Sophie's Path (16 page)

Would Jack be at the office when she came to pick up Katia? And if so, would his mood be as sour as it was when he left her at The Louise House tonight? Or would she sense forgiveness from him as she had earlier?

If she were to take Katia's advice, she should keep trying to break through the wall of ice around Jack. Something told Sophie he was the one guy who was worth it.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

J
ACK
'
S
DESK
WAS
a blizzard of files, reports and contact sheets that he and Katia had compiled since his first negotiations with Emory Wills at the Indian Lake Hospital months ago.

Until Frenchie came along, this company was all he cared about, and now that he'd been in Indian Lake for eight months, he was itching to take the business to the next level.

Katia rapped on his door, then breezed in. Cheerily, she plunked a mega-sized latte on his desk with the new Italian-looking logo from Cupcakes and Coffee. “Ah, my favorite rocket fuel. I think we'll need it today,” he said, taking a deep drink.

“Not yet,” she replied.

Katia handed him what appeared to be a jewelry box, all satin and rhinestone clasps. “What's this?”

“My invitation.”

“This cost some bucks.”

“Killjoy. I only had twenty-five made because there're so few people coming to the wedding.”

He smiled at her. “Well, then, thank you. I'm honored.” He started to hand it back. “You can save this one and give it to someone else. I already marked the day on my calendar.”

Katia raised an eyebrow. “You were that sure you'd be invited?”

Flashing her a sidelong glance he said, “I'm walking you down the aisle or stairs. Remember?”

“I was just kidding! Keep the invitation. To remember my day.”

“It's so—” he studied the elegant box “—you.”

She smirked. “That was the idea.” She lowered her eyes to his desk. “So, what's all this?”

Jack exhaled and crossed his arms behind his head. “This, Katia, is our future. At least a decade of it, I would wager.”

Katia picked up one of the folders. “This is the policy I sold to Emory Wills.”

“Exactly, which in twenty-four months will be obsolete.”

“What?” She jolted back in her chair. “I researched that policy...”

Jack held up his hands. “Things are changing for the hospital. That's what I want to talk to you about. I've been in touch with several other hospitals in the Benedictine Hospital Network.”

“Good, because I know how much you want their business, as well. What's been their response?”

“Positive. But here's the news. They just put in a bid to acquire Indian Lake Hospital, which would take Indian Lake out of the independent world and into a conglomerate. Which means we would most likely lose the contract we already have and we'd have to start dealing with the powers-that-be at Benedictine, who are based in Indianapolis.”

“No wonder you look anxious. So, when do you leave for Indy?”

“You're quick.” He placed his hands on the desk. “Tomorrow.”

Katia crossed her legs and folded her arms. “What can I do?”

“We both have to kick into a higher gear.”

“And I'm leaving on my honeymoon in a month.”

“Yep. So I've decided to bring Owen up to speed immediately. Can you give him a crash course in all this so he can take the lead while you're gone? You're going to hate this while you're staring dreamily into Austin's eyes in Venice, but I need you to keep your cell phone on and check your email while you're away.”

She nodded. “That's okay. Austin has to stay in touch with his office every day, as well. We're adults-in-charge, Jack. We understand that at our level of responsibility, total escape is not possible. I'll be happy for half a day, each day, of privacy.”

“That's big of you. I'd be wanting all day and all night. You've burst my honeymoon dream bubble.”

Katia stared at him unblinkingly. “You? Have a honeymoon dream? I don't believe it.”

“Hey, I can have fantasies.”

“Yeah, sure. I just didn't think you did.”

Jack knew his grin was impish. “Then you don't know me that well.”

“Does anybody?”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

Katia shrugged. “I was like you—before Austin. All work and no play. You have an excuse, though. This is your company. Well, yours and Barry's. You feel like you're Barry's life insurance policy. He told me that he and his family are your sole beneficiaries. He's your brother-in-law, Jack. That I understand. But he's not your life.”

“You're wrong.”

“Nope. You don't have a life.” Katia delivered the words with so much assurance and truth Jack felt she'd thrown a javelin through his stomach.

He jerked back. He felt a burn in his heart. She was right and he hated it. He didn't have a life. No wife. No kids. Only Frenchie—and she was a new addition.

He rubbed his forehead, feeling slightly disoriented.

“I shouldn't have said that,” Katia whispered. “But you're my friend, Jack. You're like the brother I never had. I love you and I care about what you do for all of us and for yourself.”

Jack read the affection and empathy on her face. Katia was like family to him. She was one of the reasons he wanted his company to grow. She'd put so much of herself into his business, he could never repay her. And he realized she was doing what a real friend did—she was telling him what he needed to hear whether he liked it or not. Katia had always been diplomatic, but she didn't sugarcoat.

When he needed to give her hard news, she didn't like the truth sugarcoated, either.

“Tell you what, Katia. I'll put some thought into my personal life. But not yet. Not today. In order for us to save what we have and build a larger clientele, we have to be aggressive with the hospital.”

Katia made no secret of her exasperation with him and sighed heavily. “Okay. Talk to me about Emory.”

“Have you heard talk about a new hospital?”

Surprise filled her eyes. “No way. Who told you that?”

“I heard it at the Rotary meeting from three key people. Two were city councilmen. Benedictine has already sent surveyors here to check out the vacant property on the other side of the railroad station. This means Emory has to scramble to keep his job and then be accepted as the finest administrator, if Benedictine moves in.”

Katia speared him with a stony look. “That means he'll be trying to make Indian Lake's bottom line as solvent as possible. We should be in good standing on that point. He couldn't possibly get a better package than ours.”

“It also means he won't expand anything right now. I was hoping for that deal.”

She shook her head vigorously. “Not necessarily. What if you presented him with something even more competitive? Something that would make even Benedictine sit up and take notice?”

“Possible. Doable.” He rolled a pen up and down his desktop. His mind filled with different scenarios. “I think Emory will cut every expense he can. Starting with staff. Anyone not pulling their weight, he'll fire.”

“Usual corporate procedure. Which I hate,” she said with a biting tone. “I can see why you have to go to Indianapolis.”

Jack folded his hands in his lap, as he always did when he made a decision. He didn't know why. Perhaps it was his form of praying he'd chosen the right course. “I also realize I have to keep Emory happy with us. If these rumors are true, we need to be prepared to deal with Benedictine. If they aren't, then Emory is still our guy.”

“Can you ask Emory about this?”

Jack shook his head. “I doubt he'd tell me the truth or that he's allowed to. I'm just a vendor.”

“So, we're going on speculation.”

“I'm afraid so,” Jack groaned.

Just then Jack's intercom phone rang. Melanie announced that Katia's appointment had arrived. “You'd better go.”

She nodded and headed for the door. Then she looked back at him over her shoulder. “I'll do all I can to help, Jack. You know that.”

“I do, and thanks.”

“Oh, by the way, Sophie is meeting me here today after my appointment. I hope you don't mind.”

“Sophie?” Jack's head bobbed up from his papers like he'd just broken through the ocean's surface after a deep dive. “Why? What does she want?”

“It's what I want from her. She's helping me with my wedding flowers. We're driving out to her parents' farm tonight to pick out sunflowers.”

“Oh.”

Katia tapped the door with her left hand. “See you later.”

He stared after her, still thinking about Sophie.

Wedding flowers. And was that a diamond ring Katia was wearing today?

Big rock.

Jack dropped his head into his hands. What was the matter with him lately? It wasn't so long ago that he'd face a situation like Emory Wills and the Indian Lake Hospital and all he'd see were dollar signs and signed contracts.

This time he was concerned about employee cutbacks.

Many of those employees—doctors like Nate Barzonni, nurses, janitors and techs—were his clients now. They were people with mouths to feed. Mortgages to pay. Their families would suffer.

And if he lost Emory's business, his own company would suffer, too.

Jack wasn't thrilled about this diplomatic nightmare, but it was a game he had to initiate if he had any hope of staying afloat. And if he was ever going to sell a corporate plan to Benedictine, he needed Emory's recommendation and support to solidify the deal if and when Benedictine acquired Indian Lake Hospital.

Jack took the lid off the latte Katia had brought him. Maddie had made a little animal face out of a half-melted marshmallow for him. It made him smile. It was his first smile of the day.

He picked up his files and went back to work.

* * *

J
ACK
HAD
WRITTEN
a lengthy email to Tom Hardy, the CEO of Benedictine Hospital Network in Indianapolis, outlining the benefits of his insurance packages and requesting an interview. He reached for his latte and realized it was stone cold. He hit Send and decided to warm the coffee in the break room microwave.

As he stepped into the reception area, he realized with a start that Melanie and Owen's desks were vacant, their computers shut down.

“Hey! Where is everybody?”

He glanced at the clock above Melanie's desk.

How could it be six already?

“Hi, Jack.”

Jack froze. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. The angel's voice. Or so he'd thought when he believed he was dying.

He spun around. “Sophie.”

She was wearing a silky yellow skirt with tiny polka dots and a short-sleeved cotton sweater the color of goldenrods. Her dark, thick hair tumbled onto her shoulders and glistened in the light of the setting sun coming through the French windows. She stood slowly and he noticed that her espadrilles were tied with yellow ribbons. No stockings, just smooth olive skin. She looked like one of those Italian beauties he'd seen in travel brochures walking along a Sicilian beach.

She took his breath away.

“Melanie said it was okay if I waited for Katia out here. She's in her office with a client and asked not to be disturbed.”

“Her office?” Jack couldn't tear his eyes from Sophie's. He was mesmerized. “Oh, right. Her office. We just got it finished last week. Luke Bosworth did the work. He's very good.”

“He is.” She smiled.

The light in her face was more brilliant than the sun's amber rays.

“You know Luke?”

“Not well. Just that he's Sarah's husband. He did the build-out of the apartment in Mrs. Beabots's house. My apartment, that is.”

He kept staring. Filling his eyes. He barely heard her.

“My apartment? You know? Where Katia lived before she and Austin... Jack, are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh. Fine. Fine. Hey, would you like some iced tea? Coffee? Lemonade? It's just that powder stuff. It's not really my thing—I make my own from fresh lemons.”

“So do I.” She smiled again.

His heart did some radical gymnastics that he'd never be able to describe to a doctor.

Sophie was still talking. “I make mine with filtered water and it's so much better. Mrs. Beabots puts mint in hers. Actually, she puts her homegrown mint in just about anything. I should bring you some.”

What was she talking about? He saw her lips moving, but this vision
couldn't
be Sophie. He was angry with Sophie. He and Sophie were on opposite sides of a blistering disagreement about how Aleah had died. Who was responsible. He wouldn't give in. Ever. He owed that to Aleah.

Didn't he?

“Iced tea would be great,” she said. “It's been a long day. We had three difficult ablations back-to-back.”

“Is that unusual?” he managed to say.

“Pretty much. These were all over three hours each. I wasn't sure I'd get here in time for Katia. But we started earlier than we'd planned. Thank goodness,” she rambled.

He pointed to the break room. “I'll get some tea for you. Katia shouldn't be much longer.”

“That's very kind of you, Jack. No sugar.”

He smiled. “Somehow, I knew that.”

“Really? I've never liked sugar in my tea, even though I like—”

“Ice cream,” he finished for her.

“Yeah,” she replied. “How's Frenchie?”

“Er. Fine. She's asleep in her bed. In my office.” He really had to concentrate. He was getting tea. No sugar. “You wanna see her?”

“Yeah. I'd love to.”

“Feel free,” he said, waving toward his office.

Sophie followed him. Light footsteps. Barely hitting the floor. Didn't angels do that? Float? Not walk.

Jack turned and went to the break room. He filled a glass with ice cubes then poured the tea from an antique pitcher Katia had brought from home. Katia was relentless with making the office feel homey. Cozy. Inviting.

Fleetingly, he wondered if Sophie liked antiques. Or was she the modern type—all hard surfaces and antibacterial sprays?