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“I’ll give you a call in a few days. Think it over. It’s a good offer.”
Kelly didn’t need to think about his offer. “Is everything all right here,” Jace asked as he came to the table where the two of them sat.
“Yes,” Kelly said. “Everything is fine.” She got up and looked at Perry. “Thank you for lunch. Have a good trip back to the city.” Then she looked at Jace. “Do you think I can hitch a ride back to the Kendall?”
* * *
JACE OPENED THE cab door and helped her inside. Fastening her seat belt she wondered why he’d come to find her.
“What was that all about?” Jace asked. They were on the highway, heading to the house when he spoke.
“He asked me to return to New York.”
“Why?”
“I’m not really sure. I have the impression they got some new accounts and need people who can step in and work immediately.”
“I get the impression that work had nothing to do with what he wants,” Jace said.
Kelly winced. She had gotten the same impression.
“You two were more than colleagues, right?”
She waited a long moment before answering. “Yes. We worked together and we were a couple. I thought we believed in the same things, wanted the same things.”
“But...” he prompted.
“But he apparently he had other ideas,” she said.
Jace reached the Kendall’s circular drive and stopped the truck. Neither of them got out.
“What happened?” he asked.
Kelly released her seat belt and shifted in the spot to look at him. He leaned over the steering wheel, giving her his full attention.
“Working in the kind of New York agency that I did is a twenty-four hour a day job. In advertising the client always wants something new, something that will skyrocket their product to the top of the market share pyramid. And they wanted it a week ago. If that doesn’t happen and the client jumps ship, the project executive and staff are usually fired.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Jace asked. His voice was low and tender.
“Sort of. We were good. Perry and I came up with client after client. And they were satisfied for the most part.”
“Which part weren’t they happy with?”
“It wasn’t anything monumental. One of our clients didn’t like a strategy that we put in place. The product didn’t sell at the expected levels they wanted.”
“So they pulled up stakes?”
She nodded.
“And you got canned?”
“No, I’d already decided to leave. But Perry put the blame on me. He got the promotion that should have been mine.”
“So why does he want you to come back?”
“According to some of my friends who still work there, his idea factory has dried up.”
“You were the one with all the innovative ideas. And he took credit for them?”
“That sounds a little egotistical,” she said, frowning.
“But it’s true, right?”
“Mainly. Perry had some good ideas, but clients want great. They want buzz. They want...”
“Let me help you out here. Even for a guy who spent a lot of time in foreign countries and rarely worked inside an office, Perry or anyone for that matter is only as good as those supporting them and Perry’s running scared. He’s afraid the powers that be will discover that he really wasn’t the driving force behind the campaigns he worked on with you. And now that you’re not there his work is not as good.”
“That’s not totally true.”
“Kelly, I’ve seen the changes you’ve made here at the Kendall. You have a good eye for both detail and the big picture. You can imagine what a room will look like before it’s changed. Your ideas for marketing have changed the Kendall from a has-been to a place that people stand in line to get into. I’ll bet from what you told me about the racetrack, that you already know exactly what it will look like down to the last electrical socket and light switch. You’re amazing.”
Pleasure washed over her. She hadn’t been complimented for her efforts by him and she was proud that he’d seen her efforts as valuable.
“Well, I don’t have to worry about Perry anymore.”
She opened the door and got out of the truck. The air seemed just as tense as it was inside the cab. Kelly looked up at the gleaming white house. Jace joined her.
“I have the Kendall.” She turned to face him. “And the last electrical socket and light switch are in the Tidal Box, third level up, far wall, next to the private elevator.”
* * *
AS SOON AS Jace entered Doug’s office his receptionist sent him straight in. Doug stood and they shook hands.
“You’ve confirmed what you told me the other day?” Jace asked, getting right to the point.
“Yes. It’s a technicality, but a big one. Given the number of people who read these contracts before they were signed, someone should have brought this error to light.”
“Error?” Jace frowned.
“I’m sure it was, but it’s binding.”
“What is it?” Jace was getting antsy. He wanted to know the details of any chance he had to take possession of the Kendall. Although, of late, watching Kelly, seeing the amount of effort she put into the place was piquing his conscience. He didn’t want to hurt her.
“Usually a contract in this state gives the signers three months to rescind it, back out of it. In other words they can change their minds without any consequences. It’s called a Buyer’s Remorse Clause.”
Jace nodded. He was aware of this rule.
“In this contract—” Doug turned the paperwork around and handed it across the desk to Jace “—it says three years, not three months. To tell you the truth, I didn’t see it the first time, either. I’m so used to seeing three months that I read what I expected to see.”
Jace looked down at the papers. The words three years had been underlined in red.
“As Ms. Ashton has only owned the house for two years, you can challenge the contract—the sale.”
Jace looked up. Kelly’s face, framed with her brilliant red hair, flashed before his eyes. She’d worked so hard in the past two years. And she was only seeing the value of that now. An image of her running around, taking care of the details of the open house assaulted him as clearly as if he’d been hit.
“It would be a long road,” Doug said.
Jace focused on him. “How so?”
“You’d have to pay whatever the outstanding taxes were, which would be substantial at this point. After that you’d have to invoke your father’s will.”
“Challenge the will?” Jace said.
“By arguing that you should have inherited it in the first place.”
“My father didn’t recognize me in the will. He left the property solely to my brother Sheldon.”
“Where is Sheldon?”
Jace shrugged. “He’s in North Carolina.”
“Have you had any contact with him in the past two years?”
“Only just recently, but we were never really friends even though we were half brothers.”
Doug leaned back in his chair and whistled. “This whole business could bankrupt you and in the end you might still lose.” He paused, letting Jace take it all in. Then he asked. “What do you want to do?”
Jace stared at the papers, the red underlining reminding him of the bloodline he expected to secure for Ari. When he looked up, Doug was staring intently at him.
“Let me think about it for a few days. I’ll get back to you.”
Jace left the lawyer’s office then. He tucked the contract in his pocket, but didn’t go to the truck and start for the Kendall. He walked. He needed time to think about things. He was growing closer and closer to Kelly. She’d taken him and his son in when they showed up out of the blue, and she gave him a job. In essence, she provided him with the insurance Ari needed and a place for him to grow and thrive. Now Jace was going behind her back and trying to take away what she’d worked so hard for.
But it should have been his. Or at least partly his. He should have the right to pass it on to his son. How had things gotten so out of control? Jace needed to talk to Sheldon. Jace had to make some decisions about Ari, about their future. If he decided to fight for the Kendall, it would be expensive and take a lot of time. During the process, he’d need somewhere else to stay. He’d have to uproot Ari again and the child was just getting used to being with Kelly and the horses. Ari loved the horses. Removing him would hurt.
If he didn’t pursue the Kendall, they still needed someplace to live. They couldn’t go on staying at the Kendall and having Kelly support them. Turning around, Jace returned to the truck and headed for the farm. He’d begun to think of it as home, but the Kendall had never been his home. As much as he wanted it to be. As much as he wanted all the love due a son and a brother, he never got it and he would never be able to give it to his own son.
They were going to have to make other arrangements. Being at the Kendall had been a mistake. Getting to know Kelly had been a mistake, too.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE MAIN HOUSE WAS empty when Jace returned. There were no smells coming from the kitchen. No sounds of movement anywhere. Shrugging out of his jacket, he hung it on the coat tree and called, “Ari?” No answer. “Kelly?” No answer.
