Tame An Older Man

'How long do you think you'll be?'

'At the rate I'm going? Hours. Why don't you go on back to my balcony and see if you can get the cat yourself?'

That wasn't the plan! Phoebe looked at Frannie, who shrugged helplessly. 'I guess we can try,' Phoebe said. With luck, the cat would be too high or too low for them to reach.

Phoebe tried to take everything in, searching for clues to Wyatt's personality as she and Frannie headed for the French doors that led out to the balcony. But the apartment looked almost identical to the way it had before the elder Madisons had left-tastefully decorated, accented with a few souvenirs from their travels around the world. Wyatt hadn't put much of a stamp on the place.

When they stepped outside, a veritable jungle of plants greeted them. Helen had quite the green thumb, and she nurtured everything from ferns to cacti on her roomy terrace. They all looked happy and healthy, as if Wyatt was taking good care of them. He probably was, too, knowing how unhappy Helen would be if any of her darlings expired during her vacation.

Phoebe noticed a couple of new additions, two huge potted cactus plants. Then she spotted Igor perched in the top of a palm tree-at shoulder level, perfectly within reach of either woman. Rats. He mewed pitifully, and Frannie plucked him out of the tree and cuddled him. 'Oh, poor baby. Mama played a mean trick on you, didn't she, pushing you up that tree when she knew you'd get stuck. Let's go home and get a treat.'

'I guess we can't linger out here without arousing suspicion,' Phoebe agreed.

They stopped in the kitchen on the way out. Wyatt was still busily engaged with his plumbing. Well, at least they'd discovered he had a nice rear and a pleasant voice.

'Did you get the cat?' he asked.

'Yes,' Frannie said. 'May I bring you some brownies to thank you?'

'I didn't really do anything. Anyway, I'm allergic to chocolate, but thanks.'

Frannie and Phoebe looked at each other, but they were both out of ideas. 'Well, guess we'll leave,' Phoebe said. 'Unless you need help with that plumbing?'

'Got it covered, thanks.'

They left. 'Mission failed,' Phoebe murmured as she bid Frannie goodbye at the top of the stairs.

* * *

Wyatt just lay there under the sink for a few moments after the two women left. He'd been dying to get a look at the young one, Phoebe. He knew she was young because his grandparents had spoken endlessly of how beautiful she was, how nice, and how single. It was no secret they wanted him safely married off and providing them with great-grandchildren.

He'd always thought he wanted to get married someday, but someday had never come. He was thirty-nine but still in no hurry, not when he was on such a crucial rung of his career ladder, working sixteen-hour days to get 'Heads Up' off on the right foot. He especially wasn't interested in a platinum-blond beauty. The pretty ones were always trouble, their motives never to be trusted.

Still, Phoebe's voice had sent pleasurable chills up his spine. He couldn't be blamed for wanting to look.

When the plumbing job was finally finished, Wyatt took a moment to admire his handiwork. The kitchen faucet now ran hot and cold water at an appropriate volume without flooding the countertop. Satisfied, he grabbed a bottle of fruit juice as a reward and headed for his balcony. Since his move to Phoenix, he'd been stuck in the studio night and day. Now that he finally had a day off, he could appreciate the fine spring weather. What a switch it was from Chicago!

He sat down in one of the deck chairs and took a draw on his O.J. But relaxing didn't come easy to him. Never had. First he saw some brown leaves on one of his grandmother's ferns that had to be pinched. Then a spot of something orange on the balcony decking caught his eye. He picked up the small, soft, orange lump and sniffed it.

Smelled like fish. Cat food. Uh-huh.

Apparently Miss Phoebe felt the need for subterfuge in getting into his apartment. Apparently she believed that just introducing herself was too obvious.

He sighed, disappointed. Though why should Phoebe Lane be any different from every other attractive woman he met? It wouldn't matter how subtle her machinations. He couldn't, wouldn't, get her on TV.

* * *

Rather than traipsing back to her own apartment two doors down from Wyatt's, Phoebe went down to the second floor and knocked on Elise's door.

'Come in, it's unlocked,' Elise called. That seemed to be the policy around Mesa Blue. Everybody knew everybody-except Wyatt, of course-and since access to the building was controlled by twenty-four-hour security, the building had become its own small town. That was one of the reasons Phoebe had decided to move here. Her grandmother had left the condo to her in her will. Surprised and grateful-Phoebe had scarcely ever met her father's mother-she welcomed the opportunity to flee Hollywood and settle into Mesa Blue's warm, friendly environs.

She entered Elise's apartment to find her friend lounging on her sofa reading a Bride magazine and sipping coffee. Her light brown hair was up in a ponytail, and she wore gym shorts and a T-shirt, looking as if she'd just finished an exercise routine.

Elise smiled a welcome. 'Hey, get some coffee and sit down.'

Phoebe did just that. She loved Elise's apartment, with its comfy furniture and its eclectic collection of books, pictures and plants. It was the sort of apartment a college professor should live in, which was only fitting, since that's what Elise was. She taught French at ArizonaStateUniversity.

Phoebe was sad that Elise would be moving out when she got married in a few months, though happy her friend had found such a wonderful man in James Dillon.

'Any progress in checking out Wyatt Madison?' Elise asked.

'That's why I'm here. I've failed miserably. Although I can tell you he has a butt to die for.'

Elise's eyebrows flew up. 'Oh, really?'

'And a nice voice.'

'Maybe I shouldn't ask.'

'He had his head stuck under the sink, for gosh sake,' Phoebe said. 'Even Frannie couldn't lure him out. We've got to come up with a plan.'

Elise set aside the magazine. 'In that case…' She hopped up, went to her bookcase, and after a moment's perusal selected a large white paperback with blue lettering.

'Why didn't I think of that?' Phoebe said with a laugh, as Elise resumed her seat and started flipping through the book, 2001 Ways to Wed by Jane Jasmine. The book was a surprise hit with women all over the country, women who previously thought they were doomed to a life of loneliness. From Seattle to Miami, they claimed Ms. Jasmine's eminently sensible advice had helped them find husbands.

Actually, Elise was one of those women, although she hadn't actually been looking for a husband when she'd found James. She'd only been looking for a temporary escort to take her to a family wedding and pretend to be her fiance. She'd sought out someone in the Drama Department at the university, a professor who could act the part of a devoted fiance, and had found a millionaire, instead.

'This book actually has some wonderful advice,' Elise said.

'Any advice for luring a workaholic recluse from his lair?' Phoebe asked. 'I swear, if the Madisons didn't insist he was such a catch-so absolutely perfect-I wouldn't bother with him.'

'There's a whole chapter called 'Don't Forget Your Neighbors' on finding compatibility with the boy next door. Actually, that's the chapter that gave me the idea to go looking in the Drama Department. They're my neighbors at the university.'

Phoebe stretched her legs out, propping them on Elise's coffee table. 'Let's have it. What does Ms. Jasmine advise?'

''Sometimes the way to a man's heart is through his stomach,'' Elise read. ''Bake him a batch of welcome-to- the-neighborhood brownies.''