“Like hell you’re not. You were afraid to ride in that truck today. When we walked into that bowling alley, you stiffened up like an old dead cow.”
“Not because I was afraid,” she argued. “I just don’t get along with people like you do. I don’t seem to connect like you do.”
“Are you nuts? Look how you treat my nephew when no one in my family can stand the kid. And Zaney—God knows Zaney can be a pain in the ass, but you don’t seem to mind him. And what about Lucy? And Elmer—”
“You can’t count him, he’s my grandpa.”
“The point is, you get along fine with anyone you allow past that wall you put up.”
“What wall?”
“You know, the rich princess in the tower routine. You can be a little standoffish.”
His remark, surprisingly, did not offend her. She knew exactly what he meant. “See? I’m arrogant, not afraid.”
“You’re afraid.”
“Okay, Certified Genius, what am I so afraid of?”
“That they won’t like you.”
His answer stunned her—she’d never thought of it, but knew instantly that it was true.
“But you are in luck, sweetheart, because I’m going to help you conquer your fear,” he said with a devilish grin and moved across the small aisle toward her.
“Oh really? And just how are you going to do that?” she asked, putting her hand on his chest as he braced his arms on either side of her to kiss her forehead.
“I am going to take you to meet my mom on Easter Sunday.”
Robin laughed. “I’m not afraid of your mom!”
“You should be,” he said lazily, kissing her lips. “Hey, by the way . . . you’re not afraid of flying, are you?” he asked, kissing her again. “I mean, really flying?”
“Are you kidding?” she asked and welcomed Jake as the charter member in her mile-high club.
They spent that evening in her bed, languidly making love, watching TV, and eating popcorn, the only food Robin had in the house. Jake made a point of not leaving, and on Sunday, when he left to go get Cole, Robin called her dad in New York.
“I’m doing fine!” he said gruffly when she asked. “Stop worrying about me!” But Mom told her that Dad was going to have to go for more radiation. They hadn’t quite gotten it all.
“What does that mean? Why didn’t they get it all?”
“It’s a very aggressive type of cancer. But we’re still very hopeful.”
Robin closed her eyes. “Mom, how are you holding up after all these weeks?”
Mom laughed. “Well, he’s as impossible as he ever was . . . but he needs me.”
It must be nice, Robin thought. He certainly didn’t need her.
That afternoon, she treated Jake and Cole to an Astros game from box seats, courtesy LTI. They ended the day with pizza and Cole talking about how much he hated algebra. Jake seemed fascinated, and the two of them had a legitimate, civilized, conversation. And for some reason, algebra made Robin think of the work she was doing.
The next morning, she phoned Evan in Dallas.
“Robin!” he said, surprised to hear her voice.
“How’s it going, Evan?”
“Great! Just great!”
“I was in Burdette this weekend. Girt said you called her.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Why did you call her? I thought you were going to let me handle this.”
“I am! I tried to get hold of you. When I got back to Dallas Friday, I ran into the sales manager at American Motorfreight. He mentioned in passing that they were thinking of acquiring Wirt. When I couldn’t get hold of you, I called down there, told her not to make a hasty decision, that we wanted to talk to her, too.”
Robin pondered that—it sounded reasonable. It was true she had been out of pocket Friday afternoon, and Girt had confirmed American Motorfreight’s interest.
“So what did you find out?” he asked.
“Well, she’s got a larger operation than Lou Harvey, which we knew. And it’s definitely more diverse, which I like. Lou’s deal bothers me because it looks like he’s been losing money the last couple of years.”
“Right. I saw that, too,” Evan agreed.
“But I don’t know if I understand everything I see with Lou’s operation. On the other hand, Girt says she hasn’t seen a huge increase in profit, but she’s been steadily growing.”
“That’s right. Let me tell you a couple of things to look for,” Evan said and proceeded to list things Robin could check as crews began to trickle in to work on her house. He confirmed her instincts about Peerless and Wirt, which both surprised and pleased Robin. She had not reached the point where she actually trusted herself; it helped that Evan seemed to think she was right on target.