Maddie Fortune's Perfect Man

by Nancy Robards Thompson

  “Are you and your brother close now?” she asked.

  The bluntness of her question pulled him off the ledge, kept him from leaning in and kissing her again. Had she sensed that was what he was about to do and searched for a question to kill the mood? If so, she’d chosen the perfect one. It was the verbal equivalent of a bucket of cold water.

  “If that’s too nosy, you don’t have to answer,” she said.

  “I don’t mind. No, we’re not close. My brother and I haven’t spoken in more than a decade.”

  Her brow knit into a look of concern. He could see the wheels turning.

  “You’re probably wondering why, if he’s my only family, we’re not close.”

  She nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking. I mean, I come from this big, crazy, sometimes downright obnoxious family and I can’t think of a single thing anyone could do that would make us estranged. If any of us had a problem that big, the other ones would lock us in a room until we’d worked it out. That is if we didn’t insist on working it out ourselves.”

  “It’s not that dramatic,” Zach said. “In fact, it’s actually rather anticlimactic. He never had time for me when I needed him. Once I got out and started making my way in the world we were both too busy to bother.”

  She squinted at him and gave her head a quick shake.

  “I don’t understand. Does he live in California or someplace far away?”

  Zach chuckled. “Actually, he lives in Austin.”

  “What?” Maddie said. “You two were living in the same state and you didn’t bother to get together? What are you not telling me? There has to be more to this that you’re not saying.”

  There was, and for a solid minute he looked at her, remembering Sharla and how she’d left him after he’d unloaded his past on her. In one regard, Maddie was right. Zach knew he had a way with people. As long as he smiled and brought the sunshine, they were pretty much putty in his hands, as Maddie had said. But the minute things got too heavy, people left. People didn’t like to be burdened.

  “Zach, tell me. I mean, you’ve already told me this much. You might as well tell me the rest.”

  “Okay, tell me if you’d lock yourself in a room to work this one out. Before our mom died, she made my brother the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was enough. Enough for him to raise me. She made him promise to take care of me. Granted, he was barely of age. He didn’t know anything about raising a punk teenage kid who was skipping school and getting into trouble. When things got too heavy for him to handle, and child services started poking around, telling him he could be held legally responsible for my truancy, he let them take me and put me in foster care.”

  Zach shook his head bitterly. “He said it was for the best. He was trying to put himself through college. When I asked about the money, he said after he got through law school, he’d put me through college if I kept my nose clean. There was always an if...and there was always a reason why it was never a good time to make good on his promise. He had too many bills, he was getting married, his kids needed braces. But the truth was he had his career and his family and his boat and fancy car. His lifestyle had probably expanded to the outer limits of his income, but he never made good on that promise. He took the money our mother left us and ran.”

  Maddie was looking at him as if he’d confessed his brother was an extraterrestrial. “How could he do that?”

  “It sounds really sordid, doesn’t it?” He hated her look of pity. “I don’t know why I unloaded all that on you.”

  “Zach, you needed to tell someone. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

  He waved her off. “You don’t need to be sorry. I’ve obviously done all right for myself. I asked him for help. He wasn’t in the position to do it. It was fine. Like I said, fending for myself made me the person I am today. So, it’s all good. No need to worry about me.”

  Except that he wanted to pull her into his arms and taste her lips again. She should worry about that.

  Her kiss had unleashed a need in him that was proving difficult to ignore. He wanted to lean in and kiss her again. Hell, that wasn’t all he wanted to do.

  If Maddie knew what was good for her, she’d stay far away from him.

  * * *

  They’d had a moment. That was all.

  They’d kissed and it couldn’t be undone.

  After she and Zach had parted ways the night before, Maddie had made a pit stop at the Kroger where she’d purchased a package of Oreo cookies and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, which she’d opted for over her usual go-to flavor, Half Baked, because it seemed to mock the very problem that had driven her to the junk food in the first place.

  What kind of a half-baked notion had made her think it was a good idea to kiss Zach McCarter?

  He’d been so nice to her afterward, too. Her heart thudded hard against her breastbone as she remembered the tenderness in his gaze. At one point, she’d wondered if he might kiss her again. Against all that was sane and good, she’d wanted him to. But he didn’t.

  Which was both the best and worst thing that could have happened.

  Why did he have to be so nice? Especially after he’d suffered his own hardships? Why couldn’t he have acted like a jackass and tried to move in for more? She would’ve put a stop to it in a big hurry. Or why couldn’t he at least have let her walk away so she could’ve gone home and eaten her feelings in that emergency first aid of ice cream and cookies? If he would’ve let her walk away, she would’ve driven away feeling self-righteously superior that her suspicions about him had been confirmed: he was a player and a scoundrel, a wheeler-dealer who wasn’t interested in her and only interested in winning.

  Instead, he’d been concerned about her. He’d confessed her father’s arrangement had surprised him as much as it had surprised her. For a few moments after they’d parted, she’d wondered if his confession had been a ploy, a means to play her by making her feel sorry for him. The rich girl would still have opportunities if she didn’t get the promotion, but the poor man—though, now he wasn’t a poor man by any means—was simply reaping the rewards of a life of hard work.

  If he was trying to play her, he was being subtle. If he was being sincere, it was so sad to think that he had a brother to whom he hadn’t spoken in over a decade. Sometimes men could be so stubborn. Surely, Zach wouldn’t have made up a story about what drove him and his brother apart. But if they were each other’s only family, and both of them were doing well, couldn’t they sit down and talk things out? Sure, it was easy for her to play armchair referee. She’d been raised with every advantage, but even if the worst happened and her father hired Zach over her, even if she left Fortunado to start up her own venture, which she most certainly would do if it came to that, she would not allow it to drive a wedge between her and her dad. Nothing was worth more than family.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about what Zach had said about his brother.

  His name was Rich and he was an attorney in Austin. She turned on the desktop computer in her home office. When it was fully booted, she searched for Richard McCarter, attorney.

  The first item the search engine offered was the law offices of McCarter and Black.

  Bingo.

  Rich was easy to pick out of a photo of the firm’s partners. He was a slightly older, less handsome version of Zach. Zach had obviously been the brother who had been blessed with the lion’s share of the handsome genes. Not that Rich wasn’t handsome.

  There was another photo—a family photo used for an ad for Richard McCarter’s run for city council—a failed bid, a bit more research showed. Even so, it showed him smiling up from a blue picnic blanket that was spread out beneath an ancient oak tree. A pretty brunette and three kids who looked to be in elementary and middle school surrounded him. For all intents and purposes, he looked like the quintessential family man. Of course, anyone could portray themselves however they wanted in a staged photo, but at face value, the
guy looked like his family was important to him.

  If so, how could he shut out his brother?

  A plan was forming in the outer reaches of her mind. Lately, she’d been coming up with a lot of half-baked ideas—believing her father would promote her without making her jump through hoops, kissing Zach... Oh, yes, she seemed to be full of foolish ideas lately. What was one more, especially if she could help reunite a family? Yes, a definite plan was starting to take shape. Maybe she could play mediator to get Zach and his brother talking again.

  A lot could change in a decade.

  As she prepared to go over to her parents’ house to meet her sisters—Carlo was out of town this weekend and Schuyler was driving in to spend a couple of days with family—she started scheming. She needed to go back to Austin for the closing of Carlo and Schuyler’s house. They’d put in an offer on the mini Spanish castle overlooking Lake Austin and the seller had accepted it. Since it was a cash sale, they were due to close next week, right before the wedding. And she needed to show them more commercial properties to consider for the nightclub. While she was there, she might just have to pay Rich McCarter a visit and assess the damage.

  More immediately, she needed to prepare herself to see her father. She needed to have a new mind-set. Today, she would put aside her wounded pride and redouble her determination to win the promotion. Sitting around feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to do her any good.

  For that matter, neither was boycotting her favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor. The Cherry Garcia was delicious, of course, but not nearly as satisfying as Half Baked. This morning, as she tossed the empty ice-cream pint into the trash and sequestered the remaining Oreos in a zippered plastic bag, she was feeling bloated and unsatisfied, with a craving for cookie dough and brownie bites—and another taste of Zach.

  She set the bag of cookies next to her purse so she wouldn’t forget to take them to her parents’ house, where she, Val and Schuyler were converging for a sisters’ weekend. She seriously considered another Kroger stop before meeting them. They deserved ice cream—even though Schuyler had been last-minute wedding dieting.

  Maddie put her hand on her stomach. To nip that temptation in the bud, she plucked the pint out of the trash and surveyed the nutritional panel.

  After adding up the caloric count, she dropped the container like it was burning her fingers. Nearly five hundred calories and an entire day’s worth of fat grams in one pitiful pity-party-for-one. And that didn’t include the Oreos.

  Zach’s kiss had been much sweeter.

  She blinked away the thought and reminded herself that she’d have to work out extra hard on Monday since she wouldn’t have time to hit the gym this weekend. It would be good to have an outlet for her pent-up emotions.

  Zach McCarter didn’t stand a chance.

  “Bring it on,” she murmured to Ramona, her two-year-old corgi, who had padded into the kitchen and was leaning against Maddie’s leg as if showing her solidarity. Maddie leaned down and scratched the little dog behind her ear. The animal stared up at her with soulful eyes as if trying to understand what she was saying.

  “I know,” Maddie said. “The whole thing doesn’t make any sense to me either. What can I do other than give it my best shot?”

  The dog plopped down on top of Maddie’s foot. “At least I know you’re on my side, Ramona. But we must go now. You’re coming with me to Grandma’s house. We’re going to spend some time with Aunt Schuyler and Aunt Val. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

  Maddie gently extricated her foot and bent down to give the little dog one more scratch, relishing the silky softness of her velvety sienna ear before attaching the leash. Ramona gazed up at her lovingly. Maddie grabbed her purse and the bag of Oreos and headed out the door.

  Chapter Five

  Forty-five minutes later, Maddie got out of her white Volvo, smoothed her yellow sundress and walked around to the passenger side to free Ramona from her doggie seat belt, and fetch her parcels. A small bag contained her dog’s food, dishes, treats and toys, and another larger shopping bag contained the bag of Oreos and a dozen assorted cupcakes from Moonbeam Bakery, the home of Houston’s most delicious baked goods. She’d resisted a Ben & Jerry’s run, but this occasion called for cupcakes.

  Val’s car wasn’t in the driveway yet, but Schuyler’s sleek red BMW was parked front and center and Maddie smiled at the thought of having some sister time. Since Schuyler had moved to Austin and she and Val worked so darn much, times like this were fewer and farther between.

  Seriously, when was the last time she’d taken an entire Saturday off? Even though she intended to win the promotion, the pragmatic side of her wondered if maybe this episode with Zach and the promotion was the universe’s way to teach her about balance. Really, she couldn’t go on the way she’d been going. It made her realize that if all the material things were stripped away, what would she have? She’d have her family, of course, but her parents were prepping for the second chapter of their lives and her little sister was getting married.

  Forty years down the road did she want to be Crazy Old Aunt Maddie? Did she want her siblings and future nieces and nephews whispering about her behind her back, calling her the spinster sister?

  No.

  In that spirit, today would be about fun. As she closed the distance between the driveway and the grand front porch, her phone pinged, alerting her that a new message had come in. Reflexively, she glanced at it as she walked toward the huge wooden double doors of her parents’ home, but resisted checking it. She had her hands full with precious cargo. She certainly didn’t want to upset the cupcakes before her sisters had a chance to ooh and aah over the little works of art, and gripe and curse her for bringing them because they were trying to diet.

  But in the end, they’d eat them—between the four of them—Schuyler, Val, their mother and herself, they’d probably polish them off.

  She might even offer one to her dad to prove she harbored no ill feelings over the Zach situation.

  Liar.

  She braced herself for the likelihood that before the weekend was through, she and her sisters would probably ponder how their father could, in his right mind, consider turning the family business over to Zach. It would feel good to have them rally around her.

  But she wouldn’t tell them she’d kissed Zach. Because she probably wouldn’t be able to fashion a poker face that didn’t betray how much she’d loved that kiss.

  If the girls started dissing Zach and their dad too much, she would remind them that this was in her power. She had this. She wouldn’t allow their dad to turn the company over to Zach or anyone else who wasn’t part of the family. It suddenly dawned on her that maybe this whole competition was nothing but a charade. Her father’s way of posing one last challenge.

  She breathed in the sweet smell of a sunny spring day and redoubled her determination to accept this situation for what it was: one last hoop for her to jump through, manufactured by Kenneth Fortunado before he turned loose his life’s work for a life of leisure.

  She couldn’t stop thinking of how Zach and his brother had let money come between them. Even if her own pride was hurt by the way her father had handled things, Maddie put herself in his shoes. She knew turning over the company had to be hard for her dad. A wave of sympathy tenderized the anger she’d been chewing on all week. Letting go of his empire wasn’t easy. She couldn’t—or at least she shouldn’t—blame him for flexing his power muscles one more time. In the effort of being a good daughter, she would not only give him this, she would prove to him that he had nothing to worry about.

  Maddie let herself and Ramona in the front door and followed the sound of voices and puppy barks.

  “Fluff and Stuff are here!” Maddie told her dog. “Are you excited to play with your cousins?” Ramona answered with an excited bark and quickened her pace, her nails clicking on the hardwood floors as she trotted toward the kitchen. That’s where she found her mother and Schuyler seated at the marble i
sland with a bunch of brochures spread out in front of them. Schuyler’s puppies played rough-and-tumble on the expansive kitchen floor.

  The little dogs stopped their acrobatics as they sensed Ramona enter the room. Soon the three dogs were happily chasing each other around like long-lost friends.

  Unfortunately, the same air of goodwill wasn’t flowing between Schuyler and Barbara. In fact, the tension was nearly palpable and Maddie quickly realized they were engaged in a lively debate about wedding flowers.

  “I really think we should scrap the orchids and opt for extra peonies,” their mother said. “Peonies will hold up much better than orchids. They’re so fragile. You don’t want your flowers to be drooping before you walk down the aisle.”

  “But I like the clean, simple look of orchids. It completely changes my vision if we don’t have orchids. Peonies are so froufrou.”

  “Hi,” Maddie said. Both women turned toward her.

  “Hi, honey,” Barbara said. “I’m glad you’re here. And where is my little granddog Ramona?”

  Ramona yipped and broke away from the pack only long enough to put her front paws on Barbara’s leg. Barbara reached down and gave her a loving scratch behind the ears.

  Ramona seemed like a welcome distraction, even if it was just momentary. “Schuyler and I were just putting the finishing touches on the flowers for the wedding,” Barbara said. “Come in and tell us your thoughts.”

  The wedding was right around the corner. Schuyler and their mother were past the point of fun and ready for the big day to get here. Reading between the lines, Maddie knew what her mother really meant was, Come in and be the tiebreaker.

  Where was Val when she needed her?

  “My knowledge of flowers is basically roses are red, violets are blue,” Maddie said. “Although, I always thought violets were purple. But maybe that proves that I’m a disaster when it comes to color or at the very least I’m color-blind.”

  “You are not a disaster when it comes to color,” her mother said. “As a matter of fact, you’re very good at it. Look at all those homes you’ve staged and sold. If that’s not proof, then I don’t know what is. I’ve been telling your father that.” Barbara arched her brows. Her expression made it clear that she did not approve of the way her husband had handled things. Of course, Barbara Fortunado was a mama bear personified. She couldn’t stand to see her babies hurt, and it gave Maddie a great deal of satisfaction to know that her mother was on her side. Her mother never shied away from voicing her opinion—like with Schuyler’s wedding flowers—but when it came to things that involved her kids, she was also their best advocate. Fiercely loyal, she would go to the mat for her babies. If Maddie knew her mother as well as she believed she did, Barbara probably hadn’t minced words when she’d voiced her disapproval to her husband. However, Barbara was also a Southern lady. Southern ladies did not talk ill of their husbands to anyone—especially not to their daughters.