- -
- 100%
- +
“Technically you’re not getting anything, and I want that understood this very minute, because I refuse to be sold.” Arms akimbo, she turned to glare down at him with the full force of her disdain. “What did he offer you? The entire company? Lots of money?”
Zach shrugged. “He’s offered me nothing.”
“Nothing,” she repeated slowly, feeling unreasonably insulted. “He was just going to give me away.” That was enough to deflate the billowing sails of her pride. Stunned, she sat down again. “I thought the bride’s family was supposed to supply some kind of dowry. Gramps didn’t even offer you money?”
“Dowry?” Zach repeated the word as if he’d never heard it before.
“Gramps’s family received a cow and ten chickens from my grandmother’s family,” she said, as if that explained everything. “But apparently I’m not even worth a single hen.”
Zach set his coffee aside and sat straight in his chair. “I think we’d better begin this conversation again. I’m afraid I lost you back there when you said something about cracking under pressure. Perhaps you should enlighten me about what I’m supposed to have done.”
Janine just glared at him.
“Humor me.”
“All right, if you insist. It’s obvious that Gramps talked to you about the marriage.”
“Marriage,” he echoed in a shocked voice. His face went blank. “To whom?”
“Me, of course.”
Zach flung himself out of the chair, bolting to his feet. “To you?”
“Don’t look so horrified! My ego’s taken about all it can for one evening. I’m not exactly the Wicked Witch of the West, you know. Some men would be more than happy to marry me.” Not Brian, and certainly not Peter, but she felt it was important that Zach think she was sought after.
“Marriage between us is…would be impossible. It’s completely out of the question. I don’t ever plan to marry—I have no use for a wife or family.”
“Tell that to Gramps.”
“I have every intention of doing so.” His face tightened and Janine guessed her grandfather was due for an earful when he got home. “What makes that crazy old man think he can order people’s lives like this?” he asked angrily.
“His own marriage was arranged for him. Trust me, Zach, I argued until I was exhausted, but Gramps hasn’t given up his old-country beliefs and he thinks the two of us—now this is really ridiculous—are perfect for each other.”
“If you weren’t serious, I’d find this highly amusing.”
Janine noticed that he seemed rather pale. “I appear to have jumped to the wrong conclusion earlier. I apologize for that but, well, I thought…I assumed Gramps had spoken to you already and you’d agreed.”
“Was that when you started mumbling about a cow and a few chickens?”
She nodded and her long bangs fell over her eyes. Absently she pushed them aside. “For a moment there, I thought Gramps was offering me to you gratis. I know it’s silly, but I felt insulted by that.”
For the first time since they’d entered into this conversation, Zach’s face softened and he granted her a faint smile. “Your grandfather loves you, no question.”
“I know.” Feeling self-conscious, she threaded her fingers through her hair. “I’ve used every argument I could come up with. I explained the importance of romance and told him how vital it is for men and women to fall in love with the person of their choice. However, he refused to accept any of it.”
“He wouldn’t listen to you?”
“He listened,” she replied, feeling defeated, “but he disputed everything I said. Gramps says the modern version of love and marriage is a complete failure. With the divorce rate what it is, I’m afraid I don’t have much of an argument.”
“That’s true enough,” Zach said, looking frustrated.
“I told him men and women fall in love and then decide to get married, but Gramps insists it’s better if marriage comes first.”
Zach rubbed a hand over his face. “Now that I think about it, your grandfather’s been introducing you into every conversation, telling me how wonderful you are.”
Janine gasped softly. “He’s done the same to me about you. He started weeks before we even met.”
Pressing his lips together, Zach nodded. “A lot of things are beginning to make sense.”
“What should we do?” Janine wondered aloud. “It’s perfectly obvious that we’ll have to agree on a plan of action. I hate to disappoint Gramps, but I’m not willing to be married off like…like…” Words failed her.
“Especially to me.”
Although his low words were devoid of emotion, Janine recognized the pain behind his statement. Knowing what she did about his past, the fact that he’d experienced only brief patches of love in his life and little or no approval tugged at her heart.
“I didn’t mean it to sound like that,” she insisted. “My grandfather wouldn’t have chosen you if he didn’t think you were pretty special. He prides himself on his ability to judge character, and he’s always been impressed with you.”
“Let’s not kid ourselves, Janine,” Zach returned, his voice hardening. “You’re an uptown girl. We’re totally unsuited.”
“I agree with you there, but not for the reasons you assume. From the minute I stepped into your office, you made it clear that you thought of me as some kind of snob. I’m not, but I refuse to waste my breath arguing with you.”
“Fine.”
“Instead of hurling insults at each other,” she suggested, crossing her arms in a show of indignation, “why don’t we come up with a plan to deal with Gramps’s preposterous idea?”
“That isn’t necessary,” he countered. “I want no part of it.”
“And you think I do?”
Zach said nothing.
Janine expelled her breath loudly. “It seems to me the solution is for one of us to marry someone else. That would quickly put an end to this whole thing.”
“I already told you I have no intention of marrying,” he said emphatically. “You’re the one who insinuated you had plenty of men hanging around just waiting for you to say ‘I do.’”
“None that I’d consider marrying, for heaven’s sake,” she grumbled. “Besides, I’m not currently in love with anyone.”
Zach laughed, if the sound that came from his throat could be called a laugh. “Then find a man who’s current. If you fall in and out of love that easily, surely there’s got to be at least one prospect on the horizon.”
“There isn’t. You’re going to have to come up with someone! Why don’t you go out there and sweep some sweet young thing off her feet,” she muttered sarcastically.
“I’m not willing to sacrifice my life so you can get off scot-free.” His words were low and furious.
“But it’s perfectly all right for me to sabotage mine? That makes a lot of sense.”
“Okay,” he said after a tense moment. He paused, shaking his head. “That idea’s obviously not going to work. I guess we’ll have to come up with something better.”
“Okay, then.” Janine gestured toward him. “It’s your turn.”
He glared at her, seeming to dislike her even more. In all honesty, Janine wasn’t too pleased with the way she was behaving, either. She’d been sarcastic and needlessly rude, but then, Zach had driven her to it. He could be the most unpleasant man.
Still, Janine was about to say something conciliatory when the sound of the front door opening distracted her. Her gaze flew to Zach and he nodded, reassuring her that he’d handle the situation.
They’d returned to their chairs and were seated by the time Gramps appeared in the library doorway.
“Zach, I’m sorry for the delay. I’m glad to see Janine entertained you.” Her grandfather smiled brightly as if to tell her he approved and hoped she’d taken advantage of this hour alone with Zach.
“We did manage to have a stimulating conversation,” Zach said, his eyes briefly meeting Janine’s.
“Good. Good.”
Zach stood and reached for his briefcase. “There were some figures you wanted to go over with me?”
“Yes.” Looking satisfied with himself, Gramps led the way out of the room. Zach followed him, with a glance back at Janine that said he’d get in touch with her later.
Later turned out to be almost a week. She was puttering around outside, trimming back the rosebushes and deciding where to plant the geraniums this year, when Mrs. McCormick came to tell her she was wanted on the phone.
“Hello,” Janine said cheerfully.
“We need to talk,” Zach said without preamble.
“Why?” she demanded. If he was going to keep her hanging for six anxious days, then she wasn’t going to give the impression that she was thrilled to hear from him.
“Your grandfather laid his cards on the table this afternoon. I thought you might be interested in hearing what he’s offering me to take you off his hands.”
Three
“All right,” Janine said, bracing herself. “What’s he offering you? Huge bonuses?”
“No,” Zach said quickly.
“Cash? I want to know exactly how much.”
“He didn’t offer me money.”
Janine frowned. “What then?”
“I think we should meet and talk about it.”
If her grandfather had openly approached Zach with the arranged-marriage idea, Janine knew darn well that Gramps would’ve made it worth Zach’s while. Despite his claims to the contrary, it wouldn’t have surprised Janine to discover that the newly appointed chairman of the board of Hartman-Thomas Business Supply had taken the bait.
“You want us to meet?” she repeated in a faltering voice.
“There’s a restaurant on University Way—Italian 642. Have you heard of it?”
“No, but I’ll find it.”
“Meet me there at seven.” Zach paused, then added, “And listen, it might not be a good idea to tell your grandfather that we’re getting together. He might misunderstand.”
“I won’t say anything,” she promised.
Zach hesitated once more. “We have a lot to discuss.”
Janine’s heartbeat accelerated, and she felt the perspiration break out on her forehead. “Zach,” she began, “you haven’t changed your mind, have you? I mean, you’re not actually considering this ridiculous idea of his? You can’t…We agreed, remember?” She swiped at her forehead with the back of her free hand as she waited for him to answer.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” he finally said.
Replacing the receiver, Janine had the sudden horrible sensation of being completely at her grandfather’s mercy. He was an unshakably stubborn man who almost always got what he wanted. Faced with a mountain, Anton Hartman either climbed it, tunneled through it or forged a path around it; failing such active alternatives, he settled down in the foothills and waited for the mountain to dissolve. He claimed he won a majority of his battles by simply displaying patience. Janine called it not knowing when to pack up and go home.
She knew her grandfather’s methods, but then so did Zach. She hoped Anton’s candidate for her husband would at least be able to withstand a few bribes, however tempting. Apparently he did, because he’d told her she had nothing to worry about. On the other hand, he sounded downright eager to discuss the subject with her.
“He says he never wants to get married,” she muttered aloud in an effort to reassure herself. Indeed, Zachary Thomas was the last man who’d be humming “The Wedding March”—especially when someone else was directing the band.
Janine was waiting in the library, coat draped over her arm, when her grandfather got home at six-thirty. He kissed her dutifully on the cheek and reached for the evening paper, scanning the headlines as he settled into his big leather chair.
“Zach called,” she said without thinking. She hadn’t intended to mention that to Gramps.
Anton nodded. “I thought he might. You meeting him for dinner?”
“Dinner? Zach and me?” she squeaked. “No, of course not! Why would you even think I’d agree to a dinner date with…him?” Darn, she’d nearly forgotten her promise to keep their meeting a secret. She detested lying to her grandfather, but there was no help for it.
“But you are dining out?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t very well deny that, dressed as she was and carrying her coat.
“Then you’re seeing Peter Donahue again?”
“No. Not exactly,” Janine said uncomfortably, “I’m meeting a…friend.”
“I see.” The corners of Gramps’s mouth quirked into a knowing smile.
Janine could feel the telltale heat saturating her face. She was a terrible liar and always had been. Gramps knew as surely as if she’d spelled it out that she was meeting Zach. And when she told Zach she’d let it slip, he’d be furious with her, and rightly so.
“What did Zach want?”
“What makes you think he wanted anything?” Janine asked fervently. Her heart was thundering as she edged toward the door. The sooner she escaped, the better.
“You just said Zach phoned.”
“Oh. Yes, he did, earlier, but it wasn’t important. Something about…something.” Brilliant! She rushed out of the house before Gramps could question her further. What a fool she was. She’d blurted out the very thing she’d wanted to keep secret.
By the time Janine located the Italian restaurant in the University district and found a parking place, she was ten minutes late.
Zach was sitting in a booth in the farthest corner of the room. He frowned when he saw her and glanced at his watch, just so she’d know she’d kept him waiting.
Ignoring his disgruntled look, Janine slid onto the polished wooden bench, removed her coat and casually announced, “Gramps knows.”
Zach’s frown deepened. “What are you talking about?”
“He knows I’m having dinner with you,” she explained. “The minute he walked in the door, I told him you’d called—I just wasn’t thinking—and when he asked why, I told him it had to do with something. I’m sure you’ll be able to make up an excuse when he asks you later.”
“I thought we agreed not to say anything about our meeting.”
“I know,” she said, feeling guiltier than ever. “But Gramps asked if I was going out with Peter and he just looked so smug when I told him I wasn’t.” At Zach’s sudden movement, she burst out, “Well, what was I supposed to do?”
He grunted, which wasn’t much of an answer.
“If I wasn’t going out with Peter, I’d have to come up with another man on the spot, and although I’m clever, I don’t think that fast.” She was breathless with frustration when she’d finished.
“Who’s Peter?”
“This guy I’ve been seeing off and on for the past few months.”
“And you’re in love with him?”
“No, I’m not.” Doubtless Zach would suggest she simply marry Peter and put an end to all of this annoyance.
Zach reached abruptly for the menu. “Let’s order, and while we’re eating we can go over what we need to discuss.”
“All right,” Janine said, grateful to leave the topic of her blunder. Besides, seven was later than she normally dined, and she was famished.
The waitress appeared then, and even as she filled Janine’s water glass, her appreciative gaze never strayed from Zach. Once more Janine was struck by the knowledge that although he wasn’t handsome in the traditional sense, he seemed to generate a good deal of female interest.
“I’ll have the clam spaghetti,” Janine said loudly, eyeing the attractive waitress, who seemed to be forgetting why she was there. The woman was obviously far more interested in studying Zach than in taking their order.
“I’ll have the same,” Zach said, smiling briefly at the waitress as he handed her his menu. “Now, what were you saying?” he asked, returning his attention to Janine.
“As I recall, you were the one who insisted we meet. Just tell me what my grandfather said and be done with it.” No doubt the offer had been generous; otherwise Zach wouldn’t have suggested this dinner.
Zach’s hand closed around the water glass. “Anton called me into his office to ask me a series of leading questions.”
“Such as?”
Zach shrugged. “What I thought of you and—”
“How’d you answer him?”
Zach took a deep breath. “I said I found you attractive, energetic, witty, a bit eccentric—”
“A bandanna dress and a string of Christmas-tree lights doesn’t make me eccentric,” Janine said, her voice rising despite herself.
“If the Christmas-tree lights are draped around your neck it does.”
They were attracting attention, and after a few curious stares, Zach leaned closer and said, “If you’re going to argue with everything I say, we’ll be here all night.”
“I’m sure our waitress would enjoy that,” Janine snapped, then immediately regretted it. She sounded downright jealous—which, of course, was ridiculous.
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind.”
“Shall we return to the conversation between your grandfather and me?”
“Please,” she said, properly chastised.
“Anton spent quite a long time telling me about your volunteer work at the Friendship Club and your various other community activities.”
“And I’ll bet his report was so glowing, I rank right up there with Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale.”
Zach grinned. “Something like that, but then he added that although you were constantly busy, he felt your life lacked contentment and purpose.”
Janine could see it coming, as clearly as if she were standing on a track and a freight train was heading toward her. “Let me guess. He probably said I needed something meaningful in my life—like a husband and children.”
“Exactly.” Zach nodded, his grin barely restrained. “In his opinion, marriage is the only thing that will fulfill you as woman.”
Janine groaned and sagged against the back of her seat. It was worse than she thought. And to her chagrin, Zach actually seemed amused.
“You wouldn’t look so smug if he said marriage was the only thing that would fulfill you as a man,” she muttered. “Honestly, Zach, do I look like I’m wasting away from lack of purpose?” She gestured dramatically with her hands. “I’m happy, I’m busy…in fact I’m completely delighted with my life.” It wasn’t until she’d finished that she realized she was clenching her teeth.
“Don’t take it so personally.”
Janine rolled her eyes, wondering what his reaction would be if he was on the receiving end of this discussion.
“In case you didn’t know it, Anton’s a terrible chauvinist,” he remarked, still smiling. “An old-fashioned word, perhaps, for an old-fashioned man.”
“That’s true, but he is my grandfather,” she said. “And he’s so charming, it’s easy to forgive him.”
Zach picked up his wineglass and gazed at it thoughtfully. “What I can’t figure out is why he’s so keen on marrying you off now. Why not last year? Or next year?”
“Heavens, I don’t know. I suppose he thinks it’s time. My biological clock’s ticking away and the noise is probably keeping him awake at night. By age twenty-four, most of the women from the old country had four or five children.”
“He certainly seems intent on the idea of seeing you married soon.”
“Tell me about it!” Janine cried. “I’d bet cold cash that when he brought up the subject he said you were the only suitable man he’d found for me.”
“Anton also said you have a generous heart, and that he feared some fast-talker would show up one day and you’d fall for him.”
“Really?” she asked weakly. Her heart stopped, then jolted to life again. Anton’s scenario sounded exactly like her disastrous romance with Brian. She sighed deeply. “So then he told you he wants me to marry someone he respects, someone he loves like a son. A man of discretion and wisdom and honor. A man he trusts enough to merge companies with.”
Zach arched his brows. “You know your grandfather well.”
“I can just imagine what came next,” Janine added scathingly and her stomach tensed at her grandfather’s insidious cleverness. Zach wasn’t someone who could be bought, at least not with offers of money or prestige. Instead, Gramps had used a far more subtle form of inducement. He’d addressed Zach’s pride, complimented his achievements, flattered him. To hear Gramps tell it, Zachary Thomas was the only man alive capable of taking on the task of becoming Janine’s husband.
“What did you tell him?” she asked, her voice low.
“I told him no way.”
Janine blinked back surprise mingled with a fair amount of indignation. “Just like that? Couldn’t you at least have mulled it over?” Zach was staring at her as though he thought someone should rush over and take her temperature. “Forget I said that,” she mumbled, fussing with her napkin in order to avoid meeting his eyes.
“I didn’t want to encourage him.”
“That was wise.” Janine picked up her water glass and downed half the contents.
“To your grandfather’s credit, he seemed to accept my answer.”
“Don’t count on it,” Janine warned.
“Don’t worry, I know him, too. He isn’t going to give up easily. That’s the reason I suggested you and I meet to talk about this. If we keep in touch, we can anticipate Anton’s strategy.”
“Good idea.”
Their salads arrived and Janine frowned when the waitress tossed Zach another suggestive glance. “So,” she began in a conversational tone once the woman had left, “Gramps was smart enough not to offer you a large incentive if you went along with his scheme.”
“I didn’t say that.”
She stabbed viciously at her salad. “I hadn’t expected him to stoop that low. Exactly what tactics did he use?”
“He said something about family members having use of the limousine.”
Janine’s fork made a clanging sound as it hit the side of her salad bowl. “He offered you the limousine if you married me? That’s all?”
“Not even that,” Zach explained, not bothering to disguise his amusement, “only the use of it.”
“Why…why, that’s insulting.” She crammed some salad into her mouth and chewed the crisp lettuce as though it were leather.
“I considered it a step above the cow and ten chickens you suggested the first time we discussed this.”
“Where he came from, a cow and ten chickens were worth a lot more than you seem to realize,” Janine exclaimed, and immediately regretted raising her voice, because half the patrons in the restaurant turned to stare. She smiled blandly at those around her, then slouched forward over her salad.
She reached for a bread stick, broke it in half and glared at it. “The use of the limo,” she repeated, indignant.
“Don’t look so upset.” He grinned. “I might have accepted.”
Zach was deriving far too much pleasure from this to suit her. “Your attitude isn’t helping any,” she said, frowning righteously.
“I apologize.”
But he didn’t act the least bit apologetic. When she’d first met Zach, Janine had assumed he was a man who rarely smiled, yet in the short time they’d spent together today, he’d practically been laughing outright.
The waitress brought their entrées, but when Janine took her first bite, she realized that even the pretense of eating was more than she could manage. She felt too wretched. Tears sprang to her eyes, which embarrassed her even more, although she struggled to hide them.
“What’s wrong?” Zach surprised her by asking.
Eyes averted, Janine shook her head, while she attempted to swallow. “Gramps believes I’m a poor judge of character,” she finally said. And she was. Brian had proved it to her, but Gramps didn’t know about Brian. “I feel like a failure.”
“He didn’t mean any of it,” Zach said gently.
“But couldn’t he have come up with something a little more flattering?”
“He needed an excuse to marry you off, otherwise his suggestion would have sounded crazy.” Zach hesitated. “You know, the more we discuss this, the more ludicrous the whole thing seems.” He chuckled softly and leaned forward to set his elbows on the table. “Who would’ve believed he’d come up with the idea of the two of us marrying?”
“Thank you very much,” Janine muttered. He sat there shredding her ego and apparently found the process just short of hilarious.
“Don’t let it get to you. You’re not interested in me as a husband, anyway.”