Second Chance Christmas Read online

  Who was he kidding? He didn’t have any contacts, much less a solid plan for his future.

  No, she had to stay here. He’d need to find a way to protect her from his father’s line of sight—and do a better job than he’d done the last time. According to Wayne, she was a good programmer.

  Of course she was. Without her help, he never would have made it through his advanced math classes. Without her support at the end, he’d only managed a C in trigonometry.

  “We dated once . . . a long time ago,” he said. “But, yeah. Let’s leave Sam out of it.” He stood up from the chair.

  “And, Reese.” Wayne’s voice stopped him as he got ready to walk out of the cube.

  “Yeah?”

  “Can you stay away from her? She never says anything, but she gets a deer-in-the-headlights look after she’s encountered you. I need her on task, not worrying about her job.”

  Reese nodded sharply. Whatever it took to atone for the past so he could move on. The future he eagerly anticipated dangled just out of reach.

  • • •

  “Let’s grab lunch at the Starving Artist,” Li said as she leaned over Findlay’s cubical wall. “Time to get out of here and go where the walls don’t have ears,” she whispered.

  Findlay’s desk was a mass of notes and computations. Getting out would clear her head.

  “Sure.” She grabbed her purse from the bottom drawer and followed Li out to the parking lot. Her friend’s bright orange Hako automobile stood out like the hair on a clown’s head.

  “I feel like I’m asking for attention in this thing,” Findlay said as she climbed into the boxy car. “Attention I don’t want, by the way.”

  “Oh, girlfriend, it’s all about attention,” Li said, putting the engine in gear. “I get lots of second looks—especially from guys.” Her laugh tinkled through the car as they pulled out of the lot.

  “You in the market?”

  “Thirty is approaching.”

  “Anyone special?” Beginnings were a lot more fun than endings.

  “Not really. I’ve met a few guys at the gym, sometimes when I’m out with friends, but . . . ” She turned south through the ever-increasing traffic on Reserve. “What about you?”

  “What about me? I’ve got enough going on in my life already. I don’t have time for a man. It will take everything I have to get my life back on track.” And stay away from Reese who spelled nothing but trouble.

  “I suppose.”

  Findlay stared out the window at the people driving carts on the golf course. What would it be like to spend a day on the greens? Not that she golfed, but having any time to herself seemed like a luxury.

  They took the side street to the small cafe, ordered, and sat at one of the wooden tables. A few other pairs were there, along with a mother enjoying a cup of coffee while her child scrawled pictures. Findlay stared at her for a few seconds.

  “You can stop the guilt trip,” Li said. “You get to have a grown-up life, too.”

  Findlay pressed her lips together. Her friend didn’t have a clue. They were in two different life stages now.

  “How’s the job going?” Li asked.

  “Good. I really like Wayne.”

  “Rumor has it there was a glitch in payroll and you saved the day.”

  So much for confidentiality.

  “It was a pretty easy fix. Anyone could have done it.”

  The counter lady called out their order, and they retrieved their soup and salad.

  “How did it happen?” Li asked.

  “That’s the part I’m not sure of. It can’t have been there long. The guy who coded it was too experienced to make such a rookie mistake. All that was wrong was that a decimal point was moved in the wrong direction.”

  “Odd. The programmer’s the one you replaced, right?”

  “Uh-huh.” Would he have been the one to sabotage the program? But why would he do it before he left? There was no advantage to that.

  “And we haven’t run payroll since he’s been gone,” Li said.

  “Yeah.”

  “Can you track who last changed the code?”

  “Good question, but we can’t.” Findlay shook her head. “Wayne said they’d talked about tracking code changes by ID but haven’t had time to implement it.”

  “Sounds like something they should do.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  “What does Reese think?” Li asked.

  “I’m not asking him. I need to stay as far away from him as possible. People were looking at me funny. Too cozy with the boss. I don’t need that kind of notoriety.”

  “Definitely unfinished business between you two.” Li nodded, looking like a sage old owl. “But why would he bother you now if he didn’t still care?”

  “Probably checking to see if I’d turned out to be a thief like my father.”

  “Ouch, that’s harsh.”

  “Considering how quickly he dumped me after the scandal started, he must have figured Dad was guilty.” She blinked rapidly to hide the tears of betrayal.

  “I don’t know. He looks at you kind of funny. Like there’s something he needs to say.”

  “Nothing I need to hear.” Findlay shrugged. “It all happened a long time ago. Doesn’t matter now. The time to say something was then.” When her heart lay in shattered pieces all over the floor, only to be crushed to powder by her father’s suicide.

  Reese hadn’t said a thing.

  “Liar. You’re here. He’s here. Neither of you will move on if you don’t get this out of the way. He looks at you like he has regrets. Don’t you?”

  “So what? We all have regrets about something.”

  “You’re hard case,” Li said.

  “I have to be.” Especially when it came to Reese. He was the one standing in between her and making a successful do-over in Missoula.

  “Chris is coming next weekend,” she said after she finished up the last of the soup. “I have to let him see Kelly Anne, but I don’t like it.”

  “Can’t blame you. I never did like him.”

  Findlay smiled at her friend’s loyalty. Like many of her Seattle friends, Li had thought Chris an extremely good catch when she’d first introduced them.

  “He’s not a bad man. Just doesn’t understand other people. He’s . . . I don’t know . . . too exacting. I never felt I could measure up. With a kid like Kelly Anne, that would be disastrous.”

  “Do you still love him?”

  “No.” If she ever had. She’d certainly not felt the rush she’d had around Reese—but that had been first love. Did anyone ever live up to that? “Love’s supposed to be unconditional. Like my parents had. I asked him once why he’d married me. When he was done explaining, I felt like I was his improvement project, not his wife.”

  “Bad news for Kelly Anne.”

  “Yeah. And now he wants to get full custody so he can raise her in Seattle—a fresh mind to tinker with.” She shook her head. “Not happening.”

  “If you need help, I’ve got brothers, remember?” Li leaned forward conspiratorially.

  Findlay chuckled. Li’s brothers were only about six inches taller than her petite friend, and the nicest guys she’d ever met.

  “Thanks,” she said. “But I’ll manage. I still have the upper hand.”

  • • •

  “Do you still run?”

  Findlay turned around. Had he dared?

  He had.

  Reese Moore was sitting in her cubicle after she’d specifically told him to leave her alone.

  “No.” she turned back to her screen.

  “You should.”

  She ignored him.

  “Come running with me again.”

  She swung around.

  “At what time would you have me do that? I have a kid, and I have a definite feeling I’m on thin ice at work, which means I have to work harder to impress the boss.”

  “I’m sure the boss could be lenient,” he said with a smile.

&nbs
p; “Doesn’t matter. I don’t run anymore.” Even if she wanted to, all her spare time went to her daughter.

  “But you should.” He folded his arms on her desk.

  Too close.

  “I’ve got work to do. Why don’t you find someone else to bother?”

  He propped his head on his hands.

  She stuck her sweaty palms in her lap.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I feel compelled to get you to run again. I know it would make you feel better. It always did.” He sat up. “And I need a running partner, someone to help me up my game.”

  Their past shimmered between them.

  “I can’t imagine running.” Especially not with him. “That time has passed, Reese. I’ve got responsibilities now. Running is for . . . people who . . . who . . . ” She glared at him. “Haven’t grown up yet.”

  “Ouch.”

  She straightened her spine and put her hands back on the keyboard.

  “Leave me alone. I have code I need to finish by the end of the day.”

  “Okay, but I’m not giving up. You need to run, Findlay, and I’m going to pester you until you do.”

  After he left, she stared at the cubicle opening. Why was it men felt so compelled to tell her what to do? Chris had always pushed her to do more, be better. When he’d finally understood what was wrong with Kelly Anne, he’d started to push her hard, too.

  Wrong methods. The girl needed accommodation, not expectations she couldn’t reach. She needed a man like Findlay’s dad had been, kindly and encouraging.

  Findlay’s legs twitched, as if they longed to stretch out and pound across the pavement.

  No. Not going there. Besides, if she felt a need to run, she could damn well do it by herself.

  A few minutes later her phone rang.

  Why couldn’t she get a friggin’ break?

  “What do you need?” Her frustration showed in her voice.

  “Got a minute?” Wayne asked.

  Crap.

  She honeyed her tone. “Of course.” She gathered her notepad and walked the few feet to her boss’s office.

  “I know you’re full up,” Wayne said, “but we have a change that accounting wants us to put in right away. It’s higher priority than anything else you’ve got right now. Here’s what needs to be done.”

  After he completed the explanation, she nodded and made a few notes. So much for even thinking about running. She’d barely have enough time to eat lunch and achieve her deadlines.

  “One more thing,” he said. Lowering his voice and leaning forward, he continued. “I noticed Reese in your office. I hope he isn’t bothering you.”

  “No. It’s okay.”

  “Well, if that changes, let me know. I’m not afraid to go to bat for you. You’re a valuable asset to the team.”

  Her heart warmed with his words. It had been so long since she’d received genuine praise for what she’d accomplished.

  “I do have to let you know, however, Brian Moore won’t be happy if he finds out you’re working here.”

  Her throat closed.

  How could he not know already? Would Reese tell his father about her employment if she pissed him off? Would he throw her under the bus?

  Again?

  “Just be careful. Lie low and it will all pass over, I’m sure.”

  “Okay.” Her voice, full of confidence a few moments ago, sounded small to her ears. Much as she liked her work and her boss, it would be best to look for a new job no matter what Li thought. She needed to take her life into her own hands instead of letting herself be vulnerable to Brian Moore’s vengeance.

  Chapter 5

  Sam Novak walked into Reese’s office and shut the door behind him.

  Now what?

  Sam slid a piece of paper across the table.

  “I received this last night. It appears we have more problems in our financial systems,” he said.

  Reese scanned the paper, a notice of a wire transfer to Sam’s account. “Why’s that?”

  “I never received the money. Actually, I never put in for the money. The whole thing is totally bogus.”

  Reese’s gut caved.

  “I’ll look into it,” he said.

  “I have to tell your father.”

  “Why?” Reese clenched his fists with frustration. “Can’t you trust me enough to look into it? Why do you have to say something this minute?”

  “Because he’s my partner.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve been in it from the beginning. Frank and Brian needed some extra funding. I had the money from an inheritance. I became a silent partner. There were actually four of us back then.”

  “Who was the fourth?”

  “I’m not at liberty to divulge that. It’s not important anyway.” Sam waved the thought away.

  Dammit. It was time for everyone to start treating him like an adult. He stood up.

  “Is that why you still work here? To keep an eye on things?”

  “Partly. I tried quitting.” Sam’s mouth turned up slightly as he spread his arms wide across the top of the chairs next to him. “My wife told me to go back to work. Before she divorced me and went back to Billings, that is. Who’s working on the reimbursement system?”

  “Not sure. Why don’t you ask Wayne?” Strange that Sam hadn’t already done that, but perhaps it was for the best. “Never mind. I’ll ask him myself.”

  “Odd that these things only started happening after you hired the Callahan girl,” Sam said.

  Woman.

  “I didn’t hire her. Wayne did,” Reese said. “You could have stopped it. You knew who she was. Why didn’t you?”

  “Didn’t think it would matter. Besides, I didn’t really have good cause, and you know how litigious the world is these days. But it looks like she’s working herself out of a job real fast.” Sam stood, pulled back the paper, and tucked it into his pocket. “I’ll give you twenty-four hours before I make that call. Might be good for Brian to see you can handle things on your own.” He walked out of Reese’s office, leaving the door open behind him.

  Twenty-four hours to figure out how to solve an application problem.

  And he wouldn’t know a piece of bad code if he fell across it.

  He picked up the phone and called Wayne to his office.

  “Who’s working on this?” he asked, repeating the question Sam had asked minutes earlier.

  “The team lead, John Potter.”

  Reese’s shoulders relaxed a tad.

  “How long has he been here?” he asked.

  “Since your father bought the company. He was brought over from the parent company. Your father wanted strong skills in the financial division, and John’s one of the best.”

  “Think he might have . . . ?”

  “No way. He’s a loyal employee.”

  “And he’s the only one to work on it?”

  “There are a couple of others. I try to keep my team cross-trained. That way, if anything happens, they’re able to take over.”

  “Can you give me a list of who’s working on the reimbursement system?”

  “Not really. Theoretically, anyone in the group could access it because they all have the security level to do so.”

  “Even Findlay.”

  “Yes,” Wayne said.

  Reese’s gaze strayed to one of the leadership posters that hung on the office walls.

  Brian Moore’s idea of encouragement.

  “Any way to track who was last into the system?”

  “Not at this time.” Wayne’s gaze returned to Reese. “We’ve been meaning to put software in to do that, but we haven’t had the time, with all the changing regulations and demands from the accounting department.”

  “You need to make it a priority. This makes the second incident involving money. We need to know who’s causing these problems.”

  Before my father gets wind of it.

  “Okay. I’ll get it installed by next week.”

&nb
sp; “By Friday.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Wayne said.

  “Make it happen. And fix this problem by tomorrow.”

  “Sure, boss.”

  After Wayne left, Reese stared blankly at the screen.

  Odd that these things only started happening after you hired the Callahan girl.

  • • •

  “I want you to fire that girl,” Brian Moore demanded.

  Reese put the scotch bottle back in the cabinet. He needed a clear head tonight. He should have known Sam was going to honor the threat he’d made. The twenty-four-hour deadline had passed that morning.

  “I’m not going to fire her.”

  “You know who she is, don’t you?”

  “I dated her for two years,” he said. “I guess I know who she is pretty well.”

  Reese sat in the chair opposite his father, leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and looked him in the eye. “I suppose Sam told you she’d been hired.”

  “Of course he did. He’s more loyal than my own son. You should have been the one to tell me Frank Callahan’s daughter was working in my company.” His father almost sputtered.

  Comical, if it wasn’t so ridiculous. Should he point out that Sam knew about Findlay right from the beginning and failed to mention it until just now?

  “And then it was Sam who told me there was something wrong with payroll a few weeks ago. Payroll, for God’s sake!” A pink tinge crept up his father’s neck. “Do you know how many fines we have to pay if we screw up payroll? Not to mention the people who would sue us.”

  “Dad, your blood pressure.”

  “So now you’re worried. If I’d found out from you instead of Sam, my blood pressure would be just fine.”

  “The payroll thing is fixed, Dad. I handled it.”

  “By Findlay Callahan.”

  “Sam tell you that, too?” Wayne must have caved to his boss, leaving Reese once more in the less powerful position.

  “Of course. But since Callahan’s the one who probably created the problem in the first place,” his father said, “it was an easy fix.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I want her fired.”

  “I can’t do that. There are laws.” Reese’s temples throbbed.

  “She hasn’t gotten past the probation period. Fire her.”

  “No.” Reese stood. “There’s no cause. Just because you had problems with her father . . . ”