paying Rene’s crew to stand around and do nothing. He needed to go to Accord to reason with the Native Americans.
“I’ll fly down and take care of this. I’ll leave in the morning.” He hung up.
And turned to find Emily watching him.
Even though her expression was closed up tighter than a clamshell, he knew disappointment lurked beneath her careful neutrality. He’d taught her that poker face. Here he was, yet again, disappointing his daughter. Story of his life.
He’d fallen back on his normal pattern and had answered the phone without thinking, because it was part of his life, because the damn thing was part of his hand. He’d answered without thought and was now involved in a problem he could neither ignore nor delegate. He had committed to flying to Colorado without a thought for Emily and his promise to her. He couldn’t turn back now. He had said he would go. He would go. He didn’t break promises. In business at any rate.
He’d made that commitment to Emily, too. But surely she would understand.
“Where do you have to go tomorrow?” All of the teasing had fled her tone, erased by his never-ending need to excel, to have more, especially with this project. If he could just finish this one project, he could spend more time with her.
“To Accord.”
She perked up. “Great! I can go with you. I can meet my uncles and I can see Callie.”
“No!” He hadn’t meant to shout and brought himself back under control. “I told you I don’t want to hear her name mentioned in this house.”
She lost her excitement and closed up again. What did he expect?
“Why not?” she asked. “I don’t get why you’re so mad at her just because she stopped working for you, Dad. She was getting married to your brother and moving to Colorado, for Pete’s sake. It was time for her to get a life. Was she supposed to waste her whole life working for you?”
Nick winced. Waste. That’s probably exactly how Callie had thought of Nick once she’d met Gabe. A waste of her time.
He prided himself on his rational mind, but he was unreasonable where Callie was concerned. Ditto for Gabe.
“Dad? Are you listening to me?”
He dropped the mail he’d been staring at but not really seeing. “I heard you.”
“She was your assistant, not your girlfriend. So what’s your problem?”
No, she wasn’t his girlfriend, and that was the problem, which wasn’t something he could discuss with his daughter.
“I miss Callie,” she said. “She used to be my friend. I want to go with you.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll be busy.”
“So what? I can spend time with—” she crossed her arms and intoned “—the Woman Who Can’t Be Named.”
Her sarcasm hurt, had barbs that surprised him. She used to be sweet. “You want to know the honest-to-God truth, Emily? I don’t want you in Accord.” He saw that he’d hurt her feelings and rushed on. “I don’t have good memories of that town. I don’t want you to see where I grew up.”
Heaven forbid that she should see the poverty he’d grown up with, the boy he used to be compared to the man he’d made of himself. This, here, was him—the Gucci shoes and expensive house and successful business. Not his childhood. Not Accord.
“But—” she started.
“Case closed.” For the third or fourth time that day, he pulled his unruly emotions under control. What was wrong with him? He didn’t do emotion.
Nick approached Emily and put his hands on her shoulders. “Go choose a movie while I change. Let’s not spoil the little time we have together tonight. Okay?”
“’Kay.” She wasn’t happy about it, but he knew Emily. She would bounce back.
Except that she didn’t. Nick didn’t know whether it was teenage hormones kicking in or Callie’s move to Accord, but Emily remained subdued for the rest of the night and through Saturday morning’s breakfast. He knew he was doing the right thing in keeping her away from the town he’d grown up in, from that house he wished he never had to set foot in again, that would be obliterated as soon as he solved this problem.
Before he left for his morning flight, he tried to cajole her. “Maybe I can catch a flight back tonight. We can spend tomorrow together.”
“Sure.” She didn’t sound as if she believed him.
Damn. He didn’t have time for this. “I have to go, honey. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As he got into his car to drive to the airport, he watched her in his rearview