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“You can’t. It’s okay.” A lie, but what was she supposed to say? “You really should go.”
“I’m not leaving you.” Summer sounded determined. “There’s a solution. I know it.” She frowned. “Where’s Jackson?”
“At day care. I need to go get him.”
“You can’t drive right now.” She stood, then pulled Allison to her feet. “Wash your face, then put away the groceries, then sit.”
She crossed to where Allison had dropped her bag and fished out her car keys. “I’ll get Jackson. We’ll get takeout on the way home. We’ll have a nice evening and when Jackson goes to bed, we’ll talk.”
Honestly, Allison would rather be alone, but she didn’t know how to say that to the teen. And Summer was right—she shouldn’t drive right now.
“If you could pick him up, I’d appreciate it, but I can manage the rest.”
“Not happening.” Summer grabbed her backpack. “I’ll see you in about forty minutes.”
Allison forced a cheerfulness she didn’t feel. “I’ll be here.” She paused, then walked over and hugged her stepdaughter. “Thank you. I know you worry. I wish I could fix that.”
Summer hung on. “You can’t. You’re my family, too. We’ll figure this out. I know we will.”
If only, Allison thought. If only.
“I need to circulate,” Erica said without a lot of energy.
Killion kept his hand on the small of her back. “I’d rather you stayed close.”
She smiled up at him. “I thought I was here on a reconnaissance mission. You know, discover the enemy’s weaknesses.”
“I don’t need you for that.” He paused. “Just to give me a sense of who they are.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
He grinned. “You’re sexy when you’re powerful.”
“I thought I was sexy all the time.”
“You know that’s true.” He lightly kissed her. “All right. Go forth and discover. I look forward to hearing your report.”
“Is that all you look forward to?” she asked, her voice bright with amusement.
He glanced around. “You know, we don’t have to stay.”
She laughed. “Yes, we do. Think of what we’re going to do later as your reward. It’s been on my mind all day.”
He groaned. “You’re killing me.”
“Good.”
She turned and studied the room. The cocktail party was in full swing, with nearly fifty people. Killion’s company was sponsoring the casual get-together with executives and their spouses from potential acquisitions. Technically the event was billed as a business networking opportunity, and she was sure most of those attending believed that. But Erica knew better. Killion believed that character was a big part of success. More than one deal had been scuttled because the president of the company was a jerk.
If the person in charge was a bad boss, growing the enterprise would be that much harder. Killion only bet on sure things.
At events like this, he liked her to talk to the executives without him around. It was a little game they played—one she enjoyed. Much information could be found in casual conversation. When she introduced herself, she offered no more than her name. If the other person didn’t bother to ask what she did, assumed she was simply the wife of someone more interesting, that was a black mark for them.
Should they find out she was the owner of Twisted, did they dismiss her because it was just “a salon”? Did they ask questions, listen to her answers? If she walked up to a group of men, did they engage or ignore her? Which married men tried to pick her up? She never approached a man alone, but that didn’t stop men from coming on to her. Less now that she was in her late forties, but enough to be both annoying and occasionally gratifying. She wasn’t looking for anything beyond what she had with Killion, but it was nice to be admired.
She approached a group of three women and two men. During a brief lull in conversation, Erica turned to one woman and said, “I love your earrings.”
She smiled. “Thank you. My daughter designed them.”
