A Mum For Amy

“Does she?”

Maggie’s eyes seemed glued to Amy’s face, and Will felt a sudden tightness in his chest and a vague feeling of vulnerability. His fingers clumsily straightened the collar on his daughter’s blouse. Then, fighting off panic, he stood and set the child away from him, guiding her toward Lisa. “Ladies, I hate to interrupt,” he said in his calmest tone. “But Mr. LaCrosse and I still have business to discuss. Lisa, will you and Amy meet me at the restaurant at noon?”

Lisa agreed immediately and offered Maggie a quick goodbye. Much to Will’s displeasure and chagrin, they made promises to be in touch. He suddenly wished that Lisa had not turned out to be such a good-natured, friendly young woman.

He watched them leave, and felt enough relief to melt his bones. No disaster in the making here. No danger.

He leaned against a beat-up file cabinet. Teddy was looking at him curiously, but Will managed something like a smile. “So. Where were we?” He turned toward Maggie. “Ah yes, I believe you were in the middle of an accusation.”

A dangerous light kindled in Maggie’s eyes again. Good, he thought. He wanted her mad and concentrating on him. Angry enough to keep her distance. So much safer that way.

She tapped the edge of the file she carried, and he saw her bite her lip, possibly trying to make up her mind as to the best approach. “Teddy, I’m sorry,” she said at last. “I’m not trying to be difficult. I just want to be sure that the reasons you’re going to sign with Coastal are legitimate. Not based unfairly on the history Will and I share.”

Will opened his mouth to object, but Teddy cut him off with a raised hand. “Hold on, Willy-boy. Let her finish.”

In a voice full of quiet, precise anger, Maggie said, “Eight years ago, Will and I…had a relationship. It ended badly and we haven’t spoken since. Now I discover that you’re going with Coastal Communities. I can’t help but think that—on some level—the decision was made in their favor due to circumstances that are unrelated to my ability to carry out the job.”

Teddy’s eyes were guarded, but not hostile. “I would be very foolish to ignore the opinion of my chief architect.”

Will spoke up. “I advised him against you for specific reasons that have nothing to do with our past. We’ve already talked about your lack of experience and that of your construction team. Frankly, knowing you as I do, I was also concerned about maturity. My firm can’t afford to take chances—”

Maggie had gone rigid. Will knew he’d struck a nerve.

“How dare you talk to me about maturity?” she flashed out. “How mature is it to judge me after an eight-year gap? I was nineteen when we were together. You don’t know me at all now. I’ve worked hard to develop Sapphire Seas into a respected operation I can be proud of.” She swung a glance back to Teddy. “I’m not asking for a handout.”

“Good, because you won’t get one,” Teddy replied.

As though sensing some small window of opportunity, Maggie leaned forward again. “If you’ll reconsider, I can promise you results that will knock your socks off. I’m not talking about a few pretty aquarium backdrops, Teddy. I’m talking about living works of art. If you’re not one hundred percent satisfied…” She opened her folder on the desk, turned it upside down so he could see it and jabbed a finger at the bottom of the page where a column of figures ended. “I’ll eat my costs. Every one of them.”

Will barely disguised a sharp breath. He knew Teddy, and saving money always got him to sit up and take notice. Damage control was in order. He said quickly, “That’s a ridiculous promise to make, and even suggesting it shows—”

“I like it,” Teddy said.

Maggie blinked and then smiled, clearly thinking she’d won. “I’ll even—”

Teddy held up a hand again. “Stop. Remember the salesman’s creed. Once you get your yes, stop talking. You’ve made your point and caught my interest.” He lifted a brow at Will, who managed to stifle any hint of emotion. “I don’t know if what Maggie says is true or not, but as long as we’ve done business together, I’ve never known you to be unethical.” He grinned. “But I’ve also never seen you this agitated, and that makes me curious as hell. So I’m asking you to reconsider your advice. Make sure your motives are legit. I’ll abide by your decision, but I liked Maggie’s designs a lot, and I want her to have a fair shot at this. Will you agree?”

The moment stretched interminable and a few seconds beyond. Finally, Will made a sound full of disgust. “This is a foolish waste of time. I’ll admit it occurred to me that working with Maggie would be difficult given our history. But I advised you to go with Coastal for the right reasons. I don’t reach conclusions based on personal prejudices.”

Teddy laughed and gave him a smile that was wide and full of sly humor. “Son, take my word for it. Whatever happens in the bedroom always messes with what goes on in the brain.”

CHAPTER FOUR

AS SOON AS Maggie left the construction trailer, she called Zack. Her nerves still sang with tension from her confrontation with Will in front of Teddy LaCrosse, but at least she felt some small measure of relief that she hadn’t been completely shot down. Sapphire Seas had a chance—a slim one, especially if Will refused to be fair and found fault at every turn, but a chance all the same.

She asked Zack to start lining up the oven team who would be responsible for pouring acrylic molds for the tanks. He might be terrible with paperwork, but her business partner had a real knack for handling her part-time construction crew.

“I heard Dick Iverson moved back to Wisconsin after the last hurricane, so he’s out,” Zack told her as she sat at one of the constant stream of traffic lights on Collins Avenue. “Are you coming back tonight? We can have dinner and talk about who else might be available.”

“I think I’ll stay a couple of days. There’s a huge homebuilders’ convention in town. Maybe I can drum up some business. Since you’re coming up tomorrow to do the installation on the Blue Reef job, we could talk then.”

“Okay,” Zack said. “But if you show up at the Blue Reef, I’m putting you to work.”

The Blue Reef Bar and Grill was one of their latest clients, an upscale watering hole that had contracted for a large bi-view tank that would separate the restaurant from the bar area. Nothing too difficult or exotic, and on those kinds of jobs Maggie seldom got involved in setting the end product in place.

“Fine,” Maggie teased back. “I’ll show you boys how it’s supposed to be done.”

Zack laughed. “Just don’t run up a big hotel bill while you’re there. No room service.”

“I know what the budget will tolerate. I’m going to ask Alaina if I can stay at her place. In that big house of hers, she’s bound to have room.”

There was the slight hesitation that Maggie always got from Zack at the mention of her sister’s name. Then he said easily, “All right. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, then.”

Although Zack couldn’t see her, Maggie shook her head in disgust. Ten years had passed since he and Alaina had broken up—too long to let the heated, passionate turmoil of those young days still bother him. Alaina had been married for ages, presumably for keeps. Zack, on the other hand…He dated, but he never seemed interested in settling down.

What was he waiting for? Did he think Alaina would change her mind? It seemed silly for a great guy like Zack Davidson to let an old love continue to affect him.

But as Maggie hung up from Zack and dialed her sister’s number, she scolded herself. Who was she to tell people how they ought to deal with their emotions? Sometimes, didn’t those early relationships do enough damage to last a lifetime? After all these years, coming face-to-face with Will Stewart had certainly set her blood on fire, hadn’t it? Thank goodness, though, it had been for an entirely different reason than unrequited love.

Maggie was relieved when Alaina seemed delighted at the idea of having an unexpected visitor. It had been at least a year since they’d last seen one another, two since she’d visited her parents.

Years ago, when Maggie had left Miami for Key West, she’d been furious with all three of them, but she hadn’t been able to stay angry at her sister for long. Alaina could seldom stand up to their parents, but she didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She would have done anything for her younger sister, including raise Maggie’s illegitimate baby as her own—an idea Connie and James Tillman had unbelievably considered the best solution for everyone.

A solution that Maggie had hotly refused to consider.

The moment Alaina opened the front door of her huge home in North Miami, Maggie found herself swallowed in a tight, welcoming hug. It surprised her a little. Alaina was reserved and not much of a “hugger.”

Alaina had always been delicately beautiful, articulate and poised, everything that Maggie had never been and never would be. Just shy of thirty, she had an elegant sophistication now. She looked trim and spotless in white shorts, with long, bare legs that were sun-gilded to a rosy gold. There wasn’t a blond hair out of place, in spite of the fact that she looked like she’d just come off the tennis court.

Maggie had to hide a secret grimace. Any time she had played tennis, it had strictly been baggy pants and sweat marks at the armpits of her T-shirt.

Alaina drew back, still holding Maggie’s arms. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“You have?” Maggie replied in a stunned tone, without thinking. She wasn’t used to this kind of effusive greeting from Alaina. Her sister tended to welcome you like a queen inviting a television crew into the palace.

“Of course,” Alaina said. “Come on, I have your room all ready. It’s Delia’s day off, so the place is a mess, but a little clutter never used to bother you much. Close your eyes if you can’t bear it.”

Maggie kept her eyes open as she followed her sister through the house. She made a mental note to look up the word clutter in the dictionary when she got home. Alaina’s definition must be an iced tea glass sweating on the coffee table without a coaster and a tennis racket tossed onto a chair. Everything else looked model-home perfect and boring—from the impressive baby grand piano placed artfully by the floor-to-ceiling windows, to a massive piece of modern sculpture that soared skyward in the foyer.

Maggie thought suddenly of her lumpy but comfortable couch at home, snagged at a neighbor’s garage sale, and her mismatched dining chairs. Her apartment boasted the kind of decor that came from seldom having guests and never seeing your own home with fresh eyes. Compared to this place, it was a disaster.

Honestly, it was amazing that she and Alaina were actually sisters.

“Same old dump, I see,” Maggie remarked.

Alaina smiled back over one shoulder. “It’s awfully bland, isn’t it? But Gil insisted we use a professional designer for the common areas. He feels a certain impression has to be maintained. The house has to say something about who he is.”

“Oh, it does,” Maggie replied.