by Chelsea Hale
“You look fine.” Grams smiled, ignoring his comment.
He shook his head. “It was good to see her but I was caught off guard and felt awkward.”
“You didn’t have that problem on the cruise. I know you both chatted away in the morning hours together. Betty saw you on more than one day.”
“That was before I found out she couldn’t stand me.” Derek shrugged off the raw emotion.
Grams raised both brows high, waiting for an explanation.
Derek knew better than to beat around the bush. He’d avoided telling her, but Grams wouldn’t drop it until she knew everything. She’d already given Mandy a glowing review, so it didn’t matter if he shared his thoughts.
He closed his eyes briefly before saying, “She was only being nice to me to keep you happy.”
Grams laughed. “You have to admit your first impression on her wasn’t the best. Or the second.”
His eyes widened. Did Grams not care that Mandy had only needed a nice review? “I called her like you suggested. She was cold.”
“Was she cold now? Did she tell you she couldn’t stand you?” Grams asked, as she motioned for Derek to follow her up the grand staircase.
“Not in so many words, she was nice right now,” he said, wondering if he should admit how he knew. At this point, what would it hurt? “I read them in her notebook, when I was looking at her sketches.” He shrugged off the embarrassment, as Grams scrutinizing gaze landed on him.
“Hmph. Well. I suppose there’s a lesson in there about not snooping in other people’s things.”
He winced. “She handed me the notebook.” The excuse fell flat.
Grams smiled at him. “You’re so much like your grandfather sometimes. So literal. So practical.”
Derek raised his eyebrows. He’d always taken being compared to his grandfather as a positive thing. Derek had wanted to be just like him since he could remember. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“No, no, dear. It’s not. But…” Grams laughed a little. “Did you ever stop to wonder if some of her thoughts were valid? Maybe she was blowing off steam and needed to vent?” She shrugged. “Or maybe, as you say, she really didn’t like you at all for the entire cruise.”
“Those are two big ends of the spectrum.”
“Yes, they are, and you won’t know where she fits until you talk to her about it. But you moping and refusing to do anything about it. Well, that’s not you.” She pushed her finger into his chest for emphasis.
“You think she didn’t like me, though?”
Grams rolled her eyes. “Who knows. Those kissing pictures would say otherwise.”
Derek’s jaw dropped at Grams’ boldness. “How did you…” He trailed off the question, not knowing how to finish it.
Grams smiled. “Yes, I got the same copies you did. If you want a chance with Mandy you need to try. Give her a chance to see you’ve changed.”
“How do I start?” His nerves were outside his comfort zone. He could command an entire board room meeting, but talking to someone who had the power to potentially crush him? Talk about intimidating.
“Use this weekend to get over yourself and start acting the way you want to be remembered by her.”
“That’s a little too much tough love, Grams,” he said.
“You can handle it.” Grams pulled out something from her purse. “And start with this.”
He opened the box. It was the diamond encrusted anchor he had bought on the cruise. “Grams, I gave that to you.”
“And I know you had someone else in mind when you bought it. Besides, gold is really more my color when it comes to jewelry.” She gave him a knowing smile.
A sudden desire to make things right with Mandy filled him. Grams knew, and wouldn’t push him if she thought he didn’t have a chance. Hope swelled inside of him. Things with Mandy would work out.
“Okay.” He bent down, giving Grams a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for this. Is Jerry coming tomorrow?”
Grams’ eyebrows rose. “You know he doesn’t like crowds.”
Derek knew Jerry Shorvan wasn’t one for parties. “Sometimes he comes.”
“Why the sudden interest? If he comes, he comes.”
“He’s Mandy’s idol, you know.”
Grams sighed. “I did know that, but I don’t name drop about him. He doesn’t take that as a compliment.”
“I know. Maybe I’ll tell him I want to introduce him to someone,” he said, knowing that he would be able to do something that might put him in her good graces.
“If it’s anything to go off of, he said he wanted to come to meet Harold.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next day Mandy wished she’d had a roommate around to zip up her dress. The stubborn thing fit perfectly, but it was awkward to zip up with the sequins scratching her hands.
I’m not jealous. Who was she kidding? She totally was from the moment the woman’s picture from the restaurant appeared on Derek’s screen. It was fine. He’d gone to ask Alice if he could bring his girlfriend to the party yesterday and Mandy hadn’t seen him for the rest of the night. His girlfriend seemed a shoe-in, so why wasn’t she already here?
Mandy finally zipped her dress and then peeked between the curtains at the window. Guests were already arriving. Alice hadn’t exaggerated when she said this was formal, and Mandy was glad she’d decided on the red gown for the evening.
She spotted Derek in a sleek, black tux. He looked like a fashion magazine model, and her heart beat in an erratic pattern.
She swallowed the lump rising in her throat. Derek had admitted to remembering she loved Shorvan, and yet said nothing about the fact that he owned one. She shook her head. He’d missed something so fundamental about her. And he wasn’t available. Those were two very good reasons to move on.
Closure. That was what she needed tonight.
Mandy took a deep breath, added another layer of bright-red lipstick, and fastened on dangly earrings and a drop necklace. She looked at herself with a critical eye. She could pull off red. Really well. Grabbing her jeweled red heels, she carried them down the stairs before putting them on and heading out to the party.
She navigated the brick pathway expertly in her heels. A live orchestra of twenty played softly, while people mingled. The white tents housed the food and drink, and the hired caterers walked around with drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
Derek greeted people as they joined in the party. He squeezed her hand and welcomed her, just like he did with everyone else. “I have someone special I want to introduce you to,” he said as he scanned the crowd. His smile was brimming, his eyes had long ago lost their stormy look. Of course they had. He was going to introduce her to his girlfriend.
“Okay.” It was all she could muster to say. This was the moment. She was going to meet his girlfriend and Mandy would be all smiles about it.
“You look beautiful, by the way,” he whispered in her ear as he led her toward the large gathering of people.
Her entire arm overreacted from the touch, shooting tingles filled with possibilities all the way up to her neck. She ignored the sensation.
“Thank you. You smell good.” She froze. Her burning cheeks would exactly match her dress. “I-I mean, you look good, too.” She turned away from him.
“Grams want to see you, but can I tell you something first?” he asked.
After her last comment she needed distance, but her mouth said, “Anything—that’s what friends are for.”
He frowned. “Friends?” he asked in an uncertain tone.
Ugh. He didn’t even think of them as friends. “Or acquaintances.”
He studied her for a moment and said, “I knew days after we met that you were someone…special to me.” He pulled out a small velvet box from his pocket. Opening it, he revealed a dazzling anchor necklace.
She gasped. “Wow. It’s beautiful.” She swallowed the lump in her throat.
He rubbed a finger along his jaw. “It’s yours.” He pushed t
he box into her hand.
She shook her head. Those were real diamonds. And how could she accept such a gift from someone who had a girlfriend? “It’s too much.”
Derek blinked several times. “I want you to have it.”
“Why didn’t you call me after the cruise?” she asked, keeping her voice low as people mingled around them.
“I—”
She cut him off. “It’s the same reason I can’t accept this.”
“Is there any time in our future where we could work?” He hooked a finger under her chin, lifting it ever so gently. He was two short breaths away from kissing her, and she was falling for that moment, like the ones they had on the cruise.
Yeah. She wouldn’t be a rebound, or the reason he dumped the woman from Renaldi’s. “I don’t see it.”
His eyes pierced her with a look that made her question her last statement.
She needed to change the subject. “You were going to introduce me to someone?” She smiled, hoping it looked genuine.
“It seems Grams wants you first.” He looked like he’d say more the way his eyes searched hers. He motioned to Alice, and in three steps Alice held out her hand to Mandy.
“Alice, hi. This is a beautiful party.” When Mandy looked back in Derek’s direction, he had disappeared into the crowd.
Alice gave Mandy a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry we didn’t have much time to spend together yesterday. The party took most of my brain power. But we’ll have time to catch up afterwards, right? We have the whole weekend, and tomorrow the party is much smaller.”
Mandy nodded. “I’d like that.” And she meant it. Alice was one of her favorite traveling companions.
“Harold is busy talking, so I’ll introduce you to him later.” Alice introduced Mandy to several friends, pulling her from one group to another. Mandy did her best to remember names. After meeting another one of Alice’s friends, Mandy searched the crowd, wondering where Derek was. She knew she shouldn’t be, but she was.
As if reading her thoughts, Alice said, “Derek is probably finishing up a business deal. That man certainly uses the party scene to get business done.”
“You don’t mind that he does business during your party?” Mandy tilted her head.
Alice looped her arm through Mandy’s. “Not at all. In fact, it’s the point of the party. At least according to my late husband. Though I think Derek could give Stanley a run for his money. Derek has certainly gotten savvy at these sorts of gatherings.”
“I have always believed parties are for enjoyment.”
“And so they are,” Grams said, laughing. “But people enjoy things in different ways. Derek finds enjoyment in socializing and doing business at the same time. He thrives on it. It gets him out of the office, and he feels like he hasn’t wasted his time.” She gestured around the crowd.
“But to do business during a party—”
“It’s like making new friends for him. It’s how he works.”
“You’re right,” Mandy finally said. “Where is his girlfriend? I guess I thought he’d be with her the whole time.”
Grams snorted. “He most certainly does not have a girlfriend.”
“He doesn’t? Are you sure? He said he wanted to introduce me to someone special.” Mandy’s heart rate picked up.
“I’m sure he’s looking for the right woman right now.” Alice gave her a pointed look, then said, “I have a few more people I need to greet…and oh look, there’s Derek now.” Alice walked Mandy over to Derek and then continued walking to join another group.
Her mind went blank. Derek didn’t have a girlfriend. Alice had confirmed it. She could have jumped in the air if she wasn’t wearing a gown. “Hi,” Mandy said, awkwardness sinking around her like a high heel caught in mud.
“Are you having a good time?” Derek asked her but kept facing forward, shaking people’s hands as they passed him.
“Yes.” And she was going to have a much better time now that she knew about Derek. “This song reminds me of dancing with you on the cruise.” Okay it wasn’t anywhere close to the same songs they’d danced to on the cruise, but she could hint without being obvious, couldn’t she?
“I’d imagine all parties would remind you of some cruise,” he said, watching the crowd and avoiding her.
“About earlier, I want to explain.” She needed to clear the air. She’d only pushed him away because she thought he had a girlfriend. It was a noble gesture, sort of.
He looked at her then, and if looks could inflict physical wounds she would be in critical condition. He whispered, “You don’t need to pretend anymore, Mandy. I got the message. If you’ll excuse me I have a deal to wrap up.” And with that he stormed away.
She blinked. Grabbing a plate from the nearest stack she went through the food line, hardly knowing what she dished up. A dull pounding pushed at Mandy’s eyes.
She needed to find a small place to eat her food out of the public area. Some place quiet. Some place secluded. Mandy followed the lantern lit path further into the garden. Tables and chairs were set up along the way, and the further she went the quieter the music and the hum of conversation became. She could almost hear the ocean. She could make out the vague outline of the shore and the water in the dusk.
She took a few deep breaths and forced her stinging eyes to remain dry, feeling the tension wash away from her as she took in her surroundings. A cricket chirped, drowning out the laughter and music from the party.
“You look like you could use some solitude,” an older man’s voice said.
She startled and looked around. A man sat at a table, a small lantern lighting his features. His full head of hair was completely white, and his face had a calm serenity to the wrinkles and lines that caressed his features. He was at least Alice’s age. “I probably could,” she said.
“Come, join me then,” he said, standing up and pulling out a chair for her.
“I don’t want to interrupt your solitude,” she said, moving toward the chair.
“I suppose a little company in my solitude every once in a while, is okay.”
Mandy sat and let him push her in. “That happens to be the title of one of my favorite paintings. Company in my solitude.”
He rejoined her at the table, his bushy eyebrows lifting to reveal bright-green eyes. “Is it now? Tell me about you. How do you know the Thompson’s?”
“I was Alice’s traveling companion on a cruise this past summer.”
“Ah. The traveling companion. I’ve heard a lot about you. Heard you were enchanting. Wasn’t sure I’d believe it. And here you are, finding me out here, away from the party.”
Alice really had talked Mandy up and she was grateful. “Alice is always so kind in her praise.”
He pursed his lips. “That she is. But I was talking to Derek about you.”
“Oh. Do you work with him?” she asked, trying to figure out why she’d come up in conversation.
“I occasionally work for him, in a manner of speaking.” He chuckled.
Mandy looked down at her food, not wanting to be rude.
“Go on and eat your food. I’ve had mine already,” he said. “Now, Derek tells me you’re the most amazing person he’s ever known. So, let’s hear your story.”
“I’m just…well I’m just me.”
The old man steepled his fingers. “Well, tell me about yourself then. Let’s start with your name.”
“I’m Mandy.”
“That is a beautiful name. An artistic name.”
“Thanks.” Silence stretched between them, and Mandy asked, “What’s your name, sir?”
He laughed, but Mandy had no idea what was so funny. Confusion must have been written on her face because when he looked up, he stilled. “Sorry. I, hm. Are you an artist?”
“I am.”
“And are you amazing at it?” His bushy eyebrows rose.
Mandy shook her head. She didn’t feel amazing at anything right now. “I doubt it. But I do what I can. You’re
not going to tell me your name?”
He reached over and patted her hand. “I’ve been called a lot of names, but Jerry suits me fine. It’s what my friends call me.”
“Jerry it is then. So how do you know Alice and Derek?”
“I’ve been friends with Alice and her late husband all my life. We used to go to the beach together when we were kids. Lifelong friends they are. Do you have friends like that? Good ones?”
“I’ve got some great roommates. They’re the kind of people I’d still want to get together with for my entire life.”
He nodded. “That’s good. So, you met Alice and Derek on the cruise?”
She nodded.
“It sounds like it was a nice vacation. Did you take your art with you?” Jerry’s eyes twinkled.
“Always. ‘A true artist always has his art with him, no matter where he goes.’”
He leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Spoken like a true artist.”
“I can’t take credit for that sentiment though. I learned if from one of the greats—my favorite contemporary artist once said that.”
“Is that so?” He drummed his hands lightly along the table.
She nodded. “For a young girl, it sounded magical, like I could always have this creative side with me on any adventure.”
“It is magical.” He cleared his throat. “Makes me think you’re as amazing as I’ve heard about. Art has a way of elevating people.”
“Do you have a favorite piece of art? Were you thinking about that or just talking in general?” She leaned forward, wondering what this man’s opinion would be on it. He seemed at ease in talking about the abstract, in getting her to open up.
He rubbed a finger across his jawline. “I have lots of favorites. Some of them are popular and some of them will never make it into a gallery. My favorites right now are a gallery wall filled with art from my grandkids. It rivals some of the more expensive pieces I have in my collection. And, in a lot of ways it has to do with the meanings behind their effort.”
“I love that. The deeper connection to the work. An idea that an artist understands something profound that changes your life when you see it.”