She turned away, but not before Kevin detected the sheen of tears in her eyes. He regarded her worriedly. “You don’t still have a thing for him, do you, Marianne?”
“Of course not,” she said with an obviously forced smile. “What kind of fool do you take me for?”
“Never a fool, sweetheart. But sometimes Cupid takes lousy aim.”
She didn’t have a snappy comeback for that, so Kevin decided to leave well enough alone. He waved and took off once more for Bobby Ray’s.
Again, though, his cousin wasn’t home. He’d probably guessed that Kevin would be gunning for him and decided to lay low until his cousin’s temper cooled. He couldn’t stay out of sight that long, Kevin thought grimly.
An image of Bobby Ray hitting on Gracie to make a deal behind his back fueled his black mood. He debated paying a visit to Gracie, but concluded she didn’t deserve to have to put up with his lousy company. Besides, she might actually cheer him up and then Bobby Ray wouldn’t get the full effect of his anger. Nope, better to let it simmer overnight and take his cousin on first thing in the morning, when he was still mad enough to strangle Bobby Ray with is bare hands.
“Max, how many times do I have to tell you? I am not coming back,” Gracie declared wearily. It was just past dawn in France and nearly midnight in Virginia. Not that she’d been asleep when he called. She was once again in the middle of a kitchen that looked like a war zone. “Fill my job. Eliminate it. Do whatever you want with it.”
“You are needed here.”
“There are other hotel executives who would kill to work for Worldwide and the legendary Max Devereaux.”
“I need you,” he repeated emphatically. “I am at a loss without you.”
“Only because you have no idea how to deal with the tradesmen in town or the staff. I’m sorry that the asparagus farmer refuses to deliver any longer, but there’s not a thing I can do about it from here.”
“Actually, there is one thing,” he suggested meekly. “You could call him.”
The meek tone was a nice touch, but she wasn’t moved. “Pierre refuses to install a phone. He uses the public one at the end of his lane when he needs to make a call.”
“What if there were an emergency?” Max demanded, clearly bewildered.
“I’m sure he’s taken that possibility into account. I never questioned him about it. He’s a very private man. You would know that, if you’d ever bothered to get to know him.”
“That’s true. I confess it. We made the perfect team, you and I. You know exactly how to handle everyone to keep the hotel running smoothly. I know how to keep it operating in the black. Things are falling apart without you here.”
There was a distinct note of panic in his voice that she’d never heard before. “Are you groveling, Max?”
The question silenced him for a full minute, before he sighed heavily. “Yes, I suppose I am.”
“Good,” she said happily. “It suits you.”
“Gracie, if begging will get you back here, I’ll beg.”
“It won’t, but thanks for trying.”
“Why not? What are you doing in Virginia that is so all-fired important?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“Okay. For once in my life, I’m doing exactly what I want to do.”
“What the devil does that mean?”
“I told you you wouldn’t understand. Bye, Max. Good luck with Pierre.”
He was still blustering—begging, she thought cheerfully—when she hung up. It made the fact that she had just ruined her fourth straight souffle almost bearable.
9
“Well, well, well, look what the wind blew in,” Jessie said as she was pouring Gracie a second cup of coffee at breakfast the next morning.
Gracie glanced up from her plate just in time to see Kevin coming through the door, the scowl on his face changing to a brilliant smile at Jessie’s greeting.
“Hey, doll, how’re you doing?” he asked, planting an enthusiastic kiss on her cheek. He ignored Gracie. “Any sign of Bobby Ray in here this morning?”
“Not today,” Jessie said. “Are you staying? Shall I bring you a cup of coffee? Maybe some scrambled eggs and grits?”
“Coffee sounds good, but I’ve already had breakfast.” He glanced at Gracie for the first time. “I’ll just slide in here and torment Ms. MacDougal for a while.”
“Thanks so much,” Gracie said when the waitress had gone. “Am I supposed to be honored that you’ve taken notice of little old me?”
He grinned. “Uh-oh, what has your drawers in a knot this morning, darlin’? You jealous because I kissed Jessie?”
“Don’t be absurd.”
“I could rectify the situation,” he offered, beckoning to her. “Lean across the table and meet me halfway. I’ve got plenty left over for you, if you’re interested.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, ignoring the little flare of excitement his taunt aroused. One of these days the flirting was going to end and he was going to follow through. She prayed she had the kind of resistance it would take to keep from falling for him.
“What brings you in here at this hour anyway?” she asked in an attempt to get the conversation onto safer turf. “Shouldn’t you be crawling into your hammock about now?”
“Not quite yet. I have a little business to take care of, as soon as I catch up with Bobby Ray. I thought he might be in here again.”
“Sneaking around behind your back, trying to finalize that deal with me?” she guessed.
“Exactly.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. I told you I had no intention of dealing with him.”
“And I know you meant it. I just want to be absolutely sure he got the message. I also have another message to deliver to him regarding his daughter.”
His expression was so fierce that Gracie was intrigued. “His daughter? What do you have to do with his relationship with his child?”
He gave her a terse and appalling summary of his cousin’s neglect. “He doesn’t figure he has to answer to Marianne or to
