Manhunting Read online

  “Does Allan take care of you?”

  “Oh, yes.” Penny sighed.

  Kate watched her for a moment. “Penny, what’s wrong with Allan?”

  Penny hesitated and then put down her fork and leaned forward. “He’s boring. Sometimes he’ll be talking to me, and I’ll just drift off and start thinking about clothes or babies or a movie I’ve seen. And then I’ll remember he’s talking, and I try to listen again.” Penny came as close as she could to looking depressed. For Penny, this meant slightly less radiant. “It doesn’t really matter because he never notices, but...”

  Kate winced, thinking of all the long silences in her own engagements. “I was engaged to men like that. Three of them. So caught up in their own careers and their own ideas that they never even saw me. Don’t marry him.”

  “I have to marry somebody if I want kids. And I’ve known Allan since he moved next door when I was in the sixth grade and he was a senior.” Penny sighed at the memory. “He’s smart. He’s successful. He has a lot of money, and he’ll take care of me and our children. No man is perfect, but Allan comes pretty close.” She picked up her fork again. “I’m not stupid. I know I’m not in love with him and that we won’t have one of those happily-ever-after marriages. But I’m not like you. I don’t want a career. I want to get married and have a lot of kids and stay home with them all the time.” She took a bite of salad and chewed while she thought about what she wanted to say next “See, what I really want is to be a full-time mom. But if I marry somebody with not much money, I can’t I’ll have to work. I mean, most husbands can’t afford to have their wives not work. And Allan can. In fact, he wants me to stay home.”

  “Oh,” Kate said. “Well...”

  “I know. You think that’s awful,” Penny said.

  “No,” Kate lied. “Not if it’s what you really want.”

  “I do.” Penny bit her lip. “I have this all planned out and it will work. And I’ll be fair to Allan. I do sort of love him and I’ll take care of him, too, and I’ll be a good wife. I just deserve these next two weeks. That’s all.” She looked at Kate. “I suppose you think that’s stupid.”

  “I don’t think you’re stupid,” Kate said, surprised to find she didn’t. “I’m just not as honest as you are. But if you can be, I can be. I want that kind of marriage, too. The planned-out, practical kind. The only difference between the two of us is that I haven’t found my Allan yet.”

  “So that’s why you’re here,” Penny said. She looked around and leaned forward. “Well, this place is crawling with secure guys. You shouldn’t have any problem finding one.”

  “So far, crawling is the right word for the men I’ve met,” Kate said. “But I’m not giving up. I’m going to find a dependable, successful man if it kills me.”

  “I wish that didn’t sound so boring,” Penny said. “Why is security always boring?”

  “Because if it were exciting, it wouldn’t be safe,” Kate said.

  “So you’re looking for a rich guy?”

  “Well,” Kate said, frowning. “Not rich. I don’t care about money. I have money. But he has to be successful.”

  “Rich,” Penny said, and ate some more salad.

  “I guess so,” Kate said. “You know, I really hate this. It seems so scheming. It is so scheming.”

  “I know,” Penny said. “But you’re not getting any younger. You’re really good-looking for your age, but still, you’d better get somebody while you can.”

  “Thank you,” Kate said.

  Greg brought her lunch. Chicken salad.

  “Can I get you anything else?” he asked, looking at Penny.

  “No, thank you.” Kate waited until he was gone and turned back to Penny. “From now on, don’t come to the table until I’ve ordered, all right?”

  Penny giggled.

  “Is everything all right here?”

  Kate looked up to find Valerie lurking near their table, looking cool, trim and professional in green linen.

  “Fine,” Kate said. “Everything’s lovely.”

  “Good,” Valerie said. “That’s exactly how Will and I want you to feel.”

  “Will?”

  “Will Templeton. My boss.” Valerie smiled smugly. “And my fiancé.”

  “Congratulations,” Kate said.

  “Oh, sit down and tell us all about it,” Penny said. “Will is really dishy. I didn’t know you were engaged to him.”

  “Nobody knows,” Valerie said, sliding into an empty chair. “Sometimes I don’t think Will knows.” She laughed shortly.

  “Men,” Penny said sympathetically. “They just don’t know how to have a relationship.”

  “Oh, it’s not that bad,” Valerie said. “We’re actually quite well matched. In three years, we haven’t had one argument.”

  “Gee,” Penny said. “Three years.”

  Valerie smiled at her smugly. “Will understands that I generally know what’s best.”

  “I can’t imagine being engaged for three years,” Penny went on. “Why are you waiting so long to get married?”

  Valerie glared at her.

  “I was engaged for three years,” Kate said. “Of course, I was engaged to three different men during that time. But that’s a long time.”

  “A really long time,” Penny said.

  “Will and I have worked very hard to make this place a success,” Valerie snapped. “We haven’t had time to consider anything else.”

  “Working together,” Kate said, conjuring up her own plan and seeing it made flesh in Will and Valerie. “That’s wonderful. That’s the kind of marriage I want— partners, working together to make a business grow.” She looked over at Valerie. “That must be wonderful.”

  Valerie relaxed under Kate’s blatant envy. “Well, it is, of course, but mere are drawbacks. I mean, I am stuck here, after all, with nobody to talk to except the help, and they’re hardly...well, you know.”

  Kate and Penny looked at each other and men at Valerie. “What?” Kate asked.

  “Well, they’re country people.” Valerie wrinkled her nose. “They don’t understand career women. Like us.”

  “Like us,” Kate echoed, feeling vaguely insulted.

  “Us?” Penny echoed too.

  Valerie ignored her and stayed focused on Kate.

  “I wanted to talk to you because I knew you’d understand.”

  “Understand?” How much did I have to drink this morning? Kate wondered. How long is it going to take me to sober up? Why can’t I comprehend what this woman is driving at?

  “I recognized you yesterday at the luau. I thought you looked familiar when you checked in. Then it hit me. Your picture was in Business Week last month. I pulled out my back copy and there you were.” Valerie raised her eyebrows. “I’m very impressed.”

  “Don’t be,” Kate said. “I was in Business Week because I was standing next to my father when they took the picture.”

  “The caption said you were his successor. It must be wonderful, working with a powerful man like that.”

  “Oh, yes,” Kate said. “Particularly when magazines start mentioning you as his successor. He loves that.”

  “I envy you. Living in the city. On the cutting edge. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to lose my mind, being stuck down here,” Valerie said.

  “Why do you stay?” Kate said.

  Valerie shrugged. “This is where Will wants to be. And we’re making this resort really take off. It’s something we’re doing together.”

  “Together,” Kate said.

  “Oh, yes,” Valerie said. “And we’ve got so many ideas. Don’t tell anyone,” she added, dropping her voice, “but our next project is a real country bar. With jukeboxes and everything.”

  “Well, that sounds like fun,” Kate said, trying to figure out why a country bar should be top secret.

  “Isn’t there a country bar in town?” Penny said.

  “That’s Nancy’s,” Valerie said. “She doesn’t count. She doesn�€