Chapter Seven

John had come close to insisting on the Mercedes-Benz of dive gear, but, as Ava went to great lengths to defend his wallet, he suddenly realized he liked being thought of as a man with a budget.

What he seemed to like even better was not being thought of as a wealthy man, but just a man. With every word Ava spoke, the idea of taking on the role of ordinary workingman took root and felt…good. Not John Maplewood, owner and CEO of a world-renowned company, but Forrest Maplewood, Magnolia’s brother. Except that begged a new question. Who did they think he was, besides Magnolia’s brother? How did they think he afforded an extended vacation such as this? Though, now that he thought about it, none of the conversations involving Maggie mentioned her as anything other than the Delucas’ house manager. Could it be that Magnolia hadn’t told any of her new friends where they’d all come from?

The idea of living even a few days free of life’s labels gave John a rush that rivaled completing one of the tallest buildings in the world. Oh, yeah, he was liking this.

“If you leave your gear here, the guys will take it to the boat the next time you go out with them.” Ava moved behind the counter.

“Thanks, that would be great. I’ll have to see what the plans are. Who do I get in touch with, when I know my schedule?”

Grabbing a card from beside the register, Ava scribbled a number on the back and handed it to him. “You can call the shop. Ask for Billy or Nick. If they’re not here, you can call Billy’s cell.” She tapped the number.

For a moment he’d thought she was giving him her number. Idiot. She wasn’t after him or his money. Ava Everrett was just a nice lady doing her part for the family business. That was for the best. And wasn’t it a shame too.

“Mom just called.” Emerging from his office, Billy came across the shop.

“Uh-oh.” Ava looked up a second.

“She wants us all at the house for lunch.” Eyeing the gear spread out across the counter, he gave his sister a thumbs-up. “Wow. Way to go, sis. Maybe you should give up designing buildings and work the shop.”

Rolling her eyes, Ava price scanned the mask and shoved it in the bag. “In your dreams, big brother. I’m almost finished here, if you could pull out the GoPro from inside the cabinet there.”

“I know where we keep the cameras.” Billy smacked lightly at his sister’s finger, still pointing in the general direction of the few waterproof and underwater cameras they carried. Pulling out two boxes, he held them up. “Which one?”

“The basic,” Ava said.

At the same time John pointed to the bigger box with the extra toys. “That one.”

Billy laughed and shook his head. “If I didn’t know better I’d swear you two were married.” He placed John’s choice beside the register. “Sorry, sis. The customer is always right.”

She flashed her brother the bird and John clamped down on his lower lip. The joys of family dynamics.

“You ready?” Nick stepped out from the office, dangling a set of keys from one finger, the infant carrier in his other hand. Kara and Lexie followed behind, heads together, smiling, with Jim in tow.

“Yep.” Billy nodded, moved toward the door and called out to a young man coming in from the outside pool. “Place is all yours, Jonathan.”

“Got it, boss.” The sandy-haired man John had met earlier on the boat looked awfully young to be in charge, but then again John had never been a good judge of age.

“And here you go.” Ava slipped a receipt in front of him to sign.

Her eyes carefully studied his features, probably looking for any clue as to whether or not he’d just exceeded his credit limit. Not that he had one. Nor did she have any reason to know that.

With a quick scrawl, his name was on the solitary line, and his mind was made up. For the duration he would be Forrest Maplewood, Magnolia’s brother, and just an ordinary guy. He eyed his bags on the counter and his gear staying at the shop, the concerned crease between Ava’s brows, and wondered just what did Kona have in store for ordinary Forrest Maplewood?

* * *

“Try these. Mom is famous for her coconut fritters.” Ava pointed to the serving dish on her left. She wouldn’t bother to mention that the more others ate, the less likely she’d be to gain ten pounds from raiding the fridge for leftovers after everyone went home.

“Does your mother always put out a spread like this on the fly?” Forrest stood on the lanai, holding an empty plate, and scanned the crowded tabletop from one end to the other.

“Oh, yeah. If you think My Big Fat Greek Wedding was all about food, wait till you see what Mom and Annette have put together for Maggie’s birthday party.”

Forrest’s dark brows climbed high on his forehead, and Ava had to bite back a smile. Some days she wondered if her family wouldn’t make a great reality TV show.

Jim stopped at the huge spread of food and pointed to the nearby platter. “Try the coconut fritters,” he said to Forrest.

“Oh, definitely,” his wife concurred.

Forrest glanced at Ava, and she gave a quick shrug. “Told ya.”

“Sweetie”—Maile Everrett appeared with another platter of food—”I heard Kara ask Nick to get the diaper bag from the car. I haven’t had a chance to tell her about the changing table. Would you please?”

“Sure.” From where Ava stood, she could see Nick handing off the diaper bag to his wife in the living room. What Ava couldn’t figure out was why her mother had sent her on the errand instead of just telling Kara herself. Especially when Ava was standing next to a single man. That was so not her mother’s style.

In the living room, hefting the bag over one shoulder, Kara cooed at the fussy baby. “I know. We’ll get you a nice clean diaper, and then you can have lunch too.”

“And wait until you see what Aunt Maile has done.” Ava kissed the baby’s cheek.

“Oh, dear.” Kara stopped swaying. “Now what?”

Ava laughed. “Mom does have that affect on people. Follow me.”

“I’m not sure I dare.” Kara turned and fell in step behind Ava. “Is this a good wait and see or an I’d better take two aspirin first kind of wait and see?”

Stopping at the guest room door, Ava waved Kara in. “I think you’ll like this.”

The room looked very much the way it had since Billy had moved into his own place. A double bed with a palm tree spread, utilitarian nightstands and single dresser. Except the boring beige walls were now a very faint shade of yellow, and the dresser had been moved from the middle of the wall to the opposite end. In its place was a white changing table and beside it a blue gingham easy chair.

“It rocks,” Ava added.

“Yes, it does.” Kara looked around the room.

“No. I mean the chair.”

Kara’s gaze flew to the chair. “Anyone would think she really was these kids grandmother.”

Happy tears pooled in Kara’s eyes, and Ava did what all good almost-sisters did, she gave Kara a little squeeze, and the baby caught in the middle gave a friendly kick. “You’d better give the kid clean drawers, before she starts fussing for real.”

Kara smiled, and Ava made her way back to the lunch guests. Kara’s mom had passed away years ago, and, though Kara’s Aunt Maggie was like a mother to her, the woman lived in Texas. With all the gusto of a blood relation, Ava’s mom had gladly stepped in to play grandma to Nick’s son, Bradley, and now the new baby.

On her way back to the gathering, Ava paused a minute in her new office. Something had been nagging her for the last couple of days about her new design, and it suddenly struck her how to fix it. Taking a seat at the drafting table, she studied the sketches. Eraser in hand, she went to work on the outside patio area. Everything else had been so natural in its form, and yet the patio had been square and standard, like any restaurant anywhere in the country.

In the designing zone, she wouldn’t have heard a tsunami roar through the room, much less human footsteps.

“That’s really good.”

A male voice startled her into dropping her pencil.

“Sorry, I thought you heard me come in.”

“No, my fault. I should be in the other room with the rest of the company.”

“Your brother mentioned you designed buildings. I’d planned to ask you about it later.” He scanned the drawings more closely. Then reached for the top of the page. “Do you mind?”

“No, not at all.”

He flipped the page and studied the drawings underneath with the same intensity as the previous page. “Do you have the floor plans for these?”

She nodded and unrolled another set of papers. He continued to study them, as though he knew exactly what he was looking at.

“They’re not construction-ready blueprints, but—”

“Damn good nonetheless.”

“Are you an architect?” That would certainly explain why people thought of him as a desk jockey. Lord knew she spent most of her days and nights huddled over her drafting table.

“Hardly. Drawing is not one of my talents.”

She was not going to ask what his talents were. She wasn’t.

Taking in a deep breath, he straightened and stepped back. “But I’ve seen enough drawings in my business to know these are good.”

All she knew about Magnolia’s brother was that he worked too hard. And from what Billy had said, she’d assumed some kind of IT desk jockey. Curiosity continued to nag at her. “What is your business?”

From a distance, his gaze remained on the drawings. “Construction.”

That would explain some familiarity with architectural renderings.

“Who do you work for?” he asked, without looking up.

Feeling the pride of finally branching out on her own, even if it was only this room in her mother’s house, Ava smiled up at the intriguing man. “You’re looking at Everrett Architectural Designs.”

A broad grin took over his face. “Nice to meet you, Everrett Architectural Designs.”

He’d smiled plenty all day, but this grin was different. She couldn’t place her finger on it. Something about it was, sincere, heartfelt…infectious.

“Who is this for?”

“No one.”

His smile slipped, and his eyes rounded into perfect 360-degree circles. “What do you mean, no one?”

This was not the time to go into her recent departure from Emerson & Smythe. Nor the way they’d stabbed her in the back. Nor her aspirations to play with the big boys and design buildings around the world. “I’d heard about a new aquarium project, and it got my ideas stirring, so I jotted them down. Never know when they’ll come in handy.”

“Jotted them down?” His eyebrows did that high-on-his-forehead thing again, as he glanced back at her drawings.

“So.” Ava came to her feet. As much as she enjoyed having someone outside the family show interest in her work, her skills, she wasn’t prepared to share the consequences of her career choices. At least not yet. “I think my mother should be about ready to send out a search party for her guest of honor.”

Forrest snapped his fingers and chuckled. “I was on my way back from the bathroom, when I saw you working. At this very minute your mom may be calling the local plumber to see if I fell in.”

That had her laughing out loud. “Then we’d better hurry.”

Her guest took another glance over her shoulder at the drawings and, nodding his head, mumbled, “Mmm.”

Right now she would love to know what the hell was going through this man’s mind. There was most definitely so much more to Forrest Maplewood. And finding out how much more could be the most fun she’d had in a very long time.