“She had a crush on you when she was a teenager.”
“That’s all it was, a crush. Lasted about five seconds, as I recall. Hell, I’m too old for her, and she’s way too young for me.”
“She agreed to marry you,” Hackett said evenly.
“Don’t blame me for that. It was your fault.”
” My fault?”
“Yours and the Old Man’s and everyone else’s in the family. Katy went along with the engagement because you and the others put the mother of all guilt trips on her.
You convinced her that I was an emotional basket case and that I might crack under the slightest bit of pressure. She was terrified tha f she rejected me, I might follow the same path that my mother took.”
Hackett was appalled. “I swear, we never meant to make her think that she would be responsible i ou did something like that.”
“Yeah, well, that was how it went down. Guess it falls into the no-good-deed-goes-unpunished category.”
“Well, damn.” Hackett sagged a little, as though he had taken a body blow. Then he straightened.
“You really aren’t in love with Katy?”
Luke gripped the arms of the chair and pushed himself to his feet. “No. And she is definitely not in love with me.”
“Wait a second. If you weren’t in love with her, why the hell did you ask her to marry you in the first place?”
Luke walked to the door. “Getting married was part of my strategy. It was one of the things I though needed to do to feel normal again.”
He opened the door.
Hackett was on his feet, circling his desk. “Luke, wait.”
Luke looked back at him, smiling slightly. “It’s okay, Hack. Turns out I had the wrong objective. The trick to dealing with real life is to accept the fact that sometimes things never go all the way back to normal.”
He went out into the carpeted hall and closed the door.
* * *
Hackett stood perfectly still for a few seconds, savoring the incredible sensation that was sweeping through him. He felt as if he had just been released from the weight of an ocean that had been crushing him for the past few months.
p. He lunged for the door, flung it open and went swiftly down the hall to Public Relations.
Jason came around the corner, a half-eaten wedge of pizza in one hand. “What’s up?”
Hackett did not break his stride. “I’m going to try to get a date. Wish me luck.”
Jason grinned. “This sounds like fun. Can I watch?”
“Go eat your pizza.”
He went through the open door of Public Relations. Katy was seated at her desk, talking on the phone. Her eyes widened a little when she saw him.
“I’ll get right back to you, Mr. Perkins,” she said quickly. She hung up and looked at Hackett. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong today.” He reached down and hauled her up out of the chair.
“Today is a perfect day.”
She laughed, confused but delighted. “How is it perfect?”
“Luke just told me that he is not in love with you. He said he never was in love with you and you ar ot in love with him, and that is the real reason nothing happened that weekend when the two of you went away together.”
She went still. “He said all that?”
“Yes. Can you confirm?”
She swallowed hard. “I can definitely confirm that I am not in love with him.”
“He also assured me that in spite of the Old Man’s and Dr. Van Dyke’s fears, he is not in the slightest danger of doing himself any harm. You know what? I believe him.
Luke can be stubborn and difficul nd unpredictable, but he has never lied to me in my entire life.”
“Good point,” Jason said around a mouthful of pizza. “Maybe we should have listened when he kept telling us not to worry about him.”
Katy glowed with hope. “Does this mean we don’t have to be concerned about Luke anymore?”
“Luke can take care of himself,” Hackett said. “What’s more, if he does run into trouble, he’s got someone he can call on for backup now.”
“I’m guessing that would be Irene,” Jason said.
“You guess right.” Hackett did not take his eyes off Katy. He knew that his whole future was hangin n the balance. “Will you have dinner with me tonight? Someplace very private. Just the two of us.”
She put her arms around his neck. Her smile lit up the room. “I would like that very much. I’ve eve ot a great idea where we can go.”
“I am open to suggestion.”
“My place,” she said.
“Like I said, this is a perfect day.”
He pulled her close and kissed her.
“Boy, howdy, this sure explains a few things,” Jason said. “Obviously, what we had here was a major breakdown in communications between the executive suite and the PR department. Glad we got that straightened out. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get another slice of pizza.”
Hackett ignored him. So did Katy.
Epilogue
“You know,” Irene said, “I think your father actually looks younger this year than he did last year o is birthday.”
She looked across the crowded room to where John and Vicki stood with Gordon, talking to som uests. Luke followed her gaze, amused.
“Probably because he’s no longer worrying about me,” he said. “I hear stress can really age you.”
“I thought he looked pleased when he came to our wedding, but tonight he seems even happier.”
Luke grinned. “That’s because he’s looking forward to his first grandchild. Expect he’s already making plans to bring the kid into the business.”
Instinctively she touched her very pregnant shape, mildly astonished that she wasn’t glowing as brightl s one of her own flashlights. “I think John and Gordon will have more than one grandchild to work on soon. Katy told me that she and Hackett intend to start a family right away.”
“Boy, howdy,” Jason said, coming up beside her. “At this rate, there are going to be little rug rats al ver the place.”
“Your turn next, little brother,” Luke said.
“All in due time,” Jason said, munching on a canape. “Life is like making good wine.
You don’t want to rush it, or you’ll miss all the nuances.”
“Wow,” Luke said. “Listen to Mr. Philosopher.”
Jason grinned. “I thought that was pretty good, myself. Speaking of academic stuff, when does you ook get released?”