Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [69]
“You screw up a ten-million-dollar deal and you expect a raise. Nobody pays thousands of dollars for a purse. What’s it look like?”
“It’s just plain. It has a gold chain with leather woven through it. It has a gold clasp and is quilted. Don’t buy me one, Parker. I mean that.”
“Okay, okay, what else?”
“I told her I could give her thirty minutes. From that point on, it was all downhill. I asked her if she wanted coffee and she said no but would take something cold. I never did give her the cola,” Kiki said miserably.
“Let’s hear it all,” Parker grated.
“She told me what she was willing to pay per pound, roasted. I said no. I gave her the bit about rising costs, and she just looked right through me. Then she threw in that bit about buying the coffee to sell by the pound in her shops. I had to backpedal then by saying I had to talk to my brother. She didn’t seem to know I was your sister. She looked kind of stunned for the moment. She asked where you were, and I had to say I didn’t know. Then she just looked disgusted. She said she wanted my answer by five o’clock, not one minute later. I called you all day long. I sent someone to Maui to see if you’d gone fishing or something. In a way this is your fault, too, Parker. You didn’t tell me you were going to Waikiki to meet your friends. I tried calling Miss Clark at the Whaler, but they said there was a problem there and she’d gone to the Monarch. I called there, and they said they never heard of her. The only thing left for me to do was call Tom, which I did. He said he’d be in touch as soon as his sister called him. I met her deadline, Parker. The screwup can’t be blamed on me. Just tell me one thing, what the hell would you have done? Would you have made the decision on your own or would you have waited to talk to me?”
Parker stared at his sister. He knew his answer was very important to her. “I would have waited to talk to you. I think the two of you overreacted. Perhaps Tom and I can patch this up, and we can retain the account.” After I figure out the business with the purse, Parker thought sourly. His gaze went to the window and the streamlined building directly in his line of vision. Very soon that building was going to make all the difference in the world to the Grayson Coffee Company.
“One of us should go to the Monarch and talk to her in person,” Kiki said.
“I already did that. She checked out. I got the name of the guest who drove her away. I left a message for the woman to call me. Until we know where Annie is, there’s nothing more we can do.”
“Do you call her Annie, Parker?”
“Yes, Kiki, I call her Annie.”
“Is she ... Miss Clark is ... she’s the one Mattie told us about?”
Parker was on his feet. “Don’t step over that line, Kiki.”
“Parker, I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do ...”
“I’ll let you know. I’m going back to the Monarch to wait for the lady that drove Annie to wherever she was going. Try not to get into any trouble while I’m gone.”
Kiki burst into tears.
Parker sighed. “I’m sorry, Kiki. That remark was uncalled for. Hold the fort, okay? It’s not the end of the world. We’ll make it come out right.” Kiki nodded miserably.
It was almost noon when Parker slowed to a crawl in the circular driveway that led to the Monarch.
“Hey, mister, you need to watch where you’re going. I almost hit you! I hope you carry good insurance,” a shrill voice wafted toward him.
“Can’t you read? The sign says ten miles an hour,” Parker shot back. “You’re going at least forty.”
The shrill voice retaliated. “This coming from a man who’s at a dead stop in the middle of a busy driveway. I-don’t-think-so!”
Parker slid to the curb just as the woman with the shrill voice bounded out of her open-air jeep. He watched as a husky young man with a beard, baseball cap, and cutoff shorts embraced her. “I’ve been