Chapter 239
“Please!” she tacked on, rolling her eyes a little.
“Sounds like fun,” Mark said. He grabbed the girl around the waist and hoisted her up onto his shoulders. “And since your dad calls you princess, I shall be your noble steed, so point me in the direction you wish to travel!” Well, Mark was about as smart as a thoroughbred. Simon watched absently as they vanished into the crowd, the girl shrieking with delight as they went, tugging at Mark’s hair to steer him.
“Well, that went much more smoothly than expected,” Simon commented, leaning against the picnic table and rubbing at his chin. “She is either on her best behavior, or she has more restraint than either of her parents.”
“She’s in a good mood today,” Howard said. “Possibly because today’s the first day in the last five that she hasn’thad to deal with your stooge.”
Simon straightened. “What are you speaking of?”
Stahl scowled, looking like a masculine copy of his sister, and if that wasn’t disturbing, Simon did not know what was. “Don’t you play coy,” Stahl snarled. “This week has been a fuckin’ nightmare! She’s freakin’ terrified of him. Why? Why would you do that, to her, if nothin’ else. Ain’t she had a bad enough time as it is?”
“I assure you, I do not know what you are talking about,” Simon said, smoothing down his shirt again as if Stahl’s anger had ruffled the fabric. “I have spoken to no one of these matters, except my brother.”
“Yeah, okay, anonymous complainant,” Howard growled. “Did you think we wouldn’t figure it out, really? Who else could possiblystand to gain?”
Simon took a deep breath. Whatever this was, they were very angry. He’d had some experience running bars and casinos, in dealing with angry men. “I realize this is a stretch,” he said, slowly, trying to bring the general hostility down to an acceptable level, “but let’s pretend that I’m stupid. What are you speaking of?”
“Have it your way,” Howard said. “But I’ve got to say, your strategy needs work. It’s a low fucking blow, siccing CPS on us like that, and it’s not going to work. When Billie figures out that you’re the one who set that hound on us, she’s going to be less than happy with you. And let me tell you, the kid knows how to hold a grudge.”
Simon stared down at his hands for a long moment, brain whirling in several directions at once. Any advantage he’d had at all was lost. He came to the table now, several points down, and Simon rarely bet when he did not have the clear advantage. He was not, however, reduced to pleading his case, either. He lifted his chin. “Perhaps it is just as well that I have sent her away with Mark,” he said. “I should not like her to believe me capable—”
“Oh, cut the crap, Johannson,” Stahl snapped. “What’s your problem with us? We were willin’ to come and discuss this with you, work somethin’ out. An’ you’re gonna put us in this position? You know that Mace didn’t want nothin’ to do with you. You get that kid in front of a judge and he may decide against both. You want your kid growin’ up in a foster home?”
Simon took a deep breath, willing himself to calm. He was silver-tongued, had that reputation. His father had trusted him to mediate several take-overs and they had all gone smoothly. He could do this. Just because it was family was no need to lose his temper. “Clearly, you have already decided against me,” Simon said, leaning to one side and making himself smaller, less of a threat. It was painful to back down, physically agonizing to bite his tongue and make nice. “And therefore I suggest we table any changes in Billie’s living arrangements for the time being. If my understanding is correct, if she lives with you through the fall, she will continue to be registered in classes there, and it would be most convenient for her if she remains at Dockside for the next academic year. We might discuss an afternoon visit or two during the summer, that I might get to know her. And we will put off any thought of relocating her for at least a school year?”
Howard’s eyes were narrowed, as if he were searching for some trap in what Simon thought was an imminently reasonable offer. “Why—”
“Damn it, Howard, she is my daughter,” Simon snapped. “Give me some credit for not wanting to alienate her immediately. Whatever you think of me, I assure you, I am not that terrible.”
“And yet this bullshit with CPS,” Howard shot back. “Which, I might add, isn’t likely to go any better for you than it is for us. At least we’re running a family restaurant; what are they going to think about her moving into a bar?”
“That is my offer. We will table this discussion immediately. You will treat me with some semblance of respect. You will not undermine my position with my daughter. And you will have her for another year before I decide toget ugly.If you think this…this pettiness has anything to do with me, you are mistaken. If you should like to continue to war over it, I will do so. That was not what I wanted. I wanted…” Simon shut his mouth so hard and so sudden that he bit his tongue, crossing his arms over his chest, breath hard and heavy in his lungs. What was it about the Stahl family that made him so insane? Must be genetic. His daughter was sure to be a handful. He almost smiled at that.