“Okay, I’ll agree that Mom and Dad thought the whole thing was a little flaky, but you weresuccessful. They couldn’t deny that. You have an impressive list of clients. All those new, wealthy software folks love the idea of computerized matchmaking. You were turning a serious profit and that counts for a lot in this family.”
“If Mom and Dad think matchmaking is flaky, I can’t wait to hear what they’ll say about my next career move.”
“Well?” Hannah tilted her head slightly. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“It’s a long story.”
“I want to hear every word of it.” Hannah paused when a set of headlights turned into the drive that led toward Dreamscape. “But I’m afraid the tale will have to wait. Here comes dinner.”
The low growl of a powerful, finely tuned engine rumbled in the gathering night. Lillian watched the sleek Porsche prowl down the drive.
The vehicle came to a halt near the inn’s main entrance. The engine went silent. The door on the driver’s side opened. Hannah’s husband, Rafe, got out, moving with the easy masculine grace that characterized all the Madison males.
A dapper salt-and-pepper Schnauzer jumped out of the open car door after him. The dog paused and looked up toward the balcony.
“Hello, Winston,” Lillian called down. “You’re as handsome as ever.”
Winston bounced a little in refined appreciation of what he obviously considered no more than his due. Then he trotted briskly up the steps and disappeared under the overhanging roof.
Rafe retrieved two grocery sacks from the interior of the car.
“About time you guys got home,” Hannah said to him. “We were starting to wonder if the two of you had stopped off at the Total Eclipse for a beer and a fast game of pool.”
Rafe nudged the door of the Porsche closed and looked up. He gave Hannah and Lillian the patented Madison smile, all rakish charm and a promise of trouble to come.
“Sorry we’re a little late,” he said. “Ran into an old pal who just happened to show up in town late this afternoon. I invited him for dinner. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Who is he?” Hannah asked curiously.
“Just some guy I know.”
Rafe turned to look back toward the far end of the drive. Lillian followed his gaze and saw a second set of headlights coming toward the inn.
A dark-green Jaguar glided down the drive and stopped next to the Porsche.
A sudden premonition sizzled through Lillian. She gripped the railing very tightly and leaned forward to get a better look.
“No,” she muttered. “Surely he wouldn’t-”
Hannah glanced at her in surprise. “What’s wrong?”
Before Lillian could answer the Jag’s door opened. Gabe climbed out. His gaze went straight to the balcony.
“Hello, Lillian,” he said much too easily. “I see you got invited to dinner, too. Isn’t this an amazing coincidence?”
“There are no coincidences,” Lillian said darkly.
“I’ve heard that.”
She was intensely aware of Rafe and Hannah watching the little scene. They both looked amused and intrigued. “What are you doing here? And don’t try to tell me that you just decided to take a mini-vacation this weekend.”
“One thing you should know about me.” Gabe walked around the front of the Jag, making for the front steps. “I never do anything on a whim. You’re probably thinking of Rafe, here. He’s been known to get a little wild and crazy at times.”
“Hey, don’t look at me,” Rafe said quickly. “I’m a married man now. I’ve settled down. I only get wild and crazy with Hannah.” He gazed up at the balcony. “Isn’t that right, honey?”
“If you know what’s good for you, it is,” Hannah said. There was warmth and laughter in the words.
Gabe stopped at the foot of the steps and looked at Lillian. “You didn’t really believe that I was going to let you skip out on me, did you?”
She dug her fingers into the rail. “I offered to repay your money.”
“I don’t want a refund. I want what I paid for.”
“I don’t believe this,” Lillian said.
Rafe paused, one booted foot on the bottom step, and gave his brother an inquiring look. “What’s this all about? Sounds interesting.”
“She owes me a date,” Gabe explained. “I paid for six. I only got five.”
“That is not true,” Lillian said loudly.
“It is true,” Gabe assured Rafe and Hannah. “I’ve got a signed contract to prove it.”
Aware of Rafe’s and Hannah’s thinly veiled amusement, Lillian felt called upon to defend herself. “He lied on the questionnaire.”
“You’re just saying that to cover up the fact that you did such a lousy job of matching me. Bottom line here is that I’ve got another date coming.”
“Lots of luck,” she shot back. “Nobody gets any more dates from Private Arrangements. The company is out of business. You’ll have to get your last date somewhere else.”
Gabe started up the steps. “Nobody takes my money and leaves town without delivering the goods.”
“For crying out loud.” Lillian leaned a little farther out over the rail. “This is ridiculous. You can’t possibly be serious about one lousy date.”
“When it comes to business, I’m always serious.” He disappeared into the house.
“That’s my brother for you,” Rafe said, mockingly apologetic. “Could have written the book on how not to get screwed in a business deal. He fixates, you know?”
Before Lillian could tell him what she thought about Gabe’s business style, Rafe, too, vanished beneath the overhang.
“Well,” Hannah said thoughtfully. “This is an interesting turn of events.”
“This isn’t interesting, it’s seriously aberrant behavior.” Lillian continued to look uneasily over the railing into the now-empty drive. “You think maybe Gabe’s gone a little nuts or something in the years since he left Eclipse Bay? Maybe the stress of building his business empire has been too much for him.”
“I don’t think it’s the empire building that’s making him act weird,” Hannah said. “I think it’s the fact that he’s a Madison.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“Something tells me there’s more to this story than your failure to live up to your end of a business contract.”
“Believe it or not, things started out fairly normally when Gabe signed up with Private Arrangements. I had stopped taking new clients but he seemed serious and determined. I figured okay, he’s not exactly an oldfriend of the family, but he certainly qualifies as a longtime acquaintance, and weare sort of connected because of you and Rafe and all. I thought, what the heck? I still had the names of several nice women in my files.”
“What went wrong?”
“What can I say?” Lillian held out both hands, palms up. “Gabe became the client from hell.”
“We’ve got no choice but to move out for at least three weeks,” Hannah said an hour later. She passed a large ceramic bowl across the table to Lillian. “The Willis brothers have sent us straight into remodel hell. It was bad enough when they were doing the plumbing.”
“They kept shutting off the water without warning and we had to cope with a stack of bathroom fixtures in the front hall for ages,” Rafe said. “I started having nightmares featuring endless mazes of gleaming porcelain commodes.”
“We keep assuring each other that we’re lucky to have the full attention of the Willis brothers,” Hannah said. “There’s a new wing being built up at the institute and we were worried for a while that the folks up there would lure Torrance and Walter away. Fortunately they called in outside contractors.”