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Maybe she wouldn’t come back to him, but at least he’dfoundthecouragetoaskherto.Hehadstopped running away.
They were close now, close enough for Van to stop and signal Lancelot to sit. Both of them were planted squarely in the path of Mary, Guinevere, and six puppies. Then he couldn’t see anything but Mary, striding toward him, swaying in all the right places.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said. “Want to write a book about me?”
HefoundthepresenceofmindtosignaltoLancelot that he could move. Van’s heart pounded so hard he feltmorethanheardLancelotthrowingbackhishead in a hound-dog howl of delight as he leaped forward to nuzzle Guinevere.
“Van, what are you doing here?”
No, no, no. He couldn’t spot a single flash of welcome or happiness or any of the other expressions that would have set him to dancing a jig right here in Toronado’s Central Park. Her beautiful lips were drawnintoastraightlinethatcouldhavebeenhiding anything at all.
“I’ve come back into town for a few weeks, ironing out the last few details in the deal to sell Van Deventer Ventures.”
Ah, there it was, a tentative softening of her lips. Then her dimples popped out. Then a full-blown grin. The magic smile thawed something frozen inside him. She threw her arms around him, and time stood still.
She was warm in his arms, soft against his chest, fire against the mindless lower part of him that longed for her as much as his brain and his heart.
“Mary,” he murmured into her ear. “Mary.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” She pushed him away.
His arms ached with emptiness. His tongue yearned.
“Stay away from my ear,” she said. “Just tell me about your deal. I’m just surprised and so happy for you if the sale is on again.”
“Oh, that.” Her glowing scent, musky and uniquely Mary,hadsetoffmini-explosionsinhisbrain,turning it as mindless as his —
“Come on, you can’t tease me like that,” she said.
Tease. Oh, yes, he wanted to tease … He cleared his throat to give himself more time.
“I managed to work something out with Fred Andretti.”
“That same buyer. But how … ”
“It was your uncle’s doing. I owe him big time. He underbid to make sure he’d cater a birthday party Andretti was holding for his son.”
“That doesn’t sound like Uncle Brock. He’s pretty careful with the pennies.”
“Yeah,likeIsaid,Iowehim.Hewantedtodoalittle eavesdropping, a little snooping — ”
“That sounds more like Uncle Brock.”
Mary smiled again, and Van forgot what he was saying.
“Snooping?” she prompted.
“Oh,yeah,that.Brockhadallhiswaitstaffkeeping their ears open too. He found out Junior had thought he’drunthecompanyonceDadboughtit.Ididsome snoopingaroundtoo.Asusual,mybestsourceswere on my own shop floor. You can’t keep any secrets over there. It turns out Dad thought it would be disastrous to turn the company over to Junior, now at least. But he couldn’t bring himself to tell his son no and tell him why. That’s why Andretti pulled out of the deal altogether.”
Mary looked puzzled. “Isn’t that — ”
“Kind of stupid? Actually, yeah,” Van said. “But some of us can be kind of stupid for a while about running away from things we can’t face. Anyway, I sent out a few feelers to Andretti about me staying on as a consultant.”
“Oh, Van, no. You wanted to get away from all that.”
“Run away, you mean.”
“That’s not what I said.”
