Wellesley Wives (New England Trilogy) (17 page)

    There was a restaurant on the top floor of the bank. While staff often went out to local parks or pubs for lunch, it was easier and most days faster to dine on the bank’s top floor. The food was even subsidized because the bank liked staff to socialize together. It also meant they were less inclined to be late getting back.

Lily went there most days because she was still flying high after her promotion, and it was good to network with senior management or sit with her own team. They often talked about work over lunch and pooled their knowledge on how certain world markets were moving. Over the last few months, it had been very difficult to make money with so many countries in dire financial straits, but Lily kept her risk spread wide and focused on the Far East markets, which were her area of expertise. Thankfully, they were still pretty stable compared to Europe and the U.S. She’d been enjoying quite a few pats on the back thanks to her business plan, and she’d assumed her promotion was because of this, but her boss, Mr. Jones, had given her a decidedly icy stare as she carried a tray past the top brass’s lunch table.

“What’s his problem?” she muttered to one of her coworkers as she sat down next to him.

“Who? Jones? Don’t worry about him. He’s just smarting over C&J.”

“Damn it. That’s not my fault. He knows I have no involvement in that business. We talked about it before.”

Her coworker, Matt, looked intrigued. “When did you talk about it?”

She shrugged. “Loads of times actually. The most recent was about a month ago. He asked me how my father was and how the business was. I told him the usual. Both were great.”

“Now you know why you’re getting the cold shoulder.” Matt took a bite of his sandwich. “You said that the business was . . . what did you say? Great? When obviously it was losing money hand over fist.”

Lily looked at him. “You’re not suggesting he was serious. He was just making small talk—asking me how my father was. He wasn’t looking for inside information. That would be illegal.”

Matt pretended to look shocked. “Mr. Jones, do some insider trading, sorry, chatting? Never!” Then his demeanor changed. “Come on, Lily. You’re not that innocent. Or are you? Why do you think he’s always so nice to you? Why do you think you got that generous promotion?”

She whipped her head around. “Don’t tell me you think that I got the promotion because of my dad. Matt, I’m sorry, but that’s just sour grapes. You know as well as I do I worked my ass off for that promotion. I earned it.”

“Yeah? How much did you make the bank last year? What are your yields for the last four quarters? I’ll see you and raise you on all of them. I worked just as hard as you did, and I’ll bet I brought in more cash. But alas, I don’t have a daddy who’s in bed with us to the tune of—what is it now? $100 million? The bank wants to keep clients that valuable very happy. If that means keeping daddy’s little girl moving steadily up the chain of command, so be it. Even if poor suckers like me get left out in the cold as a result.”

Lily was incandescent with rage. “I’ve never heard such bull,” she snarled to the man she thought was her friend.

“No, and you don’t want to hear it now, Lily, but I’m only saying it because what comes ‘round goes ‘round. Your father was a big asset to this bank, and so you were, too. Now, he’s a liability. Think about it.”

“What?”

“You heard me. They won’t fire you because you could sue them for unfair dismissal, but don’t be surprised if you’re offered another promotion that would involve you moving to the South Pole.”

She wasn’t able to finish her lunch. She couldn’t sit there and take Matt’s hyperbole.

“I have to go.”

Her first instinct was to call her father, but that was impossible. The second person she thought of was Popsy, but that was another no-go. That left her with Jack. He didn’t answer. He’d told her that he was going to have a manic day with lawyers and accountants, but he would take a call from her, wouldn’t he? She left a panicky message with the request that he should call her right back. But no call came.

She refused to believe he hadn’t checked his messages all day, yet that had to be the only solution because there was no way he would’ve left her hanging. He was head-over-heels in love with her. He had just left his wife for her. Jack had better love her with everything he had, she thought, because she had lost everything she loved by going to him.

The afternoon crawled by, and everything seemed to conspire against her. The computers crashed in the morning. She lost a valuable account in the afternoon. During the day some brave souls came into her office to say how sorry they were about C&J Industries, but she flicked her long blond hair and said it had nothing to do with her. The only person who got to her was Emily.

Emily was Lily’s closest friend at work. They’d started together years ago, but Em wasn’t half as ambitions. She’d been more of a social animal and now she was married to a lawyer.

They had twin three-year-old boys, and Emily’s husband wanted her to be a stay-at-home-mom and produce a few more babies. She was toying with the idea. Her career wasn’t nearly as impressive as Lily’s, but that didn’t bother Emily in the least. The friendship had been forged when they were both young and socializing on the Boston scene, and even though their lives were going in opposite directions, their friendship was solid.

Since the twins’ arrival, Emily had job-shared and only worked three days a week now. She came in a few hours after lunch.

“Hey, how are you?”

Lily was so happy to see a friendly face. “Oh, Emily, thank God you’re here. I need to talk with you. Can we go for a drink after work?”

Emily shook her head sadly. “Sorry, the au pair is off at six. That gives me thirty minutes to get home in rush-hour traffic. I know I’m going to be late as it is. You okay? This about your dad’s company?”

Lily folded her arms on her desk then dropped her head onto them. “And the rest.” She moaned.

“Is your dad okay?”

Lily looked up and nodded. “Yeah, if you call spending the night in the ICU of Newton Wellesley Hospital, good.”

“What?”

Lily got up and closed the door. “Where do I start? Yesterday was my mother’s birthday lunch, and it accidently got out there that I was—well, I’ve been having a relationship with my father’s business partner.”

Emily’s face lit up, on hearing such fabulous scandal. She beamed at her old friend. “You bad girl,” she whispered. “He’s not married is he?”

“Well, um, technically speaking, he is, but he’s separated now.” She tried to paint it in a better light than it really was, but Emily was no fool.

“How long has he been separated?”

“Since lunch yesterday.” Lily had the decency to look ashamed.

“Lily Power, you really are a naughty girl. Who’d have thought it?” Lily wasn’t sure, but it seemed like the smile was weaker on Emily’s face now.

“Whatever. Look, the problem is that when Dad heard, he blew a gasket and maybe a heart valve, too, because he had a heart attack. You won’t tell anybody, will you?”

Emily pretended to zip her lips.

“And now Matt tells me the only reason I got my promotion is because the bank was playing political games with C&J. You don’t think that could be true, do you?”

Emily shrugged and examined Lily’s stapler.

“Emily?”

She looked up. “What the hell do I know about senior management policy? All I can say is it wouldn’t be beyond them to play games like that. On the other hand, you know you worked for that promotion. You earned it on performance, so ignore Matt. He’s just jealous.”

“That’s what I told him.”

“Forget work. Tell me all about this man you’re seeing. I had no idea.”

“Neither did anybody. We kept it under wraps.”

“Because he was married?”

Lily started to feel uncomfortable talking about Jack, and she was tired after her sleepless night.

“I’ll tell you all about it over a drink sometime.”

“Wednesday after work?”

She forced a smile. “It’s a date.” Now she regretted mentioning any of it. Emily would pump her for information, and she didn’t really feel good talking about it. Funny, she thought she’d feel relieved when it was out in the open, but in fact she felt guiltier than ever.

Lily hoped that Jack would be home by the time she got through the bad tempered Monday night traffic, but there was still no sign of him, so she tried Rosie again. She needed to know about her dad. Had he been moved out of ICU? Did Rosie think Lily could call her mom yet? In other words, had their mother cooled down enough? Rosie’s phone went straight to voice mail. At a loss for something to do, she did what she did best. She buried herself in work.

It was very late when she heard the key in her front door but it still managed to give her a little thrill. Lily had given Jack a key to her apartment months earlier, and he’d often let himself in, but this was different. He was letting himself into their home. The thought was exhilarating.

“Hello, darling.” She jumped up from the sofa and went to hug him.

“Christ, what a day.” He groaned and slipped out of his navy cashmere coat. Then he threw it on the sofa and wrapped his arms around her. “How are you, babe?”

“Well, not great,” she started. “I haven’t—”

He stopped her from continuing by putting his hand up to her mouth because his phone rang. He answered it fast and walked into their bedroom.

“Ronnie, thanks for getting back to me. Look, we need to meet.” That was all Lily heard before he shut the door.

She’d been about to ask if he’d heard any news about her father. Surely Jack had made some sort of contact because of what was happening with the business.

She waited for his phone call to end—and waited and waited. After an hour, she decided enough was enough. This was their first official night together as a couple, and she was darned if Jack was going to spend all of it on the phone.

She quietly opened the bedroom door and peeked in. Lily wanted to get Jack’s attention, but she didn’t want the guy he was talking with to know she was there. Jack had his back turned to the door and didn’t notice her coming in. She tiptoed over to where he would see her. He glanced up and smiled.

She still knew how to get his attention. All men were the same.

Had she come in with some food or an attitude, he would have waved her out, but Lily chose to walk in with nothing on, save an inviting smile.

“Look, Ronnie, I have to go. Uh, something’s come up. We’ll talk in the morning.” Jack hung up without waiting for a reply.

“Wow, angel, what a way to be welcomed home,” Jack enthused as he began to strip.

Lily thought he was in terrific shape for a man of fifty-five. Of course, recently he worked out as much as Lily did. All that work had paid off. He had a firm stomach and well-toned arms. He carried no extra weight, so his jawline was strong and square. His eyes, which admittedly had a few lines around them, were still bright blue.

But Jack’s biggest attraction was his raw energy. He always looked pumped and excited about life. It pulled her in, and others, too.

She was proud to stand by him because he was a magnificent man. Okay, he was a little older, but it just didn’t matter. He was nuts about her and she about him. Life would be perfect just as soon as her dad got better and the business stuff settled down.

Lily was small like her mother. At only five-foot-three, she’d longed to be taller, but she was petite, too. So overall she was well-proportioned. Jack was able to lift her up when she wrapped her legs around him. He was fit enough to carry her like that for as long as it took, and it didn’t take too long this evening.

“Baby, I love you,” he growled as he gave her his undivided attention. It turned her on, just as much as it did him. She pulled his short hair violently and screamed out, not giving a thought to their neighbors.

“That was a highly effective way to get me off the phone, gorgeous.” He smiled at her. They were lying on top of their bed, naked and sated.

“I thought you might have been on all night if I didn’t try something drastic.”

“Sometimes drastic works,” he said, but she could tell he wasn’t talking about them anymore. His mind was back on business.

“How did today go?” she asked as she got up to find her bathrobe

“Where are you going?” He sounded hurt.

“I thought I might get us something to eat.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I ate today.” He also got up and threw a towel around his waist before following her into the kitchen.

“So, tell me everything.”

Jack ran his hands over his face as if to wash away the bad memories of the day. “We knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier. I need a drink. Can I get you something?”

Lily shook her head. She didn’t like to drink on a Monday. It was too early in the week. She pulled a gourmet dinner for two out of the freezer and threw it in the microwave.

“The banks froze all our accounts today.”

“What?” She sat down at the table.

“We knew it was coming. I was in the commercial court first thing this morning with your damn bank. They’d already appointed their own liquidator, and by noon, the accounts were frozen. The bastards were fast. They didn’t even give me time to file for Chapter 11. This is the worst possible scenario.”

He buried his head in his hands. “I wish your father was here for this.” Jack looked beaten. “The press is going to have a field day. That’s it. With the accounts frozen, Cap & Jet Industries has officially ceased trading. Jeez, what a mess. Lily, I have to tell you the next few months are going to be very rough. Your father and I have upset a lot of people. We didn’t mean to, and you know they all loved us while we were making a profit. But now we owe quite a lot of people quite a lot of money and there simply isn’t any. I’m afraid we’re very deep in negative equity.”

“What do you mean when you say you’ve upset a lot of people? How much have you upset them?”

“Ballpark? I’d chalk your dad down for about $100 million and me around the same. Everything we had was leveraged and cross guaranteed. That’s why he doesn’t hold much hope for that beautiful house of his.”