“With due respect, sir, I’m not sure I can help her. I don’t even know your daughter.”
“That’s true right now, but I’m hoping you’ll introduce yourself into her life and you, as an outside party, can show her how to manage her money better, or at least cut back on the spending. After all, son, you’re the expert, and even Jude can’t argue with an expert.”
“Well...”
Not letting Liam finish, Martin said, “Your father can’t brag enough about you. You can be a voice of reason for Jude. You don’t have the problem of emotion to deal with. Once you’ve gained Jude’s trust, I believe she’d listen to you.”
“I don’t know how true that is, Dr. Foster. My clients come to me willingly. I don’t seek them out to try and get them to listen to reason as you’re suggesting. And anyway, I have a full-time job with a financial planning firm in Cleveland. I can’t take time away from my regular clients to counsel your daughter, especially when you’ve hinted that she’s not the type to be counseled.”
“You don’t have to give up your clients, Liam. Just come out here on weekends and maybe once or twice during the week. Show an interest in what she’s doing, get her to trust you and—”
“While I secretly examine her books?” Liam said. “That’s dishonest, Dr. Foster. If not downright impossible.”
“Not if you show interest in what she’s doing. Don’t you first try to gain the trust of anyone you educate about money? Isn’t that the first step?”
“Well, yes...”
“Then this is no different. Besides, once you two meet, once the groundwork is set, I intend to tell her why I’ve brought you in. But it wouldn’t do for me to divulge that until she trusts you. Jude is a trusting girl. She just doesn’t like to be pushed around. I think she’ll like you right off.”
Liam didn’t have any reason to believe that.
“Think of me as another client, Liam,” Martin said. “I’ll pay you whatever your hourly rate is.” Dr. Foster held up his index finger. “Just don’t bully her, son. She may be trusting, but once her mind is stuck on something, she won’t let anyone tell her what to do.”
Slightly offended, Liam said, “I don’t think I bully anyone.”
“No, I’m sure you don’t. You seem like a nice young fellow. Now, just go on out there and have your dinner and then ask Jude to dance. She’s a pretty girl, and aside from scoot-booting around a Western bar once in a while, I don’t think she’s danced with anyone since Paul left for the service.” Dr Foster chuckled. “You may decide this is the most pleasant job you’ve ever had.”
Even though Liam believed Dr. Foster truly loved his daughter but just felt inadequate to help her, he doubted that this assignment would be easy. During this conversation Liam had conjured up one very clear image of an afternoon twenty years ago at a doctors’ picnic. He remembered a curly-haired pigtailed girl shoving him onto the ground when he was poking a snake with a stick. He hadn’t been hurting the snake, and besides, it was a snake... But the pigtailed girl obviously decided the snake needed a champion.
That was the only contact Liam had ever had with Jude Foster, Jude Something-Else now, and he’d ended up covered in mud, and hating girls for the next six months.
“Now, go on before your dinner gets cold,” Dr. Foster said. “It cost me twenty-four ninety-five a plate, and for that price, you should eat it while it’s hot. And remember my involvement with you is a private matter between you and me, for now. Jude doesn’t need to know yet.”
Uncertain about this plan, Liam returned to his table, sat next to his father and ate his tepid prime rib.
“So you talked with Martin?” Dr. Manning asked.
“He wants to hire me for a short while,” Liam said. “But I guess you already know that.”
“I hope you agreed,” Dr. Manning said. “There’s not a better man than Martin Foster, but he’s a pushover when it comes to his daughters. And Jude, the middle one, is tougher to handle than the other two. According to Martin, if left alone, without some solid, timely advice, she’ll run that foundation of hers into the ground and Martin along with it.”
“But I don’t feel right about this whole thing. Dr. Foster wants me to keep our relationship a secret until I’ve gotten closer to Jude, until she trusts me.”
“Sounds to me like a good way to approach this,” Lawrence said. “Why alienate the girl right at the start?”
Liam frowned. “What do you know about her?”
His father smiled in a guarded way that made Liam uncomfortable. “Martin doesn’t criticize his daughters for the most part, but I know he’s not used to opening up to Jude. That’s where you come in. And since Martin is likely to pay you well for this assignment, I wouldn’t want to prejudice you with idle gossip about the girl.”
“So without telling me some of that gossip you’ve heard, you’re warning me that if I work with Jude, I might be better off to use a whip and a chair rather than a mechanical pencil and spreadsheet.”
“You should talk to her tonight, see what you think for yourself. Women have always liked you, son. You’re clean, cultured, honorable...”
“Staid? Boring?” An image of his ex-wife came to mind, and he realized she might add other adjectives that could describe an Eagle Scout.
“No! I didn’t mean that at all. Could be Jude will take to you like a mama bear to honey.”
The analogy was not a comfortable one. Didn’t bears eat honey? And besides, Lawrence’s facial expression suggested that he truly might have no faith in his son being able to get along with Jude.
“You’d be doing this as a personal favor to me, Liam,” his father said. “Martin and I go all the way back to medical school. I don’t suppose I have a better friend than he is, and he needs help with this situation. It’s gotten out of control.”
“I guess I believe that,” Liam said.
“Besides, you want to go to that economic conference in Stockholm this spring, don’t you?” Lawrence added. “If you straighten Jude out, Martin will be so grateful, you’ll be able to afford a first-class plane ticket.”
Dr. Manning patted his son’s back. “At the end of the night, if you want them, I’ll give you my impressions about Jude. There probably are a few things you should know. Combined with what you learn yourself, you can decide what you want to do. But if it makes any difference, I’m counting on you, son. Friendships mean a lot to me.”
Nothing like putting on the pressure, Liam thought. He owed his father for sticking by him during his divorce. Lawrence had called his son every day to ask how he was, and Liam didn’t know how he would have gotten through those difficult days without his dad’s concern. And Liam figured he could straighten out this foundation in a matter of a few visits. He was that good. Besides all that, Dr. Foster had promised he’d tell his daughter about their alliance soon.
The wedding cake had barely been cut when Liam stood in line to get his piece. He
