Fisher (Prince of Tigers, #3) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,58

it usually does when she’s finished up.

The house got a total overhaul, she called it, twice a year. Framed artwork was taken down, and the walls were given a good scrubbing. The paper or paint would be replaced then too if it needed it. The house smelled like Murphy’s Oil Soap and Windex.

Benson was taken to the library and asked if he wanted anything to drink. He did, a large bottle of whiskey, but he’d given up on trying to drink away his depression a couple of days ago. He’d been sleeping better since then. Telling Billy he’d like a glass of tea, the man went to get it for him. Benson, too nervous to sit, walked around the room looking at things he knew had been in the room for decades, but he’d not noticed before.

“You’ve no idea how many times I’ve wanted to trash that ugly thing since your mother gave it to us for our first anniversary. How are you, Benny?” He kissed his wife on the cheek and sat when she did. “I wanted to talk to you about a few things. Mostly, I wanted to see if you’d like to come back home. I think—no, I know that I might have flown off the handle just a little too quickly.”

“You didn’t. You were right about me being a screw up.” She looked as surprised as he’d been when he came to realize the same thing. “I want to come back. I miss you. But I don’t want to run the company. Not alone. I think you’d be better at the job than I ever was.”

“That is certainly nothing I thought you’d say.” He nodded and pulled out his notes. “You’ve written things down? My goodness, Benny, what has happened to you?”

“Something that should have happened to me decades ago. I’ve also had a long conversation with the programmer that I screwed around with. She’s been more than generous with taking our company back.” Denise told him she’d spoken to her as well. “Good. Her name eludes me right now, but her programs were top notch. We, or you, should have them in all the businesses that your family owned.” Denise told him her name. “That’s right. Piper. I’ve spoken to her several times, as a matter of fact. I’ve gone over some of the things I began to notice that should be changed. Only after making a complete fool of myself trying to hardball her. She’s a stubborn little thing.”

Denise laughed. “She is at that. When I told her that you and I were going to talk, she told me I’d better have a damned good reason for not allowing you back in the company. Apparently, she’s been hearing about the things you’ve been doing. Piper told me you were talking to other companies about getting their security checked.” He said he was careful not to name any one company when doing that. “I heard that. I don’t know why you’d not mention her company since you think it lived up to what you wanted it to do. But she told me you’d been very busy.”

“If she heard what I was doing, I didn’t want her to think I was only doing it because I wanted to get back in her good graces.” He laughed then. “Not that I think it would have worked. She isn’t one to pull any punches when she thinks you’re a screw up. I don’t think she was always that way.”

“No. I remember talking to her when the program was being designed. She was so timid sounding. Like she was afraid of her own shadow. Now she’s a ballbuster, making sure the people she works with are on top of things.” Benson nodded. “I do want you to come home. I’ve discovered I miss fussing at you. And as I said before, I think I was too harsh when the entire thing with the business started to fall apart.”

“You were right, Denise. I was a bastard. I know I was to a great many people.” He opened his list up. “These are some of the people I’m going to make amends to. As soon as I’m able. They’re mostly people in the trade that we dealt with that I was rude to. I can’t believe I ever thought that was a good way to run a business.”

“I’ve been paying off some of the debts we owe, but I’m having trouble with that. I don’t think people are going to be