Fortune's Prince Page 17

  The staircase that led to the second floor was situated close to the center of the room; a wide iron and rustic wood thing that was as much a focal point as it was functional and the mayor, Harlan Osgood, was holding court at the base, recounting the steps taken to bring such a fine establishment to their little town as if he hadn’t ever had his own doubts about it. Privately, Quinn figured it was a good thing Harlan’s main job was as the town’s barber, because a natural politician, he wasn’t.

  Marcos and Wendy Mendoza, the owners, were working the room, too. The young couple was eye-catching, to say the least. Wendy in particular looked more like she belonged on the cover of magazines than making the desserts that Julia claimed were out of this world. Quinn had to give the couple credit for seeming to give equal attention to everyone they stopped to speak with. They gave just as much time to Tanya and her folks, sitting at a table as crowded as Quinn’s across the room, as they did the mayor.

  “Mac, what are you going to have?” Jess was asking, tapping the crisp edge of her menu against the table. “I’m starving. I haven’t had a speck of morning sickness in two days, and I am going to take advantage of it.”

  Mac chuckled. “I think I’m having whatever else it is you want to order so you can eat it, too.”

  Was Amelia still plagued with morning sickness?

  Quinn pushed out of the chair.

  Jess looked at him. “You’re not leaving.”

  He leaned over her. “Stop bossing,” he warned.

  Then he kissed the top of her head and made his way toward the staircase. He knew the entire extended Fortune family was supposed to be there that night, and if they weren’t on the bottom floor, maybe they were up top.

  Getting there proved as slow-going as getting into the restaurant in the first place, though, because of all the people standing around on the stairs blocking the way. He could hear bursts of laughter coming from the upper floor and barely controlled the urge to physically move some of the roadblocks out of his way.

  “Mr. Drummond!”

  He looked over the side of the staircase to see Shayla waving at him excitedly, her orange ponytail bouncing, and he sketched a wave. But she was already worming her way around the mayor and up the steps until she was only a few below his position midway up. “It’s so cool to see you,” she gushed. “Is Lady Amelia here, too?”

  The girl had helped them avoid Ophelia Malone in Vicker’s Corners, so Quinn swallowed his impatience to get upstairs. “I’m looking for her now,” he admitted. “How’ve you been? Do you still have a particular guest staying at the B and B?”

  She widened her eyes dramatically. “Right? Miz Malone finally left this morning. My ma’s not so happy—” she waved her hand behind her, presumably to indicate the presence of her mother somewhere in the madhouse “—’cause she paid the room on time and all, but I was glad to see her go. I can’t believe what she got printed the other day.” She wrinkled her nose. “So gross.”

  It was as good a definition as any and a lot milder than what Quinn still thought about the tabloid cover. “Did you and your mom already have dinner?”

  “Nah. Not yet.” She twisted her head around, looking down on the patrons below. “Ma’s over there talking to the Fremonts. They’re all on the graduation committee for high school next year.”

  He automatically glanced over at the table he’d noticed earlier where Tanya sat with her parents. Shayla’s mother’s hair was just as orange as her daughter’s. Either the color was real or they shared the same bottle of hair dye.

  “Can’t believe she did it,” Shayla was babbling on. “Just so stupid, you know?”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “Tanya.” Shayla rolled her eyes, looking disgusted. “Believe me, she’s not one of my friends anymore.”

  God save him from teenage girl angst. He managed to edge up another step when the person in front of him moved slightly. “That’s too bad,” he said vaguely. Tanya had always been a hard worker for him and the dozen or so other people she also cleaned for in order to help supplement her family’s strained income.

  “Wow. You’re nicer than I would be,” Shayla was saying. She was practically shouting to be heard above the music. “Blabbing about your personal business to Miz Malone and all.”

  He went still, her words penetrating.

  He went back down the step. “What did you say?”

  Shayla looked suddenly nervous. “Uh—”

  He nudged her to one side of the stairs so one of the servers carrying a stack of menus could get past them. “What do you mean about personal business, Shayla?” But he had the sinking feeling he already knew.

  He’d tossed Amelia’s pregnancy test in the trash.

  Tanya cleaned his house.

  Shayla shot a look toward the table below and Quinn caught the pale expression on Tanya’s face even from a distance.

  “I don’t think she meant to,” Shayla said hurriedly. She might be willing to eschew Tanya’s friendship, but she was obviously afraid of tossing her under the bus. “It’s just Miz Malone kept talking to everybody and...and—” She lifted her shoulders. “Well, Tanya needed that car in the worst way or she’s not gonna be able to get back and forth to Lubbock for school when she graduates next year and the money she gets cleaning houses is already used up on her ma’s medicine. I thought you already knew.”

  Quinn sucked down his fury.

  “I don’t think she knew how bad it would be,” Shayla finished. “Still.” She made a face. “I wouldn’t want her cleaning around my stuff. You’re prob’ly pretty mad, huh.”

  Amelia’s friend Molly hadn’t done a single thing to betray her.

  “It’s okay, Shayla.” He squeezed her shoulder and managed a smile even though he wanted to kick both Ophelia Malone and Tanya Fremont off the planet altogether. “I’m glad to hear the truth.”

  “Quinn!”

  He looked toward the top of the stairs to see Liam beckoning.

  “Go on and enjoy your dinner,” Quinn told Shayla. “Once I find Amelia, I’ll let her know you’re here. I’m sure she’ll want to say hello.”

  Shayla beamed. “You think?”

  He nodded and started edging up the stairs again while she slipped through the people on her way down.

  Liam clapped him on the shoulder when he finally made it to the top. “Julia’s done a helluva job here tonight with the Mendozas, hasn’t she?” The man’s face was proud. “We’ve got the whole family up here.”

  Suspicions confirmed, Quinn looked beyond Liam to the crowded tables spilling out onto the open terrace. Jeanne and Deke were sitting with Josephine and their brother, James Marshall Fortune. There was also another older couple sitting with them and he was pretty certain the man was the threesome’s older brother, John. Which, according to Jess who always needed to know who was who, made him Wendy Mendoza’s father. Aside from Jeanne and Deke’s crew, spread out among the rest of the tables were a bunch of other faces he recognized from Sawyer and Laurel’s New Year’s wedding.

  But Amelia was not among them.

  “We’ve got extra reason to celebrate,” Liam was saying. “Angie and Toby’s adoption was finally approved.”

  His head was still banging with Shayla’s news, but Quinn glanced at the man who seemed deep in conversation with his uncle James. Happiness radiated from his face. “That’s great,” he said. “Where’s Amelia?”

  Liam looked surprised for a moment, then glanced around. “Don’t know, man. She was here earlier.” He raised his voice even more. “Aunt Josephine, where’d Amelia go?”

  In addition to Amelia’s mother, Quinn suddenly found himself the focus of way too many eyes.

  Josephine said something to her companions, then rose and worked her way through the tables toward him.

  “I didn’t
mean to interrupt your dinner,” Quinn said.

  “You’re not interrupting,” she assured. She smiled slightly at her nephew. “Liam, I haven’t had a chance yet to applaud your fiancée’s efforts tonight. Is Julia going to be able to join us, or is she on duty all evening?”

  “She’s not on duty at all,” Liam said, grinning. “But she can’t keep from checking on things. She’ll be ’round soon enough.” He headed after the waitress that was circulating throughout the room with a tray laden with drinks. “Hey there, darlin’, lemme take one of those off your hands.”

  Josephine looked back at Quinn. “I wasn’t sure we would have the pleasure of seeing you tonight.”

  He wondered what she’d really like to say if she weren’t so polite. Probably something more along the lines of hoping he wouldn’t have the gall to show his face that night.

  “I wasn’t going to come,” he admitted. He was glad he had, though, if only to hear what Shayla’d had to say. “Is Amelia all right?”

  Josephine’s expression was the same as it had been the other day when she’d essentially told him to put up or shut up. Calm. Seemingly gracious, yet still reserved.

  “She’s unhappy.” She didn’t attempt to raise her voice above the music to be heard, yet her words somehow managed to carry through anyway. “As are you, I believe.” Then she sighed a little, her gaze following Sawyer and Orlando Mendoza as they moved among the tables. “I keep having to remind myself how entwined the Fortune and Mendoza families are,” she murmured then looked back at Quinn again. “She went outside a short while ago. She said she needed some fresh air.”

  He stifled an oath. How had he missed her leaving the restaurant when he’d been on the damn stairs?

  “Thank you.” He started to turn and go back the way he’d come, but stopped. “La— Josephine.”

  She lifted her eyebrows, waiting.

  “It wasn’t Molly,” he said abruptly. “You know. Who spilled the beans.” He told her briefly about Tanya cleaning his place.

  When he was done, he couldn’t tell if she was relieved or not. He’d thought that Amelia’s “royal face” was bad, but in comparison to her mother’s, her expressive face was an open book.

  “What do you plan to do about your young employee?”

  “Fire her,” he said flatly.

  “Hmm.” She nodded once. “Is that why you’re anxious to see my daughter? To share this information?”

  He could lie and say it was, even though he’d been looking for Amelia before Shayla’s disclosure. As far as he was concerned, what went on between him and Amelia was between him and Amelia. “I don’t know why I’m anxious to see her,” he finally said truthfully. “I just know I have to.”

  It wasn’t any sort of answer, but it seemed enough for her to smile just a little as she nodded once and headed back to her table.

  He went down the stairs again where the sounds of celebration weren’t as raucous, though the music was, and pretended he didn’t see his sister trying to flag him down as he worked his way toward the entrance.

  Once he got past the crowd still waiting to get in, he felt like he’d been shot from a noisy cannon into blissful peace.

  The music was still loud. There were still dozens of people surrounding the tables beneath the colorful market umbrellas. But it was still open and he yanked off his suit jacket and hauled in a deep breath of fresh air.

  The Hollows Cantina might well be bringing new jobs and new revenue to the area, and it wouldn’t be crazy busy in the days to come like it was for the grand opening, but he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be in any hurry to go back, no matter how good the food might turn out to be.

  Bunching his jacket in one hand, he scanned the tables outside the restaurant. Amelia wasn’t at any of them, so he walked past them until he reached the side of the building. She wasn’t there, either, so he walked all the way around the building. And even then, he didn’t spot her.

  “Dammit, Amelia. Where are you?”

  The whole of Horseback Hollow’s businesses were contained in just a few short blocks and trying not to imagine her passed out cold in some shadowy corner, he started down the street, and then nearly missed her altogether where she was sitting on a bench in front of the mayor’s barbershop.

  The soles of his boots scraped against the street when he stopped in front of her and peered at her in the dark. Her skin looked white in the moonlight, her hair, eyes and clothing as dark as midnight. “You’re not easy to find.”

  “I didn’t know you were looking.” She shifted slightly, given away only by the slight rustle of her clothes. “You’ve been in the restaurant?”

  “Yeah.” It was a warm night and he tossed his jacket on the bench beside her and started rolling up his sleeves. “It’s a zoo.”

  She made a soft sound. “Yes. Too many people and too much noise for me.”

  “Were you feeling sick?”

  She shifted again. “Not in the way you mean,” she murmured. “What do you want, Quinn?”

  “Molly didn’t rat us out,” he said abruptly. “It was Tanya. When she cleaned the house—”

  “She found the test,” Amelia finished slowly, dawning revelation clear in her tone. “Of course she did. I can’t believe I never thought of that.”

  “I can’t believe she talked to that woman,” he said flatly. “I wouldn’t have known if Shayla hadn’t said something. Would’ve just kept paying the kid every Sunday to clean the bathrooms and mop the damn floors, never knowing any better.”

  “She’s a girl,” Amelia murmured.

  “She talked about our business for the price of a car,” he countered. “She won’t be stepping foot in my house again. Or any others, if I can help it.”

  “Didn’t you ever make a mistake when you were young?”

  His lips twisted. “Why are you being so understanding? You were pretty upset thinking it was your mother’s secretary.”

  “It’s just all so...so sad, isn’t it?” Her voice was soft. Oddly musing. “I’d say it was tragic except there are so many other real tragedies occurring every day.” She sighed. “The press has been vilifying us ever since I came to Horseback Hollow. Ophelia used Tanya like a tool, no differently than she’d use a long-distance lens. Have you ever noticed how random it all is?” she asked abruptly.

  He peered at her face but even though his eyes were becoming accustomed to the dark, he still couldn’t tell if she was looking at him or not. “What’s random?”

  “If I hadn’t decided to come to Horseback Hollow with Mum for Sawyer’s wedding over New Year’s. If you and I hadn’t danced when I came back again for Toby’s. If James’s father hadn’t announced an engagement-that-wasn’t. If any one of those things hadn’t occurred, everything would be so different today.”

  “Maybe that’s not random.” His chest felt tight. “Maybe that’s fate.”

  She shifted, her dark dress rustling. “You believe in fate.” She sounded skeptical.

  “I don’t know what I believe, Amelia. Except I know I don’t want you going back to London.”

  “I’ve told you and told you, you needn’t worry about your place in the baby’s life.”

  “What about a place in your life?”

  She went silent for a moment, then slowly stood, walking closer to him until he could smell the clean fragrance of her hair and see the gleam in her dark eyes.

  “Did you really want me to come back to Horseback Hollow after the night we shared? You said you did. And I...I thought you meant it. But maybe that’s just what a person is supposed to say after a one-night stand. Protocol, if you will.”

  “It wasn’t protocol,” he said flatly. “I meant it.”

  He felt the weight of her gaze. “Why?”

  The shirt button he’d left loose at his neck wasn’t eno
ugh and he yanked another one free. “What d’ya mean why? I liked you. We had great—”

  “Sex,” she finished.

  “Chemistry is what I was going to say.”

  “The end result is the same.”

  “Where are you going with this, Amelia?”

  “I don’t know.” She sighed. “I’ve just been trying to figure out how much I imagined about that night and what was actually real.”

  He didn’t need light. He closed one arm around her waist and pressed his other hand against her flat abdomen, feeling as much as hearing the sudden breath she inhaled. “That is real.”

  “Yes.” The one word sounded shaky. “But sex is not love. Having a baby doesn’t mean love, either.”

  “Sometimes it does.” He wanted to get out the words. But they felt stopped in his chest by a lifetime of disappointments. “Jess and Mac are having another baby. Trying again for a girl. So maybe she really had been in that hardware store to buy pink paint.”

  “I’m happy for them.” Her voice was low. She gently patted his chest once. Then once more. “Think about it before you fire Tanya,” she murmured. And then she stepped out of his arm and started up the street, disappearing into the dark.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Amelia’s eyes glazed as she stumbled up the street.

  “Amelia!”

  Quinn was not going to come around. He wouldn’t let himself, and she couldn’t bear it.

  “Don’t walk away from me.”

  Her chest ached. She’d never understood that a heart breaking was a physical breaking, too. She could barely force herself to move when all she wanted to do was curl into a ball. She swiped her cheek and forced her feet to move faster. “What are you going to do? Throw me over your shoulder?”

  “Please.” Just one word. Rough. And raw.

  Her feet dragged to a stop.

  A block away, she could see the lights of the Cantina. Could hear the music playing on the night.

  She didn’t have to look back to see Quinn coming up behind her. She didn’t even need to hear his footfalls on the pavement. She could feel him.