LITMIR.BIZ

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specialist on that job. A full report is logged in on every blowout we cap. It might be better if you come over to the office at Port Neches tomorrow and read through it. Coots will be finishing it tonight.”

      Kelly allowed the pencil to slip from her fingers. She gazed across the room at Sam Tyler. She didn’t blame him for his anger over their injuries. “When will they be flying Slim back here to Houston?”

      Surprise flared briefly in his eyes. “Why?”

      “Because, Mr. Tyler, I want to see him and personally apologize. Here at my father’s company we’re used to keeping oilmen safe, not maiming them.” Her voice broke and Kelly felt the tears rush into her eyes, blurring her vision. She got up and turned, walking resolutely to the window. Her jaw was clenched and rigid as she fought back the deluge that threatened to overwhelm her. She heard Sam get up, heard the soft brush of his boots against the carpet.

      “I’ll be over at Boots and Coots tomorrow morning at nine A.M., Mr. Tyler,” she forced out in a brusque manner to hide her tears. Drawing her shoulders up, she silently willed him not to touch her.

      Sam halted a few feet from where she stood. Her clean profile was silhouetted against the bright blue of the Texas sky. It was a face filled with stubbornness and pride. But he also saw sensitivity and gentleness there. Her lower lip trembled, and Sam sensed that she was very close to tears. His natural reaction was to reach out and comfort her. But the angle of her tense body warned him off. Dropping his gaze, he said, “Okay, we’ll see you tomorrow morning, Ms. Blanchard. And I’m sorry about your father’s death….”

      Kelly waited until she heard the door close before burying her face in her hands. She took several deep, ragged breaths, controlling her anguish. The sudden tenderness and concern that Sam Tyler had displayed had nearly broken her in two. She had had a wild urge to turn and throw herself into his arms. Instinctively, she knew that he would have allowed her to cry freely without demanding an explanation. Groaning softly, Kelly walked back to the desk. Opening the drawer on the right, she grabbed a handkerchief and blotted her eyes.

      The buzzer rang and Kelly picked up the phone.

      “Yes, Susan?”

      There was hesitation in the secretary’s voice. “Ms. Blanchard, a Mr. Gage Wallace of Wallace Steel is here to see you.”

      Kelly stood frozen. No! Not now! And not him! Pursing her lips, she said, “Tell him I’m busy, Susan. He made no appointment and I don’t feel up to seeing anyone else today. Whether he likes it or not, he has to make an appointment like everyone else.”

      She hadn’t meant to slam the phone down, but she did anyway.

      The door to her office opened moments later and Kelly looked up from behind the desk. Gage Wallace slipped in, quietly shutting the door.

      “I’ve come to extend my condolences, Sam.”

      A surge of emotion rose in her. It took the last of her efforts to remain calm. At age forty-two Wallace was a slender man with prematurely graying hair. Like most image-conscious businessmen, he was impeccably dressed in a dark, pinstripe suit. His brown eyes were narrowed upon her face. “Forgive an old friend for disregarding your secretary’s orders.” He walked up to the desk and handed her a bouquet of tiger lilies, pink tea roses and purple iris.

      Kelly stared at the flowers. Her emerald eyes darkened. “You’re a little late with funeral flowers, Gage.”

      A slight smile drifted across his lean face. “These are for you, Kelly. I thought they might brighten up your day.”

      Her glare was frosty and laden with contempt as she rose from her chair. “The only thing that will brighten up my day is for you to get out of here!”

      Gage casually dropped the bouquet on the desk. He seemed completely undisturbed by her outburst. It was as if he were waiting for a child to tire of her temper tantrum. “I was out of the country at the time of your father’s death. Otherwise, I would have attended the funeral and given you moral support.”

      Her nostrils flared. “Take your lies somewhere else, Gage! You never cared for anyone longer than it took you to take their money!” Kelly choked back a sob. Oh, God, she couldn’t cry! Not in front of this man who had been like an evil shadow in her father’s life and her own.

      “Look,” he continued smoothly, “I know you’re terribly upset by what happened. It’s all over the industry that Blanchard pipe has failed on several blowouts.” He gave a practiced smile that was supposed to win her over. “Sure I can’t interest you in using Wallace Steel Mills? I can assure you our formulas are up to the best standards. Why not switch? Now would be a perfect time. You can’t afford to buy any more pipe from R and B Steel. It will ruin your company’s reputation if another pipe blows under stress. You could lose the whole business, Kelly.”

      She was trembling. In an effort to hide her distress, she leaned forward in an aggressive stance. “We have nothing to discuss, Gage. Not a damn thing. It’s typical of you to take advantage of a traumatic human event and try to make a buck out of it. You figure if I’m grief-stricken, I’ll just fall for your plan.” Her eyes sparked with disgust. “I may be upset but that doesn’t interfere with my business sense! Now get out!” She marched to the door and jerked it open.

      He watched her for several seconds. “I’ll call on you sometime early next week. We’ll have dinner—”

      “You don’t run my life, Gage. You never did. Just because you and Todd were partners once, that doesn’t give you access to me. I watched you run my ex-husband out of the business. I know your kind even if he didn’t.” Her voice shook. “Next time, you make an appointment. This is the last time you take advantage of me, my father’s business or anything having to do with us.”

      Gage gave her a chilling smile as he hesitated at the door. “Someday, Kelly,” he began softly, “some man will break that fiery spirit of yours and put you in your rightful place. You’re one hell of a strong-willed woman. You need a strong man. Todd was too weak for you.”

      Kelly smiled grimly. “And you can take your opinions with you, too. The man I love won’t want to ‘break me,’ as you put it, Gage. But then, that’s all you know: smash and destroy.”

      Gage smiled steadily, his eyes opaque. “You know, there are some parts of your spirit I like.”

      “Get out.”

      “I’ll call on you next week.”

      “Don’t bother.”

      Two

      “Sam!” Boots Hansen thundered. Unable to sit still longer than two minutes at any given time, Boots got up from behind the desk in his spacious office. Like all his employees, he wore white coveralls. Just as he came around the desk, Sam appeared at the door. “There you are. Come on in. You finally get cleaned up?”

      Sam nodded. After leaving the office of Blanchard Pipe, he had gone home to shower, shave and change clothes. Trying to shave with his left hand had proved disastrous. Right-handed by nature, Sam had nicked himself more than once.

      Boots’s blue eyes twinkled. “What the hell happened to you, boy?” A wide grin spread across his full face. “Remind me not to let you use a razor anymore.”

      Sam took the teasing in stride. He touched his jaw where one of the several cuts had occurred. “I’m tempted to rip this sling off my arm and say to hell with it. I don’t think I can wait a week to get this damn thing off,” he growled. Making himself comfortable in one of the leather chairs, he waited for Boots to sit down.

      “You up to playing messenger boy? Or do you want to rest? You look kinda peaked.”

      Sam grinned. He had been with the oil firefighting company for three years. His employers’ homespun sense of humor and genuine concern were their trademarks in the industry. No one would make an outward fuss over Sam’s burn injuries. But the concern lingering in Boots’s

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