The Driven Snowe (15 page)

She looked at him, as if she'd never seen him before. “I didn't know you'd be like this,” she said after a moment.

“I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions,” he said, in that surly voice that basically meant
I'm sorry you're upset by it,
not
I'm sorry I did that.
“But you might have told me you were planning on going on a trip anyway, especially one that serious.”

“I think maybe you should leave.”

Looking away, he said, “I really am sorry, Angela…”

“I know,” she replied, and she felt withdrawn, like an observer more than a participant. “I still think you should leave.”

He grimaced. “You don't need to freeze me out. I said I was sorry. We need to talk about this.”

That stung. She kept her reserve up, like a bulletproof window. “I don't see that we need to talk about anything. I planned a trip. You found out, and got upset about it.
You came over here and made it clear you were upset. I realized I didn't like being yelled at for doing what I'm well within my rights to do. End of story.”

He glared at her. “I hate that you can be so calm about all of this. I was worried that you were leaving, dammit. I was angry that you'd keep something like this from me, after all we've been through. Can't you understand that?”

He was worried that I hadn't cleared it with him. He was angry enough to yell at me, like he had a right to.

“I still think you should leave.”

“I just might leave for good one of these days, Angela. Has that ever occurred to you?”

She crossed the room and opened the door. “It's occurred to me ever since we made this arrangement, Josh.”

He stared at her, with a look of frustrated fury, then stormed out. She shut the door quietly behind him.

At least I've still got ice cream, right?

She was still smiling over the idea as tears ran down her cheeks.

J
OSH SAT BROODING
at his desk at work. He hadn't seen Angela in two weeks. By any previous relationship standard he might have held that it was over. Done. Finite. Just chalk it up as a bad bet, and move on.

He stared at the phone. Of course, after two weeks, he'd usually gotten several tearful phone calls and at least one nasty message, all of which he usually dodged. He'd been careful to screen his calls all this week. It was a good thing he had, too—he was saved from an annoying sales pitch from someone asking him to change his long distance service, and two offers for new credit cards. The only thing it hadn't prevented him from being forced to deal with was Angela—and that was only because she'd given him nothing
to
deal with. She hadn't called, written, or stopped by.

She'd just vanished.

Josh fiddled with some papers. Several marathons wanted Solar Bars to sponsor them.
I don't know anything about these guys,
he thought as he looked over a brochure.
Maybe I could go down to the library…

He stopped himself before he could continue with
such an obvious and juvenile ploy. He had the Internet. He didn't have to deliberately do reconnaissance in enemy territory, just to see how Angela was faring during this cold war.

He ought to be thankful she was making it easy on him. He ought to be thankful he'd found out about the Italy trip in the first place. Otherwise, he might have actually convinced himself that he was in love with her. And that would have…

Come on, Josh. Who are you trying to kid?

He
was
in love with her. He didn't know how precisely that had happened, but just banging his head against a wall trying to convince himself that he wasn't was just as stupid as being in love and not doing anything about it. He'd made a grave tactical error by storming over to Angela's house and blasting her.

But it still hurt.
It hurt that she hadn't told him she was planning to leave for six weeks. He still wondered when she would have let him know. A week or two before? The night before? Or would she have let him know that morning, because she needed a ride to the airport?

No, she wouldn't even ask for a ride. She'd have arranged for a shuttle or taxi—she's too self-sufficient to need a ride from her not-quite-boyfriend.

He was getting so bitter. This whole love thing sort of sucked—he suddenly realized why he hadn't fallen for it previously.

He couldn't go on like this, and he wasn't going to just roll over and let her shut him out of her life because he'd made a mistake. The last thing he should have done was get angry with her for wanting to go to Italy. He needed to
persuade
her…treat her so well, seduce her
so thoroughly, that she wouldn't even
want
to leave his side for six weeks.

Yeah. You've been doing a banner job of making her crazy to stay with you thus far.

He frowned. Dammit. He was losing his grip on this. He needed to call in the big guns. He picked up his phone and hit the speed-dial.

“Hello?” a deep bass voice said.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Josh! Haven't heard from you in a while. How's the company holding up?”

“Great. Manzanita has been a good move for us,” he said. “So how's retirement treating you?”

“I get to play golf every day, I'm jogging on the beach, and I've been getting to those home improvements you know I've always talked about…”

Josh grinned. “Driving you nuts, huh?”

“Right out of my gourd.” His father sighed deeply, and Josh laughed. “If your mother reminds me about my carbs and cholesterol levels one more time, I swear, I am going to Fat Charlie's Hamburger Hut and having a full-pound burger with a side of spicy fries.”

“How's the diet thing going?”

His father grew quiet for a second. “It's a pain in the ass, that's for sure. And as much as I complain, if it weren't for your mother, I'd have gone really nuts by now. She's the only person who could have possibly kept me sane in all this.” His voice went low. “Don't tell her I said so, though. Woman's got enough power over me.”

Josh grinned. His father was the firm patriarch in the family, and everybody knew it.

“But, hey, enough about me. What's going on with you?”

“I've got this…problem.”

He could picture his father hunkering down in his chair, a broad, crafty smile on his face. “What are we dealing with here? Marketing? Distribution? Your accountant giving you fits? Political trouble?”

“Let's call it more of a strategy issue,” Josh said. Figures. His father hadn't been retired a year, and he got positively gleeful just thinking about somebody else's business problems and solutions.

“Now you're talking! So…strategy. What's your objective?”

What
was
his objective? He wanted Angela to see him again. He wanted her to love him. He wanted—well, he'd start with love. Getting her to love him was trouble enough to start with. “Let's say I've got a problematic potential partner. Likes me well enough, but not the way I do things.”

“Well, that's managerial style, son,” his father said, taking on a lecturing tone. He was obviously reveling in being useful again. “You've probably been pushing your way through things. You've got to learn when to be a hard-ass, and when to
finesse.
” Josh laughed.

“What? You think I don't know about finesse, is that it?”

“I think you could finesse your way out of Hell with an order for twenty air conditioners,” Josh said. “It's just…this isn't really business, Dad.”

“It isn't? Then what the heck are we talking about?”

Josh took a deep breath. “There's this woman…”

“Oh,
man…
” His father chuffed impatiently. “I thought this was gonna be
fun.
”

“Hey, it's no picnic for me, either,” Josh said. “I'm the one who's got to deal with her.”

“Don't tell me—you've broken up with some girl who's not happy about the news, huh?” His father sighed. “Glad I'm not single anymore, and that's the damned truth. Well, it'll be nice to see you again. Come on down to the house, take a break for a few days, give her a cooling off period…”

“No, it's not like that. I didn't break up with this one.”

“Really?” His father sounded a little more curious. “Huh. So when you say you've got to deal with her, what does that mean?”

“It means she's driving me crazy,” Josh said, running a hand over his face. “She's got me so I don't know if I'm thinking straight from one day to the next. She's really affectionate one minute, then I blink, and it seems like she vanishes. She's beautiful, and brilliant, and…” He growled.
“And she pisses me off.”

His father was silent for a moment, then Josh heard the sounds of muffled laughter over the phone line.

“I don't find this funny,” Josh complained.

“Sorry, son. It's just a case of what goes around, comes around.” His laughter died down to chuckles. “Your mother drove me to fits by our third date. It was around then that I realized I'd either marry her or kill her, and I knew if I killed her I'd miss her too much.”

“She's not even talking to me.”

“Well, what are you doing talking to me, then? Go find the woman.” His father let out a whistle. “How long has it been since your fight, then?”

“Two weeks.”

“Two weeks!” his father yelped. “Good God, son. If
she's anything like your mother, you'd better find her, and fast. I made the mistake of having a fight with your mother and waiting for her to come to her senses. By the time I lost my cool and went looking for her, she had not one but
three
guys, all prowling around her like wolves. Proposed to her that night,” his father said nostalgically. “Among other things.”

“T.M.I., Dad,” Josh protested. “Too much information.”

“Oh, grow up. So…when do I get to meet her?”

It wasn't a question. It was a command, and they both knew it. “I guess it depends on whether or not I can get her to talk to me.”

“You're my son. If anybody could convince her, it'd be you.”

Josh smiled, embarrassed. “Thanks, Dad.”

“How does next weekend sound, then?” His father sounded cheerful. “I could always use another birthday gift, you know.”

“All right then,” Josh agreed. “Next weekend.”

 

S
O WHAT DO YOU DO when you're by yourself again?

Angela pushed her silverware around on the red-and-white checkered tablecloth, as she sat at DaVinci's Italian restaurant with the girls from work. She felt like one big ache, all over. She missed Josh—the way he stroked her cheek, the way he moved against her, pressing her into his mattress. The way his voice sounded, calling her late at night.

“Angela, are you all right?”

Angela shook her head quickly, as if shaking the thoughts out. “Sorry. What?”

“You've been staring off into the distance for the past two weeks,” Tanya remarked. “You've gone out with us more, but you're basically playing with whatever you order, then bringing it home. I was just wondering if everything was okay.”

“Looks like you've got man troubles,” Ginny remarked, and the other two women nodded in commiseration.

Angela blinked. “Is it that obvious?”

“Listen, if I haven't heard a man-related blues story, I've lived through it.” Ginny sighed, her gray eyes kind. “So what happened with you and Josh?”

Angela had come a long way in opening up to people, but so far, she'd just left a mildly weepy e-mail for Bethany and drank some very lightly rum-laden hot cocoa. She dived into her classes with a vengeance, but it wasn't quite helping. “There is no ‘me and Josh.'”

The women murmured in unison. “I'm sorry, Angela,” Ginny said. “But everybody knows about Josh Montgomery. He's just that kind of guy. He's incredible, but he never stays that long.”

“How do you know that?” Tanya asked before Angela could.

Ginny shrugged. “He dated Jill, then Sabrina. They both said he was great in…” She stopped abruptly, obviously noticing Angela's shocked expression. “Whoops. Sorry. I just meant they both said he hadn't stayed around that long.” She looked embarrassed, and bit her lip.

Angela still stared at her, silent.

“That didn't help much, did it?”

Angela shook her head.

“Well, at least you had a good time before he left,” Ginny said with a resolute nod. “If he's got another
reputation, it's for knowing how to treat women right.”

Angela finally found her voice. “Why do you guys all think
he
left
me?
”

They all stopped and stared at her. “He didn't?”

“Oh, God,” May said, her eyes wide. “He wasn't
cheating
on you, was he?”

“Of course he wasn't!” Angela said. “He just…he was…” She sighed, frustrated. “He was mad that I booked a trip without him.”

They still stared. “You booked a trip without him?” Ginny finally said.

“Yes. Six weeks or so. I'm still going through the vacation paperwork on that one.” Angela let out a huff of frustration. “But he had no right to make those kinds of demands.”

Tanya's mouth dropped open. “You're kidding me, right?”

Angela frowned at her. “No, I'm not.” They didn't understand how bad this was. It was a minor step, but it was an indication of things to come. Why weren't they getting it? “He even yelled at me,” she said.

“Well, he shouldn't yell at you, but you were fighting, weren't you? And he was angry. I can see why. When you're in a relationship, you usually make plans like a six-week vacation
together,
you know?” Ginny smiled. “If I had a rich, good-looking boyfriend like Josh Montgomery, I'd probably invite him to come with me…”

“The thing is, he
isn't
my boyfriend—he
wasn't
my boyfriend. We were just seeing each other. We both agreed to just see each other.”

Now the women stared at her with skepticism. “If you say so,” Tanya said, then looked at her sympathetically.
“Although I'll say this. If you were just ‘seeing each other,' why do you look like your best friend just died now that he's gone?”

Angela couldn't come up with a response for that one. She took a sip of her iced tea instead.

Ginny smiled. “I wish I were young enough to still stick to principles,” she said, with a slight shake of her head. “Now, I figure, if you can keep a guy happy and in your bed, you're ahead of the game.”

“Amen, sister,” Tanya said, clinking her soda with Ginny's.

“You don't really think that, do you?” Angela said, looking first at one of them, then the other. Even May was nodding her head sadly.

“It's just that you have to
compromise,
” May explained. “That's how Harry and I stay married. I love Harry with all my heart. Of course, I wouldn't complain if
he'd
pick the kids up once in a while—or do the dishes—or figure out what the vacuum cleaner is for besides taking up room in the closet…”

“Or what else the bed's for besides sleeping in,” Ginny crowed, causing Tanya to laugh.

May smiled. “No, I remind him on that one,” she replied, causing new peals of laughter. Even Angela giggled, feeling better. “And, he doesn't give me a hard time when I tell him ‘listen, you are watching little Harry and Emily tonight. I am going out dancing, and that's that.' You've just got to pick one thing that you absolutely can't give on.” She tapped on the tabletop for emphasis. “That's your line in the sand. I figure, Harry can forget certain points of women's liberation, as long as he remembers that every month, I get one night out with the girls.”