An acrid odor permeated the nighttime air. Sam strained to see in the dim light of the half-full moon. Her parents’ house had suffered almost no damage; the firefighters had arrived just in the nick of time. As she crossed the patio she noticed that soot blackened the pool coping and the water below was grey with ashes. She stopped in front of the massive pile of charred debris that was piled up on the far side of the patio—the burnt-out remains of the teahouse. It would be futile, she knew, to sift through the rubble. Everything that she owned, every remembrance of the people that she had lost, everything of beauty from the flower and willow world, was gone. Clenching her hands she dug her fingernails into the flesh of each palm and closed her eyes. She let the pain wash over her.
When she opened her eyes a small object drew her attention. It had come to rest on the pool coping, poised as if it were about to drop into the charcoal-colored water below. Even in the semi-darkness, Sam could make out that the object was red. With a start she recognized the object as the silk parasol from her Geisha doll. How extraordinary, she thought—the tiny parasol had been saved, blown out of the teahouse by the same ferocious wind that had borne the fire to it.
“He kissed you?” Millie exclaimed, horrified.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Georgina said. “Usually I get a feeling if a guy is going to try that and I can defuse the situation, but not this time. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what he was thinking. I didn’t send him any signals.”
“Perhaps when you hung out with him at the shelter, he took that to mean something,” Pearl guessed.
“But we were thrown together by circumstance,’ Georgina said. “You would think that he would have understood that.”
“Who knows what makes men do what they do?” Millie said. “With some of them you could strip naked and they wouldn’t see you, and with others you just go about your business and they think that you’re into them. This guy is recently divorced, isn’t he? He’s probably just flailing about to see what happens.”
“His business situation might have had something to do with it,” Pearl said. “You know, he’s in trouble with his company and looking for a deal, and then you show up to make it happen. Like a patient falling for their doctor.”
“It gets worse,” Georgina said. “Mark saw him kiss me.”
“You have got to be kidding,” Pearl gasped.
“I’m sure Mark took that in stride,” Millie said.
“Mark most certainly did not take it in stride,” Georgina said. “He accused me of violating the bank’s ethics. He threatened to fire me.”
“He can’t fire you,” Pearl said angrily. “I’ll help you sue him if he tries that. There’s nothing that I would relish more than getting Mark Webber on the witness stand for a discussion of your bank’s business ethics.”
“Whoa, hold on there, Pearl,” Georgina said. “There’s no need for escalation. Mark is more bluster than anything else. He’s always threatening to fire people, although this is the first time that he’s threatened to fire me. But I’m more annoyed about it than I’m concerned. I’ll close the ZIFIX deal tomorrow and the whole incident will blow over.”
“I wish I were as sure as you are about that,” Millie said. “If things don’t go well with Adela and the bank loses her account, Mark will be looking for a scapegoat. You would be a tempting candidate.”
“That could happen, I guess,” Georgina acknowledged. “But right now all I can do is make sure that the ZIFIX deal goes through. After that, it’s up to Mark to deliver on the other deals that the bank has going with Rios Capital.”
“Have you told Nick about what happened?” Pearl asked.
“No, and I don’t plan to,” Georgina replied. “He’s still trying to make up his mind which job to take and I don’t want him to think that I’m trying to make him jealous.”
“Don’t hold your fire on that one,” Millie advised. “Men need to be reminded every once in a while.”
When the conversation with her friends was over, Georgina went began to get ready for bed. But the words that she had just spoken began to echo in her mind. She realized that she had just put on a show of bravado in front of her friends to bolster her flagging ego. In truth, she was very worried about Mark firing her. If she did not convince Adela to buy ZIFIX Mark would certainly turn on her and let her go. And what about Nick? With Nick so consumed with advancing his career, how much was he really weighing their relationship in his decision? He was saying the right words to her, but, after all, he had the gift of the gab. He could be taking her for granted, believing that she would willingly sacrifice herself and accommodate to any career choice he made.
Georgina’s head began to pound. She looked in her purse for something for headache but discovered that she had taken the last capsule while she was at the Fairgrounds. She dressed and went downstairs to the hotel’s sundries shop where she bought a bottle of aspirin. When she returned to her room she was restless. Then it came to her. Why was she being such a goody two-shoes? Given the stakes, she realized, dangling Nate’s kiss in front of Nick might not be such a bad idea after all.
“I saw something last night." Sonia and her father were in Adela’s guesthouse, eating breakfast. “The girls invited me to watch a movie in their home theatre, and afterwards we went into the kitchen to get some snacks. I looked out the window and saw that detective outside with Adela. Adela looked really upset.”
“Could you hear what they were talking about?” Jake asked, slightly furrowing his brow.
“No. I’ll bet that’s why they were outside, so no one could hear them. And then a man joined them. The girls told me that he’s a banker Adela brought out from New York. He listened to the detective for a few minutes, and then he took Adela by the arm and led her inside the house. The detective walked away into the dark. What do you make of that?”
“I have no idea,” Jake answered.
“I thought it was really strange,” Sonia said. “And there’s more. Christopher Wahl told me that Mr. Rios’ papers are missing from his office. I’m more convinced than ever that something’s going on.”
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t concern you,” Jake said.
“I suppose that’s true,” Sonia said, disappointed by her father’s lack of interest. “Anyway, I need to put Diamante on the line before I go to school.“
“Change of plans there,” Jake said. “The vet is coming over to look at him this morning, so you can skip his exercise. I’ll take him out on the trail later if the vet thinks it’s all right. Adela asked me to stay here this morning instead of going to the track, to hear what the vet thinks we need to do with Diamante.”
“It says something that she’s keeping you in the loop with her horse.”
“She’s having Jose come over too,” Jake said, pursing his lips.
“Jose knows Diamante best,” Sonia reminded her father.
“We have to move the horses soon and that’s going to force Adela to decide whether they’re going to stay in training or not,” Jake said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she listened to Jose and gave me notice.”
“But I just got settled in at Rancho High,” Sonia complained. “Please don’t make me move again so soon. At least try to find a job here, so I won’t have to change schools.”
“Trainer work isn’t that easy to find right now,” Jake said. “I know how hard moving is on you. I’ll do the best I can but I can’t make any promises.”
Sonia looked at her father impassively. Why was it was always like this?
Georgina walked out onto the balcony of her room at the Inn. The distant hills were charred black; a grey-blue, smoky haze drifted above them. The temperature was much cooler than it had been during the Santa Ana but a burnt smell lingered in the air. So much has happened, she thought, since the morning when she first looked out on those hills. That day, when she visited ZIFIX and met Nate, now seemed like eons ago, not less than a week. She called Nick. “I’m glad you’re coming back today,” he told her. ??
?I need to thank Mark for getting you away from my pesky new rival and home to me.”
“Carmichael is not your rival,” Georgina said, pleased that Nick had taken the bait. “Are you going to thank Mark if he fires me?”
“Maybe,” Nick replied. “Then we’d both be in play, career-wise. There are banks in Washington, you know.”
“There are no investment banks there, just branches of retail banks,” Georgina said. “Nothing in D.C. comes remotely close to any New York bank, and I work for the best one in the city. You wouldn’t want me to take a step down, would you?”
“No, you deserve to be tormented only by the best,” Nick said. “By the way, there was a new tip to the TV station last night. Adela got a visit from Detective Mori and apparently she wasn’t very happy about it.”
“Hmm, that explains why Mark dashed off to see her,” Georgina said. “Do you think I should ask him what happened?”
“Since you’re in such good standing with him right now, go ahead. I’m sure he would appreciate you asking more questions.”
“You’re right. I’ll pretend that I know nothing.”
“Just close the deal and head for the airport,” Nick said. “Once you’re back here, you’ll forget all about the fire and your dead client and whatever else happened out there, and we’ll figure out how to get back to normal. Does that sound good to you?”
“Yes, it does,” Georgina said. “I’ll call you after I pitch the deal and let you know how it went.”
Georgina contemplated how to get her new clothes back to New York. She called the front desk and asked for help in making a shipment. Moments later a bellman appeared with flattened boxes in different sizes, a roll of packing tape, scissors, and forms from a shipping company. He packed up her clothes and carried the boxes out. Georgina ordered a continental breakfast from room service. She drank the juice and coffee and picked at the fruit but her stomach turned over at the sight of the sugary pastries. She covered them with a napkin.
Mark sent a text message telling her to meet him at 8:45 a.m. outside the hotel’s front door. Just before the appointed time Georgina went down to the lobby. She checked out, composed her face and walked outside. Mark was already there, standing beside the passenger door of his rental car. Without saying a word to her he opened the car door; after she was seated inside, he closed the door briskly. They drove to Adela’s estate in complete silence.
Chapter Nineteen