“As much as I’d like to tell you that you’re right, I have a feeling that if they don’t know before they tie the knot, especially our Jade, they’ll be upset with you both.” Clay thought that dad was right. “Welcome to the family, Lizzy. You’re going to fit right in with the rest of this bunch.”

  After hugs were given all around, dad told Lizzy that it was all set up so that her dad would have a ticket to come here at the airport closest to where he was staying. He had also contacted the local police to let them know to be on the lookout for him coming through town.

  “I thought perhaps he could intercept them on their way back to where they’re staying so that he could give him the information about the ticket. The captain there said that he’d take him to the airport himself. He also said that he liked your father. He never caused any trouble when he was in town like the others did that lived out there. I was also able to send the officer money so that he’d be able to get your dad his own cell phone so that he could call you when he was on his way. That was more than I expected.” Lizzy hugged his dad and told him she had to find her dad a house. “You leave that up to me. I’ll have him living so close to you two that he’ll be at the dinner table every night with the two of you.”

  They let Jenson and Jade know that they were engaged, and they came over to have dessert with them. Dad had been right. If they had not told them before the wedding, they would have been pissed off. Jade had even threatened them with bodily harm if they kept things like that from them in the future.

  “I’m so happy for the two of you.” Jenson told him he’d heard from Jade what had happened at the meeting today. “I won’t have to tell you how pissed she was when she got home. But, she also has plans for the five men that fucked you over.”

  Mom smacked Jenson in the back of the head when he used the f-bomb. Clay wondered sometimes if he would be forever terrified of his mom hearing him use that particular word when he was in his seventies. He thought he’d still be looking around for her then.

  He and Lizzy made it home at about midnight. Much too late, he thought, for a wedding that was to start at nine in the morning. But he wasn’t the one getting married, so he didn’t particularly care, he thought with a smile. Clay was certain that Jenson nor Jade would get a bit of sleep and went to his own room, knowing that he’d be more rested than his brother. Smiling to himself, he laid down. Tomorrow was going to be a wonderful day for the new couple, and he couldn’t wait until it was his wedding day.

  ~*~

  “I’ve been doing some reading on some of the equipment that is being totted on the internet. Have you seen it, Jon? It’s all over the web.” Jon wasn’t quite awake yet but told the president, who had called him at this ungodly hour at six in the morning, that he did. “What are we doing to keep up with the other countries? I do hope that you’ve been pushing our people to be one step ahead all the time. It wouldn’t do us any good to be the best if we’re lagging behind on some of the tools that they’re bragging about, now would it? By the way, how did the interviews go?”

  “Fine. Fine. We had a couple that showed real promise, but you know how it is. Some people can’t get past the point of where they are without troubles. I believe background checks are going to save us a bit of time from now on.” He felt stupid the moment that came out of his mouth. Background checks had been around for decades, and here he was telling the president of the free world that like he’d invented it. Jon Becker hated to be asked about his job, especially from the president. “We’ve people in place that are going to continue to work for us under contract so that we’ll be ahead of all the pack, sir. You just wait and see.”

  Making his way to the computer, he did have to ask the president what equipment he was referring to, as there were several that were in the works for them. Not really, but he’d get people on that as soon as he was in the office this morning. Once he had the website in question, he was able to see what it was he was talking about.

  “It’s supposed to make working on repairs in space a breeze. I know that we have a nonarcing screwdriver finished up. A beautiful piece at that. But this article says that they’re leaps and bounds ahead of the US. That can’t be true, is it?” Jon said that he’d been trying to get in touch with one of his people and he’d call them today. “I saw where Jade has quit working for the department. I thought you told me some time ago that she was under contract with us and would be for life.”

  “She is. When did you hear that she was quitting? I’ve not been informed of that.” Jon tried to remember the last time he had spoken to Jade and knew that it had to of been a few days now. Just because she was getting married, there was no reason for her to be shirking on her duties to him and their country. “I’ll be contacting her today. Then I’ll get back to you. I don’t know what is going on with her quitting, but she can’t do that with our contract in place. I’ll make sure that I have it in hand while I’m about it too.”

  He tried to remember how long her contract had been for. Surely it hadn’t been left to run out now, did it? Then there was Clay Strong. He’d not been able to get in touch with him either. They were to have a meeting after the wedding of the century the newspapers were calling the wedding of soon-to-be congressman Jenson Strong and Jade Anderson. He’d not been able to set that up either, now that he was thinking about it. Then he remembered that today was the event that had everyone taking time off to attend it.

  Pulling out the numbers on his cell, he decided that since he was up, he’d just make the calls now. That way, hopefully, he’d be able to catch them before they all got going on their day. He was dismayed to find that the number that he had for Jade’s drop-off office had been disconnected. And there was no forwarding number that could be found, the operator told him. Then after trying Clay’s number, he was angry to find that it, too, had been disconnected. However, there had been a forwarding number for it.

  He listened to the opening message twice before he was settled enough in his mind to leave a message for the young man. The nerve of some people, Jon thought.

  “This is Mr. Jon Becker with the United States NASA program. I don’t know what you mean, but leaving that message there about me not contacting you again but that will not work for me, young man. You have a contract with us, and you’ll work it out until I say differently. Now, I expect a call back from you today by five. And you tell that new sister-in-law of yours that I’m looking for her too.” He thought of something else. “If this is about you not getting the job working directly with us, then you’re to behave like a grown man and stop all this childishness and return my calls. We have work to do, and I won’t put up with you having a temper tantrum. Your parents must have been too lenient on you, and they’ve spoiled you for working in the sector of such importance as I am. Get on those calls, young man or so help me, you’ll wish your mother and father hadn’t had you. They might not have in the first place, for all I know about you.”

  Feeling good about what he’d already been able to accomplish, he went to the dining room, startling his staff by telling them they should have his breakfast ready for him. He was kind of liking this being in-charge crap. It was a heady feeling. One he could get used to. And today, he’d get his team working on the equipment that the president had shown him, and he’d be happy to take all the credit for getting people to work for him without any kind of job offer.

  Jon didn’t feel bad about not hiring the Strong boy. He’d hated the Strong family for a lot of years. Clay’s father had been in college with him back in the day. He’d excelled in all his classes and had been so humble when he’d been voted as valedictorian for their graduating class it had pissed off his mother when she saw him. While Jon hadn’t done all that bad in college, he was never even close to what Barkley had been in smarts. He’d been offered his job, too, and turned it down for family life. Bastard.

  When his phone rang in his office, he had the staff answer it. It had better be Jade or Clay. Not Jade, he supposed. She was getting married sometime today. He only just remembered. Otherwise, he was going to have to make a little trip to see them, and he wasn’t going to be the least bit happy about it if he did. His butler handed him his phone after plugging it into the wall socket.

  “It’s Mrs. Strong, sir.” It took him a moment to realize that it would be Jade now, and he answered with his name. “She is very upset if you ask me.”

  “I know who you are, you moron. My name is Lisa Strong. Why are you calling here and leaving messages for my son? Especially ones like you did. What possessed you to think that anyone would be…oh, I’m so mad right now I could just spit. And I don’t spit.” He wasn’t happy with her yelling at him but told her that it was the only number that he had for him. “Well, it’s wrong. He’s not lived here for a number of years. However, if you were to leave a message like you just did on my answering machine for him, then I’d not call you back again either. You threatening people as part of your job? Then to make demands on him as if he is some…what did you call him? Childish? Having a temper tantrum? You had no right to say that about us not wanting our sons. We wanted them—Why, you little pecker head, I should call your boss and allow him to—you know what? I think I’m going to do just that. Goodbye.”

  Before he could ask her what she was talking about, that his message to Clay was none of her business, he realized that she’d not be able to get in touch with his boss as he was on vacation for the next three months. At least, that was what they were calling it. The man had a serious drug-related problem, and he was being dried out. Christ, women should never be put in charge of anything if they were going to be this emotional when they had to make a phone call.

  After finishing up his breakfast, Jon made his way to his room. After showering and getting dressed for the day, he was out the door and on his way to the office before ten. Hours he knew before his little wife was up and around. It was an entire hour before he was normally known to show up at work. He liked that too. Having the entire office to himself for a time.

  By the time he was on his second cup of coffee, he’d not only found out that the Sharple people had returned back to their commune, but they’d been pulled over by the police on the way back home. He was thrilled by that. However, he was dismayed to not be able to find anything that told why they’d been pulled over nor how much time they’d spent in jail. Just as he was looking up the number of the county seat there, his office phone rang. At the same time, the door to his office opened, and there stood the president. Not sure what to do, he stood up and held the receiver in his hand, close to his chest.

  “Sir. I didn’t expect you here. Let me get rid of this call and—” He told him to talk to the person on the other end. “But sir, you’ve come all this way to talk to me. I’m sure that it’s not important.”

  “And I’m positive that it is. Did you actually threaten Clay Strong? Answer the phone, Jon. I’m not in the mood for you to be screwing around right now.” He put his phone to his ear. However, before he was able to figure out who it was, Brock told him to put it on speaker. “I want you to hear just how pissed off you’ve made the richest family in the world today, Jon. You moron, what the hell is wrong with you?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know. Did you just insult my wife? Not to mention my son and new daughter-in-law?” Jon didn’t have to know who Barkley Strong was to know that it was him calling him right now. “Do you have any idea how much we contribute each year to programs that are only running because of my family? How many times I’ve been called up to write out a check for one program or another and simply did it because I thought it was my—is this about me beating you out for valedictorian when we were in college? Good Christ, man, it’s been over forty years. Get over yourself. You were never that smart, to begin with. But to have you tell my son that we might not want him? You’ve made my wife cry, Jon. She’s sobbing right now that there is someone out there that thinks she didn’t want our children. You bastard. If I were there right now, I’d tear you apart. Do you hear me?”

  “Barkley, Mr. Strong, I think there has been a misunderstanding.” He said that there damn well was, and it was all on him. “Your son and your daughter-in-law are breaking their contract with the government by not working when they were told. I mean, when they should be. I do know that Jade is supposed to be getting married today to your son, but—”

  “Supposed to be marrying my son? What the hell is wrong with her marrying my son? Besides, you moron, neither one of them has a contract with the government. You should be checking your facts before you go spouting off things that your ass can’t cover. And you can’t even come close to covering how pissed off I am at you right at this moment. Clay has never turned down a job for your department despite not having a contract with you. And Jade’s…let me see here. Hers ran out over five years ago. Remiss on your part for not following up on that. But I’m thrilled that you have. I’m sure she will, too, when she hears about this. She is now free to work with anyone that she wants. Both of them are. That would include foreign countries too.” Jon said that he was lying. He knew the moment that it came out of his mouth that it was a grave error on his part. “Now you’re calling me a liar?”

  His voice was much too calm. To quiet. When Jon tried to backtrack on what he’d said, saying that it had to be a mistake on his part about his children, Barkley said that it was just another way of calling him a liar.

  “Brock?” The President said that he was here too. “Don’t let this idiot call my home or my family again. Ever. I wouldn’t want any of my family to work for him or his departments if it would save the world from certain destruction. I can’t believe…well, after the things that I’ve been told about the meeting that he had with Clay the other day, I shouldn’t be the least bit surprised about anything that spews from his mouth. Did he tell you that he told my son that if he were to stop dating Lizzy, a fine girl as I’ve ever met, he might stand a chance of working for him? Not likely now, I don’t think. He didn’t take his advice either. The two of them are engaged now. And you can bet that Barkley, my son, won’t be tweaking any more programs for this ass, either. He’s made his bed. Now he can smother in it as far as I’m concerned.”

  When the call disconnected, Jon sat down in his chair. Brock came all the way into his office and sat down across from him after taking the receiver from him and hanging it up. Without a single word from the president, Jon said that he should be packing up his office.

  “No, I’ll have someone that I trust doing that for you.” Shaking his head, Brock looked at him. “How could you think that this wouldn’t get back to me, Jon? How the hell did you think that this would even fly with these people? Christ, you’ll be lucky if you don’t lose your pension over this. However, there is one thing I can tell you right now, by the end of the day, if Clay isn’t sitting in your chair, then it’ll be Jade. It will be the only way that I can think of to appease the Strong family. Christ, I would hate to be in your shoes right now.”

  He was being escorted out of the building when he realized that he was going to have to tell his wife they were going to have to move again. And she wasn’t going to be happy. Also, he’d have to think of some way, any way that he could, to get to keep his pension. It had been all he’s been banking on since he’d been old enough to know that he didn’t know how to save money for his old age. Well, he was there now, and he was going to be screwed if he didn’t figure this out.

  Chapter 5

  Lizzy couldn’t have been happier than she was right now. And since she’d been asked to be a bridesmaid to walk with Clay as an usher, she felt like she could walk on clouds. Everything about this day was picture-perfect. Even the weather, which had been predicted to be extremely cold, had relented and was a balmy forty-one degrees today.

  The dress was beautiful. The lavender color, so springlike, seemed to be begging for the next season to hurry up and get to them. And Clay looked so handsome in his tux that she wanted to find a nice dark room and take it off of him. One piece of clothing at a time.

  “You keep looking at him like that, and I’m going to be hunting you down before the pictures are taken to make sure you two don’t run off to be alone in some dark corner.” Lizzy was embarrassed but also thrilled someone had noticed how much she loved Clay. And Jade was blunt enough to point it out to her. “You two look at each other like the others have been accusing Jenson and me of looking at each other too. It’s a great feeling being in love, don’t you think?”

  “It is. More than I ever expected it to be too.” The two of them had gotten close over the last few hours. Once they started talking about the wedding and then other things, it seemed like they’d known each other forever. “You guys will be gone for a month. Traveling around Europe like the rich and fabulous. Whatever will I do without you?”

  “You’ll have Grannie Strong, who is wonderful and Lisa to hang out with. Take notes on what Grannie’s like for me. I have a feeling that she is going to be around from now on, don’t you?” She told her that she thought so as well. “Okay, I’ve distracted you long enough. Jenson and I talked it over, and we want you and Clay to be married today too. It’s all set up, and after pulling in a couple of favors, your license is all taken care of as well.”

  “No, this is your day.” Jade told her that it was just a day. That she was sure many people had been married on this day. “But it’s your wedding day.”

  “Yes, and it will be yours if Jenson can talk his brother into—see, that’s where he’ll mess this up. He’ll ask him if he wants to do it and I just told you that you were going to be married. I like that better anyway.” She asked her if she knew if Clay was going to agree. “Of course, he will. When I’m finished with him, he’ll think it was his idea.”