Winter Magic: 4 (The Hawks Mountain Series) (13 page)

ANDI HELD THE phone close to her ear and waited for her sister’s answer. Would Miranda be at the gala? Had Andi’s adventure come to an end? But the most important questions of all hovered threateningly nearest the top
 . . .
once he saw Miranda, would Jonathan forget about Andi?

“No, I won’t be there. I won’t be strong enough. Besides, you know the plans and what Jonathan wants, and since you’ve gone this far, it wouldn’t make sense for me to step in now. I’d be grateful if you’d see it through to the end.”

Andi had to fight to hold back a sigh of relief. Recalling how hard she’d fought against taking her sister’s place and planning the gala, and how
now
all that had changed, she nearly laughed out loud. “Okay. Let me know when you’re ready to come home, and I’ll pick you up.”

“No need. There’s this dishy intern who’s already offered.” Miranda giggled like a teenager. “I’ll be fine. You just get yourself all dolled up and have a good time.”

The rest of their conversation centered on Mr. Dishy Intern, and Andi couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Finally, she couldn’t take anymore. “Miranda, I have to go. Let me know when you get home.” She hung up the phone.

Her conversation, while embarked upon to help her forget the lies she’d told Jonathan and their repercussions, had done nothing but remind her of the entire bad situation. For a long moment, she stared, unseeing, at the papers on her desk. Then she came to a decision.

Why was she torturing herself? All she had to do was tell Jonathan the truth and clear the air once and for all. Resolutely, she got up from the desk and hurried downstairs. As she reached the last few steps, Jonathan emerged from his office, putting on his coat.

Before she could find an excuse not to tell him, she blurted out, “I need to talk to you.”

He came to her, kissed her soundly on the lips, and then stepped back. “Sorry, Andi, not now. I have to fly to New York to negotiate a contract. I’ll be gone for a few days, but I’ll be back in time for the gala. We can talk then.” He gathered her in his arms.

Then
might be too late.
“But I—”

Laying a finger over her lips, he stopped any further words. “I hate that I have to leave you, but I don’t have a choice. I trust you to pull off the gala. You’ve done a wonderful job. All the plans are in place, and everything is going much smoother than I’d hoped.” He kissed her again. “You can do it.” He moved away, grabbed his briefcase off the side table, and headed to the door. “Buy yourself something elegant for the ball, and I’ll see you in a few days. It’ll be fine.”

Andi went to the open door and watched him drive away. “Will it, Jonathan?” she whispered into the cold winter wind. “Will it?”

BACK IN HER office, Andi unleashed the tears she’d held back since Jonathan had walked out the door. Not only because he had left, but because she still hadn’t told him the truth. What if he discovered the masquerade before she had a chance to explain? Despair enveloped her as completely as the snow covering the ground outside the window. She buried her face in her folded arms and allowed the tears to fall.

“What is it, child?”

Granny Jo’s soft voice penetrated Andi’s fog of misery. She raised her head and stared at Granny through the blur of her tears. “Everything, Granny. I’ve really messed things up.”

Pulling up a chair, Granny Jo took a seat next to Andi, and then enveloped her hand in hers. “Maybe if you talk about it, things won’t look quite as bad as you think.” She smiled that smile that always made Andi wish Josephine Hawks had been her grandmother. Maybe life would have been easier with someone like Granny Jo to talk to when things got rough.

Andi pulled a tissue from the box on her desk, swiped at her eyes and blew her nose, then tossed the tissue in the wastebasket. “Jon
 . . .
Jonathan’s gone.”

Granny patted her hand. “I know, child, but it’s not the end of the world. He’ll be back.”

Andi shook her head. “That’s not it. I know he’ll be back.” She swallowed hard. “It’s because I didn’t get a chance to explain about me and Miranda and this whole stupid masquerade.” She looked at Granny imploringly. “What am I gonna do if he finds out before I can tell him? He’ll hate me, Granny Jo.” Tears threatened again, but she took a deep breath and warded them off.

“Do you love him?”

Andi nodded. “Very much.”

“Does he love you?”

“I
 . . .
I think so.”

“Well, if he does, he’ll listen to your explanation no matter when it comes and, maybe not right away, but eventually, he’ll understand. Men have a way of flying off the handle at first blush, and then, not being the fastest creatures on God’s green earth, after they have time to mull something over, they change their minds and see the truth of a situation.” She handed Andi another tissue to dry the tears that had escaped despite her efforts to hold them back. “Honey, you’ll never know if he truly loves you unless you have faith in him.”

Andi sighed. That brought to mind another worry she had to face. “But he hasn’t met Miranda yet.”

Granny sat straighter and frowned. “And what in tarnation does that have to do with anything?”

“Every man I’ve ever been interested in has dropped me like a hot rock as soon as my sister comes on the scene. Sooner or later, Jonathan will meet her and
 . . .
” She shrugged.

Granny Jo crossed her arms over her ample bosom and deepened her frown. “Child, are you sitting here just buying things to worry about? I just told you to have faith in the man. What makes you think Miranda can steal him away from you?”

“She’s much prettier than I am.”

Granny snorted. “You’re identical twins. How can she be prettier?”

Knowing how crazy what she’d just said had sounded, Andi shook her head and fussed with some papers on the desk. “Okay. Maybe we look alike, but she’s more alive, more outgoing, more adventuresome, more—”

“And hasn’t all that got her into a hill of trouble?” When Granny Jo had worked as her teacher’s aide, Andi had confided a lot of the difficulties she’d been having with Miranda. Evidently, Granny remembered.

Andi nodded. The more Granny Jo talked to Andi, the sillier her arguments sounded, even to her.

“You say she’s more beautiful. That’s on the outside. Is she more beautiful where it counts? Here.” She laid her hand over her heart. “Inside?”

Unsure of how to answer that, Andi remained silent.

Granny Jo took Andi’s hands. “My memory isn’t what it used to be, so I’m not sure I ever said this to you before, but it’s worth repeating. There’s a weapon for every battle you fight. And from where I’m sitting, it looks like you have all that’s necessary to do all-out war with your sister, for your man.” She stood, then leaned down and kissed Andi’s cheek and whispered in her ear. “Now, wash your face and get your attack plan in order. I’d start by shopping for a gown, for this shindig you’re planning, that’ll knock Jonathan’s socks right off his feet.”

JONATHAN SAT IN the airplane looking out at New York City passing below. This was the very last place he wanted to be. He’d have much rather foisted this contract negotiation off on one of his assistants and stayed home with Andi. But the man was one of Prince Publishing’s biggest authors and had insisted that Jonathan be there in person to settle the terms. Four other publishers had been trying to woo this guy into their stable of authors, and Jonathan couldn’t take a chance on losing him.

Recalling how he’d insisted on working with only the owner of
le Fête Boutique,
Jonathan couldn’t very well fault this guy for insisting on virtually the same condition. Still, sitting in front of a roaring fire, sipping wine with Andi held a lot more appeal than listening to an author play the male diva and insist on clauses in his contract that bordered on the insane.

Jonathan shifted in his first class seat and opened a glossy magazine he’d grabbed from a newsstand on his way through the airport. He flipped through the pages not really seeing anything on them. Instead, his mind wandered to the night he’d spent with Andi.

He’d been with his fair share of women over the years, but not one of them had left the imprint on his emotions that Andi had. None of them were as genuine as she was. None of them had been able to make him consider admitting that he’d finally fallen in love for the first time in his life.

MIRANDA HAD always told Andi that the best cure for flagging spirits was to go shopping. For once, she took her sister’s advice, drove to Charleston, and found the most expensive boutique in town where she prepared to buy the sexiest gown she could find. Something that would make Jonathan sit up and take notice. The third gown she tried was exactly what she’d been looking for.

Andi turned from side to side and surveyed herself in the full length mirror. The sleek, form-fitting, baby blue silk gown caressed her skin and conformed to her curves like it had been custom made for her. The deep-cut, strapless neckline showed just enough cleavage to be decent, yet alluring. And the chiffon overlay that hung loosely from the V neckline to the floor acted like a curtain that hid her curves, but revealed tantalizing glimpses of them when she moved in just the right way.

Yes, this gown was one that, as Granny Jo had said, would
knock Jonathan’s socks right off his feet.

The saleslady, an older woman who reminded Andi of Catherine Daniels in deportment and dress, stepped into the mirror’s reflection. “Oh, my dear, this gown is you. You look like a fairy princess.”

Andi smiled. Considering that she was aiming to impress a prince, that was exactly what she wanted. “I’ll take it.”

After she paid for the dress and took it to her car, she proceeded to the shoe store and bought a pair of silver three inch heels to go with it. Over the past few weeks of wearing Miranda’s shoes, she’d grown fairly adept at balancing herself atop the spiky footwear.

Feeling quite satisfied with herself, when she got back to Carson, she stopped at Keeler’s Market and splurged on a big, thick, juicy steak for her supper. She’d just made it back to her car when her cell phone rang. She pulled it from her purse and saw the caller ID.

Jonathan
.

“Hello.”

“Hey. I’ve missed you.”

She leaned back against the side of the car, smiled, and closed her eyes. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“What are you up to?”

“I just finished shopping for my gala dress and was about to go home and make supper.”

“What’s your dress look like?”

Her smile deepened, and she giggled like a school girl talking to her prom date. “I’m not telling. I want to surprise you”

“Not fair. I’d like to imagine you in it.” His deep voice sent shivers over her skin. “Not even a hint?”

“Okay. It’s blue. That’s all I’m saying.”

He laughed, and the shivers intensified. She could picture his face, strong and handsome, and his lips, turned up in that grin that made her heart beat twice as fast.

“That’s not much help at all, Andi.”

She glanced through the car window at the smooth plastic garment bag where it lay sprawled across the backseat. “Well, Mr. Prince, that’s all the hints I’m giving out today.” Jonathan’s manufactured sigh of regret came through the phone. “When will you be home?”

This time the sigh sounded genuine. “Not as soon as I’d hoped. Probably not until the night of the gala. The negotiations are not going well. This guy’s demands are outlandish, and I’m not giving in. I hate to lose him as one of our authors, but, if he doesn’t modify what he’s asking for, I may not have a choice.” Pause. “But I didn’t call you to discuss business.”

“So why did you call me?” Coy! Andi Cameron was actually being coy. The idea nearly made her laugh.

“Because I wanted to hear your voice. Because I feel like you’re a million miles away, and I don’t like that one little bit. I want you close enough to look at, and hold, and kiss.”

Realizing that she was still standing on the street and listening to the sexy suggestions of a man who turned her blood to hot butter, Andi’s eyes popped open. She grabbed the car’s door handle to open it and get inside before her weakened knees gave way, and she made a public spectacle of herself.

“Hi, Miss Cameron!” The voice came from somewhere around Andi’s waist.

She looked down to find the cherubic face of Sally Evens, one of her previous kindergarten students, peering up at her.

“Remember me? I was in your class last year.”

Too late, Andi clamped her hand over the phone’s mouth piece. “Hi! Of course I remember you.”

Before Andi could say another word, Sally’s mother rushed up and grabbed the little girl’s hand. “Leave Miss Cameron alone. Can’t you see she’s talking on the phone?”

With an apologetic smile for the interruption, she hurried Sally off down the street. The little girl turned back, beaming and waving goodbye.

Andi removed her hand from the phone’s receiver and waved back.

“Who was that?”

Dread formed in Andi’s stomach like a huge ball of ice.

Jonathan had heard the entire exchange.