Wonders Of The Heart. Ruth Scofield

But if he’d hoped to pretend his life was still his own, that breakfast layout had put it to a speedy end.

      He’d taken his coffee and ignored the banana and cereal.

      His reverie tumbled when Anne Martin, his personal assistant, came bustling in and set a cup of coffee, strong and black, beside his hand. He’d come into the office early to get a jump start on his day before most of the staff came in, and a good piece of that had flown out the window. Irritated with himself for dawdling, he twirled back to face his desk. Work waited.

      “Welcome back, Chad. Glad you’re home early. The office wasn’t the same without you,” Anne told him brightly. Anne, a well-groomed brunette in her thirties, tossed him a concerned glance.

      “Thanks.” He shuffled through a pile of catch-up work that would take him about a week to plow through, matters that only he could handle within the firm. He may as well get started.

      “You look like…well—” she frowned “—you don’t look as though you’ve had much rest.”

      “No, I haven’t. Long flight and only a few hours’ sleep.” He shrugged and took the list Anne handed him. The list, from Jonathan Feathers, the senior partner of the firm, contained things that needed his immediate attention. “What’s up?”

      “Lots.” Anne took a chair facing him, causing him to look up. She never sat unless she had something serious to say. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, Chad…but we’ve been in somewhat of a tizzy this week.”

      He leaned back in his chair once more and gave her his full attention. “Okay, shoot.”

      “Jonathan had a gall bladder attack and has been out of the loop.”

      “Is he all right?”

      “For the moment—but he may face surgery. He’s resting at home.” She took a deep breath. “And old Dale died suddenly two days ago. Half the staff is leaving at noon to attend his funeral in Connecticut. Jonathan already knows you’re back. He wants you to attend if you possibly can.”

      Chad bit back his first reaction; Jonathan being out of the office just as he returned put a double load on everyone. And now a death?

      “Old Dale?” He’d been rather fond of old Dale, a longtime staffer, even though they’d had little in common and their paths seldom crossed. “Well, I’m very sorry to hear it, and we’ll miss him, but it’s not all that sudden, surely? His heart had been failing. How’s his wife doing? The funeral’s today, is it?”

      “Yes, today. At two-thirty. And Tillie is okay, but…”

      Anne continued to fill him in on everything going on in the firm, down to the engagement of their new receptionist. He gave her his usual concentrated attention, pulling out the nuggets that concerned him most, and took notes of what, if anything, he should do about them. He then gave her a few directions of his own to follow.

      After she’d gone, he settled back to prioritize his day. The long drive to Connecticut for the funeral would take most of it.

      He called the garage where his car was stored and arranged for it to be readied. It hadn’t been used in the weeks he’d been gone.

      When he’d done that, he found himself gazing out the window once more. He’d brought home a lot of business with his European contacts, and the firm, Feathers, Sanders, Sanders & Alexander, was set to grow. It was a bad time to lose old Dale. They’d have to hire someone to take the old man’s place as soon as possible. He wondered why Walter Peebles hadn’t mentioned the loss last night.

      Yet Walter wasn’t an insider with the firm, and last night, his own concerns had been strictly personal. Walter had been his father’s friend and accountant, older than Chad by a dozen years. Chad had used Walter’s expertise a lot these past six months since his dad’s death. Walter had been a big help in finding Honor Suzanne’s private school, as well, after she’d refused to remain at the boarding school to which he’d first sent her.

      Chad trusted Walter’s judgment about most things. And Walter had insisted he had nothing to worry about in Spring. Yet he simply couldn’t let it stand without further investigation.

      “You can do as you please,” Walter had told him last night, “but I think you’ll find my opinion supported, Chad. Spring Barbour is as solid and sound as she appears. Nothing about her to alarm anyone.”

      “That’s easy for you to say, Walter. You aren’t allowing an unknown girl to take complete charge of your household. We don’t know what kind of behavior she’s capable of, or what’s in her past.”

      “Well, going through the employment agency didn’t insure you against an unscrupulous woman, now did it?”

      “That’s another matter, Walter. That agency has a lot to answer for, and I intend to take it up with them first thing in the morning. But this girl came here out of the blue. I need to know more about her.”

      “Do as you see fit, Chad, but I’ll bet you my tickets to the next Yankees game that she’s as clean and as sweet as she seems. No drugs or wild behavior for her.”

      “That’s just it, Walter. The girl seems altogether too picture perfect to be true. I don’t think such a woman exists in this day and age. What’s her angle?”

      “No angle, other than she needed a place to live while she gets her feet wet. This city takes some getting used to for out-of-towners, Chad, don’t you remember? But you got it right the first time. A girl, that’s what Spring still is—not yet a woman, if you know what I mean. The worst thing you can say about Spring is she’s naive and too innocent for her age. You might want to watch that. But that isn’t all bad, pal. She makes a great little chum for Honor Suzanne.”

      “I suppose you could have a point,” he’d responded slowly. He hadn’t been ready to give up his objections against the situation thrust on him, even while he realized he had little choice at the moment.

      He didn’t like losing control. He liked being in charge, making his own choices.

      “And a blessed good point,” Walter continued, “but I have to say that my Libby is the one who made it. Chad, you must know your father kept Honor Suzanne on a rather tight leash after Sandra died. The girl needs young company. She needs more friends her age, someone to help her be a teenager at the right time of her life. She needs to go places, and do the teenage thing, you know what I mean? I think Spring’s a good one to help her do that.”

      That was the point at which he’d thanked Walter and said good-night.

      Now Chad thought that waiting over the next few days for the investigative report on Spring was going to demand more of his energy and patience than he’d like. A lot more.

      Running a hand across his forehead, he pulled the stack of case files Anne said needed his immediate attention toward him. He might get a little work done before he left for the funeral.

      Spring spent the day cleaning and making sure everything in the apartment sparkled. Flicking a last particle of dust from a lamp, she gazed around the sunny living room, noting how the rather austere furniture looked so much cozier with the few bright pillows she’d added.

      Chad hadn’t said a word last night about the way she and Honor had brightened the apartment. They’d had to do something with the drab decor, they’d both agreed. Perhaps Chad was the kind of man who didn’t notice such things. Or care.

      She hadn’t planned to spend the morning cleaning; before Chad came home, she’d actually planned on making a call on two small design houses that Dana had suggested. And in the months she’d been in New York, she had yet to approach any of the design schools for an application.

      She pushed that idea aside. She had time, and she wasn’t sure she honestly wanted to attend any of them yet, rationalizing it was because she wanted to be creatively free to do her own thinking. That she felt a bit intimidated by the whole idea, she wouldn’t allow into her thoughts.