Fortune's Secret Daughter by Barbara McCauley

Author:Barbara McCauley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2001-04-11T22:00:00+00:00

Seven

The annual Twin Pines School fund-raiser was the summer event. Locals, as well as people from all the neighboring towns, filled the large community center building. This year’s theme was Italian; the scent of oregano and garlic filled the cool, summer night air, along with the mouthwatering smells of bubbling marinara and ricotta-filled lasagna. Lively conversations and laughter mixed with the sound of a live band playing the theme song from The Godfather.

Holly took in the room and couldn’t help but smile. Red-checkered tablecloths, flickering candles, carafes of Chianti. All they needed to complete the picture was Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. When her gaze swept the room and came to rest on Guy, who was speaking to Ed Burton, Twin Pines postmaster, the smile on her lips faded.

She told herself this wasn’t a date. Or anything that even resembled a date. For the past four days, since that night in her kitchen, they’d barely even seen each other. Guy had spent most of his time down at the garage with Quincy and she’d been in meetings nearly every night with Lois and Lilah, the chairpersons for the fund-raiser. When Guy had volunteered his services to help out tonight, she could hardly turn him down. It was, after all, for the kids. Just because she and Guy had walked over here together, didn’t mean that they were “together.”

Still, as she watched Janet Mercer join Ed and Guy, then turn her baby-blue eyes on Guy, Holly’s fingers tightened around her glass of punch. The blonde, thirty-three-year-old divorcée was constantly on the prowl and no doubt she thought that Guy would make a handsome addition to her ever-growing list of bedroom trophies. When Janet laughed and leaned forward, her breasts threatened to overflow from the plunging neckline of her yellow blouse. Her leather skirt was tight, black and short, her heels high. With the black choker around her neck, Holly thought she looked like a bumblebee.

“Damn, but that’s one fine-looking man.”

Holly nearly spilled her punch at the unexpected comment from behind her. Holding a paper plate laden with antipasto, Bob moved beside her and stared at the trio across the room.

“I suppose so,” Holly said with what she hoped was a bored tone. Actually she thought Guy looked devastating. The charcoal-gray long-sleeved shirt he’d bought today deepened the gray of his eyes, and the black slacks fit over his bottom like a hug. Holly shrugged, then said facetiously, “If you like the ruggedly handsome, incredibly charming with a dash of dangerous, type.”

“Funny,” Bob said thoughtfully as she popped an olive into her mouth. “I never thought of Ed that way.”

“Oh.” Holly felt her cheeks warm. “I thought you were talking about…I mean, I thought—”

Bob grinned. “Just kidding. Everyone knows that Ed is a fine postmaster, but the poor man must have been out to lunch when the Good Lord passed out looks. But speaking of looks—” Bob looked her up and down “—you clean up real nice, honey. Something new?”

“Not really.” Holly

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