Sweet Surrender Read online

  He, at least, acknowledged her. They’d talked about the warm spring weather, the influx of retirees to the area and the need for a gourmet coffeehouse on Main Street.

  But she was no fool. This was a shrewd man. Although she’d presented her spiel on Hampton Mews, she didn’t think that the test was over. And that brought on the familiar heartburn symptoms.

  “I have a few reservations that you’ll need to address.”

  The advisers stopped their huddle and fixed their attention on their boss. They resembled hummingbirds hovering on the verge of taking off in whatever direction he commanded. Anticipation hung heavily over the group as they followed their boss’s line of sight toward her.

  Nothing like a little pressure.

  “I assure you that the city’s infrastructure can handle five hundred attendees. We hosted the regional high-school basketball tournament last year. We were able to handle that event without any problems,” she said. “Five hundred people. Yep, that should be fine. It should be…I think it will be…fine,” she finished with a false perkiness. She’d have to get on the phone and contract out many of the details to pull off the event, but Mr. Thadeus Bedford didn’t have to know that.

  He leaned forward in the chair. He didn’t take his eyes off her. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled. “I hope so. This is a major anniversary for the company. And I am not partial to small towns, but my staff here kept talking about Golden Spring.” He sniffed as if the air wasn’t up to his standard, either. “Although, I must say, your award-winning golf courses did appeal to me.”

  Guess that was his way of saying that she couldn’t take credit for her presentation getting his interest in the town. Haley pasted on a smile. It’s all about the customer. Treat him with courtesy. “That’s very gracious of you. I’ll pass on your comments to the golf-course owner.” Focus on their needs. “And for those who may not be golf enthusiasts, our two major hotel chains do have celebrity revues and Vegas-style casinos.”

  Bedford sniffed. Again his nose aimed a little higher, while his lips turned down a little lower. He cleared his throat. She now connected the sound with his displeasure.

  A sharp knock on the conference-room door interrupted her pitch. Vera, her assistant, popped her head into the room. “Sorry to disturb you, Ms. Sanders. You have an important call on line one.”

  Haley needed an interruption, but not that. She stared at Vera, hoping she’d understand the silent message to retreat.

  Vera didn’t.

  “Please take a message.” Haley delivered her request with as much sweetness as she could manage.

  Instead of leaving, Vera stepped farther into the room.

  Haley cringed. Her fashion-challenged assistant sported a bright pink pantsuit with a sunny-yellow scarf and white tennis shoes. To top it off, a country-western singer, big-hair look framed her face with massive upward flips.

  Great. Bedford couldn’t get a deeper groove along his forehead if he tried. Irritation practically crackled from his large frame.

  “Well…it’s Dr. Masterson,” Vera offered.

  A doctor? Since she’d come to town, Haley had only gone to a doctor once. Actually she’d taken her daughter, Beth, for her physical in order to enroll her into school. But that had been several months ago and she didn’t recall any Dr. Masterson. The only Masterson who came to mind was Pierce Masterson, her landlord. What were the chances that her landlord was related to a doctor?

  In a small town, it could be possible. Haley gnawed at her lip. Why the games? Unless…

  Nope. She’d reserve judgment until she got to her office. Her mouth tightened. Like a gentle breeze rustling dried leaves, her anger stirred. Did he think that playing the landlord and coming to her house would give him an in with her?

  She realized that if she’d not gotten cold feet on their date, she’d have learned more about Pierce. Maybe he would have told her. Her anger settled into unease.

  “Vera, is it Beth?” A sickening dread dropped like a boulder in her gut.

  Vera nodded.

  Haley turned her attention back to the group. All eyes were focused on her.

  “Is everything okay?” Bedford asked.

  Haley nodded, but struggled to push back the panic simmering under the surface. She waved Vera away. “Take down the information, please.”

  She turned her attention to Bedford and tried to smile, but her lips trembled. Next would come the tears. She swallowed. Don’t break down in front of the potential clients.

  “My apologies, gentlemen, let’s get back to the business at hand.”

  “I do not rush to my decisions, Ms. Sanders. It’s my policy to sleep in the town and try out the amenities. Then I will make my decision. Let’s meet in two days.” For the first time, Bedford smiled. “And now, you’re needed elsewhere.”

  “Thank you.” Maybe he wasn’t as fierce as his reputation purported.

  “Ten in the morning on Thursday.”

  “You’re staying at the Windsor, right?” When he nodded, she continued, “I’ll be in the lounge.”

  “Until then, good day.” Bedford and his small entourage left the room. Her boss magically appeared on cue to escort them to the exit.

  Haley didn’t waste another minute. There was no time to dissect how she should’ve closed the deal. She couldn’t ponder what her boss would say under the guise of constructive criticism. Or whether she successfully could make it through her six-month probation without this deal.

  Please don’t let anything be wrong with Beth, she prayed. But something had to be wrong for the call. A sob choked her as she ran through the hall to her office. She had to be strong. Nothing could happen to her little girl. Her daughter was her life. She grabbed her car keys and headed to Vera’s desk to pick up the contact information.

  Not until she sat in the car did she look down at the memo. Dr. Masterson wants to discuss a serious matter. He has Beth at his office. 20013 Crystal Lane.

  The note didn’t indicate that Beth was hurt. However, this bit of insight didn’t settle her nerves.

  Ten minutes later, Haley pulled into the diagonal parking spaces in front of the doctor’s office in the medical park. As she got out, she noticed that her car straddled the thick white lines. Another day she would’ve gotten back into her car and made the necessary adjustment to avoid offending another driver.

  Not today. She ran the few yards to the door, her pulse beating erraticly.

  She burst into the office and headed for the receptionist’s desk. “Is Beth here? I’m here to see Dr. Masterson. I’m Beth’s mother.” The words tumbled out in a gasp. Her chest heaved from the exertion. Her hands shook as she pushed her hair away from her face.

  “Ms. Sanders, in here please.”

  Haley looked up when she heard a familiar deep voice.

  Pierce stood at the doorway separating the reception area and the examination rooms. The first thing she noticed was his thick eyebrows underlining a deep frown. They sat like black accent marks over intense brown eyes framed by those enviable long lashes. He didn’t smile in friendly greeting.

  Neither did she.

  “What game are you playing?” She marched right up to him and placed her hand on her hip. “You’re a doctor,” she accused. Her anger took on tornado-size proportions, escalating through her body and looking for a place to touch down. In Pierce’s face seemed like a good place for an explanation.

  To think that she had been attracted by his easy, down-home manner. It didn’t help that his ruggedly handsome features had stirred up her imagination, causing her to blush to the roots of her hair.

  “Let’s go to my office, shall we?”

  “Does this mean that Beth is not sick or hurt?” Haley looked around, making sure to look in any rooms that were open. She wasn’t prepared yet to see her daughter lying on an examination table heavily bandaged, profusely bleeding.

  “Not hardly.” His clipped tone sent a warning that this might not be the type of doctor visit that
she originally thought it’d be.

  It became clear that Beth wasn’t on her way to the emergency room, but in trouble of another kind. Haley lengthened her footsteps to keep up with Pierce’s march to his office. Since he wasn’t talking, she felt compelled to stay quiet.

  She felt as if she were meeting Pierce for the first time. He walked like a man in charge with his shoulders back and spine ramrod straight. His white coat barely moved with impressive efficiency. He wore casual khaki slacks perfectly creased.

  She had pretty much kept their relationship to the landlord-tenant conditions on the lease agreement. She’d taken that hard-and-fast route in order not to succumb to her urges to get closer to him, to occasionally share a glass of wine with him on the back porch steps while watching the sunset. With his list of items to be fixed or replaced completed, she hadn’t seen him in over a month.

  Pierce stopped in front of an office door bearing his name. He stepped aside, bidding her entry. “Have a seat, Haley.”

  She stepped in, surprised at the small space. Considering his autocratic air, she’d expected an office that encompassed the width of the property. Instead, the room contained only the necessities with a desk, side table for the computer and a bookcase filled to capacity. It barely had room for two extra chairs, efficient without pomp and circumstance. She looked up at him, waiting for him to clear up all the questions that buzzed around in her head.

  “Beth is fine.”

  Clearly he wasn’t. His jaw twitched. Was it Beth or her that made him look as if he’d rather be dealing with his patients?

  He took his seat behind the desk. “I’m concerned about Beth. She made a poor decision today. I presume that she’s about thirteen or fourteen years old and should understand the consequences of bad judgment.”

  He was being so formal with her. His words, his tone, the dour expression judged her on his turf. “Pierce. Dr. Masterson, please tell me, what’s going on? And for the record, my daughter is thirteen.”

  He tapped a rhythm on the desk, staring at her.

  “Look, Pierce, you said this was an emergency.” She fidgeted, smoothing her skirt, brushing away nonexistent lint. “Where’s my daughter?” She stood and headed into the hallway.

  “This way.” He led her down the hallway toward the lit exit sign and eventual door.

  Haley hesitantly walked out the door, looking up at him for an explanation. Why were they standing outside behind his office?

  “Take a look at the back wall.”

  Haley walked to the end of the building and turned. “Oh my! What is this?”

  “The better question is who did this?”

  Haley saw Beth and another woman, who looked as if she was one of Pierce’s employees, dressed in a medical uniform, chatting. Beth sat cross-legged on the ground chewing gum and blowing bubbles, animatedly talking as if nothing were terribly wrong.

  “Beth, would you tell your mother why I had to call her?”

  “You…she did this?”

  “For some reason your daughter felt that this concrete fencing was a huge canvas for her and her friends. The friends ran off, leaving her holding the bag.”

  “I wasn’t trying to run away, Dr. Masterson,” Beth defended with teenage attitude. She wore an admiring smile as she sauntered over to the wall. “I’d say that we brightened this wall.”

  “Why did you pick my wall?”

  “Because I know you. I wouldn’t put in all this work to make a stranger’s place look good.”

  “I don’t think my patients will care for the graffiti. And might I add that my landlord and the other businesses in the area would have a fit.”

  “Mom!”

  “Bethany Lindsey Sanders, don’t say another word, young lady. What were you thinking? You know better. I can’t believe you let your so-called friends talk you into acting like a delinquent.”

  “You don’t know my friends. I don’t talk about your friends. Dr. Masterson has old people for his patients. And just because they are old doesn’t mean that they don’t like bright colors or pretty things.”

  “Don’t give me lip, girl!”

  Beth’s response was to focus on the dirt patterns she made with her toe.

  Haley had to remember this wasn’t about her. This wasn’t about how embarrassed she was at this minute. Nor was it about what the neighbors would say.

  She was the mother and her daughter had to remember that she was not a one-person demolition unit. Vernon had been the disciplinarian; even immediately after the divorce, he’d stepped in whether she’d wanted him to do so or not. Being a single parent was akin to playing an octopus; unfortunately, Haley hadn’t sprouted the other six hands to cope.

  “Can we work something out?” Haley opened her pocketbook.

  “That won’t do.”

  “I’m willing to pay.” Good grief. Was Pierce going to play hardball with her? “I hope this isn’t about me…you know…not continuing to go out with you.”

  “I’m not a sixteen-year-old getting over a crush.”

  “Sorry. Well, that certainly put me in my place.” She offered a tight, fake smile. “Could you tell me how much to write the check?” Her pen was poised over the line printed on the check. Beth wasn’t going to see the light of day anytime soon. “Stop chewing that gum before I plug your nose with it.”

  Beth had the good grace to look shocked and promptly spat the gum onto Pierce’s shoe.

  “I don’t want money.” Pierce shook his foot until the gum was dislodged.

  Haley looked at the extent of the damage to the wall. She couldn’t imagine the cost or the dent this check would make in her already low account.

  “I’m demanding hard labor and…”

  “What hard labor?”

  “Beth has to repaint the wall before my landlord slaps me with damages.”

  Haley wanted to sag with relief. She nodded her agreement at the light and inexpensive punishment.

  “You want me to paint the entire wall by myself?” Beth asked incredulously and looked at Haley for support.

  “You’re not only going to paint the wall. You will also get several tasks that you have to complete each day at home. I’m killing myself going to work and then coming home to do more work. Obviously you have too much time on your hands. Since you want to act as if you don’t have any common sense, I will treat you as such until you prove otherwise.”

  Beth’s mouth trembled. Her fists balled. Haley knew that she and Beth were getting off easy. She also feared that Beth was on the verge of a meltdown. Haley decided to continue this in the privacy of her home. “Pierce, please give me a call to work out the details.”

  “Sure.”

  “And thanks.” She offered him her hand. He shook it, holding it until she looked up in his face.

  Pierce wished that she could trust him enough to be friends. He’d tell her how much he approved of her firm stance. He’d also tell her that he hadn’t been able to think of anything else but their two non-dates. He’d apologize for whatever he’d said or done to spook her. Goodness knows, he missed those beautiful eyes that made him feel as if he had fallen backward into a pool only to sink to its depth with a silly smile on his face.

  By trade, he fixed bodies gone awry. Working with elderly patients, he saw the frustration in their eyes when their bodies limited their actions. He took pride in closing the gap between what they wanted to do and what they were capable of doing.

  He hadn’t spent enough time with Beth and her mother to know how to fix them. But he was quite certain that something was broken.

  “I have another solution,” he offered. He walked toward the wall and studied its length.

  “Yes?” He jumped at Beth’s voice. He had been so taken in with the scene that he hadn’t heard her approach.

  He looked down into the young teen’s face squinting up at him. Amazing how adolescent emotions can rage in one minute and be soft and innocent in another. “I have an idea. I won’t pursue the matter if Beth
agrees to volunteer once a week to bring her talent into the office. Maybe she could do a mural on one the walls in the waiting room. Of course, I and the rest of the staff would have to approve it.” He faced Haley, unsure why she looked so doubtful.

  “Shut up! No. You’ve got to be kidding.” Beth snorted.

  Thankfully he’d heard that “shut up” expression from his patients’ grandchildren to know it was the latest cool thing to say. He wondered if the first child who’d said it was now toothless.

  “Oh man! How long do I have?” Beth’s face transformed.

  “How about getting it done by the end of the month? Then I can have a festival open-house sort of thing and unveil your work.”

  “You’ve got a deal.”

  “I’m not sure.” Haley stared at him.

  “What’s the problem?” He didn’t expect her to whoop and holler around the parking lot like her daughter. But he definitely didn’t expect the suspicious glint in her eyes.

  She pulled him aside while Beth continued to dance around the lot. “Your office, please. I think you should’ve discussed it with me, first.”

  “What is there to discuss? I think this is the best solution.” He followed her to his office where she slammed the door shut.

  “I’d much rather have the fence repainted and leave it at that.”

  “But that’s not what I want. Beth needs to take responsibility, but I think giving her options to express her emotions will help stabilize her.” Why couldn’t she trust him to know what was right?

  “Pierce, I appreciate your generosity, but as Beth’s parent I determine what’s best for her.”

  “Duly noted. I was merely following the philosophy that it takes a village. Hampton Mews isn’t a village, but it still has a small-town appeal. Everyone knows everyone. We like to help each other. Haley, I’m not the enemy.”

  “You’re not my friend, either.”

  “Not by choice. You have a fence all of your own that you’ve managed to erect in record time.”

  “You said this wasn’t about me.”

  “I lied.” He leaned against his desk. “I didn’t plan for Beth to play Leonardo on my wall. It happened. I think that I can truly help her because I’m sure that it’s difficult for her to handle all these adjustments in her life. Plus I think the girl has talent.”