Page 13 of Kinsey

“Would you like for it to be different?I mean, I have to go, so does David, but you and Wylie are going to keep us out of trouble.David usually gets out of these things, but this time he’s going, and he said it’s to introduce you to the people you’ll be hanging out with.”He asked her what that meant.“Rich people.I take it you have no idea what this conference is about?”

“No.I mean, if you told me I don’t remember.And Winchester only said I was going and nothing more.What kind of thing is this?”She told him.Kinsey nearly rear-ended a car, he’d been so preoccupied with what she’d said to him.“What’s that mean, a get-together for the new rich and old money?Do people still care if you’re new money or old?”

“You did.”He had and felt like a shit because he’d taken it out on her.“You can’t back out on David.He’s hoping you keep him from drinking too much and buying shit that he doesn’t need.And there will be a lot of people at this thing with bright new ideas to sell to anyone who is stupid with their money.We’re both sure that you’ll be able to do that.At least David is.”

“You think I’d be stupid with my money?”She said that he’d not spend a dime of it unless it came with all kinds of guarantees and backup plans.“I feel like that’s a dig to me, but you’re more than likely right.I’ll more than likely have the same money that I started with in ten years.”

“I hope not.”She laughed and she told him she was sorry.“I’ve not had a great deal to laugh about over the last few days.By the way, all your money will be transferred to the accounts that were given to me by noon today.It’s been cleared for you to spend as much as you’d like.All six of you.”

“I think that Gleason has a house that he’s been eyeing.It’s not right in town, but outside of it.I was surprised when he went too big.”She told him she thought Gleason would make all his money work for him.“And I won’t?”She didn’t say anything, and he told her not to answer that.

“As you said, you’ll have the same money in a few years, and none of you will wonder at all what you spent your money on.You’ll know exactly what it is you’ve bought and will be proud of it.”He told her that he’d be proud of anything he purchased.“I know you will.”She didn’t say anything for several minutes, and he had to look at the phone to make sure she hadn’t hung up on him.

“I just wanted to warn you that I’d be there too.I wish I had known what it’s about, but I guess people would find out sooner or later.I miss you, Meggie.”She sounded like she was crying, and when she blew her nose, he knew it.“I’m so sorry that I was a fool.I miss talking to you every day.Andworking with you.I don’t know anything about what you do for a living, but I’m sure it’s something very important.”

“I’m only important to people with money who need to spend.Oh, Kinsey, I miss you too.Everything about you is all I can think about.I want to start over.”He said that he wanted to pick up where they left off if she’d let him.“I’ll let you do anything that puts you back in my life.I’ve fallen in love with you, and I can’t stand my life without you around.”

“You love me?”She said that she thinks she has from the moment that he first called her.“I love you, too, honey.I wish I didn’t have to go to this thing tomorrow night, but we’ll talk later.Mr.Winchester is coming over the following night to talk to us about what we’re leaving.Did you know that he is going to tear down the house and put a bigger one in?He said that he’s going to live on the property that has come to mean so much to him.”

He got out of the truck, so happy that it made it all the way there, and went into the tailor’s shop.He’d never had anything tailored in his life, and now he was getting a tux.He wondered if he’d be able to use his brand new credit card he’d gotten to go with his brand new status as a rich man.Words that he never thought he’d ever say about himself.

“I have a busy schedule here that I have to get finished before I can leave early.”He told her what he was doing.“Don’t forget to buy two suits, too, Kinsey.I have three more business meetings that I have to go to, and you’re going to be on my arm when I go.”

She hung up before he could say anything.Wylie was still there, and he told him that he’d made up with Meggie.Of course, he had to go on about how he knew that they’d had a fight and that they were in love.It occurred to him that he’d not told her that he loved her, too, at least he couldn’t remember telling her, but he was going to tell her every minute of every day from now on.

Being introduced to the tailor, Mr.Wayneright told him that he did all of Mr.Winchester’s suits and tuxedos.After telling him that he would need to be measured for two suits, it didn’t seem to bother the man, but he did tell him that they’d have to do two different measurements then.He was shocked that he’d not even considered the price of them.His way of thinking was that having two of them would go a long way in all kinds of settings.He was being measured when he thought of something else.

He was going to have to get him a new truck.Or a car.Whatever rich men drove around.But he’d keep the old one too for work around…he didn’t have a place to work and was going to have to take care of that soon too.He needed to work.After that, all he did was empty out his head with his brother.Wylie could make him laugh when no one else could.

~*~

Meggie decided at the last minute to wear the black dress instead of the blue one.They weren’t all that different; both of them were expensive gowns, but the black one showed off more of her body than the blue one did.And tonight she wanted to be as sexy as hell for the man that she loved.Her grannie noticed the difference in her as soon as she came in the door at a little after two in the afternoon.

“Well, well, well.Someone has fallen in love again.Who could be the lucky man?”She told her that Kinsey had told her he was sorry.“I knew that he would.He just can’t live without my little girl.Have you told him that you love him too?”

“I did.And he told me that he loves me too.Oh, Grannie, what am I going to do all evening with another man on my arm?”Grannie told her.“I’m not going to make him jealous.I have enough on my hands with keeping him happy that he’s wealthy.I don’t know how long this will last, but I’m going to make it last for as long as I can.”

Getting ready was fun.She’d not wanted to go, but this conference helped a great many people with new ideas and sparked growth and economy all over the country.Once she was dressed, she took her time with her makeup, knowing that this one time she was going to be everything she could be.Laughing, she was putting on her shoes when her grannie came to her room.

“Now, don’t freak out.”She told her that everyone did when someone said that to them.“I know, but this one is important for you not to freak out.There’s been an accident.”

“Who?”She put her shoes down, wondering why her heart was suddenly beating loud enough to be heard by her.“Was anyone killed?You know, when you start with there has been an accident, you should also say whether or not anyone was killed.”

“No one was killed.Though you might think so when I tell you what happened.The police said that if he’d been in a newer car, he would have been killed, but lucky for him, he was driving his grandda’s truck.”So it had to be Kinsey.Nodding, she stood up to get something more suitable on than what she had been going to wear to the conference.“What are you doing?”

“I’m changing to go to the hospital.I’m also assuming that it’s Kinsey.Right?”Grannie nodded, and all the air in her body just exploded out of her.She had to sit down.“You said he wasn’t killed.That’s wonderful news, but I have a feeling that there’s more to it than that.Just tell me.”

“He was sitting in stopped traffic when a semi rolled up behind him and rear-ended him.He was shoved up under the semi in front of him.Luckily, for as old as the vehicle was, all it did was bend metal and not break plastic.He’s gone to the hospital for the cuts on his face and hands.”She stood up to change again.“I told him I’d make you go to the conference.But I also made him understand that you were younger than me and thus better at telling me to go screw myself than I was.He’s going to be all right.A concussion for sure, but there aren’t any broken bones, Wylie told me.”

“Is Wylie going to the hospital with his brother?And have you called any of the others?”She said that she’d not thought of the others.And yes, he was going with his brother, so was David.“I’ll call them to make sure that they understand that he’s going to be all right.Also, tell them to drive carefully.Or better yet, don’t drive at all.I’m not going to drive.”

“Are you going to the conference?”The black silk slipped off her shoulders and onto the carpet as she was stepping into her closet.“I guess that’s a big no, too.He’s going to be upset with you if you don’t go.”

“I’ll make him understand that rich people like poor people want to make sure that the man they love is going to be all right when I see him.Or something along those lines.”She came out of her closet with a pair of jeans and a T-shirt on.“Did you really talk to him?”

“I didn’t.I could hear him talking calmly to Wylie, who wasn’t calm by the way, but he’s going to think that I screwed this up by not telling you that you had to go to the thing tonight.”She told her grannie he’d get over it.“I’m sure that he will.Also, you should know that he saved Wylie from being hurt.When he realized what was going on, he shoved Wylie down on the seat so he wasn’t cut at all.David was in the limo behind the semi and none the wiser about what happened to his date tonight.I’m starting to feel the effects of this accident now.Oh lordy, he could have been killed.Both of them might well have been—”

“Don’t talk like that.We know that they’re both fine, and we’re going to concentrate on that.Are you going with me?”She asked if she was really not driving.“I’m not.I don’t think that I could right now.We’ll get Roger to drive us.I knew I was going to regret not having a driver on staff.See what I do when I’m depressed?From now on, I don’t make decisions when I’m down in the dumps.”

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