The Sweetheart Hoax (21 page)

“Who was that?” Ashley asked as she emerged from the hallway wearing flannel pants and an oversized sweatshirt.

“Phil.” Margot opened the back door and let Teddy inside. He bounded up to Ashley and sniffed her crotch.

“Uh,” she cried. “What is this?”

“His name’s Teddy. He’s a house guest, like you, except he was invited.”

She sneered at Margot. “Very funny. I’m not a house guest,” she corrected. “I’m family.”

Margot looked at her half-sister. They looked nothing alike. With Ashley’s straight brown hair and aristocratic features, no one would ever have guessed they were related.

“Only when it’s convenient.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Ashley asked with her trademark pout. The best thing for everyone, her father included, was if Margot had turned her away instead of letting her stay when they’d kicked her out.

“You need to go home and face them, Ash. You can’t hide out here forever.”

“You don’t understand,” Ashley muttered. “You’ve never lived with Dad. He’s a tyrant.”

Of course she’d never lived with their father. Until a few years ago, she hadn’t known he’d existed. And since that time, she’d seen more of her sister than any other member of her ‘family.’ “They weren’t being that unreasonable,” Margot said. “You are twenty-three years old. I don’t think you should be shocked that they asked you to cook a meal every now and again or pick up after yourself. I certainly won’t cook your meals or let you turn my house into a pigsty.”

“But I’m their daughter,” she wailed. “And that’s my house. You don’t have to pick up after yourself in your own house if you don’t want to.”

Margot was too emotionally spent for Ashley’s drama. If she thought she could trust her, Margot would have told her what real drama was like. “Of course I do,” she said. Her head was beginning to pound and she wanted nothing more than to go to bed. “I certainly can’t afford a maid.”

“Uh,” Ashley said, and threw her body onto the couch. Teddy walked over and laid his head in her lap. “You sound just like mom.”

“Well, I’m not your mother.” Margot picked up Teddy’s dog bed. “You have a college degree in accounting and you work at The Coffee Bean. Frankly, I can understand why they’re upset with you.”

Ashley sat up and wrapped her arms around her up drawn knees. “I don’t want to be an accountant,” she whined. “It’s so boring.”

“Then why did you major in accounting?” Margot asked.

“Because I’m good at math and Dad kept saying I should concentrate on what I’m good at.”

Margot bit her tongue. There wasn’t any use in getting between her father and his wayward daughter. Just because Margot had scrimped and sweated and clawed her way through school on her own dime didn’t give her the right to call Ashley selfish because she’d been spoon fed everything she ever wanted from the time she was born. “Ash, you’re wasting your education. Your degree can open up so many doors for you. I’m sure they’re just upset that you’re not even trying.”

“I have tried, Margot. I have. But I like working at The Coffee Bean. The people there are so nice.”

Margot rubbed her head. “There are nice people everywhere. You just need to find the right company. Something small.” She grabbed Teddy by the collar. “I’ll pick up a paper tomorrow and we can go through the ads together.”

“Margot?” Ashley called. “Thanks. I don’t know what I ever did without you.”

Chapter 22

Phil sat at his desk and couldn’t concentrate. It had been four days since he’d seen Margot and his insides were shot to hell. He ran for miles every morning trying to cure his sleeplessness, but his runs only left him drained of energy and starving. He didn’t go to the club for fear he’d run into
McBain
and say or do something he’d regret. And at the office, the one place he’d always been able to feel comfortable, he couldn’t relax because nothing felt the same.

Damn Margot for changing everything about his life! A knock at his door brought him out of his thoughts.

Rebecca stood at the threshold in a crisply starched shirt and pants. Her hair was neatly pinned in a professional bun. He couldn’t stand the way she never had a hair out of place. “Excuse me,” she said in her irritating voice. “Randall
McBain
called again when you were at lunch. He wants to meet about his plans as soon as possible.”

Of course he did. He couldn’t avoid the man forever. “I’ll call him, Rebecca. Thanks.”

When she didn’t move, he looked up again to see the bag he’d left on her desk in her hand. “I appreciate these treats you keep bringing, but…to be honest, I don’t particularly care for sweets.” She walked over and placed the bag of cookies on his desk.

Phil watched her walk out and reached inside the bag for an oatmeal raisin cookie—Margot’s favorite. He took a bite and slammed his fist on the desk. That was the last straw. He got up and shut the door, picked up the phone, dialed Margot’s home number from memory, and waited until she answered on the third ring.

“Hello?”

The sound of her voice had his muscles clenching. “I need you to come back,” he said without preamble. “Rebecca isn’t going to work out. She’s terrible.”

Margot huffed out a breath. “Well, hello to you, too.”

“Sorry, but I can’t take it any more.”

“What’s the problem? I told her she could call me if she had any questions and she hasn’t called once. I assumed everything was going fine.”

“Well, you assumed wrong. She comes into my office every morning and arranges the files on my desk according to my appointment schedule.”

“That sounds wonderfully efficient.”

“Yes, it would be if I didn’t hate it when someone messed with my stuff.”

“Okay,” she said as if speaking to a toddler. Phil didn’t appreciate her tone one bit. “Did you explain to her that you don’t want her messing with your office?”

“What good would that do?” he asked. “She’s already been banned from Danny’s office. If I tell her to stay out of mine, she’ll quit for sure.” Then Margot would have to come back. “Maybe I should tell her to stay out.”

“You can’t tell her to stay out completely.
Just calm down.
I’ll call her and explain that you only like certain things touched. Will that make everything better?”

“No. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.” He tapped his fingers on the desk. “She talks so loud, Margot. I can hear her even when my door is shut.”

“You never shut your door,” she said.

“I do now.
And her voice.
I told you her voice gets on my nerves.”

“There’s nothing I can do about her voice, Phil.”

“And she doesn’t like sweets!” He took another bite of the Island’s best cookies. “I brought her cookies from
Misa’s
bakery and she returned them. She said she doesn’t care for sweets. Who doesn’t care for sweets? There’s something wrong with her.”

Margot sighed again, getting his hackled up. “I’ll call her about the office bit, but the rest is all about you.”

“It’s not about me, Margot, it’s about her. I don’t like her.”

“You didn’t like me and we got along just fine.”

He felt like he’d been slapped. “What do you mean I didn’t like you? Of course I liked you. I still like you.”
I’m falling apart because I don’t see you everyday
, he wanted to say, but bit his tongue and said the only thing that was true. “I want you back, Margot.”

“I can’t come back, Phil. Think about what you’re asking.”

He knew what he was asking. If only she knew exactly what he was asking. “It’s not the same. Nothing is the same anymore and I hate it.”

“You’re just going through an adjustment period right now. Give it a week or two and you’ll feel much better. I promise you will.”

“How can you be so sure?” he asked. She’d settled him down enough to realize he missed her dreadfully. If he couldn’t have her in his personal like, he wanted her in his life however he could have her.

“Because I know you. You don’t like change. Give it a couple of weeks and it won’t feel so different. You might even learn to like Rebecca. You learned to like me.”

He was afraid his feelings had gone way beyond like where Margot was concerned. “You were easy to like. You still are.”

“Are you better now?” she asked.

“I guess.”

“Good. My test is tomorrow and it’s crunch time. I’ve really got to go.”

He sighed. “Haven’t you had all week to study?”

“Yes, but there have been too many distractions. I can see the finish line and I’m getting nervous.”

By distractions, she meant
McBain
. His hand tightened on the receiver. “You’ll do fine, Margot. Besides, if you don’t know it by now, you never will.”

“Thanks for the confidence boost,” she said.

“That’s not what I meant. Look, you’re one of the smartest people I know.”

“You wouldn’t have said that a week ago.”

The fact that she was right only made him feel worse. “And I would have been wrong. Trust me, you’re going to pass.”

“I hope so.”

In the pause, he could hear her breath through the phone. He wanted so badly to go over to her house and become her number one distraction. “I’d better let you go.”

“Yeah,” she said. “You probably should. Bye, Phil.”

“Bye.” He hung up and rubbed his hand over his chest where it ached. Damn it all to hell. He more than liked her. He was in love with her.

***

Margot set the phone on the coffee table, leaned back against the couch, and closed her eyes. Why, why, why did he have to stir her up like he did?
And why now?
Her test was tomorrow and her head was spinning with formulas, calculations, and protocols. Not to mention all the obsessive thoughts she had about Phil.

Teddy got up from the floor and stood before her, putting his head in her lap. The dog had become increasingly sensitive to her moods. “I know,” she cooed and rubbed his head. “We’re both a little bit heart broken, big guy. The difference is,” she explained when he gave a groan of pleasure as she began scratching behind his ears, “you get to go back to the ones you love. I, on the other hand, will end up alone, as usual.”

I want you back
, she heard his words echo in her heart. I want you back, too, she thought. Oh, how she wanted him back.

Ashley came in through the side door, causing Teddy to let out a startling bark.

“It’s just me,” she called from the kitchen. “I’ve got muffins.”

Margot got stale muffins from The Coffee Bean and Rebecca had turned away Phil’s cookies from
Misa’s
. She reminded herself that nursing was what she wanted as she stacked her study materials in a pile and shuffled into the kitchen.

“What kind?” she asked Ashley.

Her sister had filled the kettle and turned the stove on to heat water for tea. “Some kind of pumpkin concoction that didn’t sell very well. They’re not bad.”

Margot sniffed, shrugged, and set a muffin on a plate. “Want one?”

“No, I’m just going to have some tea. It’s really gotten chilly outside.”

Margot looked through the window to the darkening clouds. “It looks like rain.” The gray sky matched her mood perfectly.

“What’s wrong with you?” Ashley asked. “Are you worried about your test?”

“No. I don’t think I can study any more.”

“Then why do you look like you’ve lost your best friend?”

Because she had.
As miserable as she felt after hanging up the phone with Phil, listening to him whine about Rebecca and all the ways his life had changed had been the best few minutes of her week. “I’m just anxious to get on with the next stage of my life, that’s all.” She sat down at her kitchen table. “Speaking of which, did you follow up on any of those ads?”

Ashley turned from the counter to face Margot with a beaming smile. “As a matter of fact, I did. I’ve got an interview tomorrow with a flower shop in Andover. They’re looking for a bookkeeper.”

“Is it fulltime or part-time?” Margot asked. She couldn’t imagine a flower shop needing a fulltime bookkeeper.

“Part-time,” Ashley answered with her eyes averted. “I figured that way I could still do some hours at The Coffee Bean.”

“I thought we talked about this, Ash. You won’t get any benefits from a part-time position.”

“I know, but I’m still on Mom and Dad’s insurance for a few more years.”

“I thought you wanted to be independent? Go out on your own? How can you do that if they’re paying for your insurance?”

“It’s just an interview, Margot.” Ashley began filling the mugs with water after the kettle started to sing. “Really, you’re getting worked up over nothing.”

“I just don’t want you settling for less when you’re capable of so much more.”

“I’m not going to settle. I like to think of it as taking baby steps.”

“As long as you’re taking baby steps toward something with insurance and benefits,” Margot said.