Hard to Resist - By Kara Lennox Page 0,57
was structured.
He had the nerve to laugh. “You’re doing the whole program on that?”
That? It seemed like a fortune to her. “I’m very good at stretching a dollar.”
“I’ll say. How would you feel about a slightly larger budget?”
Kat’s heart skipped a beat. “I’d welcome an increased budget, of course. I have so many things I want to do. Like transportation. Just getting the girls to class sessions can be a challenge, when they don’t even have bus fare. I’d like to be able to consult with a nutritionist. I’d like—”
“What if you had, oh, about ten times what you have now?”
Kat opened her mouth, but no words came out. Was he kidding?
Finally, she found her voice. “It sounds too good to be true. But I have to tell you that, while securing funds for the program is very important to me, I’m not ready to let it go. I’m just getting started, and I have very definite ideas of where I want the program to go. I’ll take money, if it’s offered. I’ll account for every penny. But I’m not ready to let someone else start making the decisions.”
“My dear Ms. Holiday, I’m not an idiot. StrongGirls is nothing without you. You are the program’s strongest asset. I wouldn’t dream of taking a single decision out of your hands. So let’s get down to brass tacks. Here’s what I’m offering.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ETHAN SAT OUT ON the deck with the newspaper, keeping an eye on Samantha as she practiced her first karate form. Kat had signed her up for martial-arts classes at the rec center—something to balance out the Barbie obsession.
Samantha’s focus was intense for a seven-year-old. When she got halfway through and forgot which way to kick, she stopped, and he could see her mentally reviewing the sequence of movements before starting again.
She reminded him so much of Kat, his heart ached. Would she grow up as tough on herself as Kat was? Would she learn from her mother to be strong and independent? She already showed signs of Kat’s stubbornness and her compassion. Someday, would Samantha put some guy through the ringer because he loved her too much? Because he wanted to fix her life when it didn’t truly need fixing?
He heard the back door open and turned to see Kat standing there, a dazed look on her face.
“Everything okay?” Ethan asked. “You look kind of funny.”
Wordlessly she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a blue piece of paper, which she handed to Ethan.
It was a check. Ethan unfolded it. It was made out to StrongGirls, Inc., and it had a lot of zeroes on it.
“Those are gonna be some nice books.”
“And that’s just for starters, a stopgap measure to take some of the pressure off, while Mr. Breckenridge gets the paperwork started. He’s going to give me office space and support staff. And he’s going to pay for everything. Everything on my wish list and stuff I hadn’t even thought to wish for. And he’s giving me a salary. A huge one. I mean, ridiculous. But he said if I’m to put all my energy into growing the StrongGirl program, I don’t need to be worrying about how to buy groceries or new shoes for Samantha.”
Ethan looked at the check again. He’d never seen one that big before. “Can you really cash this thing?”
“I’m almost afraid to try. What if it’s all a cruel joke? I feel like I’ve won the lottery or something.” And then she burst into tears.
“Kat. Oh, honey, don’t cry.” He couldn’t help it. He went to her and put his arms around her. Boy, how he’d missed this, the feel of her, the smell of her perfume.
“It’s okay,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. “They’re good tears. I’m relieved, I’m grateful, I’m…overwhelmed.”
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
Ethan had forgotten about Samantha. She stood at the edge of the deck, watching her mother falling apart, her eyes big with fear and worry.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Ethan said. “For a change, everything’s going right.”
Well, not everything. Kat pulled away, embarrassed, wiping tears and streaked mascara from her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I got mascara on your shirt.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Moooo-om,” Samantha said, drawing the single syllable out to about four. “What happened?”
“You’re looking at the new executive director of StrongGirls, Inc.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t have to wait for granola bars to go on sale!”
“This calls for a real celebration,” Ethan said. “Like a party. It’s not every day a bazillionaire philanthropist hands you a