“THANKS FOR DOING THIS,” Aidan said, and placed his hand on Ellie’s shoulder, preparatory to drawing her into his arms.
She hadn’t called the night before and hadn’t answered her cell phone. He’d left messages at the hotel, but she hadn’t called back. She’d just shown up this morning to take Annie Christmas shopping.
She eased away from his attempted embrace. He told himself it was because his daughter could come bouncing out of her room any minute.
“Beth usually takes her shopping with her, but Annie insisted you had to do it. I have to warn you, she’ll run you ragged.”
“I don’t mind.”
But she didn’t sound all that enthusiastic about it, either.
“If you’d rather not—”
“I said I’m glad to do it, Aidan.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
His expression was leery, uncertain. “You could have fooled me. Why didn’t you return my calls last night? I was going crazy worrying about you. Is it something I did or said? Something Annie—”
“I’m ready,” Annie announced as she emerged from her room wearing red cowboy boots, tucked-in jeans and a bright red sweater. “Can we have pizza for lunch?”
Ellie’s face, so somber a moment earlier, was now beaming at the girl. “Pizza’s a great idea. What kind? Pepperoni?”
“I don’t want any of that green stuff on it. Yuck.”
“Bell pepper,” Aidan supplied.
“Pepperoni, hold the pepper. Got it. Okay, grab your coat, kid, say goodbye to your dad, and we’ll be on our way. We have a busy day ahead of us.”
“Any idea what time you’ll be home?” Aidan asked.
“When we get here,” Ellie said casually. “Shopping is very serious business. It can’t be rushed.”
Aidan accompanied his daughter to the hall closet, where he helped her into her green quilted jacket and red knitted cap. The weather had turned sharply colder in the past few days.
“You girls have fun,” he said, giving Annie a peck on the cheek. He wanted desperately to kiss Ellie, too, but she turned away before he could make the overture.
He watched them walk down the path to Ellie’s rented car.
What the devil was going on?
Had she decided to sell to Fulton but was afraid to tell him? He hoped that wasn’t the case, but if it was, he couldn’t imagine her not having the courage to own up to it. Probably in a very businesslike fashion.
I want you to know, Aidan, this is nothing personal. It’s simply a business decision.
The past three weeks since the end of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season had been busy ones for him. He’d been on the road a lot at various sponsor events, but that wasn’t unusual. More important, he’d been exploring ways to raise the cash needed to up his ante to the Satterfields. He had a reasonable offer for his RV. He didn’t relish the prospect of staying at hotels for the upcoming season, maybe the next two, or giving up the lease on his private jet, but they would be well worth the inconvenience if he could get control of Satterfield Racing.
He still wouldn’t be able to match an all-cash offer, but maybe, if he could sweeten his down payment and match Fulton’s bid, Ellie and her mother would be willing to accept his terms.
Ellie brought Annie home later than he’d expected, and he was disappointed when his daughter told him they’d already had supper. He’d gotten a couple of thick steaks out of the freezer, thawed them, cut them into smaller chunks, then marinated them and made shish kebobs, one of Annie’s favorites, with fresh mushrooms, small onions, green and red bell peppers and cherry tomatoes. It would all keep until tomorrow night, he told himself, but even if it tasted as good or better, it wouldn’t be the same. Not for him.
“Go brush your teeth, honey,” he told Annie, “and get ready for bed.”
“I’ll be going,” Ellie said.
“Hang around,” Aidan said. “We need to talk.”
“I have other plans,” she stated.
“No, you don’t,” he countered quietly but firmly. He didn’t want to alarm Annie to the friction between them.
Ellie glared at him. He tried to read her expression, but the signals he was getting were mixed. Anger, hurt, contempt, mortification.
“Besides,” he said, “I’m sure Annie would like you to help tuck her in.” He hated using his daughter this way, but he didn’t have any choice. “Wouldn’t you, honey?”
“Yes, please,” Annie said. “We really had fun today. We went to—”
“Shh—” Ellie put her finger up to her lips. “It’s a secret, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.” Annie smiled up at her father. “You’re going to really like it, but I can’t tell you what it is, ’cause it’s a secret.”
“Going to surprise me, huh? I can’t wait. Now, why don’t you get into your pajamas, then Ellie and I will tuck you in.”
“Do I have to? I’m not tired.”
“You have to.” He gave her a hug and a kiss in her hair. “Now go on.”
“Oh, okay.” She trudged heavily off to her room.
“Little Miss Drama Queen,” Aidan said fondly. “Take off your coat,” he instructed Ellie.
“I really—”
He shook his head. “No games, Ellie. At least have the courtesy to talk to me.”
He’d never been this domineering with her, this arrogant, but he wasn’t going to let her walk out on him without an explanation.
She slipped out of her cashmere coat and draped it over the back of a chair.
Ten minutes later, the rituals of childhood bedtime completed, Annie was in her room, her door closed.
“What do you want to drink?” Aidan asked. It wasn’t a question of whether she wanted anything, just what it would be. “I have beer, wine, Scotch and bourbon….”
She shook her head.
“Coffee, tea, soda, even milk, if you prefer.”
“Decaf coffee, if you have it.”
“Come on out to the kitchen while I fix a pot.”
She sat on a stool at the counter. He got out fresh beans and ground them.
“Tell me what’s going on, Ellie.” He measured out a lighter portion of pulverized beans than he would normally use for himself into the paper filter of the coffee machine. “What happened in San Francisco?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You left here a few weeks ago after we’d spent the most wonderful night together, and now you’re treating me the way you did the night you arrived, like hired help. What happened to you in San Francisco? Did you meet someone else, someone with more money and sophistication? Someone your mother would approve of?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he repeated, still managing to keep his voice low. “Is that what I’m being, Ellie? Ridiculous? You don’t understand, do you? I’m in love with you. I thought you were in love with me. You certainly acted that way, but then you’re the real drama queen, aren’t you? Yeah, how ridiculous of me to think that behind all those poses, all those Hollywood airs, there might actually be a real person there.”
She averted her head and didn’t answer.
“Why have I become the enemy?”
“I don’t like being played for a fool.”
He frowned. “Now it’s my turn to ask what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve been cozying up to me, wooing me, in the hope that I won’t sell to someone else.”
His stared at her openmouthed. Someone had overheard Mace and him talking. Never mind that he’d rejected the advice.
“Who told you that?” he demanded.
“Does it matter?”
He took a long, deep breath. “Since you apparently believe it…no, I don’t suppose it does.”
The coffee machine sputtered to a finish. He poured two cups, moved one toward her, took down the sugar bowl from an overhead cabinet, went to the refrigerator and got out the container of half-and-half, set it in front of her, as well. All the busywork done, he picked up his steaming mug, held it between his hands and leaned against the counter by the stove.
“Are you going to?” At her questioning glance, he added, “Sell to Fulton?”
She took her time fussing with her coffee, adding a little cream and a half spoonful of sugar, making him wonder if her delaying tactics were because she was unsure of the answer or didn’t know how to phrase it.
After sampling the brew, she placed the mug on the counter but left her finger in the handle.
“You said I have a moral obligation to tell you if there is another offer so you can bid against it. You’re probably right.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, you are right. The problem is, you can’t bid against it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Fulton gave me an offer in writing, promising to pay a million dollars over any other offer I might receive. In cash, within twenty-four hours of notification.”
Aidan digested the information. Slick. It was foolproof. No matter what he offered, Fulton’s was better, especially since it was for immediate payment in cash.
“You don’t have to accept his offer.”
“It’s not just me. There’s my mother. I might be willing to forgo the profit, but I can assure you she isn’t.”
It was a tangled mess. Given that Fulton would have the controlling interest, Aidan wouldn’t be able to realize nearly as much from a sale to a third party as he might now. If he could sell at all, since Fulton would have to give his chop on any deal.
On the other hand, if he kept his third interest, even though he wouldn’t be driving for Satterfield Racing anymore, he would share in the profits. It wasn’t likely Fulton would bankrupt his own team just to deny Aidan income on his investment, though he wouldn’t put it past the man to cheat him out of his due. As a minority partner, Aidan would have to watch everything that was going on to keep Fulton honest. That in itself could be expensive.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said now.
TWO DAYS LATER Ellie received a telephone call from her mother.
“I’m ecstatic about the sale, Ellie, but I’m also a bit confused.”
For Estelle to be ecstatic or confused, separately or together, was not exactly a new phenomenon. But the phrase “about the sale” had Ellie on full alert.
“Well, Mother, if you’ll tell me what you’re ecstatic about, perhaps I can share the ecstasy with you, and if you’ll tell me what’s got you all confused maybe I can explain it to you. But first you’re going to tell me what you’re talking about.”
There was a three-second pause on the other end. “Are you all right, dear? Is something wrong?”
Everybody seemed to want to know what was wrong.
Let’s see, I’ve fallen in love, really in love, for the first time in my life, only to find I’ve been used, made a fool of. I’ve been backed into a corner by another guy who called me an ingenue and proved it. Now I’m faced with a business decision that will make me rich and leave me poorer for the rest of my life. So why should anything be wrong?
“Sorry, Mom. I’ve been wrestling with some software and it’s put me in a mood.” Since Estelle didn’t understand computers, that was always a safe excuse. “So what’s up?”
“I got the contract approval forms by courier just a few minutes ago and am getting ready now to take them to Rupert Hollingsworth to review and to notarize my signature. I’m just wondering why they came directly from O’Keefe instead of from you? And why we’re going with separate contracts. I thought we were selling jointly.”
Ellie’s mind was racing at a hundred and eighty miles an hour. This sharp turn wasn’t something she’d anticipated. She tried to think. Aidan had sent Estelle a contract for her to sign authorizing him to sell. Obviously Ellie wasn’t buying, so who was Aidan selling to?
“Mother, is there a cover letter with the contract? Would you read it to me, please.”
A minute later Ellie knew the answer and her heart sank. Aidan was selling his share of Satterfield Racing to Mitch Fulton.
She tried to assemble all the pieces. Why would Aidan sell out to his archenemy? By beating Ellie and her mother to the punch he would probably be able to negotiate a good price for himself, which was fine, but Aidan’s share wouldn’t give Fulton control. It would, however, give him leverage. Fulton would now be in a position to buy out Estelle independently, and given her hunger for money, she’d sell, especially if Fulton was generous in his offer. It wouldn’t make any difference to him, because he could easily deduct it from what he would offer Ellie for her share, if he ever bothered to offer her anything. With control of Satterfield he wouldn’t need her share. Is that what Aidan had in mind, getting back at her because she hadn’t sold to him promptly on his terms?
“Don’t sign it, Mother.”
“But, dear—”
“This isn’t what Uncle Walter would want. Trust me on this.”
“But, darling—”
“Put the contract back into courier and send it to me, unsigned.”
“Are you sure this is what Walter would want?”
“I’m absolutely positive. Put it in courier today, Mother, so I’ll have it in the morning.”
“If that’s what you want, dear.”
“That’s what I want.”