Peggy didn’t want to go there. “You know, I want to pay you for your work with the dog. More than just some scrambled eggs.”
“Okay. I’ll have my accountant send you a bill. Are we going to talk about the dog every time it starts getting personal?”
She had a good mind to ask him to leave. He was smart-mouthed and intrusive. Instead, she stirred a little more sugar into her already sweet tea. “I was married for thirty years. He was killed two years ago. I guess I’m used to people knowing everything about me. I don’t like to dredge up the past.”
“Fair enough. We won’t dredge. How about showing me around your beautiful home?”
She took him on a quick tour. Now that they’d eaten, she was nervous. He made her uncomfortably aware of herself. What did he want from her anyway? She was seven years older than him. He had to realize it. Part of her wished he’d leave and she’d never see him again. The other part of her wanted so much more.
Most of the twenty-five rooms in the house weren’t being used. She pointed out her bedroom, glad the door was closed, then hustled him down the main staircase. “I have my laboratory in the basement.”
“Like Frankenstein?”
She laughed. “I suppose so.”
“Would we have to start talking about the dog again if I ask to see it?”
“No. I take people down there all the time.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Yes. But do they ever come back?”
She couldn’t resist spending a few more minutes with him. He was as enthusiastic about her plants as she could’ve wanted him to be. He asked questions and paid attention, even when she described her work as “natural selection or genetic modification that remains within the natural bounds of cross-pollination.”
She realized she was rambling beyond what a layman could grasp and started talking about her night- blooming rose. She showed him the water lily, pleased when he bent his head and smelled it. Even more so when his tie dangled in the water, and he didn’t make a fuss. The lights gleamed on his dark hair.
“You know, I was surprised to see you here.” She tried to make normal conversation, worried he’d think she was all compost and hybridization. “How did you know where I live?”
“It wasn’t too hard.” He looked at a big red hibiscus. “I knew your name. You’re listed in the phone book, address and all. Why? Did you think I was secretly an FBI agent?”
“No. Of course not! Just wondering. I’m incurably suspicious.”
“You probably should be.” He smiled at her in a way that made her skin tingle. “You live alone. Someone could take advantage of you.”
Peggy led the way back upstairs to the foyer. Steve marveled again at the size of the tree. “You do decorate it for Christmas, don’t you?”
“I have in the past,” she answered. “Not the last two years, since . . .”
“Your husband died?” he guessed.
“Yes.” She lifted her head. He might as well know the worst of it. “I didn’t want to do it without him.”
“I think that’s understandable.” He nodded as he walked around the tree again. “But if you decide to do it this year, I’ll be glad to give you a hand.”
“Thanks.” She hesitated, wanting to ask him to stay for more tea. Feeling she should let him leave right away. More confused than she’d been since she was a teenager. “Can I ask when I can pick up the dog without you making a big deal out of it?”
“Of course.” He slipped his arms into his jacket. “I wanted to keep him overnight to be sure he was okay. You can pick him up tomorrow. Or I can bring him by.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to do that. I’ll pick him up. Thanks.”
“That’s fine. I’ll try to have your bill ready. Or you could make me dinner again.”
Peggy picked a spot on the wall and stared across his shoulder. It helped not to look into his gorgeous eyes. Why did she think he was so ordinary? “I think I should pay you. You are a professional. And you’re in business to make money.”
He took a step closer to her. “I’m also a man who’d like to spend more time with you, Peggy. If we can get past talking about the dog. Or not. Either way, I’d like to see you again.”
She could hardly breathe. Her voice squeaked when she replied, “I’d like that, too.”
“Great. We’ll work with that.” He put his hand on her arm and lightly kissed her cheek. “Good night, Peggy.”
“Good night, Steve.”
She rested her head against the door after it closed behind him. She was as light-headed and weak-kneed as she’d been when she found Mark Warner’s body. “I guess that says it all!”
Her answer was to bury herself in her work. The phone rang while she was grafting some of her water lily to her rose, humming “Till There Was You” from
“Mom? Are you all right? You sound kind of breathless. Have you been running?”
“Just to answer the phone. I was in the middle of an experiment.”
“I’m calling because Clarice Weldon tracked me down. She said there was a strange man going into the house with you, and she was worried. She thought I should know.”
