Chapter Twenty-Nine
Darla stared at the map of Auckland propped up against her coffee cup. Gary had drawn circles on it to indicate areas where they might live, where he would work, where Haley might attend school. Darla touched a spot on the map. Kohimarama. She traced the line across Hobson Bay. One Tree Hill. Onehunga. Te Papapa. Her finger came to a stop at Manukau Harbor.
“Finding everything all right?” Gary leaned over the back of his wife’s chair. He smelled of soap and coffee beans. “See, this is Waitemata Harbor.” He jabbed at an expanse of blue that divided the city of Auckland. “If I take the Bates job, I’ll be able to see the water from my office. They’ve got a regatta every Wednesday in full view. That’s what the headhunter said. Pretty neat, eh?”
“When will you be back?” Darla asked, picking up her coffee mug.
He shrugged and peered around the corner of the kitchen into the living room as if searching for something. “Tomorrow afternoon. I’ll get there around eight or so. Meet with Bryant for dinner. God, it’s going to be a late night.”
“You think he’ll buy you out?” The map crinkled noisily in her fingers. He thought it was taking her a long time to get it all folded up.
“That’s the plan. Seen my briefcase?”
“Going to wrap up everything before Maggie’s had a say?”
Gary stopped hunting for his briefcase and looked at his wife. “Maggie has no say, Darla. But she knows I’m talking to a guy. If it weren’t for all this happening to her and her sister, I’d be tempted to sell it to her. I’m sure her dad has the money to loan her and she’d do a great job running the shop.”
“I think Maggie wants a husband and kids.”
“No reason she can’t have that and an ad shop, too.
Darla stood up from the table and put a hand up to his freshly shaved cheek. “I love you, Gary,” she said, beginning to cry.
He put his arms around her. “Believe in me, Darla. Believe I’m doing what’s best for all of us.”
She buried her face into his suit jacket.
Murder in the South of France, Book 1 of the Maggie Newberry Mysteries Page 40