AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As for the uncomfortable secret he held about his mother throwing herself at Nicole’s father? For years he’d thought Mr. George had told his wife, explaining the sharp rift in friendship between the families. But Nicole had been clear about not knowing the reason, so what purpose would it serve to tell her now? And if he did, would she feel he was obligated to treat her especially well in the PostModern articles because of what his mother had done?
* * *
NICOLE COCKED HER head in challenge at Jordan’s silence.
She was torn between not wanting to deal with him and an odd anticipation of it. There was something compelling about Jordan that she couldn’t ignore. Originally she’d thought the interviews would simply entail a few hours of sitting and talking. Yet the elongated process was partly her own fault since she resisted revealing too much about herself to Jordan. The odd thing was that she didn’t think she’d have felt the same with a true stranger and it scared her to realize her emotions might be at risk around him.
“Do you realize how often you don’t answer questions, instead turning them around to me?” Jordan asked.
She kept her expression neutral with an effort…it was almost as if he’d read her mind. “Sorry, it’s an old reflex with reporters.”
“Frankly, avoiding your parents as a topic gives the appearance of a dark mystery.”
“No mystery, just a hint of guilt and mixed feelings.”
“Why would you feel guilty?”
Nicole drew in a deep breath. “Okay, off the record, my parents poured a lot of their lives into making a great career for me. It was a good career and I enjoyed it. But as I’ve told you, I feel bad because my sister got left out. Emily was called the smart George sister and that hurt her. It also hurt me because the implication was that I just got by on my looks.”
“Did your parents foster the smart versus pretty comparison?”
“They would rave about how smart she was, as if it made up for not paying that much attention to her. It didn’t, which I think they knew, but they just couldn’t break the pattern.”
Jordan frowned. “So Emily’s unique attractiveness didn’t get appreciated and neither did your brains.”
“Yes. They were proud when Emily built a hugely successful clothing boutique in LA. It was something they understood and now they had two daughters making waves in the fashion world. Imagine their shock when Emily put a manager in charge of her business and moved to Schuyler, Montana. They would have approved of Paris or New York, not a tiny town in the middle of ranching country.”
“Then you retired to become a talent agent. I imagine that didn’t go down well.”
“You’re telling me.” Nicole stirred restlessly. “Shall we take a walk? I’ve been here since 6:00 a.m. and I’m getting cabin fever.”
He nodded and they went outside.
“Did you start early this morning because of me?” Jordan asked as she led him toward the back of the parking lot.
“Not specifically because of you. But setting time aside for interviews means I need to get work done at another hour.”
“Nice of you not to make it personal.”
“That’s because it isn’t personal. I would have to do the same for any reporter writing the PostModern articles.”
Moonlight Ventures wasn’t far from Lake Washington and Nicole already knew the best route to the shoreline. Her nerves eased once they were at the water’s edge, though not as much as they would have if she’d been alone.
“Are your folks adjusting to your decision?” Jordan asked.
“You bet. They’re even offering me advice on running the agency,” Nicole said wryly.
“From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t look as if you need it.”
She smiled. “Their focus is different, but I’ll take wisdom from whatever direction it arrives.”
“I don’t want to put words in your mouth,” Jordan said carefully, “but is part of becoming an agent because you want to claim an accomplishment in your own right?”
He was a bulldog on that issue, too. The question was whether he wanted something intimate, or just confirmation of his assumptions that she was trying to break away from a parental choice in her life.
