“Yeah. He’s a great guy. A real clown. And I’m firing him tomorrow for not showing me enough respect.”
“Don’t you dare.”
Chuckling to show he was only kidding, he led her into an airy foyer done in light woods and polished marble. A curving staircase led to an open gallery area, and a brass-and-crystal chandelier gleamed overhead. It wasn’t opulent, but warmly welcoming, she decided. “Did your grandmother decorate?”
He shook his head. “I had everything redone after her death. She preferred darker colors and heavy antiques.”
Blair wondered if Scott had contributed to the new look or if he’d simply left everything in a decorator’s hands. “It’s lovely.”
“Thank you. Oh, Margaret, there you are. This is my friend Blair Townsend. Blair, Margaret O’Connell, the treasure of my life.”
Margaret appeared to be in her late fifties. Her hair was a faded red mixed liberally with gray, her skin was lined and freckled, and she was almost as broad as she was tall. Her smile was wide and friendly, and her blue eyes were kind behind the thick lenses of her glasses. “How do you do, Ms. Townsend?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. O’Connell. Scott has spoken very highly of you.”
“He’s a sweet boy,” she responded fondly, patting Scott’s cheek with her chubby hand as though he were no older than Jeffrey. “And, please, call me Margaret. Everyone does.”
Blair liked the woman immediately. It wasn’t hard to tell why there had been so much affection in Scott’s voice when he’d mentioned her.
“Dinner’s ready whenever you’d like to eat, Scott,” Margaret added, her tone easily familiar. “I’ll keep it warm if you and Ms. Townsend would like to have a cocktail before dining.”
Scott looked inquiringly at Blair. She smiled and shook her head. “Actually, I’m starving,” she admitted. “Lunch was a hot dog at the rodeo arena, and that was hours ago.”
“Then allow me to escort you to the dining room,” he said, offering his arm.
She hesitated only a moment before slipping her hand beneath his arm. Before Scott had picked her up, she’d made a decision to keep him at a distance this evening. The kisses had to stop, she had told herself, before they led to something that couldn’t possibly end well.
Seeing him at the rodeo had only underscored how very different their lives were. And while she didn’t want to interfere with the bond that had formed between Jeffrey and Scott, she had also vowed to be somewhat more careful about letting her nephew be influenced by Scott. Although Scott had made a success of himself since his time at Lost Springs, his was certainly not a life-style Blair wanted Jeffrey to emulate.
They had just stepped into a wide hallway when a woman in a wheelchair glided toward them from the other end. The woman was probably in her mid-forties, fair-haired and light complexioned. She seemed to have full use of her body from the waist up, but her legs were stick thin and obviously useless. She smiled when she caught Blair’s eyes. “You must be Blair Townsend. I’m Carolyn Roberts. We spoke on the phone.”
“Of course. It’s nice to meet you.”
Scott released Blair to rest a gentle hand on Carolyn’s shoulder. “This place would literally fall apart without Carolyn. She keeps us all in line.”
“Speaking of which,” Carolyn replied, “will you please make time to meet with me tomorrow, Scott? We have to look over those papers and I absolutely must have some decisions and signatures from you.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Promise me, Scott,” she insisted, unconvinced.
He sighed. “I promise. How about one o’clock? Right after lunch.”
She nodded in satisfaction. “I warn you, if you don’t show, I’ll come looking for you. And it won’t be pretty when I find you.”
“I’ll be there,” he repeated. “Jeez, what a grouch.”
Unoffended by his good-natured gibe, Carolyn glanced apologetically at Blair. “I’m sorry to interfere with your evening, but he
’s here so rarely, I have to corner him whenever I get the chance. If he would come home a bit more often, there wouldn’t be so many crises to take care of at once,” she added pointedly.
So Scott was neglecting his responsibilities when he took off on his reckless adventures, Blair thought without surprise. And he was mistaken about something else, as well—there would be people who grieved if something happened to him. It was obvious that Jake and Margaret and Carolyn cared about him. And they depended on him. She imagined they worried about his dangerous behavior more than he suspected.
All the more reason for her not to get too deeply involved with him, she reminded herself.
“Are you joining us for dinner?” Blair asked Carolyn, thinking her presence would diffuse some of the awareness between Scott and herself.
But Carolyn shook her head. “I’ve already eaten, thank you. I was just on my way to my rooms to relax a bit before bedtime.”