“Now that you’ve taken me out, I think it’s my turn.” Chandler smiled down at her. “I’ll drive. Treat you to lunch. Make you happy you decided to bring me along.” He kept his arm around her shoulders as they slowly navigated to her car.
Chandler chatted about the weather and his yard plans. Billie and her travels. What he planned on making for the next meal they shared.
Before she knew it, May stood beside the passenger’s side of her car. Chandler winked at her and took the keys. He unlocked the door, and May sank into the seat with a slight sigh of relief. He shut the door behind her and walked over to the driver’s side.
The keys jingled merrily as he sat down and adjusted the seat. He fitted the keys in the engine and started it.
May lay her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes. “You did that on purpose.”
“Kidnapped you and bent you to my will?” Chandler whistled softly and put the car into gear.
She opened her eyes and glanced over at him. “Rescued me from the pain in my leg while helping me out of the store.” May smiled tiredly. “You’re smooth, Chandler Hughes. Very smooth.”
Chandler brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “Flattery will get you everywhere.” He grinned. “I’m easy like that.”
“Shameless, you mean.” May rubbed her right thigh with small circles.
“Easy. Shameless.” He shrugged. “Two sides of the same coin. If I can have my arms around you, who cares?”
Pain bit into her. Honesty the least she could give him. “We can never be together, Chandler.”
“I keep hearing the words, but I’d like to think I have a say in it.”
“We’re not compatible.”
His brown eyes sharpened as he looked at her. “I beg to differ.”
“I’m old and disabled.”
Chandler blinked. “Is that your best shot?”
“It’s the truth.” May closed her eyes.
When the car stopped, she opened them. They were back in her driveway. May sat up and undid her seat belt. Chandler stepped out of the car and walked over to open her door.
“Okay. It’ll take me about fifteen minutes to prepare the meal. You want to wait in my kitchen or yours?”
“Pardon me?”
“I told you I would make you my version of a panini. Remember?”
“Now?”
His brown eyes were soft, and he smiled. “Is there a better time?”
“Apparently not.” May blew out a breath. “We’ll go over to your kitchen.”
“Excellent.” Chandler rubbed his hands together and slung his arm over May’s shoulder. “The trick is the pesto.”
* * * *
It was delicious. Of course it was. Is there anything her young neighbor couldn’t do? Besides take a hint that is?
May ate half the panini but couldn’t possibly eat any more. A delicious stacked sandwich with various vegetables loaded on top of chicken breast. It put the sandwich she made him to shame, and she told him that.
Chandler chuckled. “Food made with someone’s hands other than your own always tastes better. It’s a proven fact.” He placed her leftovers in a baggy and zipped it tight.
“Why aren’t you dating anyone?”
Chandler stopped in the middle of gathering up the dishes and smiled. “I am.”
May’s heart plummeted. “I see.”
He shook his head. “You don’t, May.” Chandler walked over and sat beside her at the table. “I’m seeing you.”
She started.
“You’re a bit reluctant, but I’m confident I can win you over.” He stretched back in the chair and put his hands behind his head.
Panic welled up in her breast. “You need someone who can keep up with you. A woman to share your interests.”
“Who are you more scared for, May? Me or yourself?”
“Both,” she blurted out.
Chandler nodded. “I thought as much. And that’s fine. Fear shows caring. I can work with that.”
May threw up her hands. “You are the most obstinate man I’ve ever met!” She pushed her chair back from the table. “I’ve already stated we’re not going to be a couple.” Her hands shook as they gripped the back of the kitchen chair. “We can casually date and enjoy each other’s company, but there will be nothing more for us.” She glared at him. “So save your charm for someone else.”
“My charm and I are fond of you.”
May gritted her teeth and glared. Her leg throbbed painfully in solidarity. “You are an insufferable ass.” She turned and walked toward the kitchen door. Chandler started to rise, but she held up her hand. “I can see myself out.” He nodded and sat back down.
The walk over to her own backyard a bitch. May’s temper snapped irritably while she longed to take a pain pill for her leg. But she didn’t have enough time. If she took one now, she could kiss tomorrow good-bye, and there were too many things to do.
“Arrogant,” she muttered and flung her patio door open. It slammed against the stopper with a loud bang. May sighed and shut it gently. It wouldn’t do to break the patio door. She leaned against the glass and massaged her temple. Couldn’t Chandler see she only had his best interests at heart?
May walked past her answering machine and saw three messages blinking. “Screw it,” she muttered. It would wait until tomorrow.
* * * *
May woke Friday morning with a mental list a mile long. She tumbled out of bed in her peach cami set and watered all her houseplants. When she arrived in the kitchen, a smile spread across her face. Her small gift plant had a single fire-red bloom curling up from one of the leaves. Simply stunning.
She stroked the blossom softly. “Full of surprises, aren’t you?” It amazed her how the small plant lifted her spirits.
The answering machine blinked insistently, and May grimaced. As much as she hated to, she pushed the play button.
The first message, a telemarketer. She erased it quickly. When the second message started and William Campbell’s voice came on, May scowled and erased it, too. The third message stopped her in her tracks.
The sisters needed her to come over and take care of something this afternoon. May rubbed her temple. She hadn’t had a chance to look at any of the numbers they’d give her yet. Damn it, where was her time going?
And then her date with Chandler this evening. Wow. Batting a thousand in the poor time management/playing with fire categories.
May blew out a breath. Wasn’t her life completely uncomplicated not too long ago? What happened there? She put the water down and sat at the kitchen table. Her fingers traced the red bloom while her mind wandered.
Who am I kidding? Everything still neatly in its place. Sure, Chandler was stubborn, but so was she. And she was older and wiser. At least she had the ability to see beyond the physical attraction of the present to years to down the road when he would want to go and do, and she would be unable to keep up. An albatross.
“It would be different if he were older,” she muttered.
May stood and winced. She rubbed her thigh. Rain. There would be precipitation sometime today. She put the watering can up and shuffled to her room. A bath, some breakfast, and a bit of diet soda. Maybe it would all look better later.
Maybe.
* * * *
May slid on a pair of blue jeans and a bright green blouse that buttoned up the front. She pulled her hair back and made her way into her office. The sun still shone brightly, and the local meteorologist assured everyone there was only a slim chance of rain for her area.
Yeah, right.
She had roughly two hours to comb through the paperwork for the sisters and dissect the numbers before leaving to see them. Overhead and labor were clearly marked, but there were no names for employees or contractors. She found it all rather odd.
Surely whoever worked so hard on the yard for them might want more jobs in town? That kind of attention to detail would go a long way.
May popped the top on a diet s
oda and took her first drink when the doorbell rang. She scowled. “Is it too much to ask that I have a moment to actually do my job?” The doorbell rang again. “Hell.”
She stood and made her way around the desk and to her front door. She had a no soliciting sign on the pathway up to her front door. All her Girl Scout cookies and other candy purchases were made at the retail stores where the groups set up shop.
Whoever stood there leaning on her doorbell would soon be sent on his/her way. May didn’t even bother looking out the door. She put her hand close to the alarm on the wall and swung the front door open.
He didn’t look like a mass murderer. And he sure as hell wasn’t selling cookies.
The man appeared to be in his thirties. He appeared smooth as silk and polished as a diamond. May expected him to smile and a white twinkly star to appear on his teeth. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn’t place it.
Her visitor clean-cut with short, styled, blond hair and blue eyes. His medium build poured nicely into a gray tailored suit with a blue and gray striped tie that set off his eyes to perfection. An expensive watch graced his wrist, and a small diamond sparkled in his left ear.
“May Fairchild.” The man flashed a megawatt smile.
May kept her hand on her alarm but nodded.
“William Campbell.” He extended his hand toward her.
No wonder he looked a bit familiar. His father had been her agent for years, and her family sometimes had dinner with his. The blue eyes were the same as his father’s. But all other similarities ended.
May lifted her chin and pointedly ignored his hand. “I’m not signing off on a story about my life.”
William waved his hand. “That’s a discussion for another time.”
“No.” May looked him in the eye. “It’s a discussion for now. I’m not doing it.” She motioned down her sidewalk. “Now you can take yourself back to L.A. or New York or wherever it is you came from. I’m busy.”
“You’re still stunning,” he murmured.
May blinked and studied the man in front of her. “What?”
William smiled. “I’ve had a crush on you for years. It’s a little overwhelming to actually be standing here and talking to you.”
She blew out a breath. “That’s nice.”
“You don’t believe me.” William smiled and shook his head. “When you were in your early twenties, you stopped by our house to talk to my father.”
May remembered it well. Her nurse of the hour had been a pleasant one. Marlene? Carlene? The name escaped her. But she remembered the trip to the Campbell residence. When her parents died, she needed the paperwork from her agent to transfer everything into her name.
It had been eye-opening to say the least. Her parents had skimmed money off the top starting from her first commercial at a year and a half. Henry didn’t make any excuses, he simply slid the paperwork over for her to study.
May didn’t even remember why it upset her so much. Exactly what she had expected from them. But it felt like a final betrayal, and that had been the pain that stuck.
“I remember the visit.”
William smiled. “You wore a simple blue suit and jacket with a light blue scarf around your throat. It had been chilly that day, and your leg bothered you. But warm inside the house. Your nurse waited in the car after she helped you inside. You took off your jacket and scarf and hung them on the coat rack.”
There had been a blue scarf. May frowned.
“You left quickly with the paperwork after meeting Dad in his office. The blue scarf slipped behind the coat rack and onto the floor.” William cleared his throat. “This is a bit embarrassing.”
May smiled for the first time in the meeting. “Do tell.”
“I, uh, kept it.”
“Little young to be a stalker, weren’t you?”
“I was a teenage boy.” William shrugged. “You were an attractive woman in her twenties.”
“With a walker and a bum leg.” May studied him impassively. Many thoughts crowded her head. First and foremost the certainty that William Campbell would do or say anything to get her to agree with his plan to sign on for her story. He could be a bullshit master. Able to spin stories to his satisfaction and purpose. Second the fact she had a full day and no time to dick around with someone who wouldn’t listen when she said no.
“Listen, Mr. Campbell.”
“William.”
May paused. “Fine. William.” She tilted her head to the side. “The fact you’re here shows persistence. That’s great. Probably pretty handy in your line of work. But you’re wasting your time with me. You won’t change my mind. I want nothing to do with this project.”
“I understand your hesitation.”
May snorted.
William smiled. “I know you’ve been through a lot, May. But I wish you would give this a chance.”
“I don’t need my life dissected and studied for the viewers’ pleasure, thank you very much.” The mere thought made her stomach roll.
William spread his hands apart. “Your story is a tale of triumph over tragedy. You’re not another child star who time forgot. You’re a successful woman who had a tragic accident years ago. They told you you would never walk.” He motioned to her. “And yet, there you stand. The doctors said you should have had brain damage. But you run a successful accounting business that keeps this town afloat.”
May blushed and scowled. “I see you do your homework.”
“Dial down the cynicism, May. Your story is an inspiration.”
“I think you’re a smooth salesman.” May shook her head. “Sorry. The answer is still no.”
“All those years ago when you came to visit, I had no idea I would be standing here having this conversation with you.” William smiled at her. “You think I have some nefarious ulterior motives.” He paused. “Money, more than likely. By the way.” He grinned and winked. “I’m not in financial straits. I carry two dozen A-list clients.”
She simply stared.
“But back to my point.” William’s blue eyes looked deeply into hers. “If I could make you believe me, May, would you at least consider this?”
“There’s nothing you could say to make me believe that this is all altruistic.”
He shook his head and put his hands in his jacket pockets. “Not say to you, May. Show you.” William slowly pulled his left hand out of his jacket. He held a light blue scarf between his fingers.
May couldn’t believe her eyes, but the proof was in front of her.
A scarf she lost almost two decades ago. No way William could have known about this conversation or the implications of picking up the scarf way back when.
She lifted her eyes slowly and met William’s.
“You had a crush on me, huh?”
He grinned. “In the worst way.” He folded the scarf carefully and slid it back in his pocket. “Have lunch with me, May.”
She sighed. “I have to meet some clients this afternoon. And the fact I’m even considering this shows an unstable state of mind.”
William chuckled. “Would your clients mind if I tagged along? Are you going to be awhile?”
“They honestly didn’t say.” May ran back over the message in her mind. “It probably won’t take long. You can come along. Try to be inconspicuous.”
“I will blend into the woodwork,” he promised.
May arched an eyebrow and looked at him again. “Sure you will.”
* * * *
May told herself she showed a decided lack of judgment. Sane women did not invite possibly shady characters to tag along with them to see a client. Women with their mental faculties in order did not let a little memento from their past color their future actions. Even though the girly part of her wanted to sigh at what a sweet gesture it was.
She told William she would pick him up at his motel before her client visit. Then they would grab a quick bite to eat. That was the sum of it. No more, no less.
The sun still stre
amed down from the sky, and May tilted her face to the warmth. No rain so far, but she still felt as though it would sometime today.
May drove to the hotel and pulled up outside to wait. William walked out a minute later. If he looked debonair in tailored threads, he looked red-hot in casual jeans and a pale yellow polo.
“Inconspicuous,” she muttered. “As if.”
William waved and walked over. He slid into the passenger’s seat and buckled up. “Thanks again.”
“No problem.” May forced herself not to stare and pulled out quickly. She could feel his eyes on her and turned to ask if there was a problem.
He stared at her intently, and she blushed.
“Something wrong?”
“Not at all.” William smiled. “I can’t believe my luck. I thought I would have to explain to the police why I came to see you.” His blue eyes studied her slowly. “You guard your privacy extremely well.”
“You know why.”
William nodded. “I do.” He rested his hands on his legs. “Not all people interested in your life want to make a buck off you.”
May’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Seems to be a pattern for me.”
“Someone with your talent and heart can make a difference for others who feel as though their lives are over.”
“No shop talk until lunch.”
William chuckled. “As you wish, May. How about you tell me what fulfills your life now?”
She shot him a look.
“Personal interest. Not professional.” William brushed his hand across hers. “I may still have a bit of a crush.”
“You’re an incorrigible flirt.” May glanced at him and allowed herself a smile. “I bet the starlets just throw themselves at your feet and beg for representation, don’t they?”
He shuddered. “There are those, of course.” William raked his hands through his hair. “But then there are the Sierra McKays who make up for them.”
“You represent her?”
“I do.”
May considered what she knew about the young actress and her career. The eight-year-old a dynamo on screen. She managed to convey sentiment without going over the top. Her presence something to behold at such a tender age. But why does William represent Sierra?
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