“Amanda doesn’t have a dime to her name right now. She thinks she’ll simply cajole me later into paying your fee, and I’ll assure her I will. But how much you make from your time with her is up to you.”
My gut tightens. “I don’t follow.”
“Amanda doesn’t belong in Hawaii with my illegitimate daughter and all my former friend’s offspring. I need to do what I should have after she graduated college, and that’s help her find the right future.”
“Why didn’t you get involved then?” I can’t keep the accusation out of my tone.
“It’s a fair question, especially since it seems you’re looking after her.” He tries to sound reasonable.
I’m not buying it. “I am.”
“To be honest, I thought she was a grown woman. She had a college degree in hand and she’d always been a good girl. Stayed out of trouble. Rarely dated. Never partied. Never gave me any reason to suspect she lacked the common sense needed to sidestep Barclay Reed’s womanizing ways. As such, when she graduated, I let her adult. It was a regrettable mistake on my part since all hell broke loose.”
I understand his perspective. Who wouldn’t think their college graduate able to handle their office job and their love life when they’d never shown any hint of being inept or reckless? But I don’t agree with his notion that Amanda making choices he doesn’t approve of gives him carte blanche to control her life. She was, after all, an adult. It was her life to ruin.
“What are you proposing?”
“There’s a man here in New York, one she’s known since they were kids. Son of a good family. Bruce has been in love with Amanda since, well, probably puberty. He’ll marry her tomorrow and take care of Oliver, too. All she has to do is say yes and come home.”
It may be that simple in his eyes, but there’s a reason Amanda isn’t with Bruce now. “How does she feel about him?”
“You know how women can be. Stubborn mules with lipstick.” He laughs, but it’s forced.
I’m offended on women’s behalf, especially Amanda’s. She’s stubborn, but not without reason. And she certainly isn’t a fucking mule.
“Anyway,” Lund goes on. “She hasn’t given Bruce a fair shake. She’s always considered him more like an older brother. When they were teenagers, that was great. But she’s twenty-six now and a mother. He’s thirtyish and worth half a billion dollars. He’s prepared to take care of her. She just needs the right incentive to let him.”
“So what is it you want me to do?”
“I’ll pay you fifty thousand dollars if you’ll let Bruce visit her there in Maui so he can convince her to come home and get respectably married. There’s an extra ten grand in it for you if she agrees to his proposal in the next three days.”
Is he crazy? “With all due respect, sir, I don’t think—”
“Do us both a favor and save the speech. This is one time you shouldn’t think with your morals, son. Think with your wallet.”
I grip my phone, bristling. “I’m not your son, and I’d appreciate you not telling me how to think.”
He gives me the forced laugh again. “You misunderstand. Figure of speech.”
“Amanda’s future should be her decision.”
“Well, you see how good her decisions are when she’s left to her own devices. It’s come to my attention that she looked to Barclay Reed to be her ‘daddy’ because I didn’t pay enough attention to her as a kid or something like that.”
“That’s Stephen’s theory.” Personally, I think Amanda has felt alone and overwhelmed, so she’s been looking for a partner, not someone to give her milk and braid her hair.
“Maybe he’s right. I was busy with work, and resented the hell out of her mother for tricking me into getting pregnant as an insurance policy against divorce. But none of that was Amanda’s fault, and if I didn’t give her the guidance she needed as a child, rest assured I will now.”
I swallow back the less-than-kind observation that it’s too late for Amanda’s father to play daddy. She’s already looked beyond him. And if Stephen is right, if she’s genuinely seeking a father figure to protect her and share her load, I see two choices: either I let Bruce come in and do it—which makes me want to punch my fist into the nearest wall. Or I do it myself.
They’re both fucking bad ideas. What do I have to offer Amanda?
“I don’t think she’s interested in anyone forcing their guidance on her. Your daughter is very strong-willed.”
“She is,” he agrees. “But my will is stronger. Once she talks to Bruce, I think she’ll understand he’s where her future lies.”
I think he’s full of shit, and I’m pissed on her behalf. “No.”
“No, you don’t agree?”
“No, I won’t tell you where to find us. It’s a dangerous, potentially fatal risk simply so Bruce can drag her home like a naughty little girl.”
“Let’s be honest. She’s behaved like one.”
Does he realize how condescending he’s being? “I think she’s finding her way in the world. We all make mistakes when we’re younger, then correct course.”
“She made more than a mistake. She stepped in a steaming pile of shit. I’m giving her a handout now. An easy way out of her mess. All she has to do is say ‘I do’ to someone she already likes and trusts.”
“I can’t stop her if she wants to marry Bruce, but she hired me to protect her. I’m going to do that until she tells me otherwise.”
“Seventy-five thousand, with a fifteen thousand dollar bonus if she agrees by Thursday to come home with Bruce.”
“It’s a generous offer, but I don’t have any sway over her. We just met this morning.”
“Stephen seems to think otherwise, just like he thinks you’re eager to get her into bed.”
I can hardly call him a liar when it’s true. “The answer is still no.”
“It’s admirable of you to defend not just her privacy, but her character. Tell you what, a hundred thousand, with a twenty-five K bonus if she’s on a plane wearing Bruce’s engagement ring by Friday.”
I need the money so fucking bad. That would set my business up for at least a year and allow me to buy a condo now. Those are just two of many reasons to say yes. I only have one reason to refuse him, and that’s Amanda. “No.”
“You’re loyal. Good trait in a man. I admire that.”
“Don’t butter me up.”
“Maybe I wasn’t plain earlier, Tanner. If you don’t help me steer Amanda toward the right future, you’ll walk away empty-handed. I won’t pay you a dime for protecting her this week. Then how will you put a roof over your head? It’s expensive in Maui, and you can’t afford the plane ticket home, son.”
“I’m not your son.”
“Just tell me where to find Amanda and talk Bruce up, and you won’t have to worry about money for a long while.”
I hesitate. He makes a good point. Where the hell will I be at the end of a week? A couple hundred bucks poorer and without a place to hang my hat. Even if my house sells tomorrow, escrow won’t close for at least thirty days, maybe more. The guy who owns the building where I’d like to open the shooting range told me when I toured the facility that I wasn’t the only one looking at it.