“Isn’t it my call to alert the media?” Jack asked his father.
“So there is a future Mrs. Morrison?” The mere thought of Jack getting married obviously pleased the man. It was hard to stay mad at him.
“There is someone,” Jack confirmed. “But I’d rather not discuss it out here if you don’t mind.”
Gaylord puffed his chest out as if he’d just become a father all over again. “Damn good news,” he said. “When do we meet her?”
“You’re always accusing me of being in the spotlight, Daddy,” Katie scolded. “Can we do this in private? I don’t think Jack wants to discuss this here.”
Jack nodded to the elevators. “I have lunch coming up to my suite before the meeting. Let’s talk up there.”
Diverting his father took a couple more minutes, but as the man walked toward the elevators, Jack summoned Sam with a crook of his finger. “Lunch for three. Whatever the special is, a bottle of Crown Royal, and a bottle of chardonnay for Miss Morrison.”
“What about the meeting? Your father requested—”
“Tell the kitchen to hurry. We’ll be down in an hour,” Jack interrupted before turning his focus on his family. “Oh boy.”
Danny swung his feet off the edge of the chair as he placed the little edible silver balls on his cookie. If he took this much time decorating one of the treats, they’d be finished with the batch sometime around Easter.
Monica pushed through the front door with a bundle of clean laundry. The apartment complex had its own washers and dryers, but they were outside and around the carport.
Jessie took the basket from her sister so she could close the door.
“It’s getting cold out there,” her sister complained.
“Better cold than hot. It doesn’t feel like Christmas when it’s eighty outside.”
Monica motioned toward Danny. “Is Monet creating a masterpiece over there or what?”
“He doesn’t get that from me. I’d be slapping on frosting and sprinkling those green and red thingies on it and calling it done.”
Monica shook her head. “How many has he finished?”
“Two.”
“He’s going to need these last three days before Christmas to finish the job.”
The two of them picked up one piece of laundry at a time and started to fold.
Monica changed the channel to the afternoon news. “Any idea when Jack is coming back?”
“I’m not sure.” Jessie set one of Danny’s socks aside until its match showed up from the pile. “He said he needed to check in at the hotel.”
“Isn’t his schedule fixed?”
“I have no idea. Whenever he talks about his job, he acts a little strange.”
“Strange? Strange how?”
“I asked him if he had to work today, and he said ‘in a way.’ What in the heck does that mean? You either have to work or you don’t.” Jessie shook her head. The next sock she picked up belonged with the other, so she folded them together.
“Maybe he needed to work but was going in to see if they could do without him. So he could spend time here.”
“Maybe. Another thing, he’s never talked about where he lives.” Jessie had thought about this when he disappeared. She had no idea where to look for him outside of his work.
Monica lifted a shirt and tucked it under her chin to fold. “Now that the two of you are a couple, he’ll give you all the details. I’m sure you’ll be spending some ‘alone time’ at his place. It can’t be terribly relaxing with Danny so close to your room.”
Jessie laughed. “Not to mention my kid sister right outside my door.”
Monica dropped the shirt into a pile and held up both of her hands. “I didn’t hear a thing…all night. Not at two o’clock or at six this morning.”
Jessie burst out laughing and knew her cheeks were turning red. She tossed the folded socks at her sister and hit her in the chest. “You’re bad.”
“I’m not the one who was up all night,” Monica said, laughing.
It felt good to laugh and really mean it.
“Mommy?”
“Yeah, pumpkin.”
“Isn’t that Uncle Jack?” Danny was pointing to the TV. “He looks funny dressed like that.”
Jessie’s eyes traveled to the television. The grin on her face held her cheeks so firmly they started to hurt. She expected to see a sexy man in a cowboy hat who “looked like” Jack. What she found stole her breath clean from her lungs.
“Ohmygod.” Monica recovered quickly and turned up the volume on the TV.
“…Morrison, billionaire tycoon, and his son, Jack Morrison, arrived in the Inland Empire to celebrate not only the groundbreaking venture of Jack Morrison’s chain of ‘family affordable’ hotels, but rumors have it that an announcement is forthcoming of a wedding in Jack Morrison’s future. Sorry, ladies, but it looks like this highly eligible bachelor is about to be taken off the market. Rumors of who the bride is haven’t been confirmed or denied.”
Jessie dropped the laundry from her hands and felt them start to shake.
Jack stood in the center lobby of The Morrison with a slender blonde woman hanging on his arm. Jessie couldn’t see the face of the woman, but whoever she was, Jack was holding on to her arm and smiling down at her with a look that could only be described as loving.