Worthy Opponents(27)

“I have a daughter and a son. My daughter is a sophomore at Stanford, heading for law school. And when last heard from, my son was in a beer garden in Munich, eating sausages. He’s enjoying a gap year in Europe, possibly a little too much.” She laughed at his description. “I never thought of taking a gap year. It’s very much of this generation. My father would have killed me if I’d taken a year off. And I was too driven at that age to want to, or even now.”

“Me too. I was very serious about my studies, and I couldn’t wait to get to the store and get to work as soon as I finished business school.” He was impressed to learn that about her and remembered reading it in the article.

“I’ve been reading about your grandfather. He must have been a remarkable man,” he said respectfully.

“He was incredible.” Her eyes lit up as she said it. “He taught me everything I know about the retail business and our store.”

“It’s a wonderful place,” Mike complimented her, as the servers set down the first course of lobster salad. There was an alternate choice for those who couldn’t eat lobster, but they both did. The band had started playing by the time they finished the first course, and he invited her to dance, which surprised her too. If anyone had told her she would be spending the evening dancing with Mike Weston, she wouldn’t have believed it, and would have stayed home. But he was lovely to talk to, and she was enjoying getting to know him. She followed him onto the dance floor. He put a gentlemanly arm around her, and they danced through two dances, chatting all the while, and then went back to the table for the main course of filet mignon. It was an exquisite dinner. People expected it for the price.

Spencer and Mike chatted all the way through dinner. They talked about the extensive traveling he did for business. He had been all over the world, and he spoke admiringly of his parents, still working hard. He told Spencer about his mother’s internet fashion business, which she loved and had so much fun with, and had turned into such a huge success.

“We need to add shopping online at Brooke’s. We haven’t done it yet,” she said, and he nodded, careful not to break his promise. He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the evening. He was enjoying her company. He had paid very little attention to the much older woman on his left, who fortunately had been engaged in deep conversation with the man on her left, so he was off the hook, and could enjoy talking to Spencer. He asked her about her sons and if it was fun having twins.

“It is now.” She smiled at him. “It was a little hard at first, and I went back to work pretty quickly. They’re identical and play tricks on me sometimes, but I can tell them apart. Their father never could, and still can’t.” He didn’t see enough of them to learn the differences, but she didn’t say that to Mike.

“You’ve got your hands full with the store and twin seven-year-olds,” he commented, and she nodded.

“I like being busy, and I think you can have both, a challenging job and a family. I’ve always believed that. And it seems to be working.” Her face lit up when she talked about the twins, and it touched him.

“I didn’t learn that lesson in time,” he said seriously. “I put all my energy into my career, and one day you wake up, and the kids are gone. It takes a toll,” he said softly. Spencer had noticed that he and the woman he had come with hadn’t exchanged a look all night. There seemed to be no warmth or communication between them, and she wondered if he meant that focusing on his career had taken a toll on his relationship with his children or his marriage, or both, but she didn’t want to ask. She noticed that Bill had had a hard time drawing the woman in black into conversation, and had finally turned to the woman on his other side and was talking to her. She was an attractive blonde, and he looked like he was having a nice time. Mike’s companion, who Spencer assumed was his wife, stared at Spencer occasionally, as though trying to guess what she and Mike were talking about. Mike danced with Spencer several more times, and then finally asked his wife to dance and she declined. She looked as though she was eager to go home, but the meal wasn’t over yet.

The servers had just set an elaborate chocolate dessert down in front of the guests, topped with gold flecks and meringues, when Spencer’s cell phone rang in her purse. She always left it on because of the boys, in case there was an emergency at home. She apologized to Mike, took out her phone, and answered, looking worried, as he watched her. She asked a serious of quick, staccato questions.

“When? How did it start? When did they get there? How bad is it?” It was Marcy. She was on the emergency list at the store, as were Paul Trask and Spencer. This time, they had called Marcy first. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m still at the Met. Thanks, Marcy,” she said, and hung up and looked at Mike with huge, worried eyes.

“Are your boys okay?” He looked worried for her. He could see that she was trying not to panic, as she set her napkin down on the table.

She answered in a low voice, so no one else would hear her. “There’s a fire at the store. I’ve got to go.” He could see terror in her eyes and wanted to reassure her.

“Of course,” he said, standing up as she went to whisper a few words to Bill to explain. He was having a great time with the blonde next to him, they were both laughing and drinking more champagne, which was being served with dessert. She told Bill about the fire.