If The Shoe Fits (32 page)

Luke’s grin got even bigger. “I think I’ve got
that part figured out. Casteleoni’s is going to take some more
effort, though. That’s where I’m hoping you’ll come in.”

Staci nodded and grabbed his arm. “Please
help, Giac.”

Staci
was asking for his help? Weird
had just gotten weirder. And maybe, just maybe, that meant this
could work.

“
What do you need me to
do?”

Luke jerked his head to bring the conspirators
together. Even Perla leaned in to listen. “So first I’m going to
talk to Reese’s mom...”

Chapter
Thirty-Three

“
Where’s that boy?” Gus stormed
around the kitchen, but was careful to avoid knocking any of the
trays now lining the kitchen counters.

He hefted himself onto a stool and stared at
the alley entrance, as if that would make Bruno arrive earlier. The
boy was supposed to help him load the van before they picked up
Bella for the drive to the riverfront.

Suddenly, there was a loud squeal of tires,
followed by a screech, then the sound of an aluminum trashcan
meeting a brick wall.

Gus groaned. At least he wasn’t baking the
soufflé here. That noise would have deflated it.

The steel door creaked open and Bruno stood
there with a kicked-puppy expression on his face. “I’m here,
Gus.”

Gus sighed. “I hear.” He walked toward him,
waving away the stammering apology Bruno was in the process of
forming. It didn’t matter now. “We must get the trays loaded. The
sternos are packed and the utensils ready.” He lifted one of the
boxes and headed outside. “You put the boxes on the van floor, then
the food, she will go on top—-”

Gus slammed to a halt in the alleyway and
stared.
That
was not the catering van. That was… that
was…

He didn’t even bother to turn around. “Where
is the van?”

Bruno cleared his throat. “Ah, the van. Yes.
Well...” He shuffled his feet. “Well, um. I... um... was going to
fix it after that mishap with the door a few weeks ago?”

“
What fix?” Gus spun around, his
temper beginning to boil. “The van, she no need a fix. She runs
fine.”

Bruno shook his head and the ear flaps of his
cap waggled like dog ears. “Yes, well, there was this little
clicking noise and I thought I could, you know, take care of
it.”

“
So?” The boil was about to
steam.

“
Well... um... here’s where it
gets a little tricky—”

“
Tricky?
Tricky
?” The pot
boiled over. “We don’t
need
tricky. We don’t
need
little click fixed. We
need
the van to get to the auction.
Now how we do this?”

Bruno cringed as Gus came toward him. Gus knew
he was being unreasonable, because clearly, the van was not coming.
But they could not show up at this high-society event in that...
that... “It’s an abomination.” He had Giac to thank for that useful
word.

“
No, it’s a
station
wagon.”

“
It’s an
orange
station
wagon.”

Bruno hung his head and the ear flaps on his
cap drooped. “It was supposed to be a rust color, but I guess when
my buddy mixed the paint he added a little too much
orange—”

“
A little!” Gus didn’t care that
his shout echoed along the walls of the alley. Everyone would see
it soon enough and they’d be a laughing stock showing up in this...
this...
zucca
on four wheels.

“
Well, okay, maybe a lot. But it’s
all we have now, Gus. It’ll carry all the food and I rented a tux
to wear, so I’ll look professional when I unload it at the
boat.”

Gus exhaled every bit of air in his lungs and
threw up his arms before spinning around to head back into his
sanctuary. “Fine. Giac and I will go in his car.” It was a compact,
already a tight fit on a good day. With serving trays and mixing
bowls and what-not, it would probably end up looking like a clown
car. “At least I will not have to arrive in that
pumpkin.”

***

“
You look beautiful, Bella. Just
like a princess,” Sophia said just before the doorbell rang. “I’ll
get it!” she bellowed, galloping from the room.

Sophia’s adoration went a long way toward
calming Bella’s nerves. She put the rhinestone drop earring in her
other ear and smoothed the front of dress. Gus had done a
magnificent job and he’d made her feel beautiful.

Would Reese think so?

Bella sat on the edge of her bed. Those kinds
of thoughts were best forgotten. Tonight was not the night to go
there. She had to make sure everything ran smoothly because once
Madeleine found out she was still on the job, that pumpkin soufflé
mess would be nothing compared to her stepmother’s ire.

She slipped on one of Mr. Griff’s pumps,
readying herself for the cool hard feel of the Lucite, but instead,
found her foot cushioned as if there were a pillow inside the shoe.
She picked up the one on the bed and looked at it. No cushioned
sole. Odd. Very odd.

She thought back to Sophia’s fairy tale
prattling this morning. If only Gus
were
her fairy
godmother. Or maybe Mr. Griff was.

Yeah, and she was off to the ball where her
ride home would turn into a pumpkin at midnight.

A shaft of sunlight slid through the blinds
and glinted off the last of Mr. Griff’s coins as if it were winking
at her.

“
Bruno’s here, Bella!” Sophia
hollered from downstairs just in time to save Bella from listening
for singing mice… Bella picked up her purse and headed out the
bedroom door.

Thank God Madeleine was at a hair appointment
getting all done up for the event. Bella had had to time this
precisely.

“
Thanks, Soph. Do you have your
bag? Bruno and I will take you to Aunt Theresa’s.” Bella ushered
her sister out the door.

But she came to a dead stop on the front
path.

“
Bruno,
what
is
that?”

Bruno wrung his hands. “It’s my
car.”

“
It’s
orange
.”

Poor Bruno flushed almost the same shade. His
eyes shifted and he stared at his feet. “I know,” he
mumbled.

“
But where’s the van? All the
food? Giac and Gus?”

At last the poor guy looked up. “I got it all
taken care of, Ms. C.” He swept a hand to the back of the car as if
he were a game show host. “All the food’s in the back and Gus and
Giac are driving over with everything else. I even rented a tux so
I’d look real professional tonight. I want to help you make this a
success.”

She couldn’t be angry. He really had gone to a
lot of trouble to make it right. And she wanted tonight to be a
success also.

“
Here you go, Ms. C.” Bruno held
the door open like a royal footman. “Your carriage
awaits.”

Sophia was already in the middle of the front
seat. She patted the passenger side. “Come on, Bella. I want to
hear the mice.”

“
Mice?” Bella looked at Bruno who,
once again, hung his head and shuffled his feet.

“
The breaks squeal.”

“
Squeak,” Sophia corrected. “You
said they squeak just like mice do.” The little girl pounded the
seat again. “Come on, Bella. I want to ride with the mice and you
don’t want to be late for the party.”

***

“
You think this will
work?”

Giac held his breath as Carolyn Charmant
considered what Luke had just proposed. Everything hinged on her
agreeing to do this. It’s why he’d grabbed the jar from under the
front counter and why he’d let Gus drive
his
car to the
riverfront, something that would normally require a presidential
order and motorcade. But there was a time and place for everything
and tonight,
The Midnight Maiden
was it.

“
You really think so?” she asked
again.

He, Luke, and Staci nodded.

The movie star didn’t answer. This was, after
all, her son they were talking about.

But then the award-winning star of stage and
screen smiled and put a hand to her forehead. “All right, then.”
She cleared her throat and her voice lowered. “You know? I do
believe I feel a migraine coming on.”

Chapter
Thirty-Four

Reese was directing the drayage company at
Community Hospital for the Meet-and-Greet, when he felt a tap on
his shoulder.

“
Hey, Charmant.”

“
Coach. What are you doing here?
We weren’t expecting you for another two hours.”

Randy Meade took off his cap and rubbed his
thinning hair. “I know, but I got something to say to you and I
thought it’d be better before the auction than during.”

What about after?
Reese really didn’t
have the time for a heart-to-heart at the moment. Especially with
the condition of his heart right now. He’d put it on the injured
reserves list and was looking forward to rehabbing it once this
event was over.

“
Can it wait, Coach? I’m pretty
busy.”

Randy grabbed his shoulder. “No, it can’t. I
got a plane to catch tonight and you owe me, son. At least a bit of
your time. I won’t take up too much.”

Reese gave a last look around, barked an order
at Kelly, and then faced Coach. “Okay. What is it?”

Suddenly, Randy didn’t look like the
awe-inspiring coach who’d led a team of men and a grateful city to
a Super Bowl victory. “I want to apologize.”

An apology was the last thing Reese had
expected.

“
I know I should have said
something before, but until little Maggie was born, I just didn’t
have it in me to blame my daughter. I made you out to be the big
bad wolf taking advantage of my little girl, and, well, I did you a
disservice.” Randy looked him in the eye. “And I’m damn sorry about
the ending of your career. You were one hell of a football player
and deserved to go out better.”

Reese swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Thanks, Coach. That means a lot. But our argument didn’t end my
career—my injury did.”

The “Coach” was back. “Maybe. But if it
hadn’t, you would have had the job to come back to. But I made it
personal and I’m damn sorry I did. It cost you.”

“
How could it not have been
personal? I was dating your daughter. I wish to God I’d stayed away
from her.”

Randy actually smiled. “Yeah, at the time I
did, too. But I had a nice talk with Devin after Maggie was born.
Just the two of us, watching that little baby sleep in her crib.
And you know what my daughter said?”

Reese shook his head.

Randy cleared his throat. “She said she was
sorry for causing the disagreement between us, but she’ll never
regret going out with you. Even though her heart broke when you
ended it, she said you did something good for her. If you hadn’t
ended it when you did, she never would have met her husband and our
little Maggie wouldn’t have been in that crib.” Randy cleared his
throat again and looked away. “You know the baby was named after my
late wife?”

Reese nodded. “I’d guessed as
much.”

Randy glanced back with a sheen in his eyes.
“Yeah. Well, there could have been another baby—a different baby—in
that crib, but it wouldn’t be my little Maggie. She has my wife’s
eyes, you know.”

The two men were silent for a bit, then Coach
coughed and stuck out his hand. “So. I wanted to apologize. Tell
you there are no ill feelings on my part. A little late, I guess,
but I wanted you to know.”

“
No, Coach.” Reese shook his head.
“I should have just stayed away from her. I knew better than to mix
business and pleasure. I just forgot to pay attention to my
conscience.”

“
Nonsense, Reese.” Randy’s old
coaching voice rose to the surface. “Nothing would have made me
happier than for you and Devin to end up together. But when you
ended it, even though it was for the right reasons, I forgot that
you were still the same guy I’d always known. I couldn’t see beyond
the fact that my daughter had gotten her heart broken. I should
have.” He clasped Reese’s hand. “I’m sorry for losing sight of
that.”

Reese’s grin was small. “Well there’s a
turnaround.”

Coach shrugged. “You were—are—a stand-up guy,
both on and off the field. There was never any delineation between
the two for you. That’s why you’re doing so well with this new
venture. Who you are as a person, not just a celebrity, goes a long
way toward driving your business. People know what to expect when
they hire you on, Reese, because everything you’ve ever done, both
on and off the field, has been done with integrity. Be you, Reese,
who you’ve always been, and your clients will keep coming back. Be
true to yourself—”Coach tapped him in the vicinity of his
heart—”and you can’t go wrong.”

***

Madeleine tapped the driver on the shoulder.
“I’d like you to pick up the pace. I’m meeting a very important
investor and I do not wish to be late.”