Worthy Opponents(28)

“I’ve got to go. You can stay if you want,” she said. “I’ll be fine. There’s nothing you can do. The fire department is there.”

“Is it bad?” He looked concerned, but not panicked.

“I don’t know. I hope not.”

“You don’t mind if I stay?”

“No, don’t worry.” She patted his shoulder, nodded at the blonde, and hurried back to her side of the table to say goodbye to Mike. She was in a rush. “Thank you so much for a wonderful evening, and for keeping your promise.”

“Come on,” he said swiftly, “I’ll walk you out. Do you have a driver here?” She shook her head as she half ran beside him in the high heels.

“Take mine,” he said quickly.

“No, really. I’ll take a cab.”

“Are you sure?” She nodded, and he hailed one for her and helped her into it, in the long gown and high heels. “I had a great evening talking to you,” he said. “Now go. I hope everything will be okay.” But it was a very old building, with lots of wood and full of flammable garments. He was worried for her and the store as the cab pulled away, and he walked back inside, thinking about her. She was nothing like he’d expected. He had imagined a dragon from her stern refusals, and she had turned out to be a lamb, in wolf’s clothing perhaps, but she was clearly a good person, dedicated to her children, her business, and her grandfather’s legacy. He understood much better now why she was afraid of investors who might try to take the store from her. She was the keeper of the flame, the guardian of the holy grail her grandfather had left her. They hadn’t talked business all night, but he understood her now, and he liked her immensely. He admired her, which made him even more interested in her store. She was an intriguing woman, of many facets, and great competence he could guess.

The party lasted for another hour, with speeches and thanks and an explanation of the plans for the new program, and then they all got up and the party ended. Mike noticed that Bill left with the blonde, and he had a feeling that Spencer wouldn’t have cared, or at least he hoped not. He had already made a quick assessment that Bill wasn’t worthy of her. She was an amazing woman, and he didn’t deserve her. He seemed like an ordinary guy with nothing special about him.

Maureen made a dry comment in the car on the way home. “You seemed to be having a good time with the girl in the gold dress.”

“It was business. We’ve been researching investing in her company.” He didn’t explain that she owned Brooke’s. He didn’t feel he needed to. Maureen was never interested in his business. “She doesn’t want us to invest, she’s afraid she’ll lose control.”

“Smart girl,” Maureen said, and lost interest in the subject, as he wondered how bad the fire was, and hoped it was only a minor scare. They went to their respective rooms when they got home, having said good night in the hall.

“Thanks for going with me,” Mike said, and she just looked at him and nodded and closed the door a minute later to what was now her bedroom, and no longer theirs.





Chapter 6


Spencer gave the cab driver an extra twenty dollars for getting her home as fast as he could. She paid him and raced inside to change out of her evening clothes. Francine and the boys were asleep as she pulled on jeans, a warm sweater, and running shoes, and raced out again, hailed another cab, and was at the store minutes later. There was gray smoke coming from the roof, which Beau explained meant the fire was in the process of being put out. The fire had been on the top floor that held the restaurant, some of the offices, and the lower-priced department. But there were also locked storerooms where the staff kept some high-priced goods. As well as fire damage, Spencer was worried about water and smoke damage, which could be just as bad.

Marcy and Beau had come, and they stood on the sidewalk with Spencer, talking to the fire chief. He said that the fire had started in the kitchen, possibly an electrical fire, or someone had left something on when they closed the store for the night, and it had burned slowly for hours and then burst into flames. The firefighters weren’t sure of the cause yet. The store had lost merchandise. The question was how much. It was too soon to know. The three of them, Spencer and Marcy and Beau, huddled together, waiting for news, and wanted to go inside to assess the damage, but the firefighters said it was still too dangerous to go in, and the fire could become more active again. The risk was not entirely over.

The homeless people who clustered around the store at night had been scattered by the police and had taken refuge elsewhere. It was a grim scene as the charred furniture from the restaurant was thrown onto the street, and the firefighters were still inside hosing things down and causing more damage, although for a good cause. They had to be sure the fire was out and wouldn’t reignite. Spencer looked grim as a cab stopped near where they were standing, and a tall man in jeans and a baseball jacket with disheveled black hair got out. Spencer saw immediately that it was Mike Weston. He headed toward her with a serious expression. The other two didn’t know who he was, but he was a striking-looking man, and it was obvious that Spencer knew him. Beau raised an eyebrow questioningly at Marcy, and she gave a small shrug. She didn’t recognize him either.

“How’s it going?” the man asked Spencer in a warm tone of concern, as though he knew her well. He felt as though he did now, and this was an intensely personal moment of fear and worry for her.