Chapter 12

"What?" Scott gasped, his just-finished lunch turning over in his stomach.

"I said, Scott," Sandra repeated patiently, "that I know about you and Kathy."

"She told you?" Scott asked, his heart pounding in his throat.

"Kathy?" Sandra laughed. "No, she didn't tell me. Kathy would never tell me something like that."

"Then how..."

"Oh, Scott, did you really think you could keep something like that a secret?" Sandra scolded softly. "I suspected it the first day I met you. The way you two looked at each other. Remember, I'm Kathy's mother. Then I happened to overhear the two of you in your apartment one afternoon..."

"Then it was you who dropped the handkerchief and matches," Scott remarked.

"Oh, is that where I lost it?" Sandra exclaimed with a smile. "I've looked everywhere. The point is, Scott, that I don't care. In fact, I think that it's probably the best thing for Kathy. Now she won't fall in love with the first man who gets her hot. So, in case you're worried, I'm not going to do a thing about it."

"Well," Scott sighed, "I can't deny that that's a relief!"

"I feel we had to get it out in the open, especially when we may be working closely together for the next year."

"But..." Scott began.

"No, let me get if off my mind, Scott," Sandra persisted. "Now, if I accept this offer from Hurricane this afternoon, it's true that we'll be working close for some time, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"And that's going to keep you and I and Kathy fairly close," Sandra continued. "What we can't have is all three of us sneaking around behind each other's back. Last night meant quite a bit to me, Scott."

"And to me."

"And I'm not sure, Scott, where we go from here. We need some ground rules."

"Sandra," Scott began, reaching across the table to take her hand in his, "I have no idea what you think of me at this point, but I like you very much. My proposal would be that we limit it to you and me."

"That's not fair to Kathy, Scott," Sandra said, squeezing his hand and smiling, "but I'm just woman enough to accept it. Isn't it awful to be in competition with your own daughter?"

"Sandra, last night I..."

"Not now, Scott," she interrupted quickly. "I wouldn't want that now. Let's just leave it where it is and see what develops, okay?"

"Okay," Scott replied slowly. "But I want you to know..."

"Not now, remember?" Sandra interrupted. "Now tell me all about Mister Stachdt and how I should behave."

Scott smiled and slowly began giving her his impression of the dignified industrialist. He told her everything he could remember about his one encounter with the wealthy man and related the terms Stachdt mentioned for Sandra.