So Much Trouble When She Walked In (6 page)

“What
is it?  Tell me.”  Silken dumped the tray on top of the piano and rushed over
to peer at the computer screen. “What are you so excited about?  I don’t see
anything.”

“There. 
Look at it.”  Suave pointed at row after row of names, the font so tiny you had
to squint to read them.

“What?”
 Silken's voice rose with frustration.  She plopped down on the chair and stuck
her face close to the screen.  “You’d better start talking before I shake it
out of you.  What the hell are you seeing that I’m not seeing?”

“Don’t
you see?”  Suave was hopping from one foot to the other now, like she was
hardly able to contain her excitement.  "It’s right there.  Our names.”

And
that was when Silken saw it.  In tiny print, right in front of her nose,
“Silken McCullen.  Suave McCullen.  Monday, September twenty-three, seven p.m. 
Live births.  University of Wisconsin Hospital.”  Her eyes snapped from the
screen to Suave’s flushed face then back to the screen.  “Oh, my God,” she
breathed, “that’s us.  That’s really us.  How the heck did you find this?”   

“I
don’t know.  I mean, I’ve searched this database so many times I’d given up
hope.  I…I…” She was stuttering now, still flashing her hands, and Silken had
to reach up and grab the tail of her shirt to still her agitated movements.

“Calm
down, Suave.  We have to think this through.”  She turned her attention back to
the screen.  “Okay, so we finally figured out exactly where we were born.  Now
how do we go from here to finding the woman who gave us birth?”

***

Max
took another sip of his lemonade and leaned back in the lounge chair.  It was a
good thing he was wearing sunglasses because the light reflecting off the
shining water in the pool was near blinding.  Relaxing into the shade, he
shifted the cell phone to his other ear.  “When is he going to be here?”

“Two
weeks from today,” his brother said, “and it’s about time.  I’ve been inviting
that kid to come chill in California for almost two years now.  What is it with
London?  He just can’t tear himself away.”

“Our
kid brother’s a workaholic.  That’s the problem.”

Duke
chuckled.  “Good thing he loves what he does.  At least he’s having fun on the
job.”

“Yeah,
who wouldn’t?” Max asked, his tone sardonic.  “He chose the fashion industry so
he could surround himself with scores of beautiful models.”

“Do
I detect a note of envy?” Duke asked, ribbing Max.  “I haven’t seen any
beautiful women on your arm lately.  You’ve got to get with the program, big
bro.”

“Don’t
you worry about me,” Max countered.  “What about you?  I don’t see you looking
like you have any significant other in your life.  What’s up with that?”

Duke
groaned into the phone.  “Too busy with the business,” he said, then gave a
grunt.  “And too soon.  I’m not ready for the dating game.”

“Aw,
come on.  It’s been almost a year since you and Amy broke up.  When are you
going to move on?”

Duke
sighed.  “After what she did to me, I don’t know if I can ever trust a woman again. 
Lying, cheating-”

“All
right, let’s not go there.  You found out in time to cancel the engagement
before she got her claws on your money.  Give thanks little brother.  Things
could have been worse.”

“Yeah,
I know.”  There was a pause as if Duke was deep in thought.  Then he spoke
again.  “But it still hurts, you know?”

“Yeah,
I know,” Max said, his voice quiet.  “Been there, done that.”

There
was another pause, a longer one this time, then Duke broke the silence by
changing the subject.  “Have you heard from Mom and Dad?”

“Yeah,
they’re back home in the Cayman Islands.  They say the cruise was great.”

Duke
gave a sigh. “Oh, to be retired on an island with nothing to do but tour the
world.”

Max
chuckled.  “You’d hate it and you know it.  You’d be bored out of your wits.”

“Yeah,
you’re right.  With all that time on my hands I’d be yanking my hair out, just
for something to do.”

Max
could relate to that.  “Me, I’ll be working on new projects till the day I
die.  Can’t see myself doing otherwise.”

“I
feel you.”

Max’s
phone began to buzz.  He glanced at the screen.  “Listen, I’ve got to go.  My
project manager's calling in.”

“Okay,
no problem.  Catch up with you later.”  With a click, Duke was gone.

Immediately,
the second call came through.  “I’m here,” Max said, his voice brusque.  “Talk
to me.”

"Mr.
Davidoff, something’s come up,” Frank Slater said, his tone anxious, "and
it’s not good.” 

***

It
took Silken and Suave four more days of research before they made any more
progress in their hunt for information.  “Doctor Raul Pintero,” Silken said,
feeling like this was almost unreal.  “That’s our doctor.  The man who brought
us into this world.”

“Raul
Pintero.”  Suave repeated the name, her voice soft and breathless.  “Wow.” 
Then she dropped her armful of laundry in the middle of the sofa and pulled up
a chair beside Silken.  “He’s the key to this mystery, Silken. If we find him,
we’ll find
her
.”

Suave’s
emphasis on the last word was not lost on Silken.  “Our mom,” she said
reverently, staring unseeing at the screen in front of her.  Her eyes glazed
over as her thoughts played the scene in her head, the scene she’d imagined
ever since she was a little girl.  Their mother, seeing them for the first time
since their separation, holding her arms out to them, tears in her eyes.  “I’m
sorry, so sorry,” she would sob and it would be tears of sorrow and of joy
because she would be so relieved to have them back in her life.

And
they would forgive her for everything, for giving them up at birth, because
there would be a good reason for her action.  There had to be.  And she and
Suave would understand.  And from that point they’d be a family again.

“Silken,
are you listening?”

Suave’s
voice jerked her out of her reverie.  “What?”

“Where
is he, this Doctor Pintero?  How soon can we talk to him?” 

“Oh,
uh, yeah.”  Silken blinked, half dazed.  She looked at the screen again. 
“There’s no contact information but I’m sure we can find him.  We’ll start at
the hospital.  He’s probably still there.”

Suave
gave her a look tinged with doubt.  “I don’t know, Silken.  Twenty-four years
is a long time.”

Silken
shook her head.  “It’s not that long, not for a doctor.  Lots of them work well
into their seventies.”  She bit her lip.  “Hopefully, he was a fairly young man
when he delivered us.”

“Yeah,”
Suave said, her brows creased in a tiny frown, “hopefully.”

CHAPTER
SIX

Almost
a week and a half passed by before Max’s hectic schedule slowed down enough for
him to breathe.  After what Slater had sprung on him that day he was lucky he
hadn’t suffered a stroke or worse.  After investing millions in having the
racetrack built, to be told they hadn’t secured all the necessary licenses?  That
they may have to abandon the project?  Jesus!

He’d
had to jump in and take the matter in hand himself, even going so far as to
gain audience with the California Racing Commission.  His meeting paid off.  Of
the eight objections to the construction, five of them were resolved there and
then.  But they weren’t out of the woods yet.  Three more to go…

And
in the midst of his dilemma there was one thought that never left his mind - he
wanted to see Silken McCullen again.

As
he sat in his office looking out the window at the highway in the distance he
smiled wryly to himself, realizing how dumb he was being.  The woman had made
no attempt to contact him, not once since they’d parted almost three weeks
earlier, even though he’d given her his card.  She’d probably forgotten he even
existed.  But here he was like a lovesick teenager, pining over her.

Max
chuckled.  Pining was probably too strong a word.  Thinking about her.  Yeah,
he’d give himself that.  He’d been thinking about her these past few weeks and
now that things were just barely beginning to get back to normal he definitely
wanted to see her again.  He picked up the phone and dialed her number.

Silken
picked up on the second ring.  “Steady Auto.  Silken speaking.”

“Hello,
Silken.  It’s Max.  How are you?”

There
was a gasp, very subtle, a soft intake of breath, but he heard it…and he took
it as a good sign.

“Max. 
It’s…great to hear from you.  How have you been?”

“Good. 
Just busy.  And you?  You’re fine?”

“I’m
fine,” she said, her voice stronger now that she’d gotten over the surprise of
his call.  “Just trying to stay out of the heat, but hard to do when you’ve got
cars to work on.  That’s why I stick my head as far under the hood as I can.” 
She laughed, sounding more like her confident self.

“We
just touched June.  I can imagine how you’re going to sweat when we get to
July.”

“Excuse
me?  I don’t sweat, I would have you know.  I perspire.”

Her
dramatically indignant tone made him laugh.  “My apologies, ma’am.  Let me make
it up to you.  If you can take a break from work there’s a new Japanese
restaurant in town I want to check out.  They have an indoor waterfall, perfect
for calming the spirit.  Very Zen.  Want to come?”  Then he threw in the coup
de grace.  “Air conditioned, of course.  Perfect, after a day of baking in the
sun.”

“Ooh,”
she moaned, “sounds good.  I wonder if I can…” She paused, as if thinking. 
“I’m sorry,” she said, the regret clear in her voice, “I don’t think I can get
away.  We have a client picking up her car in an hour.  I have to be here to
make sure everything’s just right.”

“So
your team can’t get the job done without you?” he asked, amused.  “No-one’s
indispensable, you know.”

“I
know,” she said with a sigh, “but that’s just me.  The eternal perfectionist.” 
There was another pause then she said, “Hey, I have an idea.  What if I swing
by your office when I’m done here, around three o’clock or so?  I’ll pick you
up and we can have a late lunch.  That is, if it fits into your schedule.”

He’d
planned to make it an early evening, chill and catch a ball game or two on the
tube, but what the heck.  Spending the evening in the company of a beautiful
woman would beat that any day.  Especially if that woman was Silken McCullen.

“I
can make it happen.  You’re sure you want to drive all the way out here,
though?  We can do this closer to your place.”

“I
don’t mind the drive,” she assured him.  “In fact, I enjoy it.  I love hitting
the highway.  Sometimes you’ve gotta blow out the car a bit.”

That
put a frown on Max’s face.  “Just as long as you drive carefully,” he said, his
tone stern.  “And no speeding.”

“Yes
sir, Mr. Davidoff, sir.  I’ll be good.”

Silken’s
cheeky response put a smile on his lips.  “So I’ll see you sometime after three
o’clock?”

“Three-fifteen,”
she said.  “It won’t take me long to get there.”

“Make
it three-thirty,” he replied.  “I’m in no hurry.”  He kept his tone casual even
though he was really looking forward to seeing her.  Of course, he wouldn’t
tell her that.  He hardly even wanted to admit it to himself.

After
they’d hung up Max went out into the lobby to have a word with his new
receptionist.  He had already hired an office manager, a marketing executive
and a sales manager, all of whom would be starting in the coming week and would
be hiring staff members of their own.  The receptionist, though, he’d told to
get started right away.  He had no time to be manning phones.  He had a
business to establish.

He
breathed a sigh of relief every time he thought of Davidoff Cosmetics, his
flagship business.  He had to thank his lucky stars he had a cadre of competent
managers.  They didn’t need him getting involved in the day-to-day operations
of the company.  That left him free to pursue other interests, like this one.

After
he’d assigned Mrs. Redman her tasks for the afternoon Max hopped into his car
and headed out to the offices of Dundix and Crawford.  Before they could tie
things up they had to get the matter of the outstanding licenses resolved. 
Only then would he rest easy.  Billionaire or not, sinking three hundred
million into an investment only to then be forced to abandon it would be a
major financial loss and a bitter pill to swallow. 

Normally
he would have had his deputies handle such matters but this time it was
important enough for him to tackle the issue himself.  When he’d launched Davidoff
Cosmetics and until he’d formed a team he could trust he’d been very much a
‘hands-on’ CEO and now, with this new business, he planned to do the same. 
When it was up and running smoothly he would hand it over to the team but
definitely not before.

He
didn’t have an appointment with Dundix and Crawford.  He didn’t need one.  They
knew how critical his situation was, so they were treating his case as a
priority.  They’d better, with all the money he was paying them.

But
when he got there the senior partner, Carl Dundix, was not in.

“He’s
had to step out but he’ll be back shortly,” the attorney’s secretary told him. 
“But Ms. Crawford is here.  Would you like to speak with her?”

“It’s
okay,” Max said, pulling out his iPhone.  “I’ll wait.  I need to speak to both
of them.  Together.”

The
woman nodded and ushered him into the visitors' lounge.  “Please,” she said,
her voice soft and her smile pleasant, “make yourself comfortable.  May I get
you something?  Tea or coffee?  Water?”

Max
settled into the sofa and shook his head.  “Nothing, thank you.”

The
woman gave him another nod and then she was gone.

As
he waited Max made full use of his time, conferencing with his offices in New
York, London and Sidney, making sure all his operations were running smoothly. 
He got so involved in his discussions that he was shocked when he glanced at
the time and realized he’d been sitting in the lounge almost an hour.  He
frowned.  Had Dundix’s secretary forgotten him?