“No shirtless shots,” Walter said. He wasn’t shaving his chest. Jane liked him like he was.

Ames nodded and smiled. “We can work around that.”

Walter laughed when Ames cupped hands around his mouth and let out a Tarzan-worthy call. He was still grinning when he felt the light tap on his shoulder.

“Walter Graham?”

The woman doing the tapping was tall, polished to a gleam, and smiling. She was also wearing a press ID.

“You must be Stephanie Sawyer,” Walter said, extending a hand for her to shake.

“That’s right.”

Walter smiled as she moved closer and tucked her microphone under her arm with the boom facing out. It was a great trick and the casualness probably threw most of her prey off balance. He’d bet her cameraman was rolling footage for ‘practice’ right now too.

He remained in place and quiet while Sawyer openly checked him out. Thinking about Regina Logan’s unflattering description of the woman brought a grin to his face. To agree to do his interview onsite at North Winds, the media woman was obviously looking hard for the next big thing that would boost her career. It made him wonder though what in the hell the woman had done to the sex therapist to earn such animosity. He hoped he never made Regina Logan mad at him.

“So it looks like you’re shooting calendar stills at the moment, Mr. March. When can we get set up for the interview?” Stephanie asked, smiling as she shifted her microphone.

Walter smiled back. “My grandfather will be with you shortly.” He turned away to look, but didn’t see Harrison anywhere.

“So. . .is Morrison Fox’s daughter going to be here? She was the flipper on your project in the beginning, right?” Stephanie asked, digging in her purse for her mirrored compact.

“Her name is Jane,” Walter said. “But I doubt she’ll be attending.”

“Really? Why? I figured she must be really involved since your architect wouldn’t shut up about her. Unless. . .are they dating by any chance?” Stephanie asked bluntly.

Walter felt the smile slide off his face, but forced himself to pick it back up. Brenner still had a thing for Jane, even though the architect knew damn well what the situation was between him and her. The other man had become a master at hiding his interest and sometimes Walter even forgot about it. He wondered if Jane had any real interest in him back. God, he hoped not. So that’s what came out of his mouth.

“I really hope Jane is not dating Brenner. That would be very awkward for me, considering I’m in love with her myself,” Walter said.

“Are you kidding?
Mr. March
is in love with an older woman? That must be breaking some hearts around town,” Stephanie joked.

Walter shrugged. “It’s complicated. You know how relationships are,” he said, watching to see if he had gained media interest with his statement.

“So how much older than you is Jane?” Stephanie asked.

Walter shrugged again. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Stephanie snorted, looking at the blond giant with new eyes. “So do you date older women often, Walter Graham?”

“No. Just Jane,” Walter said. “If I can ever convince her that she’s the only one I want, I’m going to ask her to marry me
.
”

“Marriage is a serious step to take. How does ‘just Jane’ feel about you?” Stephanie demanded.

Walter looked down, letting himself remember Jane kissing her way into his lap. When he raised his head, he wasn’t surprised to see the reporter’s eyebrows rise as well. Lust for Jane was undoubtedly clouding his expression.

“I don’t know how Jane feels,” Walter said. “But I’d like to find out. See you in a bit, Ms. Sawyer. Got to round up my fellow gorillas—I mean, firemen.”

***

Lydia picked up the remote and turned the sound up as far as it would go. The interview had been terminally boring, but sometimes Sawyer dropped a cliffhanger at the end.

“Here comes the end—she’s back now,” she said. All the people in her living room crowded around the TV.

“Why are we watching this? I hate reality TV,” Morrie said.

Lydia gave him a look. “It’s not reality TV. It’s Walter and Jane.”

“Nothing has been said worth hearing yet,” Morrie declared, dragging Lydia and the remote into his lap.

“Stop it. . .ssssh, she’s talking finally,” Lydia said. “Look. It’s the Mr. March photo behind her. She’s going to do it.”

“I’d like to thank my special guests for being here today. Before I go though, I have some bad news to deliver. This is for all the single ladies of Falls Church. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I found out today that Mr. March of the 24
th
Street Station calendar is definitely off the market. We have an interview coming up next week with Mr. March—aka the yummy, hunky, Walter Harrison Graham II. The interview is about his work on North Winds’ eco renovations, but I think you’ll agree this snippet is the real scoop. Here it is right now, straight from the fireman’s hot lips to your ears, ladies. Get your tissues ready.”

There was a cut from the mostly female, giggling audience to a smiling Walter in a suit, standing near a tense, concerned looking Stephanie waiting for his answer to her question.

“So how much older than you is Jane?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“So do you date older women often, Walter Graham?”

“No. Just Jane. If I can ever convince her that she’s the only one I want, I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

Stephanie turned back to the audience.

“So who is this older woman who has so obviously seen what’s under Mr. March’s dirty shirt? Turns out ‘just Jane’ is none other than Jane Fox, daughter of retired entrepreneur Morrison Fox. When I asked Walter how Jane felt about him in return, he said he didn’t know.”

Stephanie sighed and put her elbow on her desk, resting her chin in her hand.
“Would you want to string this man along? Me, neither. Wouldn’t you want to work on having his love child instead? You would? That’s exactly what I thought you’d say.”

The applause from the audience rose in a crescendo as she straightened, swiveled in her chair, and looked dead on into the camera.

“So I send this call out to ask Falls Church’s newest cougar, Jane Fox, to come on the show and tell us how she really feels about her adoring cub. Sure he’s young, Jane, but as long as he’s legal, you might want to entertain his proposal. How about it, Falls Church? Should Jane say yes? Call in and tell us what you think. We’d love to hear from you. Or text JUSTJANE to 78374. Thanks for watching, Falls Church. See you all next week.”

Despite the number of people staring at the TV in shock, it was the pecking of a phone, and not Morrie’s swearing that drew everyone’s attention in the room.

“What was the damn number the split-tongued snake said? It took me forever just to type JUSTJANE in all caps. I really miss my old phone,” Regina said.

Ben stared at his wife. “You dropped your old phone in the toilet, Regina. That pretty much killed it, babe.”

Sighing, Morrie pushed Lydia off his lap and stood. “Honey, I need to go see my daughter. Jane in meltdown mode is not a pretty sight. Elijah is not going to be able to hold her back if she decides to kill Walter. It’s going to take both of us.”

***

“What do you mean Jane didn’t get mad?” Morrie asked, totally surprised.

“Yeah, I was surprised too. I think it was the shock from Walter announcing he loved her. Well, she did get kind of mad over the cougar remark. She mumbled something about hoping Alex was happy now. Who’s Alex?” Eli asked.

“Not Alex. . .Alexa. Alexa Ranger. She’s Falls Church’s most notorious cougar,” Morrie said, wondering if he should go upstairs and see if Jane would talk to him.

“Well, Alexa Ranger was probably the most notorious one until today. Didn’t you see the cars lined up on the street outside when you got here? I’m guessing some of them are media people staked out and waiting for Jane to make an appearance.”

“Is she mad about that?” Morrie asked.

“She probably would be if she knew it was happening, but I’m not telling her and listening to the rant. I’m just going to walk out the door when she does and play surprised. She’s not able to hear anyone’s advice right now anyway. Every time I say anything, she takes my head off.”

“So what did you think of Walter? I know you tracked him down,” Morrie said.

Eli laughed. “I had to, Dad. Their blow-up was mostly my fault. Being a testy bastard is an easy habit to fall into and I haven’t broken it yet. But to answer your question, I liked his apology. It wasn’t fake. His pissed off attitude fell away fast when he finally figured it out. I never saw that brainiac thing you mentioned. I actually thought the man was a little slower on the uptake than his friend.”

“Don’t be fooled by his stupidity about Jane. He’s in love with her and it comes with the territory. Walter is smart. He’s finishing an MBA, taking care of his grandfather, and he bought North Winds from Jane,” Morrie said. “His father is a physicist and his grandfather owns a great deal of Falls Church.”

“Sounds like a lot for a young guy to take on. I’d be intimidated to do it. So does Walter want to take on Janey too, or does he want Jane so she can take on his stuff for him?” Eli asked.

“I have no idea. Jane won’t even admit to dating him, much less that they have a relationship. Nothing he said on TV surprised me though. His grandfather is probably doing wheelies in his wheelchair over it,” Morrie said.

“I see. So would you want to know that Jane didn’t come home at all the other night, or would that be too much answer for your question about whether or not they have a real relationship?” Eli asked.

Morrie snorted, his lips turning up in a grin. Neither of his apples had fallen far from his tree. He just wished he could have hand-picked the traits they took on.

“You have my sense of humor, Elijah. It’s gotten me in trouble more than it’s brought me pleasure. You might want to keep that in mind when you drop your little emotional bombs on people.”

Eli smiled. “No worries, I’m keeping an eye out like you asked me to. Janey was humming while she made coffee after she got here. If she’d run upstairs crying instead, I’d have tracked Walter down again to make sure she wasn’t the only one bawling all day.”

“Thanks, tough guy. Now drop that macho shit and go back to being normal. What’s she been doing upstairs every day?” Morrie asked.

Pushing off his dad’s chastisement, Eli shrugged. “Says she’s working on a new project.”

“Bullshit. She’s sulking. Your mother used to do that,” he said. “She’s chewing hard on something that logical mind of hers can’t figure out.”

“Gee Dad, why don’t you tell me how you really feel. Use more colorful terms next time,” Eli said on a laugh.

“Like your language doesn’t need some refinement?” Morrie demanded.

They both laughed at their potty mouth problems, and then Morrie decided to leave. On the way out the door, he saw a flash. “Walter, I hope you know what you got us all into.”

Brenner pulled his noise-cancelling headphones off when he saw Jane walking around the caution tape and barrier fence. He held up a hand and waved, motioning for the digger to take a break. Momentary silence descended just as she reached his side.

“Good morning. I was out running errands and thought I’d drop by to see how things were going. Plus, I needed to see you about something,” Jane said.

“Good morning to you too. It’s going good. So what do you think of our progress? We’re going to finish most of the digging by the weekend. The next phase is much quieter,” Brenner said.

“That’s great,” Jane replied, looking sadly at the hole where the resident swimming pool used to be. The adjacent pool house was also gone, but her memories of being with Walter there were as crystal clear as ever. “Change is always a bit hard on everyone. I’ve certainly learned that in my line of work. The residents are going to be singing your praises this winter though.”

“I hope so,” Brenner said, smiling at her comments. “Can I ask you a personal question, Jane?”