A Brother's Honor (Grangers) - By Brenda Jackson Page 0,63
a good thing. Sutton Hills was never the same for him once our mother died and my father left. He was close to Mom.”
“Did you continue to live in your parents’ home?”
“No, we moved in with Granddad. My parents’ home, although located on the grounds of Sutton Hills, was on a different part of the estate. On a good, clear day you can see the rooftop of my parents’ home from Granddad’s kitchen table.”
Shana wondered how Dalton felt about his father being convicted of his mother’s murder. “How did things go this weekend when you visited your dad?”
She watched a smile touch Jace’s lips...lips that had shown her what a fantastic and passionate kisser he was. “Dad’s doing okay for a man who’s locked behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit.”
She was tempted to ask how he knew that for certain, when the evidence against his father had been so overwhelming. From what she had read, his father’s fingerprints had been on the murder weapon, a gun that Sheppard owned.
“It must have been hard on you and your brothers while growing up,” she said softly.
“It was, for a number of reasons. The hardest was when the parents of some of our friends—people we’d known for years—felt we were no longer good enough for their offspring to hang around with. That was hard for three teens to digest.”
And then, as if he didn’t want to discuss his father with her any longer, he said, “I want to run something by you that I noticed in your report. It was something you recommended.”
“Okay,” she said, giving him her full attention and in ways she wished she could control better. She was convinced that cleft in his chin was her weakness.
“Revamping of engineering technology.”
She eased back in her chair. “I noticed it’s been years since Granger has built an aircraft.”
“The last time was the year before Dad went to prison. She was a beauty,” he said, sliding into the chair across from her desk. “Last year, Granddad mentioned plans in the works to build another one. This one would have this special supersonic hydraulic pump. He wanted to move forward, but the Defense Department wouldn’t approve the plan. They kept finding things wrong with the design. Norm Ellison is my man in charge of the designing of the aircraft, and I’ve asked for a detailed report. I want to know why this hasn’t gotten off the ground.”
Shana didn’t say anything for a minute as she recalled the bio she’d gotten on Ellison. A graduate of MIT, he’d been top of his class. His name had also been on Kent’s list as someone of interest.
The whole purpose of today’s meeting was to provide Jace and his brothers with a list of what was wrong with Granger. A company that built air performance planes and airplane parts should be doing very well. But Granger wasn’t.
“Here,” she said, handing him another report. “I’m one step ahead of you. What’s in that report should be included in Ellison’s when he gives one to you. I wondered why Granger Aeronautics, which had been at the top of developing innovative ideas a few years ago, hadn’t come up with anything lately.”
The room was silent while Jace slowly flipped through pages and pages of data. She couldn’t help looking at him, liked looking at him. He had perfectly angled cheekbones, and she thought the line of his jaw was set in a way that didn’t leave room for guessing when he was displeased about something.
Knowing it was rude to stare, she forced her gaze down at the papers spread out on her desk. When he had walked into her office, she could tell he was tightly wound, tense, and everything inside of her had responded even when she hadn’t wanted it to.
Earlier, when he had been in here, she had felt need and want sparring to unleash within him, even when Dalton had been sitting beside him. His tense state had stirred her womanly core because she knew the reason for it.
What she needed was to call it a night and go home and jump-start her weekend. Last weekend, she’d been on a mission of checking out her father’s love interest. This weekend, he and Mona would go out for pizza. Her sixty-two-year-old father was acting like a teen who’d finally gotten the most beautiful and popular girl in school to go out with him.
“Interesting.”
She lifted her head and looked over at Jace. He was staring at her. “I