Love by Design

by Chris Keniston

  Angela’s eyes lit with amusement. “I’m guessing that was good news?”

  “The best!” Leaning over to hug her sister-in-law with more gusto than was prudent, Ava almost knocked the pregnant woman off her chair. “Oops. Sorry.”

  “No.” Angela laughed, pushing herself to her feet. “I’m ready to burst with excitement for you, and I have no blinking clue what’s going on.”

  “I got invited to submit to the aquarium project!”

  “The project. The one you’ve been doodling at for weeks?”

  “The one and only.” Ava spun around again, then stopped abruptly. “And they need the designs by Monday. I have to run.”

  “But I thought the designs were done?” Angela waddled after Ava.

  “For me, yes. For committee approval, no.” Fingers to her lips, she blew a kiss and ran out the door. She had plenty of work to do and time was a-wasting.

  Car started, Ava squeezed the steering wheel and let out another soft squeal. She was really and truly on her way to playing with the big boys. Life couldn’t possibly get any better than this.

  Chapter Ten

  “I thought for sure you were on your way to military school after that stunt.” Tucked away in the corner of her favorite restaurant, Maggie laughed so hard, watery eyes threatened to overflow.

  “After all those years of bucking the threats of sending me off to military school—”

  “And me off to a boarding school in Switzerland.”

  “And you to Switzerland. Father was shocked as hell when I graduated high school and enlisted in the navy.” Anything was better than living under his father’s asphyxiating thumb.

  “He missed you.”

  “Right. Like an old tomcat misses being tormented by an elusive mouse.”

  “Dad didn’t know any other way.” Maggie reached across the table and covered his free hand with hers. “Maybe if Mom had been around…”

  He and Maggie had more memories of their mom than their sisters. Heather was only three, when a routine hysterectomy went tragically wrong and took Lydia Stanford Maplewood’s life. Rose, at five, seemed to feel the loss of her mother most heavily, but he knew at ten Maggie felt the loss more deeply than even he did. She understood what the other children would never have, and she’d done a damn fine job of stepping in and mothering them all. Especially since there was little doubt Ironman Maplewood didn’t have a clue what to do with his children.

  But John had no intention of wandering down that road. “I never did understand why he broke down and bought you that Mustang.”

  Maggie smiled mischievously and casually lifted her napkin to the corners of her mouth. “It might have had something to do with him accidentally overhearing my conversation with Trudy about how Bobby’s grandmother Sandy really owned the trailer park, and, once Bobby was twenty-one, it would pass to him, and then we’d be rich, collecting all those rents.”

  John had to think back for a minute. “Wasn’t his grandmother a cleaning lady?”

  Maggie nodded.

  “And Father knew that his dad worked as a framer.”

  “He did.”

  “Then why did that make any difference?”

  “Did you know that the land for the trailer park was owned by a Sandra King?”

  John shook his head. “Quite a coincidence.”

  “Not really.” Maggie leaned back. “Bobby’s grandmother’s name was Elizabeth.”

  “You little stinker.” God, he loved his sister.

  “Come on. We all know Bobby was a good, hardworking kid.”

  John nodded. “And he’s a good hardworking man now too.”

  “The only thing Father held against him was that he was poor and, therefore, must only want me for my money.”

  “That wasn’t fair of him.” He wasn’t going to tell her how their father had every good reason to worry. While Bobby King may have been a straight-arrow kid, John had run into more than enough women looking to be trophy wives to his money. In the navy he’d just been F. John Maplewood—Petty Officer. It took a while before he realized the downside of running a successful world-renowned company. Bill Gates didn’t know how lucky he was to have married before he made his fortune. Or maybe he did.

  After two days with hardly a word from anyone, John almost didn’t realize when his phone clink with a message. Taking a quick glance, he read the heads-up from Annette that everyone was settling in at the guesthouse. “Listen. This has been wonderful, but what do you say we do an after-dinner drink at the house? I noticed Annette has a superb collection of flavored teas.”

  Maggie shook her head at her brother. “Not to mention a superb collection of lagers. It will be nice to sit on the lanai and have a quiet drink.”

  Having his three sisters in one place was likely to be a lot of things, but he seriously doubted quiet would be one of them. He waved the waiter down and, with a flick of his wrist, gestured for the check.

  “Do you want to stop and pick up some ice cream?” Maggie slipped her purse over her shoulder. “There’s a Persian place that makes the best bastani.”

  “Have you seen the fridge at the guesthouse? Annette has it stocked with enough groceries and munchies to feed an army for a year.”

  “That does sound like her.” Maggie laughed.

  John dropped some bills on the table, nodded a thank-you to the attentive kid who had been their waiter and then waved his sister past him. Her favorite restaurant had turned out to be only a stone’s throw from the Deluca house.

  Maggie pulled into the long driveway. “We’ll probably have to get you a car of your own while you’re here.”

  Now was not the time to debate with his sister the length of his time in Kona. There were at least two, most likely giddy, women ready to pounce the moment they walked through the doorway. “We’ll see.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that. You’ve already mentally got one foot back in California.”

  “I didn’t say that.” There was no need for a key; he knew the door wasn’t locked, but, for his sister’s sake, he went through the motions and shoved open the door. “I said we’ll—”

  “Oh, my God.”

  John had no idea which of his three sisters had squealed the loudest. He closed the door, leaned back and crossed his ankles. It had been years since the four of them had been together in one place. He’d been the first to move west to start fresh, and years later Maggie had followed. Heather and Rose had stayed on the East Coast. For a few minutes he was a teen surrounded by his sisters’ prom-night happenings. Squealing, laughing, hugging, and tossing back and forth the occasionally comprehensible phrase of “You look great” and “Gorgeous.” Right along with “Love the dress, the hair, the nails, the shoes.” Same old, same old.

  His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out, still smiling at the reunion that had moved to the sofa. “Hello?”

  “Thought you might like to know,” Evelyn said in a rush, “I just heard from Howard.”

  “And?”

  “He’s given her till Monday.”

  “How generous.”

  “Hey, you said no pressure, just a request. He’s pushing back the announcement by three days for you.”

  “Noted. What did she say?”

  “According to him—no problem.”

  A smile tugged at his lips. “Told you.”

  “You did. I just hope she’s everything you think she is.”

  “She is.” Once again that something-good sensation shot up his spine. Perhaps she might be even better.

  * * *

  From the moment Ava walked through the door this afternoon, she’d been at her desk fine-tuning the requested designs. Every so often her mother would come in with a fresh cup of tea. Ava had almost forgotten the familiar scenario. Pulling an all-nighter for a final exam or project, she’d look up and see her mother bringing in a warm drink. Never interrupting, never lecturing, just supporting. Ava really needed to remember to quit fussing at her mother so m
uch. When a plate of chicken fried rice appeared in front of her now, she almost grinned up at her mom, and then she realized she hadn’t heard any footsteps. “What are you doing here, Billy?”

  “I’m picking up my wife.”

  “Angela?”

  A soft rumble churned in his throat, before he bit back a smile. “How many wives do you think I have? Yes, Angela.”

  “I didn’t know she was here.”

  “She didn’t want to bother you. I filled in at the last minute for the night dive and didn’t want her home alone.”

  “You know, pregnant women stay home alone all the time.” She dropped her pencil on the tabletop and stretched her arms.

  “The doctor said she could go into labor any minute.”

  “I stand corrected.” She let out a short yawn. “Women who are nine months’ pregnant stay home alone all the time.”

  “And, thank God, Kara wasn’t alone when she went into labor.”

  Okay, he had her there. Kara’s labor had been a little sudden and extremely eventful. Though, in hindsight, it also qualified as a bit hilarious. But Ava could definitely understand how it would make her brother a little skittish about leaving his wife home alone. “Touché.”

  “Angela says you got some opportunity and danced out of our house earlier. Mom says you haven’t come up for food.” He leaned over the table to scan her drawings, while she took a bite of supper. “You’re going to get it,” he assured.

  “It would be nice.” She looked at the plans again. “I have to admit, it would be so cool to get this, when E&S wasn’t even asked to submit.”

  “Not that I don’t think you deserve it, but why were you asked? I thought you didn’t have that kind of connection yet?”

  “I don’t.” Ava set down her plate. On the fringe of her consciousness, she’d wondered the same thing. Still, totally engrossed in her deadline, she’d managed to ignore it. Until now. “I have no idea how I got in and frankly don’t know that I care.” At least she hoped she didn’t.

  “Is it legit?”

  After she’d come down from her initial high, the same thing had occurred to her, so she’d researched Mr. Howard Dempsey and matched the phone number to the one in her cell. Then, just to convince herself it wasn’t some prank, she called the number and thanked the man for the opportunity and confirmed receipt of all the data. “Yep, it’s on the up-and-up.”

  But she still wondered how in the hell did she ever wind up as a last-minute candidate?

  Chapter Eleven

  “How much longer are you going to hole up in here?” Sara Alani leaned against the doorjamb.

  The clock above Ava’s desk, along with the ache in her back, reminded her that she’d spent all of last night and the better part of today hovering over the aquarium designs. And, if she did say so herself, they looked damn good. “I’m just about done.”

  “Good. We’ve made several trips to the Delucas’. My mom stayed with Annette after the last run to set it all up. Your mother is fussing with a few last-minute things, but she’s ready to go and doesn’t want to leave you behind. I’ve been sent to remove the shackles that bind you to your desk.”

  Ava shook her head at her long-time family friend. The more time that passed since Sara’s breakup with that loser, the more small bits of the old Sara continued to reemerge. Including her sense of humor. “Aye, aye, Captain. But I still say our mothers should have just let Annette cater the party, the way she’d originally intended.”

  “Right.” Sara didn’t even try to hide her laughter. “Our mothers let someone else cook? That’s a good one.”

  Standing beside her desk, Ava did a couple of quick stretches, and then took one last look at her work and smiled. It was ready. “Tell Mom to go ahead and catch a ride with Billy. I just need a few minutes to freshen up, and I’ll head over.”

  “I’ve been ordered to wait for you and make sure you don’t go back to work. And Billy is already at the Delucas’. Your brother’s friend is here to take us.”

  One hand in the closet, Ava looked over her shoulder. “Which friend?” Had it been Nick or Doug, Sara would have used their names.

  “Don’t remember. But I hope he’s single.”

  “I wonder who…”

  “Are you decent in there?” someone called from the hallway. Before Ava could answer, Kenny peered into her room. “I hear you’ve been burning the candle at both ends.”

  “Oh, my gosh, Kenny!” Ava tossed the blouse she’d chosen onto the bed in time to be swept off her feet into an old-fashioned bear hug. “Billy didn’t say when you’d be here.”

  “Got in late this morning. Your mother wouldn’t let anyone bother you, but I got the all clear a few minutes ago.”

  “Will you be staying long?”

  His smile remained in place, but the twinkle in his eyes faded, as he shook his head. “No plans. I’m footloose and fancy-free.”

  “Okay, everybody.” Carrying a large canvas bag, Maile stood in the doorway. “The party is at the Delucas’ house, not in here. Are we ready?”

  “In a minute. I need to change.”

  “Okay. Sara, why don’t you drive me? And Kenny can bring Ava.”

  “I can drive myself.” Ava closed the closet door. “You three go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

  Lips pressed tightly in a knowing grin, her mom shook her head slowly. “Nope. If I leave you alone, you’ll get lost in your work again and miss out on all the fun. You’re young. You shouldn’t work so hard.”

  “I’m done with the project anyhow. All I need is five minutes, and I’ll be right behind you.”

  Not uttering a word, Maile stood her ground, shaking her head.

  “I’d be happy to be your chauffeur.” Kenny bowed at the waist. The twinkle was back in his eyes.

  “Good, it’s all settled. Kenny will take good care of you.” Turning on her heel, Maile marched out the door. “Sara, let’s go.” Her mom was halfway down the hall, when Ava heard her telling Sara, “Did I mention Magnolia’s brother is single?”

  Kenny smothered a laugh, then he leaned back against her closet door. “I see some things haven’t changed.”

  “No. They haven’t.” She didn’t like the way that observation made her insides burn. Someday she really did want Sara to find a nice guy. Just not tonight. In a hurry now, she grabbed her clean clothes from the bed. “Make yourself at home in the living room. I’ll be out of the shower in five.”

  “No problem.” He winked. “Let me know if you need someone to wash your back. I come with excellent references.”

  Ava rolled her eyes and swatted his arm. “Like you said, some things never change.”

  * * *

  Stretched out on a lounge chair, Heather Maplewood waved at her eldest sister. “This is absolutely wonderful.”

  “You won’t get any argument from me.” John’s other sister, Rose, grinned up at the sun.

  The siblings had received strict orders from Annette Deluca to keep Maggie away from the big house all afternoon. After a late brunch at the famous Splasher’s restaurant on the main drag, they’d walked the shops at the colorful center of town. True to form, his sisters had come home with more bags than they could carry. Having appropriately oohed and aahed at the purchases one last time before the goodies were relegated to each sisters’ room, they’d wandered outside, made themselves at home by the pool, and no one had moved in the last two hours.

  “I just love that little turtle logo,” Rose said, lifting her wrist to show off her new charm bracelet.

  “He is kind of cute, in an eclectic sort of way,” Maggie added.

  The massive clock over the patio door displaying the hour and temperature flashed at John that it was time to gather his sisters and get moving. “Exactly when did Annette say she was expecting us for dinner?”

  Sprawled on the third lounger by her sisters, Maggie lifted her phone. “Oh, my. I didn’t realize how long we’d been out here.”

  Not for the first time this
afternoon, John had to agree with her. Time had a way of pleasantly slipping away on the Big Island. Already two days had passed since his arrival, and he felt as if he’d barely gotten off the airplane. He was even getting used to his phone not ringing. Though he still felt the need to check every so often, just in case all hell suddenly broke loose.

  Maggie swung her legs over the side of the chair. “Are we ready?”

  “Just give me two minutes to freshen up my makeup,” Heather said.

  Maggie pushed to her feet. “Dinner isn’t formal.”

  “Still,” Heather insisted.

  It took Heather an exaggerated length of time to freshen up but, at the prearranged hour, the four Maplewoods walked up to the front door of the main house. And approximately one minute later a roomful of people shouted “Surprise!” leaving his big sister frozen in the doorway.

  “You can move,” he urged, grinning at her.

  “Oh, my.” Maggie’s gaze scanned the room.

  John had to admit, he didn’t realize she knew this many people in Hawaii. The spacious living area overflowed with smiling faces. Already he recognized several people, mostly from the dive shop. Except for one. His dive leader from yesterday—and hopefully the newest architect for his latest project—was nowhere to be seen.

  “Come on, Maggie.” He nudged her forward.

  Turning to look up at him, she shifted her gaze from him to their two sisters, taking in their broad grins. “You knew.”

  It wasn’t a question. “Yeah, we knew. Happy birthday.”

  And on that note the crowd surged forward, obviously impatient with waiting for Maggie to join the party.

  Echoes of “Happy birthday,” “You look wonderful,” and “I hope someone got a picture,” floated about them, words stumbling into the other. Having quickly gotten over the initial surprise, Maggie was now in her element, fluttering around the room, greeting and thanking people. For a few moments it wasn’t his big sister he saw before him socializing, but his mother. Of the three sisters Maggie reminded him most of their mother. When the Stanford genes were being passed around, Maggie seemed to have collected most of them. His other two sisters took after the Maplewood side. Not that they weren’t all attractive, they were, but Maggie always had the grace of a well-bred princess.