“Exactly what does that mean? What did you say to Kate?” he challenged his mother.
Kate wondered at his vehemence. Was this part of his act, or did he feel obliged to protect her from his mother’s insults?
“I offered her money to back out of the engagement,” Mrs. Hardison admitted, surprising Kate by her honesty. “You’ve made a mistake, even if you don’t recognize it yet.”
“I haven’t made a mistake. You’re the one who’s got it wrong. Kate is perfect for me, and we’re going to be married,” he insisted, his voice tightening. His eyes narrowed. “And I expect you to make her feel welcomed into the family.”
Kate felt as if she were watching a tennis tournament... except she was the ball! Before Mrs. Hardison could defy her son’s order, Kate slid from the booth. “I’m sure you two can carry on your argument without me. I have something on the stove in the kitchen.”
Though she heard Will protest her departure, she ignored him and continued on to the kitchen. As she was strapping on her apron again, she saw Will push opened the kitchen door, his mother on his heels.
“Kate, I want to apologize on Mother’s behalf,” he said at once.
Kate looked at his stern features, then turned to Mrs. Hardison, whose expression was just as stubborn as her son’s.
“Okay,” Kate returned, her attention focusing on her spaghetti sauce. After stirring it, she lifted the wooden spoon and sipped the concoction. Hmm, a little more oregano.
“Are you listening?” Will demanded.
She looked over her shoulder. “Of course I am.” She selected what she wanted and added a teaspoonful to the sauce, then stirred with a clean spoon. She left it to simmer a while and turned to the oven where she’d begun a roast an hour earlier.
“Are you the only cook the diner has?” Will suddenly asked.
Kate looked at him in surprise. “Yes.”
“Oh!” Mrs. Hardison moaned. “He’s marrying a short-order cook.”
Kate ignored the woman’s lament, poking the roast with a fork to check its tenderness. Its aroma permeated the air in the kitchen.
Closing the oven, she returned to the spaghetti sauce. She needed to check the seasoning again. Just as she lifted the spoon to her lips, a shriek from the diner startled everyone. Before they could move, the swinging door opened and a small animal ran through. The sauce from Kate’s spoon flew into the air, then splattered against Mrs. Hardison’s pink suit.
Paula was next through the door, followed by several regulars, retirees who took their morning coffee at the counter every morning.
“Where did he go?”
“What? What was that?” Kate asked, still staring at the red stains on Mrs. Hardison’s suit.
“A dog! It got in when Billy came in for coffee. Just scooted past him before we could stop him,” Paula explained. “Where did he go?”
To Kate’s surprise, it was Will who pulled himself together enough to answer. “He went through that door.”
Realizing he’d pointed to the door that led to her one-room apartment, Kate sighed. “Paula, see if you can help Mrs. Hardison get the spaghetti sauce off her suit. Is the dog violent, foaming at the mouth?”
Billy, a retired schoolteacher, chuckled. “No, Kate. He’s just a scared little puppy. Half-starved by the looks of it.”
Kate, always an easy touch when it came to the underdog, man or animal, hurried to her room. It wasn’t until she was on her knees in front of the bed, that she realized Will had followed her.
“Is he there?”
Her head snapped up. “I think so, but I’m going to need something to draw him out. Would you get a wiener out of the fridge for me?”
The morning hadn’t gone as he’d planned.
Will had intended a quiet talk with Kate this morning, making sure she wasn’t upset, then a ceremonial handing over of the check. Then he thought he’d offer lunch at one of the elegant restaurants on the Plaza.
Instead he was in the diner kitchen looking for a wiener for a stray dog while his mother was dabbing spaghetti sauce off her suit, and his fiancée was on her knees in her bedroom, peering under the bed.
He found what he was looking for and ignored his mother’s pleas that he take her away from this madhouse. Instead he returned to the bedroom, pausing at the door to admire his fiancée’s posterior clad in tight jeans.
She looked up, catching him staring, and he hoped she didn’t notice the heat in his cheeks. “Uh, I found one. Here.”
She took the wiener from him and broke off an end, then bent to hold her hand under the bed. “Here, sweetie, come have a bite.”
Her voice was soothing, lilting, mesmerizing. Will figured she could cast a spell with that voice. The puppy must have agreed because Will heard movement under the bed.
“That’s right, baby, come on. I won’t hurt you.”
Will squatted down beside Kate and caught his first glimpse of the mutt under the bed. Obviously a mixed breed, the dog kept its brown eyes focused on the bits of meat still in Kate’s hands.
While the dog concentrated on eating, Will reached out and caught it, quickly stroking it to reassure it of his friendliness. The poor thing was so starved, he scarcely noticed Will’s touch.
“If you’ll finish feeding it, I’ll go warm a little milk. He’ll need something to drink,” Kate said, rising and leaving him alone with the dog before he could protest.
As the puppy gulped down the food, Will looked around the small room. His inventory didn’t take long. The narrow bed, a television set, one old chair and a little table that also served as a nightstand, was all the furniture in the room.
Kate returned, carrying a cereal bowl, and sat down on the bed beside him. “I think he was starved,” she said softly, watching the puppy chew.
“Yeah.” He moved the dog so it could drink the milk. Like a child with a new treasure, the puppy began gulping the liquid so fast, Will feared he might drown himself.
“Ever done CPR on a dog?” he asked wryly.
Kate’s rich laughter filled the room. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Me, too.” He might not mind trying to resuscitate Kate, however. His gaze focused on her full lips, wondering how they’d feel beneath his.
“Well, now, we have a problem.”
Kate’s words made him fear she’d read his mind. “What? What problem?”
“The puppy. What are we going to do with him?”
“Take him to the pound.”
“Oh, no! We can’t do that. They’ll put him to sleep.”
An uneasy feeling snuck into Will’s stomach. It wasn’t that he didn’t like dogs. He did, but he’d never had one as a child and didn’t have time for one now.
“You want to keep him?”
“I can’t,” Kate said with a sigh. “He can’t stay in the diner. It’s against health rules. And this is where I live.”
“Yes. We need to talk about that.”
She stared at him as if he’d mentioned martians. “I beg your pardon?”
“You need to find somewhere decent to live. I have the check with me, so you can find an apartment.”
She continued to stare at him. “But why would I waste money on an apartment? I can stay here until we marry. Then I assume we’ll live in the same house.”
“Of course we will, but you can’t continue to live here.”
“Why not?”
He would have thought she was being intentionally difficult if he hadn’t read the honest confusion in her hazel gaze. “Kate, you hardly have room to turn around. You certainly can’t entertain guests here.”
“I don’t do a lot of entertaining, Mr. Hardison,” she said, rising with the now-empty bowl, her voice filled with anger. “We need to—”
“Will? Are you in there?” Mrs. Hardison called.
“Damn,” he muttered. “Yes, Mother, I’m in here. Wait a moment and—” He immediately realized he was surrounded by difficult women when his mother disregarded his wo
rds and pushed into the room.
“Is this a storage room? Why is there a bed?” she asked, looking from Kate to Will as if she suspected they’d spent the past few minutes engaging in frantic sex.
Kate lifted her chin, and Will’s gaze traced her slender neck, wishing he could follow the same path with his lips.
“This is my apartment, Mrs. Hardison. As you can see, we’ve found the dog.”
“Yes, nasty little thing. I’m sure it has all kinds of germs.”
Will almost chuckled aloud as his mother took a step back, as if afraid of catching something. She was as receptive to the dog as she’d been to Kate.
“I’ve been told dogs are cleaner than humans,” Kate said.
Hearing the battle lines being drawn, Will decided he’d best intervene. “I see you got the stains off your suit, Mother.”
Distracted from the topic of the dog, Mrs. Hardison glared at Kate. “Not all of them. I’m sending you the cleaning bill, young lady.”
“Certainly, though you had no business being in my kitchen,” Kate reminded her.
She certainly gave as good as she got. He couldn’t have picked a more perfect antidote to his mother, Will decided with a grin.
“Neither did that—that animal!”
“I know. And I have to get him out of here as soon as possible. Maybe Paula—I’ll go see if Paula can take him.”
Will remained seated on the bed, holding the dog, scarcely noticing when its little pink tongue licked his hand.
“William, put that animal down. I’m sure it’s dangerous to hold it.”
“I don’t think so, Mother. He’s more scared than you are.”
“You must offer this young woman a proper settlement and get out of this entanglement. Surely now you can see how inappropriate she is. She can’t possibly fit into our world.”
“She fits just fine in mine, Mother.”
Before she could protest his words, his mother had to move to one side as Kate returned.
“No one can take him. Will, could you—I know he looks bad now, but when he’s cleaned up, he’d be company for you. Please? They’ll put him to sleep!”
The anguish in her voice and eyes might have convinced him to accept the stray. He’d like to think he would have agreed. But once his mother spoke, he had no choice.
“I forbid such a thing. My son will not take a mutt into his household!”
“You’re wrong, Mother. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Chapter Six
Four hours and a hundred and fifty dollars later, Will had a dog.
He’d insisted he couldn’t pick the dog up from the veterinarian’s office unless Kate accompanied him. She agreed, though reluctantly it seemed to him, since the time would be after the lunch rush.
“Aren’t you a handsome doggie!” Kate said as she petted the bundle of fur.
“I think you’re getting carried away, Kate. I admit he’s improved, but handsome?”
Kate covered the puppy’s ears. “Hush, he might hear you!” Her accompanying grin made her almost irresistible.
Will shook his head in mock disgust. “I wish you were as concerned about my feelings as you are about the dog’s.”
She immediately frowned. “What are you talking about? I came with you.”
“I know, but we need to talk about where you live.” He hadn’t forgotten their abbreviated conversation earlier.
Stiffening, she stared straight ahead. “I agreed to marry you, but it is a business decision. My personal life has nothing to do with you.”
“Yes, it does.”
“I should think my living arrangements would be perfect for your plans.”
He frowned, wishing he hadn’t revealed so much of his intentions when they’d made their agreement. “True, but I don’t see any need for overkill.”
“Fortunately it’s not your decision.”
“Kate, you’re being unreasonable. You have enough money now to find a decent place to live.”
“I have enough money to fulfill my dreams. I can’t afford to waste it on self-indulgence,” she said, then returned to her one-sided conversation with the dog, as if their discussion had ended.
He frowned as he thought about her words. His mother would never consider improving her living conditions as self-indulgence. In fact, she was insisting she needed to redo the entire house since its decor was already three years old.
“If you found a place to live, the dog could live with you.” He thought he’d found a way to tempt her to his position as she frowned, studying the wriggling puppy in her lap.
Then she looked at him, a grin on her lips. “But he’s going to live with you eventually, when I do, so he might as well get used to his home now.” Suddenly she gasped. “You don’t live with your mother, do you?”
He rolled his eyes. “Kate, I’m thirty-four years old. That’s a little old to be living with Mommy, don’t you think?”
She ignored his question. “In an apartment?”
“No, a house.”
“With a fenced yard?”
“Yes, with a fenced yard. I’ll even buy a doghouse, okay? Can we stop discussing the dog’s living arrangements and get back to yours?”
“Nope. We have something much more important to discuss,” she assured him, her eyes sparkling.
His gut clenched with unexpected desire. When she smiled that way, he’d promise her almost anything, he realized. He’d better be on his guard. “What do we have to discuss that’s so important?”
“His name”
With all kinds of possibilities running through his head, it took a moment to realize what she meant. “That’s what is important?”
“Yes. I can’t keep calling him puppy. What do you think he should be named?”
“How about Mop? That’s what he looks like.”
“How cruel! I bet there’s a Prince underneath all that hair.”
“Or at least a Duke,” Will agreed, sarcasm in his drawl.
“Good. That will be his name. See, Duke? Will really likes you. He gave you your name,” she assured the puppy, stroking him lovingly.
Will said nothing as he pulled into his driveway. He was more interested in what Kate thought about his home than the dog’s name. Not that her opinion was really important. After all, it was a business agreement, as she frequently reminded him, but he waited for her reaction anyway.
After he stopped the car in the circular driveway, he turned to stare at her. She never noticed. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the two-story English manor-style house.
“You live here by yourself?” she finally asked quietly.
“I have a housekeeper.”
She turned to look at him, frowning and chewing on her bottom lip. “I never realized how desperate you were.”
“Desperate?”
“To get your mother to leave you alone.”
“Why would my house make you think that?”
“You live in a palace. I live at the diner. There’s a considerable difference in the two.”
Everything she said was true, but it bothered him, somehow. “I don’t think you need to sacrifice by continuing to live there for our agreement.”
Her chin shot up and he realized he’d been insensitive again. “I don’t consider living at the diner a sacrifice. I have everything I need and it’s convenient. I think Duke needs to get out of the car.”
Before he could say anything to make up for his ill-chosen words, she and the dog got out. As soon as she set the dog down on the manicured lawn, he proved her right.
Once he’d finished his business, he came right back to Kate’s feet without her having to call him. With adoring eyes, he pleaded for her to pick him up.
Will understood exactly how he felt.
The next few days were frantic for Kate. She hired an architect and showed him around the diner, explaining exactly what she wanted. She interviewed several builders and accepted estimates. And she pored over restaurant equipment bro
chures and calculated purchases well into the night.
In addition, she continued to do the cooking for the diner, relying on Madge and Paula to heat things up when she had to be away.
And once, she ventured to Will’s house in her father’s decrepit old car to visit Duke. It angered her that she allowed his magnificent house to intimidate her. But even that couldn’t allow her to completely abandon Duke.
When she returned to the diner that afternoon in time to prepare dinner, Madge met her at the door.
“Your guy called. Wants you to call at once.”
Her guy? Somehow she didn’t think Will would appreciate that appellation. “Thanks, Madge.” She entered the kitchen and picked up the phone, dialing Will’s office number.
“Madge said you called,” she said as soon as Will answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to visit Duke?” he demanded.
Instantly she decided he didn’t want her showing up at his house. Maybe the neighbors had complained. “I’m sorry. Next time I’ll ask permission.”
“Kate, I didn’t mean—I wanted to see you. Since you’ve turned down every invitation I’ve extended this week, I thought you wouldn’t object if I visited with you while you visited with the blasted dog!”
“I—I thought—never mind. I didn’t think you’d have time during the day. Your housekeeper said Duke is doing quite well.”
“Quite well? She must be afraid of hurting your feelings.”
“Is he causing problems?” What would she do if Will wouldn’t keep Duke?
After a silence that said more than she wanted to know, he sighed and said, “No, no, he’s fine. But I demand equal time. If you can spare an afternoon for Duke, you can spare an evening for me.”
Guilt filled her. After all, her agreement had said she would be visible. In fact, she’d scarcely seen him since Duke had interrupted his mother’s visit.
“Well, I suppose I could spare one evening,” she agreed.
“Don’t make it sound like you’re going to a hanging,” he replied, exasperation in his voice.
“I’m sorry. But I need to make it a late dinner. Could you wait until nine?”
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