At Any Price. Margaret Allison

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      But it was not a clear victory. On the day of the wedding, right after Matt had gloated over his “win,” he had asked Jack to stay away from her. To break off contact. “You’ll only confuse her,” Matt had said.

      “Confuse her?” Jack had asked. “What are you talking about? I thought you said she loves you.”

      “She married me, didn’t she?” Matt had said, before walking away. But Matt needn’t have worried. Jack could no longer stand to be around Katie. Even when he heard about their divorce, he convinced himself that it was best not to call her. Still, he’d hoped she might call and tell him she’d made a mistake marrying Matt. That it was he she had loved all along, not Matt. But the call never came. And so he Jack attempted to exorcise her from his mind and his life. He had no choice. His love for her was poisoning him and his relationships with other women.

      But today she reappeared, asking for help. And he realized immediately why he had never called her. He couldn’t. His love for her was every bit as strong as it had been that day down by the creek. But unlike that day, it was unrequited.

      Jack found himself stopped in front of his office. Still, he thought, looking up at the towering building that bore his name, he owed Katie. Because if it were not for her, he doubted he would’ve been able to channel so much fire and energy into his work. He would never have succeeded.

      And so he would try to help her. He’d give her a chance, but that was all.

      He’d go to Newport Falls, as promised. It was only a day, eight hours max. He could handle being back in Newport Falls, being with Katie, for a day. Especially now. After landing an international deal, he was moving to London in several weeks to open a European branch of his company.

      Once again, he thought of the day at the creek, the day that Katie had said she loved him. How intoxicating it had been.

      He should’ve known that chances of a lifetime don’t come twice.

      Two

      “Don’t read too much into it,” Marcella warned her. Marcella was the director of advertising for The Falls, as well as Katie’s friend. “He said it was good to see you. I’m sure he meant it.”

      “What makes you think I’m reading too much into it?” Katie asked. After a fitful night, she’d arrived at the office at 5:00 a.m., pulling files and getting everything ready for Jack’s visit. To make matters worse, Matt had called and she’d made the mistake of telling him about seeing Jack. Surprisingly, he had morphed into the big brother once again, warning her to be careful. But careful of what?

      “Because of the look in your eyes whenever you mention his name.”

      Katie thought of Matt’s admonition. Was this what he’d insinuated? That despite her marriage and the years that had passed, she was still in love with his former best friend? “What look?”

      “The he’s-so-dreamy look.”

      “The man every gossip columnist refers to as the Iceman?”

      “I thought it was Heartbreak Kid,” Marcella retorted.

      Katie nodded. Jack was a constant figure in the society columns across the country. He was a known playboy, beloved by gossips everywhere.

      She shook her head and sighed. “He sure didn’t act as if he was happy to see me. He was so…distant. He didn’t even talk to me directly when I called. And he kept me waiting for forty-five minutes—”

      “And then he offered to bail you out.”

      “He didn’t offer. Not yet, anyway. He wants to see me jump through hoops first. And even then, there are no guarantees.”

      Marcella shrugged. That was all Katie needed to keep going. She said, “It is nice of him to come all the way out here, but I had to beg him to help. And I can guarantee you he’s not excited about it. You should have seen him at lunch. It was obvious he doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore.”

      “Like I said, you’re reading too much into this.”

      “Am I? He made me wait and then he kept me twiddling my thumbs while he ignored me. He never even bothered to apologize. I knew he would be late today.” She pointed to her watch. “It’s four o’clock.”

      “But his office said his morning meeting ran a little longer than expected.”

      “It’s all part of his schtick.”

      “What schtick?”

      “The I’m-a-big-deal-now schtick.” Like most of the people who worked for her, Katie had known Marcella her whole life. They’d gone to school together, and Marcella had not only witnessed Katie’s crush on Jack but had seen how devastated Katie had been when Jack hadn’t reciprocated her feelings.

      “He is a big deal. And he’s giving you a chance. That’s more than any of the other people would do.”

      “Humph.” Katie shrugged.

      “Maybe there are some unresolved feelings.”

      “No way. If he still cared a hoot about me he would’ve called or written.”

      “I wasn’t talking about Jack.”

      Katie stared up from her desk. “I may have cared for the old Jack Reilly, the one without the fancy suits and high-rise office, but I couldn’t care less about the new version. He’s not my type.”

      “He was for a very long time.”

      “That was before he left town, before he stopped writing, stopped calling. Before he forgot who he was.”

      “I think thou dost protest too much.”

      Katie felt her cheeks heating up. “I guarantee you, whatever feelings I had for Jack Reilly are no more. Sure, he may still make me nervous,” she said, remembering the way her heart had accelerated when she first saw him again, “but that’s normal.”

      Marcella raised her eyebrows.

      “My interest in Jack Reilly is purely professional. I called him only as a last resort. I mean, wait till he gets here. You’ll see. It’s no accident that we’ve had to wait a gazillion minutes. Jack’s so cocky now, so arrogant, so full of himself…”

      “And so behind you,” Marcella said.

      Jack stood in the doorway. He’d heard almost every word of Katie’s litany against him. But it hadn’t angered him. In fact, he was flattered he could still squeak genuine emotion out of the normally reserved town sweetheart.

      “I’m sorry I’m late,” he said. “My meeting ran a little long this morning.”

      He pretended not to notice the look of absolute horror in Katie’s eyes. He saw her glance at Marcella. “No problem,” Katie said quickly.

      “And then my pilot had some last-minute things to take care of before we took off.”

      “My pilot?” СКАЧАТЬ