Sweet Fortune

call.
    Let go of Jessie? The woman was crazy. Hatch knew he had never wanted anything as much in his life as he wanted Jessie Benedict.
    A few minutes later he was out on the downtown sidewalk in front of Glenna's office. It was five-thirty and the streets were crowded with people heading home or to the nearest bar. He found a phone inside a department store and tried Jessie's home number once more.
    Still no answer.
    Hatch swore softly as he hung up the phone.
    Ringstead was wrong. He was exactly the kind of man Jessie needed and wanted. Hell, she would walk all over one of those sweet, supportive, gentle types. She and her aunt might think that was what she wanted, but Hatch was sure she'd be frustrated within six weeks if she actually got her hands on that kind of husband. Jessie needed someone who was as strong-willed as she was, someone she respected. Someone who could protect her, not only from her own reckless streak but also from the demands of her family.
    It did not take a doctorate in psychology to figure out something as basic as that, Hatch decided grimly. It was a quite simple man-woman thing.

    Vincent was waiting for him when he got back to his office. He was standing in the hall outside Hatch's door. He scowled and waved a file folder.
    “Where the hell have you been? What's going on around here, anyway? Lately you've been away from your desk more than you've been behind it. How the devil do you expect to run this company if you go gallivanting off whenever you get the urge?”
    “Back off, Benedict. I am not in a good mood.” Hatch pushed past the other man and went on into his office.
    Vincent followed, still waving the file folder. “You know what this is? It's a report from the construction firm we hired to build the new warehouse for us. The doors arrived today and the damned things don't fit. Can you believe it? They're all going to have to go back.”
    “Benedict, that's a problem that someone on a much lower level than you should be handling. I've told you before, you've got to learn to stay out of the details and concentrate on the big picture.”
    “A whole set of doors that don't fit happens to be a very big picture, goddammit. And there's something else we need to deal with. The Spokane project. We're going to lose out to Yorland and Young if you're not careful.”
    “No loss.” Hatch sat down behind his desk.
    “No loss? Dammit, I want that contract. You said you could get it.”
    “I can and I will if you're dead set on it, but I still think it's not worth the effort. We don't need it. We're moving into much bigger projects now. Leave the penny-ante stuff to companies like Y and Y.”
    Benedict started to argue further and then halted abruptly. “Jesus. You're really pissed about something, aren't you?”
    “You could say that, yes.”
    Benedict's eyes narrowed. “You still having problems with my daughter?”
    “Nothing I can't handle.”
    “Then what's the situation here? Where have you been for the past hour, anyway?”
    “Talking to Glenna Ringstead.”
    “Jesus.” Vincent sat down abruptly and heaved a weary sigh. “No wonder you're pissed. That woman has a way of getting a man's back up without half-trying, doesn't she?”
    Hatch heard the odd note in Benedict's voice and glanced up quickly. “I take it you've tangled with her?”
    “Once or twice.”
    “She try to lecture you about Jessie?”
    “Sometimes.”
    Hatch lost what little was left of his patience. “Benedict, I don't need any obscure remarks. If you've got something to say, say it.”
    Vincent massaged his temples and sighed again. “Glenna and I, we sort of, you know, got involved for a while.”
    “Involved?” Hatch was startled in spite of himself. “You and Glenna had an affair? That's hard to believe.”
    “You're telling me. It was a long time ago. Right after Lilian and I got divorced. Lloyd Ringstead had taken off for parts unknown a short while earlier. It was just one of those things, you know? I was feeling low and so was Glenna. We got together one night and started commiserating. Drank too much. Sort of fell into bed. It happened a couple more times and then we both realized we were acting like fools.”
    “I'll be damned. Somehow I don't see you and Glenna together at all.”
    “Neither did we when we came to our senses. Like I said, it was just one of those things.” Benedict shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I never mentioned it to Lilian or anyone else. Neither did