Where She Belongs (16 page)

“
You
are the love of my life, my dear. I can afford to spoil you a little.
You rarely let me spend money on you.”

She
decided not to argue with him about it. He could well afford it.
“Look, we’ll discuss this when I get back, but yes, I
want to go ring shopping if it will make you happy.”

“
I
want to make you mine. I want to tell everyone we are promising
forever. I know that it used to be your dream to run your dad’s
company and that you are giving that up for me.”

“
It
used to be my dream. Now we are going to build new dreams together.”

“
Exactly,
and the sooner we start that, the better. I don’t want you to
regret anything.”

“
Speaking
of regrets, I decided when I get back I’m going to apply to
other parts of the company.”

“
You
decided this?”

“
I
was thinking it anyway.”

“
What
department were you thinking?”

“
My
major was in marketing.”

“
What
about HR, like we talked about?”

“
All
those regulations. I like the creative side of life better. Maybe I
should get out of your office altogether. Go elsewhere.”

“
It’s
so difficult in marketing. Really competitive. Backstabbing and
calculating group. Most people in marketing burnout quickly. I can
put you in touch with people.”

She
sighed. “Is it really that bad?”

“
Sorry,
babe. You know you’re better at the more diplomatic side of
things. HR isn’t only about rules. It’s about people.
That’s why it’s called human resources.”

“
I’ll
have to think about it.”

“
I’m
behind you whatever you decide. Even if you want to try marketing and
see what it’s like.”

He
knew better than she did what these big corporation departments were
like. He grew up here. She grew up in a small business setting.
Everyone loved everyone at Whittikar Cabinets.

“
No
regrets for any of my choices, especially you. Tell me about your
day.” She stretched her arms over her head, feeling that she
had settled the debate in her mind. Gabe was her past. Trenton was
her future.

*
* *

Gabe
left the office at eleven. Early lunch, he told most people on his
way out. He'd left Shanna with her to-do list and she said she had
some things she wanted to work on as well that she would share with
him if they came to any use.

It
was an early lunch date he had to attend. With Bryce. He'd scared
Shanna away from questioning Bryce on his motives for the house, but
he did want answers to the questions they had.

Rita
answered the door. She was surprised. "Gabe, this is unusual.
It's the middle of the day. Everything all right?"

"Oh,
yeah. Something came up and I was going to ask Bryce about it, but
maybe you should be there, too." He frowned a little. She
started to frown as well. "It's nothing bad, I think. Nothing
tragic anyway."

"Come
on, Bryce is watching Dr. Phil. If he watches too much more of these
talk shows, I may send him back and let him be your problem instead
of mine."

Gabe
laughed. "I thought you liked Dr. Phil."

"I
do, but Bryce watches. Now he’s diagnosing people and telling
me ways he's going to fix everyone."

"Who's
here?" Bryce called as they entered the living room.

"Gabe,
dear," Rita said.

"Hello
Gabe. Everything okay?"

"Well,
I dunno. I may have spilled the beans to Shanna yesterday. I sort of
conned her into not saying anything to you so I could ask you first.
You never told her about your money. Or the land. Or the house."

Bryce
and Rita looked at each other. "There never seemed to be a good
time with the money. How, exactly, do you approach that subject? Oh,
by the way, we are worth a couple million. Shanna never cared, so we
never discussed it," Rita said. "As for the house, that was
Bryce's idea to keep quiet."

"It
was a dream for so long. I was restless last year. The plant
practically runs itself. Then Shanna moved in with Trenton, and I
started to get worried. I'd hoped she'd either see the light and
leave him, or I could convince her somehow. Or he would leave her.”

"How
long have you had me mentally married off to her?"

"Oh,
your name on the land. I thought if she didn't see reason, I'd hand
the business to you. You've been like a son to us." He reached
over and took Rita's hand. Rita, for her part, nodded along with
Bryce's words.

"Okay,
so this whole I should be with Shanna thing is pretty recent?"

"Well,
no, we always hoped you two would get together," Rita said.

"So
much so you had people from the office spying on us and reporting to
you?"

"Rachel
thought you two getting together was a fine idea as well. She's
watched you two as long as the rest of the town."

"Well,
I think everything is as clear as mud. If you find a way to work
Shanna into some of these things as if it was suddenly your idea to
tell her. She does want me to take her to see the land, the house
you're building. I told her I would tonight before we have supper."

"Take
her out there, if she's intent on seeing it. The basement is dug and
cement poured. And there is water and sewer. Electricity and gas take
a lot longer than you'd think," Bryce said.

"I
thought she knew everything, so I am sorry for telling her."

"Not
your fault. How did she find out about the money?" Rita asked.

"She
found your personal accounts file on Bryce's computer. And when you
return, we'll go over secure passwords again."

"I
do use secure passwords for Internet stuff. This is company stuff."

"And
if the Internet takes an interest in your personal files, we'll have
a real problem on our hands. You need secure passwords for
everything."

"Okay,
I'll start switching passwords when I get back."

"That
would be a good idea.”

"Anything
else?"

"No,
but you can start crossing fingers I manage to convince her tonight,
otherwise she'll return to Toronto and waste her life away. He's not
going to keep her on a string for long. He knows he'll have to secure
her soon."

"We'll
pray for you Gabe," Rita said.

He
stood and zipped his jacket. "I can let myself out. See you
soon."

Chapter 9

Shanna
barely glanced at the phone when it rang. With only days left in the
office, she had to make every minute count. She never stayed late,
but she was putting in a full day's work now.

"Hello,"
she said into the phone, while scribbling numbers.

"Hello,
Shanna," Trenton said.

She
put down her pen to give him her full attention. "Hello, honey.
How are you?"

"Pretty
good. Wondering if you received my e-mail. I sent it around noon, but
I was in meetings after that, so I couldn't call to let you know.
Even after work, Dad insisted on going out for dinner with me."

"Was
it a racy e-mail?"

His
tone turned disapproving. "I would never do anything of the sort
from work."

"Oh,
well, sorry." So much for that fantasy.

"A
new project fell on my desk. I'm to be team leader over several
people. I need some help putting together our initial meeting."

"Why
isn't Kendall working on this?"

"Because
this will be worked on for several months. So you’ll be heavily
involved, of course."

"A
long-term project. Okay.”

“
I
sent you the details in an e-mail."

"I
will have a look at it tonight. I'm going out for dinner this
evening." She closed her eyes, not ready to share the
revelations of the last twenty-four hours with him. "There's a
long story. I'll explain it to you when I know all the details and
I’m back with you."

"Is
everything okay?"

"Yeah,
just, weirdness all around. It's hard to explain, as I'm still coming
to terms with it. Okay, here it is. My parents have not been
forthcoming with the nature of their net worth."

"Are
they really in debt?"

"No,
they have scads of money, more than I would have guessed. I mean, the
company does well. It's crazy, and they never told me. Anyway, Gabe's
going to tell me what he knows."

"Every
time I call you, it's Gabe this and Gabe that. Or about your father
or his damned company. I thought I was important to you."

"You
are important to me. And I will be back in four days, when I believe
you had something to ask me so we can plan the rest of our lives
together."

"Four
days is a long time, Shanna. You've been gone eleven days already,
and I miss you. I'm lonely at night."

"You
don't think I miss you as well? And my job? I owe my dad and Gabe
this two weeks. It's only two weeks out of the years and years you
and I will spend together."

"Come
home tomorrow," his voice lost the whine and took on a demanding
edge. "As your future husband I command you to return home."

"Excuse
me?"

"I
mean it, Shanna. If our future means that much to you, you'll come
home."

"Trenton,
you are my partner, but you do not own me. You cannot command me to
do anything. And if you think about that for more than a second,
you'll realize how ridiculous it sounds to even try."

"Shanna,
I just really miss you. I need you to come back and help me with my
project."

His
whiny tone was back and she wanted to shake it out of him.

"Where
is this all coming from? You said you understood, you were doing what
you could to take the stress off me."

"I'm
worried. Father might change his mind about your job if he thought
your loyalties were divided."

"That
sounds like a threat, Trenton. Look, I don't know what is going on
with you, but I don't listen to threats. I've been up front with you
about the last two weeks, what I needed to do so my family had peace
of mind. I told you, not that long ago, that this would be the end of
my obligations to this company, and when I get back we were going to
discuss our future. Has something changed for you about all that?"

"No."
He sounded like a petulant child who had been reprimanded.

"I
will be back in four days. I will read over your e-mail tonight and
send you my thoughts in less than twenty-four hours. Will that
satisfy you?"

"I
guess."

"All
right. I love you. Go to bed early, or figure out what is bothering
you so much. Because that attitude is not one I'm going to put up
with."

"I
love you, too. Have a good evening."

If
she hurried, she could look over his e-mail while she dressed for her
fancy dinner out with Gabe.

*
* *

Gabe
knocked on Shanna's office door. He went in without waiting for a
response. It was a habit he’d gotten into with Bryce and had
continued it with Shanna here. She usually left the door open.

Shanna
had a dress over her head, but it barely came to her waist. She
grunted as she struggled inside the fabric trap. He pressed his
fingers to his mouth and watched for a moment, taking particular note
of the small black silk triangle that covered her femininity. He
wished he could drop to his knees and kiss that small patch and peel
away her underwear to revel her treasure.

God,
he'd need new pants if he kept thinking about her in that way. He
tried to keep all traces of amusement out of his voice when he spoke.
"Do you require assistance?"

She
squealed and flailed harder. "Gabe, I didn't say come in."