by Ginna Gray
"I'd hardly call it Martin's, either."
"True, but Martin is family, whether we like it or not."
Maggie made a face. She didn't like it. She hated to even think about it. "What has Martin told you about the current situation?"
"Martin? Absolutely nothing. Now, with Dan it's a different story. At least once a day he comes by to keep Jacob and me current on the schedule and whatever problems have arisen. It seems that we've had a lot of costly breakdowns of the automated equipment and shipments have gone astray, and a number of other setbacks that have had an adverse effect on our profits.
"Dan usually drops by for coffee before going to the cannery. He had breakfast with Jo Beth and me earlier this morning, as a matter of fact."
Maggie's gaze flickered to the footprints in the dewy grass. The sun had just cleared the tall trees in the backyard, and the moisture was quickly evaporating, but the prints were still faintly visible.
"But Martin wouldn't dream of consulting with me," Lily continued. "He's just like his father. He and Rupert think that women should be confined to the kitchen and the bedroom, and be a pretty ornament on a man's arm, and they assume all other men feel the same."
"You could demand that he keep you informed."
"To what end? Even if I understood the problems, I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to fix things."
Lily caught Maggie's hand in both of hers. "That's why you have to stay. I need you, Maggie. The whole family needs you. And not just us. Think of all the people in Ruby Falls who work in the cannery and orchards who stand to lose their jobs. Bountiful Foods is notorious for conducting wholesale layoffs and bringing in cheap labor when they take over a cannery.
"You're smart as a whip and you have a master's degree in business, Maggie. You're our only hope of surviving this."
The desperation in her mother's eyes pulled at Maggie. Still she hesitated. "Momma … first of all, it's been seven years since I earned my degree, and I've never put my training to use. And second, even if I could pinpoint the problem or problems, there's no guarantee that I could turn things around. Provided, of course, that Daddy would even let me get near the office."
"I'll talk to your father. I promise."
Maggie gave her a skeptical look. Her mother said that now, but she knew that one harsh word from her father and Lily would fold. If Jacob needed convincing, she'd have to do it.
"But what about what's best for him? You know my being here will upset him. I don't want to make his last days miserable."
Nor was she anxious to subject herself to more of Jacob's animosity and coldness. She had put all that behind her years ago. Or tried to.
"He'll be a darn sight more miserable if we lose the business. He's worried sick about what will become of us when he's gone. It's preying on his mind, I can tell you. That can't be good for a man in his condition."
Us, meaning her mother and sisters, Maggie thought. She was quite certain that Jacob didn't trouble himself over her future.
"Please, dear," Lily pleaded when she continued to hesitate. "Please. All I'm asking is that you try."
Maggie looked into her mother's frantic eyes. She was acutely aware that except for Ida Lou, Lily was the only one who wanted her there.
Her father certainly didn't, nor did Laurel or Jo Beth. Nor that macho hunk of a general manager. Unlike most men she encountered, Dan Garrett wasn't in the least impressed with her looks or her fame.
If she stayed she would be letting herself in for all manner of grief from all directions.
But what choice did she have?
Maggie exhaled a long sigh. "All right, Momma. I'll stay and do what I can. Just don't expect miracles. Okay?"
Beaming, Lily surged up out of her chair and threw her arms around her daughter. "Oh, thank you, sweetheart. Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Maggie returned the hug, rocking her mother's slight body as she made a wry face over the top of her head.
"Am I interrupting something, ladies?" Tensing, she turned her head and saw Dan Garrett emerge from the orchard and amble up the slope of the backyard. For a big man he moved with surprising grace, his stride long and loose. Everything about him—from his big, fit body, pale eyes and rugged face—radiated quiet strength and intensity.
Maggie's skin prickled. The man was too self-assured … too rawly masculine for her taste. Still, there was something about him…
Lily pulled out of Maggie's arms and turned to Dan with a welcoming smile. "No, of course not. I was just thanking Maggie for agreeing to stay awhile with us."
One dark eyebrow cocked and his eyes turned cold as they switched to Maggie. "Oh? I didn't realize there was ever a question of her not staying."
Maggie's hackles rose. Lily seemed oblivious to the censure in his voice, but she heard it, loud and clear. She wanted to tell him that either way it was none of his business what she did, but she smothered the urge. Instead, as always when she felt under attack, she instinctively turned on the flirtatious charm.
"Oh, there wasn't one doubt, sugar," she purred, giving him a sultry smile. "I came prepared to stay for as long as I'm needed. I ran into a little glitch yesterday, and that upset Momma, but that's all straightened out now. So you better get used to having me around, handsome."
Lily looked confused by Maggie's familiar manner, but she recovered quickly. "Oh, that's right. Maggie told me yesterday that she'd met you."
"Yes, we met," Dan said with insulting indifference.
He turned his full attention on Lily, leaving Maggie with the feeling that she'd just been dismissed, which, she was certain, was what he intended. "I took care of what I needed to at the cannery. I'm ready to go when you are, Lily."
"Just let me get my purse." She smiled at Maggie. "Dan is going to the hospital with me to bring Jacob home."
Maggie experienced an instant stab of jealousy that her mother had asked Dan to help with a family matter instead of her. "There's no need for Mr. Garrett to take time away from work, Momma. I can help you fetch Daddy home."
"Thank you, dear, but it will be better if Dan goes with me. He's stronger than you and can help lift Jacob into the car. Dr. Lockhart has arranged for a live-in male nurse. He'll stay with us until—"
Lily pressed her lips together, her eyes suddenly stricken. She fought for composure and won, but when she continued her voice sounded hollow and strained. "He'll stay with us for the next few months, but he won't be here until Monday."
Looking a bit uneasy, Lily lowered her voice to a murmur. "Plus, I think it would be best if I … you know … prepared Jacob for the changes he's going to find around here."
In other words, her mother wanted to warn him that she would be staying, Maggie realized with a pang.
"Why don't you spend the morning getting settled in? Dan and I will be back with your daddy before you know it."
"I'll go get your car and bring it around front."
Without so much as a glance toward Maggie, Dan headed for the garage.
Five minutes later, from the window of her bedroom, Maggie watched Dan drive Lily's Cadillac into the circular drive and come to a halt in front of her Viper. Her mother hurried down the front walk and climbed into the passenger seat. A vague sense of resentment and envy squeezed Maggie's chest as her gaze followed the deep burgundy car around the circle and down the long drive toward the road.
Dan Garrett had the trust and admiration of both her parents and had firmly established a place for himself in the family business and in their lives. That was more than she'd ever managed—at least, with her father.
Dammit, it wasn't fair.
The instant the thought whispered through Maggie's mind she felt guilty and childish. It wasn't Dan Garrett's fault that her father didn't love her. She was just directing her anger at him because he was handy.
Making a disgusted sound, she rolled her eyes. "Knock it off, Maggie. Nobody said life was fair," she grumbled. "And the only thing feeling sorry for yourself will get you is a
bad case of the 'poor me's.'"
The Cadillac disappeared around the curve in the road, and Maggie let the lace curtain drop back into place.
Turning away from the window, she wandered over to the four-poster bed and trailed her fingertips along the ruffled edge of the bedspread. Her mouth quirked. Jo Beth was right about one thing—her room was exactly the same.
The ruffled white-and-green bedspread and the mountain of frilly pillows piled against the cherry headboard, the soft-green wallpaper sprigged with tiny white flowers, the white lace curtains, the delicate Queen Anne furniture and Dresden figurines and vases had all been part of her mother's tireless efforts to make her feel feminine and dainty. Instead, they had emphasized her gangly height and awkwardness.
Not that she hadn't loved it. It was a truly beautiful room, one to delight the heart of any young girl. It just hadn't suited her.
But Momma had meant well, Maggie thought, giving the delicate bentwood rocker a poke with her forefinger to set it in motion.
With a brisk step, Maggie went downstairs and out to her car. In only a few minutes she'd hauled the rest of her luggage out of the cramped rear of the Viper and carried it upstairs.
She hadn't brought much with her, only the essentials. Aunt Nan, bless her, was shipping the bulk of her fall wardrobe, and Maggie would fly in and out of New York often enough to pick up whatever else she needed.
In no time at all she was unpacked.
Thinking about her aunt had reminded Maggie that she had promised to call and report on her father's condition and how their reunion had gone.
Sitting down on the edge of her bed, she picked up the telephone on the bedside table and dialed her aunt in New York.
Nan answered on the second ring.
"Hi," Maggie said softly, smiling with affection.
Seven years ago, she had instinctively headed for New York and the only person other than her mother from whom she knew she would receive solace and help.
Aunt Nan had not failed her. One look at Maggie's shattered expression and she had folded her in a loving embrace and taken her in. While Maggie had licked her wounds her aunt had showered her with the love and attention she had so desperately needed.
"Maggie, darling. I was hoping it was you calling." Nan paused, and her voice grew husky with concern. "How is Jacob?"
"He's doing okay now. He had a setback and was in the hospital when I arrived. They had to drain his lungs. But he's being released today. Momma has gone to get him now."
"Well, I suppose we can expect those kind of things with this ghastly illness." She waited a beat, then inquired, "How did it go between you and Jacob?"
Blinking furiously, Maggie looked up at the ceiling and pressed her lips together. "Awful. Momma made up the whole thing to get me to come home."
"Oh, Maggie," her aunt murmured with such heartfelt sympathy that the lump in Maggie's throat threatened to choke her. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry."
"I know. I should have known better than to believe that he really wanted to see me, just because he's dy—"
Maggie's throat seized up on her, making speech impossible for a moment. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her balled fist hard against her breastbone, trying to ease the hideous pain. "Just because he … hasn't much time left."
Like Lily, she could not even think about her father's impending death without grief nearly overwhelming her. No matter what he did or didn't feel for her, he was still her father. In every other way he was a good and decent man, and she loved him with all her heart.
"Oh! I'm furious with that blind, hardheaded, stiff-necked brother of mine!" Nan fumed. "And with Lily, too. How could she lie to you like that and let you walk in there and get blindsided, thinking he was going to welcome you the way he should have all along? How could she do that to her own daughter? I thought better of her. I really did."
"To be fair, she was desperate. Momma's terrified that Daddy and I won't resolve our differences before it's too late."
"Humph. And whose fault is that, I'd like to know. Bringing the two of you together through deceit was a stupid way to promote a reconciliation. What she needs to do is what she should have done seven years ago, and that's pound some sense into Jacob's granite head."
"I know, but you know Momma. Confrontation just isn't an option for her."
Nan made a disgusted sound and murmured something uncomplimentary under her breath about fragile females.
Maggie didn't take offense. She knew that Nan loved her mother. She was so sweet-natured and gentle it was impossible not to, and when Nan was around Lily she cosseted her as much as everyone else did.
However, being a strong, confident woman, Nan had never understood and had little patience for Lily's pathological fear of conflict.
"So, when are you leaving?" Nan asked
"I'm not. I'm staying to the end, like I planned."
"What? Maggie, child, that's crazy. You tried. That's all anyone can expect. Why subject yourself to abuse for months?"
"Because Momma needs me," she replied quietly.
"Oh, for Pete's sake. For once in her sheltered life Lily will just have to pull her socks up and handle a difficult situation on her own. I won't stand by while you—"
"Aunt Nan, it's not just Daddy. The company is in deep trouble again."
Shocked silence hummed through the line.
"But that's impossible!" Nan finally said in an incredulous voice. "I loaned Jacob more than enough money to shore up the financial problems."
"I know, but apparently something has gone terribly wrong." Maggie quickly related all that her mother had told her. "So I'm going to stick around and see what I can find out, and hopefully take steps to get the company back into the black."
"Hmm. That might not be easy. Jacob won't appreciate you poking around in Malone Enterprises business. Neither will that slug, Martin."
"I know. I'm going to be as discreet as possible, but whether Daddy or Martin like it or not, I am going to get to the bottom of this."
There was a long silence, then Nan said quietly, "You do realize that if you meet too much opposition and Jacob bows his neck you're not going to have a choice. You'll have to tell him."
Maggie rubbed the pounding in her temple with her fingertips. "I know, I know. But I'd rather not do that until I absolutely have to. I'm just not ready to face that hurdle yet."
"Well, prepare yourself, sweetheart, because the time is coming when you won't have a choice. And trust me, it isn't going to be pleasant. Jacob is going to be livid when he finds out that you now own forty-seven percent of the stock in Malone Enterprises."
Maggie grimaced and rubbed her temple harder. "I know, I know."
It had all seemed so simple when she'd purchased her aunt's stock in Malone Enterprises.
"Maybe you ought to go ahead and tell Jacob and get it over with," Nan suggested. "You know, catch him off guard. Come in with guns blazing."
"I don't think so." Maggie barely suppressed a shudder when she imagined forcing a showdown with her father.
A wry smile tugged at Maggie's mouth. Maybe there was more of her mother in her than she'd thought.
"Well, if you're determined to do this, I'm flying down there to help you deal with Jacob. As long as he thinks I still own forty-one percent of the stock, he'll have to listen to me. Short of calling a shareholders' meeting and starting a war within the family, he can't do anything about it if I insist on putting you in charge. He and I hold equal shares of stock. Or at least, he thinks we still do."
"Aunt Nan, that's sweet of you, but you don't have to do that. I don't want to cause a rift between you and Daddy."
"Nonsense. You're like a daughter to me, child. Besides, when it hits the fan down there—which, sooner or later, it will—I intend to be there to take my share of the heat. It's only right, since we cooked up this scheme together. You wouldn't have those shares if I hadn't sold them to you."
"I know, but—"
"I'm flying down ther
e, and that's that. You're going to need someone in your corner, and we both know you can't depend on Lily. Besides, I want to spend what time is left with that fool brother of mine. He may have a blind spot when it comes to you, but I love him all the same."
When their conversation ended and Maggie hung up the telephone she wandered aimlessly around the room for a few minutes, then sank down into the fragile bentwood rocker in the bay window alcove. Leaning her head against the high back, she began to rock. Her eyelids lowered partway until the room became a surreal blur through the heavy fringe of her lashes. She sighed.
Nothing was working out as she'd planned. A year and a half ago when the family business had run into trouble and her father had appealed to Nan for a loan, the solution had seemed an easy one.
Her father had already poured all he could of his own money into the company, and his appeal to Nan had been a reasonable request. She had been the only other major shareholder and Edward Endicott, her late husband, had left her financially well off. But what her father hadn't realized was, all of Nan's inheritance was tied up in the complicated trust that provided her income. The only asset she'd had that could be liquidated was her Malone Enterprises stock, and that could only be sold to a direct descendant of the first Katherine Margaret Malone.
When her aunt had explained the problem, Maggie had immediately offered to purchase enough of her stock to provide the money her father needed. It had not been necessary for Nan to sell all of her Malone Enterprises stock, but she had insisted that she wanted Maggie to have it.
"I was going to leave all my shares to you, anyway, just in case that brother of mine had cut you out of his will. I'm not about to stand by and let him rob you of your rightful inheritance.
"Anyway, it's only right that you have the lion's share. You're the only one of Jacob's children who is qualified to run the business or has an interest in doing so," Nan had insisted.
Nan's shares, added to the six percent that grandfather Michael had left each of his granddaughters, gave Maggie forty-seven percent of the family business.