Love On The Brazos Read online

  “I have it already. What time is your appointment?”

  “It’s at ten.” Looking at his card, she said, “It’s with your investment department.”

  “Stop by and see me then, if it’s convenient.”

  “I will. See you then. It’s been a pleasure, Michael.”

  * * *

  Jodie and her father spent an hour the next day with the First City’s Investment representatives. While they expressed interest in her idea of a sub-division, they asked for detail in the demographics of the area. “Thank goodness for the internet,” Jordy said to her father as they left the office. It would take a lot of time to gather all of the material they want. I can get most of it from there. The Fort Bend Planning Commission will have all we need on growth in the county. The Texas Highway Commission will have traffic projections. I can probably have all they need in two weeks.

  Do you know Michael Simms, Dad?”

  “Can’t say as I do, why do you ask?”

  “I met him yesterday at the meeting. One of our subs gave us as a reference for something and wants to talk to us about it. You’ve known them longer than I have, do you feel like talking to him today? I can always reschedule if you don’t.”

  “I’m fine. Where is it?”

  “Here in this building.”

  “Let’s do it then.”

  They found the office of Michael Simms without any problem. His secretary let him know they were in the office. He was out in five minutes. “Jordan, good to see you again. This is your father?”

  “Dad, this is Michael Simms.” They shook hands, and Simms got right down to business. Jim was able to answer all of the questions and that was it.

  As they left, Michael shook Jordy’s hand, holding on to it a little longer than necessary. “Jordy, could I call you sometime?”

  “Yes, I’d like that, Michael. She gave him her card and said my cell phone is on there too. Call any time. Nice to see you again.”

  “That was a handsome young man, Jordy. I think he has his eye on you.”

  “I don’t have time for a man in my life right now Dad.”

  “That’s not an answer your mother would like.”

  “Yes, I know. I’ve been waiting for her to start up on the matchmaking. I dread that.”

  * * *

  Two days later. . .

  The Theme from Rocky caught Jordy’s attention. It was the ring tone from her iPhone. “Hello, this is Jordan Carlyle.”

  “Jordy, this is Michael Simms. How are you today?”

  “Hi Michael. I’m fine. You?”

  “I’m fine too. I was wondering if you would like to have dinner tomorrow evening.”

  “I don’t know, Michael, I’m pretty busy trying to get the proposal off the ground for this new sub-division.”

  “You have to eat.”

  “You sound just like my mother. She is always saying the same thing. Can I meet you somewhere?”

  “What about Perry’s on the Town Square at seven?”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you then and thanks for calling.”

  ***

  She managed to get home around five for a change. “Jordy, would you like to go out for dinner with Dad and me tonight?”

  “No thanks, Mom. I’m meeting someone for dinner.”

  “Someone I know?”

  “I don’t think so. It’s someone I met at work.”

  “Are you going out with Michael Simms?”

  “Yes, I am, Dad. He called yesterday, and we’re meeting at Perry’s on the Square.”

  “I told you he had his eye on you.”

  “You’re as bad as Mom. It’s just for dinner, nothing special.”

  “What’s he like, Jim?”

  “He’s about 6’ 3”. Dark hair and quite handsome. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Jordy in the meeting.”

  “Where does he work?”

  “First City.”

  “Would you guys let me know where and when you’re having the wedding?” Jordy said, shaking her head as she left the room.

  “Is this serious, Jim?”

  “I don’t think so, they just met Wednesday. She told me yesterday she doesn’t have time for a man in her life right now.”

  “I hate to hear that,” Marian said.

  “I told her you wouldn’t like what she said. She says she dreads you getting into the matchmaker mode.”

  “Well, someone has to. It doesn’t look as if she’s going to make any moves.”

  “Give her time. Her goal right now is to get this project going. She’s trying to prove something to Hank.”

  “Do you think they’ll get back together?”

  “I doubt it. His lack of compassion when I had the stroke made her mad. He refused to consider Houston, and you know she’s wanted to work with me since she was a little girl. Now she’s out to show him what he missed out on. She’ll do it too.”

  * * *

  Jordy met Michael in the lobby of the Perry’s Steakhouse. Heads turned as she walked in, wearing a blue sun dress with white dots, carrying a small white clutch. She was wearing white sandals. Her blonde hair in the pageboy cut she liked. She walked with the grace of one who is beautiful and completely unaware of it.

  Michael stood and walked over to her and said, “You are stunning! I’m going to be the envy of every man in the restaurant.”

  “Why thank you, sir,” Jordy said with a slight curtsy. “How has your day been?”

  “You know, just passing out and collecting the filthy lucre, like any ordinary run of the mill banker. And yours?”

  “I spent a good part of mine rustling up data for that bank of yours.”

  “Let’s not spend the evening talking shop.”

  “I’m up for that.”

  They were shown to a table in one of the quieter sections of the restaurant. “Would you like a drink? Wine?”

  “Thank you; I’ll have a glass of chardonnay.”

  He told the waiter to bring the bottle.

  “So, where did you go to school Jordy?”

  “You can’t tell? I’m from a long line of Aggies. Undergrad and grad in construction engineering.”

  “Lord, deliver me from Aggies!”

  “Don’t tell me you’re a Tea sip?”

  “Only undergrad, I have an MBA from Harvard.”

  “I’m impressed.”

  “As long as we’re telling all, why hasn’t someone as beautiful as you been snatched up by now?”

  “I was engaged, but I broke it off or we broke it off when Daddy had the stroke. I told him I had to move back to Houston, and he said no way for him, and if that’s what I wanted, then that was it. It was over a year ago. I’ve been too busy to go out much since.”

  “Well, my girlfriend decided she couldn’t live in such an uncivilized part of the world, and she broke it off suddenly about two months ago. She thought with my MBA from Hahvad I should be conquering the financial world from New York. It was a rough time for me. This is the first time I’ve been out since we broke up.”

  “Well, thank you for choosing me to break your fast.”

  “I guess we’d better look at the menu. Our server is probably getting a bit antsy.”

  “Oh, let him. I haven't been out in a long time. I want to savor the feeling. I don’t know when I’ll get the chance again.”

  “Your dad an Aggie?”

  “Yes, Mom too. We’ll probably be snarling at each other before the evening is over.”

  “I hope not. I’m enjoying the company.”

  “As am I.”

  She told Michael what she would like, and he gave the order to the waiter. “There, that should take care of him for a while.”

  They talked about a myriad of subjects before their dinners were brought out. Jordy’s perception of Michael was he was just a good old boy showing no ill effects from his unfortunate choice of educational facilities. She told him so, and he laughed out loud.

  “You have a nice laugh. You should use it mor
e often.”

  “I’ve isolated myself so much into the business there hasn’t been much of an opportunity to exercise it. When Michelle broke up with me, I thought it was the end of the world.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “Where else, New York City.”

  “Do you think we should introduce them to each other?”

  “No, not unless old what’s his name would leave Dallas, because she sure won’t leave New York.”

  “We had planned to go to Belize on our honeymoon. I already had the tickets,” Michael said.

  “Could I make a special request? How about we don’t talk about old what's-his name and old what’s her name. They made their beds, let them lie in them.”

  “Together?” Michael said.

  “Why not?” And she giggled and blushed. Her laugh sounded like little bells ringing. Michael joined in with his deep throated chuckle.

  Jordy had a thoughtful expression on her face and was looking off into space.

  “Penny?”

  “What? Oh I’m sorry. I was just thinking you are very easy to talk with Michael.”

  “Well so are you, for an Aggie, that is.”

  “Now you had to go get nasty didn’t you? One thing you’ll find out about me, Michael. I never, ever get mad. I always get even.”

  He laughed again. The waiter had quietly placed the folder containing the check on the table. Michael looked at his watch. “Can you believe we’ve been here three hours?”

  “You’re kidding? You’re not kidding. Well no wonder the waiter was getting nervous.”

  Michael took out his Platinum American Express card and placed it in the folder, where it was immediately picked up and returned with the bill in short order. Michael studied the bill and signed it. He pulled Jordy’s chair out and they made their way to the cars.

  He walked Jordy to her car and held the door for her. Before she got into the car, she said, “Michael, thank you very much for asking me tonight. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed myself this much. It was a most enjoyable evening.”

  “The same goes for me too. You are a great listener and a most charming companion.”

  She lifted her cheek for him to kiss. When his lips touched the soft, sensitive skin of her cheek, it sent small tingles throughout her body. “Would you like to do this again?”

  “I really would. Give me a call please.”

  “I will, and thank you.”

  “It was my pleasure. And I mean that. Even if you are a Tea sip.”

  “I can’t say you didn’t warn me. I’ll call you. Good night, Jordy.”

  “Good Night, Michael.”

  He stood there until her car started and began to move off. “What a very nice and very beautiful girl. I would like to go out with her again.” He thought.

  Almost the same thought was being echoed in Jordy’s car. “I really enjoyed this evening. Great conversation, fun and interesting. I would really like to see him again.”

  When Jordy returned home, she found her mother and Dad watching TV in their comfortable family room with the large flat screen TV. She sat next to her mother on the sofa. “So, how was your date?”

  “It was a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Michael was interesting, easy to talk with, and he was funny. He went to UT and got his MBA from Harvard. It was so interesting time got away from us, and it was ten o’clock before we realized it.”

  “Are you going to out with him again,” her father asked?

  “If he calls and asks, I will. He said he would call. I hope he does. He might be skittish though. His girlfriend dumped him about two months ago because he wouldn’t move to New York City. Sounds like my situation in reverse.”

  “Well, if he doesn’t, we just won’t do business with his bank anymore,” joked her dad.

  Chapter 4 A Date In Galveston

  It was a beautiful sunny spring day in Sugar Land. The temperature was predicted to be in the low 80’s. There would be no fun in the sun for Jordan Carlyle on this day. She was hard at work pulling together the last of the information she would need to include in her presentation to the bank on Carlyle Estates. She had been burning the midnight oil in order to keep up with the construction business while putting the proposal together. She stopped her work and was gazing out the window. The wind was playing with the leaves on the mesquite trees bordering the pasture to the back of her home. She could see cattle grazing beyond the trees. It was an idyllic scene and one she resolved to ignore and get back to work. As she turned her attention back to the computer screen, her iPhone signaled an incoming call.

  “Hello, this is Jordy,” she answered.

  “Jordy, this is Michael. Am I interrupting anything?”

  “No, only the most important project of my life,” she laughed with the usual tinkle of small bells in her voice.

  “I can call back if it’s inconvenient,” he offered.

  “No, no, it’s not that. It’s such a nice day; I’m finding it hard to get anything done. I’m trying to finish up my proposal, and I just hate to waste it indoors. We need to take advantage of the days this nice. Before long it’ll be in the nineties and too hot to be outside.”

  “How about I take you away from all of that for a while?”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “What about driving to Galveston for lunch on the Strand?”

  “A mighty tempting offer. Let me think about it.” After a ten second pause, she said, “Okay, that’s enough thinking. Let’s do it.”

  “When can I pick you up?”

  “Do you know where we live?”

  “No, but I have GPS. Tell me and I can find it.”

  She gave him directions, and said, “Give me thirty minutes and I’ll be ready.”

  “See you in thirty,” he said.

  She hurriedly dressed in a pair of designer jeans and a button down the front blue blouse. She never wore a lot of makeup, so she applied lipstick and sunblock. She brushed her hair and was rewarded with a lustrous sheen to the short blonde hair. She tied a white scarf with blue spots around her neck. She was ready with ten minutes to spare.

  Leaving the bedroom, she called out, “Mom, Michael is coming to pick me up, and we’re going to lunch in Galveston.”

  “Will he be coming in?”

  “Would you like for him to?”

  “I’d like to meet him if you don’t mind.”

  “Okay. I think you’ll like him.”

  Michael drove up in a fire engine red convertible. He came to the door, where he was met by Jordy. “Once again, you really look nice. The colors really set off your eyes.”

  “Thanks. You look nice yourself. Come on in, I want you to meet Mom. You have to stand for parental approval.”

  He came into the family room where Marian Carlyle was sitting. She stood, and Jordy said, “Mom, this is Michael Simms. Michael, Mom.”

  “I taught her better than that. I’m Marian. Welcome to our home. I’m pleased to meet you.”

  “I was treated to some of her humor last night when she was putting down my choice of schools.”

  “I can understand that. We’re a family of Aggies.”

  “I won’t hold that against you. I can see where Jordy gets her beauty from. She looks a lot like you.”

  “Well, thank you.” She turned to Jordy, “You’re right, Jordy; I like him. You guys be careful. Jordy, be sure…”

  “Yes mother, I have sunblock. You’d think I was still teenager the way she bosses me around.”

  “I can see how much you resent it,” he said.

  “She hugged her mother. Bye, Mom. Love you.”

  “I love you too honey. Michael, drive carefully, and it has been a pleasure meeting you, even if you did go to the other school.”

  He laughed and said, “Goodbye. Marian. It has been a pleasure.”

  As they left, he said, “I like your mother.”

  “All of my friends like Mom. She’s a real hoot.”

&nb
sp; “Is that some sort of Aggie expression?”

  “Yeah, would you like me to explain it?” She took his hand as they walked to the car. She looked up and flashed a mind blowing smile that would have melted a weaker person, squeezed his hand and said, “No more Aggie jokes today.”