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After leaving Summer in her office with Mr. Hartmann, April sped to the rear of the building where her fiancé had his private suite for clients who needed more than time to heal their familial wounds. The busy hive of activity in April’s section—the ringing phones and frenetic employees—faded to soothing cream-colored walls with peaceful landscape art and ocean blue carpet. Quiet, calm. April didn’t know if her blood pressure lowered thanks to the placid environment as Jeff insisted, or simply because any minute now she’d see him in person, which always lightened her mood.
As she rounded the corner, Jeff’s receptionist, Paige, switched her focus from the open filing cabinet behind her well-organized desk to April. Her smile widened.
“Four more weeks,” she sing-songed.
A thrill rippled through April’s blood. In four weeks, she’d become April Raine Prentiss, Mrs. Prentiss, Mrs. Dr. Jeff Prentiss... God, she was worse than a high schooler with a notebook full of married name versions and doodled hearts.
“So?” Paige pulled the pen away from her platinum hair, just above her ear, jotted a notation into a patient’s chart. “All the plans set?”
“I think so,” April replied. “Summer’s in charge of the details.”
Paige shook her head and slid the drawer closed with a lavender-skirted hip. “You gotta have a lot of faith in her to give her all that control. I wouldn’t trust my sister. I’d be terrified she’d screw it up.”
“Oh, no.” April laughed. “I’m the screw-up in our family. Summer could organize a three-ring circus.”
Another reason this Hartmann job was perfect for her. Because once the wedding was over, Summer would have waaaaay too much time on her hands. Too much time to sit around and think about Brad, about ways to get even, about the downward turn her life had taken.
April cast a quick glance behind her. Any minute now, Summer would probably come barreling around that corner, aimed for her big sister and a blood feud. On a shaky breath, she returned her gaze to Paige who now sat in front of her computer monitor. April gestured with a nod at Jeff’s closed office door. “Anyone in there with him?”
Paige grinned. “Nope. He’s all yours.” She flicked a button on her keyboard. “For about thirty minutes.”
“Ten will do.” April strode to Jeff’s office and, with a quick rap of knuckles, opened the door.
If the outside area reflected serenity, Jeff’s inner sanctum was nirvana. Soft light, both natural from the wall of long, narrow windows and artificial from a pair of Tiffany lamps on the cherry wood end tables, washed warm gold over the entire room. A bookcase, set into the far wall, contained a few medical volumes mixed with the unusual choice of paperback bestsellers in various fiction genres. At the end of each shelf, pastel porcelain figurines posed in different aspects of daily life: a woman shielded her tilted face from the invisible sun with a parasol, a pajama-clad boy dragged a teddy bear behind him, a man reclined on a couch with an open book, children straddled a seesaw, a pair of ballerinas posed in mid-twirl, a bride and groom kissed.
The requisite couch, upholstered in chocolate brown, took center stage, but was flanked by cozy mushroom-colored club chairs for the patient who wanted a more casual mien to his or her sessions.
Beyond the interview area sat Jeff at his mahogany partner’s desk, a hand-carved antique rumored to have once held the quills of Thomas Jefferson. The writing surface was Nile green leather, the edges embossed in gold. The pedestals, with rounded feet, bore matching Gothic arches and flame patterns to the natural wood grain. No surprise Jeff looked perfect behind this piece of furniture meant for a man of integrity and justice.
She didn’t have to say a word. He simply glanced up from the file on his desk, and his face broke into a smile of welcome. “April.” He must have noticed her harried appearance because he flipped the manila folder closed. “Everything okay?”
“So far.” She glided to where he sat before he could stand and planted a kiss on his forehead.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he swiveled his chair toward her. Plop! She fell into his lap like a ripe piece of fruit from an orchard tree. Sunlight slanted across his face, illuminating his cheeks in a heavenly aura. She didn’t attempt to escape. Instead, she settled closer, pressed her ear against his chest and listened to the steadiness of his heartbeat. God, how she loved this man! His embrace communicated love, security, the promise of passion, and all that was good in life.
“Got a minute for your favorite neurotic?”
“A minute, an hour, a lifetime.” He nuzzled her neck, sending delicious tremors over the sensitive flesh of her nape.
She sighed dreamily as her bones melted. “How did I get so lucky?”
“Clean living?” he suggested, then chuckled.
Biting back a smile, she ran her fingers through his dark hair. “You make me crazy.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m a psychologist. I can treat you at the standard family discount rate once we’re married.”
“Good. Bill me next month. Right now, I need your stellar advice.”
“Shoot,” he murmured near her earlobe.
Lovely, lovely distraction. But she steeled herself against his warm breath and the shivers that tickled her bare arms. She had more pressing issues at the moment.
“Summer,” she managed on a long exhale.
“Ah.” He pulled away with a sigh. “What did Brad the Rat do now?”
“Nothing.” She paused, considered for a moment. In all the hubbub of wedding details, had she told him about Summer losing her house? Yes. Of course she had. “This has nothing to do with Brad. This is about what I just did.”
He straightened. “Uh-oh.”
“Exactly.” She craned her neck to look out the glass at the area where Paige sat, now on the telephone. Still quiet. “I figure she’ll come careening through the door before too much more time elapses.”
“Oh?” His thumb traced her jaw. Languor crept over her. “What happened?”
Running her palms up and down her arms, she shook off the lazy haze. “I found her a live-in position and kinda foisted it on her before she could say no.”
“Plead insanity.”
“I’m serious.” She quirked her lips and arched a brow.
“So am I.”
“Okay.” She gripped him by the shoulders and leveled a stern gaze his way. “Try this on for size, funny man. The guy who’s hiring a live-in? It’s Cliff Hanger.”
He sucked in a breath, exhaled on a whistle. “Forget insanity. Plead ignorance.”
She slapped his shoulder. “Jeff, stop kidding around. I’m in trouble here. With that sale looming over her head, Summer needs a place to stay. Soon. Now. This guy needs a full-time childcare aide. Soon. Now. I assigned a round peg to a round hole. But she’s not going to see it that way. She’s going to be furious when she realizes who he really is.”
“Who he really is?” He blinked several times in succession. “You lost me. You didn’t tell her who she’d be working for?”
“Cliff Hanger is an alias. Unlike my mom and dad, Cliff’s parents apparently had the good sense to christen him with a normal name.”
“Your name is normal.”
“Yeah, right. In knock-knock jokes and adult movies, maybe.” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, then back to Jeff. “Anyway, Cliff’s application is under his real name, so I didn’t put it together right away. I figured the gig was ideal for Summer and sent Brenda to fetch her. Meanwhile, I continued the primary interview with Mr. Hartmann. While we talked, his voice kinda stuck in my head for some reason. I kept trying to figure it out—where I’d heard him speak before. Then I glanced down at his employment info. WTXZ Radio. The light went on in the old attic.” She tapped her temple. “Unfortunately, the power supply is slow. Summer arrived right at the moment I made the connection. She’s not as brain dead as I am. And she was a big fan of his until that day. The longer they talk, the sooner she’ll figure it out. When she realizes who Craig Hartmann really is, she’ll blow. But the thing is, she needs this job. And we honestly don’t have another person available for another eight weeks. He needs help ASAP. Under normal circumstances, they’d be a perfect fit.”
“Then plead ignorance and outrage.”
A strangled cry of frustration escaped her composure. “Jeff, come on. You’re killing me. I need advice, not jokes.”
“I’m serious. Think about it.”
Okay...
Ignorance and outrage. Ignorance and outrage. Play dumb about who he is, then blow up when Summer confronts her with the truth. Spew before her younger sister could.
Yes. If she played her role with enough fervor, she might be able to maneuver Summer into taking the part of the responsible, competent businesswoman. Oh, yes. This could definitely work.
She flung her arms around Jeff’s neck. “You.” She kissed his cheek. “Are.” His other cheek. “A genius.” Full on the mouth.
♥
THE FARTHER SUMMER had to search for April, the more steam built up between her ears. By the time she rounded the corner to Jeff’s office, she was a runaway freight train. No skinny, blond receptionist in a purple suit stood a chance. Paige, like everyone else, would have to jump off the rails or suffer the bruises.
Oh, Paige tried.
“Summer, hold up,” she demanded as she scurried from her desk to block Summer’s path. The fool had the chutzpah to stretch her arms wide across the door to Jeff’s office.
Summer stopped within inches of the receptionist. “Don’t make me hurt you, Paige.”
Lucky for them both, Paige backed down and backed away, aimed for the phone on her desk. “Will you at least give me a chance to let Jeff and April know you’re here?”
Every nerve in Summer’s body snapped. “And ruin the surprise? Don’t you dare.”
She pushed open the door and stepped inside to find April in Jeff’s lap, mouth pressed to his.
“Have you lost your mind?” She would have loved to slam the door for emphasis, but Jeff had installed air hinges—to prevent patients from that very action.
Still, April’s squeak and flinch suggested Summer had caught her sister off-guard. Good. She’d keep the balance tipped in her favor.
“Summer?” April asked. “Is something wrong?”
“You could say that.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Do you know who that man is?”
“What man?”
“Mr. Hartmann.” She blew out an exasperated breath. “God, April, do you always become so brain dead when you lock lips with Jeff?”
“We prefer to call it ‘kissing her stupid,’” Jeff replied.
April giggled like a toddler with a bubble machine. Until Summer communicated murder through her eyes.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Private joke. You see—”
“I don’t care!”
Another squeak erupted from April. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “Now, what’s wrong with Mr. Hartmann?”
“He’s Cliff Hanger.”
Ka-thump. April shot to her feet so fast, she knocked the cordless phone off the charging station on Jeff’s desk. “What?”
“He told me he’s really Cliff Hanger.”
She picked up the phone and replaced it. “He told you? Why on earth would he do that?” She waved a hand. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. No way he’s going to get away with trying to trick me into providing services to pond scum.”
Summer’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t expected April to leap to her defense so fast. Once again, the new and improved April managed to surprise her. “April, calm down.”
“I will not calm down.” Her voice rose. “He’s got a lot of nerve showing up here and asking for my help. Come on, Sum.” She strode around the desk, stalked toward the door. “Let’s go shred his contract. Then I’ll tell him off. Did he honestly think he could pull that stunt on my sister and then expect me to help him out of a jam? Guess again, pal. I hope his wife gets custody now. She’s probably more human than that slime.”
As Summer witnessed April’s tumultuous reaction, her own fury sputtered and died. “April, wait.”
“Why? He’s still here, isn’t he?” April demanded. “Because I want to give him a send-off he’ll never forget.”
“April?” Jeff said her name in a manner that sounded both calm and forceful to Summer.
April paused, her hand on the doorknob.
“Wouldn’t you be better off just handing his case over to another staff member?”
“I don’t have anyone else. We’re booked solid ‘til the end of the season. Besides, even if I had the perfect employee available, I wouldn’t let them work for that slime. He hurt my sister. Why would I want to help him?”
“A., because you’ve always insisted business and personal lives have to be kept separate.” Elbows on the desk, he steepled his fingers, playing the competent psychoanalyst. “And b., because if you help him, he might talk up your business on his radio show.”
April’s hands shot to her hips. “When exactly did you become so mercenary?”
Jeff shrugged. “I’m just reminding you of your bottom line.”
The air thickened with tension, and Summer braced for a coming April storm.
“That’s right,” her sister snapped. “It’s my bottom line. So, stay out of it.”
Neither spoke. The pair stared daggers at each other, and angry sparks charged the room with enough electricity to power a Manhattan high-rise.
Summer, uncomfortable and eager to avoid stepping into the middle of a lovers’ spat, shifted her weight from one hip to the other.
“That’s enough,” she said at last. “Both of you. You don’t mean what you’re saying right now. You’re just experiencing wedding jitters and taking out your nervousness on each other.”
“Whatever,” April retorted. “Come on, Sum. Let’s go kick that bum outta here.”
Summer folded her arms over her chest again, this time with the intent of becoming an immovable object. “No.”
April’s lashes fluttered in her wide eyes. “What do you mean, no?”
“I hate to say it, but Jeff’s right.”
He offered her a smile and a nod. “Thank you.”
She shot up a hand. “Don’t get excited, buddy. You’re only half right. We’re keeping Mr. Hartmann’s account, yes. But you’re not assigning it to someone else. I need this job and I’m taking it.”
April gasped. “But—”
“No buts, April. Cliff Hanger didn’t destroy my marriage. Brad did that all on his own. Now go kiss your fiancé and make up. Then we’ll go finalize this deal with Mr. Hartmann.”
Head bowed, April made her way back to Jeff’s desk. He rose to meet her halfway. When they stood a breath apart, she stretched on tiptoe to wrap her arms around his neck. The kiss they shared left Summer satisfied that all fences were mended, but bereft and acutely aware of her newly acquired single status.
When the couple didn’t pull away after a reasonable time, Summer clapped her hands. “That’ll do, kids.”
April jerked back, eyes sparkling and cheeks flushed. “Sorry,” she murmured. “Let’s go.”
As they left Jeff’s office, April flashed a brilliant smile at Summer. “God, I love that man!”
“I know,” she replied blandly.