Sweet Fortune

remember?”
    “You mean my smartass kid sister.”
    Elizabeth shrugged. “Everything I know, I learned from you.”
    “Don't blame your bad manners on me. Bad manners are usually the result of hanging out with a bad crowd. Remind me to check out your current peer group.”
    “You can spot them right away when we get to school. They're the ones wearing black leather jackets and safety pins in their ears. So how'd it go, Jess?”
    “What do you care?”
    “Are you kidding? Everybody in the family cares. Mom says the situation is very delicate.” Elizabeth studied the expensive landscape of Mercer Island with a thoughtful expression. “She says the best thing that could happen for everyone is for you to marry Hatch.”
    “This may come as a shock, Elizabeth, but that's not really a good enough reason for me to marry him. Not that he's asked me.”
    Elizabeth shot her a shrewd glance. “The moms are going to want to know how last night went too.”
    “I'm aware of that,” Jessie said through set teeth.
    “What are you going to tell 'em?”
    “As little as possible. It's none of their business.”
    Elizabeth frowned. “I don't think they see it that way. I heard Lilian talking to Glenna on the phone yesterday. She was saying they all had a ‘vested interest’ in this relationship. I think that was the phrase she used.”
    “You know what ‘vested interest’ means, Elizabeth?”
    “There's money involved?” Elizabeth hazarded.
    “You've got it.” Jessie smiled without any humor. “If I marry Hatch, Benedict Fasteners stays in the family and has a good chance of going big-time. Which appears to be everyone's fondest dream.” Including Hatch's .
    “The moms say Hatch is a real corporate shark and that he'll know how to turn Benedict into a giant in the industry.”
    Jessie shrugged. “I wouldn't be surprised. But I can't see being married to a shark, can you? Too many teeth.”
    Elizabeth giggled. “Just don't let him bite you.”
    “I'll try to avoid it.”
    “Jessie?”
    “Yeah?
    “What happens if you don't marry him?”
    Jessie hesitated and then decided to lay it on the line. “Dad might sell the company when he retires. But my guess is that he'll never retire. He'll just continue to run it the way he has been for the past thirty years.”
    “Would that be so bad?”
    Jessie chewed on her lower lip. “I don't think so, but everyone else seems to.”
    “Including Dad. You know, I think it would be kind of sad for him if you don't marry Hatch. Dad really wants Benedict Fasteners to grow, doesn't he? He's real excited about the idea.”
    “What is this? Are you going to lay a guilt trip on me too? I don't need anyone else pushing me into this marriage, Elizabeth.”
    “Sorry.” Elizabeth was silent for a moment. “Do you think Hatch likes you? I mean, just you?”
    “You mean me without the business attached?” Jessie thought about the kiss that had taken place in her kitchen last night. She remembered the sensation of banked fires and relentless self-control. “Maybe, Elizabeth. But with Hatch, business will always come first.”
    “He's started asking you out a lot these days, hasn't he? And he didn't have to go to lunch with us today. I think it was because he really wanted to be with you.”
    “Right now I'm a priority for Hatch. That means I'm the focus of a great deal of his attention. It wouldn't last five minutes after the wedding. Heck, we'd probably spend our honeymoon with a fax machine and a modem hooked up beside the bed so he could stay in touch with the office. Hey, don't you have soccer practice this afternoon?”
    “Yep.”
    “I thought so. Don't forget to wear your sun-block cream.”
    “Geez, Jessie. I'm not a kid any longer. I won't forget.”
    “Sorry. What are you doing after soccer practice?”
    “Jennifer and I are going to the mall to hang out with some friends.”
    “Alone?” Jessie asked sharply.
    “No,” Elizabeth said with elaborate patience. “I just told you, we're going to hang out with some friends. Jennifer's mother is going to drop us off and pick us up later.”
    “I don't think it's a good idea for a kid your age to be hanging out at the mall at night without an adult,” Jessie said firmly.
    Elizabeth giggled. “Mom and Lilian say you're overprotective.”
    Jessie sighed. “Maybe I am.”
    There was a slight pause before Elizabeth said, “Hey, Jessie?”
    “Uh-huh?”
    “You think Dad'll be too disappointed on Saturday if