Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do this morning to track down any answers. She was scheduled to open the gallery at ten and was hoping to hear from Ellie that everything was quiet at her studio. With any luck at all, Brian had gotten the message that he wasn’t to return.
When she arrived at the gallery, she found Dinah already waiting on the doorstep. Maggie regarded her suspiciously.
“What brings you by this early?” she inquired as she unlocked the door and turned off the security system.
“You called last night. I just came by to see what you’d wanted.”
“How did you know I called? I didn’t leave a message,” Maggie said.
“That’s the wonder of modern technology. Answering machines reveal all sorts of things. Cord insisted we have a top-of-the-line machine so we could screen calls.”
“Were you home when I called?” Maggie demanded, suddenly irritated. What good were best friends if they didn’t pick up the phone when you needed them most?
Dinah blushed. “We were, but we were otherwise engaged.”
Maggie knew she should have seen that one coming. “Is this honeymoon of yours ever going to end?”
“Goodness, I surely do hope not,” Dinah replied, a grin spreading across her face. “So, what did you want? I figured it couldn’t be that important since you didn’t leave a message.”
“It was an emergency, as a matter of fact,” Maggie retorted. “So I had to call someone who actually answers the phone when it rings.”
“Warren?”
“No.” Maggie hesitated, then reminded herself that she was dealing with Dinah, the intrepid reporter who’d made world leaders squirm. There would be no peace until Maggie revealed who she’d turned to. “Josh.”
Dinah’s eyes widened. “Really? How absolutely fascinating!”
“Is that all you can say?” Maggie asked in disgust. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about the emergency?”
“Did Josh handle it?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s all that matters. I’m more interested in why you chose him.”
“He had technical expertise I required, along with a truck.”
Suddenly Dinah looked worried. “You weren’t disposing of a body, were you?”
“Good Lord, no. You really do need to rein in that imagination of yours.” She frowned at Dinah. “And what on earth makes you think Josh would have the technical expertise needed for that? What kind of background does he have, anyway?”
Dinah shrugged. “He’s an edgy kind of man. Something tells me he has all sorts of dark secrets.”
“And yet you’re encouraging Amanda O’Leary to get all cozy with him,” Maggie said wryly.
“I am not encouraging anything between him and Amanda,” Dinah said impatiently. “That’s your imagination working overtime. The woman made an offhand comment about how hot Josh is, and you’ve pictured some sort of relationship blossoming ever since. Since you claim you’re not interested, I have to wonder why it even matters to you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Maggie insisted irritably. “At least, not the way you mean.”
“Is there some other way it could matter?” Dinah asked, amusement dancing in her eyes.
“Would you just drop it?”
Dinah chuckled. “Happy to, now that I’ve got the answer I was looking for.”
“You don’t know squat.”
“That’s what you think,” Dinah replied mildly. “So what happened that had you calling for reinforcements?” she asked, pushing to get the topic back on her track.
Maggie described the scene she’d come upon when she’d gone to visit Ellie. “I wanted to get a new lock installed and those paintings of hers away from there before that Neanderthal came back and tried to destroy any more of them.”
“They’re here now?”
Maggie nodded. “Secured in the vault in back. I’m not taking any chances that he’ll figure out they’re here and decide to come by to ruin a few more.” She shuddered at the memory of the fury in his eyes just before he’d stormed out of Ellie’s studio. “The man’s scary.”
Dinah studied her with increased concern. “For you to say that, Maggie, he had to have been awful. Notify the police.”
“I can’t. I promised Ellie I wouldn’t do that, at least for now.”
“I think you’re being foolish. At least tell them to keep a closer watch on the gallery,” Dinah pleaded.
“The vault’s secure enough,” Maggie insisted.
“And the rest of this place? If he can’t get to Ellie’s work, he might take it out on the gallery.”
“I don’t think he’s that stupid or that crazy,” Maggie said, though her certainty was shaken by Dinah’s concern. “This is personal between him and Ellie. He’s jealous of her talent.”
“Really? Her paintings are that good?”
Maggie’s enthusiasm for the paintings overcame the last of her irritation at Dinah for shutting her out the night before. “They’re fabulous,” she confirmed.
Dinah’s eyes gleamed the way they did when she was on the scent of a great story. “May I peek?”
Maggie grinned. “Are you asking as a reporter or as a friend who’s capable of keeping a secret?”
“As long as you promise me an exclusive when the time comes, I’ll keep your secret,” Dinah bargained.
“Okay, then,” Maggie said, knowing that she could trust Dinah’s promises. They’d both kept silent about an awful lot of youthful misadventures. “Come with me.”
She opened the vault and switched on the overhead light, then gestured at the individual storage bins. “The paintings are in those.” Then she waited, holding her breath for Dinah’s reaction.
The hundred-watt bulb in the humidity-controlled vault was nothing compared to what the gallery lighting would be when it came time for the show, but Dinah gasped at the first painting she pulled out to view.
“Oh my, she really is talented, isn’t she?” Dinah said in a hushed voice, stepping closer to the still life. “Not that I’m half the expert you are, but this is amazing.”
Maggie beamed as relief flooded through her. “Don’t sell yourself short, Dinah. The art collection your folks have is nothing to sneer at. You grew up being able to tell a masterpiece from junk the same way I did.”
Dinah gently retrieved each painting from its protective bin. At last she turned back to Maggie. “When’s the show?”
“I want to take my time planning it, so I’m thinking September at the earliest, maybe October,” Maggie replied. “That will give me time to create a certain amount of buzz and maybe lure a few art critics down here from New York.”
Dinah regarded Maggie with evident curiosity. “What did Josh think? I assume you paid close attention to his reaction.”
“He seemed impressed,” Maggie said carefully. “But he was more interested in getting these things out of Ellie’s place and tucked away here than he was in examining them.”
“So he’s not an art lover.” Dinah studied her. “Is that a problem?”
“I needed his muscle last night,” Maggie said defensively. “I wasn’t interested in his opinion of Ellie’s work.”
Dinah looked doubtful. “But you’re attracted to him. Don’t even try to deny it. Could you start seeing someone who doesn’t have something this important in common with you?”
“I’m not seeing Josh or considering seeing Josh. He came to the rescue last night. Period,” Maggie said flatly. “Don’t try to make this into something it isn’t.”
“Maybe you’re the one who should heed that advice,” Dinah warned. “I know you, sweetie. You listen to your hormones before you pay the slightest bit of attention to your head. Your head’s saying all the right things, but I’m willing to bet that your hormones are doing a fancy tango right about now.”
“Oh, for pity’s sake, you’re making way too much out of this,” Maggie repeated.
But even as she spoke, she wondered if D
inah wasn’t right. Her reaction to Josh’s touch the night before was enough to set off alarms all over Charleston. She couldn’t deny it.
For once in her life, maybe she ought to do the smart thing and steer clear of a man so obviously unsuited for her. There were things in life she valued, and art was definitely one of them. If Josh didn’t value it, how could there possibly be anything meaningful between them? Then again, her parents’ world was filled with couples who went their separate ways when it came to cultural events.
She might have heeded Dinah’s advice for once and steered clear of Josh—if she hadn’t recalled his reaction to the gallery. He’d said exactly the right things about the atmosphere she’d achieved. Maybe he didn’t know a Monet from a Picasso, but he had good instincts. He might not have gushed over Ellie’s paintings, but she’d seen the care he demonstrated when handling them. He’d known instinctively that they had worth. And he was a fine craftsman, which was a brand of art in itself.
“Don’t you worry about me and Josh,” she told Dinah staunchly. “We’re not even friends, much less lovers. I’m not convinced yet that he doesn’t have a thing for the lovely Amanda, so why would I risk anything under those circumstances?”
Dinah smiled. “Because there’s nothing you like more than a risky challenge, Maggie, especially if you know it will set your mother’s teeth on edge. I recognize all the signs. Josh Parker is a little rough around the edges and he has danger written all over him, therefore you’re going to fall for him. Hard, more than likely.”
“You don’t know everything,” Maggie said, scowling.
“When it comes to the way your heart works, I do,” Dinah contradicted. “Just be careful, okay? Take your time for once. Get to know the man before you fall into bed with him.”
Maggie studied her friend with a narrowed gaze. “I thought you liked Josh. What’s with all the warnings?”
“He seems like a good guy, but like I said before, he’s edgy. He doesn’t say much. I doubt even Cord knows him really well, and they’ve worked together for a couple of years now.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “Of course, I could dig around a little, see what I can find out.”
“Don’t you dare,” Maggie said.
“Lots of women these days, especially wealthy ones, hire private investigators to be sure they’re not dealing with some sort of scoundrel. You don’t need to go that far,” Dinah advised cheerfully. “You have me.”
“Stay out of it,” Maggie said again. “If I decide there are things I need to know about Josh, I’m perfectly capable of finding them out for myself.”
“It could be too late. Let me at least do some sort of basic background check.”
“Don’t you think Cord probably did that before he put him in charge in Atlanta?”
“I doubt it,” Dinah said. “Cord goes on gut instinct.”
“Has it failed him yet?”
“I suppose not,” Dinah conceded reluctantly.
“And Josh did excellent work for him in Atlanta, right? That is what you told me?”
“Yes. But trusting a man to renovate a building is hardly the same as trusting him with your best friend’s heart.”
“I’m not worried, so leave it be, Dinah. I’ll be spending a few hours with the man on Saturdays, surrounded by lots of people. How much trouble can I possibly get into?”
“It’s not Saturdays I’m worried about,” Dinah argued. “You’ve already come up with one excuse to see him away from that project. I suspect that’s just the beginning. You can be pretty creative when you want to spend more time with a man.”
“I didn’t manufacture an excuse to see Josh. This was an emergency,” Maggie stressed. “Besides, I called you and Cord first.” Tired of the whole debate, she gave Dinah a pointed look. “Don’t you need to go to work or drive your husband crazy or something?”
Dinah sighed. “Okay, I’ll go. But I’m keeping my eye on the two of you. If I don’t like what I’m seeing, I won’t keep my mouth shut.”
Maggie laughed. “No surprise there.”
Dinah grinned. “Yeah, I suppose not. Love you.”
“You, too.”
Maggie’s smile faded as Dinah left the gallery. She was not going to fall for Josh in the same headlong, impulsive way that always got her into trouble. She wasn’t.
She sighed when she recalled her response to his touch. Famous last words.
Josh was shaken by what he’d come close to revealing to Maggie the night before. He never talked about his mother and the steady parade of men through their lives. He’d only told Cord that he was from a single-parent home and they’d moved around a lot. He’d never explained why, never said that Nadine had a tendency to fall for the losers of the universe.
She’d always done it with such incredible optimism, too. Each man had been the love of her life, the one who was going to turn their lives into a bed of roses. When she discovered those roses were riddled with thorns, she’d packed Josh up and moved on, defeated for a time, but always bouncing back as soon as the next handsome scoundrel gave her a second glance.
At first Josh had hated her for getting sucked in again and again, but now that he was older he’d almost come to admire her determined ability to ignore history. He’d stuffed down his own considerable emotional baggage from losing a prospective dad again and again.
He’d come away from all those years of observing his mother’s emotional ups and downs with a grim determination of his own to play fair with the women he met. He never made promises he had no intention of keeping. Hell, most of the time he never made promises at all. And he never, ever dated women with kids who could be hurt when he took off, as he inevitably would.
In recent months he’d pretty much lost touch with Nadine. She had his cell-phone number and over the years she’d checked in from time to time, usually when she needed money. But when things were going good for her—in other words when there was a new man in her life—he heard nothing. Last he’d heard a few months back, she was getting married in Vegas.
He wished her well. Maybe she’d finally get what she wanted. Maybe this one would last. He wasn’t holding his breath, however. History told him that sooner or later she’d be on the phone, in tears, begging him for cash for a new start in some other city.
And he would send it to her. Anything to keep her out of his life, while keeping his conscience clear.
In the meantime, though, it was not a story he intended to share with anyone, especially Maggie. She was the kind, he was certain, who’d get all misty-eyed and sympathetic and the next thing he knew, she’d be bugging him to send Nadine a plane ticket to come for a visit.
Nope, better to let everyone believe he had no family. They might pity him, but they sure as hell couldn’t start meddling and trying to bring about some cozy mother-son reconciliation. He supposed he loved Nadine, screwy as she was, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be around for any more of those wild roller-coaster rides her life invariably became. Besides, he doubted she harbored any deep maternal feelings for him. When he was a kid, she’d pretty much viewed him as necessary baggage. Now he was fine for the occasional meal ticket.
Nope, the whole distance thing worked for them just fine. There was no way in hell he’d let some sentimental female get a notion to change that.
Nadine Parker Rollins Jensen had had another run of bad luck. It turned out that Nathaniel Jensen, husband number three, had just the teensiest little problem with the law. The cops had hauled him out of their Vegas hotel room on their wedding night, which even by her standards had seriously shortened the marriage.
It had taken a few weeks to use up their remaining cash, but now she was dead broke again. She’d spent a day or two wondering what to do next. She could have gone back to work as a waitress in Vegas, but she was afraid the cops would eventually start looking her way to see if she was involved in Nate’s scheme.
Rather than take that risk, she decided to hop a bus and head for Charleston, where Josh was working
some cushy job. Surely he’d have room in his life for his mama, or at least enough cash to stake her till she could get on her feet again.
It wasn’t the first time she’d turned to her son. Josh had bailed her out of trouble more times than any kid should have to. She was embarrassed about that, but every single time she managed to pick herself up, dust herself off and get going again, something went wrong.
Like Nate. Who would have thought the man didn’t have sense enough not to try to cheat a casino out of the take at the roulette wheel? Even she knew there were cameras watching.
When she got off the bus in Charleston, she looked at the address she’d scribbled on a piece of paper, asked directions, then walked the few blocks to a run-down motel that looked no better than the places she’d spent most of her life in. That was a disappointment, but she knocked on Josh’s door, then plastered a big smile on her face.
When the door swung open, she brushed right past her incredulous, openmouthed son before he could block the way. “Hi, sweetie. Mama’s come to visit.”
The string of curses that crossed Josh’s lips would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap twenty years ago, but he figured after all the stunts his mother had pulled, he’d earned the right to say what he damn well pleased.
Hurt welled up in her big brown eyes at the tirade, but he steeled himself against it. Hadn’t he warned himself about a scene just like this barely a few hours ago? God must have been laughing his head off, knowing Nadine was already en route to Charleston.
“I thought you just got married,” he said tightly.
“It didn’t work out,” she said cheerfully, plunking her suitcase on the bed, then sitting beside it.
The action hiked up a skirt that would have been too short for a twenty-year-old. On his mother, the look was ridiculous. Not that Nadine didn’t have great legs for a woman who’d just turned fifty, but did she have to bare them for all the world to see?
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