Perfect Partners

said.”
    “Did you dump your oysters and fries all over him because he had the nerve to make the appointment?”
    “No. I did that because he told me to fire you. He said he felt you were having too much influence on me.”
    “No kidding? Too much influence, huh?”
    “You needn’t look so thrilled with yourself.” Letty glowered up at him through her glasses. “I happen to be very upset.”
    “You are? Because you ditched Dixon? I wouldn’t let it worry me, if I were you.”
    “No, you wouldn’t, would you?” Letty retorted. “But it just so happens that what I am ditching is the only genuine proposal of marriage I’ve had in recent memory. That isn’t something one throws away lightly, you know.”
    Joel nearly choked on a mouthful of sandwich. “Marriage?” He started coughing and sputtering. His eyes watered. “Marriage?” he got out a second time as he gasped for air.
    Letty experienced a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I can see the idea is utterly foreign to you,” she said stiffly. “But back where I come from marriage is still considered the normal and proper method of formalizing a romantic relationship.”
    “Look, honey, I didn’t mean the idea seemed weird or anything,” Joel said quickly. He swallowed the remainder of his hummus sandwich in one gulp. “It’s just that if you’re implying that you and I should start thinking of marriage, you need to understand something up front.”
    “What’s that?” she demanded.
    “There’s no way in hell I can marry you as long as you own Thornquist Gear.”
    She stopped on the sidewalk, heedless of the tide of people eddying around her. “Why not?”
    “Damn it. Don’t you understand? Because everyone, including you, would think I was marrying you to get Thornquist, that’s why. I told you that back at the beginning.”
    Letty scowled thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t think that.”
    “Come off it, Letty. You’d be bound to wonder about it sooner or later.” Joel tossed his sandwich wrapper into a trash can and started striding swiftly along the sidewalk.
    Letty saw the futility of arguing with him. At least he was not telling her he couldn’t marry her because he didn’t love her, she reassured herself. “Okay, we’ll let that slide for now.”
    “Damn right we will. The last time I wanted to marry a woman everyone thought I was after her father’s company. I sure as hell am not going to have people saying that about me a second time.”
    “I see.” Diana again, Letty thought sadly. She hurried to catch up with Joel, aware that the hollow feeling in her stomach was filling with ice. So much about Joel had been shaped by what happened to him fifteen years ago, she thought. She wondered how many more stone walls like this one she was fated to run into because of those events.
    They walked in silence down First Avenue, passing an eclectic mix of pawnshops, adult theaters, restaurants, boutiques, and galleries. The sky overhead was a uniform steel gray, but the rain had not yet started to fall. It was cold.
    “Joel?”
    “Yeah?”
    “What was the management crisis you mentioned back in the restaurant?” Letty asked finally.
    He threw her a sidelong glance. “I had a visit from Copeland this morning.”
    Letty was startled. “I didn’t know he was in the building.”
    “Bigley must be falling down on the job,” Joel remarked coolly.
    “Well? What happened? Did you tell him Keith is in charge now?”
    “I told him.”
    “Joel, what happened?”
    “He flew into a rage. Picked up a lamp and started destroying my office. The day was saved by Professor Dixon, who happened to walk in at the appropriate moment and alter the course of events.”
    “Oh, my God.”
    “I then got Escott on the phone, told him what had happened, and he and I both agreed he had better get back to Echo Cove. We’re putting a twenty-four-hour security guard on the Copeland Marine yard for a while. There’s no telling what Copeland might do before he cools down.”
    “Did Diana go home with Keith?”
    “No. He wanted her to stay in Seattle. He thinks she’ll panic if she finds out what’s going on with her father.”
    “Oh, my God,” Letty whispered again. She halted in the middle of the sidewalk a second time. “We’d better go check on her, Joel. She’ll be very upset. I told you she’s been scared all along that something awful will happen.”
    Joel looked disgusted. “Letty, the last thing I want to do right now is