the way as his assistant handed him a sheaf of papers that required his signature.
“Ms. Johnson,” he said as the woman was about to leave, “would you mind if I asked you a couple of questions?”
“Are they personal questions?”
“Not exactly personal. Didn’t you tell me you have a daughter in her twenties?”
“I do. Janice. She recently turned twenty-three. What makes you ask?”
“I was just wondering if—” He was interrupted by someone knocking on the partially opened door.
Shirley gasped.
“Who’s that?” Goodness wanted to know.
“I think it might be Aimee,” Mercy told her in a hushed whisper.
Indeed it was. The woman who’d dumped Roy for his father. She stepped into the office wearing a full-length mink coat and high-heel shoes. She was sleek, petite and very blond. They didn’t call it platinum blond for nothing, Goodness thought spitefully.
“What’s she doing here?” No one answered, and Goodness suspected her friends were as surprised as Roy obviously was.
He slowly stood. “That will be all, Ms. Johnson.”
“Yes, sir.” His assistant hurried out of the room.
“Hello, Roy.” Aimee smiled seductively and walked up to his desk. “It’s good to see you.”
“How did you get into the building?”
“Oh, I have my ways.”
Roy snickered. “I’ll just bet you do.” He made a mental note to talk to Dean Wilcoff about this.
“I think it’s time we talked, don’t you?” Without waiting for an invitation, she sat down and crossed her shapely legs.
Roy remained standing. “Actually, I think it’s time you left.”
Aimee sighed. “There’s no need to be nasty.”
“I mean it, Aimee.”
She shook her head, her long, blond hair swinging softly from side to side. “Roy, this is ridiculous! You refuse to have anything to do with your father—”
“I have nothing to say to him or to you.”
“That’s sad, because we both want to reconcile with you.”
His gaze narrowed. “I don’t think I can bring myself to call you Mother.”
She laughed, shrugging off his sarcasm. “I don’t think you should. Tell me, how are you?”
“Fine. Now leave.”
“I’ve come all this way, and I’m not going until you talk to me.”
Roy lowered himself stiffly into his chair. “What do you want?”
Aimee’s expression became petulant. “I always hated it when you used that tone of voice with me.” As if she suddenly felt hot, she unfastened the buttons of her coat and slipped her arms free.
Roy stared at the mink and at the silk suit beneath, set off by a stunning emerald brooch. “I see Daddy’s buying you lots of gifts.”
Aimee raised one elegant shoulder. “You might not believe this, but I happen to love your father.”
Roy raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Yeah, and I’ll bet you love his bank balance even more.” He’d understood long ago that Aimee had set her sights on his father from the beginning of their so-called relationship. He’d been used, and it wasn’t going to happen again.
Her lips thinned. “You can insult me all you want, but I will not take offense. I came because I want to build a bridge between you and your father.”
Roy laughed outright. “The woman who blew up the bridge now wants to build one? I find that interesting.”
“It’s true, Roy. It’s been five years. Your father and I have a very good life, but he misses you.” She pouted ever so slightly.
“Why am I having trouble believing that?”
“It’s true,” Aimee said a second time, even more insistently. “Talk to your father, okay? It’s what he wants. Me, too. I’d like us all to be friends.”
“I’d like world peace myself.”
“Burton’s your father!”
“He made his choice and I’ve made mine.”
Aimee reached for her purse and removed a gold cigarette case. “Do you mind if I smoke?”
“I thought you quit.”
“I am quitting.”
“You were quitting five years ago.”
She tapped the cigarette against the case, then inserted it between her lips. “It isn’t easy,” she muttered.
“Sorry, there’s a no-smoking law.”
“Whatever.” She returned the cigarette to the case, which she thrust back in her purse.
“Just finish saying what you came to say and get out.”
She looked hurt. “Burton wants to see you.”
Roy didn’t consider the request. “What for?” he asked scornfully.
“You’re his son. He loves you.”
Roy frowned. “He has a unique way of showing his love. Let me see … I love my son. I wonder how I can best show him that love? I know! I’ll divorce my wife, destroy my family and steal his fiancée. That should do the trick. Well, guess what, it didn’t work.”
“Roy, don’t you understand that what happened between me and your father just happened? Neither of us asked to fall in love with the other.”
Roy’s hand shot up. “Spare me. I don’t buy that for a second. You no more love my father than you loved me. When I think of what a fool I was, I get sick to my stomach. It was never me you wanted. I see that now. You were always interested in my father and you used me to get to him.”
Aimee flew to her feet. “That’s where you’re wrong. I do love Burton and he loves me. I love him enough to swallow my pride and approach you. Just talk to him, that’s all I ask.”
“Sorry, but I’m not interested.”
“I’d hoped your mother—”
“Leave my mother out of this!”
“I sent her a Christmas card,” Aimee said. “I
