The older woman waved the white florist card under her nose. “You’re being wooed by the lecher.” Emma perched her hands on her hips and stared, daring Rina to disagree.
“You mean Colin?” she asked too innocently.
“You mean Colin?” Emma parroted. “Very funny. Stan’s sending you flowers. I told you the man was a lecher. Proclaiming his interest in me one minute, showering you with roses the next.”
“They’re wildflowers, not roses.”
“Same difference.”
“Not in price,” Rina said. “And you were snooping.” She snatched the card out of Emma’s hand.
?
??And your lipstick’s smudged, which means you were fooling around. How many men are you juggling, anyway?” The older woman sniffed and Rina stifled a laugh.
Placing an arm around Emma’s shoulders, Rina led her back inside and to her chair before easing her into her seat. “You, Emma Montgomery, are jealous. J-E-A-L-O-U-S. Because Stan’s showing interest in someone else after you turned him down.”
“Ridiculous.”
“Correct,” Rina challenged. “And you know good and well Stan’s a smart man. He knows you work beside me, knows you can’t keep your eyes or ears to yourself. And he knows you’ll find out he sent me flowers and work yourself into a frenzy. Which you did.” She clucked her tongue at her elderly friend. “Tsk, tsk, Emma. You shouldn’t be so predictable. Men need a woman to be fickle and impulsive.” Unable to help it, Rina burst out laughing. “Come on, Emma. Just go out with the man.”
“What if it’s a setup?”
Rina understood what her friend meant. What if her son, the infamous Judge Montgomery, had asked Stan to keep an eye on Emma? And what if she was her usual, capricious, whimsical self and her son used it against her? “I can’t imagine a son of yours could be so underhanded.”
Realizing how many stunts Emma had pulled in the name of matchmaking, Rina shook her head. “Scratch that. But I can’t imagine he’d be that cruel. Besides, Logan wouldn’t let that happen.” She patted Emma’s hand. “The man’s a lonely widower. And you’re in need of the same companionship.”
No matter how old Emma was in years, she was young in heart and spirit. And she deserved to have some happiness in her later years.
“Give Stan a chance,” Rina said.
“If you do the same,” Emma challenged, a gleam in her warm, blue eyes.
“Excuse me?” Somehow Emma had caught her unprepared.
“You open your mind to Colin and I’ll do the same for the lecher.”
“His name’s Stan and you’d better remember that before you call him that horrible name to his face.”
Emma shook her head. “Quit changing the subject.”
“Which is?” Rina asked.
Emma leaned closer, whispering so only Rina could hear. “It’s simple. You trust, I’ll trust.” The older woman shrugged.
Colin chose that moment to reenter the room. Both her body and her heart reacted, proving that when it came to Colin, nothing was simple. Everything was up for grabs. Including, she feared, her heart.
IN ANOTHER ATTEMPT to initiate changes at the Times, Colin sat in Logan’s office, located on the waterfront overlooking the ocean. Even in the wintertime, the view took his breath away. The weather had been cold, snow covered the ground and ice replaced the formerly frothing and churning waves.
“Sorry, I had a phone call that ran long. How are you?” Logan strode into his office and shut the door behind him.
“Surviving.” Colin clasped his friend’s hand and sat back in his chair.
“So, my secretary tells me this is a business visit. What can I do for you?” Instead of sitting behind his desk, Logan joined his friend in one of the guest chairs. His down-home charm was what the world loved about Logan Montgomery, Colin thought. He shook his head. “You would have made a fine politician, you know.”
“And made myself miserable in the process. Nothing’s worth that, my friend.” Reaching over, Logan grabbed for a picture on his desk and turned it facing them. “Now, this is what gets me up in the morning.”
A picture of his wife, Cat, their son, Ace, and infant daughter, Lila, on a beach blanket stared back at Colin. “You are one lucky son of a bitch.”