Head Over Heels (12 page)

He balled toilet paper around his fist and wiped his mouth before anyone could see it. He flushed away his feelings and turned around to catch Gunnar standing behind him.

“You want to talk about it?” Gunnar asked.

Thane washed his hands and splashed some cool water in his face. “You don’t want to hear what’s going on with me. You want to make judgments and comments.” He ripped a couple of sheets of paper towels from the dispenser. “You don’t have to pretend you like me anymore. I get it. The least we can do is be polite about it.” He started to walk by Gunnar when Gunnar stepped into his path.

“Man, talk to me. What is it? Tell me. The last few years, I felt you pulling away from me, pulling away from the family.” Gunnar wrapped his tree-trunk sized arms around Thane’s shoulders and hugged him. “I love you. You know that, right?”

Thane didn’t hug him back. His arms remained down by his sides. When Gunnar released his embrace, Thane threw away the used wad of paper towels he’d continued to hold after he’d dried his hands and face.

“We should get back to the meeting room and sign the paperwork.” Thane made it around Gunnar.

One day he would reveal the real reason for his distance. Thane couldn’t do that now.

After the meeting, Thane looked at Gunnar and Gideon. He really stared at them, studied them. Until Gunnar cut his hair, they could have almost passed for twins. Both dirty blond. All three had blue eyes, but Gunnar and Gideon’s eye color matched a bit more.

“There’s still plenty of food at Mom’s house from the funeral yesterday.” Gunnar stood. “The two of you want to come by for some lunch?”

“Sounds good.” Gideon rubbed his stomach. It took him a bit to get on his feet. With the help of his cane, he started to move around a little better. “You coming, Thane?”

Thane thought about his actions the past few days, well, more like past few years. Like Gunnar said, Thane had been pulling away from them for a while. He could go to lunch and clear the air.

Thane started to open his mouth to respond when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and saw his agent’s name. “One sec, guys.” He left the room and went down the hallway close to the bathroom. “Alec. How are you?”

“Hanging in there, kid.” His agent’s voice sounded a bit gruffer than normal. With Alec in California, the man had probably just gotten out of bed. “Sorry about your mother. I know that was rough for you.”

Thane rubbed the back of his neck. “Very. But I’m dealing.”

“Speaking of deals, I need to tell you something.”

Thane paced. He hoped Alec wouldn’t reveal what Kari had told him this morning. Deep in his gut, he knew she hadn’t lied.

“Shoot,” Thane said.

“I’m closing up shop, kid. Time to take it easy.” Exhaustion laced every word.

“I hate to tell you, but I already knew.” Thane leaned his back against the wall.

“What?”

“Yeah, a competing agent tried getting me to sign.”

Alec snorted. “Bastards. The chum is already in the water and the sharks are circling. Listen, kid, I have plenty of agents here who can represent you.”

Thane nodded. “That’s what I thought. That’s great.”

“Yeah, competent guys. The good thing is that I’ve already established a great deal for you. Your new agent will have to make sure the team doesn’t screw you.” Alec coughed, not unusual for the pack-a-day smoker.

Of course, whenever he and Thane met, he never smoked around him. Alec protected his client. The idea reminded Thane of Kari and how she’d said she would look out for him if she represented him. It didn’t seem possible. For one thing, he’d never heard of her. He had heard of her agency. Thane checked out East Coast businesses first in his quest to find representation. When he’d received the call from Alec Fogel himself, Thane’s search ended.

“I knew you would look out for me.” Thane started to head back to the conference room to see his brothers.

“Of course. Like I said, you should be content with what you have,” Alec replied.

The hairs stood on the back of Thane’s neck. “Are you saying no one else could get me a better deal than you?”

Alec paused before continuing. “I’m the last of a dying breed. I’m still hungry for making deals. Agents nowadays aren’t like that.”

Maybe one still fit that category. Persistent. Kari had described herself that way.

“I’ll shoot over some names of agents. I personally like Jack Johannsen. He’s been an agent here for fifteen years, but in the biz for twenty. He’s developed a rapport with owners all over. The great thing about him is that he’ll stay out of your business. You don’t need an agent who wants to appear on camera with you or anything like that. A strictly behind-the-scenes kind of guy.”

“Quiet.”

“But powerful.” Alec coughed again. “Let me know if you need anything, kid.”

“Sure.” Thane disconnected the call and returned to the conference room only to find it empty.

He snatched his jacket and personal items he’d left in the room. Thane stomped out to the parking lot where he found Gunnar and Gideon standing by Gunnar’s Hummer.

“Everything okay?” Gideon hopped to the front of the vehicle.

“Yeah, yeah. It will be. Look, I need to take a rain check on that lunch.” Thane held up his phone. “Some business stuff came up that I need to take care of.”

“Like what? Are they asking you to come back to train now?” Gunnar planted his hands on his hips like he wanted to hit someone.

Thane missed Gunnar’s protective nature. “No, nothing like that.”

“Does it have something to do with your agent?” Gideon stared into Thane’s eyes. When Thane didn’t immediately answer, Gideon filled in the blanks. “Most of the stuff about you we read online. I heard your super agent is retiring. You might want to use my guy. He’s good. I can contact him and set up a meeting if you—”

“No.” Thane went to his car. “Sorry for cutting in. I have to go. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

“Okay. Coming over to the house for dinner at least?” Gunnar asked from over the hood of his truck.

“Maybe. I’ll call and let you know.” Thane ducked into his ride right when Gunnar and Gideon said they loved him.

Thane pulled out of the lot and down the street before he could answer any more questions from his brothers. He peered over at the passenger side car seat and spied the envelope with information and keys to his mother’s beach house. He would have to check that out later. He didn’t have the time or energy to make that journey.

Thane’s mind tripped over Alec’s words. He said Thane should be happy with what he had. Content. Nothing about that defined Thane. He’d always pushed himself, and he expected people around him to do the same thing.

He pulled into a shopping center parking lot and parked in a space. He picked up his phone and checked for messages first. He saw that Gunnar had called him about twenty times between yesterday and that morning and had left ten messages, both text and voice. Then he found Kari’s number.

She’d labeled herself as Kari Your Next Agent Meyers. He almost broke into a smile when he saw it, but he remembered her invasion of his privacy. Had it not been for her, though, he would have ended up facedown in the hotel’s lobby or at the bar, hitting on a woman or two or more.

Thane pushed the option to dial her number. If nothing else, he could apologize to her again. He heard a beeping sound, meaning his call would be interrupting a current call. This would be a test. Would she click over to talk to him, truly show him that he would be at the top of her list?

He heard a click.

“Kari Meyers.” Her voice sounded professional if not clipped.

“Thane Wells.” He kept his tone low and business like. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

A pause lingered before she answered. “May I call you right back?”

He sighed and made sure to make it audible through the phone.

Before he could give her an answer, Kari spoke. “I’m dealing with an ongoing issue right now. I don’t want to blow you off.”

That statement alone got Thane imaging Kari on her knees in front of him. He rubbed his eyes in hopes of bringing back the gentleman Elizabeth Sommerville had raised.

“Don’t bother calling me back.” Thane put his vehicle in
drive
. “Meet me tonight at seven. I don’t want to do business over the phone.” Plus, he wanted to see if he still got that fluttery feeling in his belly like he had earlier in his hotel room. “We could meet at the restaurant at my hotel. Would that work for you?”

Kari cleared her throat. “Would we be able to get a private table? Talking business face-to-face is great, but I would like some privacy.”

Damn, was she leaving it open that she wanted to go back to his hotel room…so close to his bed?

Thane swallowed hard. “I’ll make a special request. So I’ll see you later?”

“Yes. Thank you for the opportunity. You won’t regret it.” She disconnected the call as fast as she’d answered it.

He tossed his phone into one of the cup holders and thought about his decision to contact a competing agency. In his head, he wanted to get the best person to represent him. The rest of his body wanted to see what she would wear to their dinner meeting.

He needed to get his head out of the clouds. He had too many things going on, including a career that he needed to get back to eventually. Tonight would only be business…he hoped.

Kari had barely gotten back to her hotel room when Reagan called her about Michael. Kari paced the floor after kicking off her shoes.

“Put him on the phone.” She didn’t mean for her voice to sound so gruff, but she felt so helpless being away from her child.

“Did you not hear me? He’s locked himself in the bathroom and he won’t come out.”

Kari heard a knocking sound through the phone.

“Come on, Michael. Open the door. I have your mom on the phone right now,” Reagan said.

After a beat, Kari heard, “No!”

She rubbed her forehead. She wanted to sit. She needed to sit, especially after her quick but surprising call from Thane. She couldn’t believe he wanted to talk business, at least, she hoped he wanted that and not some sober repeat performance from last night.

She couldn’t think about him right now. She had a child in crisis. “Reagan, slide your phone under the door.”

“What?” Reagan pounded on the door. “Open up that door right now.”

“Please don’t raise your voice to him.” Kari knew what had set off her son. “I know the gap under the door is big enough to fit your phone.”

“Yeah, but what if he breaks it or flushes it? Are you going to buy me—”

“Yes. Put it on speaker. Please do it.” Kari chewed on her lower lip as she waited. She heard a click and then a sliding sound.

Silence.

“Michael? Come on, little slugger. Talk to me.” She sat at the edge of her bed and closed her eyes. She remembered when she brought her precious son into the world. What a wonderful gift.

She sang the John Fogerty song about baseball softly at first. She didn’t care if the guests in the other rooms heard her. She raised her voice after the next verse and stopped after singing the chorus. Her throat tightened a little until she could hear confirmation that she’d gotten through to him.

“Mom?”

His tiny voice jumpstarted her heart again. “Yeah, sweetie?”

“Why did you stop singing?”

She smiled and slipped down the bed to sit on the floor. “I was waiting for you. Will you sing it with me?”

He sang the song from the beginning. When he got to the chorus, Kari joined him.

“What’s going on there?” Kari spoke calmly and slowly.

“I tried calling Dad. He didn’t answer me. I left him messages and he hasn’t called me back.”

Kari cursed under her breath and bounced the back of her head on the bed. “For one thing, you know you’re not supposed to use the phone. What did I tell you about that?”

“I didn’t use the phone…at home. I went to Kyle’s house and used it there. You never said I couldn’t use it at the Monte house.”

Her clever child.

“Don’t get smart with me, Michael. You know better. No calls from any phone, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He released a big sigh.

“That would explain why he didn’t answer you. He probably didn’t recognize the number.” That sounded plausible. “And you know how busy he is. I’ll contact him and make sure that he reaches out to you, okay?” She really couldn’t make that promise.

Nowadays, Jarrod handled almost all dealings with her through his attorney. Jarrod took great pains not to see her or Michael by having his child-support payments directly deposited into Kari’s account. Whenever she called him, he would speak to Michael for one minute. She could almost recite his questions to their child by heart. “What have you been up to now? How tall are you? You have a girlfriend yet?” Then he would end the conversation with a lie, always telling him he couldn’t wait to see him again.

“I need you to open the door and let Reagan in.”

She heard a clicking sound before she heard a whooshing noise like a door opening.

“That’s it. From now on you use the bathroom with the door open,” Reagan said.

“You owe Reagan an apology,” Kari said.

“Yes, ma’am.” A rustling noise sounded through the phone. “Sorry, Miss Reagan. I told her, Mom.”

“Very good. Thank you. When Reagan can’t get to you, it scares her and it scares me. She’s an extension of me. She does what I would do if I was home.” She didn’t hear anything for a while. “Michael? Reagan? Hello.”

Kari heard a brushing sound.

“I gave Reagan a hug. The hug was for her and you.” Michael’s voice sounded sorrowful yet sincere.

How could Kari be mad at her baby? “I love you, buddy.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

He was such a boy.

“What you did was wrong. No video games at all until I get back.” She would have said no computer, but she wanted to keep some sort of contact with him.

“Ah, Mom.”

She imagined him with his cute little bottom lip pushed out. “I know. Your life is so hard. Will you give the phone back to Reagan? I’ll see you in a few days, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. Here you go.”