Meet Mr. Prince (9 page)

 

Cornelia loved Key West. The city was exactly the way she'd imagined it would be. Harry had booked them into a two-bedroom ocean-front cottage at the Sunset Key Resort located on a private island only a ten-minute boat ride from downtown Key West. It was absolutely gorgeous, but then, she hadn't expected anything less. Nothing but the best for Harrison Hunt.

She'd been afraid that staying in the cottage might be awkward, but Harry made it easy for her, saying she could choose which bedroom she wanted. She decided to let him have the master with the king-size bed. After all, Harry was six feet, four inches tall. He needed leg room. Besides, the second bedroom had a queen, which was more to her liking, anyway. She was grateful that Harry didn't seem to expect her to share his bed, because she wasn't ready.

Cornelia wasn't a prude. Not at all. But she'd been a virgin when she married George, and there hadn't been anyone else since. Maybe hers was an old-fashioned sentiment, but she wanted to do things in the proper order. First a wedding ring, then sex. Her daughters saw things differently, and that was fine. She wasn't judging them. They had their ideas; she had hers. And thank goodness, Harry seemed to respect that. His attitude was definitely a point in his favor.

She still hadn't said anything to him about Greg and his new job. But she would. She was just biding her time, waiting for the right moment. She was no longer upset with Harry. In fact, now she was amused. He must really have been worried or he wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to get rid of Greg. She smiled. Good. She was glad he'd been worried. It was about time he worried about losing her. After all, it was his own fault she hadn't been his long ago.

That night, after a lovely dinner in the resort dining room, and an even lovelier shared bottle of champagne on the screened veranda of their cottage, where they listened to the sound of the waves, Cornelia slept better than she'd slept in years.

The next day proved to be one of the best Cornelia had ever had. They began early, with a wonderful breakfast served to them on the verandah. They drank orange juice and ate strawberries and papaya and scrambled eggs and muffins to the accompaniment of ocean breezes and sparkling water. Afterward, they took the shuttle boat into the city and toured the Little White House—Harry Truman's home—in the morning, had a fabulous lunch at the Pier House Restaurant (the conch fritters were to die for!), then visited the Ernest Hemingway Museum in the afternoon.

Cornelia was enchanted by all the cats at the Hemingway Museum. They were everywhere! Behind trees, under bushes, lying in the grass—just everywhere. Cornelia counted over twenty that she saw personally, and she knew there were many more.

“I think I'll get a cat or two when I get back home,” she told Harry after encountering a particularly beautiful calico, who was sleeping under a stone bench.

Harry gave her a funny look. “A cat…or
two?
”

It was only then that Cornelia remembered Harry didn't like cats. He was more a dog person. She smiled inwardly. This would be a true test of his devotion. “Yes. I've always loved cats, but for some reason, I just haven't thought about getting one of my own.” She gave him an arch look. “Is that a problem for you?”

“Ah, no, of course not. Whatever you want, my dear, is what I want.”

She gave him a beatific smile. “Thank you, Harry. That means a lot to me.”

That night they dined at a small French restaurant owned by someone Harry knew, and they were treated like royalty. Afterward, Harry took her to a club where they listened to music until after midnight. Finally, when Cornelia could not stop herself from yawning, Harry suggested they go back to their cottage and get a good night's sleep.

“After all,” he said, “we're not as young as we used to be.”

“Speak for yourself,” she said tartly.

Cornelia sat in the curve of his arm on the boat ride back. “It was a wonderful day. Thank you.”

Harry's arm tightened around her. “Every day from now on can be just as wonderful, Corny, if you say yes.”

Cornelia smiled. “I know.” But she still wasn't ready.

“But I can wait,” Harry said. “I can wait for as long as it takes.”

When they got back to their cottage, Harry drew her into his arms and kissed her. Cornelia closed her eyes and kissed him back. It felt so good to be held close like this, to be kissed like this. She had almost forgotten how good a kiss like this could be.

That night, as she lay in her solitary bed, Cornelia wondered again if she were being foolish. Was it really wise to make Harry wait like this? He'd said it himself. They weren't as young as they used to be.

But the next morning, she was once again sure of her path. She had also decided it was time to talk about Greg. So, after breakfast and over their second cup of coffee, she said, “Harry, there's something I've been meaning to ask you.”

“Before you do, I have something for you.” He reached behind him, where a long, flat gray suede jeweler's box lay on a small side table. “Open it,” he said, handing it to her.

Cornelia stared at him. “Harry…”

“Open it,” he said in a softer voice.

Sighing, she opened the lid. “Oh…” Lying there on a creamy silk lining was a delicate bracelet of small, perfectly matched rubies. Nestled inside the bracelet were two ruby teardrop earrings. They were exquisite. Looking up, she saw the tenderest expression on his face.

“Happy Valentine's Day, my darling.”

Cornelia couldn't speak. Valentine's Day. She hadn't even realized it. How long had it been since anyone had wished her a Happy Valentine's Day? She knew how long it had been since she'd had a gift like this. Never.

“Do you like them?”

“I love them,” she murmured. Then she got up, went around the table, leaned down and put her arms around him.

He looked up. “I love you, Corny.”

Instead of replying, she kissed him.

Afterward, they had another cup of coffee, and he
said, “Before that enjoyable interlude, you wanted to ask me something.”

“Yes.” She guessed she still did, despite the gorgeous jewels now adorning her wrist and ear lobes.

He smiled at her, his dark eyes gleaming. “Well. Ask away.”

“On Tuesday when I had lunch with Kit, guess who joined us.”

“I have no idea.”

“Greg Berger.”

“I see.”

“Do you?”

Harry frowned. “I'm not sure what you're asking, dear heart.”

“Greg mentioned that he'd been offered a fantastic new job.”

This time Harry said nothing.

Cornelia almost smiled. She knew Harry would never out and out lie to her, and obviously he felt staying quiet was the smartest thing to do, especially since he wasn't sure what was coming.

“In Hawaii,” she added.

“That's nice for him.”

“You think?”

“I would imagine anyone would like a job in Hawaii.”

“Is that why you suggested him?”

To Harry's credit, he didn't even flinch. Nor did he look away. “You know exactly why I arranged for him to be offered that job.”

“For heaven's sake, Harry. Did you really think it was necessary to get him out of the way?”

Reaching across the table, Harry took her hand in his. His thumb rubbed the back, and his dark eyes never left
hers. “I told you before, Corny. I love you. I want you to marry me. And I will do anything it takes to show you how much I care about you. Anything.”

Cornelia shook her head sadly. “What am I going to do with you, Harry?”

“Quit being so stubborn and say you'll marry me!” Then, laughing, he rose and pulled her to her feet. “C'mon, lazy bones, let's get going. We've got a lot more things to do while we're here, and time's a-wasting.”

Cornelia laughed, too.

What else could she do?

E
very storefront that Georgie passed on her way to work Monday morning displayed some kind of Valentine promotion. Why was it, she wondered, that you couldn't escape the propaganda? But even as she derided all the hearts and flowers and lacy cards, telling herself they were designed to make money for the merchants who sold them, she knew she would like to be the recipient of something on Valentine's Day, even if it was only a single rose showing that someone cared about her.

Sighing, she told herself that she was lucky to be in New York and so far away from all her friends and family. At least here no one expected her to be showered with candy and roses, did they? In Seattle, all her sisters would be wallowing in the attentions of new husbands and fiancés, and they'd be feeling sorry for her.

But no matter how many times she said it, she
couldn't suppress the feeling of loneliness that refused to go away.

And when a huge vase of red roses arrived for Deborah shortly after nine, Georgie admired them the way she knew she was expected to, but as soon as she could, she excused herself, saying she was loaded down with work, went into her office and shut the door.

Today, she didn't even want to see Zach.

 

Zach made a formal offer to Luke Peterson late Monday afternoon after both Deborah and Georgie had gone home for the day. On Wednesday, Luke called and said he'd accepted another job.

“I'm really sorry, Zach, but the position offered to me by Warfield March was just too good to turn down.” He then told Zach exactly what the offer entailed.

Zach sighed. There was no way he could match the Warfield March offer, which was almost twice as much as the foundation could pay. “I'd be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed, but I certainly understand.”

“As much as I would have enjoyed working with you, and as much as I admire what the Hunt Foundation is doing, I've got two kids, and Caitlyn will be going to college in only three years. I've got to think about the future.”

Once again, Zach realized how fortunate he was that money wasn't an issue for him. As long as they had the grades, his children could have their pick of colleges.

After they hung up, Zach sat in his office awhile before going out to give Deborah the news. Georgie wasn't there; she'd made an appointment with the teacher who'd started the violin program at her school and would be gone for hours.

Thank God for Georgie. Now that she was taking
so much of the workload off his shoulders, he realized anew how valuable she was. And how right Alex had been.

“Oh, no!” Deborah said when he finally told her about Luke. “He seemed so perfect for us.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Darn. Well, Georgie's going to be disappointed. I know she's looking forward to getting back to Seattle.”

“Did she say that?” Zach frowned. He hadn't been aware that Georgie was anxious to leave. He'd thought she was enjoying the job. She'd seemed really pleased when he'd asked her if she'd stay on to train Luke if he accepted Zach's offer.

Now Deborah seemed uncomfortable. “Look, she wasn't complaining or anything. It's just that we were talking earlier—before you came in this morning, actually—and I said we hoped to hear from Luke today, and she said, yes, she hoped we did, too. And then she kind of smiled and said it would be nice to have an idea about when she could go home.”

Zach told himself that of course she'd be looking forward to getting back to her real life. This had always been a temporary gig for her. Her saying it would be nice to know when she could go home didn't mean she didn't like working for him or that she was unhappy here. It just meant she felt unsettled because her job was temporary.

“The thing is, I think she's lonely here,” Deborah said. “Think about it. It must be hard. I don't believe she knows anyone in the city other than us. In fact, after we talked this morning, I made a promise to myself that since it looks like she's now going to be here for a while longer, I would start inviting her to do a few things with
me. I haven't made any effort in that direction except for once, when I invited her to dinner. In fact, that was the night she had dinner with you. Anyway, now I feel bad. It can't be any fun for her to go to that impersonal apartment every night, and even though she's independent and all, it must get old eating by herself all the time and going places on her own.”

Suddenly Zach realized how self-involved he was. Deborah was right. Georgie
must
be lonely. Why hadn't he thought of that before? He was so busy at night and on the weekends with the kids and all his responsibilities that he hadn't once thought about how alone Georgie must feel, away from all her friends and family and everything familiar. This assignment wasn't like a field assignment, where she was part of a team that worked together, was housed together, ate together and spent their evenings together. Here in New York, she was basically on her own. “You're right,” he finally said. “I should have realized all this before.”

“You know, I just had an idea.” Deborah grinned delightedly. “David's coming to town next week. In fact, he's going to be in the city for at least two weeks. I'll bet he and Georgie would hit it off beautifully. I'll have to get them together.”

David Goodwin was Deborah's younger brother and a renowned architect. He was also a former college quarterback, friendly, interesting and extremely good-looking.

“What?” Deborah said. “Why are you frowning?”

Zach didn't realize he had been, and he made a real effort to look pleased about Deborah's suggestion. “I wasn't frowning. I was just thinking.”

“About what? Don't you think my idea is a good one? David's always halfway bored when he's here because,
let's face it, hanging out with me and Jack and Kevin isn't exactly exciting.”

“I'm sure he enjoys spending time with you.”

“Yeah,” Deborah said dryly, “for the first twenty-four hours, maybe. After that, it's got to be pretty dull. I mean, Jack and I are in bed by ten o'clock! We can't even stay awake long enough to watch the news.”

Since Zach couldn't think of any reason at all to quash Deborah's plan, he said nothing further.

Deborah, now that she'd disposed of the problem of Georgie's loneliness to her satisfaction, said, “Did Luke say why he was turning us down?”

“He's going to work for Warfield March. As head of the PR department.”

Deborah grimaced. “Well, I guess it's back to square one.”

Zach nodded, dispirited on several levels, not the least of which was the picture of David Goodwin and Georgie together, a picture he told himself he had no right to get upset over.

Besides, maybe Georgie wouldn't be interested. For all Zach knew, she had a relationship with someone back home. A woman as attractive and desirable as her…she probably did.

If anything, that thought made him feel worse.

 

Cornelia thought about her promise to Georgie that she would not meddle in her love life. Did making that promise mean she couldn't speak to Alex about Georgie? It probably did. But Georgie's future happiness and fulfillment meant more to Cornelia than some silly old promise given under duress.

So on Thursday after her return from Key West, Cornelia called Alex.

“Cornelia!” Alex exclaimed when he came on the line. “How nice to hear from you.”

“That's one of the reasons I like calling you,” she said. “You always sound as if you mean it when you say that.”

“I do mean it. You're one of my favorite people in the world. So, how are you? Dad tells me the two of you took a few days and went to New York and then on to Key West.”

“Yes, we did.”

“And?”

“And we had a marvelous time.”

“You know the entire Hunt family is virtually holding its breath.”

“And why is that?”

“Now don't play coy. We're all hoping that one of these days you'll become more than an honorary Hunt. I know I speak for my brothers when I say that all of us would be thrilled to have you as our stepmother. And, of course, P.J. adores you, as do all the other wives.”

“How
is
P.J.?” Alex's wife was one of Cornelia's favorite people.

“Fat and sassy.”

Cornelia smiled. P.J. was expecting her and Alex's first child, due the middle of May. It had been a long road for the two of them. Since they were married, almost three years ago now, P.J. had had two failed in vitro fertilization procedures, but finally this pregnancy had taken. Cornelia knew they were both thrilled and looking forward to welcoming their son.

They chatted a few more minutes, with Alex bringing Cornelia up-to-date on everyone.

Then she said, “Alex, as much as I love talking about
my second family, the reason I called is to talk about Georgie.”

“I actually spoke with her yesterday,” he said. “She told me she enjoyed seeing you and Dad last week.”

“Did she? That's funny, because the whole time I was there, she was irritated with me.”

“What for?”

“She thinks I meddle in her love life. Or lack thereof,” she added dryly.

“Oh, I think Georgie does just fine in that area.”

“Do you? Does that mean she actually has a beau?”

Alex chuckled. “Our generation doesn't use that word.”

“Oh, I know. But does she?”

“Not at the moment. At least, not that I know of. She was seeing that doctor she met in Somalia, but I don't think that lasted very long. Long-distance romance and all that.”

“So she's free.”

“Why do I get the feeling you
do
want to meddle in her love life?” Alex said.

“Because I do. Frankly, I think Zachary Prince would be perfect for her. And she for him.”

Alex must have been drinking coffee or something, because it sounded to Cornelia as if he'd choked.

“Sorry,” she said. “Did I startle you?”

“You could say that,” Alex said. He coughed. “Geez, Cornelia. Give a guy some warning, will you? I mean, you hit me with that right out of the blue.”

“Is what I said so shocking? Is there something about your New York director that I don't know? He's not a serial killer, is he?”

“Zach Prince is one of the finest men I know. There's not a thing wrong with him.”

“Well, then…I liked him tremendously. I can't think when I've met a man that seems so suited to Georgie.”

“But what gave you the idea the two of them might even be
interested
in each other? You do know that Zach has three children, don't you?”

“Yes, we talked about his children when we went to lunch with him. And as far as he and Georgie being interested in each other, it's just a feeling I had watching them together. It was obvious he likes Georgie and she likes him. And he
did
invite her to his apartment to have dinner with him.”

“Is that so?” Alex said thoughtfully.

“Yes, that's so. Plus, Georgie acted funny when I asked her about Zach.”

“Did she? In what way?”

“I can't explain it, Alex. But I'm her mother. I could tell she's interested in him, even if she wasn't willing to admit it.”

“Well, even if it's true that they are attracted to one another, what do you expect me to do about it? They're both adults. They hardly need my help—or yours—to develop a relationship.”

“You don't have to do much, but you
can
help. Just make sure she stays in New York for a while. Give them a chance, so to speak. That's all I'm asking.”

“Actually, she will be staying in New York longer than we thought.”

“She will?”

“Yes. Zach called me yesterday. He thought he had an assistant hired, but the candidate decided to accept another job offer.”

Cornelia smiled. “It's fate.”

Alex laughed. “Cornelia, you're a piece of work. I thought my father was bad, but you're cut from the same cloth, I'm afraid. Just goes to show that the two of
you
belong together.”

Now Cornelia laughed. “We'll see.”

For the rest of the day, Cornelia smiled every time she thought of her conversation with Alex. Now if fate would continue to do its part, Cornelia would continue to work on hers.

 

Georgie was cleaning off her desk Friday afternoon when Zach poked his head in the doorway. “Got big plans for the weekend?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing special. I did think I might go to MoMA. I haven't had a chance to see it yet.”

He nodded enthusiastically. “You'll love MoMA. I don't know what special exhibits might be there now, but there's always something good.”

“I particularly want to see the paintings by Georgia O'Keefe. And I understand they usually have a van Gogh or two, as well as some of the impressionists.”

“At one time they had
Starry Night,
but that might have been on loan from somewhere.” He looked at her speculatively. “Are you interested in art?”

“I am, especially modern art. The old masters not so much.”

“I'm the same way, have been ever since Sabrina began painting…and educating me. 'Course, I don't get to go to certain museums very often anymore. Most of my free time is taken up with the kids and what they like to do.”

“As it should be.” Georgie admired the fact that he was such a devoted father. If she were ever to have kids—not that she planned to—she would certainly hope their father would be like Zach. She felt it said a lot about his character that his children were so important to him.

“Anything else on your agenda besides the visit to MoMA?” he said.

“I thought I'd check out who's appearing at Carnegie Hall this weekend, too. Maybe go tomorrow night.”

“What about Sunday?” Zach said.