Playing for Time

by Bretton, Barbara

  How long had it been since she had felt deeply happy? She couldn't even begin to guess. For a long time she had known happiness only in fleeting bursts: a beautiful sunset, a well-told joke, a good hair day. She missed that deeper sense of joy that had been as much a part of her as the rhythm of her heartbeat and she wanted it back. This move was a step in the right direction.

  Sometimes she wondered how Claudia did it, living all these years in that big old house without John by her side. As it was she saw Kevin everywhere, in every room, around every corner. She heard his car in the driveway, his footfall on the steps, the wail of the ambulance on that last night when nothing, not even love, could save him. He had died in their bed, the big brass one they had fallen in love with and couldn't afford, died before the emergency crew could slap the paddles on his chest.

  He died before she had a chance to say goodbye.

  Before she had a chance to say, "I still love you."

  She couldn't remember the last time she had said those words to him. She had been angry with him for so long that love was more a memory than the living, breathing sacrament it had been at the start. There were times when she had thought about leaving him -- throwing her clothes into a suitcase, grabbing the cats, and starting new someplace else, some place where the phone didn't ring in the middle of the night and strange men didn't wait on the porch in the darkness for her husband. He had taken everything they had worked so hard to achieve and thrown it away on horses and cards and the spin of a roulette wheel -- and in the process, he had thrown away her love as well.

  "Give me time, Annie," he had said not long before he died. "I know I can make it all up to you."

  Why hadn't she told him that she still loved him, that she wanted to believe in him, that if he met her halfway maybe they could find their way back to the life they'd dreamed about when they were high school sweethearts and the world was theirs for the asking? Instead, she had simply turned away from him and, after a few moments, the front door closed softly behind him and the distance between them grew a little wider until three weeks later, he was dead and there was no turning back.

  Susan and Eileen found her on the morning after the funeral, alone in the bedroom, slamming an old wooden baseball bat against the tarnished brass. "I hate you!" she'd screamed with each slam of the bat. "Why did you do this to us?" They'd tried to grab her arms, to hold her still, but she was wild with rage and anger, stronger than she had ever been in her life, and she broke free. She smashed mirrors and lamps, pulled his clothes from his side of the closet and threw his running shoes against the wall.

  Her sisters-in-law tried to reason with her but Annie was beyond their reach. It wasn't until they helped her drag the mattress, box spring, and dented frame down the stairs and outside with the rest of the trash that her adrenaline-fueled rage ebbed and she sank to the curb, buried her face in her arms, and sobbed as if her heart would break.

  There had been times when she hated him, times when she wondered why she stayed, but through it all she had never once stopped loving him. She knew that now, two years too late, when it no longer mattered to anyone but herself. Maybe if she had loved him a little less and helped him a little more, she wouldn't be a thirty-eight year old widow with two cats, bad credit, and the feeling that after today nothing would ever be the same again.

  ~~end of excerpt~~

  The Marrying Man - a contemporary romance

  A 25,000 word novella from USA Today bestselling author Barbara Bretton (previously published by Harlequin Books)

  Cat O'Leary Zaslow is a best-selling mystery writer. (She's also the single mother of five kids under twelve.)

  Riley McKendrick is a famous efficiency expert who once whipped the White House into shape. (He's also an ex-cowboy who believes in traveling light.)

  Opposites definitely attract but everyone knows they should never try living together.

  On a bet, Riley moves into Cat's Connecticut farmhouse and vows to have her chaotic lifestyle under control before the weekend is over. But five kids, six dogs, four cats, and one strong-minded woman may be more than even he can handle.

  But when it comes to love, all bets are off...

  #

  Chapter One

  Catherine O'Leary Zaslow knew twenty-seven ways to kill a man and on that morning before Thanksgiving she contemplated a twenty-eighth. If looks could kill, her agent would be six feet under.

  "I must be crazy," she announced as Max took her coat then handed it to his assistant. "I don't know how I let you convince me to come all the way down to Manhattan for this meeting. This is the day before Thanksgiving, Max. Normal people are home baking pies, not taking meetings."

  "This was the only day Riley McKendrick could make it," Max said. "We had to grab him when we could."

  Cat took a seat at the long conference table. "So who is this Riley McKendrick, the uncrowned king of England?"

  "Better than that," said Max, taking a seat opposite her. "McKendrick's the best time management expert in the country. I know how you feel about organization, Catherine, but the time has come--"

  "If you think I'm letting one of those schedule-loving lunatics into my house so he can alphabetize my spices and color-code the toilet tissue, you're crazy."

  "Think how successful you'd be if you could actually find your computer in that rat-trap office of yours. I've been to your house, Catherine. I'm surprised you can find your children."

  "You mind your business, Max, and I'll mind mine." What difference did it make if she had the organizational abilities of the average fruit fly? Everyone was clean, fed, and happy. If more was required in raising children, she couldn't imagine what it was. Besides, her kids weren't any of Max's business, her books were. And these days her mystery novels were number one on bestseller lists across the country.

  "Frank Fairbairn's production has doubled since he hired a time management specialist to whip him into shape." Frank Fairbairn was her closest competition in the murder mystery field. Max looked downright wistful at the thought of double production.

  "Frank Fairbairn is a man," Cat pointed out, choosing to ignore Max's statement about a time-management specialist. "His wife keeps his world running smoothly."

  "Listen, if a wife'll get you back on track, I'll find you a wife."

  "Jenny and I do just fine on our own." Jenny was her housekeeper, confidante, and partner in chaos.

  "I know Jenny," Max reminded her. "That's not a very convincing argument. The woman can't make scrambled eggs without consulting the Joy of Cooking."

  "I know why you're doing this," she said, tapping her index finger against the table top. "Last year it was a personal trainer, this year it's a time management consultant. You're too trendy for your own good, Max."

  "Trends come and trends go," Max intoned, "but an organized life is forever."

  She glanced at her watch. "What time was he supposed to be here?"

  Max shifted uncomfortably. "Ten o'clock."

  "It's ten-fifteen," she observed. "Sounds like the world's best time management consultant needs to have his credentials updated."

  "This is Manhattan, Cat. He probably got stuck in traffic."

  Cat rose then walked around to the other side of the table and placed a quick kiss atop Max's elegant, perfectly barbered head. "Dinner's at four o'clock tomorrow, Max. We'll pick you up at the train station at three-fifteen."

  "Catherine, Catherine, Catherine! See reason, please. An hour with Riley McKendrick will change your life forever."

  "Sure, Max," she said. "That and a magic lantern with a genie inside. No nearsighted weenie with an obsession for clocks and calendars is going to get close enough to--" She stopped, a frown creasing her forehead. Max's smile was incandescent. His eyes sparkled. He'd seen reason!

  Her heart soared with delight until she realized Max was looking right past her toward the door.

  "McKendrick!" Max said in a booming, hail-fellow-well-met voice he reserved for contract negotiations and Elit
e models. "We were about to send out a search party."

  "Sorry," drawled a deep male voice behind her. "Flat tire on East 54th Street."

  The number-crunching clockwatcher. She barely suppressed a groan. If she hadn't stopped to kiss Max on the head, she'd be safely in the elevator and on her way home.

  No big deal. She'd turn, she'd smile politely at the poor dweeb in the doorway, and then excuse herself with dispatch.

  She turned around.

  She looked at him.

  And her entire life seemed to pass before her eyes.

  That was no dweeb. That was the Marlboro Man - in all of his untamed, uncivilized Wild West glory.

  Her jaw dropped open and for a moment she wondered if she'd need professional help to get it closed.

  The guy wore artfully faded jeans, a cream-colored sweater, and a leather jacket that looked as if it had a few stories to tell. Her gaze slid across his torso, down his long legs, to the boots. And not the kind of boots you'd find on some ersatz urban cowboy. These were the real thing, tough, worn, sexy as hell.

  Same as the man who wore them. He was at least six-four and most of that was muscle. Hard, well-developed muscles, some of them in places she'd believed only Greek statues had muscles. Dark hair, green eyes, your basic Adonis. For a moment she considered swooning but thought better of it. This was the 90s, after all, and modern women were supposed to take things like amazing male pulchritude in stride.

  He was the kind of guy you saw on the cover of a paperback historical romance, one of those perfect specimens that came complete with a bosomy blond companion clutching at his manly chest.

  That couldn't be the clockwatcher. Maybe he really was a cover model and that was why he was looming in Max's doorway. If she could breathe at all, she'd breathe a sigh of relief. Max handled a few big name romance authors and he probably had a say in who posed for the covers. Riley McKendrick must be standing behind the Marlboro Man, hidden behind the cowboy's broad shoulders. You could hide a redwood tree behind those shoulders.

  "Cat." Max's voice broke into her reverie. "I want you to meet Riley McKendrick."

  She waited for a small, plain man to peer around the cowboy's shoulder but none did. It can't be, she thought, heartbeat accelerating. It's just not possible!

  The cowboy smiled down at her. This was the man who watched clocks for a living? Men who looked like this guy did usually spent more time looking in the mirror. His teeth were white, shiny, and symmetrical. Instead of money, the tooth fairy had probably left porcelain veneers under his pillow.

  "C. O. Lowe," McKendrick said, as her hand was swallowed up in his. "I know your books."

  She nodded, aware that he'd said he knew her books, not that he either read and/or liked them.

  "My name's Cat," she managed, wishing she had more experience dealing with cowboy Adonises, "and I'm not interested in getting organized." Blunt but true.

  "That's what they all say."

  "I'm sure they do," she murmured as reason made a delayed return, "but let me say it again: I don't know what Max promised you, but there's no deal. Not with me."

  Max popped up between them, a referee in Armani. "Coffee," he said in an unnaturally cheerful voice. "That's what we need. Coffee." He looked toward McKendrick. "How do you take it?"

  Talk about a loaded question. A voluptuous shiver rose up from the soles of her feet and she wondered if anyone would notice if she poured a pitcher of iced water over her head.

  "Black," said the cowboy. "No sugar."

  "Cat?" Max asked.

  "With cream," Cat mumbled. "Two sugars. Decaf."

  "Decaf?" asked McKendrick.

  "What's wrong with decaf?" she asked.

  "Most people drink coffee for the caffeine."

  "I drink it for the taste."

  "No taste in decaf."

  "That's why the cream and sugar."

  "That's illogical."

  "So sue me."

  Max mumbled something then vanished in search of refreshments. Cat considered the wisdom of following hard on his heels but the cowboy barred the way.

  "So what exactly do you have against organization?" McKendrick asked, bracing an arm against the doorjamb.

  In for a penny, in for a pound. "Organization is anathema to the creative spirit." Anathema, she thought with a grin. Let him chew on that for a while.

  He didn't bat an eye. Was it possible, brawn and brains? Dangerous combination. "I've seen your office," he said. "Your creative spirit better come with a road map."

  "What do you mean, you've seen my office?"

  "Max sent me pictures."

  "Max will need a road map of the intensive care ward if he doesn't stop doing things like that."

  "Don't blame Max." The guy had a smile that could light up a movie screen. "I asked him for one."

  "Someone should have asked me."

  "Someone should've sent in a wrecking crew."

  Max hustled back in, balancing three mugs of coffee and a plate of bagels. "Now this is what I call synergy. Two people at the top of their respective fields, coming together for mutual benefit."

  "Sorry, pal." McKendrick shook his head. "No deal."

  Cat glared at him. "What do you mean, there's no deal? That's not for you to say." She turned to Max. "There's no deal."

  "Don't be hasty," Max said, looking from Cat to McKendrick. "We can--"

  "Forget it, Max," McKendrick broke in. "She doesn't want my help.""

  "Hold on just a minute!" Cat's voice rose in annoyance. "I don't need your help." A small but vital difference.

  "Yes, you do," said Max, setting the coffee mugs and bagels down on the table. "You need a lot of help, Cat."

  She was aware of McKendrick's eyes on her and she had to remind herself it was professional interest on his part, not personal. Not that she wanted it to be personal but there was something thrilling about being the focus of such undivided male attention.

  Cat forced a laugh. "You're becoming very melodramatic, Max. Next thing I know you'll tell me this is a planned intervention for the hopelessly disorganized. It just so happens that I thrive on chaos."

  "Your last two manuscripts were late."

  "Jack had a tonsillectomy when I was finishing The Kindergarten Caper and we found termites right at the climax of Dead Cowboys Never Talk." She smiled sweetly at McKendrick. "No offense."

  "None taken." His grin told her he knew otherwise.

  She met Max's eyes. "A tonsillectomy is an act of God, right?"

  "Only when it's your tonsillectomy."

  "It was my son's. That's the same thing, isn't it?"

  "Not to Global Publishing."

  Max sighed longingly. "I know one author who finished up a book longhand in a storm cellar while a tornado ripped apart his house."

  McKendrick helped himself to a mug of coffee. "I know of a writer who broke both arms and still made his deadline."

  You would, she thought. "Those people need serious therapy. No one is that disciplined." Or that demented.

  "Wrong," said McKendrick. "A hell of a lot of people are that disciplined." He paused for effect. "And that organized."

  She shuddered. "What a frightening thought."

  "Want to hear a really frightening thought?" Max volunteered, handing her a mug of coffee. "No more extensions on your deadline, Catherine. I know chaos and you're heading straight for it."

  "I love you dearly, Max, but you're a bachelor. Your idea of chaos is misplacing your copy of the Sunday Times Book Review." She put down the coffee mug and gathered up her belongings. "Thanksgiving's tomorrow and I have a million things to do. Stuffing, turnips, the pies...."

  "Tomorrow's Thanksgiving?" asked McKendrick.

  "Didn't those cardboard pilgrims in the lobby tell you something?" Cat turned to Max. Some time management specialist. He didn't even know tomorrow was a national holiday.

  Max cleared his throat. "Riley's been in Tokyo the last few months," he said, as if that could explain away McK
endrick's appalling lapse of memory.

  "Pleasure?" asked Cat.

  "Business," said McKendrick.

  Max lowered his voice conspiratorially. "The Japanese government," he said. "This guy taught the Japanese something about organization."

  "Wow," said Cat, who wasn't the slightest bit impressed.

  She could almost see the lightbulb flash on over Max's head as he turned to McKendrick. "You'll be on your own tomorrow, Riley?"

  "Looks like," said McKendrick.

  Oh no, Cat thought. Don't do this, Max. Not with him....

  "How long's it been since you had a homemade Thanksgiving dinner?" Max continued.

  Was it her imagination or did a look of sadness flicker across McKendrick's movie star face? "Couldn't tell you, Max."

  "That long?" Max asked.

  "That long," said McKendrick.

  Don't pay any attention to them. McKendrick's a grown man. This is a big city. Somewhere out there is a turkey with his name on it and he's smart enough to find it.

  Max was a rat and a traitor. He knew she was a sucker for strays, especially around the holidays, and he was doing his best to manipulate her into issuing an invitation.

  She'd choke before she uttered anything that even remotely resembled a dinner invitiation.

  "Flannery's on East 47th has a pretty good spread," Max went on, "or you might want to try Stein's Deli near Rock Center. They have a restaurant in the back and the best turkey in the city."

  "Thought I might drive on up to Boston," the cowboy drawled. "Celebrate Thanksgiving where it started."

  "It started in Plymouth," Max said. "Why don't you--"

  "--come to my house." It sounded like her voice but she had the insane urge to look over her shoulder for her Evil Twin.

  Max beamed at her. Why not? She'd played right into his hands like the lily-livered, soft-hearted dope she was. Could she take it back? She struggled to find a way to erase her foolhardy words.

  She needn't have bothered. McKendrick wasn't interested.

  "Thanks for the invitation," he said. He probably practiced that sexy drawl into a tape recorder every night. "I'm not much for family celebrations."