Finding Julia Page 16

  “Try the police station. I understand they have pretty secure rooms there.”

  “This isn’t funny.” Julia blew out an exasperated breath. “I swear I don’t know what I’m going to do with that child.”

  Claire poured coffee for herself, fixed a cup with hot water and a tea bag, brought both cups to the desk, and handed the tea to Julia. She sat down in the chair opposite her.

  “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you are exhausting yourself with Courtney. She’s draining all your energy.”

  Julia closed her eyes for a moment. “I know, I know. I guess I was spoiled because Beth and Andy were so easy. And so was the kid until she turned twelve.”

  “Any luck getting ahold of Luke lately?”

  Julia cradled the cup with her tea. She had confided the details of her search to her friend, who encouraged her to keep trying, but now she seemed to be at a dead end. “No. I haven’t tried for a while. Ever since I heard he was in Europe.”

  “You need to check the Internet now and then. He’ll pop up again.”

  “I wish. Maybe his steadying hand could make a big difference where Courtney is concerned.” She bit her lip. “If he doesn’t hate me for not letting him know about her.”

  “You tried, kiddo,” Claire reminded her. “You made the effort.”

  “Too little, too late. I should have told him right away, just like you said. Maybe we could have fought Charles together.”

  “And maybe not.” Claire took a swallow of coffee. “Maybe you were right at the time. Rod McGuire was on a tear then. Who knows what he would have done thinking he was repaying Charles.”

  “I guess.” Julia sighed. “Anyway, he probably has a whole new life by now. Even if I could find him, I can’t just disrupt his life by calling and saying, ‘Hey Luke, guess what? We have a daughter, she’s almost a juvenile delinquent, and I need you to help me straighten her out.’”

  “I still think he’d want to know,” Claire insisted. “There are ways he could participate without disrupting his life. And maybe if you told her the truth it would give her the answers she’s looking for.”

  “I have a feeling it might make things worse. She’d blame me for not telling him right away. She’d hate me for keeping it a secret. So forget that.”

  “One more thing and then I’m finished. Don’t shut your life off to the possibility of someone else. I know.” She held up her hand when Julia started to interrupt her. “You worry about Rod’s vendetta. But you need a man in your life to yank the reins on that child. The right man could give as good right back to him. And I can’t imagine Andy and Beth would give more than a passing notice to those stupid letters. They know the kind of person you are. They love you. And they don’t exactly have fond memories of their father.”

  Julia rolled her head to ease the tension in her neck. “I wish I hadn’t been quite so vulnerable when Charles and Rod dropped their bombshells on me. If I’d had a spine of any kind I’d have told him to do his worst and figured out how to protect the children.”

  “We all wish we’d done a lot of things differently,” Claire told her. “You were pregnant, stressed, barely surviving your marriage, and holding on with desperation for the divorce to be final. You were in no shape physically or emotionally to deal with that bastard.”

  Julia snorted. “Which one? Charles or Rod?”

  “Glad to see you still have a sense of humor.”

  “For all the good it will do me. That was then and this is now. It would be bad enough to subject Luke to whatever Rod would do. I can’t throw a stranger into the mix so let’s leave that topic. Now let’s do what we need to before I pick up Courtney and bring her here.” Julia shook her head. “At least I can make sure she does her homework.”

  “All right, forget about men. For now. Let’s get back to Courtney. I have an idea. Bring her to the office and she can work for me. I can use her three hours a day after school to file, enter stuff on the computer, and organize my project folders for me.”

  “We have a staff, for God’s sake. What’s left for her to do?”

  “Plenty. Just leave it to me. Besides, I’m a lot tougher than you are. Let’s see how she toes the line with me.”

  It was certainly an interesting experiment. When Julia picked up her daughter later that day, Courtney climbed into the car reluctantly and sulked all the way to the office. When Julia told her she was expected to work and what she’d be doing, her anger was hard to ignore.

  “Are you planning to babysit me every day?” She made no effort to disguise her resentment. “What about my friends? I want to hang out with them after school. This sucks. And I don’t want to work for you. You don’t do anything but criticize me.”

  Julia flinched. “Courtney, if you made better choices about your friends and paid attention to house rules, this wouldn’t be necessary. Anyway, technically you won’t be working for me. You’ll be working for Claire.”

  “Oh, great. The warden herself.” Courtney slouched down in her seat. “I think she’s a refugee from the Gestapo.”

  “Enough, Courtney.” Julia was out of patience. “I’ll expect you to conduct yourself courteously and professionally, and do what you’re told. You might not like some of the alternatives.”

  “Oh? And what are they? Locking me in chains and throwing me bread and water?”

  “Don’t tempt me.” Julia tightened her fingers on the steering wheel. “Try to remember under your pathetic layer of hostility you’re actually a decent human being.”

  The afternoon went better than Julia expected. Claire was ready for Courtney as soon as they walked in. She showed her how to enter client information in the database and print reports. She also instructed her on how to organize client folders.

  Julia watched sideways across the reception area through the slightly open door to Claire’s office. It amazed her to see Courtney’s annoyed posture change as she listened and tried to absorb the instructions. When she started to do her assigned work, she didn’t look enthused, exactly, but there was more animation on her face than Julia had seen in a long time.

  Maybe this would work. Maybe this would make a change in her attitude.

  If it kept her away from the dregs of humanity she seemed to enjoy hanging out with, Julia would consider it a major accomplishment.

  And she absolutely had to get the child some new clothes. Courtney had, for whatever reason, taken to wearing spandex bicycle shorts and oversized T-shirts as her normal style of dress. They were the clothes Julia bought her for hanging around the house or riding her bike, not for school and certainly not in an office where business was conducted. How had she even let her get away with wearing them to school? Because it was one more argument she didn’t want to have?

  Julia stared at her computer. Claire was right. The constant uphill battle kept her edgy and exhausted. What would Luke say if he could see how his daughter was turning out? Would he blame her? Would he help her?

  They were getting ready to close up shop for the day when Claire hurried into Julia’s office holding a fax.

  “You aren’t going to believe this.” She stared at the paper in her hand, a stunned look on her face.

  “Believe what?”

  “I just got a call from someone at Connell Wilson. You know them, right?”

  “Are you kidding?” Julia widened her eyes. “Who doesn’t know about them? They’re one of the biggest national manufacturers of sporting goods and apparel for college and professional sports. I read in the business journal they just gobbled up some smaller companies.”

  “Yes, well, it appears they’ve got something new going and we’re invited to the party.”

  “What?” Julia dropped her pen. “I don’t believe you. We’re small potatoes compared to the agencies they use.”

  “Yeah, I was a little skeptical myself when the call came in, so I asked the guy to fax me the request in writing. Here it is.” She held out the piece of p
aper she was holding.

  Julia took it from her hand and skimmed the message. Connell Wilson, following some recent acquisitions, was changing its name and wanted a major advertising campaign to establish its new identity. Would Bright Ideas be interested in making a presentation?

  “Major advertising campaign,” Claire repeated, standing there in a daze.

  “This just came out of the blue?” Julia asked. “No recommendation from someone?”

  “No. Just the request. We got a follow-up phone call about ten minutes after they sent the fax.”

  “But why us? Connell Wilson is big league. Huge. And we’re far from being close to major.”

  “Read what it says. They’re aware of similar campaigns we’ve done before and they’d like to talk to us.” She flopped down in one of the client chairs. “This is too weird, right?”

  “Maybe they have our stuff on file.” Julia was referring to the huge structured mailing Bright Ideas recently did in a prospecting, throw-everything-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks campaign.

  Claire sat up straight. “If we get this account, it would mean really, really big bucks, Julia. I mean, we’re actually fine. More than fine. We’ve got a nice portfolio of clients and they usually recommend us to others. But this is like representing the palace.”

  “Can we do something this huge?” Julia asked. “We might need to hire additional staff.”

  “Something to worry about later. Bright Ideas has come a long way since the Hot Ticket rollout, kiddo. Their campaign got us a lot of referrals and we’ve been humming ever since. This could be our biggest step up the ladder yet.”

  “You think?” Julia was the conservative one, Claire always the more adventurous of the two. They balanced each other out, allowing them to look at an opportunity like this from every angle.

  “I do.” Claire nodded. “If you agree we should go ahead, I’ll call this guy back and get him to messenger over the information we’ll need. Then I’ll ask him when they want the presentation.”

  Julia fiddled with the pen she held. Maybe a challenge like this was just what she needed, something to take her mind off her personal problems. And Luke. “All right. Let’s do it. Let me know when you have the info and we’ll do some brainstorming for ideas.”

  Claire jumped up and hugged her. “Good for you. We need to stretch our wings. Besides, it means I can keep Courtney gainfully employed and under our thumb.”

  “Yeah, well, good luck with that.” Julia couldn’t hide her skepticism.

  Driving home, however, she noticed a slight change in Courtney’s demeanor. The girl actually engaged in conversation. She bristled when Julia mentioned the clothes thing, but at least agreed to think about it. To Julia, this was a major change, and she offered up silent prayers.

  They ate the wonderful dinner Miranda made for them, but then Courtney went off to closet herself in her room.

  “No telephone until your homework’s done,” Julia hollered after her.

  The only reply was the usual slamming of the bedroom door. Julia swallowed a sigh. At least there’d been a brief interval of sanity.

  “Drink this and relax.” Miranda handed her a glass of wine. “That child needs a firm hand. You need to quit worrying because she has no father and make sure she’s got a mother with gumption.”

  “Couldn’t you wave a magic wand and change us into Cinderella?” Julia asked.

  “Wouldn’t that be something to hoot about? Meanwhile, you drink your wine and unwind. I can tell you got something big on your mind.”

  She did indeed. Later, discussing it with Beth on the phone, the full scope of the project—if they got it—suddenly hit her.

  “You can do it, Mom.” Beth’s tone was matter-of-fact. “You’ve got the skills and the background. You’d just be promoting a beach instead of a sandbox. No big deal.”

  “Easy for you to say, my darling daughter. Everything comes so naturally to you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, that’s me. The big star.”

  They both knew, however, the financial services agency where Beth interned for three summers had hired her right out of college. They considered her indispensable after little more than a year fulltime. Her natural talent for numbers and for reading business trends brought her a great deal of notice. She loved her work and her bosses loved her, already giving her one large bonus with another probable by the end of the year.

  “How’s Courtney?” Beth asked, changing the subject.

  “Just as hostile as ever.” Julia shook her head. “I swear I’ve never seen two sisters more unlike each other. You spoiled me, Bethie.”

  “Mom, she’s thirteen and full of angst,” Beth reminded her.

  “There’s a word.” Julia groaned. “Angst. I’d like to take it out of the dictionary.”

  “Want her to come spend the weekend with me?” Beth lived in her own apartment in the northwest area of San Antonio, not far from work and away from the danger of city streets. It wasn’t large, but she managed the cost herself, a big determining factor for her.

  “I don’t know. We’ll see. She started a new job today working at the office.”

  “You think that’s a good idea?” There was concern in Beth’s voice. “She thinks you’re too much of a guard dog as it is.”

  “She’s working for Claire, so it’s a little different.”

  Beth chuckled. “If anyone can whip her into shape, Claire can. I swear, Mom, how can someone so pretty be such a drill sergeant?”

  “Wonder of wonders, Courtney didn’t bitch about it. We actually had a decent if brief conversation, although now she’s locked up tighter than a drum in her room again. I’m hoping this gives some order to her life. I’ll do anything to get her away from those derelicts she insists on calling her friends.”

  “At least she doesn’t have to put up with Grandma and Grandpa.” Beth snorted. “I’d call it a blessing. Thank God we don’t have to attend any of those stupid dinners anymore.”

  Until the twins went off to college, they had attended the obligatory monthly dinner with their grandparents, ever more reluctantly as they grew older. Charles’s parents continued to deliberately and obviously ignore Courtney’s existence. Julia tried confronting them about it once but Elise shut her down at once.

  “She is not our blood.”

  While they said nothing either publicly or to the twins, as far as they were concerned, Julia and Courtney might as well not exist. It was a mixed blessing. She no longer had to endure punishing dinners and silent criticism, but the situation obviously made Courtney feel like some kind of pariah.

  So when the twins went off grumbling each time, Julia always planned something special for Courtney. Something just for her. Fun things. Things that made her feel extraordinary. Still, her three offspring had always wondered why Courtney wasn’t included.

  And there was no way she could tell them.

  “You’re the lucky one,” Beth had always pointed out to her sister.

  Eventually Courtney simply stopped asking.

  “Have you seen your grandparents lately?” Julia asked during one phone call.

  “Grandfather called me at the office, of all things, and reminded me that I was ignoring my visits to them. Hell.” She groaned. “I’d be happy if I never had to see them again, Mom, they are just thoroughly unpleasant people. Andy and I don’t think they like us very much, but that’s okay, because we don’t like them. How did you ever put up with them? And how did you get them to leave you alone?”

  That would be quite a story to tell her children.

  “Never mind. How about this, I’m serious about the weekend. Why don’t I pick Courtney up Friday from the office and she can stay with me ’til Sunday. We can hang out and watch chick flicks and play with my makeup. Maybe I can get her to tone hers down.”

  “Oh, honey, how wonderful, but I hate for you to give up your weekend.”

  “No problem, honest. Maybe it will giv
e you and Claire time to brainstorm about the new account you’re going after. I need a break, anyway. Too much going on.”

  “I love you. If you’re going to do this, do you think you could take her shopping Saturday?” She hesitated to ask more but Beth had a better chance of making changes in Courtney’s wardrobe. “I can’t look at the awful spandex she’s taken to anymore and she seems to be missing the fashion sense gene. She said she’d think about it, and I want to do it before she thinks too much. Use your credit card and give me the bill.”

  “Sure, Mom. No prob. Have the delinquent packed and ready when you take her to work Friday.”

  Julia hung up with a feeling of relief. She was truly blessed to have a daughter like Beth. She tried not to compare her with Courtney, but sometimes it was hard not to. She wished more than ever that Luke was there to give her words of wisdom.

  Chapter 14

  Although it was only make-work, the job at Bright Ideas did seem to give Courtney something to focus on besides her usual rebellion. Claire cautiously praised what she did and told Julia she thought this might work out after all.

  “If we get the Connell Wilson account, we’ll need every pair of hands we can get.”

  “By the way”—Julia paused in the doorway to her office—“did they send the stuff over for us to look at? And have they given us a date to meet with them?”

  “Yes to both things. I asked Linda to make copies of everything for you so you can study up on the background and get an idea of what they might be looking for. And the appointment is for next Thursday.”

  Nine days away. Could they get ready in time? “Okay. I’ll get on it right away. Are you up for a brainstorm session this weekend?”

  “What about Courtney? Are you planning to chain her to her bed?” Claire grinned to take the sting out of her words.

  “Actually, Beth has magnanimously invited Court to spend the weekend with her. She’s picking her up here Friday.”