An Irresistible Bachelor(104)

With half an ear, she heard the guests quieting down obediently, Jack's deep voice speaking, and then there was an eruption of clapping and shouting again.


"Callie?" Grace shouted over the uproar.

She snapped to. "Yes?"

"You wanted to go upstairs to talk?"

Not anymore, she thought. Or not for what she thought she was going to say.

"I just want to show you what I found," she replied.

"You found another letter?"

"The letter as it were."

Callie followed Grace to her room.

Once inside Grace and Ross's bedroom, she took a seat on a chintz-covered chaise lounge in the corner. Kicking her shoes off, she tucked her legs under her as Grace took the letter over to a lamp and read.

She'd been so ready to take the leap, Callie thought. To tell Jack everything and beg him to find a way for them to be together. And she'd decided that even if Grace was uncomfortable with Jack knowing about their past, it didn't matter. She was going to speak the truth anyway and choose Jack over everything she'd spent her life protecting. As well as what little family she had.

Only she'd been too late. Or maybe he hadn't been serious about not running, after all.

"This is extraordinary," Grace looked up, "We were right."

Callie glanced at the paper. "You were right."

"Have you shown this to Jack?"

She shook her head. I'll wait until tomorrow. He's got a lot on his hands right now."

"He certainly does." Grace put the sheet down on a bedside table. "How much do you have left to do on the portrait?"

"I finished the cleaning this afternoon. All I have to do is apply the fresh varnish coat and the project is done."

Grace sat down at the foot of the chaise. Her fingers went to work on the heavy diamond studs she was wearing in her earlobes. "And then what?"

Callie laughed quietly. "And then I'm heading back to New York."

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, if 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.



Chapter 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.