Wellesley Wives (New England Trilogy) (22 page)

“Mr. Power, stop!” the nurse shouted just as the heavy door closed behind them.

Peter laughed. “She was far too bossy for me to live with. Come on, let’s blow this joint.” He let go of her hand and started down the stairs. Then, to Popsy’s amazement, he bounded down them two at a time. It was hard to keep up. Quite unbelievable to think he’d had a heart attack just a few days earlier.

Halfway down, Popsy was out of breath. “I think we can stop for a rest,” she called to him. Peter was a full flight ahead of her.

“Come on, it’s good for us.” He laughed.

“Peter, don’t overexert yourself,” she shouted, but the truth was she was loving the jailbreak of sorts. She felt like a schoolgirl skipping class with her rogue boyfriend. This was why she still loved Peter.

“I think it would take more than a flight of stairs to take me down. Get it? Take me down?” He laughed, but she could hear that he was out of breath, too. At least she worked out. He usually didn’t.

“Peter, I’m serious. Please stop and wait for me.”

He did.

“How do you feel? Is there any tightness?” Popsy asked when she caught up with him.

He shook his head and smiled, but she didn’t believe him. His color was high. She insisted they take the elevator the rest of the way since they both needed the rest. Peter didn’t put up a fight.

By the time they got to the car, they’d both recovered from their stairwell dash, and Peter was more interested in the Ferrari than his hospital stay.

“She really is a beauty,” he said enthusiastically and stroked the back of it as he came around to the driver’s side.

“Do you want to drive?” she offered.

“I’d love to.” He smiled.

Popsy half-expected to be stopped by security at the front door or in the parking lot due to her aiding and abetting the escape of a patient, but nobody seemed concerned. The parking attendant was much more interested in the car than its inhabitants, which suited her fine.

“We have a full tank. Could we take it for a spin on the way home?”

How could she turn him down? The light in his eyes was infectious. He was still the man she’d fallen in love with so many years ago. She didn’t care if they were broke or relatively poor. She had Peter, and that was all she needed.

He took the car out onto the Mass Pike, and the traffic became light the farther away they got from Boston. He gunned the accelerator and the beast of an engine sprang to life. It was impossible not to go fast in such a smooth ride. The car cruised up to a hundred miles an hour with ease and clearly still had plenty more under the hood.

“We’ll be arrested.” Popsy giggled, enjoying the excitement.

“They’d have to catch us first.” Peter laughed, but he slowed the car down to a legal speed and took the next exit for home.

Matilda was ecstatic when they got there. “Oh, Mr. Power, it is so good to see you, but it is too soon. Already the hospital has been calling. Rosie, too, she is very anxious.”

Peter gave her a reassuring hug. “They’re making too much of a fuss. You can see, I’m fine. I’ll call Rosie to put her mind at rest. Now, will you make Popsy and me something to eat? Maybe your scrambled eggs on toast? We have some business to see to in the office. Where’s my phone?”

Matilda trotted off as Peter dropped his suitcase at the foot of the stairs and headed straight for his study. Once again armed with his cell phone, he was ready for business. Within minutes, he’d pulled up Popsy’s bank account details and opened the safe. As promised, there was $20,000 in cash sitting there, just waiting to be spent. He insisted she put $1,000 into her wallet right away. “I don’t want you feeling insecure about money. Next, I’m going to take care of that thief at the gas station.”

She left to call Rosie from the house phone. She had to assure her daughter that Peter was back to his old self.

“Is he crazy?” Rosie was panicked. “The nurse who called me was not at all happy.”

“Why did they call you?”

“Mom, I was with you when you went to the hospital. They had my contact details in case of an emergency from the day Dad went in. Didn’t they call you?”

“I’ve lost my cell just at the moment, but I’ll get it back soon. You have to believe me; your father is feeling great. He’s promised me he’ll slow down. You wouldn’t believe what I saw him do in the hospital, Rosie. I’m telling you, the man is a bear.”

“Even bears don’t last forever, Mom.”

“Well, you try to talk sense into him,” Popsy snapped, and took the phone into the study so Rosie could talk with her dad, but Peter was gone. She looked out the window and saw him driving away in her new Ferrari.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to speak with him later. Looks like he’s taken my car out for another spin. You know, I think he really wants it for himself.”

“I’m not surprised. Marcus is still talking about it—like a scratched record, in fact. Don’t worry. I’ll call Dad and give him an earful.”

“So much for having lunch with me, and I know Matilda is going to a lot of trouble for his homecoming.”

“Aw, Mom, I’m thinking he just went to get you a bunch of flowers or something romantic like that. He’ll be back in a few minutes, wait and see. I’ll call him now and tell him to hurry home.”

Popsy called Sandra next.

“There you are,” her friend began. “I called you and some weirdo answered saying you’d stepped out and he didn’t know when you would be back. Then got all suggestive. I thought you’d taken up with some boy toy.”

“The little shit. He’s using my phone.” Popsy filled Sandra in on her morning and on Peter’s jailbreak. She wasn’t impressed.

“Popsy, don’t let him go back to work. It’s too soon. Peter doesn’t have a pause button. He’ll give himself another heart attack.”

“You know how impossible it is to stop him. The man is a machine, and I have to tell you, he had me convinced. He seems just fine.”

“He probably believes that himself, but the doctors know best, and they say he should be in the hospital. Where is he now? Resting, I hope.”

“Um, he’s gone out.”

“What? Where?”

“I don’t know.”

“You need to protect him from himself. Call him. Scream at him. Get him home and into bed.”

For the first time, Popsy felt guilty. Sandra was right, of course. Clearly, Peter was in denial. He’d told her that he didn’t believe he’d even had a heart attack. How could she have been so foolish? “I have to go, Sandra. I’ll call him. Thanks. Bye.”

Chapter 19 

Jack & Lil

Jack Hoffman phoned the only person he could think of: his new love, Lily.

    “How are things?”

“Crazy,” she said, sounding happy to hear from him. “Asian markets are jittery and that means I am, too. Their markets are closed now but the erratic trading is impacting upon my portfolios.”

“Never mind about that right now.” He sounded distracted. “You’re not going to believe who just called me.”

“Who?” she asked.

“Peter, and he didn’t sound too friendly. He wants me to meet him in Chestnut Hill. Says he wants to talk.”

“Dad? What? Isn’t he still in the hospital? Have they released him already? That must be a good sign. How did he sound? I hope he’s okay.”

For some reason this annoyed Jack. She was supposed to be in his corner now.

“You hope he’s okay? What about me? What if he has a gun this time?”

“Oh, Jack. This is Dad we’re talking about. He’s a smart guy. You know he’ll come around. Do you want me for company?”

Even this irked Jack. He didn’t need his hand held by Lily. Jack was a big boy and capable of handling anything Peter threw at him, as long as it wasn’t another punch. He wasn’t seriously worried about getting beaten up or shot at. Peter was smarter than that. What really concerned him was that maybe Peter would have another heart attack and everybody would blame him.

The truth was, he really didn’t want to meet with Peter, but what choice did he have? They were business partners, or at least they had been up until things went belly-up. How much did Peter even know at this stage? Was he aware the accounts had been frozen? That he and Lily were living together? This was going to be a tough lunch.

He hung up, feeling less satisfied. It would have been easier if he hadn’t called her at all. They were barely living together a week and already they were acting like an old married couple. She didn’t adore him like she did when they first dated. She wasn’t focusing on him when he called her for support. That level of indifference should take at least a few years. Please, Lord, let me not have made the biggest mistake of my life, he thought.

It was still fair to say she had an amazing body. Then again, so did Sandra. But Lily had her youth. He knew he was a fool to be so seduced by young women, but who could blame him? They were exquisite. New, fresh, ripe. Olga had started out like that and so had Sandra, and then they both aged and the magic faded. Not the case with Lily. She was so young and enthusiastic. She wanted sex morning, noon, and night. And it was good sex. They weren’t just going through the motions. There was no routine like Olga’s Friday-date-night, which he’d come to abhor. It was all too predictable, too humdrum. Lily was unpredictable. She seduced him everywhere and anywhere. She exhausted him and he loved it.

Sure, he knew that he was no youngster himself, but the ladies in his life didn’t seem to mind. Lily loved older men. She’d never been attracted to men her age. That was just his good luck, he figured. Down the road—when he hit his seventies and she was still in her forties—would be tough, of course. But he wouldn’t let himself worry about that. It was way in the future. Who knew what would happen between now and then?

One thing he did know: financially, he was going to have to start from scratch. Again. It was an ordeal. They’d had so much and lost it all. It was a disaster. He’d been wiped out. From a net value of over $100 million to very deep debt. It was a heartache.

What really annoyed Jack was that deep-down this was Peter’s fault. He was always the more ambitious of the two. He always pushed it further, harder, and faster. Jack liked to err on the side of caution, but Peter was very convincing. This last refinancing deal—the one that had drastically overextended their asset base—was so Peter’s baby.

Jack had seen the writing on the wall. He’d told Peter it was time to start selling some of their larger assets. Peter had insisted they leverage, using equity in the assets to secure more financing was easy money. They’d continue to grow using their own portfolio as collateral. Well, the collateral was being called in by some very angry banks, and now there was nobody offering money. He’d planned to take the money off the table but never got around to it.

At least he had a condo in Boca Raton he’d paid cash for years ago. He’d also paid off all the mortgages on Olga’s house, so she was off his back, except for the alimony. That would be an interesting conversation.

But Sandra was the one he felt guilty about. The penthouse would definitely have to go. She wouldn’t even have a roof over her head soon. He had several other properties scattered around Metro West, but he was pretty certain they were all wrapped up in the cross-guarantee bundle. He would go through everything with a fine tooth comb to see what he could salvage. He didn’t even have any cash on deposit to give her. Would she go after him in the courts?

He glanced at the clock. He was meeting Peter in Chestnut Hill in half an hour. There was no point arriving late or doing a no-show. This had to be done. First they would address the Lily situation. Jack hoped she was right and her father had cooled off. They were best friends. Wasn’t he good enough for her? He would treasure Lily. Protect her and take care of her forever. He would make a new fortune to keep her in the level of comfort to which she was accustomed.

But Jack’s conscience needled him. Peter was no fool. He knew Jack’s bad track record with women. Peter would also want a younger man for his daughter. Well, tough luck. Life had conspired for Lily and him to fall in love. No father had the power to decide who his daughter ended up with—not these days.

For a moment, his mind turned to his own girls. He had no clue who they were dating or what they were even doing with their lives. It was a sad fact he’d let those relationships slip when he parted with his wife. But doubtless Olga had poisoned their minds, too. She’d made no effort to keep him in their lives. There were never school reports or vacation photos. Just bills. That’s all he was now to Olga and his three daughters: the guy who paid the bills.

There was a touch of that between him and Sandra, too. He worked all the hours in the day while she swanned around doing lunches and going to the gym. She had a charmed life—well, up until now. The future wasn’t looking quite so bright, but she was still pretty. She’d probably find a new guy fast. And then there was all that baby nonsense. At her age, it was stupid and selfish. He’d said from the get-go, no kids. They’d agreed, but then she tried to change the goal posts. If that didn’t qualify for irreconcilable differences, he didn’t know what did. Babies? Him? At this stage of life? Totally crazy.

At least he and Lily were in agreement about that. She knew he didn’t want babies, and she still loved him. They could have a lovely life together just as soon as he figured out how to recoup his losses. Things had to settle down and Peter would come around. Unfortunate that Popsy and Sandra were so close, but that might start to weaken. Mothers always sided with their daughters. He’d experienced that firsthand. Lily and Popsy would not be separated by Jack’s soon-to-be ex-wife. Popsy would come around like she did when Olga moved out and Sandra moved in. It was just a question of time.

He glanced at the clock again. Fifteen minutes. This meeting was not the highlight of his day, for sure. He’d chosen Route 9 as opposed to the Mass Pike because it was closer to his office, but the flipside was that it clogged up faster. As luck would have it, things had jammed up pretty bad. It looked like he was going to be late. Crap. Not the best way to start his meeting.

He decided to phone Peter as a courtesy. As usual, he got voice mail. The guy was practically impossible to reach.