Gordon ran full tilt towards Katy. He threw his arms around her, ecstatic to see her again. Then he disappeared into the house to greet his many possessions. Katy remained standing in the doorway, her arms crossed in front of her.
“I’d like to talk,” Nate said. “May I come in?”
“Is it important?” Katy asked. “I need to get Gordon something to eat.”
“I understand that you’re busy, but yes, it’s important,” Nate said. He followed Katy into the living room. Being in the familiar space gave him the odd feeling of being a guest in his own home. “The last few days have made me do some thinking,” he began.
“About…?”
“I want to spend more time with Gordon.”
Katy’s eyes narrowed. “More time? In what way?”
“In whatever way works best for the three of us,” Nate said. “I’m not here to cause a problem. I’ll work with you on this. I just want to take more of a role in raising Gordon, which should make life easier for you by the way.”
“What’s going on here?” Katy asked. “Why suddenly do you want more time with Gordon? So he can watch TV by himself while you work?”
“I want to be a bigger part of his life,” Nate replied. “And I’m not talking about parallel play. I want to really be with him.”
“You’ve never had time for anything but work,” Katy said. “If you’re serious, something would have to give. Maybe you should cut back on your time at ZIFIX. We were at least treading water in our marriage before you threw that startup into the mix.”
Nate winced at Katy’s dig but he replied evenly, “Right now I’ve got a responsibility to the people that I hired there. I have to see this deal through. When Rios Capital takes over, maybe I can take a step back.”
“Once they take over, you won’t have anything to say about what happens,” Katy said. “So much for taking care of your employees. Remember, I warned you about Rios.”
“I hear that Rios is no longer with the company,” Nate said dryly.
Gordon reappeared and asked what there was to eat. Katy invited Nate to follow her into the kitchen. Nate sat at the counter and watched the familiar scene as Katy made supper and Gordon played.
Nate had avoided talking to Katy about his predicament at the startup because his time commitment there had figured so prominently in their final arguments. But now that he was leveling with her, he experienced some of the same emotions that he had in their early years together, when she had served as his sounding board. He admitted to her that he would not have taken his eye off the startup’s finances if he had been able to talk things over with her day by day, the way he had done when they were married.
Katy let Nate talk. When he was finished she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and came to sit beside him. “We’ve all been through a big upheaval the last few days,” she said. “You need to take a deep breath and think more about this before you make any big change.”
“I need to know if you’re open to letting me have more time with Gordon,” Nate said.
“We can talk about that,” Katy said, putting one hand on top of his. “I’m happy for you that you want to be with Gordon more. That’s a hopeful sign.”
Pilar and Consuelo appeared at Sonia’s door, laden down with shopping bags. “Are those all for me?” Sonia asked.
“You bet,” Pilar replied. “And you don’t have to thank us. You have no idea how badly we needed to clean out our closets.”
“This gives us an excuse to go shopping,” Consuelo added, “so we should be thanking you.” The three girls set about sorting through the contents of the bags. Moments later, Lupe poked her head thru the door to ask if they needed anything from the village market. Sonia asked her to pick up a few toiletries.
After Lupe left, the girls asked Sonia to tell them about her experiences on the horseracing circuit. The hunter-jumper competitions in which they competed were genteel affairs, and the people they met through riding were typically from the same background as themselves. Both girls were curious about the rough and tumble world of thoroughbred racing that Sonia knew. Sonia did not disappoint, telling them story after story about the colorful people that she had encountered at racetracks around the country. The girls found that they had much in common, and just enough differences to make it interesting.
Lupe returned with the items that Sonia had requested; she said that she was going to start dinner shortly. Taking Lupe’s cue, Pilar and Consuelo said goodbye and went back to the house with Lupe.
Christopher’s call minutes later came as a welcome surprise. He had just heard that Sonia had been left homeless by the fire, and he wanted to know what he could do to help. Sonia explained that she and her father were staying in Adela’s guesthouse. “Wow, that’s great,” Christopher said. “You sure landed on your feet.”
“We did,” Sonia said. “How about you? Is everything all right with your family?”
“Both our houses are OK, but my Dad’s car is toast.”
“Bummer. That was a major automobile,” Sonia said. “He must be really upset.”
“He’s upset, but not about the car,” Christopher said. “All the paperwork is missing from Mr. Rios’ office. At first my Dad thought that the housekeeper saved it from the fire, but it turns out that she didn’t. He’s worried that some things may have fallen into the wrong hands.”
“Does your boss bolt every time a client calls?” Nate asked.
“He certainly doesn’t,” Georgina replied. “I can’t imagine what Adela could have said that would make him rush out of here like that.”
“He looked anxious.”
“He did, didn’t he? That’s so unlike him,” Georgina said. “He’s usually Mr. Cool.” Georgina and Nate finished dinner. Then Nate volunteered to accompany her on the short walk back to the Inn.
“I suppose I should know something about the person who’ll be calling the shots at ZIFIX after tomorrow,” Nate said as they walked. “What’s Adela like anyway?”
“Of course that begs the question—since you were willing to sell to the father, how much worse could it be to sell to the daughter?” Georgina replied good-naturedly. Not wanting to discuss Adela, however, she went on, “How’s Gordon? I still owe him the rest of the dragon story.”
“I have to get the two of you together so he can find out the ending,” Nate said. “You know, in spite of all the hassles, these last few days have actually been the best I’ve had in a long time.” As they made their way up the hill towards the Inn, Nate opened up to Georgina. He told her how he wanted to make adjustments in his life so that he could be a better father. Georgina was surprised by how candidly Nate was speaking to her about his private life. She recognized that at some level he had come to trust her. Perhaps, she thought, the shared experience of the fire and the time together at the shelter had made him feel comfortable with her. Listening to his hopes for his future with Gordon, however, she could not suppress her skepticism.
“You have some very serious work commitments,” she said. “You have to be realistic about how much you can do.”
“That’s what Katy said when I told her about this,” Nate said.
“Sorry to remind you of your ex, but maybe she’s right.”
They had arrived at the grape arbor at the entrance to the hotel pool. Nate stopped and turned to face Georgina. “Actually, Georgina, you don’t remind me of my ex at all,” he said, looking into her eyes. “I have a very different feeling when I’m with you.” Georgina was instantly ill at ease. Nate lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers.
“This can’t be,” Georgina said, pulling away. “Please…..”
“I know it’s complicated.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Georgina said. “I have someone in my life. And I have a responsibility to my client. So, this never happened.”
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Nate said, chastised. “I thought that we had made a connection the last few days. I?
??m sorry. I guess I misunderstood.”
“The fire has stressed everyone out,” Georgina said. “No one is in their normal state of mind right now. Are you OK?”
“I’m OK if you’re OK,” Nate replied.
“I don’t want anything to interfere with the deal,” Georgina said. “Can I still present it to Adela in the morning?”
“Of course,” Nate said. “You know how to reach me.” He quickly retreated along the pathway towards the village. Georgina stood by the arbor for a few minutes while she collected herself. What had just happened? she wondered. Unsure of what she was feeling, she walked slowly towards the Inn. She became aware of Mark as she neared the main door. He was seated in one of the patio chairs.
“What a touching scene,” Mark said as he stood up to confront her.
“It’s not what you think,” Georgina said. “Carmichael came on to me and I said no. End of story.”
“Really? I saw you kiss him.”
“No. You saw him kiss me.”
“Getting involved with someone on the other side of a deal is a serious breach of ethics,” Mark said. “What has gotten into you?”
“There is nothing going on between Carmichael and me,” Georgina protested. “And the deal isn’t compromised in any way.”
“You are compromised, Georgina, you are compromised,” Mark said, his voice rising. “Tomorrow morning you will present the deal to Adela and right after that, you will be on the next flight out. And when I get back to New York, you and I will be having a very serious discussion about your future with the firm.”
Chapter Eighteen