Danger on the Loch, page 3
Miss Penny had walked in on the chaos. Without a word, she’d gotten him a lemon-lime soda and cleaned up the mess. She’d never ratted him out to Dad either.
Over the years, James had discovered Dad’s stern-faced secretary had a fondness for barbecue and ice hockey. Whenever he popped home for a visit, James brought her a container of barbeque sauce or a ticket to a Caps game.
“Do you have any idea what Dad has up his sleeve?” Ben asked when James refused to rise to the bait.
“No clue, but Dad wouldn’t have sent for us if it wasn’t important.”
“You’re right.” Ben leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “Something’s been eating at him for the last month. He’s been grilling me about the hospital build and checking and double-checking every report. I don’t know what his deal is. We were ahead of schedule until I got a phone call last night that our steel beam order has been delayed.”
“That will set us back six weeks.” James groaned. The beams were en route from Spain via shipping container. James folded his arms with his feet shoulder-width apart and mirrored his brother’s stance. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Since this is Perez’s fault, I’ll make sure they give us a discounted rate.” Ben straightened as the elevator car slowed.
The door slid open and revealed a frosted-glass wall with the corporate branding. Dad had built Coombes Enterprises from the ground up. Today, it was a thriving multi-million-dollar construction corporation.
Miss Penny sat at her desk, her clothes perfectly pressed and her teased and lacquered hair immovable. James wondered how many cans of hairspray she went through in a month. Miss Penny had been with Coombes Enterprises since Dad had launched the fledgling company. She must be pushing sixty-five now.
“Good to see you, Miss Penny.” Ben acknowledged her with a nod.
“You too, Mr. Ben. How are things in Kansas City?”
“Can’t complain. Their version of rush hour is a twenty-minute slowdown.”
One side of James’s mouth quirked up. Of all the things to enjoy about Kansas City, Ben would focus on the commute instead of on pro-ball, great barbeque, and friendly people.
“Go right in. Your father’s expecting you.” Miss Penny returned to her typing.
“Thanks.” Ben nodded and entered Richard’s office.
James hung back and waited for a private word with his father’s secretary. He plunked the semi-thawed container of barbeque on the edge of her kidney-shaped desk. “I brought you a new flavor.”
“Bone-sucking sauce?” Miss Penny read the label aloud and raised an eyebrow.
“Trust me; it’s awesome. Once you’ve sampled that, you’ll be booking a flight to Kansas City for more. I know you like their zinger sauce, but it never hurts to try something new.”
“I hope you’re a firm believer of that mantra.” Miss Penny’s glasses winked under the fluorescent lights.
James stirred, and the twinge of uneasiness he had experienced earlier came back with a vengeance. “Why is that?”
“I couldn’t say, but just so you know, I think your father’s right.”
With her words jangling inside his head, James entered his father’s office. A patterned reveal of gray waves covered one wall, and the three remaining walls were glass. Ben lounged on one of the two leather sofas on the far side of a granite coffee table. Above him, an ironwork chandelier, gifted by Richard’s new son-in-law, the Earl of Rivendon, filled the space with incandescent light. Richard paced the end wall fronting the Rappahannock River.
James still didn’t understand why Dad hadn’t talked this out over breakfast. But for Richard, work stayed at work, unless he was holed up inside his home office after the ten o’clock news. The man ran his company like a well-oiled machine, and Ben was just like him. Work. Work. Work.
James worked hard, but he played hard too. Lately, Ben hadn’t been as available for a game of ball after work or their Saturday morning kayaking trips, and it had left James scuffing his proverbial feet. He was bored professionally and socially. At some point, he’d like to utilize his marketing degree instead of crunching numbers for corporate proposals. Settling down wasn’t entirely abhorrent to him either, not after he had witnessed his brother’s and sister’s newfound happiness with their respective spouses.
He shuddered when he remembered his disastrous date the previous evening. At the rate he was going, marriage wasn’t in the cards.
James blamed his and Ben’s romance issues on their mother’s DNA. As far back as they had records, Mom’s people flew solo until, or if, a unique individual entered their lives. Then bam. That was it—end game. A good number of her people never married but had poured their energies into successful careers instead. James wasn’t too worried. At twenty-nine, he had lots of time before he settled down.
He lowered himself onto the sofa facing his twin.
“I’m glad you boys were so prompt.” Richard unbuttoned his suit coat. “Let’s get down to business. I’ve decided Ben will head the Midwest project until it wraps.”
Ben nodded and crossed his ankle over his opposite knee. Nothing earth-shattering there. Ben enjoyed playing front man in the day-to-day operations while James kept a firm control of their profitability.
“However,” Richard continued, “James’s skills are needed elsewhere.”
“What?” James’s heart jolted in surprise. He and Ben worked in tandem, as a team—a prepackaged deal. The only time they had been separated was during their two-year stint as missionaries for their church.
“You’re splitting us up?” Ben’s face went white under his tan like someone had sucker-punched him.
“I need James’s advertising and PR skills on an overseas project with a British developer I’ve partnered with in the past.” Richard turned to James, his dark eyes direct. “You’ll be stationed in the UK for the next eighteen months, possibly longer, if this goes well. We need a good marketing man on-site to help promote this venture, and others in Europe are in the works.”
Marketing? Dad was giving him a chance to do something he loved—finally. Excitement fizzed like a bottle of shaken soda, spilling out into a full-blown grin. James looked at Ben to gauge his brother’s response.
Ben’s eyes had gone blank, his face completely devoid of expression. Twin was taking it hard. James reined himself in and rearranged his features into more sober lines.
“This isn’t permanent. But it’s time the two of you learn to do things on your own.” Richard turned to James. “You remember Kinross, don’t you?”
“Isn’t he that Scottish guy who invested in our hospital build?” James asked.
“The same.” Richard nodded briefly. “I met him decades ago at a black-tie event in New York. He’s pushed to partner with Coombes Enterprises on other venues for some time.”
“What’s the venture?” James asked, his interest piqued.
“He wants to develop a resort in the Scottish Highlands but has little experience with this sort of thing. That’s where we come in.”
“As what? Does Kinross understand what running a business entails after the resort is completed?” Ben’s mouth twisted into a nasty line, and he looked like he could spit nails.
“Kinross’s holdings are extensive, and he runs over a dozen businesses: clean energy wind farms, forestry, sheep, auto dealerships, whiskey distilleries, stud farm, and a racetrack.”
Richard’s eyes slid to his oldest son’s. “A large tract of land on his estate remains undeveloped. He’d like to make it pay. Coombes Enterprises will supply three-quarters of the finances while Kinross provides the property, startup fees, and maintenance.”
“How well do you know this Kinross?” Ben folded his arms.
“Well enough to trust him,” Richard said.
James didn’t have an issue with it. If Dad had partnered with Kinross before, the man must be reliable. Caution was Dad’s middle name.
A spurt of excitement shot through him as marketing ideas percolated inside his brain. James ran a hand over his jaw and encountered a patch of stubble he had missed that morning.
He made the mistake of glancing at Ben. His brother was barely holding it together. Guilt pummeled James as loyalty to his twin and enthusiasm for this new business venture warred inside.
To soften the blow, James said, “It’s cold and wet in the UK.”
Chapter 3
Paisley carried two steaming foam cups of hot chocolate outside. It was the least she could do since the twins had dropped by to work on her car. Leaves crunched under her four-inch heels as she crossed her mother’s postage-stamp-sized lawn. She came up beside Ben, who stood at the curb.
James leaned under the hood of her Civic and poured pink liquid through a funnel into a plastic reservoir. The label on the container said coolant. Why she needed coolant when the weather might reach the low sixties, she had no idea.
She handed Ben one of the overwarm cups.
“Thanks.” He took it from her absently, his face paler than normal.
“You feeling okay, Ben?”
“Yeah. Sure.” The dark eyes that were so like his brother’s flicked in her direction, then away.
Something was definitely wrong. Normally, the twins tossed good-natured insults at each other with an occasional one in her direction for good measure. But the dirgelike mood Ben exuded was more in keeping with a wake.
“So, how’s the hot chocolate?” She attempted to draw Ben out.
“Hmmm.” He obediently took a sip.
James poked his head out from under the hood and sealed the cap on the container of coolant. A smudge of grease marred his jawline. “Is that for me?”
“No, I always carry a spare cup of hot chocolate around on my way to work,” Paisley said.
Apparently unconcerned by her sarcasm, James peeled off his latex gloves and relieved her of the steaming cup. After a tentative sip, he smiled at her. “That’s pretty good. When did you learn how to cook?”
“If you call boiling water and dumping a couple scoops of mix into a cup cooking, we’re in trouble,” Ben rejoined, sounding more like his old self.
“Hey, don’t knock her skills,” James said. “You can’t even stir cocoa properly. You get it all over the counter when you try.”
Ben rolled his eyes and took another swallow.
“I hate to break up the party, boys, but are you two about done with my car?” Paisley stepped back onto the sidewalk when her heel started to sink into the grass.
“Yeah. We’re done. We would have finished sooner, but genius here drained out your coolant. I had to go to the store and get more to replace it.” James picked up a rag and wiped grease off his forearm.
“Why were you guys messing with my car fluids? All I needed was my alternator replaced.”
“James had your alternator switched in an hour, then he got this bright idea that your system needed a flush,” Ben said.
“That was only after you almost poured oil in the—” James sputtered.
“Okay.” Paisley held up both hands. “I just want to know if my car is finished so I can get to work. I’ve got to be there in twenty minutes.”
“Yeah, we’re done,” Ben said.
“I’m going to ride with you to make sure everything’s running okay.” James tossed his rag onto the pile of tools beside the curb.
“How will you get home?” Paisley asked.
“Ben will follow us.”
Paisley glanced at Ben for confirmation.
He nodded. “We didn’t get a chance to test-drive your car. For all we know, James still has a few screws loose.”
Paisley rolled her eyes and took their empty cups, stacking them one inside the other. “Are you ready? I really need to go.”
“Let’s do it.” James opened her door and waited for her to climb into the driver’s seat while Ben picked up the tools.
She placed the stack of empty cups in a holder and fired up the engine. James helped his twin load their tools in the back of their SUV, then tossed the keys to Ben and climbed in the passenger seat of Paisley’s car.
Paisley was quiet on the way into Old Town, barely taking notice of the scenery along River Road as she debated with herself. “James, can I bounce something off you?”
“Sure.” He looked at her expectantly.
“I got a DNA kit for my birthday. The results came back a few weeks ago.”
“And you found out you’re from an aborigine tribe in New Guinea?”
“Very funny.” Her skin was pale in the rearview mirror, a huge contrast to her dark hair and eyes.
“You never know. You are pretty small.”
She ignored him. “I got a match.”
“And?” He must have sensed this was serious because the teasing tone faded from his voice.
“The email said it was a possible parental relationship.”
“Wow.”
James was aware of her mother’s adverse opinion on DNA testing. The match could only be to her father.
“Did you write to him?” he asked.
“He emailed and wants to meet. Now that he has, I’m really nervous about the whole thing.”
“You aren’t going to chicken out, are you? You’ve talked about wanting to meet him for half your life.”
“What if he—?”
James touched her hand, a strangely intimate gesture that made her shiver. “One step at a time, Paise.”
She drove over the Rappahannock bridge, not even glancing at the river. On the opposite side, she stopped at the light on William Street.
“DNA testing is pretty cool.” James’s knee bumped against the glove box. “My dad gave each of us a DNA kit for Christmas last year. I’m pretty sure he was just checking to see if Jack was really related.”
The comment was so ludicrous that Paisley laughed. Save for his dimples and extra few inches, no one could mistake Jack’s resemblance to the twins and Richard.
“I’ve been imagining all kinds of things,” Paisley admitted, squeezing the steering wheel. “What kind of man abandons his wife and baby? Do you think he committed a heinous crime and was imprisoned all this time?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” she muttered.
“Let me know how that goes, will you?”
“Sure.” The light changed, and she stepped on the gas. “What happened at that meeting with your dad this morning?”
James rubbed his jaw, his fingers smearing the grease mark. “Dad signed a contract to partner on a resort build in the UK. He wants me on-site for the next eighteen months to head the marketing campaign.”
“Oh.” Paisley’s stomach plunged, and dismay filled her at the thought of not seeing him for so long. “No wonder Ben’s not himself.”
“Yeah.” James expelled a long breath.
“How do you feel about that kind of a move?” She fought against the sudden heaviness pervading her heart and made an effort to keep her tone light. She was used to having James pop in and out of her life. But for him to move across the ocean . . . It seemed so final.
“I don’t want to leave Ben high and dry, but part of me is dying to do something different.”
For the last few years, James had been spinning his wheels, going nowhere fast. When she thought about it, Richard’s decision made perfect sense.
“That’s a dilemma.”
“I don’t know why Dad is pushing for this right now. Ben and I could hop the pond after the hospital build wraps.”
Her hand moved involuntarily on the steering wheel as if to object, but she hesitated to voice her thoughts.
“Spit it out,” James said. “I can see it’s killing you to hold back.”
“Your dad’s right. This is a good idea.”
“You agree?” His voice went up a couple notes, his surprise evident.
“It’s about time Richard split the two of you up.”
“Why?”
“Come on, James. Think about it. If the two of you didn’t have each other’s backs, one or both of you might actually move on in life.”
“I’ve tried.” He turned his body toward her on the passenger seat.
“If you call dating girls like Sidney a concerted effort in that department, think again. You’ll never fall for the women you date. They’re after your money or don’t have enough brain cells to challenge you.”
“Don’t sugarcoat it.” A hint of resentment swirled in the depths of his eyes.
“How do you know I didn’t?” She gave him a sassy smile.
“I don’t like being psychoanalyzed by someone I babysat as a kid. Besides, you’re a great one to talk. You’re still single.”
“I’m younger than you.”
“Only by three years. Twenty-six is getting up there, Paisley.”
“I’m not the one pushing thirty.” She flipped on her blinker and turned into the parking lot behind the restaurant. Ben pulled into a spot beside her.
“When do you leave?” She set the parking brake and turned off the engine.
“Tonight. I’m taking a red-eye back to Kansas City to get my stuff. Dad wants me in the UK next week.”
“That’s fast.” A sudden wave of homesickness for James swept over her. He and Ben, despite their teasing, had always been there for her. Today was a prime example. “I’ll miss you.”
“Yeah, me too, squirt.” He reached over the middle console and gave her a hug.
She closed her eyes, her heart aching.
“You okay?”
“I hate goodbyes.” She dropped her arms from around his shoulders and drew a shuddery breath. “I meant to tell you; Mom’s getting married.”
“She is? To whom?”
His surprise sounded almost as great as hers had been.
“A judge from Spotsylvania County. They’ve been dating for a couple months.”
