And decide just how to let Sean know she was back in town.
He needs your help, you know.
Fiona’s words echoed in her mind. Her mother had issued that statement on the flight over from Boston, jerking Margaret out of a dozing state.
“Excuse me?” She’d asked.
“Sean. He needs your help. He won’t tell anyone, but his business is failing. Flynn told me he’d been up to Dublin just last week and the office was a mess, Sean has lost weight, and they were behind on shipments,” Fiona had said evenly as she’d unfolded her blanket.
“I’m not sure what that has to do with me,” Margaret had said, honestly confused by the way her mother’s mind worked at times.
“You’ll figure it out,” was all Fiona had said on that matter.
Margaret circled back to the conversation, sipping from her water bottle, as the countryside raced by. She could only conclude that Adeline had run the business into the ground. It wasn’t like Margaret could do much about it, though. Not only had she and Sean parted on bad terms, but she’d never worked in the fishing industry before. She’d be like a fish out of water.
Margaret groaned at her pun and shook her head.
But she found herself flipping the sheets of paper that held apartment listings and scribbling on the backs. Soon a plan began to form.
An hour later, Margaret breezed into the lobby of her hotel. She nodded her appreciation of the grey and neon green accents, along with the bright white orchids on the white marble counter of the front desk.
“Hello, welcome to Crocket and Harrington, how can I help you?” The front desk woman beamed a chipper smile at Margaret.
“I have a reservation, but I have to ask. Do you have any business suites? With a desk and a printer?”
“We do. I’d be happy to change that up for you, let me just pull your details up.”
Margaret waited as the woman scanned the computer, her mind whirling as she considered possibilities.
“And you’re booked for a week. Is that still the same?”
Margaret leaned on the counter and smiled at the woman.
“Do you have monthly rates?”
The woman raised her eyebrow but only nodded as she clicked the keyboard a few more times.
“We do have one of our business suites available for the month.” The woman quoted a rate that would have normally had Margaret’s stomach dropping, but with the sale of her business, she was feeling a little flush with cash.
“That’s fine. I’ll take it,” she said easily, feeling the pressure of needing to immediately find an apartment ease from her shoulders. “Oh, and can you recommend a place nearby to buy a car?”
“To rent a car, you mean?” the woman asked, clarifying for Margaret.
“Nope, I need to buy a car.”
“My cousin’s in the business. He’ll give you a discount if you say you know me,” the woman said cheerfully, opening her purse and pulling a card out.
“Thank you. You’re quite kind,” Margaret beamed back, the two women in perfect accord as women who liked to get things done.
“Henry will take your bags up. Let me know if I can help with anything else at all,” she said with a smile, sliding the key across the counter.
“Thank you.”
Margaret rode the elevator up, all but buzzing with nerves and excitement. She barely noticed her bags being delivered, stepping briefly away from her laptop to hand Henry a tip. Sitting back down, she opened a word document.
Typing the word ‘RESUME’ across the top, Margaret got down to business.
She could only hope she was making the right decision.
Chapter 50
Margaret pulled her new car – a VW convertible Bug – up to the gates of Sean’s warehouse and waited for the gate operator to open the chain link fence and wave her in. Margaret drove her car to the visitor parking, nerves clenching at her stomach as she parked.
She’d had great fun negotiating her car purchase that morning, the salesman honoring the discount she’d been promised. Though her business sense told her to buy a more practical car, she’d been drawn to the cheerful red VW Bug. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Margaret had passed by the more sensible sedans and plunked money down for the happy-looking convertible.
Facing the door into Sean’s warehouse, Margaret wiped suddenly sweaty palms on the trousers of her black Prada business suit. She’d accessorized with a black and white polka dotted blouse and screaming red pumps that matched her new car. Her hair was pulled tidily back and she’d taken extra time with her makeup. Unsure of how she would be greeted, Margaret counted to ten before she got out of the car, pulling a leather portfolio and Prada purse with her.
Steeling her nerves, Margaret walked confidently into the warehouse, ignoring a whistle from where trucks were being loaded across the warehouse. Her back ramrod straight, she clipped across the cement floor to the line of glass offices, bypassing Adeline’s to where she knew Sean’s office was situated. Arriving at the door, she paused for a moment, suddenly nervous about knocking. The blinds on his windows were closed, but she could see light behind them. Someone had to be in there.
Taking a deep breath, she knocked loudly.
“Come in,” Sean called and Margaret gulped, swallowing past her dry mouth.
“You can come into my office any time,” a worker called from across the room, cementing Margaret’s determination to open the door.
Fluorescent light washed over her as she pushed the grey door open, and she stopped mid-stride, her mouth gaping open at the sight that greeted her.
“Sean!” Margaret exclaimed.
“Maggie?” Sean asked in confusion from where he sat at his desk.
Fiona was right, Sean had lost weight, Margaret thought as she stared at a visibly smaller version of the man she had last seen six month ago. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his clothes looked rumpled and slept in.
And his office…
Well, his office was disastrous, Margaret thought as she looked around, her mouth still gaping. Piles of folders covered every square inch of available space – the floor, the visitor's chairs, the tops of file cabinets. They were piled on the table behind Sean's desk, and towered precariously high on his actual desk, all but hiding the man behind it.
Sean stood and crossed to her, slamming the door closed behind her before dragging her under with a mind-numbing kiss that all but made her forget why she was there.
“Wait, wait,” Margaret gasped, pushing back from Sean as she panted for breath. Reaching up, she wiped lipstick from his lips gently.
“You came,” Sean whispered, his eyes alight with hope.
Margaret wasn’t sure where to start. She hadn’t exactly come to jump straight into his arms, but he looked so pitiful she couldn’t bring herself to contradict him.
“I did,” she said cautiously, pushing him lightly back another step, “and I see that it’s not a moment too soon.”
Margaret gestured to the folders and Sean winced, running his hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end and making him look a little crazy.
“Sorry for the mess. I’m kind of doing damage control,” Sean said sheepishly, his cheeks pinking as he looked around at the disarray.
Margaret sighed, knowing just who was to blame for the chaos she was looking at.
“Adeline?”
“Adeline,” Sean concurred.
“Sean, sit down. I have a proposal for you,” Margaret said, marching over to Sean’s visitor’s desk and sweeping the file folders off of one of them. Gingerly wiping the seat clear of a layer of dust, she settled onto it, keeping her nice purse on her lap and reaching into her portfolio.
Sean’s eyes narrowed at her as he rounded the desk and sat. Moving a pile of papers and folders aside, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair.
“Go ahead.”
“First of all, I want to thank you for all the lovely gifts.”
Sean raise
d his hand to stop her.
“Are you here for business or personal, Maggie?” Sean asked, reading her correctly, hurt washing across his face.
“Both, actually, but I’d like to start with business,” Margaret said.
“Then don’t lead with the personal,” Sean suggested bitterly and Margaret realized her mistake.
Sighing, she leaned back in her chair and contemplated her words carefully.
“I want to talk about the personal. And I believe I owe you – well, we owe each other – an honest discussion about that. However, since it looks like you're in crisis mode here, let’s start with business.”
Sean considered her words before nodding.
“Fine, continue on.”
“Great, okay,” Margaret blew out a breath and then reached into her folder to hand Sean a piece of paper.
“Resume?” Sean asked, reading the top line of the paper and then looking over the top of the page at her. Looking back down, he began to read, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “From what I am gathering – this is your resume?”
“Yes. I’d like to come work for your company,” Margaret said, excitement racing through her as she thought about the unique challenges that would come with hauling his company out of near-disaster.
“You want to work in the fishing business?” Sean asked in confusion. “I thought you loved real estate. What about your business?”
“I sold my business,” Margaret said, the words coming out more easily each time she said them.
“You sold your business?” Sean asked in surprise and then narrowed his eyes at her. “Hey, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I’m not some damn charity case, okay? I can take care of my own business.”
Margaret almost lashed back, but then bit her tongue, thinking about how she would feel if someone had come to her business and offered to save it. She imagined she would be hurt and embarrassed. Taking Sean’s feelings into consideration, Margaret proceeded carefully.
“I’ll expect to be paid, of course. And this really has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me,” Margaret said, pointing her nose in the air.
“Is that right?” Sean said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at Margaret.
“It is. I realized I was bored. I miss being back in the thick of things and building a business up. Mine was up and running, smooth as could be. There were rarely any problems. Nothing to fix,” Margaret looked around at the pile of folders again. “I realized I’m a fixer. I want to solve problems. So, here I am.”
“And you heard my business had a problem how?”
“Fiona,” Margaret said simply, seeing no reason to lie.
Sean groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. “Which means Flynn knows.”
“Listen, they care about you. It’s not your fault some trashy gold-digger ruined your company,” Margaret said pointedly.
“She was a trashy gold-digger,” Sean agreed, causing Margaret to break out in a smile.
“You’re the one who dated her,” she joked.
“Hardly. You know that was never really a thing, right?” Sean asked, his eyes searching hers.
“I suppose I do now. I just felt like we were walking on stilts with our new beginning and anything could push us over. Adeline pushed us over,” Margaret said softly.
“So does that mean you’ll give me another chance?” Sean asked, hope filling his voice.
“Am I hired?” Margaret countered.
“You’re hired.”
“Then, no. I don’t sleep with my boss,” Margaret said primly.
She ducked as Sean chucked a ball of paper at her and then they both burst out laughing, tears leaking down their faces.
“Oh, I needed that,” Sean gasped. “I’ve missed you, Maggie.”
“I’ve missed you too. Now, let’s get to work.”
Chapter 51
And work she did, Margaret thought gleefully three weeks later as she pulled up to what was now known as her spot at the warehouse.
“Morning Ms. O’Brien,” a worker called respectfully, and Margaret waved cheerfully back at him.
“Good morning, David. How was your date last night?”
“Great. I’m taking her out to dinner this weekend. Any suggestions?”
Margaret paused and looked through her phone, finding the name of a florist and a nice restaurant for David to take his date to.
“How’s the baby, Matthew?”
“She’s teething, but doing as well as can be,” Matthew said ruefully. Margaret patted him on the shoulder.
“It’ll pass soon enough. Try some whiskey on her gums,” she called over her shoulder as she headed into her office, already checking through her email on her phone. In a matter of weeks, Sean’s employees had gone from cat-calling strangers to friends, and she felt like a surrogate mother/girlfriend/best friend to them all. Sean had good employees; he’d just needed a good manager.
And hadn’t he found one, she thought as she entered her office and put her purse in her desk.
She’d done a very quick renovation of the space, painting the wood-planked walls a pale grey, and adding several lamps around the room so she never had to turn on the awful fluorescent lights that lined the ceiling above. Margaret had installed a new desk, and fresh flowers sat on the side table. Switching on the radio, she moved behind her desk and buzzed the intercom.
“Susan, will you come in please?”
Susan O’Leary had been a hire Flynn had recommended and she’d been worth her weight in gold. Staying late every night, Margaret and Susan had quickly categorized the folders, and had installed a new software system to track orders. Her first meeting of the day would be to discuss the new website that she’d solicited a design team from downtown to handle; they were already back on track with their orders. The employees had taken to the new software system easily, and more than one had thanked her for streamlining the process.
Sean had learned within a day or two to get out of her way; now she just saw him when he stopped to drop lunch on her desk and insist she take a break.
“Hi Margaret,” Susan said as she stepped into the office.
“Susan, you look lovely today,” Margaret complimented her assistant’s new blouse as she turned to her laptop.
“Thank you,” Susan said, sitting down with a notepad.
“Okay, today we need to respond to New York on that proposal that got botched a few months back,” Margaret began, rolling her eyes.
“I swear…what didn’t that woman mess up?” Susan wondered.
As Margaret had began to shovel out the mess Adeline had created in her brief time at the company, she’d found more than the markings of an inefficient manager. Adeline had also been embezzling funds. Margaret and Susan had been able to piece enough evidence together that Sean was with the local authorities this morning. Margaret would never admit that she took satisfaction knowing Adeline would likely be going to jail for a bit. But…secretly a part of her did.
“Nothing we can’t fix. And, speaking of that, I’d like to thank you for all the extra hours you’ve put in over the last few weeks,” Margaret said, handing Susan an envelope.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Susan waved Margaret’s words away. “I like a challenge.”
“I understand, but you still have children to feed. I know your mother and your husband have been helping while you were here late,” Margaret said. Susan opened the envelope and her mouth dropped open at the numbers on the check inside.
“This is…this, no, I can’t take this,” Susan said, sliding the check back across the desk, further cementing Margaret’s belief that she was a great employee. “It’s too much. That’s more than two months' salary!”
“You’ve earned it. Consider this a bonus and a thank you. Take it or I’ll mail it to your husband and insist he deposit it,” Margaret threatened. She knew the family could use the money, and watched as the decision to accept battled across Susan’s face.
“Then, I’
ll accept. Thank you. This will go a way towards relieving a few of our debts,” Susan said gratefully, slipping the check into her pocket.
Margaret smiled at her, happy that she would take the money.
“Website meeting in an hour. Will you sit in on that?”
“Me? I don’t know the first thing about websites,” Susan admitted.
“Do you ever go on the internet to order things?” Margaret asked.
“Sure, here and there.”
“Well, then you have the right qualifications. I want the website to be easy to navigate. You’ll offer good insight,” Margaret insisted. She paused as Sean stuck his head in the door.
He’d already put some of his weight back on, Margaret noted, and his skin looked less grey. She couldn’t help but feel a low tug of lust when she looked at him. Working around him these past few weeks had certainly proved challenging, as she was constantly forced to tamp down on her libido.
“Susan,” Sean nodded at Susan, then looked at Margaret. “I’d like to talk to you, please.”
“I can leave,” Susan said, jumping up and breezing past Sean with a “thanks for the bonus” comment on the way out.
Margaret grimaced. She hadn’t wanted Sean to know about the bonus, as she’d paid for it out of her own funds.
“What bonus?” Sean said, closing the door and coming to sit in the chair across from her.
“Oh, I just gave her a small bonus as a thank you for all her hard work,” Margaret said quickly, ducking to dig in a drawer so as not to meet his eyes.
“Interesting. I didn’t see anything about a bonus on the books when I went through payroll this morning,” Sean said, his voice carrying an undercurrent of anger. Margaret popped up and met his eyes, realizing that he thought she was lying to him. She supposed he had a right to be angry, as he had just come from dealing with an embezzling employee.
The Mystic Cove Series Boxed Set (Wild Irish Books 5-7) Page 18
