“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.” Daniel took over the podium with an ease she could only envy, one hand sliding into his pocket and the other resting against her lower back to keep her from immediately turning for the privacy of the hall. “As you’ve asked many times for more details on the trust and will arrangements of my uncle’s estate, and given they will be public knowledge once signed by the judge, I’ve arranged for copies to be available today; please see my assistant, and she’ll be able to provide them for you. On behalf of the family I’d like to caution again that interview requests should come through the Benton Group if you want to have any chance of hearing a yes. We’ll be coordinating several over the course of the next two weeks. I thank you for your time and your patience; that concludes the press conference.”
He nodded toward the back, and the technician killed the microphone. Daniel offered a smile and whispered, “You just survived your first trip into the lions’ den.” He shook his head at the reporters beginning to crowd forward and gestured toward the side door. “What do you say to a few minutes of walking through the roses to relax?”
He had her through the crowd before she realized he’d maneuvered them through. Once out of the small auditorium she took her first deep breath and smiled at him. “Thank you, Daniel. I couldn’t have done that without you.”
“You did great.”
“Better than great,” Connor added, and she turned to see him behind her. “Security needs you out front, Daniel, something about a legal filing?”
“The tender offer was arriving today; thanks, Connor. Keep Marie company? I won’t be a minute.”
“Not a problem at all.”
Marie smiled at Connor and took the soda can he held out. “So I did okay?”
“Massacred them, Marie; though I thought that question about your dress was going to throw you.”
“She’s the fashion editor for the paper. I saw her early on and had prepared for that one. She’s one of the few reporters I at least knew by name.”
“Well, they all know yours now. I imagine there won’t be many quiet walks to the deli for coffee in the next few weeks without someone asking you a question about something.”
She drank her soda and just smiled at him. “That’s tomorrow’s problem.”
“Your nerves are gone again. I like that. My company seems to work wonders.”
“I think it’s called relief. I heard via the grapevine that it’s your day off. Why did you stay? I know you were going to give me a ride home, but Daniel could do that.”
Connor laughed. “And miss the biggest news event of the day?” He let her off the hook with a shift in the question. “As for the day off-I decided to spend it flirting with you. My grandfather is so far my only serious competition; I think I can take him.”
She blinked and laughed. “Find me another soda, okay? I’m parched. Then let’s enjoy the roses and walk paths that I apparently now partly own.”
“See, wealth is going to fit like a nice glove sooner than you think. You want another diet soda or something flavored?”
“Orange if they have it.”
Connor pointed to the bench by the trellis of climbing roses. “Sit over there. I don’t want to be losing you.”
“Sure.”
She watched him head back inside, and she turned toward the roses he had pointed out. It was lovely out here in the covered walkway. She was aware even as Connor left that she still wasn’t entirely alone. The man Daniel had introduced earlier as one of the Silver Security, Inc. staff was standing off to one side of the door, near enough he’d be between her and anyone coming through those doors who wasn’t on the cleared list. She smiled at him briefly, and he smiled back but stayed where he was at. She supposed she’d get used to that kind of quiet, polite watcher eventually. He looked deadly professional and had rather spooked her when first introduced; she’d noticed even Connor had given him a second glance to make sure he knew where the man was standing.
She walked around the trellis toward the waterfall. She was wealthy, she knew who her father was, and all those crazy if-only plans she’d thought of over the years were possibilities for her now. And she wasn’t ready for this. Tears wanted to fall for no reason at all, and she pulled in a deep breath and then another. She trailed her hand through the water cascading down carefully stacked rocks and smiled rather sadly at her own falling sense of joy. All her dreams come true but one, and she was too overwhelmed to take it in and enjoy the moment.
She turned away from the water.
Connor sat on the bench by the trellis, patiently watching her. The second soda she’d requested sat on the bench beside him, and he looked to about have finished the one he had gotten for himself. He smiled and held out a couple napkins. “Your fingers are going to turn blue; that’s practically ice water.”
“You explored it earlier?” she asked, taking the offered napkins.
“This entire place is an exploration wonder. Did you know Daniel has heated lamps under the bench seats so they stay nicely warm on cold winter days?”
“That I didn’t know.”
“The gardener told me. And there are butterflies released within the walkway to help the roses grow, though I don’t know about that rationale. I think they’re just pretty creatures to go with pretty flowers.”
She took a seat beside him on the bench.
“Want to spend the day exploring? This place, maybe drive out toward the lake and find some ducks to watch? You’re not dressed for walking far, not in those shoes, and there’s not a mall in the city that didn’t have a few hundred TV sets turned to that interview, so wandering in to get new footwear is probably not a good idea.”
“Peter’s going to be a while with the construction?”
“Even if he’s done, I bet a good portion of that reporters pool just moved to camp outside your gallery for your return home.”
“Daniel already asked me to stay for a late lunch.”
“Ask him to make it for dinner instead. He’ll understand. It’s not like you aren’t going to be seeing him just about every day for the rest of your life.”
She smiled. “An exaggeration, but there’s a point in there. I’d like to change, but I can do that at the gym where I keep a bag, rather than brave the construction work going on at the gallery.”
“Problem solved. Come on, Marie. Let’s blow this place and have some fun. It’s not every day you announce to the world you’re the luckiest lady around.”
“Tracey is too.”
“I guarantee she was watching that news conference and beaming with pride at your answers. She’s probably got Marsh entirely too flustered at her joy.”
“They’re coming home early, she said. They’ll be back tomorrow midday.”
“Yeah, I talked to Marsh last night a few minutes after you did.” Connor got to his feet and held out his hands. “Today there’s no more business to deal with, just time to let it settle.”
She slid her hands into his, wishing she understood this man and why he was willing to be the counterbalance to the craziness she had going on in her life. As far as she could tell he was doing it because he wanted to, and that hadn’t often happened in her life with guys. And on him the money wasn’t sticking as a fascination or a problem, and that just didn’t fit.
“You’re wealthy, Connor, aren’t you? That’s why all this kind of slides past you as no big deal.”
He smiled. “I’m a cop, Marie. No one gets wealthy on what the city pays.”
“You’re ducking the question.”
“My grandfather owns a few of the buildings we passed today; would that do? I’m not wealthy, but there’s enough to do what I want, and beyond that, money isn’t something I particularly worry about. Though I admit your cousin probably holds a few of the family pennies in that investment pool he manages. My grandfather was never a man to let a building project go by without betting a couple bucks on its success.”
“You’re one of those guys who drives a pickup truck, hunts on weekends, watches NASCAR races, and has a couple million sitting in the bank?”
He laughed. “Watching the NASCAR races I’ll admit to. Quit trying to figure me out-my mom hasn’t done it in thirty-odd years-and just take what you see as what you get. There really isn’t a lot of layers to figure out.”
“Right, and I’m a natural in front of cameras.” But she smiled. “I’ll quit trying so hard if you promise tomorrow I can wipe away all the embarrassing points of today and you’ll kindly forget they happened. I get too chatty after a morning like this one.”
