“Awesome,” Sammy said. “Tell me again about the wool. Where’s that place the sheep come from?”
The two of them went off together, Brandon responding animatedly to Sammy’s rapid-fire questions.
Jason watched them go with something akin to wonder spreading through him. “I think Granddad has finally met a soul mate. Dad and I have always been more fascinated with the business end of things. Granddad just loves the product. He inherited that obsession with the textiles themselves from his father and who knows how many generations before him.”
Suddenly he realized that Dana was barely listening. She was scribbling rapidly on the notepad she’d carried during the tour.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Some of this information might be helpful when we design that new campaign, don’t you think?”
“You’re probably right, but this minute I’m much more fascinated with these silk threads you’ve got caught in your hair.” He reached up to brush away strands of pale pink silk. “Did you tangle with a silkworm somewhere along the way?”
“Actually I was peeking under something to see how the machinery worked.”
“Can I see your notes?” he said, holding out his hand. “They must be fascinating.”
Dana handed him the notebook. A half dozen pages had scrawled notes on them, but what Jason found incredible were the sketches. “These are amazing.”
“You really think so?”
“I can’t believe you did them in just the little bit of time Granddad spent in each area. We could use these in the next brochure instead of photographs. Let’s go back to my office and rough out an overall design, while the idea’s still fresh.”
As they walked back to his office, Jason was astounded at his mounting excitement. He couldn’t help but be struck by the change in his attitude, the sense of fulfillment he suddenly felt. Whether it was having Dana at the office or simply having her in his life, those days of boredom and dissatisfaction seemed like a distant nightmare. Maybe it was simply a matter of seeing his world through fresh, unjaded eyes. Or perhaps it was simply finding a focus. At any rate, for the first time in his life he truly felt a part of something bigger than his own selfish interests.
They were bent over Dana’s sketchbook an hour later, when the door to his office burst open. Jason glanced up and caught his father’s agitated expression, the quick head-to-toe examination to which he subjected Dana before mentally dismissing her.
“Hey, Dad, come on in. I want you to meet the new artist who’s working with us. Dana Roberts, this is my father, Kevin Halloran.”
Kevin’s fierce expression softened slightly as he shook Dana’s hand. “Son, if you’ve got a minute, I think you and I need to talk.”
There was an edge to his father’s tone that worried Jason. Kevin rudely turned his back on Dana and went to stare out the window as he waited for Jason to create the sort of privacy he’d requested.
Jason bit back a furious retort and said quietly, “Sure. Dana, we can finish this later. I think you’ve got the right idea now, anyway.”
When she was gone, Kevin turned back. Before Jason could say a word about his father’s rudeness, Kevin snapped, “What’s this I hear about some woman moving in with you?”
Jason froze. “Where did you hear that?”
“Actually I believe your mother heard it from one of her friends, Marcy Wellington’s mother.”
Jason recalled the visit he’d had the previous evening from Marcy. Always more aggressively interested in him than he’d been in her, she’d stopped by hoping to spend the evening, perhaps even the night, with him. She’d even expressed a willingness to forgive him for what she described as that humiliating evening at the symphony gala. Discovering Dana on the premises had brought out her cattiest nature. He wasn’t surprised that the news had traveled this fast.
“How could you take a step like this without informing us?” Kevin demanded. “Your mother’s distraught.”
“I doubt that,” Jason countered. It was his father, not his mother, who tended to worry about appearances. “Don’t you think I’m a little old to be called on the carpet about my living arrangements?”
“Not when they reflect on this family. Not when you’re living in our house.”
“It’s not your house. I bought it, remember? And having Dana and her brother living under my roof is hardly likely to damage the Halloran reputation.”
Kevin stared at him in astonishment. “That’s the one? That girl who just left here is living with you?”
Jason bristled at the demeaning tone, but managed to keep his own tone even. “She needed to get out of her old apartment. She’s staying with me until she can find her own place in a better neighborhood. If I have my way, she’ll stay on indefinitely. I’m planning to ask her to marry me, Dad.”
Kevin regarded him as if he’d lost his mind. “You’re what?”
Jason wasn’t sure exactly when he’d made up his mind. Maybe it was simply hearing his father’s demeaning tone that had formalized the decision. “I’m asking her to marry me. She’ll probably turn me down, but I intend to keep on trying until she says yes.”
“Well, thank goodness one of you is displaying some sense. Are you determined to ruin your life?”
Jason’s voice dropped to a low, ominous tone. “If I recall, there was a time when Granddad said the same thing about Mother. You of all people should understand what kind of havoc an outdated attitude like that can wreak. Are you planning to follow in his footsteps, anyway?”
The charge had the desired effect. Kevin’s face fell. He rubbed a hand across his eyes and sank into a chair across from Jason’s desk. When he finally met Jason’s gaze again, he looked genuinely contrite. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately.”
Worried at the gray cast to his father’s complexion, Jason pulled a chair up opposite his father and sat down. “Dad, can’t you talk to me about what’s going on?”
His father shook his head. “No. I’m not sure I