Page 52 of The Change
Jo would never have made the connection between father and son. In a single generation, the family appeared to have skipped several rungs on the evolutionary ladder.
“I certainly did,” Chase confirmed. “Sounds like he’s interested in the ad world.”
“That right? Must have dropped the poor fucker on his head once too often when he was little.” A pause followed before Jackson howled at his own joke. “Chase, my friend, I’m so glad you couldmake it. Lemme tell you, son, I just can’t get over that new campaign of yours. Goddamned brilliant. Really pulled a rabbit out of the hat with that one. And Harriett, I sure am happy you’re back again this year. Couldn’t let a genius like this one slip away, could you?”
Chase grimaced nervously as he awaited her answer.
“Yes, well, as you know, he grovels so sweetly,” Harriett said, and the man hooted with glee. “Have you heard I left the advertising business?”
Jo glanced over at her friend. It seemed out of character for Harriett to share personal details with a Neanderthal like Jackson Dunn.
“I believe I did hear something about that.” Jackson’s interest was waning. “What are you doing with yourself these days?”
“I’m a horticulturalist. I specialize in invasive plant species.” Just as Harriett seemed prepared to go on, she stopped abruptly and smacked her forehead. “And apparently I’ve been spending so much time with weeds that I’ve forgotten how to deal with humans. Jackson, I’d like you to meet my friend Jo.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Jo.” Jackson put a hot, sticky hand on her arm while his eyes took a tour of her figure. “You ever been out to the Pointe before?”
“I haven’t.” Jo stared at the fingers pressed into her flesh. In the three years since she’d left the corporate world, she hadn’t had to let a strange man touch her. She’d almost forgotten the hugs and the pats and the kisses that had once been part of her job. Now the thought disgusted her. She wanted nothing more than to peel Jackson Dunn’s hand off her arm. “Thank you for letting me tag along. This is a real treat.”
“Well, we’re lucky to have you.” Then he leaned in close enough that Jo could smell the alcohol on his breath. “No party ever has enough redheads, if you ask me.”
Jo felt the energy surging through her limbs. The man was one second away from finding himself flat on his ass when his grip suddenly released. A pair of buzzing insects shot through the air between them like bullets. Jackson yelped and stumbled backward, his glass slipping from his fingers and shattering on the ground. Jo watched with immense satisfaction as he danced around the lawn, waving his cowboy hat frantically in the air as two angry bees flew in circles around his head. Then, just as quickly as they had arrived, the bees were gone.
Jackson returned to the group humbled and panting. “Sorry about all that excitement. I’m allergic,” he said. “Nearly died once when I was a kid.”
“Yes,” Harriett said flatly. “I seem to recall hearing that.”
“Come on, let’s get you folks inside and pour you some drinks.” Jackson ushered them to the front door and up a flight of stairs to a vast, empty living room. Its glass doors opened onto a deck with a pool that looked out over the ocean. Jo was certain they were on the top floor of the house, yet there was a set of stairs leading upward.
“Now, if you ladies will excuse us for a moment, I want to introduce Chase to a few of the boys. All the fun is down by the water. I suggest you two grab a couple of cocktails, strip down to your bikinis, and start soaking up sun.”
He put a hand on Chase’s back and guided him toward the stairs. Before the two men disappeared, Jackson leaned over the banister. His confidence was back in full force. “Next time I see you two, you’d better be red as lobsters and drunk as skunks!”
“He groped me once,” Harriett said, once the men were gone. “Pushed me up against a wall and fondled my crotch. I got him off me, and I never said anything. I didn’t want to jeopardize Chase’s account.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.” Jo fantasized about sprinting up the stairs, shoving Jackson Dunn against a wall and grabbinghisgoods. She wanted to see his gasping mouth and panicked eyes. Would he whimper, she wondered, or shout for help? For a moment, the desire to find out was almost too hard to resist.
“That was the old me, of course,” Harriett said. “I’m much less forgiving now.”
“You just give me the word and I’ll beat him to a pulp.” Jo’s body was buzzing with energy. “Doesn’t he know cowboys are supposed to live by a code?”
“The Cowboy Code was a marketing gimmick. Anyway, Jackson’s not a cowboy. He grew up in Pittsburgh. His real name is Joe Sharts and his father was a CPA.”
“Really? Sharts?” Jo snickered. “How’d you hear that?”
“Everyone knows,” Harriett said. “They just pretend his bullshit is a charming eccentricity.”
“They don’t care that the cowboy thing is all an act?”
Harriett held out her long arms and performed a slow twirl. “Darling, everything here is just an act,” Harriett told her. “Jackson’s not a cowboy, and this isn’t really a party.”
“What do you mean?” Jo asked. It was starting to seem rather sinister.
“This is where Chase has found his last five clients. He’s meeting the next ones as we speak. Who do you thinkthe boysare?”
Jo couldn’t see what lay at the top of the stairs. “Where did they go? What’s up there?”
“The roof deck,” Harriett told her. “No one admits it, but it’s men only. I’ve never been invited, and I’ve never seen another female guest go up there.”
