As You Wish (The Summerhouse 3)

“Yes and no. I think maybe I was jealous but not in the normal way. First, there’d been Dolores with her panties falling on the floor, then Felicity getting slammed on Dad’s desk. I was jealous of what the women were getting and I wasn’t. When would I get that kind of mindless passion?”

“That’s what I wonder too.” Elise’s voice held sadness along with the anger.

Kathy looked at Elise in sympathy. “Before today I would have thought someone as thin and beautiful as you are would have it all.”

“Me too,” Elise said. “When I married Kent, I thought—”

Olivia cut her off. “I want to know what happened in the office.”

Kathy let out her breath. “Things got worse. They lay on the carpet and began to talk.”

“Yes, talk is worse,” Olivia said. “What did they say?”

Kathy shook her head. “Everything was all about me.”

* * *

“Are you going to do it?” Felicity asked. “Are you really going to work up the courage to marry your fat, bland, but oh-so-rich girlfriend?”

“Sure. Another six weeks and she’s mine. But then, I have to, don’t I? My dad owes too much money to old Bert Cormac for me to back out.”

“Don’t give me that crap! You wouldn’t sell your soul for your old man. You want the house and the car and the easy job you’ll get by watching that walrus walk down the aisle. Looking forward to your wedding night?”

“Cut it out.” Larry sat up. “Kathy’s nice. She’s as naive as a child but she’s okay. She’s terrified of her father, but then so am I. It’ll be a good marriage. Not exciting, but stable and secure.”

“And you’ll have a few office affairs to satisfy your lust and—”

“Hell no I won’t!”

“You’re trying to make me believe that you’ll be faithful to that...that wimp of a whale?”

“I meant that I’m not going to have an office. About four years after the I dos, I plan to have some injury that’ll make it impossible for me to sit at a desk. I already have a doctor who’ll sign a certificate for me. I’m going to spend my life at the country club.”

“And in the girls’ locker room?”

“Now you’re understanding,” he said.

“Any chance your great big gold mine will throw you out and go to court? I wouldn’t want to go up against Bert Cormac in a courtroom!”

“Not a chance. Kathy’s so love-starved that all I have to do is smile at her and she comes running. Isn’t that like you and Cal?”

Felicity laughed. “Not quite. Cal is a hard case to crack.”

“But you’re working on it?”

“I guess. He’s not somebody who shares his innermost thoughts. I don’t know anything about his past, but the sex is good, so I’ll hang around awhile longer.”

When someone tried to open the outer door, Kathy gasped. “We better get out of here,” Larry said.

“Wait! I heard something from that bathroom.”

Kathy held her breath as the door rattled again.

“It’s nothing. Get your shoes and let’s go out this way.”

After they left, Kathy stepped into the office and opened the door to her father. When she braced herself for his sharp comment, she realized she was “terrified” of him. He was so loud and aggressive that she and her mom just gave in to him. It was easier.

But her father didn’t snap at her. He looked at her for a moment, frowned at what he saw, but he said nothing. When he stepped away, he bent down and picked up a bracelet off the floor. “Looks like someone was in here doing something they shouldn’t.” He tossed the bracelet to her, then went to the far side of his desk and picked up some papers.