THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER

by Ginna Gray

  Instantly, Dan thought about the kiss he'd shared with Maggie. Oh yeah, they were that, all right.

  "Back in her high school days others called her wild, but I always admired her gumption." Lucy paused to chew the bite of salad, then continued on another track. "Rumor has it that Malone's is losing money. Do you think Maggie's going to be able to turn things around?"

  "It's too soon to tell. She works hard and she's smart, and she appears to know what she's doing. But so far that hasn't been enough to turn the tide."

  "Mmm." With her forefinger, Lucy idly doodled in the condensation on her iced tea glass. "Did you know there are some in town who want to organize a delegation to go talk to Jacob and demand that he remove Maggie as president?"

  Dan shot his mother a sharp look, his knife and fork suspended over his plate. "No, I didn't. Who's behind it?"

  "The usual bunch. Pauline Babcock and her husband and all her cronies. Dorothy Purdue has convinced Leland that their pharmacy will go belly-up if their customers lose their jobs, and he's agitating all the other local merchants. Rumors are feeding on rumors."

  "Damn." Dan put down his knife and fork and stared out the window at the Saturday afternoon traffic around the square. It wouldn't surprise him to learn that Martin was behind the rumors. He'd used the local gossips to his advantage before.

  Dan applied himself to his steak again and made no comment, but he turned the matter over in his mind. Lucy picked at her tuna salad and left him to his thoughts, but not for long.

  "So, you haven't mentioned Debra," she said, deftly changing the subject. "How is that going?"

  Dan's mouth twisted. Before she'd dropped her little bombshell he'd been wondering how long it would be before his mother got around to this. She wanted him to get married, and took every opportunity to nudge him in that direction.

  Since he'd reached the point in his life when he was ready to settle down, he didn't mind. Lately he'd been seeing a lot of Debra Karnes, hoping she might be the one.

  "It's not. I broke it off with her a few weeks ago."

  "Well, thank the Lord for that."

  Dan blinked. "I thought you liked Debra."

  "I do. She's a nice young woman, and I'm sure she'll make some man a good wife, but not you. She's bland as dishwater and too meek. She'd bore you silly in a month. What you need is someone with spunk and sass." She waited a beat, then sent him a sly look. "Someone like, say … Maggie Malone."

  Dan stared. His mother's keen insight and intuitiveness never failed to astound him. Somehow she had hit on his exact reason for breaking off with Debra.

  On the surface she'd seemed ideal. They came from similar blue-collar backgrounds. She was attractive and sweet-natured, and easy to be with, a perfectly nice woman.

  Then, during the week after Maggie returned to Ruby Falls they'd gone out twice, and he'd realized that if he had to spend the rest of his life with her he would go quietly out of his mind.

  So he had ended it. Debra had cried, but it was the honorable thing to do. It just wasn't fair to any woman to compare her with Maggie, and he'd finally realized he'd been doing that during most of their last two evenings together.

  Maggie had the kind of looks that could stop a man's heart, but it was more than that. Debra had no sparkle, no sass, no wicked sense of humor or pugnacious courage. Hell, compared to Maggie, she was dull as dishwater.

  Though he was beginning to suspect that Maggie's wild reputation was largely undeserved, he still wasn't thrilled about the attraction he felt for her. It was too powerful. Hell, he hadn't felt desire like this since he was a randy teenager, trying to seduce Mary Lou Hunsacker in the back seat of his '52 Chevy. Worse, he imagined more than half the men in the world felt the same pull of lust every time they looked at Maggie's picture.

  "Look, Mom, don't go getting any ideas about me and Maggie, okay? Trust me, it just isn't going to happen."

  "Why not?"

  "Why not? For Pete's sake, Mom, we come from different worlds."

  "What nonsense. She's a local girl."

  "Trust me, Maggie may have started out in Ruby Falls, but she's moved light-years beyond anything this town has to offer, including me. Not only is she Harvard-educated, successful, wealthy and gorgeous, she's the boss's daughter, for Christ's sake."

  "So are you telling me that Maggie is a snob?"

  "No, I didn't say that. Look, I'm proud of what I've made of myself and I like my life. I like living in Ruby Falls, I like my job and being near my family. But I'm strictly a small-town, working stiff. Supermodels like Maggie Malone are so far out of my reach they might as well be on another planet. So forget any ideas about Maggie and me, okay?"

  "Oh, all right. But I still think you're wrong."

  Dan didn't agree, but the sad truth was, as long as Maggie was around, every other woman paled in comparison. Which was why he'd made the decision to put his social life on hold until she was gone.

  That shouldn't take long. If Maggie managed to pull off a miracle and get Malone's back on its feet, after Jacob passed on, no doubt she'd put a competent person in charge and flit back to New York and the sophisticated life-style she was used to leading.

  Then he could get on with his own life.

  The bell over the café door tinkled. Lucy sat facing that way, and instantly her eyes lit up. "Well, now, look who's here."

  From the abnormal silence that spread through the café Dan knew before he craned his neck around the edge of the high-backed booth whom he would see.

  Maggie stood just inside the door, next to the Please Wait to Be Seated sign. The booth right behind the one he and his mother occupied was empty and so were a couple of stools at the counter and a table, but Mabel Jean, the owner of the City Café, and Dinah, the day-shift waitress, both stayed behind the counter and ignored her.

  "Go ask her to join us," Lucy insisted.

  "Mom—"

  "Go on."

  With a resigned sigh, Dan tossed his napkin on the table and slid out of the booth.

  "Hey, Red." Something like relief flickered in Maggie's eyes as he strolled toward her. "The place is kinda crowded today. Why don't you come join us?"

  Maggie cast a quick look at the vacant places and sent him a droll look. "Yes, so I see. Thanks, sugar, I believe I wi— Wait a minute. We? You're here with someone?"

  "Yeah, come meet her."

  "Oh, uh … no, on second thought—"

  "C'mon, Red, she won't bite. I promise."

  Maggie tried to dig in her heels, but he grasped her arm and frog-marched her past the empty booth. "Mom, meet Maggie Malone. Maggie, this is Lucy Garrett, my mother."

  For the first time since he'd known her Maggie seemed at a loss. For an instant she looked as though she didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified, but true to form, she recovered quickly.

  Flashing a dazzling smile, she extended her hand. "Mrs. Garrett, how nice to meet you."

  The women exchanged a few pleasantries, but when Lucy invited her to sit down Maggie shook her head.

  "Thank you, but I've already eaten. Anyway, I don't want to intrude on your lunch with your son."

  "Nonsense. You're not intruding at all. Sit."

  "No, really, I just dropped in for a cup of coffee. I'm killing time while Leland refills one of Daddy's prescriptions," she said, with a vague wave toward Purdue's Pharmacy on the opposite side of the square.

  "You might as well give in, Red. Mom doesn't take no for an answer. Anyway, I'm sure you can handle a piece or two of Mabel Jean's chocolate pie with that coffee. C'mon, scoot in," he ordered, and all but staffed her into the booth, then slid in beside her.

  Dan signaled to Mabel Jean. She didn't looked happy about waiting on Maggie, but she didn't dare refuse him.

  To Dan's amazement, Maggie seemed ill at ease with his mother. She was polite and pleasant, but she squirmed on the padded vinyl seat, and he noticed a slight tremor in her hand. Most telling of all, she didn't behave in her usual breezy manner. And she
didn't flirt with him once.

  Lucy wasted no time launching a deft interrogation, which both exasperated and amused Dan. While Maggie polished off a huge piece of pie, his mother peppered her with chatter, now and then slipping in seemingly innocent questions. Within ten minutes she managed to pry more personal information out of Maggie than he'd learned in the five weeks that she'd been home.

  Most interesting of all, she got Maggie to reveal that she wasn't in a relationship, and that she'd never been seriously involved. When Lucy mentioned the newspaper stories about her attending movie premieres or glittery parties on the arm of some actor or rock star or pro athlete, Maggie laughed.

  "I hate to tell you this—I know that people around here find those stories and photos titillating—but the truth is, most are pure fabrication. Those that weren't were dates that were arranged either by one or both of our press agents for the publicity."

  "Really?" Lucy imbued the one word with such abject disappointment that Dan nearly rolled his eyes. He had a hunch what his mother was up to, and despite her long face he knew the sly little devil wasn't in the least disappointed.

  "Actually, I don't date much at all," Maggie continued. "I know it doesn't seem like it to most people, but modeling involves a lot of hard work and long hours. You can't party all night and appear at a photo shoot at dawn looking your best. Anyway, I prefer a quiet life, so most evenings I stay home. Between you and me, life in the fast lane is incredibly boring."

  "Imagine that. A pretty girl like you, and no young man to keep you company," Lucy said guilelessly. "Maybe you just aren't suited for the big city."

  Maggie gave another throaty laugh that sent a prickling sensation skittering over Dan's skin. "You may be right." She glanced out the window, and those famous green eyes swept over the stone courthouse and the quaint shops lining the square. "I know I've missed this place like crazy."

  "Do you think you'll ever move back here?"

  Maggie pulled her gaze away from the scene outside the window and shot Lucy a surprised look. "I already have. I'll keep my apartment in New York for when I go on modeling assignments, at least for as long as my career lasts, but from now on, Ruby Falls is home."

  Dan jolted as though he'd been startled awake from a sound sleep. He couldn't believe she was serious.

  The bell over the door tinkled again.

  "Uh-oh, here comes trouble," his mother muttered when two women entered the café, chattering to each other ninety to nothing.

  "Tully says she's making changes right and left and questioning everything. Says she marches through the place like she owns it."

  "Well, it's a disgrace, if you ask me."

  "Be right with you," Mabel Jean, called out, hustling toward the back of the café with a tray loaded with food.

  "Don't worry about us, Mabel Jean. Dorothy and I will just take this booth right here," Pauline Babcock called back, and she and Dorothy Purdue settled into the booth behind Dan and Maggie.

  "Anyway, as I was saying, it's just scandalous the way that girl is taking advantage of her daddy's weakened condition. Everyone in town knows that Jacob never would have let her come in and take over the way she has if he'd been in any condition to stop her. Why, he wouldn't have let her set foot on the property. He washed his hands of that wild hellion when he tossed her out. And I say, good riddance."

  Lucy bit her lower lip and sent an uncomfortable look from Maggie to Dan. Maggie sat perfectly still, her gaze fixed on the empty plate in front of her.

  "Some are saying that his mind has been affected by all that medication he's taking," Pauline confided.

  "Could be. I know my Leland fills prescriptions for him all the time. Maggie came in just a little while ago to pick up another one."

  "That fancy-schmancy car of hers is still parked in front of your store. I can see it from here."

  Dorothy chuckled. "Leland has already filled the prescription, but he's making her wait. He told her he was out of the drug and waiting for a pharmaceutical order that was being delivered from Tyler."

  "Good for Leland. That girl is gettin' too big for her britches. It's time somebody took her down a notch or two."

  The two women shared a laugh, and beside him Dan could feel Maggie's anger growing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that her hands were gripping the edge of the table and she'd clenched her jaw.

  "Easy, Red," he whispered. "They're just a couple of harpies, flapping their gums."

  She glanced at him and attempted a smile, but it was strained.

  "You know, if Jacob refuses to oust Maggie, maybe Lily and Laurel could be persuaded to have him declared mentally incompetent. That way they could put Martin back in charge."

  "Anyone would be better than that awful girl. Did you see The Sports Gazette magazine where she was parading around in those skimpy swimsuits? They were downright indecent. I don't know how she had the nerve."

  "Mmm, I know. Shameful."

  "That's it." Leaning across the table toward Lucy, Maggie murmured, "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Garrett, but please excuse me. I have to go now."

  "Certainly, my dear. I understand."

  She elbowed Dan. "Move, so I can get out."

  "C'mon, Red, don't leave," he whispered back. "Don't let those two gossips drive you out."

  "Leave? I'm not leaving. I'm going to go tie two wagging tongues together. Now, get out of my way, handsome, before I have to hurt you."

  Looking into those flashing emerald eyes, Dan grinned and stood up.

  Dorothy glanced up, but she went right on talking—until Maggie slid out of the booth.

  "Heard that— Oh! Oh, dear." Turning red to the tops of her ears, Dorothy Purdue could only stare at Maggie, her mouth opening and closing like a banked fish, not a sound emerging.

  "What? What's the mat— Maggie!" Pauline gasped.

  The silence returned as every customer in the café stopped what they were doing to watch the confrontation. Across the aisle, Emory Perkins, Harold Duff and Alvin Dooley, three farmers who met at the café each day to complain about crop prices and cuss the government, gaped like young boys at a peep show.

  "Hello, ladies." Smiling pleasantly, Maggie turned her attention on Pauline. "You know, Mrs. Babcock, I'm curious about something. Maybe you can clear it up for me. Neither you, your husband nor any of your sons work for Malone's. And since you're not a relative of ours, I know you don't own stock. So why are you so concerned about our company?"

  "I … well … uh … my nephew, Steven, works there."

  "Ah, I see. And your nephew … that would be Steven Muckleroy, your sister's boy, right?" At Pauline's nod, she went on in the same curious tone. "So tell me, has Steven ever missed a paycheck?"

  "Well, no—"

  "I thought not. Has he ever gotten paid late?"

  "Not that I know of, but—"

  "Then what is your gripe? Kindly explain to me why you think you have the right to stick your long nose in the Malone family business."

  Beginning to regain her composure, Pauline puffed out her scrawny chest and jutted her chin. "Everyone knows that the economy of the whole town is tied to the cannery. You can't blame us for being concerned. We've heard that if things get any worse, Malone's will have to sell to Bountiful Foods. Why should we trust our futures and the future of Ruby Falls to a reckless hellion like you?"

  "All right, listen up, people," Maggie said, raising her voice and turning to address everyone in the café. "Since the grapevine works so efficiently around here, I want you all to spread the word. For the record, Malone's will not be sold to Bountiful Foods or any other firm. Nor are we going belly-up."

  "You say that, but I have it on good authority that your profits are dropping monthly, and if the trend continues you may not be able to meet payroll," Pauline interjected with belligerent smugness.

  "Don't worry, Mrs. Babcock. We'll meet payroll, and any other expenses we incur. If I have to, I'll cover them out of my own pocket."

  A murmur of surp
rise ran through the café, but Maggie wasn't finished with the two gossipy women.

  "Now that we have that settled, let's talk about that swimsuit layout you ladies found so offensive. I don't think everyone agrees with you on that.

  "Take Dooley, here," she drawled, moving across the aisle to stand by the table where the three farmers sat gaping. Smiling seductively, Maggie winnowed her crimson-tipped fingers through what little hair was left on top of Dooley's head and curled the wispy tuft around and around her forefinger. "I'll bet you weren't offended by those pictures, were you, Dooley?"

  Alvin Dooley's Adam's apple bobbed like a cork on a fishing line, and he turned the color of a tomato all the way to the top of his nearly bald pate, but he gaze at Maggie with a stupefied expression and shook his head. "No, ma'am, I surely wasn't."

  "Thank you, sugar." Maggie released Dooley's hair and planted a kiss on his weathered brow before turning back to the women. "There, you see? You ladies see evil where others see beauty."

  "You were practically naked!"

  "Well, you know what they say," Maggie drawled. "If you've got it, flaunt it."

  Dorothy gasped and Pauline's mouth drew up in a tight pucker, as though she'd tasted a lemon, but Maggie ignored them both and headed for the door.

  "Excuse me, all," she said over her shoulder. "I'd like to stay and chat some more, but I'm afraid I can't. Now I have to go kick Leland's sorry ass."

  "There, you see? Now that's the kind of feisty woman you need."

  Lucy's emphatic statement barely registered on Dan. He stared out the window, a grin slowly spreading over his face as he watched Maggie head for Purdue's Pharmacy on the opposite side of the square, strutting her stuff.

  * * *

  Thirteen

  « ^ »

  The grandfather clock in the hall struck midnight as Maggie climbed the stairs, bone weary and sick at heart.

  The night before, someone had poured antifreeze into the soil around eleven of their best trees, killing them. Now she had no choice. Tomorrow morning she had to tell her father about all the incidents, and that she suspected someone was trying to drive them out of business.