The smile fled. “I knew there would be a but,” she said with a sigh. “It’s my lack of experience, isn’t it? You don’t trust me to pull it off.” She regarded him intently, her expression earnest. “But Pennington and Sons is experienced. You’d be dealing with a company with years and years of development background. My father, my brothers—any one of them could do this in their sleep.”
Bobby could only guess what it cost her to offer to let them pick up this project that was her baby, her inspiration, something she had put herself on the line to seek.
“I don’t want them,” he said quietly. “That’s not the point, anyway. I simply can’t make a decision based on one submission from one company. And these sketches are only the start, anyway. There have to be cost projections, a construction timetable. You know that, Jenna. You must.”
She sank down on the chair next to his, her expression defeated. “Of course I know that. I just thought…” She shook her head. “It was foolish, I know, but I was hoping you’d be so excited about this that you’d want me to continue with the rest.”
“I do want that,” he insisted. “I want you to bring me every fact and figure you can put together, so that it’s all in front of me when the time comes to make a decision.”
Her eyes lit with another faint spark of hope. “Then you’re not turning me down?”
“Far from it,” he said.
“I’ll have everything ready for you by next week. Is that soon enough?”
“Next week will be fine,” he said, grinning at her restored enthusiasm. He glanced toward the other table, where Darcy was quietly reading a book based on some teen-oriented TV show. A smile tugged at his lips at the sight of that incongruous green hair. Oddly, for someone who considered himself comparatively straitlaced despite his own pierced ear, the offbeat look was beginning to grow on him…just as Darcy’s mother was.
His gaze landed on Jenna’s deserted ice cream. “Your banana split has melted. I owe you another one.”
“I don’t care about that,” Jenna said, beginning to gather up the sketchbook. “I have work to do.”
“Sure you don’t want to stick around?” he asked impulsively. “We could have dinner in a bit. I should be able to sneak out of the kitchen in an hour or so, once all the prep work is done. We could talk some more about your ideas.” He knew the latter would be irresistible, and it was. Her expression brightened.
“Sure. I can stay. But Darcy may get bored.”
“Call Daisy. I’m sure she’d love to have her come over. And maybe with all those books, she’ll be a good influence on Tommy. He’s not exactly an avid reader.”
Jenna nodded eagerly. “I’ll do that. If there’s a problem, I’ll poke my head in the kitchen and let you know.”
There wouldn’t be a problem. Bobby knew that. Daisy would leap at the chance to give them some time alone together. In some areas, his sister was entirely predictable. He didn’t even need to waste time trying to pave the way.
“Good,” he said, letting his gaze linger for just a fraction of a second on Jenna’s flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. What the devil was he doing here? He was asking for trouble, that’s what.
But for the first time since he’d found out about Ann-Marie and Lonnie all those years ago, he wasn’t moving through life with grim determination. There was actually a faint spark of excitement stirring somewhere deep inside him. And just this once, risky as it might be, he was going to fan it a bit and see what happened.
Jenna almost laughed at the eagerness with which Daisy responded to her request to send Darcy by for a few hours.
“Stop it,” she ordered Bobby’s sister. “I know exactly what you’re thinking, and you can forget it. This is strictly business.”
“Are you meeting in his office?” Daisy asked, her tone filled with fake innocence.
“No,” Jenna admitted.
“Are food and drink involved?”
“Yes, but a lot of business is conducted over meals. I’ll bet even at the school, you and the other teachers confer over lunch.”
“Sure we do,” Daisy conceded. “Great raucous groups of us, trying to be heard over the noise in the cafeteria. We don’t have intimate little tête-à-têtes in a fancy restaurant.”
“How intimate can this be? The restaurant is packed.”
“If you’re half as smart as I think you are, it won’t be packed by the time you’re lingering over dessert.”
“No dessert,” Jenna insisted. “We’ve already had banana splits.”
“With all that gooey, sensuous hot fudge,” Daisy said in a deliberately suggestive tone. “I love it. You go, girl.”
Jenna frowned, then realized that Daisy couldn’t see her reaction over the phone. “Enough. If you keep this up, I’m keeping Darcy right here with me to run interference with a man you seem to be implying has lecherous intents.”
“Bobby? You’ve got to be kidding. He’s the ultimate gentleman. He won’t lay a finger on you unless you invite him to.”
“Which I have no intention of doing,” Jenna insisted, though now that the thought had been planted in her head, it seemed to be all she could think about. This was definitely not the kind of thinking a professional woman ought to be indulging in.
“I’ll drop Darcy off in ten minutes,” she said firmly. “If I hear one word about transforming tonight into some sort of seduction, I’ll turn right around and go back to the hotel.”
“Speaking of which, don’t you think you ought to consider renting someplace bigger, maybe even a little more permanent?” Daisy said, shifting gears.
Jenna wasn’t reassured one bit by the change of topic. It didn’t mean Daisy had given up on her matchmaking, only that she was exploring a new angle. This time it seemed to be about Jenna taking up permanent residence in Trinity Harbor.
“I don’t have the contract yet,” Jenna reminded her.
“You’ll get it. You might as well be ready.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Maybe I will start looking around to see what’s available,” she said, realizing as soon as the words were out that it was an idea that appealed to her on a lot of levels. A home of her own at last. A place where she could raise Darcy without interference. Wouldn’t that be something? But that was something she’d have to think about in-depth later.
“I’d better get a move on,” she said then. “Ten minutes and no meddling, got it?”
Daisy laughed. “I’m afraid I inherited my father’s talent for matchmaking, but I’ll try my best to keep it in check. And, Jenna, just in case you haven’t gotten this part yet, I think it would be wonderful if something happened between you and my brother.”
“So I gathered,” Jenna said wryly. “However, it’s not your vote that counts.”
“But it doesn’t hurt,” Daisy retorted cheerfully.
No, Jenna thought, feeling amazingly contented at the approval she heard in Daisy’s voice, it didn’t hurt at all. For the first time in years, she felt accepted for who she was, not just by Daisy but, even more important, by Bobby. If she hadn’t had so many years of experiencing the opposite—of anticipating that disapproval might be just around the corner—their acceptance might have left her feeling almost giddy.
13
To Bobby’s everlasting regret, Maggie had agreed to pinch-hit for his vacationing hostess that night. He’d forgotten about that when he’d suggested that Jenna hang around and have dinner with him. Now his secretary was regarding him speculatively every time he poked his head out of the kitchen.
“Expecting someone special, boss?” Maggie inquired, looking particularly smug.
“Not special,” he said a little too quickly, then floundered. “Just someone.”
“It wouldn’t happen to be Jenna, would it?”
He stared at her. “Why would you ask that?”
Maggie didn’t even attempt to contain her amusement. “Because she said to tell you, if you asked, that she’d be back in twenty minutes or so. S
he was taking Darcy over to Daisy’s.”
Relief warred with annoyance. “Couldn’t you have told me that before?”
“You didn’t ask,” she reminded him. “For all I knew, you were peering around out here hoping to catch a glimpse of the mayor, who’s over in the far corner, by the way.”
Sure enough, Harvey, dressed in beige, was seated as far from the kitchen as he could get at a table of six men. All but Harvey were wearing a rainbow of polo shirts, suggesting they’d just left a golf course. Harvey had probably hoped that Bobby wouldn’t spot him in his dull jacket amid all those pastels. It must be killing the mayor to have Bobby see that he’d broken his personal resolution never to set foot in the restaurant until Bobby got over his fool notion of putting something other than condos on all that valuable waterfront land.
Bobby grinned at Maggie. “I think I’ll drop by and see if they’re enjoying the food.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” she asked. “It’ll probably give him indigestion, and he’ll run all around town blaming it on your cooking.”
Confident of his own culinary skills and those of his staff, Bobby replied, “I think I can afford to take my chances. Just last week a Richmond food critic said this place was worth the drive. I believe he described our menu as ‘a cut above the usual, bordering on the sensational.’”
“Not that you care what the critics think, right, boss?” Maggie regarded him with another of those annoyingly amused looks.
After casting one last scowl at her, Bobby crossed the packed restaurant, pausing to greet several regular local customers along the way. He noticed that the mayor was looking everywhere except directly at him. He was probably still holding out hope that Bobby hadn’t seen him and was simply cruising the room for compliments on the food.
“Good evening, Mr. Mayor,” Bobby said, keeping his tone friendly but impossible to ignore as he stood right smack in the mayor’s line of vision.
“Bobby,” Harvey said tersely, not quite meeting his gaze.
“I’m surprised to see you in here,” Bobby said. “Especially since I’m no closer to putting condos on that property than I ever was.”
Fury immediately stained the mayor’s cheeks a bright red. “I could tie you up with zoning regulations for years,” Harvey blustered before he could catch himself.
“So you’ve threatened on more than one occasion,” Bobby agreed mildly. “But what would that say about you, especially with an election coming up this fall?”
Someone at the table discreetly choked back a laugh, but not before Bobby caught it and gave the man a wink. “It might be especially foolish since I have polling data that suggests people in town like my concept better. They’re looking for things for their families to do, attractions to draw more tourists and create more jobs.”
The mayor’s gaze narrowed. “Polling data?” he repeated suspiciously.
“You know what a poll is,” Bobby said. “One of those things that actually asks people what they want, rather than foisting someone else’s cockamamie ideas on them.”
“Dammit, I knew it all along,” Harvey said with an outraged huff. “That’s your plan, isn’t it, to run for office, because you think you know this town better than I do? Well, Trinity Harbor isn’t some major metropolitan area. You can keep your statistics and your poll results. Handshaking’s the thing that works around here. Talking to real people and not that highfalutin social set your daddy belongs to.”
Bobby bit back a sigh. There seemed to be little point in defending his egalitarian father, but he did have to try to reassure the mayor about his own nonexistent political aspirations. “Harvey, I’m not after your job, at least not for myself. But mess with me on this project, and there’s a very good chance I will find someone to oppose you. If I do, you won’t stand a chance.”
“Is that a threat? Typical of a Spencer, thinking that just because your family’s been around here forever, you get to run things.”
“Force of habit,” Bobby retorted. “Somebody has to.” He turned to the others. “Enjoy your dinner, gentlemen. It’s on the house.”
“Absolutely not,” Harvey said at once. “I couldn’t. How would it look?”
“Like you’d accepted a bribe from someone you’d just attempted to threaten?” Bobby inquired. “Sorry. I certainly wouldn’t want that. I’ll pick up the check for everyone at the table except you. How’s that?”
He was halfway back to the kitchen when the man who’d tried unsuccessfully to hide his amusement caught up with him.
“Do you think it’s wise to antagonize a man who holds the power to ruin your plans for the boardwalk?” he asked Bobby. “I’m Dave Meltzer, by the way.”
“Of Meltzer Development out of Richmond,” Bobby said, recognizing the name at once. Big company. Big bucks. No taste.
The man stood a little taller, no easy task since he was only about five-six. “You’ve heard of us, then?”
“Of course.”
“When can you and I meet privately?” Meltzer asked. “I think there are quite a few things we have to discuss.”
Bobby knew better than to dismiss Meltzer outright. Even if the developer was a crony of the mayor’s, Bobby owed him the same opportunity to make a presentation as anyone else. But since Meltzer built housing, not boardwalks, he pretty much knew they’d both be wasting their time.
“My secretary’s pitching in tonight as hostess,” he said, gesturing in Maggie’s direction. “Speak to her. She’ll be happy to set up an appointment.”
“What about tonight?” Meltzer pushed. “I’m here. Let’s just sit down and see what we have in common. What I have in mind could be extremely lucrative for both of us.”
Bobby shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I have another appointment.” He spotted Jenna in the foyer. When his pulse picked up, he told himself it was just because he was excited to have an excuse to ditch the developer. He gave the man his phoniest apologetic expression, the one he dragged out when he was most annoyed. “And there she is now. If you’ll excuse me.”
He moved so quickly that Meltzer was left sputtering to no one. As Bobby passed Maggie, he said, “Over there, the man who’s talking to himself. He wants an appointment. Make it tomorrow and make it as inconvenient for him as possible. Something that’ll make him get all tangled up with the Richmond rush hour to get here.”
“Sure thing,” Maggie said enthusiastically.
Bobby congratulated himself on his good sense in hiring her specifically for moments like this one. There was nothing Maggie liked better than a mission. She was a lot like Daisy and Jenna in that regard.
“Going or coming?” she asked.
“Up to you,” he said.
The last thing Bobby heard was Maggie sweet-talking the developer as she led him toward Bobby’s office and the appointment book she kept there.
“Very smooth,” Jenna said when he approached her. “What would you do without Maggie?”
“Probably live a saner life,” he said. “But she is good at a few things, and running interference is one of them.”
“So I recall,” Jenna said.
“What took so long?” he asked. “I was expecting you back here some time ago.”
“Two words. Your sister.”
Bobby groaned. “No further explanation necessary. Please tell me she wasn’t matchmaking.”
“You know perfectly well that she was.” She shrugged. “That’s okay. She cares about you. She seems to think the fact that you and I have been butting heads since the day we met is a good thing.”
Bobby couldn’t disagree with Daisy’s assessment without lying through his teeth. He had felt more alive the last few weeks. He just wasn’t sure about the crash-and-burn letdown that was sure to follow.
“Do you do the same thing with your brothers?” he asked.
Jenna’s smile promptly faded. “Are you kidding? I know better. Not only are they married to women I’d never met before their wedding ceremonies, but they woul
d never take or appreciate advice from me.”
“I don’t appreciate it from Daisy, but that hasn’t stopped her,” he pointed out.
“That’s because you all love each other,” Jenna said.
She said it with the same wistfulness that always rocked Bobby back on his heels.
“And your brothers don’t love you?”
She looked embarrassed by the question. “In their way, I suppose they do, but mostly it’s because it’s expected of them. How would it look if the Penningtons didn’t get along, at least in public? The sad truth is that they hardly know me. All those years I was sent away to school took a toll. We’re more like acquaintances than a real family. My dad and I live in the same house, work in the same place, but we co-exist, we don’t really connect. As for my brothers, we don’t even have that much contact.”
“I’m sorry,” Bobby said with total sincerity. His family might be annoying, his father impossible, but the bonds between them were strong. Any of them would go to the mat for one of the others, including King, no matter how much he might privately disagree with the actions of one of his children. Publicly the Spencers always stood united.
“Thanks, but it’s okay. I just try not to think about it,” Jenna said. “It’s harder on Darcy. She would give just about anything not to be an only child of a single mom. I think that’s why she does such crazy things, like dyeing her hair green. It gets her attention and it makes her fit in with a certain group of kids.”
Bobby shuddered. “There are more kids in Baltimore with green hair?”
“No, thank goodness, though I’ve seen some red, blue and purple. The others have body piercing and tattoos. So far I’ve been able to hold a hard line on that.”
Stunned by the image, Bobby shook his head. “How old is Darcy?”
“Nine, going on fifteen,” Jenna said wearily. “It’s payback for the way I was as a teenager. I know it is.”
Imagining Jenna out-of-control made his blood roar in his ears. He couldn’t seem to stop wondering just how far she’d pushed the boundaries. He knew about the fake snake tattoo, but had there been more?
Ask Anyone Page 16
