An Irresistible Bachelor (An Unforgettable Lady #2)(90)

At that moment, the door opened and Ross walked in. He was wrenching his bow tie off like he hated having the thing around his neck, and he stopped when he saw Callie.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Callie got up and retrieved the letter. “Not at all. I should go. It’s late. What time are you leaving tomorrow morning?”

Grace followed her to the door. “Right after breakfast.”

“I’ll see you first thing in the morning, then. Good night, Grace. Night, Ross.”

As she went down the hall, she thought that tomorrow she would show Jack the letter, put the varnish on the painting, and then it would all be over.

She was surprised that she was actually looking forward to going back to her studio. However modest it was, everything in it was hers. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do for a job, but she figured she’d solve that problem eventually.

After she shut her door, she hesitated. And then she slowly turned the lock.

She had a feeling Jack would come to her tonight, and she didn’t have the energy left to deal with him. She just wanted peace.

And she would never find it with Jack Walker in her life.





24


IT WAS two o’clock in the morning by the time Jack could get himself out of his study. Members of the exploratory committee and Gray had turned it into command central and they’d all spent hours working every phone line he had. Calls were coming in from reporters, legislators, and business contacts. He did eight interviews with the press before midnight.

Although it wasn’t as if he had much to say.

Against the overwhelming consensus of opinion in the room, Jack had stood firmly behind a noncommittal holding statement. Even Gray had hotly disagreed with him, convinced that capitalizing on the rush was a good idea.

But Jack refused to make it official before he got to Callie. Even if it would be messy, it still wasn’t too late for him to back out, and he had hope that she would still come around. Slim though the optimism was.

After thanking Gray and the two advisers who were still in the room, he went upstairs to find her.

Striding down the runner in the hall, he thought he should have known his mother would pull a stunt like that. A woman who could change her entire identity, and walk away from her mother, father, sisters, and brothers without ever looking back, was capable of anything when she put her mind to it.

And she’d made it very clear how badly she wanted him in office.

Well, first thing tomorrow morning, he was going to take care of his mother.

Jack stopped in front of Callie’s door and tried to prepare himself for whatever was going to happen. He knocked, and when there was no answer, he went to open it. The knob didn’t turn.

Unable to comprehend the problem at first, he jiggled the brass with a curse.

And then he slowly released his hand.

He couldn’t believe it. She’d locked him out.

He was about to start pounding the door down, had raised his fist and leaned forward, when he stopped himself.

Jack dropped his hand to his side. Sat back on his heels. Stared at the door.

Not only didn’t she trust him; she clearly had no faith in him, either. She hadn’t even bothered to let him explain that his mother’s announcement had been rash, unexpected, and wrong.

Abruptly he felt as though he couldn’t breathe. With an uncoordinated hand, he undid his bow tie, loosened his collar. Opening his mouth, he dragged some air into his lungs.

So this is how it ends, he thought.

How appropriate that it was with him being locked out of her room.

Jack laid his palm against the door.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, but eventually he resurfaced and knew he needed to face up to reality.

No matter what she said, Callie didn’t love him enough. She’d made her choice. She didn’t want him in her life.

So be it.

Jack let his hand fall from the door and walked away.

He wasn’t sure where he was going or why. The only thing he was certain of was that standing in front of her locked bedroom wasn’t where he wanted to be when the sun came up.

When he found himself downstairs, there were waiters still milling around. The men and women were carrying trays of dirty glasses into the kitchen and stripping the dining room of the remnants of the food. It dawned on him that he’d missed saying good night to the guests.

Probably just as well, he thought, heading for his study. He wouldn’t have been able to stomach all of the good wishes for his candidacy.

Gray was in the room by himself, packing up papers.

“Hell of a night, huh,” his friend murmured.

You have no idea, he thought.

He stared at Gray for a minute and then spoke sharply. “Tomorrow morning, I want the committee members downtown in my office early.”

“Fine, but it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to hear the reports—”

“Tell them it’s going to go all day long. We’ve got a campaign to launch.”

Gray looked up from the folder he was holding. “What the hell are you talking about? I thought you were still on the fence. We told everyone you were on the fence.”

“Not anymore.”

“Jesus Christ, Jack.” Gray slammed down the folder. “We missed a prime opportunity tonight!”