Tall, Dark_.Westmoreland! - Brenda Jackson [18]
“T-there’s no way Orin can do something like that. I’m his secretary.”
Olivia smiled. “Oh.” What she was tempted to say was that secretary or no secretary, Cathy was also the woman her father couldn’t keep his eyes off. She couldn’t wait until she talked to Duan and Terrence.
And then, as if by luck or fate, since it also seemed to be on cue, her cell phone rang, and when she stood and pulled it out of her back jeans pocket, she saw the call was from Terrence.
Knowing it was best to take the call privately, she said, “Excuse me a moment while I take this.” She quickly walked out of the room and closed the office door behind her.
“Yes, Terrence?”
“What the hell is going on with you, Libby? Why did you text me from an unknown number and then call this morning and ask that the text be deleted?”
Olivia nervously licked her lips. One thing about Terrence was that he would ask questions, but if she gave him a reason that sounded remotely plausible, he would let it go, whereas Duan would continue to ask questions.
“Last night I went to this charity party in Dad’s place and met a guy. He asked me to follow him to a nightclub in Stone Mountain, and I did, but I felt I should take precautions.”
“That was a good idea. Smart girl. So how was the club?”
“Umm, nice, but it didn’t compare to Club Hurricane,” she said, knowing he would like to hear that she thought the nightclub he owned in the Keys was at the top of the list.
“You’re even smarter than I thought. So how’s Dad? He hasn’t dropped out of this Senate race yet?”
Olivia smiled. Terrence and Duan were taking bets that sooner or later, when Orin Jeffries got a taste of what real politics were like, he would call it quits. At first she had agreed with them, but now she wasn’t so sure. “I don’t know, Terrence. I think he’s going all the way with this one.”
“Umm, that’s interesting. I still think Reed pushed Dad into running for his own benefit. I’m going to give Duan a call. We might need to talk to Dad about this.”
“You might be too late. The first forum is tomorrow, and he’s giving a speech. He’s been working on it for two days. The only good thing coming out of all this is that he and Cathy are working together,” she said.
“Libby, they always work closely together. She’s his secretary.”
“Yes, but they are working closely together in a different way, on issues other than Nettleton Industries business. In fact, she’s over here now.”
She could hear her brother chuckle. “Still determined to play Cupid, are you?”
“I might as well while I’m here, since I have nothing else to do.” She thought of Jack Sprat. She had been tempted earlier to pull out her art pad and do some sketches to pass the time. She had thought about drawing her mystery man with the mask and then playing around to see if she could draw sketches of how she imagined he might look without the mask. She had eventually talked herself out of it.
“Well, I’ll be coming home in a couple of weeks, so stay out of trouble until then, sport.”
She laughed. “I can’t make you any promises, but I’ll try.”
Four
B rent had given his speech a thumbs-up, so Reggie felt confident it would go over well. He walked around the luncheon reception, greeting all those who had arrived to attend the forum. This would be the first of several gatherings designed to give voters a chance to learn each candidate’s agenda. He had met Orin Jeffries when he’d first arrived and thought the older man was a likable guy.
A number of his family members were present and a number of his friends as well. These were people who believed in him, supported him and were counting on him to make changes to some of the present policies.
A career in politics had been the last thing on his mind and had never been his heart’s desire, until recently. He’d become outraged at the present senators’ refusal to recognize the state’s need for an additional college.