She glanced over her shoulder and saw that the four men had stopped to wait for them.
“Now what?” said Harold Greer, the oldest trustee.
Cameron smiled. “We’ll just be a minute, gentlemen.”
Glaring at Cameron, Julia said, “Yes, it’s a maze.”
He pulled her closer to the gate and peered through. “This is amazing. Is there anything in the middle?”
She sighed. “A life-size chess set.”
Cameron turned. “You’ve got a life-size chess set in the middle of the maze?”
“That’s right,” she said defensively.
“With life-size chess pieces? Like French royalty or something?”
“Or something,” she said through clenched teeth.
“French royalty, they wish,” one of the other trustees muttered.
“It’s shrubbery, Duke,” Dave Saunders said with a sneer. “Get over it.”
Greer sighed. “Miss Parrish, is this going to take all day?”
Julia cringed. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Greer.”
Cameron’s eyes narrowed. From her tone and the surreptitious looks she’d been sending the tight-assed trustees for the past half hour, this wasn’t the first time she’d felt the need to either defend or recoil from her late parents’ supposed profligate style. And right then he wished she’d never set up this meeting. He wanted to sweep her up and carry her away from their hypercritical opinions and high-handedness.
In his years of dealing with these kinds of guys, Cameron had learned not to take them too seriously, especially when he was the one holding the purse strings. But Julia had grown up under the control of people like these men. They’d been in charge, running her life, making decisions. As strong as he knew her to be, she’d clearly never stood up to these men before. No wonder she was nervous.
“Excuse us for just a moment, gentlemen,” he said, then took hold of her hand and pulled her away, back around the bend of the thick wall.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked in a furious whisper.
After checking to make sure they were far enough away not to be overheard by the trustees, Cameron said, “Why are you trying so hard to impress these guys?”
“Their opinions are important.”
“They work for you,” he said, pointing at her. “They should be trying to impress you so they keep their jobs, but they’re not. What’s going on here?”
Her chest rose and fell slowly. “It’s not that simple, Cameron.”
“It
She shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, but they’ve worked for my family trust for years. If they think I’m spending money unwisely…”
“You’re not,” he insisted.
“And you’re not helping,” she added irately, folding her arms across her chest. “Going on and on about the maze and the stupid chess set. What was that all about? I need you to focus.”
“Trust me, I’m completely focused on the thought of chasing you naked through that maze.”
“Cameron.” Flustered, she peered around to see if he’d been overheard. “I’m trying to be professional here. These guys have never thought of me as anything but a frivolous trust-fund baby. Maybe I don’t need their support exactly, but I would like to have their respect.”
“Respect?” He frowned. It hadn’t ever occurred to him that his wife wouldn’t be respected anywhere she went. And that thought just pissed him off. “Okay, I’m going to share some insider information that I think will put everything into perspective for you.”
She scowled. “Oh, this should be good.”
“I don’t offer this sort of strategy to everyone, you know.”
“Just get on with it.” She tapped her foot. “They’re waiting for us.”
“Let them wait,” he said, then lowered his voice. “I’ve known Dave Saunders for years. I went to college with him and I’ve done business deals with his firm. If he has two drinks, he starts taking his clothes off and dancing. The guy’s got a gut on him that won’t quit, and he’s a bad dancer. Overbite, little fist pumps, the whole deal.”
She smothered a laugh. “Stop it.”
“I’m serious here. Just do me a favor-the next time he dismisses your opinion or makes you feel less than amazing, I want you to picture him in his baggy underwear, doing the hully gully. It’s not pretty. Will you promise me you’ll do that?”
“I hope it never comes to that,” she said solemnly as she tried to suppress another giggle.
“I hope not, too. But this is a tried-and-true business strategy. You’ll thank me for it later.”
She gazed at him, then gave him a quick hug. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He jerked his head toward the trustees. “Go give ’em hell.”
Taking a deep breath, she said, “I suppose you’re going to want to check out the maze after this.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You know I am.”
She cocked her head to look up at him. “And I bet you’d never get lost in a maze, would you?”
“Not a chance.”
“I didn’t think so.” She paused, then her eyes glittered with determination. “So he’s got the overbite going and everything?”
“Oh, yeah.”
With a quick nod, she said, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Like I said, I’ve got your back.”
Cameron watched as she composed herself, then turned and rejoined the trustees. She had once told him that she refused to play the poor little rich girl, but Cameron hadn’t known the half of it. She’d come from one of the richest families in the state, but she’d grown up lonely and starved for affection, living on a massive estate with no one to talk to but the hired help.
And she’d had to deal with snot-nosed lawyers like these guys her whole life. Men who thought they knew more than she did about everything. But they couldn’t be more wrong.
As Julia showed the trustees where she planned to plant the half-acre vegetable garden and the spot she thought would be perfect for a barn and petting zoo, Cameron realized he was going to have a good time watching her prove just how wrong they could be.
It had been several weeks since the meeting with the trustees. Julia had turned the museum plans over to a project management company, and while she still kept an eye on things at Glen Haven Farm, she was finally able to return to her early-morning baking schedule. The nanny showed up every morning in time for Julia and Cameron to go off to work. Some days, Cameron worked in his office at home, and on those days, Julia came home early and gave the nanny the afternoon off.
One afternoon, Julia arrived to find the house empty. It was sunny and warm, so she followed her instincts and walked through the kitchen to the sliding door that led out to the patio. Sure enough, her two men were in the pool.
Cameron was holding on to Jake who was wrapped securely in a bright yellow life jacket decorated with cartoon characters.
“Ready?” Cameron asked.
“Da-da-da-da!” Jake blubbered excitedly.
“One, two, three,” Cameron shouted, then bounced Jake on the water, causing a wave to form and splash against his daddy. Jake shrieked with laughter.
Julia laughed, too. The wave was tiny, but Cameron pretended to be drenched in water to make Jake laugh. Her two men looked so adorable together, her heart was in danger of melting.
Was it possible to be more in love than she already was?
“Oh, no,” she whispered. Her knees were suddenly weak, so she backed up and slid into the nearest patio chair. Her eyes began to tear up. It was just the bright sunlight, she thought. There was no way she could possibly be in love with Cameron Duke.
Oh, of course, she
