Chapter Seven
Randall Taylor was a big bear of a man. Brown hair sprinkled with silver at the temples, keen blue eyes, and extremely fit, he looked ten years younger than his fifty-eight years. When Savannah was little she’d thought he was enormous. She’d adored him as a young motherless child whose father had seemed, to her, to be everything and to know everything.
Part of that was his presence. Randall Taylor had a very distinctive, intimidating personality. But once she left childhood behind, Savannah had learned that if she didn’t want to be smothered, she had to stand up to her father.
Savannah knew her father loved her. But that was the problem. Her mother had died when she was four and since then it had been just the two of them. He’d never been interested in remarrying, though she had no doubts there were women in his life. But he didn’t bring them home to meet his daughter. He took his duties as a father seriously. Sometimes too seriously, in her opinion.
They’d had a rough number of years when she was in high school and when she left for college. What her father wanted for her and what Savannah wanted were two different things. Randall was the owner of the oldest and biggest bank in Whiskey River. He had dreams of his daughter following him in the business. Convincing him that the last thing Savannah was interested in was banking had been almost impossible. She’d managed, but it had been a close run thing.
But then, right out of college, she’d married the man her father had picked out for her. Phillip Keller, one of the up and coming young men in Randall’s bank. Phillip was handsome. Charming. Smart. And an opportunistic liar. She’d thought Phillip loved her. He’d given a good impression of it. But he hadn’t. Never did. And at this point Savannah didn’t know whether she’d married Phillip because she loved him or partly from some deeply buried desire to please her father.
That sure as hell hadn’t worked out the way either she or her father wanted it to.
Her father had been at the ball, of course, but Savannah hadn’t talked to him other than to say hello. He’d taken Paloma Kelly, ex-wife of the late Boots Kelly, and one of the society mavens of Whiskey River. Not for the first time Savannah wondered if her father and Paloma had something going or if they were simply longtime friends. The two had known each other forever and had also known each other’s spouses. If the two were having an affair they’d been extremely circumspect. There was no gossip about them and in Whiskey River that was quite a feat.
Today Savannah met her father for one of their bi-monthly meals at the new Mexican restaurant in town, off the square on the same street as the Stargazer Hotel. Jalisco’s had only been open a few months and was always crowded, but Randall had managed to snag a booth for the two of them.
“Who was that man I saw you with at the ball?” Randall asked after they ordered. “You told me you didn’t have a date.”
“I didn’t. That was my new boss.”
“So, Bill finally sold the company. Who bought it?”
“Phoenix Homes. They’re a high-end home builder out of Dallas.”
“Dallas? Why do they want to move to Whiskey River? Or are they just expanding?”
“No, I think he’s sold his company in Dallas. From what he’s said I think he wanted to be near his brother and sister who live here. I doubt you’ll remember him, but the owner is Harlan Sullivan. Travis Sullivan’s older brother.”
Savannah didn’t know if her father’s bank was involved with any of the financing of Devil’s Rock airfield, but he undoubtedly knew about it. Travis Sullivan and a couple of his friends had gone into partnership and were developing it into a larger private airfield. Everyone in town was aware of the new runway since Jamie Templeton, local boy turned rock star, landed his private jet at Devil’s Rock airfield a few months back.
Aware her father had gone completely silent, Savannah said, “Dad? Did you hear me?”
He was staring at her, holding a chip. “I heard you.” He put down the chip. “You must be mistaken. Surely he doesn’t intend to live here. I wouldn’t think there’s enough money in building here to interest him.”
“He’s living here for a while, at least. He’s got several projects lined up already, and he was talking about bringing the company up to date. I’m pretty sure money isn’t a problem.”
Randall snorted. “Money is always a problem if you don’t have it.”
“That’s the point. He does have money.” Her father still looked skeptical, so she added, “He drives a Ferrari and he built gazillion-dollar homes in Dallas. I seriously doubt he’s hurting for money.”
Randall shrugged. “So you’re going to work for him?”
Savannah sipped her iced tea, tilted her head, and looked at him. “Unless he fires me. Why? Is that a problem?”
“Of course it is. Working as an office manager is a waste of your talents. I can offer you a much better position at the bank.”
“We’ve been through this before,” Savannah reminded him. “Thank you, but I like what I do.” Even if she didn’t, there was no way in hell she’d work for her father. He might not mean to, but he’d be running roughshod over her within a week.
“You’re planning to work for a man you know nothing about? That doesn’t seem wise.”
“I knew him in high school. We were in the same graduating class.” She didn’t intend to ever tell her father just how well she’d known Harlan Sullivan. “Besides, he’s a successful businessman who’s buying Whiskey River Construction. Bill Griffith likes him.”
“Of course Bill likes him,” her father snapped. “Sullivan is buying the company Bill’s been trying to unload for God knows how long.”
It hadn’t been that long, but she didn’t argue the point. “Regardless, if I don’t like working for him, I’ll quit and look for another job.”
“I don’t like it.”
Savannah reached out and patted his arm. “Dad, I’m a grown woman. I can handle my business myself.” He was still frowning, so she added, “Just today he told me to work up a plan for making the company more efficient. I’m excited about it. New computer software—and you know how much I like that. Harlan’s okay. I promise.”
Unfortunately for Savannah, Harlan was more than okay. And reminding herself he was likely to be just as big of a jerk now in personal matters as he had been way back when didn’t really help. With the exception of the night of the ball, he hadn’t flirted with her. At the office he’d been all about business. Yes, for a day and a half.
She’d caught him watching her a couple of times and while she couldn’t tell exactly what he’d been thinking, she didn’t believe it had anything to do with the workplace.
If a move was going to be made, she wasn’t about to make the first one. If she were honest, though, the idea of having a fling with Harlan was tempting. Very tempting. She’d be willing to trust him with her body. But not her heart. Never again.
*
Harlan’s phone rang shortly before he left work for the day. Savannah had already left, so since he was the only one there, he answered. “Sullivan.”
“Randall Taylor here. I have a proposition for you. Come to my office now and we’ll discuss it.”
Randall Taylor. Same arrogant asshole he always was. Good to know some things never changed. “What kind of a proposition?” Harlan asked.
“Business. We’ll discuss it when I see you. Now,” he repeated.
“I have an appointment.” He didn’t but he was damned if he’d jump because Taylor said frog. “You’ll have to wait.”
“Cancel it.”
Harlan laughed outright. “Not a chance. If you want to see me you can come to my office.”
“That won’t work. You’ll have to come here.”
“We seem to be at an impasse,” Harlan said, beginning to enjoy himself.
“My daughter can’t know about this meeting. Can you come here? At your convenience,” Taylor added grudgingly.
Harlan didn’t for a minute think this was truly about a business proposition. No, it was clearly about Savannah. And Harlan’s besetting sin was curiosity. “All right. I can be at the bank tomorrow. Around ten.”
There was a long silence. “Very well. Tomorrow then.”
The last time he’d seen Randall Taylor he’d been eighteen years old and powerless against the man’s threats. Forced to choose between his family’s survival and the girl he loved, he’d given up Savannah. But he’d never forgotten her.
*
Harlan hadn’t managed to see Travis Monday night, so he asked his brother to come to his apartment in Wildcat Tower Tuesday night. Harlan didn’t want to chance anyone overhearing what he and Travis would be talking about.
“Nice digs,” Travis said looking around. “This beats my apartment all to hell.”
Harlan handed him a beer. “Haven’t you been in the Tower before?” Harlan had only moved in on the Friday before the ball, and he hadn’t seen Travis over the weekend.
“No. Zack and I have sunk enough money into the airport that neither of us is willing to pay for something like this.” He waved a hand at the huge window overlooking the square and having a view that you could see for miles. “Most of the people I know couldn’t swing the rent on this place.”
“Some of the apartments rent for a lot less.”
Travis shrugged. “Still more than I want to pay without a roommate and I don’t want a roommate.”
“What about Levi? He could afford whatever he wanted.” Rumor held Levi had loads of money, most of which he made from patents on a number of his inventions.
Travis drank some beer and sat on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. “Levi has a house. And I use the term loosely.”
“Why loosely?”
“It’s one of the old mansions along Main Street. He plans to remodel but hasn’t gotten around to it yet. It’s not in the greatest shape, to say the least.” Travis swigged more beer and they shot the shit for a while longer. Eventually, Travis said, “Okay, let’s hear it. Why did you break up with Savannah?”
Harlan sat in the easy chair and drank some of his beer before setting it on the coffee table. “You remember how tough Mom and Dad had it when we were in high school.”
“Of course. I tried to quit baseball but everyone went ballistic so I didn’t.”
“You were a lot more likely to make it out of the Barrels with baseball than any other way. And you did.”
“Yeah, too bad it didn’t last.” He drained his beer and set it down.
Travis had been a pitcher who suffered a career-ending injury during his second major league game. “Do you miss it?”
“Playing ball?” Travis shook his head. “I did at first but since I started flying I haven’t. If I’d continued playing ball I don’t know if I’d have the career I have now. Besides, that was a long time ago. You gotta let some things go.”
Let things go. He could. Nothing that had happened had been Savannah’s choosing. But could Savannah ever forgive, much less forget?
“But getting back to you, what does that have to do with you and Savannah?” Travis asked.
“The short story is, Randall Taylor found out somehow that Savannah and I were seeing each other. But he didn’t forbid her to see me. He didn’t even let on to her that he knew about us.” He picked up his beer, frowning at it. “Instead, he called in the loan on our house. It seems Mom and Dad had been late on a payment—one goddamn payment. That gave him the ability to call in the loan.”
“Shit, what a bastard. I remember that. We never did know why he didn’t go through with it.” He paused as understanding hit. “That’s why he threatened to evict us? Because of you and Savannah?”
“That’s why.”
“But he never went through with it. What did you do to change his mind, Harlan?”
“Exactly what he demanded. I was there when he told Mom and Dad. I followed him out to his car and asked him if there was anything I could do to change his mind. I knew before he told me that it was about Savannah and me. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. And it wasn’t.
“The next day, I went to his office, like he told me to. Had to cut school to do it, of course. He kept me waiting a goddamn hour. When he finally saw me he laid it out. Either I break up with Savannah immediately and never have anything to do with her or he’d call in the loan. If I did what he demanded, he’d back off and we’d be safe as long as Mom and Dad continued to make the payments. But if I told anyone, especially Savannah, what really went down the deal was off. What choice did I have?”
“You didn’t see another way out of it?”
Harlan laughed humorlessly. “Like what? None of us had money. There was no possible way to pay off the loan in the time he gave us. I had to accede to his demands or my family would pay for it. And don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing. I know you would have.”
“Probably. But I’d have told you. Damn it, Harlan, you should have told me. I would have—”
Harlan cut him off. “There wasn’t a damn thing you could have done to change it. No matter what I felt for Savannah I couldn’t let her bastard of a father destroy my family. And he would have. Mom and Dad were barely scraping by as it was. Can you imagine what losing our home would have done to them?”
Travis shook his head, got up and went to the kitchen. When he came back in he tossed a beer to Harlan. “Did you tell Mom and Dad?”
“God, no. They’d have flipped out. I just told them I’d convinced him to give them another chance. They didn’t believe that was all of it, but they didn’t know about Savannah and me. They were just grateful—to Taylor for giving them another chance.”
“Well, that’s enough to make you puke.”
Harlan laughed. “Yes, it was.”
“God, Harlan, that sucks.”
Harlan drained his first beer and opened the one Travis had given him. “Yeah. Taylor called me today. I have an appointment with him tomorrow.”
“With Taylor? Why? I’d think he’d be the last person you’d want to see.”
“Curiosity. He’s got something on his mind and I’m betting it’s about Savannah. So I agreed.”
They drank in silence for a little while then Travis asked, “Did you ever tell Savannah what really happened?”
“No. When would I have told her? I’d hardly spoken to her until the night of the ball.”
“You could tell her now.”
“I could but I won’t. What’s the point? If she didn’t believe me, it would make me seem like a loser making excuses. And if she did believe me, it could screw up her relationship with her father.”
“He deserves it.”
“Yes, but Savannah doesn’t. No, best to just forget it.”
But could she forgive and forget? Would Savannah be willing to try again? And was he sure that’s what he wanted?
Oh, hell, admit it. You never truly got over her. You’ve wanted her since the minute you saw her again at the ball.