Katherine had three days to accomplish the impossible. According to the banks she'd called, obtaining a loan for three hundred and fifty thousand dollars would take her weeks, and the holidays wouldn't speed up the process either. She was on her own.
“Are you sure about this, Katherine? You love your house. Every time I asked to buy it, you turned me down flat,” Deborah reminded her.
Katherine twisted the cord to the phone. She studied the painting of her mother and father that hung in the bedroom of her mother's home. His arms enfolded her in a gentle embrace. The light in her eyes radiated warmth even through the canvas as their hands touched lightly. “I'm positive."
“Is anything wrong?” her childhood friend asked with concern. “I'll miss having you live next door, but where ever you move we'll keep in touch like always.” She paused. “You're determined to go through with this, aren't you?"
She hated lying to her friend. “No, nothing's wrong. Yes, I'm selling my house, whether you buy it or not. Mom needs me here after her hip surgery. I don't want mother and Matt to know about this until I tell them."
Deborah giggled. “You're going to surprise them at Christmas. Matt's always wanted to live nearer to his grandma. That's so like you. You're always so sweet."
“Stop buttering me up. I won't come down on the price,” she kidded and crossed her fingers. “Trouble is, I need to sell it fast. Like yesterday."
“You got it. I don't want to give you time to change your mind."
“I won't,” Katherine promised and uncrossed her fingers.
“I'm sorry. That probably sounded like I'm not grateful for our friendship. I truly am.” Deborah sniffed several times.
“Don't start blubbering, or you'll have me doing it too. It's not like we won't ever see each other again."
“Of course not. My delivery date is March fourth. So expect a call about that time."
Deborah was expecting twin boys again and ecstatic. Katherine remembered her own innocent dreams of having more babies. Those dreams had died. She envied Deborah's hopefulness about the future. “I will."
Deborah laughed. “I'm so excited. We've always rented, so this will be the first home we'll own. Yours will give us the extra space we need, too. I can't wait to tell John. We've tried to find a larger house in this neighborhood for so long."
Katherine turned to the computer and attached a file to her e-mail. “I'm sending you information so we can handle all the transactions by Thursday through the mortgage company, title company, local banks, and fax. I'll come to Sugar Land January second and move my belongings. Is that date okay? If not, I'll get my stuff out right after Christmas."
“Don't be a silly goose. Of course, January second is okay. Take a couple of weeks more, if you need them."
“Thanks. I may do that.” She'd have to find an apartment after Christmas in Houston and hunt another house.
“John always takes care of everything for me, so we'll wire the money to your bank right away. Isn't he a doll?"
Another pang of jealousy hit Katherine. John pampered Deborah, especially when she was pregnant. “Yes, he is. John spoils you rotten. You better hold onto him."
After Deborah hung up, Katherine stared at the list of assets displayed on the computer. All her years of hard work fit on half a page. Her throat constricted and she swallowed hard. They're only material things, she reminded herself. Things can be replaced.
She winced and moved their home in the suburbs of Sugar Land to the sold column of the spreadsheet.
Glancing up, the date posted at the top edge of the computer screen glared back at her-December eighteenth.
She had three days to beat Paul at his own game by selling everything she'd ever owned to pay off her father's debts. Somehow, it didn't feel like winning. This morning she had pawned her jewelry, except for the emerald pendant Paul made her wear. The jewelry was no real loss because he had given it to her. She moved it over to the sold section, too.
Paul's threat loomed like a vulture at the top of her spreadsheet. With the sale of her house and jewelry, she'd reduced his threat to a measly two hundred eighty thousand. Right?
How could she possibly raise the rest?
Someone tried to open her bedroom door. It clattered as the handle was jarred up and down. A foot kicked loudly against the bottom of the door. “Why is it locked?” Paul's voice shouted from the hall.
Her hand shot down to the mouse and hit ‘SAVE,’ her stomach turning somersaults until it finished whirring and clicking the valuable information onto her floppy. She flung the disc behind a rack of books with one hand and opened a new, innocent file with the other. She sprinted across the room and unlocked the door.
Paul flung it open, banging it against the wall. “Don't lock me out of here again.” His lips pressed into an angry scowl. He glanced around the room and looked inside the closet. “I heard your voice.” His eyes narrowed. “You trying to pull something?"
“You missed the bed,” she said, lifting the spread so he could peek under it.
“Very funny. What the hell were you doing in here?"
She pointed to the computer. Last year's presentation showed on the screen, but he wouldn't know the slides were from a previous year. “Practicing a speech."
He walked to the monitor, clicked the mouse and read a few lines.
“Pretty dull, huh?” she asked.
When he relaxed and seemed to accept her story, she breathed a silent sigh of relief.
“I thought we'd go out to lunch. We should let Grace and Matt see us together some over the next couple of days,” he suggested, walking back toward the doorway.
Paul had left after breakfast and stayed gone for three hours today. His ‘trip’ was her window of opportunity to raise money. She suspected he had gone to see Ann Young. Maybe if she prodded him a little, he'd get angry and stay away more.
She had to try.
“Where'd you go this morning?” she asked, glancing at him.
“An urgent matter came up,” he said suggestively. The look he gave her left no doubt where he'd been.
She knew he hated orders. Tell him not to do anything, and he'd do it just for spite. “Stay away from Ann Young while you're here.” She turned her back on him and stood by the computer with her arms crossed, waiting for his response.
She heard him move closer.
“You want me to bring my urges in here?” His breath fell on the nape of her neck.
She lifted a four-inch bladed letter opener, so he could see it over he shoulder. “Do you think you should?"
Paul moved away. “I don't think so, and stop trying to tell me what to do.” He pointed his finger at her. “That's the thing I hated most about being married to you. I'll see her every morning if I want to. Ann's a helluva lot of fun. Hot. Bedding you was like rubbing against ice,” he accused.
She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath.
He's playing on your feelings of inadequacy. Don't let him know he can get to you.
When she replied, her voice was steady and level. “I need to freshen up before we leave."
He laughed harshly. “Who knows? Maybe we'll run into Jared while we're out."
Her eyes flew open, and her throat tightened.
Jared.
“You're making a huge mistake. I don't know why you're doing this, but think about it for a week or two before you do anything,” her business partner, Roger, suggested over the phone the next day.
A week or two! Today was December nineteenth. She had one more day to raise the money to pay off Paul.
“Will you buy my share of the investment firm or not?” Katherine held the phone to one side and wiped the tears that slid down her cheeks.
“You know damn well I'd jump at it, and so would Ethan and Christopher. We could probably swing one hundred and fifty thousand for your buyout initially. Long range payments could range from forty to sixty thousand a year over the next five years. The three of us will sit down, work out the math and get exact figures to you later today."
Her chin quivered. “Do it,” she whispered. “Send an e-mail to me with the specifics."
His voice softened. “Katherine, you're selling a business you've built from the ground up. Your baby. One that's growing fast and has the potential to bring you millions in ten or twelve years. We're friends, not just business partners. Why are you doing this crazy thing?"
“My mother needs me,” she murmured.
“There's no way I can change your mind?"
“No."
He exhaled into the phone. “Okay. Fax me the signed documents if you agree to what I send you, we'll wire the money to your bank tomorrow.” Roger paused. “Keep in touch, Katherine."
After hanging up the phone, she blew her nose and moved her investment firm over to the sold section.
The amount she needed now stood at one hundred and thirty thousand. She had one more day to raise that astronomical sum.
Continuing down the list of assets, she bypassed the car. Selling her eight-year-old Mustang was out of the question. Paul would notice if it suddenly went missing. If he became suspicious, he would move the wedding date up.
That left one asset.
The coin collection her mother had found and given Katherine. She had placed a fat question mark beside it. While the sentimental value was priceless, the monetary value was unknown.
She had no choice. Time was running out.
Tomorrow, she'd sell another piece of her heart.
Jared owed Carl a bonus. The detective had traced every transaction Paul and Katherine made and had them tailed.
“I'm telling you, Mr. Randall, those coins Katherine Cahill brought in for appraisal are worth fifty thousand dollars tops,” the coin collector whispered into the phone.
“Give the lady what she's asking,” Jared said tersely. He was about one heartbeat away from losing his temper. Katherine was in the other room waiting on an appraisal and probably worried sick.
Today was December twentieth. Jared knew she was running out of time to raise the money.
“You want me to give her one hundred thirty thousand dollars for something worth fifty?” he croaked. “Are you loony?"
“Probably."
He thought about the marriage license Paul and Katherine had obtained from the courthouse. Paul had bragged to the clerk that they were getting married December twenty-first. Tomorrow.
“Put Carl on the line,” Jared told the coin collector.
“I'm here,” Carl said into the telephone. “Your lady friend's a real looker. No wonder you can't sleep."
“She didn't catch you following her, did she?"
“Hell, no. She's in the office waiting for Lester to give her an estimate of the value on them coins. I've been stuck in this storage room most of the time. What kind of a detective would I be if I let her catch me? I peeked through some wire. What do you want me to do?"
“Reimburse Lester for whatever amount he gives Katherine. If you don't, the check he gives her will bounce higher than the Washington Monument.” He paused. “Give Lester the reward we promised him for helping us out. Oh, and don't forget to bring the coin collection to me."
“Got it covered,” Carl said.
Half an hour later, Jared couldn't believe his eyes. Katherine was standing in his office, not two feet away from him. She must have left the coin collector's office and came directly to Jared's.
Jeez! Carl's on his way here, too.
His pen clattered onto the desk.
She placed her briefcase on a chair and pulled her coat tighter. “I can't stay long. Don't say anything, just listen, please. I couldn't get in touch with you until now. I lied about Paul and me making up and our happy marriage plans."
She spun around and paced the room. “I was afraid you'd do something stupid, Jared Randall. You know how I hate that. I had to think of my family. I didn't mean to hurt you.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Can you forgive me?"
Forgive her?
He wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss her. And he intended to do precisely that, after they solved their mutual problem-Paul.
“There's nothing to forgive. I got your message loud and clear when we talked on the phone."
Her jade eyes stared, and she seemed bewildered.
He repeated the words she'd used to tip him off. “'Trust me. Don't come over here like Superman.'” He stood and moved to face her. “I understood what you implied, sweetheart. If I'd tried to contact you, Paul might suspect I didn't believe you. I'd jeopardize you and your family.” His hand grazed her shoulder.
“What do you know about Paul and the jeopardy he's placed my family in?” she asked.
“I'm not going into details, but I found out that Paul had bought up your father's loans.” He put his hands up to stop her objections. “I haven't done one single thing that would jeopardize your raising the money."
When she looked up at him, tears shimmered on her lashes. “I know that. Do you really think about me the way I think about Matt and my mother?"
He smiled faintly. “And then some."
Her eyes were puffy from crying, but to him she looked beautiful. She shifted from one booted foot to the other and checked her watch.
Her shoulders slumped.
“Everything's falling apart. I promised Dad I'd look after Mom after he died. Look at this mess. I'm juggling so many balls already and another one is tossed into the air.” She shook her head and exhaled.
Was she in some other danger he didn't know about?
He frowned. “What other ball are you talking about?"
“Mother and Thomas.” She shrugged. “I can only solve one problem at a time and right now that's Paul."
“It'll all work out, Katherine. You've got me on your side. You said you couldn't stay long when you walked into my office,” he reminded her.
She checked her watch again. “Paul visits Ann every morning. I have to get back before he realizes I'm gone. I don't want him to get suspicious."
Paul had become their common enemy. “Anything I can do to help?"
Unlatching her brief case, she withdrew a file and handed it to him. “I've typed instructions for you to follow. I'll arrive at your office at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. At ten o'clock, Paul will arrive. When you read the file, you'll understand why he'll be coming and the paperwork you need to have ready before Paul arrives."
Jared wrinkled his brow. Why was Paul coming? How in the hell was Katherine going to pull that off?
“I don't have time to explain, so don't ask. Trust me again. That's one of the balls I'm juggling. I'll get him here. Do exactly what I say in the notes."
“What do you plan on doing to Paul?” Jared asked
“Surprising the hell out of him. And giving him a bit of crow to eat. Care to help me, Superman?"
He grinned at her. “I love your style,” he teased.