Chapter Ten
Savannah looked shell-shocked. Why wouldn’t she be when her entire concept of her father had been turned on its head?
“I’m not hungry,” she said.
“You’ll feel better once you eat.” He hoped. “Do you still like pizza?”
“Of course I like pizza. Doesn’t everybody?”
He smiled. “Tastes change. I hear there’s a pizza place in the strip mall east of town.”
“There is. Lucy’s Pizza.”
“Interesting name for a pizza place.”
A reluctant smile curved her lips. “It was supposed to be Lucky’s but the people who made the sign screwed up. The owners had scheduled a grand opening, so they went ahead and opened, thinking they’d get a new sign later. But Lucy’s stuck.”
Harlan laughed. “That’s the Whiskey River I know and love. Come on. I’ll drive and drop you back for your car afterwards.”
Savannah appeared lost in thought and spoke little on the way to dinner. Harlan couldn’t blame her. She was bound to be reeling. He suspected at least a part of her hoped what he’d told her wasn’t true. Hoped her father would have a way of explaining.
Harlan would bet his last dollar Taylor would try to discredit him. The question was, would Savannah buy it?
Lucy’s wasn’t busy, probably because it was early on a weeknight. They seated themselves in a quiet booth at the back of the restaurant. Outdoor seating was also available but it was too cold to sit outside.
“What do you want?” Harlan asked, looking at the menu.
“Original crust pepperoni. What do you like?”
“Everything.”
“Lucy’s super special is probably the one you want.”
“No, I meant I like pizza almost any way it comes. But no sardines or anchovies,” he added.
Savannah laughed. “How could I have forgotten that? You always thought pizza was the perfect food.”
“Still do. I haven’t changed that much.”
They ordered Savannah’s preference and a couple of beers. While they ate they talked about Whiskey River and how it had grown, people they’d both known from high school, and new businesses rumored to be coming to town.
They sat nursing their beers after they’d eaten what they wanted. “My ex-wife hated pizza,” Harlan said. “I should have taken that as a sign.”
“What is she like? Besides the fact she hates pizza. Is she pretty?”
Harlan nodded. “Gorgeous. She used it like a weapon.”
“Sounds like you had a bad divorce.”
“Is there such a thing as a good one?”
“You have a point. No, I don’t guess there is. Mine sure wasn’t.”
Most of the time, Harlan did his best to forget Vanessa and succeeded pretty well. He’d fallen for the package, not realizing that inside was a woman he should never have gone out with, much less married. The best he could say was they’d married young and he hadn’t become successful yet. Since Texas is a community property state, there wasn’t a lot for Vanessa to take.
“It still bothers you,” Savannah said.
“Yes, but not because I’m hung up on her.” He drained his beer and set it down. “Because I can’t believe how stupid I was.”
Savannah smiled wryly. “Funny, that’s exactly how I feel. Should we trade war stories?”
“Why not? I’ll go first. She had an affair. Hell, she probably had several. But I only found out about one, and it was so obvious, everyone but me knew about it.” He smiled grimly. “I only figured it out because one of my friends finally clued me in. He thought I knew and couldn’t understand why I stayed with her.”
“I’m sorry. That had to hurt.”
Harlan shrugged. “I had just gone out on my own when we married. I worked a lot, was gone a lot. Vanessa got bored.”
“Did she work?”
“Yeah. She was an executive assistant at an oil company.”
“Let me guess. She had an affair with her boss.”
“You got it. Married him, too.”
“Good riddance?” she suggested.
He laughed at that. “Yes. We weren’t married long. A little over a year. So at least it was over with quickly.”
“Mine lasted almost two years. I don’t think he cheated on me. If he did, that wasn’t why we broke up.”
“Why didn’t it work out?”
“Phillip never loved me. He saw me as a means to an end. When I was no longer useful to him, he divorced me.”
“Useful in what way?”
“Climbing the success ladder. My father handpicked him as his protégé. Marrying me assured Phillip an easy way to the top. But then he got what he decided was a better offer from a bank in San Antonio. We moved down there but it became obvious pretty quickly that I didn’t fit into his future. So he divorced me, after telling me he’d only married me because my father expected it.” She met Harlan’s gaze. “So, you see, I understand feeling stupid.”
“Why don’t we agree they were the stupid ones, not us.”
“I like the sound of that,” Savannah said. “So you’ve never remarried?”
“No. I take it you haven’t either.”
“No. I was engaged but I realized I didn’t feel about him the way I should. I care about him. He’s a great guy, but I don’t love him. We broke up several months ago.” She shrugged. “Just as well. I hear he’s engaged now to a very nice woman. I’m happy for them.”
“Are you really?”
“Oh, I won’t deny I had mixed feelings when I first heard, but he’s a good guy and deserves to be happy. And we wouldn’t have been.”
“That’s a very mature attitude.”
Grinning, she said, “It took me a little while to get there.” She was quiet for a moment, then said, “Did you ever think about what would have happened if we…” She broke off and shook her head. “No, that’s pointless.”
“Did I ever think about what would have happened if we hadn’t broken up? For a long time I thought about it a lot. Eventually I realized that I had to go on with my life and leave the past in the past. But did I think about you and me? Damn right I did.” For far too long.
“We were awfully young,” she said.
“We were.” He reached for her hand and held it. “We can’t change the past. But we can have the present. If you want it.”
Their gazes met and held for a long, long moment. “What do you want, Harlan?”
“What I’ve always wanted. You.”
*
Savannah drove to her father’s house with Harlan’s words ringing in her ears. He wanted her. Had always wanted her. She hadn’t let herself think about Harlan and what could have been in a long, long time. But now all the reasons she’d had for not trusting him, for hating the way he’d left her, didn’t exist anymore. If she believed Harlan—and it shouldn’t have shocked her how very much she wanted to believe him. At the same time how could she accept that her father was a man who would do such a thing? Talk about conflicted.
Her father lived in one of the big mansions on Main Street. They’d moved from the house where Savannah was born to the big house when she was about twelve. It was a beautiful Southern Colonial style, built with cream-colored brick, huge white columns prominent across the front, and with black shutters flanking the many windows. It suited Randall Taylor to a T since it was extremely imposing and exuded wealth.
“What is this about?” Savannah asked as her father led the way into his den. His den was the only place in the house besides her own bedroom and the kitchen where Savannah had ever felt truly comfortable. Cool in the summer with shade trees overhanging that part of the house, warm and cozy in the winter with the fireplace going, his office was lined with huge bookshelves full of books and trinkets gathered from Randall’s travels. She took off her coat and went to stand in front of the fire, grateful for the warmth.
“This is about you and your execrable choices,” Randall said. “What are you doing dating that man? I thought you worked for him.”
“I do. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Good God, it was bad enough when I thought you were only working for him,” Randall said with evident revulsion. “If I’d realized you’d go so far as to date him, I’d have—” He broke off, his brows drew together and his expression turned thunderous—an expression she was well acquainted with.
What the hell?
“Never mind. This ends right now.”
Mouth agape, Savannah stared at him. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Sullivan is trash from the Barrels. I won’t have you dating him. In fact, I want you to quit working for him. Now.”
Incredulous, Savannah started laughing. Her father’s expression grew even more thunderous. “Dad, I’m thirty-two years old. You know perfectly well we are long past the time where you can run my life or choose my friends.” Her father’s propensity for doing just that had been a big source of strife between them when she was growing up. Which was one more reason to believe what Harlan had told her.
Randall visibly brought himself under control. “You’re absolutely right, Savannah. I let my concern for you override any other consideration.”
“Yes, I can see that. The question is why are you so concerned? Harlan is a successful—very successful, I might add—businessman. You should admire what he’s been able to do. Especially given where he started.” She watched him carefully, dismayed to note that nothing she said made an impression.
“I didn’t want to bring this up. I had hoped to avoid it, but clearly you won’t take my word for it.” He took a turn around the room, coming back to stand in front of her. “My poor girl. I’ve investigated Harlan Sullivan and found that he’s guilty of a number of questionable business practices. Too many to go into now. In short, he’s a con man.”
“I don’t know where you got your information but you couldn’t be more wrong. His company is well known and respected in the industry.” Savannah had discovered that surfing the Web on Sunday evening following Felicity’s Ball.
“My contacts are much more far-reaching than yours. He covers his tracks well.”
“Your far-reaching contacts are full of shit. Who are these people?”
“Goddamn it, Savannah. Can’t you just for once listen to what I’m telling you without questioning every little thing?”
“No, and this isn’t a little thing.”
“How you can still be so naive at your age is beyond me. Trust me to know what’s best for you.”
“Oh, right, Dad. Two words. Phillip Keller.” Her ex-husband, once her father’s protégé and the man he’d handpicked to marry her. Her father knew what Phillip had done to her and why they’d divorced. She’d told him everything.
“That was a mistake.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of that. I married the SOB.”
“Which shows you your taste in men isn’t to be trusted.”
“My taste in men?” It took a lot of nerve for him to say that to her, considering he’d been instrumental in pushing that relationship. True, no one had forced her to marry Phillip, but Randall had encouraged the marriage in every possible way.
“Yes. I’m talking about your recent history as well. If you had any sense you’d never have broken off your engagement to Brandon.”
Her father had really liked Brandon and hadn’t given up on the two of them, regardless of the broken engagement. “Brandon’s engaged to someone else now, so there’s no point harassing me about him anymore.”
“We’ve gotten off the subject. Are you telling me you’re going to continue dating Harlan Sullivan? As well as continuing to work for him? You’re just going to ignore what I’ve told you?”
“As far as I can tell, you’ve told me nothing but rumor and innuendo. What do you have against Harlan?”
“Beyond the fact that he’s a crook, a con man, and scum from the Barrels?”
The sinking feeling she’d had at the beginning of their discussion had turned into full-fledged nausea. “It’s true, isn’t it? What Harlan told me is true.”