Page 55 of Courting Catherine
Things had changed, he was forced to admit. He had changed, but perhaps he hadn’t changed so completely. Once again, he picked up the contracts to study them. He was still a skilled and organized businessman, one who knew how to maneuver a deal and make it work to his advantage.
He picked up his pen and tapped it lightly on the papers. A germ of an idea had rooted in his mind a few days before. Now he sat quietly and let it form, shift, realign.
It was unusual, he considered. Maybe even mildly eccentric, but... but, he thought as a smile began to curve his mouth, if he played his cards right, it could work. It was his job to make it work. Slowly he let out a long breath. It might just be the most important deal of his life.
He picked up the phone and, employing all of the St. James clout, began to turn the first wheels.
Hank finished sanding the fender on the ’69 Mustang, then stood back to admire his work. “Coming along just fine,” he called to C.C.
She glanced over, but her hands were full with the brake shoes she was replacing above her head. “It’s going to be a beauty. I’m glad we got the shot at reconditioning it.”
“You want me to start on the primer?”
She swore as brake fluid dripped onto her cheek. “No. You told me three times today that you’ve got a hot date tonight. Get cleaned up and take off.”
“Thanks.” But he’d been too well trained to leave without replacing tools and material. “You found another house yet?”
“No.” She ignored the sudden ache in her stomach and concentrated on her work. “We’re all going out tomorrow to look.”
“Won’t be the same, not having Calhouns in The Towers. Sure is something about that necklace, though. Papers are full of stories about it.”
“They’ll die down.” She hoped.
“Guess if you find it, you’d be millionaires. You could retire and move to Florida.”
Despite her mood, she had to chuckle. “Well, we haven’t found it yet.” Just the receipt, she mused, which Lilah had unearthed during her one and only shift in the storeroom. “Florida’ll have to wait. The brakes won’t.”
“Guess I’ll be going. Want me to lock up the office?”
“Go ahead. Have a good time.”
He went out whistling, and C.C. stopped a moment to rest her arms and neck. She wished she’d been able to keep Hank around a while longer, for company, for the distraction. Even if he rambled on about the house and the necklace, he helped keep her mind occupied.
No matter how loudly she played the radio, once she was alone, there was too much silence.
They would hear from the lawyer any day. Perhaps Aunt Coco had gotten a call from Stridley that afternoon, telling her that the contracts had been signed and a settlement date set.
Would Trent come to the settlement? she wondered. No, no, of course not. He would send a representative, and that was for the best.
Besides, she had too much to do to worry about it. House hunting, the search through old papers for a clue to the emeralds’ whereabouts, the classic Mustang she intended to baby along to gleaming perfection. She barely had a moment to catch her breath much less brood about seeing Trent over the settlement table.
If only it would stop hurting, even for a few moments.
It would get better, she told herself as she returned to the brake job. It had to. After they’d found a new house and settled in. After the talk of the necklace had died away. Everything would get back to normal—or what she would have to accept as normal. If the ache never completely went away, then she would learn to live with it.
She had her family. Together, they could handle anything.
Her shoulders were stiff by the time she’d finished. Rolling them a little, she started to step out from under the car when she realized the radio had stopped playing. She glanced over. And saw Trent standing by the workbench. The wrench she was holding clattered to the floor.
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you to finish.” She looked fabulous, was all he could think. Absolutely fabulous. “How are you?”
“Busy.” Rocked from the pain, she turned to hit a button on the wall. The lift groaned as it brought the car down. “You’re here about the house, I guess.”
“Yes, you could say that’s a large part of it.”
“We’ve been expecting to hear from the lawyer.”
