downhill.
An article in the paper a few days ago told him that the man who’d left Darcy McDaniel with nothing had also embezzled from his employer and skipped the country. John found it interesting that she was married to a man who’d turned criminal, which was almost as interesting as the fact that he was fifty-seven years old. Knowing she’d married a man old enough to be her father, along with the fact that she hadn’t held a job in fourteen years, told him all kinds of things about her, and none of them were good.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
Darcy slowly turned her gaze to meet his. “I changed my mind.”
“What?”
“I’m accepting your job offer.”
He looked at her dumbly. “I didn’t make you a job offer.”
Tony turned to John. “Uh, yeah, I think you did.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did. When she said she could handle the job, you said, ‘Well, then. In that case, the job’s all yours.’”
“You think I
meant
that? I didn’t mean that!”
“I think there’s some kind of law that says you can’t Indian give where jobs are concerned.”
“That’s crap.”
Tony held up his palms as if to say,
Hey, man, if you want to go to jail, it’s up to you.
John turned to Darcy. “You’re not working here.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have to answer that.”
“So you’re going to hire that woman who came in here this morning?” Tony asked. “The one who had to have time off every week to see her parole officer? Or how about the one who you were going to hire until you checked her references?” He turned to Darcy. “She once brought a gun to work and shot a copy machine.”
“I don’t have bad references,” Darcy said.
“I’m betting you don’t have
any
references,” John said.
She smiled sweetly. “Which means they can’t be bad.”
“You told me you didn’t have to work when you were married. Have you ever even held a job?”
“Of course I have. It’s just been a few years.”
“How many is a few?”
“Come on, John!” Tony said. “Does it really matter? Look at that stack of filing. We can’t find crap around here. And I’m sick of answering the phone.”
“No, you’re sick of having to deal with whatever woman woke up in your bed that morning because there’s nobody here to screen your calls.”
“Uh, yeah. That, too.”
“Don’t worry. I’m on it.” Darcy grabbed a pen and a sticky note, talking as she wrote. “Tell any woman . . . who calls for Tony . . . that he moved to Guam . . . and won’t be coming . . .
back.
” She pulled the note off and stuck it to the telephone, then folded her hands on the desk and smiled up at Tony.
He flashed her a smile in return. “Now that’s what I call a steep learning curve.”
“My office,” John snapped.
With a roll of his eyes, Tony followed John into his office. They closed the door, and through the glass Darcy could see John’s face turning tense and crabby. She was an eavesdropping expert, but still she made out only about half of what they said. She heard “loose cannon” and “combative” and “nutcase,” and something that sounded like “refrain” but was probably “insane.” Then more stuff from Tony about how somebody needed to be doing the job, so why not her?
From John she heard “outa your mind, blah, blah, blah,” and then “Fine. Send her in here.”
Tony came out of John’s office. “He wants to see you.” He leaned in and whispered, “Try not to piss him off.”
Darcy went into John’s office to find him sitting behind his desk, scowling like a bulldog without a bone.
“Sit,” he said.
She did.
“I saw an article in the paper yesterday,” John said. “It appears that your husband not only skipped out on you, but he also embezzled three hundred thousand dollars from the company where he worked. Do you happen to know anything about that?”
Good heavens. Had everyone in the Dallas metroplex seen that article?
“It came as
An article in the paper a few days ago told him that the man who’d left Darcy McDaniel with nothing had also embezzled from his employer and skipped the country. John found it interesting that she was married to a man who’d turned criminal, which was almost as interesting as the fact that he was fifty-seven years old. Knowing she’d married a man old enough to be her father, along with the fact that she hadn’t held a job in fourteen years, told him all kinds of things about her, and none of them were good.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
Darcy slowly turned her gaze to meet his. “I changed my mind.”
“What?”
“I’m accepting your job offer.”
He looked at her dumbly. “I didn’t make you a job offer.”
Tony turned to John. “Uh, yeah, I think you did.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did. When she said she could handle the job, you said, ‘Well, then. In that case, the job’s all yours.’”
“You think I
meant
that? I didn’t mean that!”
“I think there’s some kind of law that says you can’t Indian give where jobs are concerned.”
“That’s crap.”
Tony held up his palms as if to say,
Hey, man, if you want to go to jail, it’s up to you.
John turned to Darcy. “You’re not working here.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have to answer that.”
“So you’re going to hire that woman who came in here this morning?” Tony asked. “The one who had to have time off every week to see her parole officer? Or how about the one who you were going to hire until you checked her references?” He turned to Darcy. “She once brought a gun to work and shot a copy machine.”
“I don’t have bad references,” Darcy said.
“I’m betting you don’t have
any
references,” John said.
She smiled sweetly. “Which means they can’t be bad.”
“You told me you didn’t have to work when you were married. Have you ever even held a job?”
“Of course I have. It’s just been a few years.”
“How many is a few?”
“Come on, John!” Tony said. “Does it really matter? Look at that stack of filing. We can’t find crap around here. And I’m sick of answering the phone.”
“No, you’re sick of having to deal with whatever woman woke up in your bed that morning because there’s nobody here to screen your calls.”
“Uh, yeah. That, too.”
“Don’t worry. I’m on it.” Darcy grabbed a pen and a sticky note, talking as she wrote. “Tell any woman . . . who calls for Tony . . . that he moved to Guam . . . and won’t be coming . . .
back.
” She pulled the note off and stuck it to the telephone, then folded her hands on the desk and smiled up at Tony.
He flashed her a smile in return. “Now that’s what I call a steep learning curve.”
“My office,” John snapped.
With a roll of his eyes, Tony followed John into his office. They closed the door, and through the glass Darcy could see John’s face turning tense and crabby. She was an eavesdropping expert, but still she made out only about half of what they said. She heard “loose cannon” and “combative” and “nutcase,” and something that sounded like “refrain” but was probably “insane.” Then more stuff from Tony about how somebody needed to be doing the job, so why not her?
From John she heard “outa your mind, blah, blah, blah,” and then “Fine. Send her in here.”
Tony came out of John’s office. “He wants to see you.” He leaned in and whispered, “Try not to piss him off.”
Darcy went into John’s office to find him sitting behind his desk, scowling like a bulldog without a bone.
“Sit,” he said.
She did.
“I saw an article in the paper yesterday,” John said. “It appears that your husband not only skipped out on you, but he also embezzled three hundred thousand dollars from the company where he worked. Do you happen to know anything about that?”
Good heavens. Had everyone in the Dallas metroplex seen that article?
“It came as
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