Sweet Fortune

what it is today within five years.”
    “If you're running things, that is, eh?” George gave Hatch a shrewd glance.
    Hatch shrugged. “I do have a few ideas for the firm.”
    “Ideas that he's done a wonderful job of selling to Dad and the rest of the family. Everyone's convinced that if Hatch remains CEO, we'll all get filthy rich,” Jessie said a little too sweetly. Nobody seemed to notice the sarcasm except Hatch, who merely gave her one of his faint, polite smiles.
    “Everyone's right,” Hatch said.
    A shark, Jessie thought nervously. The man was a cold-blooded shark. The fascination she felt for him was nothing more than the instinctual interest of a deer staring into a wolf's glowing eyes.
    Ethel's brows lifted. “How did you and Hatch first meet, dear?”
    Jessie managed a brittle smile. “I believe we first spoke the morning he fired me from my job in Benedict's personnel department. Isn't that right, Hatch?”
    Ethel and George Galloway looked at her in shock.
    “He fired you?” Ethel echoed in disbelief.
    “Yes, it was all very traumatic, actually.” Jessie saw the faint hint of irritation in Hatch's expression and she began to warm to her topic. Getting any kind of rise out of Hatch was a victory of sorts. It happened so rarely.
    “Didn't know you'd gone to work for your father,” George said. “Thought you'd always avoided working for Vincent.”
    “I had been working there only a few weeks. Dad had insisted I at least try a job at Benedict. He claimed I owed it to him and to the family. I was between jobs at the time…”
    “As happens so frequently in Jessie's life,” Hatch murmured.
    Jessie glowered at him. “I finally agreed to give Benedict a shot. It wasn't too bad, to tell you the truth. I discovered I rather liked personnel and I think I was starting to get the hang of it. But two days after Hatch was installed in the management suite, he canned me.”
    “Good heavens.” Ethel glanced at Hatch.
    “I'm sure it wasn't all that traumatic for Jessie,” Hatch said calmly. “After all, she's used to getting fired. Happens regularly, doesn't it, Jessie?”
    She shrugged. “I've had my share of shortsighted, old-fashioned bosses,” she informed the table loftily.
    Hatch nodded. “Poor bastards.”
    Jessie glared at him, wondering if he was actually trying for a bit of humor or if he was serious in his sympathy for the long line of managers who had preceded him in her life. She concluded he was serious. Hatch was always serious. “As I said. I was getting along fairly well in personnel. Admit it, Hatch. Most of the people I recommended for employment have made excellent employees.”
    “Your hire recommendations were not the problem.”
    George turned directly to Hatch. “So why in hell did you toss her out of Benedict?”
    Hatch put down his menu. “Let's just say that Jessie is not cut out for a happy life in a corporate environment.”
    “Translated, that means I tended to be on the side of the employees, rather than management, when there was a dispute,” Jessie explained. “The new CEO did not approve of my approach.”
    George Galloway gave a muffled snort of laughter. “What did Vincent say?”
    “Vincent,” Hatch said, “was profoundly grateful to me for terminating Jessie's employment with Benedict Fasteners. He'd been trying to figure out a way to get rid of her since the day after he'd hired her. It took him about twenty-four hours to realize he'd made a major mistake when he'd put Jessie to work in personnel.”
    “I must admit it all turned out for the best, however,” Jessie assured the Galloways. “A month ago I landed a terrific new position with a wonderful firm called Valentine Consultations. I feel that I've finally found my true calling in life. Mrs. Valentine says that if things work out the way she believes they will, she'll make me a full partner in the firm.”
    “What sort of consulting work does Valentine do?” George turned to her with a businessman's natural interest.
    “You don't want to know,” Hatch warned softly.
    “Nonsense. Of course we want to know, don't we, Ethel?”
    “Certainly,” Ethel confirmed. “We're always interested in what Jessie is doing. You do lead an adventurous sort of life, my dear.”
    “Mrs. Valentine is a psychic,” Jessie explained with a broad smile.
    “Oh, Lord.” Ethel rolled her eyes.
    “No wonder Benedict's praying you'll marry her,” George said, leaning confidentially toward Hatch.