“No, sir. I’m not. I like girls,” he
assured. “Lots of girls.”
Les laughed. “So what’s the problem then? You
like girls, and Annie’s a girl,” he reasoned. “Mighty fine lookin’
girl too.”
Now if this wasn’t a blatant attempt at
matchmaking, Mitch would eat the rest of the horrible granola
bar.
“ She’s real smart, too,” Les
continued, listing Annie’s many good points. “Put herself through
school. And what with her sorry beginning and all, that’s pretty
good indication of character. Takes a real scrapper to accomplish
all that she has.”
It took a minute for the last part of Les’s
glowing recommendation of Annie to sink in. Curiosity got the
better of Mitch.
“ What about her beginning?”
he heard himself asking.
“ Oh, you didn’t know?” Les
asked innocently. “Well, since Annie doesn’t keep her childhood a
secret, I don’t suppose it would hurt for me to tell you.” He
paused. “Annie was abandoned as a child, raised in the foster care
system. From what your uncle says, some of the homes were pretty
bad. Abusive. It’s a shame, isn’t it? That someone so good had to
go through that? Makes you wonder how many other children like her
are out there. And if they turned out as well,” he added
soberly.
After a moment, Les smacked his thighs and
stood. “Well, I suspect we should be getting’ back. We’re due for
lunch in a few minutes.”
Still taken aback by this unexpected
revelation about Annie’s childhood, Mitch stood as well. No wonder
she was so close to Uncle Will, he realized. His kindhearted uncle
had taken her under his wing and, like a starving little chick,
Annie had sort of let herself be adopted. A peculiar feeling
tightened in his chest. So many things about her now, made sense.
Things that—
“ So, if you really like
girls as you say, then what’s the problem with Annie?” Les asked
again, interrupting Mitch’s turbulent thoughts with another nosy
question.
Inwardly, Mitch sighed. Here he’d planned to
corner Les about the campaign and instead, he was getting cornered.
“Annie isn’t a problem per se, Les. She’s a colleague. I make it a
point not to mix business with pleasure.” There, Mitch thought, Les
was a businessman, surely he could understand that logic, even
though it was a lie. Mitch liked to be able to find a little
pleasure in everything he did.
“ That’s funny,” Les
remarked, scratching his temple. “I seem to recall an article about
you and a little data entry clerk a few years back.”
An alarm sounded in Mitch’s head. The article
in question was at least five years old and had run in one of the
smaller tabloids. Les either had a photographic memory, or he’d
done a background check. Gut instinct told Mitch it was both.
“ I’ve turned over a new
leaf,” Mitch said carefully.
Les laughed until he wheezed. “Alright,
alright.” He sighed. “Still, can’t help thinking the two of you
would make a fine couple. Seems to take forever these days. Why,
when I was a young feller…” Les droned on, but Mitch tuned him
out.
Not bloody likely.
Mitch wanted to have a wife and a
family—someday. But not now. A relationship like that would be too
hard to cultivate and maintain at this point in his life. He had to
tackle first things first. And presently, taking over the family
company and making certain he had something to pass on to future
offspring was his main priority.
Mitch shook his head and shot Les a level
look. “Sir, I don’t mean any disrespect, but I didn’t come here
with Annie to fool around. I came to pitch a hot dog campaign. And
frankly, thus far —”
An electronic ring interrupted Mitch’s
courageous and probably stupid statement. Puzzle, he frowned. They
were still in the woods, a good quarter-mile from the estate. Where
on earth was that noise coming from?
Les looked startled as well, then grunted and
began to pat himself down. “Now where did I put that blasted cell
phone?” Les
assured. “Lots of girls.”
Les laughed. “So what’s the problem then? You
like girls, and Annie’s a girl,” he reasoned. “Mighty fine lookin’
girl too.”
Now if this wasn’t a blatant attempt at
matchmaking, Mitch would eat the rest of the horrible granola
bar.
“ She’s real smart, too,” Les
continued, listing Annie’s many good points. “Put herself through
school. And what with her sorry beginning and all, that’s pretty
good indication of character. Takes a real scrapper to accomplish
all that she has.”
It took a minute for the last part of Les’s
glowing recommendation of Annie to sink in. Curiosity got the
better of Mitch.
“ What about her beginning?”
he heard himself asking.
“ Oh, you didn’t know?” Les
asked innocently. “Well, since Annie doesn’t keep her childhood a
secret, I don’t suppose it would hurt for me to tell you.” He
paused. “Annie was abandoned as a child, raised in the foster care
system. From what your uncle says, some of the homes were pretty
bad. Abusive. It’s a shame, isn’t it? That someone so good had to
go through that? Makes you wonder how many other children like her
are out there. And if they turned out as well,” he added
soberly.
After a moment, Les smacked his thighs and
stood. “Well, I suspect we should be getting’ back. We’re due for
lunch in a few minutes.”
Still taken aback by this unexpected
revelation about Annie’s childhood, Mitch stood as well. No wonder
she was so close to Uncle Will, he realized. His kindhearted uncle
had taken her under his wing and, like a starving little chick,
Annie had sort of let herself be adopted. A peculiar feeling
tightened in his chest. So many things about her now, made sense.
Things that—
“ So, if you really like
girls as you say, then what’s the problem with Annie?” Les asked
again, interrupting Mitch’s turbulent thoughts with another nosy
question.
Inwardly, Mitch sighed. Here he’d planned to
corner Les about the campaign and instead, he was getting cornered.
“Annie isn’t a problem per se, Les. She’s a colleague. I make it a
point not to mix business with pleasure.” There, Mitch thought, Les
was a businessman, surely he could understand that logic, even
though it was a lie. Mitch liked to be able to find a little
pleasure in everything he did.
“ That’s funny,” Les
remarked, scratching his temple. “I seem to recall an article about
you and a little data entry clerk a few years back.”
An alarm sounded in Mitch’s head. The article
in question was at least five years old and had run in one of the
smaller tabloids. Les either had a photographic memory, or he’d
done a background check. Gut instinct told Mitch it was both.
“ I’ve turned over a new
leaf,” Mitch said carefully.
Les laughed until he wheezed. “Alright,
alright.” He sighed. “Still, can’t help thinking the two of you
would make a fine couple. Seems to take forever these days. Why,
when I was a young feller…” Les droned on, but Mitch tuned him
out.
Not bloody likely.
Mitch wanted to have a wife and a
family—someday. But not now. A relationship like that would be too
hard to cultivate and maintain at this point in his life. He had to
tackle first things first. And presently, taking over the family
company and making certain he had something to pass on to future
offspring was his main priority.
Mitch shook his head and shot Les a level
look. “Sir, I don’t mean any disrespect, but I didn’t come here
with Annie to fool around. I came to pitch a hot dog campaign. And
frankly, thus far —”
An electronic ring interrupted Mitch’s
courageous and probably stupid statement. Puzzle, he frowned. They
were still in the woods, a good quarter-mile from the estate. Where
on earth was that noise coming from?
Les looked startled as well, then grunted and
began to pat himself down. “Now where did I put that blasted cell
phone?” Les
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