My Man Pendleton (40 page)

Faith said nothing in response right away, conceding neither victory nor defeat. For several long moments, the two women only stared at each other in silence, the late afternoon sun spilling through the blinds in shafts of pale yellow, gilding into fairy light the dust dancing in the air around them. When it seemed that their impasse would remain just that, Kit turned away and covered the distance to the door in four slow strides. But just as she settled her fingers over the knob, Faith's voice came softly from behind and halted her.

"And you, Kit," she said. "You say you've been where I am. If someone offered you a second chance, would you take it?
Could
you take it? Would you be able to trust that you wouldn't be betrayed again?"

Kit swallowed hard as she turned to meet the other woman's gaze. But she simply did not know how to answer. In a way, she
had
taken a second chance. And, just as before, the person she cared for had betrayed her. But it was Pendleton this time, she reminded herself. Unlike Michael Derringer, she loved Pendleton. And that changed everything. Didn't it?

"If you want to talk for some reason," she told Faith, "I'll be staying at the Seelbach for a few days."

The other woman looked puzzled. "Why are you staying in a hotel?"

Kit shrugged halfheartedly. "I'm in the middle of some traveling right now. It's just easier this way. But I'll be in town for another week." She smiled as she tugged the door open and took a step through it. Over her shoulder, she tossed out, "After that, I'm heading up to
New Jersey
for a few days. I've been invited to a wedding."

* * *

The week following Kit's disappearance passed like a slow boat to
China
, as far as Pendleton was concerned. No, wait—that wasn't exactly right. That metaphor had far too romantic a connotation, not to mention an appropriateness and possible reality he simply did not want to consider. He could visualize too clearly Kit all wrapped up in a blanket, wearing big sunglasses and a floppy straw hat, lounging in an Adirondack chair on the deck of a tramp steamer, while crew members with names like Sven and Bjorn and Helmut, dressed in little white shorts and knee socks, waited on her hand and foot.

Nuh-uh. No way would he let her get away with that.

So the week following her disappearance actually passed more like a
…
more like a
…
like a
…
hmmm
…
More like a kidney stone. Yeah, that was it. The week passed like a kidney stone. Painfully. Uncomfortably.
Sloooowly.
Always on his mind. And there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it but wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.

But the postcard he had hoped for never materialized. Nor had there been a letter. Nor a brief note, a phone call, a fax. No telegram. No Hallmark card, either. No e-mail. No jungle drums. Nary a smoke signal to be had. Not even a flare. Wherever Kit had gone, she clearly intended to stay gone this time, and for a lot longer than a few days. And all he could do was—

"Pendleton!"

Dammit. Why did McClellan, Sr. always interrupt him right when he got to the depressing, self-pitying part?

Pendleton had yet to tell his employer that his daughter had taken off for parts unknown. Not only was he not sure it was any of the CEO's business, but he was fairly certain his boss was somehow to blame for it. Even with the evidence of Sherry's wedding invitation staring him in the face, thereby making himself a key player in Kit's motivation for bolting, Pendleton had decided that the McClellans had put the
fun
in dys
fun
ctional. Therefore,
they
were the ones who were really to blame in this, and
not
Pendleton. Even if Pendleton could have prevented this whole idiotic mess just by telling Kit how much he loved her.

"Sir?" he responded halfheartedly to his boss's summons.

McClellan, Sr. eyed him warily. "Novak just made an excellent point about diversifying and upgrading proactive criteria. What do
you
think?"

What Pendleton thought, McClellan, Sr. didn't want to know. Frankly, he was getting awfully tired of all the corporate double-speak that had once rolled so fluidly off his tongue. He had some damned important things on his mind right now, for God's sake, and diversifying and upgrading proactive criteria sure the hell wasn't one of them.

So he met his boss's gaze levelly and said, "Sir, I have just one word to say to you."

McClellan, Sr. arched his eyebrows in expectation. "And that word would be?"

Pendleton narrowed his eyes in what he hoped was a convincing show of
je ne
sais
quois.
And he announced in a bold, where-no-man-has-gone-before voice, "Incentivizing."

His employer gazed back at him without expression for a moment, then began to nod slowly. "I like it. I like it very much. Incentivizing. Yes. That shows real insight."

Pendleton swallowed the gag reflex before it could make itself public. "Thank you, sir."

"Why don't you and Kit come round to the house tonight?"

Oh, great. "Sir?" he asked, stalling.

"You. Kit. My daughter. Come over for dinner tonight. Bart's home on leave, and Mick is supposed to be calling from
Yemen
."

Pendleton brightened. "Oh, so he's already made it to the countries beginning with a Y, has he?" he asked in an effort to stall some more. "That's got to feel good. Very manly, and all that."

"Pendleton."

"Yes, sir?"

"Are you and Kit coming or not?"

"Uh, no sir, I don't guess we will."

"Why not?"

"Because, sir, Kit's sort of, um…
Well, she's
…
Actually, sir
…
"

"Spit it out, Pendleton."

Okay. If he insisted. "Kit's run off again."

"WHAT?!"

Atomic wind couldn't be more powerful than that one word was as it erupted from McClellan, Sr.'s mouth. Pendleton imagined himself in an anti-nuke suit and repeated, "Kit's gone, sir."

His employer shot to his feet with his son not far behind. "Gone?" he demanded as he thrust his fists onto the table. "Where the hell did she go?"

Pendleton shrugged, and with that simple gesture, he felt an enormous weight just tumble right off his shoulders. Wow. That felt really, really good. "I don't know," he said with a smile.

McClellan, Sr. glared at him. "You don't know?"

"No sir," he confirmed, his smile growing broader. "I have absolutely no idea. She just took off while I was at work one day, and I haven't heard from her since."

McClellan, Jr. stared at him, his expression, like his father's, one of stark, raving terror. "Well, when did she leave? How much of a head start does she have?"

Pendleton pretended to think about that. "Gee, I guess it's been a little over a week ago. Gosh, she could be
anywhere
by now, couldn't she?"

"And you didn't bother to tell us about this?"

Pendleton shrugged again, and any little pebbles of obligation and responsibility that might have been left just rolled right
off.
"Well, considering Kit's history of running away, I didn't think you guys would be too concerned about her."

"Not concerned about her?" This time the question came from McClellan, Sr. "Well, of course we're concerned about her! We have less than a month left to get her married!"

"Oh, that," Pendleton said mildly, leaning back in his chair. He cupped both hands behind his head in a gesture that indicated very clearly just how worried he was about the McClellans' financial state. Specifically, not one iota.

"Oh, that?"
both McClellans echoed in one thunderous voice.

"Her mother's will thing, I mean," Pendleton clarified, though he was quite confident that no clarification was necessary. "You're worried about losing all that money, aren't you? Ninety-nine-point-four million dollars, right?" As blandly as he could, he added, "Wow. Golly. Gee. I completely forgot about that. You're right. I should have called you guys the moment I realized she was gone. Imagine my chagrin."

Out of nowhere, a bubble of something warm and wonderful fizzed up in Pendleton's midsection, effervescing in a tickle of pleasure he hadn't felt in a very long time. Freedom. That was what it was. He felt utterly and completely free, for the first time he could recall since childhood.

He suddenly realized that he didn't have to work for Hensley's anymore if he didn't want to. He no longer cared about whether his ex-wife was impressed by his earning power. He no longer had a point to prove. He didn't have to wheel and deal with the big boys and wear eight-hundred-dollar suits to be of value to anyone. He didn't have to make six figures and drive a bitchin' car to be important.

Though, mind you, he really did like his bitchin' car.

What was far more important than that, however, was the fact that he'd found infinitely more meaning elsewhere in his life. He had Kit. He loved Kit. And Kit loved him. Nothing else in his life mattered except that.

Nothing.

Once he found her—and naturally, he would find her
…
eventually—they could settle down in their house in Old Louisville with Maury, and he could get a job doing
…
well
…
something. Something he would enjoy. Something where he could feel productive, could feel good about what he was doing. Where he could just be himself. Be appreciated for himself. Be loved for himself.

Yeah. That's the ticket.

"Sir?" he said as he stood and collected his things.

His boss still looked ready to explode. "Yes, Pendleton?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Pendleton smiled. "If you'll excuse me, I have something very important I need to do right now."

McClellan, Sr. fumed, and Pendleton paused for a moment to see if smoke would come out of his ears. Unfortunately, none did. But his boss demanded, "And that would be?"

Pendleton buttoned up his suit jacket and tucked his portfolio under his arm. "I need to find Kit and make her my wife."

Immediately, the storm cloud above the CEO evaporated, to be replaced by a chorus of glorious sunlight. "That's the spirit, Pendleton," McClellan, Sr. said with a victorious smile. "I should have realized you were only joking in that strange way of yours. I knew you were our man all along."

This time Pendleton was the one to glare. At his employer. "I'm
not
your man. The reason I'm going to marry your daughter is because I love her, not to keep you two
…
"
Somehow, he managed
not
to say the word
bozos.
"To keep you two rolling in dough. But whether the wedding takes place in six days, or six months, that's entirely up to Kit."

"Pendleton
…"
McClellan, Sr.'s voice trailed off before he completed his sentence, but his warning was unmistakable.

And Pendleton ignored it. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he said again as he made his way around the table full of gaping, incredulous executive vice presidents, "I've got better things to do with my time than sit here and bullshit with you guys all day. Oh, and one more thing, sir."

"Yes, Pendleton?"

He hesitated just before opening the door to the conference room, no longer caring whether he insulted the man who employed him. "I quit. If you sorry sons of bitches want to make more money, you'll have to do it without me."

That said, Pendleton touched a finger to his forehead in salute, then exited gracefully and went to look for his wife.

Chapter 18

«
^
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"
S
he's out
in the backyard with Mom and Dad."

Carny repeated the announcement she'd made over the phone the night before as Pendleton entered his parents' house. Filled with relief, affection, exasperation and so much more, he pulled his sister into a massive bear hug, and dropped his duffel bag onto the floor with a comfortable
thump. An
emotion so strong he dared not try to identify it shuddered through him, and for a moment, he could only cling to his sister and will his taut body to relax. Then he pushed himself to arm's length and cupped his hands over Carny's shoulders, studying the face that looked so much like his own.