I smile, relieved.
“Yes, everything’s fine. You have nothing to stress about.”
“No, no, don’t do that,” she says firmly. “I don’t want to hear that sort of thing from you, not ever.”
“What do you mean?”
“You do that to Mom all the time, shutting her out whenever she asks about anything. There’s no need for that, Brent. I’m an adult now. If you have bad news, I can take it.”
I grin ruefully.
“First, Har, there is nothing wrong. Second, I don’t freeze out Catherine. Third, I raised such a good kid because you’re very caring.”
She chuckles. “Dad, I’m not a child anymore. And you can talk to me, you know that, right? I mean it. Whatever it is.”
This is getting a little tiresome. I haven’t called my daughter because I’ve been seeing Jane. Of course, I want to chat with Fannie and Freddie, my grandkids. But at the same time, I also want a life of my own as a vigorous adult male without being reminded that I’m a grandfather.
“Nothing’s wrong, Har. I have a lot of presentations to make, and we’re working on going international, so this is getting big fast. There are a ton of regulations to deal with, and that’s not Gray’s strong suit, so I’m handling this part of the deal. I’m sorry I haven’t kept up with our usual phone schedule, but I promise to do better. Forgive me?”
She laughs.
“There is nothing to forgive, Daddy. You’re my father. But keep in mind this isn’t only on your shoulders, okay? Gray can at least lend a hand. It’s kind of his job.”
I merely roll my eyes.
“How is he, anyway?”
My daughter goes into a rhapsody about her wonderful husband and my fabulous grandkids, and I try to block out some of it, at least. It makes me feel like a terrible person because who gets jealous of their own flesh and blood? Yet, I’d love to have children of my own again. Little children, growing round in Jane’s belly before she gives birth. She’d be a wonderful mommy, and the air stops in my throat. Am I really thinking these things?
But Harlow’s voice interrupts me again.
“So, do you want to do Sunday Supper at our house tomorrow?”
“Wish I could, but I have an investor meeting Monday in Boston, and I’m flying out tomorrow morning. Sorry, Har.”
She sighs.
“It’s fine. Make it up to me next Sunday?”
I try to delay. I think I have plans with Jane, and right now, the curvy girl gets precedence.
“We’ll see. I hate to go, baby girl, but I really need to concentrate on the presentation right now.”
“No worries, Dad. Talk later.”
“Bye, sweetie.” I hang up and wonder if I’m the worst father in the world. But industry waits for no one, and right now, I want to focus on the gorgeous girl who’s snuck into my heart.“My man, I hate to ask you to wait, but that’s where we’re at on the merger. Until we get word from the board, we can’t move forward with more investments. Stay grounded in Denver. There’s no sense in coming to Boston now,” Simi says.
I’m disappointed, but a familiar scent wafts up my nose and my mouth waters. The announcements on the airport speakers drone on, so I have to plug my other ear to be able to finish the call. I tell Simi, “Hey, I’m just glad to get your call before I board the plane. No worries.”
“I’ll shoot you an email when I know more, Brent. Again, I’m terribly sorry about all of this.”
“Not a problem. Take care.” I hang up, walk toward the mouth-watering scent, and call Jane immediately.
“Hey, everything okay?” she sounds sleepy.
“Yeah, why do you sound weird?”
“It’s 9:42 on a Sunday morning, Brent.”
“Are you sick, honey? I just want to make sure.”
She giggles sleepily.
“No, I am sound asleep.”
I try to keep my chuckles to a minimum, “Wow. I’m sorry I woke you. I’ll go.”
“No, I’m awake. What’s going on?”
“Dreiser’s donuts.”
Her voice is suddenly much more awake, “You’re not teasing me, right?”
“I’m at the airport and it looks like they just got a fresh batch out of the fryer. What do you say to—”
“YES, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!”
I laugh. “I’m always ready to give a lady what she wants. I’ll be at your place soon.” With a smile, I make sure to load a dozen with a multitude of chocolate flavors, before heading to the parking lot. Maybe my business deal just went down the drain, but I don’t care anymore. The prospect of seeing my love blows away everything else, and now, I’ve got the perfect gift in hand.7Jane* * *As soon as I hang up with Brent, I run to the shower.
“Okay, he’s going to be here soon. That’s plenty of time to shower, do a full face of makeup, blow-dry my hair, touch up my manicure, and oh who the hell am I kidding? A proper face takes thirty minutes alone, my hair takes an hour to dry with my crappy hairdryer, and my manicure? Pffft, what manicure?”