Mythe: A Fairy Tale (16 page)

“Well, I don’t feel right letting you pay every time we go out either. I feel like I’m taking advantage of you guys. Besides, I don’t feel obligated. This is fun. I like to cook, but it doesn’t really seem worth the effort to cook for just myself.”

“I apologize, Manda. I didn’t realize it bothered you so much. How about this? What if we forget about keeping score, but I let you pick up a check every now and again if you want and you can still feel free to invite us over whenever you’d like. I’d hate to miss out on that completely. I think you’ll find us more than willing to accept your invitation anytime. I just wouldn’t count on having any leftovers if I were you.” He pinned Manda to the spot with one of his heart-stopping smiles. “And this way we can invite you out without feeling like we’re forcing you into inviting us over. I was afraid we were going to have to start thinking twice about that, and that would have been a shame. Which reminds me, since we ate your lunch for tomorrow why don’t you let us take you out? You and David.”

“That would be nice. Thank you,” Manda said a bit breathlessly. Richard was still smiling down at her and her roomy kitchen suddenly seemed very small with him standing so close.

“Good. Now, you promised to let me help with dessert. I am at your service.” He gave her a little mock bow.

“Yes, and I’ll even make you carry the heavy dish, so you’ll feel like you earned it,” Manda agreed, scrambling to rebuild her composure. She tested the baking pan to make sure it had cooled enough to handle, then picked it up and handed it to Richard. “You can take that. I’ll find the ice cream scoop and be right out.”

As soon as Richard disappeared out the door Manda collapsed onto one of the kitchen stools with a sigh. For one mortifying minute she’d been certain that she’d misjudged Richard and Josh, and that her attempt to even the score had instead come across as a ploy to foist her company onto them. She would gladly have crawled under a rock to hide. She took a deep calming breath, then opened a drawer and pulled out the ice cream scoop without even looking. She headed back out to the patio with the scoop in one hand and the carton of ice cream in the other.

*****

As Manda walked to the train station the next morning she felt like she was floating in a bubble of happiness. She surrendered to the good mood, humming as she strolled through the bright morning sunshine. She scrupulously
ignored the tiny discordant voice in her head that whispered warnings about letting herself fall for Richard. After all, it hadn’t been like a date or anything. It had just been a group of friends enjoying a pleasant evening.

Okay, so it had been more than pleasant. Over dessert they had relaxed around the patio fireplace. A small wood fire—Richard’s handiwork—had cast a cozy glow on the gathering as darkness fell in earnest, and Manda, barefooted and pleasantly tired, had curled up in a lounge chair. With Josh in a chair to her left and Richard in a chair to her right, Manda sat contentedly and allowed the conversation to unfold around her. Richard’s subtle probing was focused on David and Stacey this time, and both of them were much more forthcoming about themselves than Manda ever was. Richard was able to coax stories from them that Manda had never heard. He was very good at putting others at ease, getting them to relax and talk freely to him. He had a gift for making people feel good about themselves. Honestly, he made it difficult
not
to fall for him—which was something she couldn’t afford to do, the warning voice whispered a little more loudly. She shushed it, focusing instead on the smell of the fresh-cut grass, and stifled a yawn.

They’d stayed up much too late the previous night but no one had seemed inclined to end the evening and break the contented spell that had settled over them. Finally, shortly before two in the morning, Richard had checked his watch and exclaimed in chagrin.

“Is it that late already? I’m sorry, Manda! I didn’t realize. You must think us terribly rude. We’ve overstayed our welcome and I know you have to work in the morning.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve just made the executive decision to let David come in late tomorrow and to tell my best rockstar clients that they shouldn’t come by the office until
after
lunch to check out the progress we’ve made. So you see, there won’t be anyone to notice or care when I come in a little late.” She smiled serenely and made a show of snuggling into her lounge chair.

“Thanks, M. I promise you won’t see me until ten,” David vowed. He stood and stretched, then extended a hand to Stacey and pulled her up from her chair. “We’d better be going though. I didn’t realize it was so late either, and Stacey
does
have to work in the morning. You guys coming? We can drop you at the hotel.”

“Thanks,” Josh said. “That’d be great. Thanks for dinner, Manda. We’ll have to do this again sometime.” He leaned down to Manda and —startling her into immobility—brushed a light kiss onto her cheek.

Richard stiffened, looking as startled as Manda felt, and then he turned toward the fireplace with an unreadable expression. “If you’re ready to go in I can put this out for you.”

“No, I’ll take care of it. I think I’ll stay out here a bit longer. Thanks though.”

Richard turned back, a smile once again in place on his face. “Josh is right. We’ll have to do this again. Thank you. So, we’re on for lunch tomorrow?”

After they’d all gone, Manda lingered beside the fire, considering Josh’s kiss. Despite Richard’s assertion on that first day that Josh had been flirting with her, his behavior since then had been nothing more than friendly, laying to rest Manda’s worries on that subject. Even this kiss on the cheek, though it had caught her off-guard, had been no more than a brotherly peck. Manda thought perhaps Richard had been wrong. She hoped so.

Manda’s morning musings were interrupted by the arrival of her train. She’d timed her walk to the station perfectly, strolling up just moments before the train pulled in. She had slept in for a couple of hours, but she’d still left herself plenty of time to get to the office before David. She could take care of a few small things before Richard and Josh arrived for lunch, then after lunch the four of them could review the progress they’d made on the Raines Foundation project. A thrill of anticipation raced through Manda as she took her seat on the train. It was going to be a very good day.

The day turned out to be as enjoyable as Manda had expected. In fact, the next weeks were like a pleasant dream that Manda hoped she wouldn’t wake up from. Richard and Josh quickly became welcome fixtures around the Aronson office. The two men spent more and more time in the creative area every day, encouraged to make themselves at home by Manda and David. It was a natural development as the Raines project progressed, since it made it much more convenient to confer with the brothers when questions or concerns arose. Josh in particular
spent most of his time there, playing video games, watching television, and even napping on the sofa when he wasn’t needed. Richard was there much of the time as well, handling business over the phone or conferring with Jen about the Foundation. Occasionally Richard would have to leave to take care of other business, sometimes vanishing unexpectedly for several days at a time, but Josh would invariably stay behind. When this happened Manda sometimes detected a tense, disapproving undercurrent between the two brothers. Manda wasn’t sure what was behind the friction, but the two seemed to have a very close relationship otherwise, so she dismissed it as inconsequential.

Lunch together became the rule for the four of them, except now Manda let Richard and Josh pick up the check without complaint. In return she had the group over for dinner almost every weekend, cooking everything from all-American favorites like roast beef to Italian food to thick, spicy chili. Stacey would often help her in the kitchen, but David was hopeless when it came to cooking, and Richard and Josh were categorically banned from any form of food preparation. The three men were allowed to set the table or clear away the dishes afterward, but that was all. Sometimes dinner on Saturday night would be followed up by lunch on Sunday as well—sometimes with David and Stacey and sometimes without—and escaping to the seclusion of Manda’s backyard on the weekend became the norm.

Friday nights out together became fairly regular occurrences as well. They would often go out to dinner, concerts, or any number of the other activities available around the city. Concerts in particular were popular with Richard and Josh. They often sought out performances by up-and-coming local talent. Manda turned down the first few Friday night invitations, since Friday nights were her nights with Robbie and Katie. After the third time she turned them down, Richard suggested she bring her niece and nephew along the following week for pizza and go-cart racing.

Manda had been thrilled to accept this invitation—perhaps a little too thrilled, she worried—and the next Friday night, while David and Stacey headed out for an impromptu weekend in Las Vegas, Richard, Josh, Katie, Robbie, and Manda spent a lively evening together. Katie, still obviously starry-eyed over Josh, hung on his every word as he described to her and Manda the art opening they had attended the previous week. Richard and Robbie had gone off to play air hockey on the other side of the pizza parlor.

“Isn’t that the one you wanted to see, Aunt Manda?” Katie asked, and then admonished Josh. “You should have taken Aunt Manda. She loves that artist! She knew her when she was in college.”

“We did invite her,” Josh defended, smiling at the way Katie was championing her aunt’s interests, “but she couldn’t make it.”

“I had other plans that night. No big deal. Katie, could you please go get me a refill?” Manda held out her red plastic glass toward her niece. “Root beer.”

As it turned out, Manda hadn’t changed the subject quickly enough. Katie had gone online that weekend to learn more about the exhibit and noticed that the opening Josh had invited Manda to had been on Friday. Putting two and two together, she’d figured out that she and Robbie had been Manda’s “other plans,” and so two days after the discussion in the pizza parlor Manda found herself having a very different discussion in a different restaurant with her sister, Emily.

“We’ve talked it over with Katie and Robbie and we’ve decided they’re more than old enough to stay home alone for a while on Friday nights. We told Katie we’d pay her a little bit to keep an eye on her brother, so it’ll give her a chance to earn some extra spending money. It’ll free up your Friday nights too. We feel bad about interfering with your social life.” Emily had been adamant, despite Manda’s protests that she enjoyed spending time with Katie and Robbie.

“I know you do, and you’ll still see plenty of them, but you need friends your own age too,” Emily teased. And that had been that. Manda’s Friday nights were free and she happily joined in on the festivities with the others, glad
to have just that much more time in Richard’s company. She knew it was just wishful thinking on her part, but Richard seemed pleased that she would be joining them.

Chapter 9

T
he raven circled the house cautiously before finally lighting in the branches of a tree that stood sentinel over the back patio. The fire on the hearth had been extinguished and the girl had abandoned her chaise and gone inside.

How long had she lingered there after they had all left? The hotel wasn’t that far away, but the car and the highway were annoyingly slow and tedious. The return trip had been much more bearable. Black feathers ruffled in amusement. There was something to be said for traveling as the crow flies…or the raven.

The soft flutter of midnight wings was the only sound as the raven took flight. It sought out a perch on the opposite side of the house, near the girl’s window. Her blinds were closed but the bird landed on the brick ledge just outside the glass and listened with its head cocked to one side. All was quiet inside. Listening more closely, the raven could hear the girl’s deep, even breathing. She was asleep.

Who was this little girl and what game was she playing? Who was she after? She was very clever. She treated them both with friendly affection. Was she interested in either of them, and if so, which one? That was the one question that plagued the raven.

Josh certainly seemed very interested in her. He’d been as frequent a visitor to her house as the raven had, often forcing the black bird to keep a considerable distance away. Many nights the raven didn’t even bother to make the trek from downtown to the girl’s suburban neighborhood if it knew Josh had already headed that way.

For her part, the girl certainly seemed to enjoy Josh’s company. She hadn’t objected when he had kissed her at the end of his first dinner here. The raven didn’t trust that though. It could all be misdirection on the girl’s part. It was simply too soon to tell. They were all spending more and more time together. That meant more opportunities to watch, more clues, and more chances for the girl to make her true motives known. The raven could wait. It was very good at waiting. These girls always gave themselves away in the end, and when they finally showed their true colors, the raven handled them.

Chapter 10

T
hings were going blissfully well. Progress on the Raines Foundation project was excellent. Manda’s prediction that this would be some of their best work was proving true. Everyone involved was thrilled with the work that had been done so far. The first sour note came in early October from a different source—when the Fieldings project hit in earnest. Manda, David, and Jen had met with Curt and the Fieldings team at the beginning of September to come up with the theme for this year’s Halloween charity auction. It was late to begin the planning of such an undertaking, but it was the same short notice fire drill every year, which was one reason Manda disliked the project and one reason Jerry Fieldings was so insistent that Manda and her team take care of it. He knew that even with such last-minute time constraints, Manda’s team would come through with something spectacular.