Perfect Partners

  “How friendly?”

  “Well,” Morgan said with an air of grave consideration, “I suppose a small wager might liven things up a bit, eh?”

  “What kind of wager did you have in mind?” Joel asked as he watched Morgan open his duffel bag and remove a miniature chess set.

  “We'll think of something.” Morgan opened the board and set out the pieces. “In the meantime we might as well have a little chat.”

  “About what?”

  “This affair you're having with my daughter,” Morgan said bluntly. “I want to know when you're going to marry her.”

  Joel groaned. “I knew you were going to start with that. Dammit, Morgan, stay out of this.”

  “Can't do that. I'm opposed, on philosophical grounds, to the idea of you having an open-ended affair with Letty.”

  “The hell you are.” Joel smiled faintly. “You're opposed to it because you were brought up on a bunch of old-fashioned midwestern small-town notions. And all the lofty education you've had hasn't changed those notions one bit, has it?”

  “Afraid not.” Morgan surveyed the chess pieces and then leaned back in his chair. “Her mother would never have approved and neither do I.”

  “Don't worry about it, Morgan. I was brought up in a small town, too, remember?”

  Morgan cocked a bushy brow. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning I'm going to marry her. Eventually.” Joel considered his first move.

  “Mind if I ask why you're waiting?”

  Joel glanced up. “There's the little matter of Thornquist Gear to be cleared up first.”

  “Ah.” Morgan looked satisfied. “Afraid folks will think you married her for the company, is that it?”

  “That's it. When Letty decides to go through with the deal I had worked out with Charlie, I'll marry her.” He moved his first pawn.

  Morgan nodded. “A standoff. Should be interesting to see what happens next.” He leaned forward and moved a pawn.

  “About that wager of ours.”

  “What about it?”

  “What do you say we specify that one way or another you and Letty will be married by next spring?”

  Joel was not all that sorry when he lost the match an hour and a half later. What the hell, he thought. One way or another he did plan to be married to Letty by the spring.

  At midnight Morgan crawled into one of the Thornquist Gear sleeping bags that Joel had commandeered for the night. He eyed Joel, who was still sitting at his desk. “You going to get some sleep?”

  “Maybe. Later. I think I'll take another walk around the building. Check in with the security guard.”

  “You just heard from him fifteen minutes ago. Everything's quiet. Everything's probably going to remain quiet. And if anything does happen, your high-tech security system will wake you up and tell you about it.”

  “I know. But I don't feel like sleeping.” Joel stood up and opened his desk drawer. He removed the revolver he had put there earlier. “I'll be back in a little while.”

  “You be careful with that thing,” Morgan advised. “Don't go shooting yourself in the foot.”

  Joel went out into the hall and shut the door behind him. He headed for the stairwell to start another floor-by-floor tour of Thornquist Gear.

  He had built this place, he thought as he walked past the silent, empty offices. He was responsible for every square inch of it, from the display cases on the first floor to the sizable payroll the company met every month. He had made the decision to get into catalog sales, and he had supervised the installation of the expensive new mainframe computers that were needed. He had pored over the designers' plans every time the sales floor had been expanded. He had selected the security system. He had established the management hierarchy that made the company function so effectively.

  And now Thornquist Gear stood like a stone wall between him and the future he wanted with Letty. Somehow he had to find a way to climb that wall.

  The call from Echo Cove came at six in the morning. Joel was brewing coffee and watching for the first hint of dawn over the city when the phone warbled. He grabbed it halfway through the first ring.

  “Blackstone here.”

  “It's Escott.” Keith sounded out of breath but triumphant. “Damned if the son of a bitch didn't try to torch the place, after all. Showed up about twenty minutes ago. I saw him myself.”

  “What happened?”

  “The guards and I managed to stop him, but he got away. The bastard left two cans of gasoline behind. Can you believe it? He was going to burn the whole damn place down. He didn't care what it would do to this town. You were right when you said he's decided that if he can't have Copeland Marine, nobody can have it.”

  “Did you notify the cops?”

  “Sure. They're on their way. But, Blackstone?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I wouldn't count on them holding him for long, even if they do stop him. He's still Victor Copeland, and you know what that means in this town.”

  “I know.”

  “There's something else,” Keith said slowly. “The guy has really flipped this time. I've never seen him like this. I don't know what he'll do if he gets out of Echo Cove. Are you absolutely certain Diana and Letty are safe?”

  Joel looked across the room at Morgan who was levering himself up out of the sleeping bag. “I'll make sure of it, Escott.”

  “All right. I'll call you if I get any more news.”

  “Right.” Joel hung up slowly, his gaze still on Morgan. “He tried to destroy Copeland Marine. Escott and the guards stopped him, but he got away. Keith's worried about Diana.”

  “And you're worried about Letty?”

  Joel nodded. “I think I'd better stash both of them someplace where Copeland would never think to look.”

  “What about the cabin?” Morgan asked. “They could be there in an hour and a half or so. And there's no way in hell Copeland could know about that place.”

  Joel drummed his fingers rapidly on the desk. “The question is, how long can I persuade Letty to stay there?”

  “Probably not for long. You'd better catch Copeland fast.”

  19

  I'm not so sure you should have come with us, Stephanie.” Letty turned her father's BMW off the main road and started along the winding blacktop path that bordered the river gorge.

  “I wanted to come with you,” Stephanie insisted firmly. “Morgan has obviously decided to play cops and robbers with Joel, and I would have been sitting around the house, bored to death. I wouldn't even have had you to go to any classes with me, Letty.”

  Letty glanced at her in surprise. “I thought you only wanted me to go with you to your classes because Dad wanted it.”

  Stephanie smiled wryly. “I'll admit that at first I did it to please Morgan. But I went to one entitled Looking Forward to Successful Potty Training all by myself yesterday afternoon, and I have to admit it wasn't nearly as interesting without you. I kept thinking about all the amusing comments you would have made. Especially when the instructor demonstrated the proper position of the toddler on the seat.”

  “Why would I have found that funny?”

  “Because he used himself as a model.”

  Letty chuckled. “Okay, so I probably would have found that worth a wisecrack or two. But are you sure you feel comfortable about leaving the city for a couple of days in your condition?”

  “I've decided to stop being a wimp about this baby.” Stephanie adjusted the seat belt for the hundredth time. “I'm perfectly healthy, the baby is perfectly healthy, and my due date is three weeks away. Besides, we're only an hour and a half away from Seattle.”

  “I've heard first babies are often late,” Diana volunteered quietly from the back seat. They were the first words she had spoken for over half an hour.

  Not that any of them had been particularly chatty, Letty thought as she slowed the car to navigate the narrow, twisting road. None of them had wanted to be shipped off to the wilderness while the men enga
ged in a demonstration of modern machismo.

  But Joel and Morgan had presented a united front that had been backed up with an urgent phone call from Keith.

  With all three men pleading, threatening, and cajoling, Letty and Diana had reluctantly thrown in the towel. That was when Stephanie had volunteered to keep them company during their exile.

  “Actually, my doctor has been wondering lately if the dates might be a little off,” Stephanie said in response to Diana's remark.

  “Keith has been talking about having a baby lately.” Diana stared out the window of the car. “I told Letty I've been afraid.”

  Stephanie glanced back at Diana. “Afraid of your father?”

  “Yes. I knew if he had a grandchild, Daddy would be very possessive of it. Perhaps even more so than he is of me. And his rages have been getting more frequent lately. I was terrified of the possibilities.”

  Stephanie looked shocked. “My God, you've been living with your fear of your father for a long time, haven't you, Diana?”

  Diana's face tightened. “Too long. I'm glad it's going to end. One way or another, I'm glad. Looking back on it, I feel as if I've been living under the thumb of a terrorist.”

  “And every person who's come into your life has become a hostage,” Letty concluded softly. “No wonder you were afraid to have children.”

  “Yes. Maybe after this is all over…” Diana's words trailed off.

  “We all carry some kind of secret fear with us, don't we?” Letty brought the car to a halt in front of the Thornquist mountain home. “Sooner or later we all need someone to help us work through the fears.”

  Stephanie's brows rose. “No offense, Letty, but I can't imagine you being afraid of anything.”

  Diana gave a small exclamation as she reached for the door handle. “That's for certain. What in the world have you ever been afraid of, Letty?”

  Letty turned in the seat. “Do you really want to know?”

  Stephanie and Diana stared at her in surprise.

  “Well, yes,” said Stephanie, her eyes curious.

  Diana cocked her head. “Yes, I would, too. Frankly, I've had the impression you were something of an Amazon.”

  Letty smiled ruefully. “Not quite. I've been afraid for a long time. Afraid that there was something missing in my life. Maybe missing in me. I seemed to be an observer, instead of a participant. Do you understand?”

  Stephanie turned thoughtful. “I think so.”

  “Great-Uncle Charlie rescued me from that by leaving me Thornquist Gear. All of a sudden at Thornquist I'm an actor, not a member of the audience.”

  “You've certainly been involved,” Diana agreed dryly.

  Letty ignored her. Now that she had started, it was hard to stop. “There's more. You two were afraid to have children. Well, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to.”

  Stephanie was startled. “Why?”

  “I was afraid I'd never find the kind of man I wanted to be the father of my children. And if I did find him, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold on to him because I wouldn't be able to respond satisfactorily in bed.”

  “For heaven's sake, Letty,” Stephanie began.

  “It's true.” Letty looked at her. “I couldn't even hold on to Philip Dixon. Five weeks into our engagement he had to find Gloria the grad student to satisfy his ego because I couldn't have an orgasm.”

  Stephanie's eyes widened in sympathy. “Oh, Letty, didn't you know you can get professional help for that kind of problem?”

  Letty stared at her. Then she started to laugh. She laughed so hard she nearly fell out of the car when she finally got the door open.

  “You'll be glad to know,” she told Stephanie as she wiped her eyes, “that I won't be needing therapy after all.”

  Hours later Letty lifted the lid off the pot of soup that was simmering on the stove. She stirred carefully, taking a quiet pleasure in watching the plump beans and colorful vegetables swirl through the rich broth. She had offered to make the soup from scratch, and much to her surprise, Stephanie had not objected.

  “Smells good,” Stephanie observed from the doorway. “I'd forgotten how good homemade soup can taste on a cold day.”

  Letty frowned and glanced out the window. “It is cold, isn't it? And it's starting to get cloudy outside. Back home we'd say it's fixing to snow.”

  “It's too early in the season for anything more than a few light flurries.” Stephanie went over to the refrigerator and opened the door. “In any event Morgan checked the weather reports before he and Joel packed us off. He said there was no snow predicted. Just rain. Shall I make a salad?”

  Letty smiled. “Sounds good. Provided you don't practice one of your infant recipes on us.”

  Stephanie grimaced as she removed lettuce from the refrigerator. “Don't worry. I'm helpless without my blender.”

  Diana appeared in the doorway. “Smells like dinner in here.”

  Letty glanced at her. “I thought you were taking a nap?”

  “I couldn't sleep.” Diana glanced out the window. “Do you think it's going to rain?”

  “Looks like it.” Stephanie started washing lettuce under the faucet.

  Diana surveyed the pot of simmering soup. “I can make dumplings if anyone's interested,” she offered hesitantly.

  Letty was surprised. Diana had seemed listless all day. “I didn't think anyone out here on the West Coast would know how to make dumplings.”

  Diana shrugged, not returning Letty's smile. “My mother taught me how a long time ago. I haven't made them for years.” She went to the counter and opened the small sack of flour Letty had purchased when they stopped for groceries earlier.

  A curious harmony settled over the kitchen as the three of them went to work. It occurred to Letty that there was nothing like cooking a meal with other women to create an elemental bond. There was something primitive and female about the ritual. Or maybe that was just the old-fashioned Heartland pioneer woman in her, she decided wryly.

  “I was thinking about something you said in the car this morning, Letty.” Stephanie used a fork to combine vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl. “About each of us needing someone else to help us work through our private fears. It's been bothering me.”

  It was Diana who responded to that. She glanced up, her eyes intense. “Why?”

  Stephanie's mouth thinned. “I suppose because I have a hard time accepting that I might be the weak one in my relationship with Morgan. I've always taken care of myself. I'm incredibly grateful that he's helped me create this baby, but a part of me is nervous about having to be rescued from my infertility. It's made me realize that things aren't really equal between us. I suppose what it really comes down to is that I wish he needed me as badly as I need him.”

  “You've got to be kidding.” Letty glanced at her in astonishment. “You don't think my father needs you just as much as you need him?”

  Stephanie whipped the oil and vinegar fiercely. “I know he cares for me. But I doubt that he actually needs me.”

  “You're wrong, you know.” Letty smiled. “You and the baby have given him a whole new lease on life. After Mother's death, my father started turning into an old man before my very eyes. I was powerless to stop the process. You've made him young again, Steph. He told me so himself.”

  Stephanie stopped beating the salad dressing. Her eyes were very bright and a little anxious. “Did he really?”

  “Really.” Letty chuckled. “And even if he hadn't said it aloud, I would have known it. I noticed the difference in him the minute I got off the plane. Your relationship is definitely working both ways.”

  “I wish mine were,” Diana said. “All I've done for Keith is make his life a living hell.”

  “Nonsense.” Letty removed the lid from the soup pot and stirred the contents again. “Keith is a born knight-errant. He needs a beautiful maiden to save and an opportunity to slay a couple of dragons. You've provided him with both. He's just been waiting for his big chance, and now
he's got it.”

  Diana set down the measuring cup and stared at her. “Is that how you see him?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Are you saying that because he took on Joel in that awful bar brawl?”

  Letty laughed. “Not only because of that. I'm also thinking about how quickly he produced that five-year plan to salvage Copeland Marine. He didn't come up with that detailed scenario overnight. He had been working on it for a long time. Which means that he had just been waiting for his opportunity.”

  Diana grew thoughtful. “I remember how excited he was the night he came home and told me that Copeland Marine was in danger of a takeover.”

  “What Keith needs now is for you to believe in him, and you're giving him that kind of backing. He's on his way to saving the world. Or at least Echo Cove.” Letty stood aside while Diana ladled the dumpling batter onto the surface of the bubbling broth.

  “I hope so,” Diana said fervently. “God, I hope someone can control Daddy before it's too late.”

  “They'll find him and stop him,” Stephanie said soothingly. “He's a very sick man. He needs treatment.”

  Diana put the lid on the pot and stared sightlessly at it. “I don't think he's sick. I think he's evil. I've always wondered what really happened to Joel's father. For years I've secretly wondered if Daddy had something to do with Hank Blackstone's death.”

  Letty felt a chill go down her spine. She exchanged a worried glance with Stephanie, but neither of them said another word on the subject of Victor Copeland.

  The phone rang at nine o'clock that evening. It was Joel. He was in his office, preparing for another night of camping out with Morgan.

  “There's been no sign of Copeland,” Joel told Letty quietly. “The Echo Cove cops didn't find him. No telling what he's up to now. How are things going up there?”

  “We're all right.” Letty sat on the arm of an overstuffed chair, one leg crossed over the other. She swung her foot tensely, aware of all the things she wanted to say to him. “Joel, you know you can't keep us up here indefinitely.”

  “I know. Just a day or two, I promise.” There was a pause. “Letty?”