The Maid and the Millionaire

by Myrna Mackenzie

“What?” Anna couldn’t control the quaver in her voice. Paula had a knack for seeing things a bit too clearly.

  Her friend studied her carefully. “Nothing. We don’t have much time left today. Let’s walk. Have to burn the calories.”

  They started down the street and had gotten as far as the cruise line docks when Anna felt a twinge, a sense of heightened anticipation and awareness. She started to glance to the right…then quickly glanced away again. If she was right, and her friends saw what she thought she’d seen…

  “Let’s go this way,” she said, attempting to turn in a different direction.

  But her voice and actions had obviously given her away. Paula pivoted to the right. “Isn’t that Donovan?”

  “Probably not. He was going to Williams Bay,” Anna said, but her mouth went dry as she looked up. Donovan was there, buying a ticket for one of the cruises.

  “Looks like he’s back from Williams Bay,” Nan said. “Come on, let’s go say hello.”

  “What? We can’t do that,” Anna said. “He’s alone. By choice,” she stressed. “Besides, Bridget has to get back to the shop. And you—”

  “Have a few hours before work. Paula, too. Bridge?”

  Bridget groaned. “I’d love to stay, but Anna’s right. I’m gone. That doesn’t mean I don’t want a complete rundown of what happens here today. Anna, go on. Say hello. The man is a newcomer to our town and you’re acting as if he’s poison. That’s just not right. Now, go over there and be pleasant.”

  “That’s right, Anna. We should be extending our hospitality,” Paula said. “Let’s go. He looks lonely. Doesn’t he, Nan?”

  “It’s a crime for a man like that to even walk down the street unaccompanied,” Nan agreed.

  Anna frowned. She looked from Bridget to Paula to Nan. “That’s enough. Would all of you just stop? You’re not fooling anyone. I see what you’re trying to do, so let me tell you something. If Donovan wanted company, he would ask for it, and he’d have plenty of volunteers. You know that. Now I need to get back to work. I have duties.”

  “Yeah, well I think the house will manage to stay in one piece for a few hours even if you’re not there to hold it together. Looks like Donovan is taking the full lake tour on the Walworth. He’s alone. That can’t be fun,” Nan said, sweeping Anna along. “I’ll bet he would like company.”

  Anna was pretty sure he wouldn’t. He’d probably wonder why his housekeeper and her friends were crowding him when he was having some alone time.

  “Absolutely not,” she said, digging in her heels.

  “Donovan,” Paula called, waving her arm.

  A groan escaped Anna’s lips as Donovan turned around. For a second he frowned as if he couldn’t understand what was happening. Then he started their way.

  “You’re going to pay,” Anna muttered, quietly jabbing Paula in the back. “The man was alone because he wanted to be alone.”

  “But he’s smiling.” Nan said the words between her teeth.

  “He smiles a lot. He has manners, unlike some people I know,” Anna declared, stepping forward to meet Donovan.

  “I’m sorry we disturbed you,” she told him.

  He shook his head. “You say that too much. Don’t.”

  “Ooh, commanding. That’s sooo sexy,” Paula whispered.

  Anna rammed her elbow backward slightly, surprising an oomph from her friend.

  “I know, but you were just about to board. We shouldn’t have interrupted you.”

  “You’re not. I was just…looking for something to do, getting to know the area.”

  “A cruise is a great way to do that,” Paula agreed. “Of course, so is a local.”

  Her friends were loyal and she loved them to death, but none of them was particularly subtle and it was obvious that they had gone beyond mere curiosity about Donovan to deciding that Anna needed to be matched up with him.

  Somehow she managed to hang on to her teetering, pasted-on smile. “The tour is very thorough and a great way to see the community from a different perspective,” she said. “I hope you enjoy it.”

  Donovan’s eyes held a trace of amusement. “You don’t think I’m going to let this pass, do you? I have three locals here and you think I’m going to miss out on the opportunity to hear the secrets the other passengers don’t get to hear?”

  He tugged on her hand. She didn’t budge. “Donovan, don’t tell me you’re not being pushed into this. Stop being so nice.”

  His grip tightened. “I’m not being nice. The truth is that after this morning, I did need some time alone. I went over to Williams Bay, had breakfast and spent some time at the water’s edge watching the boats. It was only natural to segue from that into actually wanting to be out on the lake. I’ve heard it’s calming.”

  It was, but Anna felt anything but calm right now.

  “You don’t have to do this, Donovan.”

  He gazed down at her and took her hands. “And you don’t, either. This isn’t a command or an order. It’s not part of your job, but I’d like you to come along.”

  Anna studied his expression for several seconds. “Better decide soon,” he urged. “The boat is leaving.”

  Reluctantly she agreed. She tried not to notice that Paula and Nan were all but high-fiving each other. Anna squirmed. She’d discuss this with her friends later. For now, she followed Donovan onto the boat.

  “Inside or outside?” she asked, turning to him.

  He held out his hand, motioning for her to lead the way. “After you. You’re the expert.”

  “Upstairs, then. It’s open air.”

  Together they moved up to the top level of the boat. “Anna,” someone called out. She turned and saw Thomas Liddell, a local real estate agent. He was with a young couple, probably showing them the sights, trying to close a deal.

  “Hi, Tom,” she said with a smile.

  He nodded slightly to her right and she got the message. “Tom, this is Donovan Barrett, my boss. He owns Morning View Manor. You know where it is. Tom and I went to school together,” she told Donovan.

  “We worked at a local restaurant together, too,” Tom reminded her. “For more than one summer.”

  For half a second, Donovan’s hand tightened on her arm, but then he let her go.

  “I understand you have a way with a bicycle chain,” Tom said with a grin.

  “You know Frank?” Donovan asked.

  “Everyone knows Frank,” Tom agreed. “He’s got a big case of hero worship. I guess it’s not every day that someone of your stature stoops to fixing a kid’s bike.”

  Donovan held out his hands as if to ward off the praise. “No stature here. And the bike thing was mostly luck. I know one or two tricks.”

  “You bike?”

  Anna felt rather than saw the way Donovan jerked slightly. “I used to. Now and then.”

  From his reaction, she wondered if he’d ridden with Ben in tow.

  “Some great trails around here. I could use a companion. My wife doesn’t like anything with less than four wheels,” Tom said.

  Anna turned to look up at Donovan and saw that his expression had turned thoughtful, even surprised. “I might want to try that,” he agreed.

  Tom nodded. “Well, better get back to my clients. Nice meeting you, Donovan.”

  Tom moved away and Anna followed Donovan to a seat near the front of the boat.

  “You’re handy to have around,” he said.

  She blinked.

  “I meet a lot of nice people when I’m with you,” he said.

  “Oh, that. Tom’s just very friendly.”

  He hesitated for a second. “He wasn’t one of the ones who hurt you, was he?”

  “Tom? No, we were never like that with each other.”

  She looked up at Donovan and saw that he didn’t believe her. “We weren’t.”

  “You weren’t,” he corrected. “He would have gone out with you.”

  Well, she wasn’t going to deny that. Tom had asked her out once, but i
t was right after she’d been hurt badly by another boy and she had told him no. Thank goodness he’d never held it against her.

  “Tom’s very nice, and he’s devoted to his wife,” she said, a bit primly.

  A laugh escaped Donovan. “All right, I believe you, and he did seem like a great guy.”

  “You should take him up on his offer. You need some guy time.” Donovan didn’t answer, so Anna looked up to find him studying her a bit more solemnly than she had expected. “What?”

  “You’re going to make a great mother,” he said quietly.

  Her heart lurched. She hoped she would be a good mother, but she was absolutely sure that no matter what Donovan had said, he had been a good, even if often absent, father. His ways with her friends and with Frank showed her that he cared about people. He didn’t differentiate between rich and poor. Young as he was, Ben must have known that his father adored him.

  “You’re missing him a lot today, aren’t you?” she said, even though it was the last thing on earth she had planned to say. She gasped.

  He placed one finger to her lips. “Don’t say you’re sorry.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t even think how that would sound. And with people around to hear, too.”

  “No one’s that close to us,” he told her. “Your friends stayed downstairs.”

  Which only made her feel even more guilty. Her friends had gone beyond the bounds of friendship into matchmaking. Donovan wasn’t blind. He would know that, and yet he was still being unfailingly polite.

  “Anyway, I am missing him a lot today. Ben would have loved this,” he told her. “He was crazy about the water, the beach, boats. I think that was part of why Cecily chose a house in Lake Geneva. The first day I drove into town, I couldn’t help thinking that he would love riding on one of these boats and yet, until today, I hadn’t even ventured near one. I haven’t really even gone out on the water. This morning with Frank…well, it was time to do this.”

  He should have been allowed to do it alone, Anna couldn’t help thinking.

  Silence crept in. The sun was bright today, the water and the view of the shore with its gorgeous historic homes was stunningly beautiful, but Donovan was here to face a few demons and this couldn’t be a pleasant experience for him.

  “I should go sit with the girls so you can have some time to yourself.” She rose.

  He clamped down on her arm. “I’m asking you as a friend, don’t go just yet,” he said. “Talk to me. Give me the Anna Nowell tour.”

  She nodded. “All right. That tower that you see is four stories tall. It’s part of Black Point Mansion, which was built in 1888.”

  Donovan let go of her, and she understood. He needed to do this, but it couldn’t be easy. Connection with another person, any person, could help. She placed her hand over his and quietly continued with her speech, even though many of the things she was telling him were things he could get from the tour if he listened.

  “That’s my favorite,” she said suddenly, veering away from the standard tour fare.

  He turned her hand and rubbed his thumb over her palm, sending a tremor through her. “It’s pretty but so are many others. Why this one?”

  “It’s unabashedly unpretentious,” she said, and she wanted to add, like you, but she wouldn’t. Her friends were trying to set them up. She couldn’t do anything that would sound as if she had gotten some foolish ideas into her own head.

  “I like that interpretation,” he told her with a laugh. “You’re making this much easier for me. I’m enjoying myself. I want you to know that. Now…tell me what you think of the others. You’ve got a fascinating perspective on things.”

  So for the remainder of the tour Anna poured out her secret feelings about these stately old buildings. “I’ve always thought of that one as the playground. See how all the parts kind of turn and fit together in curves and stairs and arches. It looks like a great place to explore.”

  She continued on in a rush, keeping her voice soft and low and not waiting for Donovan to reply, hoping her mindless chatter was cocooning him without interfering with his thoughts.

  When the boat finally docked again, she rose immediately. He stood beside her, towering over her. For a minute she thought he was going to bow over her hand like some gentleman from the Regency era.

  “Thank you, Anna,” he said, his eyes filled with warmth.

  “Was it…okay?” she asked, hoping he knew that she meant his experience and not her performance.

  “Yes. It was what I needed. I haven’t really said goodbye to him yet, I guess. I think it’s going to be a slow, gradual thing. Today was a start. I’m glad you stayed.”

  He led her downstairs, only reaching out to touch her when she nearly stumbled and then immediately letting her go. When they finally met up with Nan and Paula, both of them were able to act as if the excursion had been just another sightseeing tour.

  “You ladies enjoy the rest of your day,” he told Anna’s friends. “It’s been a pleasure seeing you again.”

  Anna could see that Paula would have liked to stay around and ask questions, but Nan tugged on her arm. “Have to go help my sister. She called me with a work emergency,” she said. “I’ll call you,” she mouthed silently to Anna as the two women turned to walk away.

  “You’re parked close by?” Donovan asked. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “Oh, that’s not necessary. Really,” Anna said, feeling as if she had reached her limit of being alone with Donovan.

  The truth had dawned on her while she was on the boat. She wanted to sit beside him forever. She was in over her head, and her heart was in grave danger of being broken. This time she couldn’t even say that he had betrayed her like Brent had. He hadn’t. They’d both been painfully honest with each other, and the truth was that they liked and desired each other. They enjoyed being together, but they couldn’t ever have more. “It’s close,” she lied, “and I have things I need to do.”

  At first she thought Donovan was going to insist on being gallant, but then he told her he would see her back at Morning View. They were about to go their separate ways when the sound of a woman’s voice calling Donovan’s name made them both turn.

  Dana Wellinton was coming down the street. Her stomach was even more rounded than the last time Anna had seen her, but she was still incredibly beautiful.

  Rushing up to them, Dana flashed that perfect smile. “Donovan, you’re just the man I’ve been looking for. Come have coffee with me.” She turned as if Donovan would just follow her. Anna assumed most men would, so she gave a brief wave to Donovan and turned back to her car.

  “Dana, you remember Anna, don’t you?”

  Dana stopped walking. She reluctantly turned around. “Oh, yes. She’s your housekeeper.” Her expression and tone indicated that her view of housekeepers hadn’t improved since she and Anna had last met.

  “Yes, she is. It’s a fascinating, demanding profession. But Anna’s also my friend,” Donovan said pointedly. “Unfortunately we were just going home, so I’m afraid I’ll have to take a rain check on the coffee. It’s been nice seeing you again.”

  “But…”

  “I’m sorry,” Donovan said.

  “But I just heard from someone that your son’s birthday would be coming up in a few weeks and I wanted to be the very first to offer you my condolences. You must relive every moment of that accident every day.”

  Donovan froze in his tracks.

  Anna felt her heart turn to stone. She hadn’t known. At least she hadn’t known the exact date of Ben’s birth. No doubt Donovan knew but hadn’t wanted to think about it yet. And now he’d been forced to think not only about the fact that Ben wouldn’t be here for his birthday but about the horrific way he’d died, just because a selfish woman was trying to score points with him. It was all Anna could do to keep from screaming at Dana.

  She wouldn’t. She would not make a circus of Donovan’s pain in the middle of the street and in front of this insen
sitive woman.

  And yet…Dana seemed confused, even forlorn, clueless. For a minute Anna felt sorry for the woman and her children. Some people just didn’t get it, and maybe they were to be pitied. If it weren’t for the fact that her words had surely hit Donovan with something he hadn’t readied himself for, Anna might have felt a hint of sympathy.

  “Thank you, but I have to go,” Donovan said, his voice rough, his lips stiff.

  He took Anna by the arm and started to lead her away. She knew he had no idea where they were going, but she said nothing until they were out of sight of Dana. Then she stopped. She turned to him.

  He glared at her. “If you’re thinking of telling me that you’re sorry again I warn you I’ll be forced to kiss you and keep kissing you until you stop talking,” he said, his voice pitched low.

  Anna shook her head. “I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say that your son’s birthday shouldn’t be a cause of condolences. He lived and he made people happy just by being here. His birthday should be a cause for celebration.”

  Donovan stared down into her eyes, his eyes dark and agonized. Then, without warning, he placed his hands on her arms and pulled her toward him. He drew her close and kissed her. Slowly. Thoroughly. He tasted, he savored, he drove her insane.

  Then he let her go and started walking. “You’re an amazing woman. It’s going to be hard to walk away from you,” he said.

  But he did. He took her to her car, made sure that she was safely inside and then he walked away.

  Anna could barely control her trembling. Donovan’s kiss had taken her completely by surprise. It had made her realize just how pathetic she had become where this man was concerned. While he was touching her she hadn’t had one thought for anyone else who might have been walking down the street.

  Now, however, she worried that someone had seen their embrace. She didn’t want anyone to misunderstand him or criticize Donovan for kissing his housekeeper. Mostly, though, she wanted to run after him.

  Instead she drove home. She tried not to think about the fact that her friends were trying to pair her up with Donovan. She tried not to think about what she had discovered when Dana had said the words that had ripped Donovan so badly.