Cursed by Love (13 page)

“Of course, Mr. Quigley.” Gabe ushered
the man and his nephew out of his office a half-hour later. “Great to see you
and Roland, too. Drop by anytime.”

“Good thing you’ll be able to install
the new programs by the end of the next week,” Quigley growled. “I expected you
to balk at moving the launch date up.”

“No problem. We’re very flexible here at
Contact Communications.” Gabe stayed calm and steady on the outside, but his
ulcer burned a hole in his gut. It wasn’t like the wealthy old tyrant had given
him any choice. Next week, or forget about it, he’d said. Gabe was all-too
tempted to go with the forget-about-it option, but his gaze had landed on
Chloe’s dinosaur picture. Knowing he’d do anything in his power to keep that
little girl safe and happy with a roof over her head, he caved in to the
unreasonable demand.

Sleep was overrated, after all. He
hadn’t gotten any the night before. No point in getting any more than the
minimum daily requirement during the next week. “I would have suggested it
myself, but I wasn’t sure your people would be ready.”

“They’ll be ready if I tell them to be
ready.” The old man’s gravelly voice sounded like a foghorn belching out a
warning.

“I’m sure they will.” As they reached
the waiting room, Molly’s presence behind the reception desk gave him a jolt of
unexpected reassurance. And pleasure.

“This is a nice young lady,” Quigley
said to Gabe, before turning to Molly. “What’s your name, missy?”

Gabe fought the urge to place a
proprietary hand on Molly’s shoulder. Only notions of proper office etiquette
and political correctness compelled him to keep his hands to himself while he
introduced them.

“How long have you been working for this
operation?” Quigley barked at Molly.

“Not long,” she said.

“How do you like it?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Best job I’ve ever
had.”

“Are you married?”

“No, sir, are you?”

Red suffused the grump’s cheeks at
Molly’s sassiness, but he sputtered out a laugh. “Yes, ma’am, I am. For nearly
forty years now. But my nephew Roland here is single.”

Gabe nearly choked to keep himself from
objecting, but Molly looked down demurely.

“You two should get together.” Quigley
issued the suggestion like an order.

Gabe stepped up to disrupt the
heavy-handed matchmaking. But Roland, who hadn’t spoken ten words since their
arrival, rose to the occasion. “Don’t put her on the spot like that, Uncle.
I’ll find my own woman.”

“You haven’t so far.”

“I haven’t been in town that long. Give
me a chance to settle in. For all we know, Molly’s seeing someone.” He raised
his eyebrows at her, inviting confirmation.

“Yes, I am. It’s very serious.” Her eyes
twinkled. “I’m expecting him to pop the question any day now.”

“Bah! Should have known.” Quigley made a
negligent wave of his hand. “Might want to keep Roland in mind if it doesn’t
work out.” The old man turned to go and plowed into Sierra and her wheelchair
entering the office.

“Blast!” Quigley jostled Sierra and the
carryout containers in her lap. When he straightened up by bracing his hands on
her shoulders, the sacks slipped to the floor. Cardboard lids came off aluminum
containers, spewing pasta, cheese, and meat sauce at his feet. “I didn’t see
you standing—
er
, sitting—
er
,
rolling in. Shouldn’t you have a horn on that thing to let people know you’re
behind them?”

Gabe went to Sierra’s side while Roland
steadied the old man.

“You all right?” Gabe asked his sister.

“Sure.” She shrugged, but winked at
Gabe. “I shouldn’t have been sneaking up on Mr. Quigley. Sorry to bump into you
like that, sir.”

“
Hmmph
.” He
adjusted his jacket and leaned forward to check his shoes for marinara-spatter.
“Come on, Roland. Let’s go.” He stepped over Sierra’s dinner without a second
glance.

The nephew appeared less clueless than
old man Quigley. “Just a minute, Uncle.” Roland picked up one of the dripping
containers and looked to Sierra. “Your dinner’s ruined.”

“Put it in here.” Molly brought out a
trash can from behind the desk. The younger Quigley dropped the mess in it. He
wiped his hands on the paper towels she handed him, but his attention never
wavered from Sierra.

Gabe found it interesting that his
sister’s cheeks took on a glowing shade of pink he hadn’t seen there before.

Sierra demurely dropped her eyes.
“There’s plenty more where that came from.”

Gabe helped Molly remove the rest of the
carryout from the floor while Roland leaned against the desk and chatted with
Sierra. “It smells delicious. Did you make it?”

“Not hardly.” Sierra’s bangle bracelets
tinkled in merry accompaniment to her laughter. “It’s from Mamma Leone’s
Authentic Italian down the block.”

Roland smiled at her with a glint of
more than fleeting interest, and Gabe scowled, not certain what he thought of
that. He’d encouraged her to develop a social life, sure, but it was entirely
different when the possibility stood right in front of him. He’d never stand in
the way of her dating again if that’s what she wanted, but was Roland Quigley
the best the world had to offer her? The shadow of an obnoxious toad with no
personality of his own?

“Do you work here?” Roland asked.

“You could say that.” Sierra looked to
Gabe for an introduction.

“She more than works here. Sierra’s my
sister and business partner. Sierra, meet Roland Quigley.”

“Good Lord,” Sierra said, “that’s really
your name?  It sounds like a mechanical part. The
winkel
sprocket. The rotating widget. The
roland
quigley
.”

“That’s right, make fun of my name. I’m
used to it. You’re not the first to suggest my mysteriously essential qualities
should come with a patent.” He slipped his hands in his pockets and rocked back
on his heels. “But coming from you? Someone named Sierra? I’d say you don’t
have room to talk. What’s your last name? Nevada? Madre?”

“Good ones.” Sierra smirked. “I’ve never
heard those before.”

“Yeah, they were a little weak, but my
name’s a sore spot and I’m playing defense here. I’m much better on the
offense.” He grinned, and Gabe liked him a little bit better, just knowing he
didn’t take himself as seriously as it had seemed.

“I apologize for the cheap shot, too,”
Sierra agreed. “I get cranky when my dinner gets dumped on the floor. But I
shouldn’t take it out on you just because I ran into your uncle.”

“I’ll forgive you if you tell me your
last name.”

Sierra stuck her chin out and rubbed her
temples, sending her bracelets jangling. “I’m not ready to say. For some reason
that isn’t clear to me just yet, I’d rather not tell you.”

“Sierra—” Gabe stepped forward, afraid
she was getting ready to go into her gypsy fortune-teller mode, warning Roland
about signs and symbols and portents of things to come.

But Roland just smiled.

Sierra’s long lashes swept downward
until she could just peek at him from beneath them, and Gabe watched as
something even he recognized as a ‘moment’ passed between them.

“Roland!” Old Man Quigley roared from
the door. “Get a move on. I don’t have all day.”

Roland winked at Sierra. “I’ll be back,”
he said, and disappeared out the door.

Sierra and Gabe stared at each other for
a moment then burst out laughing. “Wow,” she said, “I’m never going to physical
therapy again. I’m late getting here
one
afternoon and look what
happens. I’m involved in a collision at the door. We get a new receptionist—”
she threw Molly a curious look “—and the big fish comes to visit. What were
Quigley Major and Quigley Minor doing here anyway?”

“Quigley was here to throw his weight
around, and Quigley Minor’s only purpose seemed to be flirting with you.”

“He wasn’t flirting with me!” Sierra
covered her cheeks with her hands.

“He was, too, and you were flirting
back.” Gabe moved to lock the door to the hall.

“Yes, he was.” Molly fanned her face.
“When Mr. Quigley tried to push Roland toward me, he was nothing more than
mildly interested. But as soon as you got here, wow, things really heated up.”

“Are you Molly, by any chance? I’m
Sierra.”

“So I heard.” With her performance as
ersatz receptionist over, Molly came from behind the desk and rested her butt
against the front edge. “Nice to meet you. Since you’re Gabe’s sister, does
that make you Chloe’s mom? She’s adorable.”

“Thanks.” Sierra glowed at the complimentary
mention of her child. “I think so, too.”

The two women sized one another up and
smiled. Gabe saw the light of acceptance pass between two kindred spirits and
shuddered. The last thing he needed was for these two to discover their common
interests.

“Anyone who likes my kid and my brother
is a friend of mine. Let’s go find Chloe and see about alternate plans for
dinner.” She turned the wheelchair toward the computer room. “We can send Dom
out for more.”

“Can you stay?” Gabe asked Molly,
certain she’d refuse. Kind of hoping she would. He didn’t want her to leave,
but a little exposure to his family went a long way. He wasn’t sure how much
more of them she could take in one sitting.

“Sure,” Molly agreed. “For a few
minutes.”

Surprised and pleased, he took her hand
and followed Sierra’s path to the small
breakroom
in
the back. Chloe, Dom, and Granddad were playing Go Fish at the table.
Wow,
Granddad had been right about the color of the kid’s hair.
Day-Glo green.
Sort of provided his anti-social angst with space alien overtones.

“Mom!” Chloe shrieked and launched
herself into her mother’s lap. “When’d you get here?”

“Hello, love.” Granddad spared a glance
from his cards. “How was your session?”

“Just got here.” Sierra shared hugs with
Chloe and grins with Granddad. “The session was fine. Boring. Tiring. Nothing
like the fun that’s been going on around here today.”

“Huh.” Molly eyed them all like they
were circus freaks, but she looked a little wistful. “If the last hour is what
you people call ‘fun’, then I’m glad I don’t live your lives.”

“It does get hairy sometimes,” Gabe
said, “but today you pitched in and saved the day. I owe you, big-time.” He
squeezed her arm, realizing he’d been making excuses to touch her every chance
he could. He inhaled deeply. Yep,
Dreamsicles
.

“I still don’t understand everything
that happened, but I’m happy I could help. Did the meeting go well?”

“Great. Thank God, we stayed last night
and salvaged what we did,” he said to Sierra, and then to Molly. “The whole
Quigley project crashed. That’s why I had to leave you and come back to work.”

“It’s almost like he had a premonition,”
Sierra said.

“Don’t start,” Gabe said, pointing a
finger at her before turning to Molly. “Do you want to join us for dinner? The
Goth-kid over there is my cousin Dom, and it looks like he’s going out to pick
up more Italian.”

Gabe knew Dom’s appearance served to
cover his acute case of shyness, more than it laid a claim to true rebellion.
The boy ducked his head at being singled out, but stood up, ready to run the
errand.

“I’m sick of Italian. Can we have
Skyline instead?” Dom asked. “Could you see if they want to trade any
programming work with us for free food?”

“Call them tomorrow and make the offer,”
Gabe suggested. “Meanwhile, what’s everyone want from Mama Leone’s?”

“Ravioli!” Chloe demanded.

“Lasagna, for me,” Granddad said.

“Fettuccini for two?” Gabe asked Molly.

“Sounds great, but I need to get going.”
She checked her watch. “I just have time to make it if I leave now.” She
stepped forward. “It was great meeting all of you.”

Wonder of all wonders, it sounded to
Gabe like she meant it. He couldn’t believe she’d interacted with five of his
relatives in one day and hadn’t run screaming for the hills. She seemed to
really regret not being able to stay and eat neighborhood Italian with them.

“Do you
have
to go?” Sierra
asked, reading Gabe’s mind.

“You can play Go Fish with us if you
stay,” Chloe offered.

“Yeah,” Gabe mimicked. “Do you
have
to go?”

“Afraid so. My third-graders are singing
in a program tonight, and I have to be there to keep them in line.” She moved
toward Gabe’s office, where she’d left her stuff earlier. She stopped at the
doorway. “We’ll play Go Fish next time I’m here.”

“Don’t forget,” Chloe said.

“I won’t.” Molly turned to Granddad and
Sierra. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Gabe scowled when
his relatives started woo-
hooing
and making smooching
noises. “Will you stop? I’ll be right back.”