Page 59 of You'll Find Out
“I know,” she murmured, “but let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“Would you be willing to live here, in Atlanta?” he asked.
“If that’s where you’re going to be . . .”
He smiled crookedly and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “All right . . . good. But you have to realize that we might lose the toy company, or at least your portion of it.”
Mara sighed deeply. “I know that, and I know that I’ve worked hard to keep that company afloat. But to be perfectly honest, I haven’t done a good enough job to turn it around, and itispart of the Wilcox family estate. Perhaps it should belong to them . . .”
“We’ll see,” he murmured, but once again the strong lines of determination hardened his expression. “We’ll see . . .”
* * *
The morning dawned bright with the promise of hot weather. After a quick breakfast Shane insisted upon showing Mara the sights and pleasures of Atlanta. The drive toward Peachtree Street took only a few minutes, and after Shane parked the car he insisted that Mara and Angie join him for a walking tour of the city. The walk included a tour of some of Atlanta’s finest and newest hotels, the fabulous Peachtree Plaza with its array of shops and the Toy Museum of Atlanta. The cool interior of the museum was welcome relief from the bustle of the busy city and the warm Georgia sun.
Mara and Angie were fascinated with the museum and the incredible display of antique toys, some dating from early in the nineteenth century. There was a collection of toys from around the world that particularly fascinated Angie, who stated quite emphatically that some of the dolls, especially the dolls from Holland in their wooden shoes and painted faces, were even prettier than Lolly.
By early afternoon, Angie had to be carried, and then, while Shane held her, she fell asleep, exhausted. The child was disappointed when she learned that she was being taken back home for a nap, but Shane avoided hurting her feelings by offering to take her to the zoo the next day. The pout on the little girl’s face disappeared, and she settled into the back seat of the car with only mild protest.
Mara, too, was exhausted, but the feeling of serenity that she had found with Shane the night before never left her. The drive home was quiet, with Angie snoozing in the back seat. Shane took a long way back, pointing out spots of interest to Mara as they passed, and for the first time in years, Mara felt completely at ease, and the problems facing her with the Wilcox family seemed remote and distant. All of her awareness was focused upon Shane and how deeply she loved him. He had been right all along, she admitted ruefully to herself. She should have told June the truth about Shane the minute she saw him again.
The phone was ringing when they got out of the car. Shane quickly made his way into the house, but by the time he picked up the receiver, the line was dead. For some reason, an uneasy feeling swept over Mara, and she had difficulty shaking it.
After cleaning the breakfast dishes, Mara, led by Angie, toured the grounds. They were gorgeously groomed, and even though it was early fall, Mara could visualize what the gardens of azaleas and rhododendron would look like in the spring, flanked by stately pink dogwood trees.
“I wonder who takes care of all this,” Mara mused to herself.
“Don’t look at me,” Shane laughed, joining Mara and Angie. “I’m incredibly poor at this sort of thing—black thumb, or something like that.”
“Then you have a gardener?”
“Yes. A retired groundskeeper for a golf course. He comes here twice, maybe three times a week, to keep up the grounds and his wife takes care of the inside of the house.”
Mara’s eyes traveled up the three stories to the roof top. In the daylight the house seemed more immense and grand than it had in the night. “One woman takes care of all that?”
“I’m not messy . . .”
“But still. The house is sohuge.”
A smile cracked across his face, and he bent down to whisper into her ear. “We need a big house. We’ll have to have enough room for all of Angie’s brothers.”
Mara giggled despite herself. “I think we can wait a little while on that one,” she teased as she and Shane started back toward the house. “Angie,” Mara called at the child attempting to climb a small tree. “Don’t hurt yourself! We’re going inside . . . are you coming?”
“I coming in just a minute.”
As Mara walked back into the kitchen, Shane headed toward his study. “There .are a couple of things I want to finish up in my office,” he explained, “and then we’ll go out to dinner!”
Mara watched him stride down the hall with his easy, familiar gait. Yes, she thought to herself, I could be quite happy here. From her vantage point, near the center island in the kitchen, she could look out the window and see Angie playing outside, scampering near a shallow goldfish pond. Mara could see it coming. Angie was about to go wading and try to catch a fish!
The phone rang just as Mara got to the door and warned Angie about staying out of the pool. Just as she had contented herself that Angie would stay out of the water, she heard Shane’s footsteps approaching.
“It’s for you,” he stated, curtly.
“What?”
“The phone . . . it’s that sister-in-law of yours, what’s her name, Dana?”
“Dena,” Mara answered, and wondered why Dena would be tracking her down. Her stomach tightened as she thought of all of Dena’s threats. “Oh, God,” she moaned quietly to herself.
