Gentle Persuasion (22 page)

The chirp of her cell phone set her temples throbbing even harder, and when she saw Bianca Towers’s number on the display, she wanted to toss her phone into the garbage disposal and grind it into oblivion.

She ground her teeth together instead and began searching for a bottle of aspirin as she answered the call.

“Why, hello, Bianca. I was so disappointed when you rushed off last evening without saying goodbye. I recognize the dinner didn’t end as intended, but I hope my daughter’s antics didn’t scare you away.”

Lillian located a half-full container of painkillers and began fiddling with the childproof cap. She had never understood why pharmaceutical companies couldn’t offer their products with two different cap options—one for those with children and another for those who didn’t need to worry with such inconveniences.

“He quit.”

The cap popped off, shot across the kitchen and rolled beneath the fridge. Lillian suppressed a sigh as she shook a couple of tablets from the container and into her palm.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” she mumbled as she reached for a tumbler and filled it with water from the tap.

“Dane Montgomery.” Bianca’s tone fell flat over the line. “He. Quit.”

The aspirin stuck in Lillian’s throat, and she coughed violently, drawing more water and chugging it to wash down the offending tablets in her throat.

“Excuse me?”

Bianca sighed with what sounded like exasperation. “He’s going back to Hawaii, breaking the contract. My lawyers are drawing up the paperwork as we speak.” She paused before delivering the final blow. “Towers International will no longer require the services of Reid Recruiting. To make myself clear...you’re fired.”

* * *

L
ILLIAN
R
EID
HAD
once lived by the old adage, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

So when all phone calls to her daughter went unanswered, she took it upon herself to make a visit to Dane Montgomery. She knew the man had yet to find an apartment in the city and currently resided in one of the suites at Towers Resorts in Manhattan. She sent for her chauffeur service and then took the time to shower and dress in a formidable business suit before pocketing a few more aspirin and heading out the door.

Using her most authoritative tone with the concierge, she learned Dane’s suite number and then took the elevator to his floor. Once she reached the door to his rooms, she steeled herself for battle before lifting a hand and knocking resolutely. Long minutes passed before the man who had caused all these problems for her of late answered the door.

She had to confess that she could understand why her daughter found him attractive. His height and frame, the morning scruff dusting his jaw and those clear blue eyes all served to present a picture of attraction that had surely been the basis for more than a few women’s fantasies throughout his time as an executive.

“Ms. Reid,” he said, more as a statement of fact than a greeting.

“Mr. Montgomery.” She inclined her head, adopting his tone. “Might I have a word?”

“I’m not changing my mind,” he declared with apparent sincerity.

She stared him down. “What makes you think I’m asking you to?”

This statement obviously caused him sufficient confusion so that he finally stepped aside and gestured for her to enter.

She crossed the threshold and took the opportunity to appreciate the ambience of the suite. Its sitting area featured plush armchairs in chocolate-brown suede, a glass-topped table and a dark wood desk. Ecru-and-ivory-striped wallpaper contributed to the impression of sophisticated luxury.

“Can I get you anything?” Dane asked.

“A glass of water. Preferably sparkling, if possible.”

Dane nodded and moved toward the suite’s kitchen while Lillian slid a finger along an end table’s surface before taking a seat. Dane returned shortly with her drink.

He hesitated before taking the seat across the coffee table from her own. She sipped her water and then placed it on the table between them.

“May I ask what changed your mind?” She finally opened the conversation.

Dane eyed her, rather warily, she thought. His blue eyes were distrustful. “I don’t belong here. I never claimed that I did.”

“No,” she conceded, “but you agreed to return, which indicated you had made your peace with it. I only wonder what changed.”

He said nothing, and she found herself growing impatient.

“Did it have something to do with my daughter?”

He went very still, his entire frame taut, but he said nothing.

“Are you in love with her?” Lillian demanded.

This question seemed to deflate him. “It wouldn’t matter if I was.”

“Why? Because of her—” Lillian stopped short of the word
fiancé,
remembering it didn’t apply. “Because of Cole?” she corrected.

Dane shook his head. “She has her own plans, her dreams for Paris. They don’t involve me.”

Lillian straightened with interest. “Then you’d give her up? So she could pursue her own interests?”

Dane leveled his stare with hers. “Yes,” he answered. “I’d let her go, if that’s what would make her happy.” He paused for a long moment. “Could you do the same?”

The question stunned her, rocked something deep within. “That’s an absurd question,” she retorted. “I’m her mother. I’d do anything for her.”

“Anything but release your hold on her.”

She clenched her jaw and stared at him. “I’m allowing her to move halfway across the globe. I hardly think I’m clinging to her.”

He shook his head. “It isn’t the physical distance. It’s the emotional strings you hold.”

She scoffed at this, but his words reverberated somewhere deep inside. No one had stated it so candidly before; no one had ever dared give it voice, but Lillian knew, in the most secretive corner of her heart, that she did indeed hold Ophelia tighter than necessary. She feared letting go of her—feared losing the only person left in this world who loved her.

Perhaps it was why she had always approved of Cole for her daughter—she knew that any love Ophelia had for Cole would never displace the love she bore for her mother. She would never be replaced or made less important in Ophelia’s eyes, when it came to Cole. But Dane...

Dane Montgomery was far more dangerous. Someone like him would steal her daughter away from her, make her second best. Then she would have no one. Perhaps it would be best if Dane returned to Hawaii, after all. Then Ophelia could forget about him.

Lillian got to her feet, and Dane followed suit.

“Well, I can see this has been a waste of time for us both,” she announced.

“I disagree.”

She blinked in surprise.

“I see the problem now, I think,” he went on. His gaze was far too penetrating, and she reached for her purse.

“I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, Mr. Montgomery. I’m sorry we were unable to work things out.”

She turned to go.

“It’s never safe, you know.”

She froze at these words. Despite her reluctance, her curiosity overwhelmed her. She turned back around.

“What isn’t?”

“Love,” he replied. “Love isn’t safe. There’s always a risk to it, the fear that the one you love will leave—either of their own accord or be taken away. To give your love to another is to risk your heart.” He drew a breath. “But it’s not just a risk. It’s a refuge. Loving someone changes you, makes you better if you let it. It holds you when you’re afraid you’ll fall. It carries great risk, but it’s a place of safety, as well.” Those piercing blue eyes met hers. “Loving Ophelia doesn’t necessarily mean losing her. If you let her go, you might be surprised what you’d gain.”

She tried to make a face in response, tried to roll her eyes or give some indication she found his logic too idealistic and naive. But she couldn’t move, couldn’t utter a word in reply. It was as if his words had sharpened tips that had found their way straight into the center of her soul. He had seen more of her than she had intended.

“Goodbye, Mr. Montgomery.” She headed for the door, half in desperation, wanting to leave before Dane said anything more.

She nearly made it, but he caught up to her on the threshold of his suite, gripping the door before she could escape through its frame.

“I haven’t had a chance to thank you.”

“Thank me?” She knew her tone must have been incredulous because a corner of his lips twitched in what appeared to be amusement.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Whatever for?”

“For sending Ophelia to Hawaii. For giving me the opportunity to get to know her. I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

His tone, as much as his words, melted something within her she had long thought unable of softening. Suddenly, she had to know.

“Do you love my daughter?”

“More than anything or anyone else in the world,” he replied without hesitation.

“And does she love you?

At this, he looked away, and Lillian escaped through the doorway without waiting for an answer.

* * *

O
PHELIA
DIDN
’
T
LEARN
about Dane’s resignation until Monday morning. She had kept her cell phone off the entire weekend. She hadn’t checked her email, she hadn’t listened to her messages and hadn’t read her texts. She’d needed time to herself, to process everything that had occurred. She’d spent the time packing up her apartment for storage and had made every effort to keep her mind focused on Paris and her upcoming move.

But with each item that went into a box, she’d found herself growing more and more despondent. Instead of excitement, she felt only a flat indifference. After all this time, working toward her goal, she now was unable to experience any joy in it. She contrasted each mental image of Paris against her recent experiences in Hawaii and was disappointed to find Europe lacking in comparison to the islands.

When she turned her phone back on Monday morning, she experienced a long sequence of alerts and chimes, all telling her of Dane’s decision and departure while she had isolated herself from everyone. She felt a moment’s panic when she realized his plane had already taken off according to a text from Holly, and that he was, right then, across the Pacific on his way back home.

She didn’t bother heading into work that morning. Instead, she took a cab to the Towers International offices, using a confidence she didn’t feel to get past security and then reception until she found her way into Bianca Towers’s office on one of the top floors.

The younger woman looked up and then stood as Ophelia entered the room unannounced. A receptionist trailed behind her, protesting the intrusion but Bianca gave a curt nod of dismissal and a command to close the door so that soon, it was just the two of them.

“If your mother sent you,” Bianca began, but Ophelia shook her head.

“She didn’t. I’m not here for Reid Recruiting. I’m here for Dane.”

This statement must have caused sufficient interest for Bianca because she moved out from behind her desk and offered for Ophelia to sit beside her on a leather sofa with damask pillows against the far wall.

“Please don’t blame him,” Ophelia began as soon as they were seated.

“He chose to resign before the terms of his contract expired. Just who else am I supposed to blame?”

“Blame me, if you have to,” Ophelia replied.

“I don’t see how it’s your fault.”

Ophelia sighed. “I should have known he wasn’t ready, that it wasn’t going to work.”

“It was his decision, Ophelia. Not yours.”

“But he was pushed into it, and I knew that.” She paused. “I shouldn’t have let him go.”

The younger woman cocked her head. “What does that mean?”

Ophelia hesitated, realizing how the words sounded. “Just, please...give him another chance.”

Bianca emitted a scoff of incredulity. “And how am I supposed to do that?”

She hadn’t even known she had the answer until Bianca asked the question. “Let him work from Hawaii. Retain him as a consultant with biannual meetings here in New York. Arrange for him to meet you at the new resort in Waikiki when you’re there. You can reduce his salary, but he can keep the signing bonus. And you both
win.
”

When Ophelia first began speaking, Bianca shook her head. But by the time she was finished, the other woman appeared to be considering the suggestion.

“It could still be said that I got Dane Montgomery out of retirement, that he works for Towers International.”

“Exactly.” Ophelia felt a swell of triumph and excitement. “It’s not so much the work that’s the problem,” she explained. “He wants to be near his coffee plantation, and he feels like Hawaii is his home. So compromise. And then you both get what you want.”

Bianca stood and began pacing. “He’d have to be available on my hours, though. The time difference can’t become an issue.”

“It wouldn’t,” Ophelia reassured. “It’s only six hours, so it could be arranged.”

“And he’d come to New York twice a year?”

“That sounds perfectly reasonable to me.”

Bianca paused in her pacing, turning to Ophelia with narrowed eyes. “How do you know he’ll agree to it?”

Ophelia stood, topping Bianca in height by a couple of inches. “Because I know him.”

“Didn’t you just meet him for the first time when you flew to Hawaii to recruit him?”

Ophelia nodded but remained confident. “Yes. But I know him,” she repeated. “He’ll think this is a perfect solution.” She decided to take things one step further. “Plus, I have another proposition.”

Bianca resumed her seat, and Ophelia followed suit. By the time she finished outlining her second proposal, she could see Bianca growing more and more excited.

“If you ever choose to give up recruiting, Ophelia Reid, perhaps you should consider becoming a defense attorney. You’re pretty good at negotiation.”

Ophelia felt herself relax with the knowledge that Bianca approved. “Negotiation is all part of a recruiter’s job.”

“I just have one question.”

Ophelia felt a ripple of uneasiness.