Love With A Stranger (36 page)

“It’s a done deed, so don’t worry about it. If any repercussions arise, we’ll find a way to deal with them. Who knows? Your little ploy may work in our favor if you truly put the fear of God, or rather the law, into her. Even if she tells Peter, that doesn’t alter the fact he wants me out of his picture. I can always pretend I didn’t know about your suspicions and intention and I believe he’s innocent of any wrongdoing. Besides, the moment after we settled, I was going to tell him I knew what he did to me.”

Jason sat up and caressed her cheek. “Then you aren’t mad at me?”

She smiled. “Of course not. You were only trying to help me.”

“For selfish reasons. I want you free of Peter and Tom and the past.”

“I know, and so do I. Everything will work out soon; you’ll see. After it does, we will ‘begin’ a romance.”

“I have an idea about how we can explain us getting close so fast.”

Cass noted his broad grin and sparkling eyes. “What is it?”

“My receptionist is going on leave next week to have surgery Friday; she’ll be out for a month or two. How would you like to fill in for her? By working together, we’ll have a good excuse for becoming close friends; then we can start dating openly.
That’ll also give you a chance to meet people, many of them my close friends, and get you out of that house during the day. I promise I’ll be an easy and good-paying boss. All you’ll have to do is greet patients, answer the phone, and make appointments.”

“You’re a sly man, Jason Burkman. It’s perfect. Who could possibly fault a lonely widow for falling for her charismatic boss?”

“Or fault a lonely physician for succumbing to the many charms and great beauty of his temporary receptionist. Excellent idea I had. We’ll discuss it tomorrow during your check-up with me.”

“Is it going to be a complete examination?” she asked with a grin.

“As complete as I dare make it in my office. So, Peter made a play for you, did he? Perhaps I should go over and beat the daylights out of him.”

“You know you have no reason to be jealous. And we both know he wasn’t serious. I think I’ll accept your job offer so I can keep my eye on you and all of those pretty nurses.”

“I promise you, Cass, you’re the only woman who catches my eye.”

“And you’re the only man who catches mine.”

On Monday while Mary Ellis was cleaning her house, Cass kept her appointment with Jason, who examined her in a professional manner with one of his three nurses present. After she was fully clad and they were left alone in one of the many rooms to discuss her health following her checkup, they stole several kisses and embraces.

While she was at his office, Cass met his receptionist who would begin training her on Thursday. She liked Jason’s staff and knew she was going to enjoy the job.

* * *

Late Tuesday afternoon, Jason received a surprising call from Inez Doughtery, who requested a meeting with the doctor after he finished with his patients. As she had told him to bring his offer with him in cash, it was not hard to deduce the reason for her request.

He phoned his bank and gave instructions to have a cashier’s check for fifty thousand dollars ready for him to pick up at five o’clock and to deduct it from his savings account.

Afterward, Jason leaned back in his chair and smiled.
You’re going to pay through the nose for what you did to Cass and me, you sorry bastard, and you’ll be delighted to do so. So will Hines if Inez has the proof she claims to have against you two.

Jason got up to return to work. He needed to hurry so he could get to his bank between patients. It was only a few miles away, so that errand wouldn’t take long. He could hardly wait until six-thirty to meet with Inez and discover the truth—actually, buy it.

You’ll be free of that sonofabitch soon, my love; we both will.

At ten after seven that evening, Peter spoke with Cass in her den. “Our deal is in progress, if you haven’t changed your mind.”

“Of course I haven’t. Why should I when you’re being so generous and kind to help me make a new start without having to wait for years?”

“It’s the least I can do for you, Cass. The papers should be ready for you to sign within a week, two at most. Simon is preparing them now. He wants to make sure he covers all of his bases so the law can’t find any loopholes. As I told you, I’ll be paying the gift taxes on the settlement I make with you.
You’ll get a cashier’s check for five million dollars and clear title to this house and its furnishings. Is there anything I’ve forgotten to include that you feel you’re entitled to?”

Cass pretended to think for a minute, then shook her head.

“You do understand you’ll be relinquishing your claim to everything you’ve inherited: the entire trust fund and all of your company stocks?” He waited for her to nod. “You also understand you won’t receive any future dividends of any kind or any profits from eventual company sales?” He paused again for her to nod comprehension. “Do you have any questions or reservations about this deal between us?”

“No, it sounds clear and simple to me.”

“Good, but Simon will go over the terms again in his office before we sign our agreement. If you have a problem with it, let me know now.”

“The settlement you offered sounds fair to me, Peter. I just want this matter taken care of as soon as possible so I can get on with my life. Are you sure you can come up with that much cash by next week?”
Please don’t take longer so I can tell you what I really think of you, you treacherous snake!

Peter lazed against the sofa and grinned. “Yep, because I have buyers lined up for Smooth Rider, Texas-G Beef, the ranch, Big G Real Estate, and the restaurant and art gallery in Aspen. Those contracts are being drawn up as we speak. As soon as those deals are settled, I’m putting the electronics and seafood companies on the market. I’ve decided to keep the import/export company and house in LA; I’ll be going there tomorrow to get things set up for my relocation, but I’ll return home Saturday. So, when you decide to sell out here, I won’t be living in your backyard.”

And I won’t miss you for an instant!
“My goodness, Peter, you work fast when your mind is made up.”

“There’s no need to hesitate, and this move will be good for me. So will dumping Smooth Rider. Club Car just received an award as the Exporter of the Year with forty-six million
dollars in foreign sales; that’s stiff competition for golf carts. Besides, my import/export company will involve plenty of international travel; that sounds exciting and satisfying, just the challenge and diversion I need.”
Yep, I gotta get my ass out there and make sure the authorities don’t catch on to what I’m importing and exporting for big bucks.

“You’re lucky our companies are in such good shape and you found buyers so quickly.”
So am I.

“Yep, that was the winning stroke. You do understand, even if we didn’t have a deal, you couldn’t profit from those sales for five to ten years because the money would go into that trust fund to be doled out slowly?”

“I know, and I don’t resent you for getting it. The majority of the estate is rightfully yours. Just be on alert for female piranhas who’ll come swimming after a super rich, sexy, and handsome bachelor.”

Peter chuckled. “Thanks for the compliments, and I’ll be sure to be careful. I would offer you more money, Cass, but our settlement has to come out of my pocket, not the companies’ holdings; that wouldn’t be legal. Besides, Uncle Sam is going to take a huge bite out of those gains.”

“Perhaps Harrison Dredger can find tax loopholes for you. Isn’t that what an expensive accountant is supposed to do for his clients?” she jested, trying to dupe Peter with her playful mood.

“Why, Cassandra Grantham, I do believe you have a wicked streak.”

“At certain times in our lives, don’t we all have one?”

“I suppose so, or the human sharks would eat us alive.”

Cass leaned forward, sent him a mischievous grin, and asked, “What’s the worst—or should I say, cleverest?—trick you’ve pulled?”

“Hmm, let me think for a minute…” Peter glanced at his watch, leapt from his seat, and said, “Damn, I’m almost late
for dinner with friends! You’ll have to excuse my rush, Cass, but I gotta run.”

“Coward! That’s a sneaky way to avoid answering,” she teased him. She wished he would leave fast so she could relax her guard.

As his hazel gaze swept over her and a curious desire for her plagued him, he wondered if it had been a mistake not to pursue her for himself.

Cass followed him to the back door. “Good night, Peter, and have a nice time tonight with your friends.”

“Thanks, Cass. I’m flying out early, so I won’t see you again until this weekend. Take care of yourself while I’m gone.”

“I will, and have a safe and successful trip. ’Bye.” She almost cringed when he gave her a light kiss on the lips before departing. Despite her loathing, she smiled and waved to him when he glanced back at the wrought-iron gate and did the same to her.

Wednesday morning in Brunswick, Jason sat at his office desk and sipped a cup of coffee after he planned his talk with David Hines that evening. He had phoned David after seeing Inez and insisted they meet to discuss what he had learned, dropping clear hints to the nervous man about the topic in store for them. While he waited for his first patient to be prepared for an examination, he picked up the morning paper which he didn’t have time to read at home and received a jolting shock.

On Sea Island, Cassandra Redfern Grantham was staring at the same news article, her gaze wide and her lips parted in astonishment.

Jason buzzed his nurse and told her he had to make an important call and he would join his patient as soon as he completed it. He phoned Cass and asked if she’d seen this morning’s paper.

“I’m reading it now. My heavens, Jason, I can’t believe he did it. This is horrible; his family must be terribly upset.”

“Yes, I’m sure they are. I’ll be over as soon as I finish work so we can discuss this matter. We don’t want to say anything over the phone in case somebody we know is bugging yours; I wouldn’t put it past him. Just stay calm and I’ll see you about six.”

“I will, and I’ll cook supper for us, something quick and simple. By the way, Peter’s out of town until the weekend. He flew out early this morning, so I doubt he knows about this tragedy.”

After embracing and kissing Cass, Jason said, “Let’s sit in the den and go over this before we have supper; we don’t want our stomachs tied up in knots while we’re eating.”

They went into the other room and sat side by side on the sofa before Jason started the conversation. “I was supposed to be seeing Hines right now. I phoned him early last night and arranged a meeting. I—”

“Why were you going to meet with him?”

“To talk about what he and Peter did to you. I—”

“I thought we agreed on Sunday that you wouldn’t take any further action on your suspicions until I settled with Peter.” “After I saw Inez again, I had to make sure—”

“You spoke with her again? When? Why? I’m surprised and dismayed by your actions, Jason.”

Jason held her hand and urged in a tender tone, “Give me time to explain, and you’ll understand and agree. Inez called me at my office yesterday afternoon and wanted to see me after work, with the money.” As Cass stared at him, he said, “That’s right; she accepted my deal. You were right about her trying to get more money out of Peter than I was offering her, but her little scheme backfired. Fortunately for us, he provoked her to the point of revenge.” Jason related what Inez had told him about her talk with Peter.

“You mean she just came right out and admitted trying to blackmail him and told you everything about their misdeeds?”

“Yep, and even gave me proof she was being honest. By now, she’s probably cashed that check and vanished forever to protect herself from Peter and the law. I hated to let her get off the hook scot-free, but I had no choice since we were after bigger fish to fry.”

“I’m curious as to what ‘proof’ she gave you.”

“Inez had two of those mystery pills I told you about and one of those doctored aspirin capsules. At first, she thought she was only giving you medicine prescribed by Hines when she sneaked it into your food or drink. Peter convinced her you needed medicine but wouldn’t take it willingly. Later, she suspected the truth but kept helping Peter because of the big salary increase he gave her, and because she was certain you
would fire her as soon as you were well and your head cleared. Hines supplied the drug samples Peter used before he took over your treatment and kept you in a daze. Before Hines removed those extra drugs, Inez took one of each, and she kept one of the aspirin capsules Peter had prepared and was giving to you—or you were taking—without knowing they were tainted. That explains what happened to you, Cass, just as I suspected.”

Jason reminded her of how he had stolen two of the pills but lost them before he could analyze them. “Without them, my hands were tied. I couldn’t make accusations against Peter and Hines without proof. And I hated to worry you with charges I couldn’t prove. That’s why I insisted on becoming your doctor and why I brought Linda in to help me protect you. I knew there was no way they could continue to sneak drugs into your system without your symptoms alerting me to a problem; they realized it, too, and stopped doing so.”

“I hate to think what would have happened to me if not for you, Jason. Thank you for caring about me so much. I love you.”

He gave her a quick hug and kiss. “I love you, too, woman, and I had to protect my interests.” He hurried on with their talk before they could become distracted by rising desires. “Inez also told me that Peter had your mail forwarded to a post office box in his name for a while so he would get all of the correspondence first. He had your phone line switched to his place so all calls would either go to him or to his answering machine; that way he could screen them. Later, he had the mail and phone line changed back to your address before your head cleared and you caught on to him. That’s why nobody could reach you, Cass; he had you cut off from the world and thinking no one cared about you, when a lot of people did care.”

Cass smiled inwardly, relieved to make that discovery.

“I wanted to see Hines to tell him I’d be watching him like a hawk to make sure he didn’t do something like this to another innocent patient—”

“I’m sure you wanted to bring him up on charges,” Cass interrupted gently, “but were reluctant to do so because that would have involved me in a scandal. Even so, Jason, we both know we couldn’t have allowed Hines to go unexposed and risk him doing that to somebody else in the future.”

“I was torn between doing what was right and protecting you, Cass, but Hines took that difficult decision out of our hands. The same dilemma applies to pressing charges against Peter, even with the evidence we’ve gathered. Other than taking his precious money, I don’t know how we can punish him since we don’t want to go to the police with the truth. Peter has powerful contacts and lots of money for mounting a strong defense. With Inez and Hines gone, we have no witnesses to corroborate our accusations, so it would be our word against his. Considering our romantic relationship, I don’t know how much weight ours would carry. I have no doubt he would drag us through the courts and hell with a lengthy trial, and countless appeals if he lost. The media would have a field day with the story.”

“And I’m sure Mutt & Jeff would like nothing better than getting another chance to dig into my private life and to harass me; I don’t want the truth about Tom and our marital troubles to be exposed. I’m sorry Doctor Hines felt he had to take his life, but at least he can’t harm any more patients.”

“I got a special delivery letter from Hines today. He wrote and mailed it before he took his life late last night. The timing was such that the news of his suicide was included with this morning’s article which was originally intended to reveal only his closet homosexuality. He said the news was already leaking out by yesterday and patients were canceling on him right and left and he was receiving vulgar calls from people who wouldn’t identify themselves. He knew what was coming today because the reporter doing the exposé called him for a rebuttal, which he refused to give. He said he couldn’t endure being raked over the media’s hot coals.”

“I suppose he panicked,” Cass deduced, “because he could have relocated after the news hit.”

“Yes, but his family and friends would know about his dark secret, and he couldn’t bear the thought of their scorn and rejection. He knew what I wanted with him, and he suspected Peter was the source of the news leak—though I doubt that’s true—so he gave me the facts about what Peter did to you out of revenge and hatred toward him. That would have been a marvelous piece of evidence, except he typed the letter and didn’t sign it, so we might not be able to prove he wrote it or that was the paper inside the special delivery envelope.”

Jason released her hand, took a swallow of cola, then explained, “Hines helped Peter because of blackmail; he knew about Hines’s secret life and threatened to expose it. Of course, when we confront Peter, we don’t have to tell him the letter wasn’t handwritten or signed. We finally know the truth, my love, but the only way we can use the evidence I gathered from Hines and Inez is to force Peter to settle with you so we can get married sooner.”

“He already has, Jason. I mean, our deal is settled and the papers are being drawn up by Simon Johnson.” She related her talk with Peter last night.

“Will you be satisfied with the amount he’s offered after all he’s done to you?” he asked.

“I just want this obstacle removed. I wouldn’t dare be so foolish as to try to blackmail him for more. Besides, I would feel like a criminal if I tried to pull a stunt like that. After everything is settled, I’ll let Peter know I’m not dense or a naive fool. I also believe that people like him eventually get what they deserve; somewhere along the line, he’ll make a mistake and he’ll be called upon to pay for it. I won’t dirty my hands by trying to be his jury, judge, and executioner; I’ll leave those jobs up to fate.”

“I’m glad you aren’t a vindictive person, Cass; that speaks highly of you.”

She snuggled into his arms and hugged him. “The same is true for you, Jason, or you would have found a way to spite Peter long ago.”

“Hatred and revenge take a lot of energy and animosity, my love, and I don’t want my life and thoughts filled and controlled by ugly emotions.”

“Neither do I. As the saying goes: ‘Let’s take the money and run’.”

“You’re so wonderful and tempting, woman, that the only place I want to run is upstairs with you, unless it’s straight to the marriage altar.”

“We’ll act on your first suggestion after supper, Doc, because I’m starved. I confess I skipped lunch, but don’t scold me. As for your second suggestion, we should have that matter taken care of by Christmas.”

Following an erotic shower where they lathered each other from neck to feet, Cass and Jason almost leapt into her new bed and upon her new linens to continue what they had started in the bathroom.

Jason’s arms slipped with gentle purpose around Cass. He nestled his cheek against her dark hair and relished the feel of her naked body against his. They cuddled, caressed, and kissed each other, treasuring every moment of their loving.

Just as he was about to enter her, Jason leaned back his head and gazed into Cass’s glowing eyes, so full of love and desire for him, and trust in him.

“I love you, Cass, and I’m the luckiest man in the world to have you.”

Cass smiled and said, “And I’m the luckiest woman in the world to have you.” She pressed kisses to his nose, cheeks, and chin as he rolled them over to place her atop him. His strong hands grasped her hips and he partially lifted her so he could join their bodies. She gazed into his yearning blue eyes
and handsome face before he rested his head on her chest as he held her in place and slid inside her. She clung to him and rode him wildly.

Jason could barely retain his control. As Cass rocked upon his lap, he suckled at her breasts, his muscles rippling as he strove onward and upward in his thrilling quest to sate them both. When the moment approached, he held her close. After her release came and her tension subsided, he ceased his thrusts and surrendered to his own climax.

Afterward, they kissed and embraced tenderly, gazing into each other’s eyes and murmuring vows of love, satisfaction, and commitment.

On Thursday morning after giving Mary Ellis instructions to lock up the house upon her departure at five o’clock, Cass drove to Jason’s office to begin a five-day training period by his receptionist.

Upon arrival at the large and lovely office in Brunswick, Cass was reintroduced to the three nurses, receptionist, and bookkeeper/secretary: a staff of five friendly and efficient ladies whose ages ranged from mid-thirties to early fifties, all married with children.

Cass listened, observed, and took notes as the genial woman gave her instructions which she would practice next Monday through Wednesday. The position entailed greeting patients, dealing with salesmen, answering the multi-line phone, making appointments, and writing reminder cards or phoning patients about their impending visits.

Since Jason’s practice was full, he only accepted new patients upon referral from the hospital or from other physicians as a professional courtesy.

She was told that besides working with patients, the two younger nurses pulled and filed daily charts. The older one also held the position of office manager, which included handling
medical supplies, making sure specimens and samples got to the proper outside laboratories for tests, making sure those results were returned and recorded on patients’ charts, dealing with any problem, and unlocking and locking file cabinets upon entry and departure to protect patient confidentiality. The secretary/bookkeeper took care of incoming and outgoing mail, typed letters, filled out insurance and Medicare claims, recorded payments, made bank deposits, did the staff payroll, and ordered supplies required for her responsibilities.

Their workday began at eight-thirty with preparations to open the office at nine o’clock. They closed for an hour at twelvethirty so everyone could eat at the same time, with an answering service taking over. Four days of the week, the women brought their lunches and ate them while relaxing and chatting in the break room. On Fridays, they splurged on a meal at a different restaurant each week. Though today was Thursday, they were treating Cass to lunch at the Royal Cafe in town. They finished their day between five-thirty and six o’clock so everyone could have quality time with their families, which was one of the many reasons why Jason was so well liked and respected and why the women were longtime employees of his.

After they reached her house that evening and she was unlocking the door, Cass grinned and said, “Considering how many unattached female patients you have, it’s smart of you to keep a nurse around when you have to work late with one of them. I’ve heard that some women will go to any lengths to ensnare a handsome and virile man like you are.”

“Thanks for the compliment, and I’m always careful in that area. I’ve never had a problem in the past, and I don’t want one to crop up in the future. It’s just that some people are suecrazy these days, trying to make money any way they can. Rest assured, I would be innocent of any charges filed against me
for improper behavior with a female patient. Excluding you, of course,” he added. “I’m absolutely guilty of pursuing you.”

“Rest assured,” she began, paused playfully, and laughed, “I would never bring charges against you for openly doing what I was doing covertly.”