Brushing Off the Boss: A Half Moon Bay Novel (Entangled Bliss)

by Annie Seaton

“Jack Montgomery!”

  His head flew up at the familiar voice, and Sienna stiffened beneath his hands as the shrill voice hit him.

  Oh, damn. He thought he’d left all that behind him. “Arielle? What are you doing here?”

  She lifted herself gracefully from the love seat where she’d been reclining, drew herself to her full height, and strode over to the table. She was almost six feet tall and towered over Sienna, who moved away behind the counter, a closed expression on her face.

  “More to the point, what’s going on here?” Arielle pointed to Sienna before she stepped up to him and put her arms around his neck. “But no matter, I’m here now. You can take me out to lunch.” She pouted her little signature pout. “I’ve missed you, baby.”

  A snort came from behind the counter and Jack glanced over at Sienna at the same time as he disentangled Arielle’s arms from around his neck. Arielle still wore the same cloying perfume that had always given him a headache, and he rubbed his hand across his eyes. Her timing couldn’t have been any worse. By her stiff posture, he could sense Sienna withdrawing from him by the second, and he needed to get Arielle out of here.

  “What are you doing here?” He moved away from her and glanced at Sienna. She was looking at her iPad and focused on the screen. He’d sort this out right now and make it clear that Arielle was an unexpected visitor—and from his past.

  “I came to see you. I thought it was time we sorted out that silly little matter you raised when you left.”

  “You flew all the way from New York just to talk to me? Why on earth would you do that?”

  Now Sienna was looking from one to the other, a small smile playing at her lips. The doorbell above the entry tinkled and she waved dismissively at Jack before she turned to greet the customer. “You pair of lovebirds”—despite the smile, her voice was sarcastic—“go out and have lunch. I’ll look after the gallery.”

  “What? Wait a minute—” But Jack was interrupted by a customer who walked timidly to the counter. He turned to Sienna and watched the color drain from her face as she saw the small, red-haired woman standing behind Arielle. Her face was thin and drawn, and she clutched her bag to her chest as though someone was about to take it from her.

  “Now my day has gone to absolute and total crap,” Sienna muttered.

  The woman stepped forward and held her hand out. “Sienna, I really need to talk to you.”

  “So I’ve heard, Marietta.” The sarcasm was gone and replaced by an icy tone. “We can talk, but not here.”

  Sienna reached out and took Jack’s arm between her fingers and he glanced down, surprised by her touch but instinctively sensing she was grounding herself.

  “I’m sorry. Can you look after the gallery while I take a short break?” She held his gaze, and he watched curiously as she heaved a deep breath as though trying to dig deep to keep calm.

  “I’ll be quick and then you can go out with your girlfriend.” Sienna flicked a gaze at Arielle, who had followed the whole exchange with interest.

  Jack put his hand on top of Sienna’s fingers to keep her hand there.

  Who was this woman who had Sienna so rattled? A warm protective feeling suffused his chest and he wanted to put his arms around her and hold her close. Waves of distress were coming off her, and he knew this woman was more than a customer with a problem.

  He lowered his head and spoke softly. “Are you okay?”

  Sienna waved her hand dismissively as she stepped away from him. “I just need to have an hour, and I’ll be back. Then you and Arielle can go have lunch.”

  “Of course I can mind the gallery. Take as long as you like.”

  “I won’t need long.” She stared at the older woman and a shiver ran down Jack’s back as she spoke.

  “I’ll meet you in the coffee shop next to the post office on Fifth Avenue in half an hour. I’ll give you ten minutes, so make it good.” Sienna disappeared through the door at the back of the gallery before he could speak. Arielle took his arm as the small woman left by the front door.

  “Who are they, Jack?” The little-girl voice she put on was grating on him already.

  …

  Sienna went straight to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water. She gripped the edges of the cold basin; her hands shook. She took a deep breath, trying to gain a measure of calm before she left the gallery to meet Marietta. She had stopped thinking of her as Mom years ago.

  What a morning. Double whammy. First Jack’s girlfriend appears and despite Sienna’s outwardly calm reaction, it had thrown her into a spin. Then Marietta waltzes into Sea View Gallery. It was the first time she’d seen her in three years, and their mother had aged considerably. And if she could be believed for once, she did look quite ill. She’d lost a lot of weight, and her skin had a yellowish tinge. But it was a timely reminder for Sienna. She knew she’d let Jack creep into her heart; his attitude, his kindness and his consideration for her work, and his sheer sex appeal had broken her resolve down a little bit more every day. Now despite her best intentions, the division between her work and her personal life had blurred way too much. The girlfriend had made her appearance in the nick of time. How she would deal with it was something Sienna was going to have to think about.

  But first, she had to sort out the issue of Marietta.

  Enough was enough. She and Georgie couldn’t keep this never ending stream of money going. It might sound hard, but they both had their own lives to live, and neither of them could afford to be handing over money every time Marietta turned up. It was time to put a stop to it and if she was the one to do it, so be it.

  Picking up the towel, Sienna patted her face dry and applied another layer of kohl around her eyes. She stepped back and smoothed her top over her short skirt knowing she was delaying the inevitable. She stared into the mirror and looked at her reflection.

  “You can do this. Just find out why she needs the money this time and tell her there’s to be no more. If it’s for medical treatment, I’ll help her but this is the last time.” She picked up her bag and left through the back door to avoid the pair out front. Jack and his girlfriend could look after the place. It would give him a taste of what was ahead of him. Sienna was already formulating a plan. She had to, if she was to keep her heart intact.

  By the time she walked into the coffee shop, Sienna’s thoughts were in turmoil. Once and for all she would ensure that Marietta left them alone and didn’t upset Georgie again. She was tough herself, but Georgie got hurt every time Marietta came back into their lives. Georgie with her happily-ever-after outlook never gave up hoping that their mother would change, and would one day want to be a real part of their lives. Not just there to get money out of her two daughters. Having a mother who used people and had no love for her own children had taught Sienna a good lesson in life. So she made sure she relied only on herself and needed no one else. Ana and Georgie were the only two people she could rely on to be there for her. Marietta’s arrival reminded her that she’d been heading to a place with Jack she didn’t want to be.

  Ever. With anyone.

  She walked down the three steps into the sunken courtyard of the coffee shop and looked around. She dug her huge dark glasses out of her bag and dropped them over her eyes as she walked over to the table at the edge of the garden where Marietta was sitting.

  At least she’s by herself. A couple of times over the years she’d arrived with the current boyfriend in tow. The chair scraped on the rough cobblestones when Sienna pulled it away to the side and sat down.

  “So how much this time, Marietta?” She stared through her dark glasses at the woman she had never known as a mother. Marietta had her head down and was shredding a tissue to bits with shaking fingers.

  “I don’t want any money from you.”

  “That’s a change.” Sienna kept her voice cold. She was not going to get emotional, and she was not going to show any reaction. The minutes ticked away in an uncomfortable silence and Sienna waited for the inevitable. S
he knew the pattern.

  God, how many times have we sat through this same scenario? No matter how tough she was, Sienna knew she was as soft a touch as Georgie was. In one way, Jack had been right; she put up the prickly exterior to protect herself. The problem was she had let him get beneath it despite her best intentions.

  Keeping their mother in money meant Sienna was not in as solid a financial position as she should have been. After she’d bought the girls’ share of the cottage out, she’d saved enough for a down payment on a gallery. Luckily the owner—Jack’s company—had initially agreed to wait for her loan to be approved. And then he’d come waltzing into town and now she didn’t need it after all.

  Finally, Marietta looked up and held her gaze. “I want to tell you something, and I want you to listen without interrupting.” Her voice was quavering, and she cleared her throat as she dabbed the tissue to her lips.

  Sienna sat back and folded her arms, ignoring the curiosity that tugged at her. “Make it quick. That’s my boss who’s minding the gallery.”

  “I thought it was your own business?”

  “Ah. So that’s the way the land lies.” Sienna knew she was being an utter bitch, but she couldn’t help it. She had learned how to protect herself from hurt growing up, and she’d do anything to make sure she kept Georgie that way too. She knew how to put the prickly shell in place. There was too much history and too much hurt to be civil to Marietta. Sienna had tried for so many years, and she had been let down every time. Memories of childhood birthday parties and Christmas days, when Marietta had promised to come and see them. She’d always called with an excuse and the promised presents had never arrived. Over the years, Sienna had pretended not to care. It still hurt even now she was a grown woman. It was time to stand up to her.

  Now she looked down in surprise when Marietta reached across and grabbed her fingers in a death grip. Her thin hand held Sienna’s tightly on the tabletop; her sharp nails pressed into Sienna’s skin.

  “Listen to me. Please? One last time and then I’ll leave you in peace. For good.” Marietta’s voice broke and Sienna pushed away the sympathy that began to well in her chest.

  “I wanted you to hear the truth from me before…before it’s too late. It’s not right that Renzo has to tell you.”

  “Tell me what? Are you ill?”

  Marietta kept the tight grip on her hand as though she knew Sienna would get up and leave. It was tempting, but this time, she was going to finish with Marietta once and for all. No matter what reason she was going to come up, the financial support was about to stop.

  Unless she really is ill. Then Sienna conceded to herself would have to think some more.

  “You’re his daughter.”

  “What?” Sienna’s world spun and she held her free hand up in front of her as if to stop her mother saying any more . “Are you crazy? He’s my uncle, your brother. He can’t be my father.”

  “It’s true. I’m not your birth mother, but Renzo is your father.”

  “You’re lying.” She fought to keep her voice strong as the thoughts whirled around her head.

  “Georgie is my child.”

  Sienna stared at her and let her hand drop to the table as the significance of Marietta’s words hit her. For the first time, Marietta had her attention.

  “What are you saying?” Her voice came as a whisper and she pulled her other hand out of Marietta’s grasp.

  “What can I get you to drink?” The voice of the waitress was a welcome return to normality as she placed a bottle of water and two glasses on the table.

  “Coffee, black.” Sienna’s voice was clipped. She pulled her hand from Marietta’s and poured herself a glass of water. She was surprised to see her hand shaking. What Marietta said was a lie; it had to be.

  But why?

  Sienna drank deeply and looked up as the waitress turned to Marietta with a curious glance, but the older woman shook her head and dabbed at the tears on her cheeks.

  “Nothing, thank you.” Marietta waited until the waitress had walked to the next table.

  “Over the holidays Renzo and I worked in the night harvest in the vineyards in Napa. I met Georgie’s father there.” Her voice was quiet, and she lifted her head and held Sienna’s gaze steadily. “I was friends with one of the other girls and she and Renzo had a fling before he came back home.” She took a deep breath.

  “And…” Sienna prompted her. “What are you trying to tell me?”

  “Catherine discovered she was pregnant when she went back home to Milwaukee, and she contacted me. When I told her that Renzo was about to get married to Lucia, she decided not to tell him she was having his child.”

  “I’m not following you. What are you telling me?” Sienna’s world was crumbling, and she fought for control, gripping her hands together on her lap. “This sounds like something from a soap opera.”

  “My friend Catherine was your mother.”

  “Was? Where is she?” Her voice felt as though it was coming from someone else.

  “She got sick when you were only a few weeks old.”

  Sienna watched as Marietta dropped her gaze. An unwanted shaft of sympathy lodged in Sienna’s throat.

  What a secret for Marietta to carry all of her life.

  “Catherine came to see me when we were living in San Francisco. It was the same week that Georgie’s father was leaving to work in Alaska. Catherine had put Renzo’s name on the birth certificate and when she found out how sick she was, she wanted him to know he had a daughter.” She lifted her head. “You.”

  “But what about Georgie? If this is the truth why did…Uncle Renzo…take us both in? Are you telling me we’re not twins?”

  Marietta reached out again, but Sienna kept her hands gripped together. “You are cousins, and you share a birthday. You were born on the same day. When Catherine knew she was dying, she asked me to take you, but I was leaving for Alaska. Renzo and Lucia took you both. She gave them her blessing.”

  Sienna put her elbows on the table and dropped her head into her hands. It all made sense…sort of. All her life, she’d thought she and Georgie were so different because they were fraternal twins. A small bus pulled up outside and a group of tourists wandered into the courtyard, and their chatter washed over Sienna. She lifted her head and watched them choose a table.

  “I followed Georgie’s father to Alaska. I was never very maternal. I knew if he went without me I’d never see him again. He was the love of my life.” Marietta looked up when the waitress put Sienna’s coffee on the table and filled her glass up. “Thank you.”

  “How do I know I can believe you?” A slow burn was beginning in her stomach, and she took a deep breath as the tears ached at the back of her eyes. She never cried and she wasn’t about to start now. It was a sign of weakness, and she was always the strong one. She would stay strong.

  Marietta opened her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper and slid it across the table. “Your birth certificate.” She smiled sadly. “I’ve watched both you and Georgie grow up and I knew you’d need proof. You are a very strong woman, just like Catherine was. She would have been proud of you.”

  Sienna looked at the paper sitting in front of her as though it would strike and bite her fingers if she touched it. Slowly she reached out, picked it up, and unfolded it. The lines began to waver as Marietta’s words were confirmed by the text in front of her. “What about Georgie? I don’t understand. How could you have left her?”

  “That’s between Georgie and me.”

  “No.” The sympathy fled and Sienna’s self control came rushing back. “You’re not to tell her. I know my sister. She’ll be devastated.” Marietta held her gaze and Sienna reached out and took her arm. “Please? Please let me be the one to tell her.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The cool sand squeaked beneath Sienna’s bare feet. She walked toward the gray tree stump at the top of the beach at the end of Ocean Avenue; it was surrounded by a few short trees and was private. She
dropped her bag and her shoes to the sand and sat on the smooth timber, staring out over the crashing waves. Despite the cool wind, she could barely feel the chill on her arms; her skin was hot and burning. She sat there for a long time staring out to sea as the wind flicked her short hair into spikes around her face. Her whole life had just shifted, and she was numb inside and out.

  She kicked at the sand with her toes.

  Aunt Marietta. She had finally promised that she wouldn’t tell Georgie, and she hoped she could trust her. The time had sped by as Sienna had listened to her whole story, and now she glanced at her watch. She’d left the coffee shop and headed straight to the beach, the one place that always managed to soothe her. The way she felt at the moment, she didn’t even care if she ever saw the gallery again. It was surreal, and she had to overcome this confusion filling her. She had to come to terms with the thought that Renzo was her father…and her own mother was dead.

  The two unexpected visitors today had brought her to her senses. She’d been getting sucked in by her feelings for Jack. Okay, sleeping with him had been fine, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Seeing Marietta had firmed her resolve. Irrespective of the gallery—and the girlfriend—Marietta reminded her why she didn’t do relationships She needed no one in her life. The hollow feeling in her chest and the tears pricking at the backs of her eyelids had nothing to do with regret. Ana and Georgie were the only two constants in her life. She had forgotten how she had been let down by everyone else and she’d let Jack in. Working with him in the gallery, having him in her apartment and—Sienna finally admitted it—falling in love with him. All it would lead to would be him leaving her when he’d tired of her, and she would be hurt even more. She would cut ties now. She’d quit the gallery, cancel her exhibition—and that was going to be the hardest thing—but she needed to move away from Jack before he sucked her in even more.

  And I have to decide what to tell Georgie.

  But first she had to go back to work and start by telling Jack her exhibition was canned. And to make it even worse, she had to face him after last night and probably be in the company of his girlfriend. Sienna stared out at the ocean and lifted her face to the salty breeze. She needed time and space to get her thoughts in order. And face Jack. The devastation that tugged at her as her dreams crumbled around her was put away in a deep place where she wouldn’t think about it until she had to.