“Nice lipstick, I said to Emily,” Isabel covered. “I love the color.”
“Oh, thank you so much,” Maggie gushed. “We were just havin’ lunch over there with my brother and Lucas’s new assistant,” she pointed to the other side of the spacious patio. “You know Fiona.”
Emily and Isabel nodded.
“I happened to see you girls across the deck, and Lucas suggested we come over and say hello. Wasn’t that sweet?” Maggie looked up at him with adoring eyes.
“Yes, like pure honey,” Isabel said with a straight face.
“Yes, very sweet.” Emily gave Isabel a kick under the table.
“Ouch!”
“Oh sorry, was that you? My foot must have slipped,” Emily apologized.
“Well, we won’t keep you.” Maggie seemed to be clueless, but Lucas shot Isabel an almost imperceptible frown for a fraction of a second, then it was gone. “We need to get back to our party, I mean, our business lunch. Talkin’ about the Whitetail Resort and all,” Maggie said, beaming.
“So nice to see you ladies again.” Lucas plastered a polite smile across his face as they turned and began to make their way back to their table. Maggie stopped short and hurried back to the girls’ table with Lucas close behind.
Emily thought she caught a glimpse of a quick rolling of his eyes, then the polite smile again.
“I almost forgot,” Maggie said, “I wanted to remind y’all about the presentation Tuesday night for the Whitetail Resort. The Hilton Hotel at seven o’clock. You’ll get to see all the gorgeous images of the whole project—the lodge, the condos, the lake, the golf course—all those beautiful places. Say y’all are gonna come, please.”
“Yes, I’d love to come,” Emily told her, thinking it would be a good opportunity to observe Lucas in action.
“Isabel?” Maggie inquired.
“Yeah, I’m sure I can drag Alex there after a long day at the office. Why not.”
“Great! Y’all are gonna love it, I promise!” Maggie took Lucas’s arm again.
He cast Isabel a suspicious glance over his shoulder as they cut their way through the crowded patio.
Once Maggie and Lucas were out of earshot, Isabel bent and rubbed her calf. “Why did you kick me?”
Emily glared at her. “Are you kidding me? I can’t believe you’re asking me that. If we’re going to investigate this character you can’t be giving him clues that you don’t like him. You, better than anyone, should know we can’t tip our hand.”
“I do know that, but—”
“No buts.” Emily looked across the patio and watched the couple rejoin their party. “Promise me you’ll be nothing but kind to Lucas, until you have something concrete on him—for Maggie’s sake.” Emily’s gaze returned to her own table and she looked into Isabel’s face for reply.
“All right, all right.” Isabel raised her hands in surrender, grinning at her friend. “But don’t you ever kick me again. I’m warning you, I have a gun and I’m not afraid to use it.”
~*~
Maggie and Lucas returned to their table, where the mayor and Fiona were thick in conversation.
“I hope y’all didn’t miss us too much,” Maggie apologized as she sat in the chair Lucas had pulled out for her.
“No,” her brother replied, “I was just getting to know Lucas’s charming assistant.”
“Yes, she is terrific, isn’t she?” Lucas said, catching her gaze for a moment before returning his attention to Maggie.
Their waiter approached the table, asking if they were ready to order and they all made their selections. He wrote them down and nodded. “I’ll have those right out.”
“You know, I never would have found Fiona if it hadn’t been for Maggie,” Lucas added. “She introduced us.”
He leaned over and kissed Maggie on the cheek. She lowered her eyes for a moment and her lips curled into a shy smile, a slight giggle escaping. When she raised her eyes, they were sparkling and happy.
“Mayor, your sister is a remarkable woman. She is capturing my heart like no other woman I have ever met.” Maggie’s beauty and sweetness made it easy to be with her—she was gorgeous with her flowing blonde hair and intense blue eyes. Her deep magenta dress was fitted and accentuated the slender, toned body she had worked so hard to achieve.
“You seem to make her very happy, Lucas. I wish my Carolyn was here to see you two together.”
“How is your wife?” Lucas asked.
“She’s in a lot of pain most days, in and out of the hospital,” Sully replied.
“Sorry to hear that. I know when my mother was in the hospital with heart problems, the hospital bills were overwhelming,” Lucas said, noting