Love Under Two Honchos (19 page)

Penelope placed her report beside a manila file folder that sat just left from center on the desk. As she turned to leave, the name on the folder caught her attention.

In a bold script, she read, The Legacy Project.

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Neither brother had been very forthcoming about their precise plans to make Benedict Oil and Minerals a more eco-friendly company. She’d hoped they’d have opened up to her about their plans, because she had so many ideas on that front. Between wind and solar power, Penelope truly believed the country could say good-bye to using fossil fuels within the next two decades, if only businesses would put the full weight of their resources to the problem.

She hesitated for only a moment. The file wasn’t marked top secret, or even confidential. She had no intention of sharing any information she’d come into with any competitors. She just—well, she was just nosy.

She really wanted to see how far along their planning had come, and which direction they were moving in.

Decision made, Penelope rounded the desk, sat in Josh’s chair, opened the folder, and began to read.

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Chapter 17

“There’s Penelope now. Uh-oh, she looks steamed,” Alex said.

Josh looked over to where Alex had his gaze fixed. He couldn’t say for certain that he’d ever seen that particular expression on Penelope’s face before. She did look steamed.

“I don’t think she’s seen us. Has she?” he asked his brother.

“I just noticed her as she went up to the counter,” Alex said. “So I don’t think she knows we’re here.”

“I wonder what’s happened to upset her?” Josh asked.

“I don’t know. Wow, she must be thirsty,” Alex said.

“Two large cups of grape punch, yeah, she must be. Or maybe she’s expecting someone to join her and that’s what’s got her ticked,”

Josh said.

“Yeah, that must be it because she’s getting two bowls of the Pasta Marinara special.” Alex turned to give him a quick look. “I’ll tell you one thing. We’re going to have to do better at reading her expressions…you know, if she’s The One.”

Josh knew exactly what Alex meant. “I hear you. Like the way the dads always know when Mom needs some extra care and attention,”

he said.

“Or when she wants to be just left alone,” Alex agreed.

His fathers had once explained to him that every woman had

“tells,” just like every poker player. The smart man learned his woman’s tells and what they meant. Josh’s gaze didn’t stray from Penelope. He watched as she carried her tray containing the two large take-out cups and two medium Styrofoam bowls to the cashier. She
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hadn’t even taken a moment to fit the cups with lids and straws. She hadn’t bothered with dinner rolls, either, or cutlery.

Joshua believed there was no such thing as too much knowledge.

He knew Penelope was detail-oriented. One look at that lovely table she’d set for them the other night had told him that. Now, he focused on what he could see of Penelope’s face, cataloguing her exact expression. If he had to name the emotion running hot—their woman was nothing if not hot—through her at the moment, he didn’t think the word anger quite fit. Not even fury, because there, right there, her chin quivered as if she was trying very hard not to cry.

“Looking at the pain on her face makes my stomach hurt,” Alex said. “No one’s pain, not even yours, has ever made my stomach hurt.

I think that’s a significant sign, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do, because I’m having the same reaction. Someone has hurt
her
, badly,” Josh said. “If I get my hands on the bastard, he’ll be one sorry son of a bitch.”

“We’ll toss a coin to see which one of us gets to beat on him first.

Okay, she’s paying for the food. Let’s get her attention and—” Alex stopped speaking.

Penelope had picked up her tray, turned, and was headed straight for them.

Joshua met her gaze, and he got another bad feeling. He didn’t like the way her eyes had gone all cold, as if she was trying hard not to let him see her thoughts.

Actually, she was doing a hell of a good job of that.

“Gentlemen.”

She set the tray on the edge of their table. “I was concerned that the pasta would be too hot. So I bought the ice-cold grape punch, too.”

Josh took his eyes off her for just a second, to exchange a quick, questioning look with Alex.

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Utter shock held him immobile as warm, gooey pasta slithered down his face from the top of his head, the scent of tomato and oregano strong and appetizing, even under the circumstances.

The grape punch followed.

He looked at Alex, wearing a similar lunch, and felt the bottom drop out of his world.

Penelope leaned down toward them. “What was I, just the side piece? Good enough to fuck and keep the edge off while you looked for some paragon of a woman to marry? You dirty, rotten, sons of bitches.”

Her voice trembled with her emotions, the British accent growing thicker with every word.

“We can explain!” Alex said.

“No, sweetheart, you’ve got it all—” Josh spoke at the same time his brother did, but Penelope was beyond listening.

“Shut up! Just shut up, the two of you! I read the damn file. You left it right out on your desk! I know all about not being good enough, you bastards. That’s been the story of my life, but do you know what?

You might believe I’m not good enough for you to marry. But I’ve just discovered, the two of you aren’t good enough for me. And I was stupid,
stupid
to fall in love with you!”

Her voice broke, and when Josh focused on her eyes, he saw the tears gathering.

Before his brain could function to form another sentence, she turned and ran out of the café. Josh jumped to his feet, determined to chase after her.

Another lump of sodden pasta slithered off the top of his head to land with a wet plop on the table.

He turned to look at Alex, who’d also stood. If the situation wasn’t so horrible, he’d laugh at the picture his brother made.

“Oh, shit, we’ve really fucked up this time,” Alex said.

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“Yeah.” Joshua tried to get some of the food off himself. Joe, who’d stood back and watched the scene unfold, finally came over with a couple of handfuls of napkins.

Josh had to give the man credit for not laughing out loud. He and Alex cleaned themselves up as best as they could.

“I’ve got some spare clothes in my office,” Alex said.

“Me, too.” They both kept jogging pants and tees in their closets for the times when they needed to hit the exercise room here at the office.

Without saying another word, they headed for the elevators. Josh ignored the snickers of passersby and kept his gaze locked dead ahead. The elevator wasn’t overly packed as they were heading up because most of their employees were heading down for lunch.

Finally, the doors opened on the executive floor. Stella sat at her desk. It had to be a cruel trick of fate, Joshua thought, that she would be a witness to his and his brother’s humiliation.

She spared them only a slight glance. “I see Penelope found you.”

Josh narrowed his eyes at the woman. “Not one more word.” He’d had enough of people laughing behind his back. Fine, he was book smart and life stupid. The time had come to get life smart, and fast.

“I’ll grab my clothes and come to your office,” Alex said.

He nodded and sidestepped to look into Penelope’s office—

empty, of course. Then he headed to his own.

“Boy, howdy, what’s that you’re wearing there, almost brother-in-law?” Ryder Magee got to his feet and Josh wanted to swear.

“Looks like the grapes of wrath,” Colt Evans deadpanned.

Stella likely would have told him Colt and Ryder were in his office, but he’d ordered her not to speak. Need overruled pride. Colt and Ryder had managed to win his prickly sister over. That made them experts in the man-woman-man tango. Right then he knew that he and Alex needed all the help they could get.

“We fucked up,” Joshua said baldly.

“You think?” Colt asked.

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“Oh, great, company.” Alex came into the office and closed the door. “Now our humiliation is complete.”

Josh shrugged. “We could use their advice.”

“You could both use a
shower
,” Colt said. “That’s my first piece of advice.”

“We’ll have to make do with the sink in the bathroom, here. We don’t have time to shower.” Josh began to peel out of his clothes.

“We have to find Penelope and explain.” Alex dropped his clothes where he stood.

“I’m thinking the two of you could maybe use a little relationship counseling?” Colt’s expression had turned serious.

Josh guessed the man could sense how upset he and Alex were.

“Yeah.” Josh nodded.

“Then why don’t you lay it out for us as you get cleaned up?”

Ryder said. “Tell us what’s happened. We’ll do the best we can to help you out.”

“Good plan,” Alex said.

Josh sighed, and began to lay his soul, as well as his body, completely bare.

* * * *

Kate Benedict reached for the teapot steeping on the stone hot plate on the dining room table in what the family called the Big House. Steam rose as she poured, the scent of the Darjeeling comfortable and familiar as it filled her cup.

In her attempts to help the newly abandoned Penelope adjust to life in the United States, her good friend Eloise had looked for small, familiar customs she could integrate into their daily life and had adopted the English habit of afternoon tea. Kate, who’d happened to be there when Penelope had first arrived and had visited often, liked the habit and had taken it up herself.

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There was indeed something satisfying about taking time out in the early afternoon for a cup of hot tea, and perhaps a small snack.

She found it a wonderful way to take stock of her day and review her evening plans.

Bernice came into the dining room, a plate of ginger snaps in her hand. The men had just been sent off to run errands that should keep them busy for the next half hour or so, ensuring the women wouldn’t be interrupted by male reasoning when they needed that quality the least.

Timing, Kate had always maintained, was everything.

She poured a cup of tea for her daughter-in-law. The sound of tires driving then stopping on gravel, followed by the slam of a car door, reached them.

“She made alarmingly good time,” Bernice said.

“Indeed. Thank God she got here safely,” Kate said.

“You know her very well,” Bernice said.

“I’ve had years to get to know and to love Penelope,” Kate said. “I couldn’t have a better prospective granddaughter-in-law if I chose her myself.”

“Didn’t you?” Bernice asked.

Kate smiled, because there was no censure in the question. “No. I just opened a window. The rest was—and is—up to them.”

The expected knock on the door echoed through the house.

Bernice took one more long sip of her tea then set the cup down.

“I’ll just go answer the door, now.”

“Yes, please,” Kate said.

Kate picked up her own cup, and listened shamelessly.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Benedict. Is Grandma Kate here?”

Because she knew her so well, Kate heard the quaver in Penelope’s voice. She smiled as she imagined the look on her grandsons’ faces when she’d hit them with whatever it was she’d dumped on them. Stella had said she’d smelled spaghetti sauce and
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grape juice. Kate could only hope Josh and Alex proved to be their usual fast-learning selves.

“Penelope! My, this is a lovely surprise. Yes, Kate is here. We’re just sitting down to tea. Please, won’t you come in and join us?”

“I’m afraid I won’t be here long enough—”

“Of course you will, sweetheart. I’m sure whatever it is you need to speak to Kate about will wait long enough for a good cup of tea.

We’re having Darjeeling today.”

Kate tried not to laugh at the way her daughter-in-law bulldozed the young woman, even if it was very well done.

“Kate, look who’s come to tea,” Bernice said.

“Penelope! How wonderful to see you, sweetheart. Please, sit right down here, next to me.”

“I’ll just go get us another cup,” Bernice said.

“Thank you, Bernice,” Kate said.

“I’m afraid you may not think it’s wonderful to see me when I tell you that I’ve come here to give you my resignation. I quit!”

Kate could see that Penelope really was upset, and that hurt her.

She truly loved the girl as if she was her own kin. But sometimes, Kate knew, a little pain was necessary in life, in order for one to grow.

“I’m afraid that resigning is just not possible, dear,” Kate said.

“Do sit down. You need a good cup of tea. You know how everything looks better after afternoon tea.”

Penelope looked a little bewildered as she lowered herself to a chair. “Not possible? Surely I can resign if I want to. This is a free country, after all.”

“It is indeed, and yes, you could quit, if you were able and willing to pay the twenty-million-dollar breach of contract fine.”

Penelope blinked. “
Twenty-million-dollar breach of contract
fine
?”

“Mm, yes. It’s all right there in your contract, in black and white.”

Kate used her cup as a pointer, but kept her voice even, as if she was discussing the weather. She’d included the clause in the fine print
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because, knowing her grandsons as she did, she’d been pretty certain that the course of true love would not run smooth with them. “That would be the contract you signed, and that was notarized, when you were hired by the Town Trust.”

Bernice returned to the dining room carrying a cup and saucer.

She set it down in front of Penelope, and took a moment to caress the young woman’s hair. Kate poured her some tea and then passed her the cream.