The Usual Family Mayhem

Chapter Thirty-Three

Before I could take another step Harlan came in. Harlan. Of course, Harlan. Apparently the man didn’t have a job other than to show up wherever I was in Winston-Salem and make me miserable.

He smiled. “Good afternoon.”

Friendly. Warm. His expression put me on the defensive. In graph form, Harlan and the concept of genuine charm were two nonoverlapping circles.

“I thought it might be teatime and I could join you.”

He gestured in the direction of the table Celia and Gram had set up for the break. “May I?”

It was a table set for three, but sure. Celia and Gram wouldn’t kick him out. Actually, Gram might. She didn’t possess the play-nice gene like Celia did. What likely saved him from a one-way ticket out of the annex was his friendly tone. No pontificating. No self-congratulatory bullshit. His usual punch of ego and fake chivalry mysteriously had gone missing.

Until I knew what game this was and what his sneaky little plans were, I would watch and wait.

Gram looked as skeptical as I felt. “This is new. You stopping by in the late afternoon for no reason.”

A major slip-up on his part. Do not come uninvited and expect to be fed. I hoped Gram’s narrowed eyes meant she planned on ushering him out of the building soon.

Through it all, his smile didn’t waver. “We’re family, after all.”

Hell, no.

Gram looked ready to spit. “Actually—”

Celia stopped Gram’s incoming lecture with a hand on her arm.

Bummer. I say let Gram loose.

“Come on in and join us.”

Celia motioned to Harlan then to me. “Kasey?”

Celia had to know how much this sucked for everyone, including Celia. Only Harlan had the power to ruin a dessert and tea break. His presence put me on edge and guaranteed I wouldn’t be able to eat much.

The four of us sat down. The baking frenzy in the annex had calmed down about an hour ago when the assistants left for the day. Gram had insisted she could finish up. Of course, she hadn’t expected the turmeric incident or for Harlan to descend on her.

With the tea poured and the plates passed around, I fought to come up with a nice, neutral conversation topic.

“This is delicious.”

He sipped tea, leaving the piece of pie in front of him untouched.

Strike two. First the surprise visit and now the failure to dig in to dessert.

Whatever thought ran around in his little mind was going to come out and really suck. I’d bet the $634 in my checking account on it.

“I should be upset, you know.”

He delivered the comment in a light, conversational tone.

I knew better than to be fooled. He had an agenda. He’d made that clear when he suggested Jackson rekindle his romance with Anna. The adrenaline pumping through me said Harlan’s seemingly innocuous comment about the tea was a windup. He was easing us in, which would make the hit so much harder.

Gram took the bait. “About what?”

“You’re keeping such a big piece of news from me.”

He glanced in my direction then looked at Gram again. “You could have come to me for help. I would have been happy to step in and guide you.”

He shot another glance in my direction. This one lasted a bit longer, delivered with a hint of a challenge.

Oh, shit.

Celia frowned. “Guide us where?”

“What are you talking about?”

Gram’s voice suggested she wasn’t in the mood for Harlan’s riddles.

That made two of us. Letting him play his game could lead to a dark place. I tried to pivot. “Maybe we should enjoy the tea?”

“Harlan should explain first,”

Gram said.

Yeah, I figured that derailment wouldn’t work.

Harlan set his teacup down nice and slow. Made a big, dramatic scene of it, ensuring he had our collective attention.

Then he lowered the boom. “The sale.”

Gram snorted. “Excuse me?”

“What sale?”

Celia asked at the same time.

I was in hell.

Harlan picked up that stupid little cup again and sipped the tea like he was at a cotillion. “There are rumors. This type of information finds its way to me because of my position in town and my work with people in power.”

It looked like his ego had arrived.

“Are you enjoying your tea?”

Harlan asked me.

I waited for the floor to open up and suck me down. Make that hoped. I hoped for that to happen.

Now the unwanted visit made sense. This was a message for me. He was coming for me in his usual look how important I am way, not caring who he took out with his shot.

“Harlan, what are you talking about?”

Celia refilled his cup. “What sale?”

“There’s a rumor going around the business community that you two plan to sell Mags’ Desserts.”

Boom.

“More specifically, that you are looking for a buyer to step in and handle additional expansion.”

Harlan continued, clearly impressed with his ability to choke the life out of a room. “Someone who would take over the running of the business, make the decisions, pay you a fair amount of money, of course, then become your partner. Senior partner.”

Celia stopped moving. Mouth hanging open, cup tilted.

Gram’s face turned red as she prepared to explode.

I sat there hating Harlan.

“Naturally, I was skeptical. Clearly, you would have brought something like that to me before taking it to others, especially firms out of state.”

He stopped to take another sip of tea.

Well, crap. He knew. This jackass had figured out my pitch problem or dug around and made an educated guess. No way did Jackson fill him in. Jackson wouldn’t do that. He could be rigid and overly certain he was right on every issue, even a tad unbending, but he wouldn’t pretend to work with me while selling me out.

This was all Harlan. He looked too sure. Too proud of his bullshit. And . . . wait. What had Brock said during our last heated meeting? Something about neutralizing Jackson and the legal end of the deal. That couldn’t mean . . . but . . . I looked at Harlan’s smug face and knew my fear was correct. Brock and Harlan. I’d rather take my chances and eat a shovelful of turmeric than deal with those two together.

Celia shook her head. “We didn’t go to you or anyone else because we have no intention of selling.”

“Where did you hear this nonsense?”

Gram sounded spitting mad. “People should be ashamed of themselves for telling these sorts of lies.”

Harlan glanced at me again. “I’m trying to remember exactly who told me.”

Get out in front of this. An offensive strike. It was a little late but my one chance. “I think—”

“I got a call.”

Harlan set his cup down again and waved off Celia when she went to refill it. “See, I’m the man in North Carolina who outsiders go to with proposals like these. I have a reputation for assisting in deals that would benefit the state and, frankly, in persuading outsiders to look elsewhere if the deals are a detriment to the people who shape local interests.”

Talk, talk, talk. So many words and all of them aimed at telling us how important he was. His ego needed its own chair at the table.

He kept right on yapping. “It’s true this isn’t my exact area of expertise, but it’s related due to the sale implications. I can connect like-minded successful business professionals and also clear some of the regulatory hurdles and paperwork requirements. I know the players. And, as you would expect, the people who run the state like to keep the money and businesses in the state.”

The room spun. The round and round made the kitchen smear into this hazy blur. Dizzy. Nauseated. Pissed off. I managed to be all three at once.

“Take your expertise in whatever you’re an expert at and go somewhere else. A sale is not happening.”

Gram made that sound like an order.

“It’s okay.”

Celia rested a hand on Gram’s arm but kept her focus on Harlan. “Again, we’re not interested.”

Harlan nodded before looking at me. “What do you think, Kasey?”

That he should leave. Get in his fancy car and go back to his fancy house or fancy club.

I went with an answer that didn’t involve stuffing his head in a toilet. “Gram and Celia are in charge. If they say they’re not selling, you should drop it.”

Gram pointed at the table, drumming her fingertip into the wood. “And tell your crusty-suited friends to keep their hands off my business.”

“Mags, it’s okay.”

Celia gave Gram’s arm a squeeze. “This is a misunderstanding. Harlan can see that.”

“Sounds like I received some faulty information.”

Without warning or touching his pie, he stood up. “I’ll look into the rumors and report back. It’s important that you know who’s trying to undermine you.”

Trip him! The tempting message shouted in my head.

Celia gave him a tight smile. The kind that silently said get out. “We would appreciate that.”

“People have some nerve.”

Gram talked to the room in general. She didn’t aim the words. She didn’t have to.

Score one for Harlan. He got exactly the reaction he wanted. He put me on notice without showing his full hand. He let Celia and Mags know something was brewing. If my heartbeat ever returned to normal, I might be able to stop shaking. Anger gripped me and my brain begged to lash out.

“Kasey?”

Harlan had the nerve to smile at me again. Like we were dear friends, which we weren’t, dear or otherwise. “Why don’t you walk me out?”

Gram was too busy grumbling and Celia was too busy trying to calm her down to notice I was being led to the slaughter. “Sure.”

We walked across the big room in silence. He opened the door and stepped outside, leaving me standing there staring at him.

“I came today specifically to speak with you. I like you, Kasey.”

So smarmy. “Obviously.”

“I need you to understand the lengths I’ll go to in order to secure Jackson’s future and ensure he doesn’t overlook the tremendous opportunities in front of him.”

A future Harlan didn’t want me to be a part of. Got it. “I’m not sure why you’re so worried about me. I’m in town to visit my family.”

“That’s not what my informal poking around suggested. You’ll be happy to know your boss was very receptive to my offer of assistance. He seems to think the deal has stalled. I promised I would step in, use my contacts, and be very persuasive on his behalf.”

Harlan smiled. “He’s a smart man and appreciated how beneficial it would be to have an open line through me to the power brokers in the state.”

This jackass was every bad TV politician rolled into one. “All of this effort because you think I’ll corrupt Jackson.”

“I’m trying to help you. Mags and Celia never need to know you’re the one who put their business in the spotlight. Ripe for the picking.”

His smile faded a bit. “It would be best if you removed yourself from suspicion and went back to DC. If you’re not here I can provide cover. Otherwise, my hands will be tied.”

There was nothing subtle about that threat.

Harlan glanced at his watch, as if to make sure I knew how little this conversation meant to him. “I took Jackson out of the middle of this. Because I didn’t want you to get in trouble with Mags, I took you out. Everything will now go through me.”

Was I supposed to thank him? “What do you get out of all this interference?”

“That’s not your concern.”

He winked. “Have a safe trip home.”

Blowhard. Annoying. Controlling. I tried to imagine Jackson as a kid, looking for love and validation from this empty suit of a guy. Expecting Harlan to cheer him on at sporting events and when he got into Princeton then learning that Harlan couldn’t step away from the mirror long enough to put anyone else first.

“Next time call before you come over. It’s rude to show up where you’re not wanted.”

I shut the door in his face before he could offer a snide reply.

His backroom maneuvering wouldn’t win this time. No matter what it cost me.