In His Good Hands (7 page)

“What is it, Brett? I’m out for lunch. Make it quick.”

He could hear the sounds of restaurant clatter and conversation in the background. “How long it takes is up to you,” he said, controlling a surge of irritation. “We’re not making progress with the divorce agreement. Until we settle, neither of us has access to the bulk of the money.”

“Hang on.” A moment later the sounds of dining receded. “All you have to do is give me what I want.”

“I’ve already been more than generous, which even your lawyer admits.” Brett paced through the sliding doors onto the balcony. “Be reasonable.”

“
You
got custody of Tegan.”

“Yes, but you see her whenever you want.” That was one of the few things they’d agreed on. Even so, Amber was so busy that Tegan didn’t spend as much time with her mother as she would have liked. “And now you want an even higher percentage of my assets.”

“
Our
assets, Brett.”

He could just imagine her inspecting her nail polish as she said it. “You were a manicurist. You didn’t bring any material assets of your own, and you didn’t work after we married.”

“If you think being on the board of the Friends of Children’s Hospital isn’t work, then it’s obvious you’ve never done it. You try cold-calling people, asking for money.”

“I’m doing it right now.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a pussycat compared to the captains of industry I have to suck up to.”

There were a lot of things Brett could have said, but he refrained. For all Amber’s faults she worked her guts out to raise money for research into the rare blood disorder her sister’s six-year-old son suffered from.

But Amber had also acquired a taste for luxury from their years of living the high life. And she seemed determined to get every penny out of him she could.

He sucked in a deep breath, then blew out slowly. “Will you please consider my latest offer and get back to me as soon as possible? It’s very important.”

“Why?” she asked, suddenly suspicious. “What’s your hurry? The interim agreement gives us both enough for day-to-day expenses.”

“I’m trying to start a business,” he explained, pacing back inside the bedroom. “The bank won’t loan me the full amount I need.”

“So you’re over a barrel, huh?” Amber said thought fully.

“Not really.” He became wary too late. “Amber—”

“It’s simple, Brett. As soon as you agree to my terms you’ll be good to go.”

Damn. He should have known better than to give her the slightest leverage. “I don’t understand why you’re being so greedy when you’re living with an other highly paid football player.”

There was a long pause. “Jarrod and I broke up.”

“Oh. Sorry.”
Not.

“I don’t expect any sympathy from you. But I’m on my own now. And yes, I’ve gotten used to a certain lifestyle. When Tegan comes to stay we like to go out and do things.”

“Shop, you mean.”

“I refuse to go back to doing nails.” Amber sulked. “It pays peanuts.”

“As if you’d have to go back to work. My offer is more than—”

“Dad?” Tegan knocked at his door.

“Hang on a minute,” he said into the receiver. “What is it?”

His daughter poked her head inside the room. “Are you talking to Mum? I thought I heard you say ‘Amber.’”

“Yes.” He went back to his ex-wife. “Tegan’s right here. Do you want to talk to her?”

“Of course I do. Put her on.”

Brett handed the phone to Tegan. She walked out of his room and down the carpeted hall, talking animatedly about the coming weekend, when she’d stay at Amber’s apartment. Naturally, shopping featured prominently.

Brett stalked back out to the balcony. Now that Amber knew how badly he wanted the money, she was going to be even more difficult about the settlement. There was no point going back to the bank and asking Renita for a third time. There had to be another way.

Janet, behind the desk, held the scanner to beep Renita’s membership card. “Brett won’t be long. Why don’t you warm up on the treadmill?”

“All right.” She found her chart with her personalized program in the filing cabinet next to reception, and made her way to the cardio room. Climbing onto an empty treadmill, she punched in the program Brett had given her and started walking.

Exercise was the last thing she felt like doing, so she adjusted the treadmill program to a low level of intensity. She ambled along, her gaze flicking between the digital readout of calories burned—ridiculously low—and the wall-mounted TV tuned to a talk show.

“Hey, Renita,” Brett said, coming up beside her machine. “Let’s ramp this up.” Without waiting for her to agree, he pushed some buttons.

“Hey!” Renita tripped, recovered and was forced into a jog. “It’s too fast.”

“You can do it. You need to push yourself.”

She tried to keep up, she really did. Two minutes into the new pace she felt her feet slipping out from under her. She shot her hands out and hit the big red Stop button.

As the treadmill slowed she dragged her fogged glasses off and glared at him. “I can’t
do
it.”

“Sorry,” he said, sounding anything but.

She grabbed her water bottle and her towel. “I didn’t think you’d be one to hold a grudge.”

She stalked out of the cardio room, consulting her chart as she entered the exercise room. Tegan, working on her laptop in the refreshment area, glanced up as she passed, but Renita didn’t pause or say hello. Grabbing a pair of five pound dumbbells off the rack, she began doing biceps curls.

Brett took his time joining her. He watched her do ten curls, then barked, “Another rep. Keep your abs tight.”

Renita gritted her teeth and started on the next ten. “I’ve had a terrible night, O’Connor. I don’t need any flack from you.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the only person who has problems.” He ticked off a column on her chart. “And just for the record, I don’t hold a grudge. After I left your office that day I came back here and socked the punching bag and worked out for a couple of hours.”

“Did it help?”

“Exercise always helps. It just doesn’t change any thing.”

Renita struggled through another ten curls. “Maybe it’s not a good idea for us to work together. I’d like Janet to take over my training.”

“No,” he said baldly, meeting her gaze and staring her down. “I took you on. I’m not going to stop just because we had a conflict outside the gym. Give me some credit for being professional,” he added, throwing her words back at her.

She lifted her chin. “Fine, then. Do your worst.”

Renita should have known not to issue Brett a challenge. He worked her twice as hard as usual, giving her double the reps that were on her chart. She did everything he asked, determined not to let him call her weak. At the end of the hour her clothes were soaked through with sweat and her arms and legs were limp.

She sank onto a bench and dropped her elbows on her knees.

Brett started to walk away. Then he came back and stood over her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she mumbled. “Just go away.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m
fine.
”

“So you say. How’s Steve? You guys missed his training session yesterday.”

Renita burst into the tears she’d been holding back for nearly twenty-four hours. “Smedley is really sick. We found him down by the creek. It was awful.”

“Smedley?”

“My dad’s dog, a beautiful little Jack Russell terrier.”

“Hell.” Brett hesitated, then sat on the bench beside her. Tentatively, he put his arm around her shoulders. “What happened to him? Is he…will he live?”

Renita resisted the urge to lean against Brett and take comfort from his solid warmth. She’d seen him touch lots of clients, male and female—a pat on the back, a squeeze of the shoulder. It was friendly, meant nothing. She had to stop being so hyperaware of him. “We don’t know anything yet. I’m meeting Dad at the vet clinic later.”

“Let me know how it turns out.” Brett hugged her close, then dropped his own elbows on his knees. “I had a run-in with my ex-wife last night.”

“Amber?” Renita didn’t know whether she should say anything, but she couldn’t help being curious. “Was it about…money? Is she ready to come to an agreement?”

“It’s always about money with her. And no, she’s not ready to settle.”

“What does she want?” When he hesitated, Renita added, “I’m asking as your loan officer. I have an interest in the outcome of your divorce.” And if he believed that…

“I was willing to split fifty-fifty with her. She wants three-quarters of the estate.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

“It’s not. She does a lot of charity work, but that’s not the reason. She’s scared because she lost her meal ticket and she never bothered to learn to do anything except paint nails for a living.” Brett rose and held out a hand to help Renita up.

She accepted, wincing as her legs complained about the workout she’d just gone through.

“I was hard on you today,” he said.

“You were a slave driver. All you needed was a galley whip and I could have rowed to Mesopotamia.”

He cracked a smile. Grudgingly, she gave him one back.

“Next time we’ll get you and Steve out jogging,” Brett said. “Outdoors. Three miles.”

“No way. I’m not ready for that. I need to be in better shape to run.”
In public.
She couldn’t think of anything more humiliating than jiggling and wobbling her way through the streets of Summerside.

“If you’re serious about the Fun Run you need to start training.” He glanced at the clock. “Gotta go. Pump class.”

She watched him take the stairs two at a time. “We’re going to talk about this!”

“He’s in a bad mood today,” Tegan said from behind her.

Renita turned and, through smudged glasses, saw the girl watching her over the screen of her laptop. “I noticed.” She walked over to fill her drink bottle from the water cooler, nodding at the laptop. “You get a lot of homework.”

“No homework today,” Tegan said, busily clicking through web pages. “I’m looking for a dress for the school dance.”

Renita sipped her water standing behind Tegan’s chair so she could watch as the girl scrolled through the selections. “I like the blue one.”

“Dad would never let me wear anything cut so low.”

“It
is
a bit revealing.”

“I can’t wait until I’m in grade eleven and can get a proper prom dress.” Tegan clicked onto another website. “What did you wear to your prom?”

“I didn’t go.”

Tegan glanced up. “Why not?”

Renita leaned back, sipped her water. “No one asked me.”

The teen looked baffled. “Couldn’t you have asked someone?”

“I did, but…” She hesitated. It felt weird to be telling this to Brett’s child. “He said no.”

“That must have sucked.”

“It did,” Renita admitted. Still did, even now, when she thought of herself sitting home alone that night, knowing Brett was out with someone else. “Do you have a date?”

“Dad says I’m too young to date.” Tegan’s cheeks turned pink. “There’s a guy I like….”

“What’s his name?” Renita said in a teasing voice.

Tegan’s blush deepened. “Oliver.”

Renita sat up straighter. “Oliver Maxwell?”

“Do you know him?” Tegan tried not to appear eager.

“His mother, Sienna, is marrying my brother, Jack. Oliver will be my stepnephew. He seems like a really nice boy. Does he like you?”

“I
think
he does.” Tegan dropped her chin in her hands and smiled dreamily. “I hope he asks me to dance.”

“If he doesn’t, you ask him. Don’t be shy.”

“What if he says no? I’d die.”

Renita looked at Tegan, who was blonde, pretty and sweet. She couldn’t imagine any boy turning her down. “He’ll be flattered. But let me give you a tip. Find the right moment, when he’s on his own. That way neither of you will be embarrassed if he says no for whatever reason.”

“Got it,” Tegan said, nodding.

Renita hesitated. “Is your dad taking a date?”

“I doubt it. He doesn’t have a girlfriend right now.”

“That’s kind of surprising, isn’t it?” She hoped Tegan wouldn’t notice she was blatantly fishing for information.

“He could have dozens of dates, if he wanted. Women email photos of themselves wearing bikinis or in their underwear or even wearing nothing at all. It’s disgusting.”

“I tend to agree.”

“I don’t
want
him to have a girlfriend,” Tegan added with a swift glance at Renita. “He hardly has any time to spend with me as it is.”

It was impossible to miss the warning. If only Tegan knew how little chance there was of she and Brett getting together. “You wouldn’t want him to be lonely.”

“He’s got
me.
” The girl spoke with defiance, but then her voice cracked, betraying a note of uncertainty that was heartbreaking.