The Daughter-in-Law by Diana Diamond Page B

announced rejection, but enough so that Jonathan Donner couldn’t quite take her for granted. When he called on Monday for dinner on Wednesday, she lied that she was already committed with something at the office. Thursday? She hemmed a bit. Sure, but it would have to be early, a way of telling him that there would be no nightcap. Then on Thursday, when he mentioned a Block Island sailing race, she let her face fall with disappointment. “Oh, I wish you had mentioned it sooner. I’d love to, but I have plans for the weekend. Nothing exciting, but it’s a commitment to a dear friend and I can’t really break it.”
    The following week he called Monday and suggested a quick bite and maybe a movie to her answering machine. She didn’t return the call until Tuesday, explaining that she hadn’t gotten in until “real late.” Then she surprised him with news that she had scheduled a sky dive for the following Saturday. Maybe he would like to join her.
    “Sure, but I’d like to see you before the weekend,” he pouted.
    She paused long enough to seem like she had been glancing at her appointment book. “Well, we could do the dinner and movie on Wednesday, if you’re free.”
    Then, on Wednesday, when he was about to dismiss his limousine at her front door, she begged off the implied nightcap. “I’ve got a hell of a day tomorrow. The auditors are in.”
    The message was clear. He didn’t have an exclusive on her time, and she didn’t expect one on his. If he wanted to have her on call, he was going to have to make a commitment. One that was binding no matter what his father said or how his mother felt. And Jonathan picked up on the message: Nicole Pierce was different. Other women might throw themselves in front of his car just to get his attention. And they might wait up all week for his phone call. ButNicole wasn’t all that awed by his fame and fortune. She didn’t come free.
    She was just stepping out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her head and another tucked in under her arm, when her telephone rang. She had no intention of answering it until she heard the voice on the machine.
    “Answer the phone, Nicole. I know you’re there. I just saw the limo drop you off. Very impressive! I just want to offer my congratulations. So pick up the phone before I go up there and kick down your door!”
    She stood staring at the machine. He wasn’t going to hang up, and the one thing she knew about Jimmy Farr was that he didn’t take “no” for an answer. He wouldn’t hesitate to kick down her door. She picked up the receiver.
    “Hello, Jimmy.”
    “Nicole! Great to hear your voice. It’s been a long time.”
    “How did you find me?”
    “Your picture in the paper. On the society page of all places. Most of my friends never get past the police blotter. But there you were at a very uppity party, with about a billion dollars hanging on your arm. You’ve never looked more beautiful!”
    “What do you want, Jimmy?”
    “Just to see you, Nicole. It’s been too long.”
    “Our business is finished,” she snapped. “We’re all even.”
    “Nicole, would I call you over the nickels and dimes you still owe me? We’re both onto bigger things. You seem to have latched on to one of biggest pigeons in New York, and I just wanted to offer my services.”
    “No thank you. I’m on a new page now Jimmy, and it’s not about you. In fact, you’re not even in the book.”
    Jimmy Farr’s polite tone was suddenly menacing. “Don’t even think like that. With all I have on you I’m always in your book. Don’t make me remind you.”
    She felt a long forgotten pang of fear—the fear that he could cause with just a look or a gesture. “You don’t scare me,” she lied. “I’ve gotten over that.”
    “Well, then, maybe I’ll have to scare you again. Real soon.”
    “I’m hanging up, Jimmy. And then I’m disconnecting the phone.”
    That was exactly what she did. But she took her cell phone with her and sat