Perfect Partners

thought made him grin briefly.
    The cocky amusement faded as he sat up in bed and became more acutely aware of his assorted bruises. Escott might look like a preppy, but he had managed to get in a few good punches last night.
    Joel tossed aside the covers and surveyed the motel room with a sour gaze. No doubt about it, the place was beginning to get to him.
    It was time to get out of Echo Cove. He and Letty were scheduled to leave today. But first he wanted to explain things to her. She had a right to know.
    Half an hour later Letty walked into the motel coffee shop. Joel glanced up and watched her as she came toward him down the aisle between the vinyl-covered booths. She appeared to be oblivious of the murmured comments and speculative glances she received en route.
    This morning Letty was both brisk and rumpled, as only she could look in a businesslike navy blue suit. Her little round glasses were perched firmly on her nose and her wonderful, wild hair was held back over her ears by a pair of gold combs. There was a militant expression in her fine eyes.
    Joel sprawled in the booth, gazing at Letty with a pleasant rush of possessiveness. It was getting to be a familiar sensation. He was not certain when he had started thinking of Letty as his woman, but the feeling was entrenched somewhere deep inside him now.
    And maybe it wasn’t a one-sided feeling, either, he thought.
    He remembered what she had said last night when she discovered that he was being hauled off to jail: “This man happens to belong to me.”
    “I’m certainly glad one of us has something to smile about this morning.” Letty sat down across from Joel and gave him a severe glare. “What’s so amusing? I’d have thought you would feel quite awful. You certainly look it.”
    “Sorry, boss. Didn’t mean to annoy you. After last night we all know how you kick butt when you get annoyed.” Joel saluted her with his coffee cup.
    “It’s not a joking matter, Joel. I have never been so outraged and so mortified as I was last night when I watched that man put you into a patrol car and take you off to jail.”
    “Not even when you found Dixon with Gloria the grad student?”
    Color stained her cheeks. “If you have an ounce of common sense, you will not make any more stupid remarks like that one this morning.”
    “Right, boss.”
    “Don’t you dare get sarcastic with me today. I am not in the mood to tolerate it.”
    Joel held up a palm. “Okay, okay. No sarcasm.”
    Letty sat back. “What occurred last night was absolutely inexcusable. You are an executive, the CEO of a major company. How could you get into a barroom brawl?”
    “Would it help if I told you again that Escott started it?”
    “No, it would not. Joel, I will not tolerate that kind of behavior from you in the future. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
    “Yeah.”
    “It was immature.”
    “Yeah.”
    “It was unprofessional.”
    “Yeah. You know something, boss? It’s not a good idea to chew out a subordinate in front of an audience.” Joel indicated the crowd of locals hovering over their morning coffee, ears cocked. Conversation in the room was at a minimum. Everyone was straining to listen to Letty. “Just a small management tip from your mentor.”
    Letty’s mouth tightened. Nevertheless, she lowered her voice. “I think you owe me some explanations of your recent conduct. I want to know what you meant when you mentioned your father last night.”
    Joel put down his coffee and slid out of the booth. “Come on. We can’t talk here.” He reached down and tugged her up out of the seat.
    “Joel, wait. I haven’t had any breakfast.”
    “We’ll pick something up at that fast-food place down the street. Then we’re going for a drive.” Joel cast a disgusted look at the crowd in the restaurant. “There never was much privacy in this one-horse town.”

    Joel slowed the Jeep as he cruised past the small weather-beaten clapboard house on the outskirts of town. For some reason it was a shock to realize someone was living in it. A pickup truck was parked in the front yard, and there was a basketball sitting on the tiny lawn. Somebody had planted flowers under the windows.
    “Why are we stopping?” Letty turned to look at the old house.
    “I was raised in that place.”
    Letty studied the house through the steady gray rain that was still falling. “That was your home?”
    “Dad and I lived there after Mom died. Couldn’t afford my own place. Took a long