couldn’t help glancing at Hughes over by the bar, and was shocked to hear Mary mutter, “Don’t worry about that officious twit.”
Sara looked at Mary. “He’s my boss.”
“A twit,” Mary said, then took her time sipping tea, before she sat back in her seat. “Now, what’s been happening?”
Sara fingered her teacup. “Well, to begin with, I dumped a whole tray of food on one of the most important people in this building, according to Mr. Hughes.”
Mary stared at her, then started to chuckle. “Oh, my.”
“Exactly,” Sara murmured, starting to smile in spite of herself. “He’s a lawyer or something in this building, a Mr. Wise. You know the kind, a three-piece suit with polished fingernails.”
Mary nodded. “Oh, yes, I do know that type.”
“Then Hughes went ballistic,” she said, picking up her cup. “He was livid, worried about me driving off customers. Then one of the customers stepped in, but I wish he hadn’t.” She had a sudden memory of those hazel eyes, and she clasped her hands around the teacup to steady them. “I was afraid Hughes was going to fire me on the spot.”
“Well, he didn’t, obviously.”
“For now.” She exhaled. “And my baby-sitter…” She shook her head. “Never mind. I hate people who have a laundry list of complaints if someone just says, ‘How are you?’”
“I asked. But speaking of baby-sitters, I have an idea that I wanted to run past you if I could?”
Sara looked at her watch. “I’ve got a few more minutes.”
“Okay, you know all about Just for Kids?”
“Sure, of course. It’s a great idea for a day-care center, and I’m a bit surprised that a huge corporation like LynTech would let them set up over there.”
“It started with LynTech,” Mary said. “It was the brainchild of the CEO’s wife, Lindsey Holden. But that’s beside the point. Right now they’re expanding, opening up to the public, bit by bit. That’s where you come in.”
“Oh, sure,” Sara said with a wry smile. “I’m a whiz at business. I could give them financial advice.”
Mary grinned. “You probably could, the way you manage to be a single parent to Hayley and work here and survive.”
Sara laughed a bit ruefully. “That’s about all I do. Survive.” She looked at the teacup and put it down. “By the way, I think we’ll take you up on that movie offer this weekend.”
“Wonderful! There’s a little girl at the center, Victoria, she’s four. I think I’ll try to bring her with us.” Mary had been widowed a couple of years ago and she’d never had children, according to the conversations they’d had. She’d said that was one of very few real regrets she had in life.
“I think a movie is a good idea,” Sara murmured. It would be the first fun thing she’d done for Hayley since coming to Houston. Hayley needed some fun. And so did she.
“We’ll plan on it for Sunday, and it’s my treat.” Before Sara could object, Mary said, “I have more than enough money, and I know you don’t make a bundle working here. Let me treat, okay?”
Sara hesitated, then finally nodded. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” Mary said. “And speaking of money. Your sitter doesn’t come cheap, does she?”
Marg had been more than she could afford, but not as bad as some she’d checked into. “She’s reasonable,” she said. “At least for now. She’s closing business as of next week.”
She didn’t want Mary’s sympathy, but she wasn’t prepared for the woman to actually clap her hands and smile. “Perfect!”
“Excuse me?”
Mary’s smile just grew. “You know, I truly believe in fate. That we meet others when we need to and things work out.”
Sara didn’t understand where that came from. “I don’t see what—”
“It just so happens that they need someone to help out on a part-time basis at Just for Kids, someone good with children, and someone they can trust. You fill the bill. I think we could work out something where you could leave Hayley there while you work your shift here, then when you’re done here, after lunch, you can come over there and spend the afternoon with her.” Mary looked as pleased with herself as if she’d just figured out a way to bring about world peace. “It’s perfect,” she pronounced.
“It would be, but I can’t afford something like that,” she said.
Mary’s smile didn’t falter. “There’s nothing to afford. That’s the best thing about this plan. If you help us out for the afternoon, Hayley can be there all day for nothing. Now, you can’t refuse an offer like that, can you? Still being able to work here while she’s being looked after…and…you don’t have to pay child care costs?”
She stared at the woman. “I’d work there?”
“You know how hard it is to get someone you can trust with children. And they’re very particular about whom they hire over there. You’ve told me you worry about Hayley and who’s with her. Well, you’d know who was with her and she’d be right next door.”
Her tea was forgotten. “You think that I could do that?” she asked, not quite believing that she could be the recipient of this kind of good luck.
“Yes, I do. I talked to Mrs. Holden and she thought it sounded like a great plan.”
“Oh, Mary, that…would be…it would be great,” she managed to say around a lump in her throat.
“Sara!” Hughes came barreling out of the kitchen, striding in her direction like a man on a mission.
She stood quickly, picking up her teacup. “I need to get back to work.”
“Tell you what, come in tomorrow right after you finish here, and we can all sit down and iron out the details and get you familiarized with the work involved.”
“Thank you,” she breathed just before Hughes got to them.
“Mrs. Garner, forgive me for the interruption,” he said, then looked at Sara. “We just received a reservation for twenty in half an hour. We need to get things set up.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, and gathering her teacup, smiled at Mary. “Thanks, and I’ll come by tomorrow,” she said, then headed back to the kitchen.
“Sara?” Leo called to her.
She stopped by the bar. “What?”
“That guy, the one who left the huge tip?”
“What about him?”
“He left this, too,” he said, and held up a single key.
She went closer and looked at the key, about three inches long, gold, with what looked like leather molded to the top of it and a monogrammed E on both sides. “What is it, a house key or a car key?”
“I don’t know, but the guy is either locked out of his house, or his car’s not going anywhere.” He dropped the key in his tip glass, and said, “If he comes in again, and I’m not here, let him know?”
Apologize and get his key back to him if she ever saw him again. “Sure thing.” But hopefully her mysterious defender wouldn’t return. Otherwise she might lose this very necessary job for good.
Chapter Three
One week later
In the master suite of his ranch house just south of Dallas, E. J. threw clothes into a leather overnight case lying