True Colors

“Well, I couldn’t very well go to work in a Liz Claiborne original, could I?” she asked with a mischievous grin.

“Point taken. Your brother-in-law is still out of town, but he promised to be back in time for the banquet tomorrow night.”

“Very good. And the Jordan merger?”

“Went through with flying colors.”

“Oh, Mommy, don’t talk business,” Blake wailed as they got into the car.

She pulled him close and kissed him. “Okay. I’ll try. Until tomorrow night, we’ll just do what you want to.”

“Honestly?! Great!”

It wasn’t until she was failing miserably at the Nintendo controls with Blake that she realized how much she missed being with him. Even a simple game like this—at which she was terrible—was so much fun. Blake laughed and flaunted his superiority at eye and hand coordination while Meredith rolled on the floor with glee at her own failure.

They watched a nature special together after supper, and then Meredith read bedtime stories for half an hour. When Blake fell asleep in her arms, she looked down at him with aching tenderness. She’d never be alone, not while she had Blake. It even eased the pain of losing Cy. There was so much similarity between Blake’s small features and those of his father, she thought wistfully. The resemblance really was striking, especially when he opened his dark eyes. Her child…hers and Cy’s. Not that Cy would ever believe it, she told herself.

Meredith tucked in her son and walked back downstairs into Henry’s old study, which was now hers. Passing the fax machine and computer, she walked over to her desk and sat down. She started to pore over contracts and memos and correspondence that seemed endless. Although work had piled up in her absence, Meredith still looked upon the past week and a half as a vacation. Even the physical work of waitressing wasn’t a patch on the mentally exhausting routine she was used to. The exercise was rather relaxing, in fact.

She worked far into the night on current projects without really getting caught up. The most she accomplished was to answer the more immediate correspondence on tape for her secretary to type and Don to verify. She’d have to pack up and take the rest back to Billings with her. She could fax and use the phone to catch up on the rest. She hoped. Most deals were best conducted in person. Well, if all else failed, she could sneak out on the corporate jet for meetings. But that was risky. Seeing the Tennison International conveyance too often at the Rimrocks, upon which Billings’ airport was located, could tip Cy Harden to a move on his company. And that she didn’t want.

Blake wanted to go to the park the next morning, so Meredith dressed him warmly and walked him the four blocks east to the playground. Mr. Smith brought up the rear. The rugged ex-mercenary never left them alone. She knew it was driving him crazy that he couldn’t be around in Billings to look after her. He was as loyal as he was trustworthy.

Meredith and Smith sat on a wooden bench watching the sun play off the vast expanse of Lake Michigan. “How’s it going?” he asked while Blake was swinging on the playground equipment.

Meredith leaned back on the park bench and pulled her cashmere coat closer around her body. “I’m surviving. It isn’t easy. I tried to get to some of the executives and almost got fired for fraternizing.”

He smiled, something he did rarely. That hard face was scarred and laced with mementos of the violent lifestyle Mr. Smith had led. One of the executives once told Meredith that his scars were the result of his being shot to within an inch of his life in a commando raid, after which they’d practically had to put his face back together with superglue. She could believe it. He was rugged and indomitable. She always felt safe with him, as she had with Cy.

“Giving up?” he taunted.

She glanced at him and grinned. “What do you think?”

His green eyes searched over her face quietly, lingering just a second too long before he averted them. “I think Don’s right. You’ve found yourself one formidable adversary. There’s no shame in cutting your losses.”

“I haven’t started yet,” she reminded him. “I’ve got McGee working on proxy acquisition behind the scenes. All I’m doing is keeping the head honcho diverted while they work.”

“No, I don’t think so,” he replied.

She folded her arms and watched Blake, waving back when he waved and called for her to see how high he could go. “All right,” she said finally. “I got a little too close to the fire and singed my wings. But I won’t make the same mistake again.”

“I hope not. I haven’t forgotten how broken up you were that night we found you.”

She looked up at him warmly. “You saved my life.”

“I almost cost it,” he replied. “I didn’t even see you.”

“Did I ever tell you that you and Henry made me want to live?” she asked wistfully. “You even went to Lamaze classes with us, to learn natural childbirth in case Henry was out of town when Blake was born and you had to coach me. We did so many things together.” Her eyes grew sad. “I miss him.”

“So do I,” he replied. “He gave me a job when nobody else would. I was under indictment for murder. No prospective employer wanted me around. But Henry believed I was innocent. He hired me, got me the best criminal lawyer in town, and I was acquitted.”

“I know. Henry told me.”

He glanced at her wryly before he stuck a toothpick in his mouth and began to gnaw on it. “You used to hide from me at first.”

“I thought you might be ex-Mafia.” She chuckled. “But after a while, especially after Blake was born, you were just family. I couldn’t have imagined you changing diapers or washing an infant.”

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