by Nora Roberts
“Croissants.” After sniffing the air, Margo warily opened both eyes. She was greeted by the sight of Kate breaking flaky bread in two. The steam that poured out smelled like glory. “I must have died in my sleep if you’re bringing me breakfast in bed.”
“Lunch,” Kate corrected and took a hefty bite. When Kate remembered to eat, she liked to eat well. “Laura made me. She had to run out to some committee meeting she couldn’t reschedule.” Still, Kate lifted the tray. “Sit up. I promised her I’d see that you ate something.”
Margo tugged the sheets over her breasts and reached greedily for the coffee. She drank first, felt some of her jet lag recede. Then, sipping slowly, she studied the woman who was briskly adding strawberry jam to a croissant.
Ebony hair cut gamine short accented a honey-toned triangular face. Margo knew the style wasn’t for fashion, but for practicality. It was Kate’s good luck, she mused, that it suited so perfectly those large, exotic brown eyes and sassily pointed chin. Men would consider the slight overbite undeniably sexy, and Margo had to admit it softened the entire look.
Not that Kate went in for soft, she thought. The trim navy pinstriped suit was all business. Gold accessories were small and tasteful, the Italian pumps practical. Even the perfume, Margo thought as she caught a whiff, stated clearly that this was a serious, professional woman.
The don’t-mess-with-me scent, Margo decided and smiled.
“You even look like a damn CPA.”
“You look like a hedonist.”
They grinned foolishly at each other. Neither of them was prepared for Margo’s eyes to fill.
“Oh, God, don’t do that.”
“I’m sorry.” Sniffling, Margo rubbed her hands over her eyes. “All this stuff inside me just keeps swinging up and down, back and forth. I’m a fucking mess.”
With her own eyes watering, Kate pulled out two tissues. She was a sympathetic crier, particularly where her family was concerned. And though there was no blood between them, Margo was family. Had been family since Kate, eight years old and orphaned, had been taken in and loved by the Templetons.
“Here, blow your nose,” she ordered briskly. “Take some deep breaths. Drink your coffee. Just don’t cry. You know you’ll get me started.”
“Laura just opened the door and let me in.” Margo mopped at the tears and struggled to level her voice. “Just welcome home, get some sleep.”
“What did you think she would do, kick you into the street?”
Margo shook her head. “No, not Laura. This whole ugly mess may bleed over onto her. The press is bound to go for that angle soon. Disgraced celebrity’s childhood friendship with prominent socialite.”
“That’s reaching,” Kate said dryly. “Nobody in the States really considers you a celebrity.”
Torn between insult and amusement, Margo leaned back. “I’m a very hot name in Europe. Was.”
“This is America, pal. The media will toss a little fish like you back in no time.”
Margo’s lips moved into a pout. “Thanks a lot.” She tossed the covers aside and rose. Kate scanned the naked body before reaching for the robe Laura had draped over the footboard.
The centerfold body—lush breasts, tiny waist, sleek hips and long, dangerous legs—hadn’t been adversely affected by the scandal. If Kate hadn’t known better, she would have said the figure her friend boasted was the result of modern technology rather than the good fairy of genes.
“You’ve lost a little weight. How come you never lose it in your boobs?”
“Satan and I have an understanding. They used to be a part of my job description.”
“Used to be?”
Margo shrugged into the robe. It was her own, a long, flowing swirl of ivory silk. Laura had obviously had her luggage delivered. “Most advertisers don’t care to have adulterous drug dealers endorsing their products.”
Kate’s eyes clouded. She wouldn’t tolerate anyone talking about Margo that way. Not even Margo. “You were cleared of the drug charges.”
“They didn’t have any evidence to charge me. That’s entirely different.” She shrugged, walked to the window to open it to the afternoon breeze. “You’ve always told me I ask for trouble. I suppose I asked for this.”
“That’s just bullshit.” Incensed, Kate leapt up, began to pace like an angry cat. Her hand automatically dug into her pockets for the always present roll of Tums. Her stomach was already on afterburn. “I can’t believe you’re taking this lying down. You haven’t done anything.”
Touched, Margo turned back, started to speak, but Kate was barreling on, popping Tums in her mouth like candy as she stormed the room.
“Sure, you showed poor judgment and an incredible lack of common sense. Obviously you have questionable taste in men, and your lifestyle choices were far from admirable.”
“I’m sure I can count on you to testify to that if it should become necessary,” Margo muttered.
“But.” Kate held up a hand to make her point. “You did nothing illegal, nothing that warrants losing your career. If you want to spend your life posing so people run out and buy some ridiculously overpriced shampoo or skin cream, or in ways that make men lose twenty points of IQ on impact, you can’t let this stop you.”
“I know there was moral support in there somewhere,” Margo said after a moment’s thought. “I just have to weed it out from my poor judgment, questionable taste, and foolish career. Then again, I have to remember that your judgment is always good, your taste perfect, and your career brilliant.”
“That’s true.” There was a flush on Margo’s cheeks now and fire in her eyes. Relieved, Kate grinned. “You look beautiful when you’re angry.”
“Oh, shut up.” Margo marched to the terrace doors, wrenched them open, and strode out onto the wide stone balcony with its mini garden of impatiens and violas.
The weather was clear and fine, one of those unspeakably beautiful days drenched with gilded sunlight, cupped by blue skies, perfumed with flowers. The Templeton estate, Big Sur, stretched out, tumbling gardens and tidy stone walls, graceful ornamental bushes and stately old trees. The pretty stucco stables that were no longer used resembled a tidy cottage off to the south. She could just catch a glint that was the water of the pool, and the fanciful white gazebo beyond it, decked with pretty four-o’clocks.
She’d done some dreaming in that flower-drenched gazebo, she remembered. Imagining herself a fine lady waiting for a devoted and dashing lover.
“Why did I ever want to leave here?”
“I don’t know.” Kate came up behind her, draped an arm over Margo’s shoulder. In heels she was still an inch shy of Margo’s stacked five ten, but she drew Margo against her and supported her.
“I wanted to be someone. Someone dazzling. I wanted to meet dazzling people, be a part of their world. Me, the housekeeper’s daughter, flying off to Rome, sunning on the Riviera, decorating the slopes at Saint Moritz.”
“You’ve done all those things.”
“And more. Why wasn’t it ever enough for me, Kate? Why was there always this part of me that wanted one more thing? Just one more thing I could never get a grip on. I could never figure out what it was. Now that I may have lost all the others, I still haven’t figured it out.”
“You’ve got time,” Kate said quietly. “Remember Seraphina?”
Margo’s lips curved a little as she thought of how she had stood on Seraphina’s cliff the night before. And of all the lazy days when she and Kate and Laura had talked about the young Spanish girl, the conclusions they’d come to.
“She didn’t wait and see.” Margo leaned her head against Kate’s. “She didn’t stop and see what the rest of her life had to offer.”
“Here’s your chance to wait and see.”
“Well.” Margo blew out a breath. “As fascinating as that sounds, I might not be able to wait for some of it. I think I may be in some stormy financial waters.” She drew back and tried to put on a sunny smile. “I could use your profes
sional help. I figure a woman with an M.B.A. from Harvard can decipher my poorly kept and disorganized books. Want to take a shot?”
Kate leaned back against the rail. The smile didn’t fool her for a minute. And she knew if Margo was worried about something as casual as money, it was a desperate time.
“I’ve got the rest of the day. Get some clothes on, and we’ll get started.”
Margo knew it was bad. She’d expected it to be bad. But from the way Kate was grumbling and hissing, she understood it was going to be a hell of a lot worse.
After the first hour, she stayed out of Kate’s way. It did no good to hang over her shoulder and be snapped at, so she occupied herself by unpacking, carefully hanging dresses that had been carelessly packed into the rosewood armoire, meticulously folding sweaters into the scented drawer of the mirrored bureau.
She answered Kate’s occasional questions and tolerated the more than occasional abuse. Desperate gratitude flooded through her when Laura opened the door.
“Sorry I was gone so long. I couldn’t—”
“Quiet. I’m trying to perform miracles here.”
Margo jerked a thumb at the terrace. “She’s working on my books,” Margo explained when they were outside. “You can’t imagine what she pulled out of her briefcase. This little laptop computer, a calculator I’m sure could run equations for the space shuttle, even a fax.”
“She’s brilliant.” With a sigh, Laura sat down on one of the wrought-iron chairs and slipped out of her shoes. “Templeton would hire her in a heartbeat, but she’s very stubborn about not working for family. Bittle and Associates is lucky to have her.”
“What is this crap about seaweed?” Kate shouted.
“It’s a spa treatment,” Margo called back. “I think it’s deductible because—”
“Just let me do the thinking. How the hell can you owe fifteen thousand dollars to Valentino? How many outfits can you wear?”
Margo sat down. “It probably wouldn’t be smart for me to tell her that was for one cocktail dress.”
“I’d say not,” Laura agreed. “The kids will be home from school in an hour or so. They always put her in a good mood. We’ll have a family dinner to celebrate your homecoming.”
“Did you tell Peter I was here?”
“Of course. You know, I think I’ll make sure we have champagne chilled.”
Before Laura could rise, Margo covered her hand. “He’s not pleased with the news.”
“Don’t be silly. Certainly he’s pleased.” But she began to twist her wedding ring around her finger, a sure sign of agitation. “He’s always glad to see you.”
“Laura, it isn’t nearly twenty-five years of knowing you that lets me see when you’re lying. It’s that you’re so lousy at it. He doesn’t want me here.”
Excuses trembled on her tongue, but they were useless. It was true, Laura admitted, lying was a skill she’d never mastered. “This is your home. Peter understands that even if he isn’t completely comfortable with the situation. I want you here, Annie wants you here, and the kids are thrilled that you’re here. Now I’m not only going to go see about that champagne, I’m going to go bring a bottle up here.”
“Good idea.” She would have to worry about guilt later. “Maybe it’ll help Kate keep me in the black.”
“This mortgage is fifteen days overdue,” Kate called out. “And you’re over the limit on your Visa. Jesus, Margo.”
“I’ll bring two bottles,” Laura decided and kept a smile in place until she’d left Margo’s room.
She went to her own, wanting a moment to herself. She’d thought she had gotten over her anger, but she hadn’t. It was still there, she realized, high and bitter in her throat. She paced the sitting room to work it off. The sitting room that was becoming more of a sanctuary. She could come here, close herself in with the warm colors and scents, and tell herself that she had correspondence to answer, some little piece of needlework to finish.
But more often she came here to work off an emotion that choked her.
Perhaps she should have expected Peter’s reaction, been prepared for it. But she hadn’t been. She never seemed to be prepared for Peter’s reactions any more. How could it be that after ten years of marriage she didn’t seem to know him at all?
She stopped by his office on the way home from her committee meeting on the Summer Ball. She hummed to herself as she took the private elevator up to the penthouse suite of Templeton Monterey. Peter preferred the suite to the executive offices on the hotel’s ground level. It was quieter, he said, made it easier to concentrate.
From her days of assisting and learning the business in the nerve center of the sales and reservations offices, she had to agree. Perhaps it separated him from the pulse, from the people, but Peter knew his job.
The sheer beauty of the day, added to the pleasure of having her old friend home again, lifted her mood. With a spring in her step, she crossed the silver-toned carpet to the airy reception area.
“Oh, hello, Mrs. Ridgeway.” The receptionist offered a quick smile but continued working and didn’t quite meet Laura’s eyes. “I think Mr. Ridgeway is in a meeting, but let me just buzz through and let him know you’re here.”
“I’d appreciate it, Nina. I’ll only take a few minutes of his time.” She wandered over to the seating area, quietly empty now. The leather seats in navy were new, and as pricey as the antique tables and lamps and the watercolors Peter had commissioned had been. But Laura supposed he’d been right. The offices had needed some sprucing up. Appearances were important in business. Were important to Peter.
But as she gazed through the wide window she wondered how anyone could care about navy leather seats when that awesome view of the coast presented itself.
Just look at how the water rolled, how it stretched to forever. The ice plants were blooming pink, and white gulls veered in, hoping some tourist would offer a treat. See the boats on the bay, bobbing like shiny, expensive toys for men in double-breasted navy blazers and white slacks.
She lost herself in it and nearly forgot to retouch her lipstick and powder before the receptionist told her to go right in.
Peter Ridgeway’s office suited the executive director of Templeton Hotels, California. With its carefully selected Louis XIV furnishings, its glorious seascapes and sculptures, it was as erudite and flawlessly executed as the man himself. When he rose from behind the desk, her smile warmed automatically.
He was a beautiful man, bronze and gold and trim in elegant Savile Row. She had fallen in love with that face—its cool blue eyes, firm mouth and jaw—like a princess for a prince in a fairy tale. And, as in a fairy tale, he had swept her off her feet when she’d been barely eighteen. He’d been everything she’d dreamed of.
She lifted her mouth for a kiss and received an absent peck on the cheek. “I don’t have much time, Laura. I have meetings all day.” He remained standing, tilting his head, the faintest line of annoyance marring his brow. “I’ve told you it’s more convenient if you call first to be certain I can see you. My schedule isn’t as flexible as yours is.”
Her smile faded. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to talk to you last night, and when I called this morning, you were out, so—”
“I went by the club for a quick nine holes and a steam. I put in a very long night.”
“Yes, I know.” How are you, Laura? How are the girls? I missed you. She waited a moment, but he said none of those things. “You’ll be home tonight?”
“If I’m able to get back to work, I should be able to make it by seven.”
“Good. I was hoping you could. We’re having a family dinner. Margo’s back.”
His mouth tightened briefly, but he did stop looking at his watch. “Back?”
“She got in last night. She’s so unhappy, Peter. So tired.”
“Unhappy? Tired?” His laugh was quick and unamused. “I’m not surprised, after her latest adventure.” He recognized the look in his wife’s eyes and banked down on his fury.
He wasn’t a man who cared for displays of temper, even his own. “For God’s sake, Laura, you haven’t invited her to stay.”
“It wasn’t a matter of inviting her. It’s her home.”
It wasn’t anger now so much as weariness. He sat, gave a long sigh. “Laura, Margo is the daughter of our housekeeper. That does not make Templeton her home. You can carry childhood loyalties too far.”
“No,” Laura said quietly. “I don’t think you can. She’s in trouble, Peter, and whether or not any of it is of her own making isn’t the issue. She needs her friends and her family.”
“Her name’s all over the papers, the news, every bloody tabloid show on the screen. Sex, drugs, name of God.”
“She was cleared of the drug charges, Peter, and she certainly isn’t the first woman to fall for a married man.”
His voice took on the tedious patience that always put her teeth on edge. “That may be true, but ‘discretion’ isn’t a word she seems to be aware of. I can’t have her name linked to ours and risk our standing in the community. I don’t want her in my house.”
That brought Laura’s head up and erased any thought of placating him. “It’s my parents’ house,” she tossed back with fury sizzling in every word. “We’re there, Peter, because they wanted it to be lived in and loved. I know my mother and father would welcome Margo, and so do I.”
“I see.” He folded his hands on the desk. “That’s a little dig you haven’t tried in some time. I live in Templeton House, work for the Templeton empire, and sleep with the Templeton heiress.”
When you bother to come home, Laura thought, but held her tongue.
“Whatever I have is due to the Templeton generosity.”
“That’s certainly not true, Peter. You’re your own man, an experienced and successful hotelier. And there’s no reason to turn a discussion of Margo into a fight.”
Gauging her, he tried a new tack. “It doesn’t bother you, Laura, to have a woman with her reputation around our children? Certainly they’ll hear gossip, and Allison, at least, is old enough to understand some of it.”