Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
“You knew this all day and never said anything? I was in your office, for Christ’s sake!”
“She confided in me, Jack. I couldn’t just come running to you.”
He followed her into their bathroom. “She’s thinking about having sex! You should’ve told me that.”
“No, I shouldn’t have. I’ve been walking on eggshells around here for almost a year, especially with Kate and Jill. Don’t you see what a big deal it was that she came to me with this? I told her to talk to you, and I pushed you to talk to her. That’s all I could do. I couldn’t betray her.”
“Instead, you betrayed me.” He stormed out of the bathroom and slammed the door, needing to get the hell out of there before he said something else he’d regret.
Since it was too dark to run on the beach, Jack stayed on the quiet street and watched for patches of ice. Running without music or a destination, he couldn’t believe Andi had kept something this important from him, even for just a few hours.
After a while, he looked up to discover he’d run three miles and was approaching Frannie and Jamie’s new house, a contemporary Jamie had designed and built overlooking the water.
He’d drawn the plans for the house years ago and put them away when it seemed like he wouldn’t be having a family.
Jack saw the lights were still on, so he decided to stop to see them.
He walked in to find Frannie curled up on the sofa, feeding one of the babies.
“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t want to ring the bell and wake someone up.”
“You don’t have to ring the bell here. You know that. What’re you doing out so late?”
“Just taking a run. Who do you have there?” he asked as he wiped the sweat off his face with a gloved hand.
“Owen. He’s insatiable.” She smiled when the baby wrapped his tiny fingers around hers as he breastfed under a light blanket.
Jack dropped into the chair across from Frannie and pulled off his gloves. “Enjoy them while they’re that age.”
“What’s the matter?”
He told her about finding Kate with Ryan and the fight he’d had with her. “She wants to go on the pill, and she’s not going to college. Other than that, everything’s groovy.”
“Wow, she put it right out there, huh? Don’t you want her on the pill if things with him have gone that far?”
He struggled not to raise his voice as the baby dozed on Frannie’s shoulder. “No, I do not want her on the pill. I’m not giving her permission to have sex.”
“Jack, she’s seventeen. She doesn’t need your permission. If she wants to do it, she will. Wouldn’t it be better to make sure she doesn’t get pregnant?”
“I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation. Oh, and get this—Kate talked to Andi about all this earlier, and she never said a word to me. I mean my daughter is talking about having sex, and Andi doesn’t think I need to know that?”
“So you expect Andi to tell you everything the girls confide in her?”
“Stuff like this—yes.”
“I didn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“There were lots of times the girls told me things and made me promise not to tell you because it was embarrassing or it was just girl stuff. Sometimes I told you, and other times I didn’t.
It depended on what it was. Don’t you think it’s great that Kate went to Andi with this?
It shows what a good job she’s done getting the girls to trust her.
If Andi had gone blabbing to you, Kate would never tell her anything again. ”
Jack hated to admit Frannie might have a point. “Andi could’ve cued me in so I wouldn’t have been totally blindsided.”
“I know it’s hard to see the girls growing up. It’s hard for me, and I’m only their aunt.”
“You’re much more than that to all of them, and you know it.”
“Get her on the pill so a year from now you aren’t wishing you had.”
“I’ll think about it, but I hate the idea of it.”
“Weigh it against how you’d feel about being a grandfather, and you’ll start to feel a whole lot better about it,” she said with a grin.
Jack grimaced at the word grandfather. “What’ll you do when Olivia tells you she wants to be on the pill at seventeen?”
“Olivia won’t be allowed to date until she’s thirty. That’s where you made your mistake—letting her go out with him in the first place.”
He smiled. “I hope I’m around for that fight.”
“So she says she’s not going to college? What’s that all about?”
“She wants to pursue music, and ‘why should I waste four years in school?’”
“Who’s wasting four years in school?” Jamie asked as he came into the room.
“Kate. She’s got a big idea about a career in music.” Jack rolled his eyes.
Jamie leaned down to take the sleeping Owen from Frannie. “She’s good enough.”
“Make sure you tell her that,” Jack said dryly. “You’ll really help my cause.”
“Well, she is,” Jamie insisted. “She’s got a real talent. Maybe you should let her see where it takes her.”
“Clare would have a shit fit over this. She pounded college into their heads from the day they were old enough to know what school was. She’d never go for it.”
“Aren’t you doing to Kate the same thing your father did to you?” As he spoke, Jamie rubbed Owen’s back. “Do you want Kate to resent you the way you resented him all those years for not understanding you well enough to let you go your own way?”
“So I just say ‘good luck, honey, hope it works out. Call home every now and then?’”
“Maybe you do,” Frannie said softly. “If that’s what it takes to prevent what happened between you and Dad from happening again, maybe that’s exactly what you do.”
Jack shook his head as he got up. “I can’t see myself doing that, Fran. I’m sorry I barged in on you guys. Thanks for letting me vent.” He gave Owen a pat on his well-padded bum.
“It’s too cold to take the babies out, so we’re always home these days,” Frannie said.
“Come by any time,” Jamie added. “We like the company.”
Jack jogged home thinking about what Frannie and Jamie had said. He knew they were probably right, but he had no idea how to let Kate follow her dream and keep her safe at the same time.
He took a shower and lay awake next to Andi for a long time. As he stewed about Kate, he found himself longing for Clare. She’d know exactly what to do.
Jack woke up to a note from Andi, asking him to come see her when he got to the hotel.
He dropped Maggie and Eric off at school and was at the hotel by nine. Sleep deprived and cranky, he was hit right away with a slew of new issues with the stubborn stonemasons. He finally blew up at the Portuguese crew chief, the only one who spoke English.
“Do it the way it’s drawn, or I’ll find someone else who will!” Jack left the man speechless in his wake as he stormed into the hotel, went to Andi’s office, and slammed the door.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“They’re making a goddamned mess of that veranda.” He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m giving them one last chance to follow the plans, or I’ll replace them.”
“We don’t have time to get another crew. I’ve had a disaster a minute myself since I got here at seven, and I don’t have the patience for another one.”
“If you don’t care if it’s done right, then I don’t either. You’re the client.”
She got up and walked around the desk to face him. “Is that what I am now, Jack? The client?”
“You know what I mean.”
“You’re mad I didn’t tell you about Kate, but I’d do the same thing if I had it to do over again.”
“I just wish you’d warned me or something.”
“Would that have made it easier to hear? Any of it?”
“Probably not, but I don’t want us keeping things from each other. I don’t operate that way, and I didn’t think you did either.”
“You’re being very unfair, and I don’t deserve it.
” Her normally soft brown eyes flashed with fury.
“I’m living in your wife’s house, eating off her dishes, and using her towels while trying to be a friend to her daughters.
I’m doing the best I can. For God’s sake, Jack, what else do you want from me? ”
“Andi—” he said, stunned by her outburst.
She held up a hand to stop him. “Forget it. I don’t have time for this now. I’ll be here until ten o’clock tonight at this rate. Thank you for driving Eric this morning and for pitching in with him while I’m so busy.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m happy to take care of him.”
“I’ll see you tonight.”
With a sick feeling in his stomach, he went back to work.
They didn’t see much of each other over the next few weeks as Andi worked long hours, usually crawling into bed long after midnight.
Two days before the opening, the executive team from Chicago completed its inspection and declared the hotel ready to go.
Andi’s reservations director told her they were sold out for the first month, and the front desk manager reported her group was ready to begin receiving the VIPs invited to the gala opening.
Andi had supervised every detail of the gala and was tending to final preparations the day before the opening as she walked through the lobby, where the house staff was decorating a huge Christmas tree.
The first thing guests would see upon entrance through the main door was an enormous staircase with the registration desk on one side and the concierge and bellman’s stations on the other.
The staircase divided the two sides of the hotel and served as the symbolic center of the building.
Guests choosing to take the stairs would be rewarded at the top with a full-length window view of the lawn and the bay.
Andi loved the night view when she could see the Newport Bridge lit up in the distance.
Jen Brooks had arrived two weeks earlier and was already indispensable to Andi. Jen had taken on the housekeeping and food service staff. Louis Jacard, the executive chef Andi had hired away from a top New York restaurant, was temperamental, but Jen assured Andi she could handle him.
“Everything looks wonderful, Andi,” her colleague, Bill, said as they toured the suites in the west wing. “It came together beautifully.”
“It really did,” Andi agreed.
“And the art is superb. Frannie Booth did an outstanding job. We’ll have to use her again.”
“She’s busy with the twins right now, but she might be interested in some work down the road.”
He scowled playfully at her. “I shouldn’t even be speaking to you after the way you poached Jen right out from under me.”
Andi laughed. “It was truly awful of me, but it had to be done. I’d never have gotten everything finished in time if she hadn’t shown up when she did.”
“I saw her battling with Louis earlier, and she was holding her own. It was a good move for her. She was in bad shape after she ended it with Mark.”
“She already seems better after just a few weeks. I’m thrilled to have her with me, but I’m sorry I stole her from you,” Andi said, full of mock contrition.
“You are not!” he said, and they laughed.
They were in the America’s Cup suite when Jack appeared at the door.
“Hi, there.” Andi was surprised—and thrilled—to see him. He’d made himself scarce around the hotel since they’d argued about Kate. Repairing their rift was her top priority after the opening.
Jack shook Bill’s hand. “Hi there, Bill. How are you?”
“Nice to see you. You guys did an outstanding job.”
“So did you. The suites are amazing.”
“Andi deserves most of the credit for that. Would you two excuse me? I need to get over to the east wing where the rest of my people are handling the finishing touches.”
“I’ll see you later, Bill.” Andi was hosting a dinner that evening for her former coworkers as a thank you for their hard work over the last few months.
“How’re you holding up?” Jack asked, studying her. “You look tired.”
“I’ll be glad to get through tomorrow. Is everyone all set to come?”
“We’re looking forward to it. I bought Eric a tux yesterday. Wait until you see how cute he is.”
He looked delighted, and she felt her heart soften toward him for the first time in far too long. “I can’t wait. Thanks for taking him.”
“It was fun.”
She looked up at him, her heart aching. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” He held out his arms to her.
Taking a step to meet him halfway, she released a deep sigh of relief at being back in his arms and engulfed in his familiar scent. “I’m scared, Jack. I never would’ve thought we could drift so far from each other so quickly.”
“We’ll work it out, honey. After the opening, we should get away for a few days. Just the two of us.”
“I’d love that.” She reached up to kiss him and lingered longer than she’d intended when the old thrill chased through her the moment their lips touched.
He seemed reluctant to let her go. “I’ll make some plans for us. Any preferences?”
“Surprise me.” She kissed him again. “I’ve got to get back downstairs. Jen and Louis were going at it pretty hard earlier. I need to make sure they didn’t kill each other.”
“Sounds like fun.” He kissed her one last time before he walked her back to the lobby.
She saw him out the door and went to find Jen.
Andi didn’t get home until almost two the next morning. She set her alarm for six so she’d have time to pack what she needed to stay at the hotel after the gala. When she got into bed, Jack reached for her and pulled her close to him in his sleep.
She smiled in the dark. It had been weeks since she’d slept in his arms, and she hoped they’d taken a small step back to each other.