Hank took a gulp of his drink and gave his head a sharp shake of his head. “I think she convinced you that a marriage to her would benefit FMJ. I think that’s how she got you to marry her.”
“She didn’t get me to marry her. I proposed.”
Hank studied him for a moment, then his lips twisted in a sly smile. “FMJ does some extraordinary work.”
The sudden change of topic gave Jonathon only a moment’s pause. “What’s your point?”
“I know you’re putting together a big proposal for the Department of Energy. Those smart-grid meters of yours are mighty interesting. Matt said if y’all win this government contract, every government building in the country will be retrofitted with one of those meters. Could save the nation millions in electric bills.”
“Matt wasn’t supposed to show you the smart-grid meters.”
“He got a little overenthusiastic. And I found them mighty interesting.”
“And let me guess, if I do something you want, you’ll make sure FMJ gets that contract?”
“No. Certainly not. That would be nepotism.” He scoffed as though the idea were repugnant. Then added, “But what I could do is make sure that the FMJ doesn’t get the contract.”
“And what do I need to do in return?”
“Get an annulment. Send Wendy home with her family.”
“No,” Jonathon said without even considering an answer.
“Just think about all those smart-grid meters of yours,” Hank said, his voice taking on a slick and oily quality. “All those fantastic widgets of yours. Sitting in a warehouse, doing nothing.”
“You’re threatening me.”
Hank smiled. “More to the point, I’m threatening FMJ. Make no mistake about it. If you walk away from this marriage, I can make fabulous things happen for you and for FMJ.”
“But only if I walk away. From Wendy and from Peyton.”
“Exactly.”
“Just tell me this. Why? Why go to all the trouble to blacklist me over one tiny baby. Wendy thinks it’s all about the money. But I don’t believe that. Did Mema put you up to this?”
“No. All she really wants is for Wendy to visit more often. She’d be happy with a promise to bring Peyton to Texas every once in a while.”
“So why not just let Wendy raise her?”
Big Hank pinned him with a steely stare. “Now don’t get me wrong, boy. I have a lot of respect for your Gwen. It takes some cojones to stand up for yourself in this family. And your Gwen certainly has a pair. Probably bigger than Hank Jr.—though Helen could give her a run for her money. The thing about Helen, at least I know how to control her. She always follows the money. But Gwen…Gwen’s a loose cannon. She doesn’t give a damn about the money.”
Jonathon thought about Wendy and knew that her uncle was right, about the money at least. She didn’t care about it. She cared about the baby. After a minute, Jonathon looked up to find Big Hank studying him. “What about me?” he asked.
Hank studied him shrewdly. “You’re a businessman first and foremost. You haven’t spent the last thirteen years of your life building a company from the ground up just to throw it away over a baby. Or even over a woman. You’ll do what’s right by FMJ.”
Jonathon pretended to think about it. Mostly because Big Hank would never take seriously someone who would turn down his deal without considering it. Then he shook his head, chuckling a little under his breath. “You know, she said you’d do this.”
Big Hank smirked. “Do what?”
“She said that her family always found a way to twist what someone wants. Turn it against them. Or rather turn them against her.”
For a second, Big Hank looked as though he might deny the accusation. Then he just shrugged his shoulders and owned up to it. “Most of the time, she’s made it easy. Wendy always dated men who were weaker than she was.” Big Hank gave Jonathon a slow and assessing look. “But not you, son.”
“No. Not me.” He scraped a line of condensation off his beer bottle. “So tell me something. From what I understand, you tried to control your daughter, Bitsy, and in the end you only drove her away. So why are you trying to do the same thing to Peyton?”
“Why did the scorpion sting the turtle? It’s in my nature. And people don’t really change, no matter how they wish they could.”
Jonathon pushed back his chair. “Well, sir, with all due respect, I’ve lived my whole life in Northern California. And I don’t understand homespun analogies about scorpions. Never seen a scorpion in my life.”