My One And Only (29 page)

She gave him a chilling look. The more Baldovino resisted the bird, the more hopelessly tangled it got. To add to the confusion, event security was trying, somewhat vainly, to restore order and calm to the hall. They were aided and abetted by the costumed knights, most of whom, Abby suspected, moonlighted as exotic dancers.

"Oh, God," she groaned. "When he finds out we're responsible for this, Rachel will never be able to show her face again."

Ethan's fingers curled around her elbow. "There's always San Francisco."

Before she could respond to that, Nick Krestyanov pushed a sputtering David in front of them. David glared at Abby. "All you had to do was mind your own business," he told her angrily. "Everything would have been fine."

She felt fury rise in her and turned the hill force of it on him. "You tried to terrorize me, David. You're a weak, pathetic little man who took advantage of your uncle and everyone else around you."

Without giving him time to respond, the detective shoved him hard. "Go," he barked. "I'm sick of looking at you." His partner eased forward and guided David out the door. Krestyanov looked at Abby. "I'll be in touch, Ms. Lee. If you want us to pursue—"

She shook her head. "No, it's over." She slid her hand into Ethan's. The stakes of pursuing the truth any further were higher than she wanted to pay. "I'm really ready for it to be over."

He hesitated, then said, "I'll see you soon." He nodded in the direction of the booths. "Tell your sister I'll taste that meal she promised when the ambience is a little calmer."

Abby watched him leave amid a swarm of guests who streamed through the exit as the birds swooped down and began to settle on the buffet table.

Ethan squeezed her hands. "I'll handle the birds," he told her. "You take Baldovino."

Baldovino yelled again. Abby groaned and started forward. "I don't care what you have to do to them," she told Ethan. "Just get rid of the damned things so we can grab Rachel and scram out of here." Finally, Baldovino's knights freed the bird from his hair. It joined its companions near the ice sculpture. As the birds picked at and pranced around the hors d'oeuvres, Abby made her way determinedly toward Monsieur Billaud's booth. She saw Rachel deep in conversation with Deirdre. On the stage, Baldovino had collapsed dramatically onto a chair and sat fanning himself in a near swoon. Harrison bounded onto the platform and seized the mike.

"Ladies and gentlemen,
please
…"
His
voice had little effect on the tumult in the room. "Please, if you'll just remain calm."

Behind him, Baldovino shrieked, "Calm? My God, it's worse than an Alfred Hitchcock movie."

Harrison gave him a quelling glance. "Pio, please. We have everything under control."

Abby eased around the debris from the fallen pie and continu
ed weaving through the crowd to
ward her sister.

Ethan, she noted, was rounding up the security staff and issuing instructions while making vague gestures in the direction of the buffet table.

Several reporters had shoved their way toward
the front of the stage and were snapping pictures of Baldovino and Harrison.

"Montgomery," one of the reporters yelled. "Do you have a comment on this?"

"Who was that man?" another asked.

Harrison held out his hand to quiet the storm. "Please, please. I'm sorry this had to happen. If you saw the statement I issued this afternoon, you know that I have decided to sell MDS and all its subsidiaries as a result of the blackmail threat I've been under for the past several months."

"Was that the blackmailer?"

"Yes," Harrison confirmed.

The crowd noise escalated. Abby was a few feet from where Rachel and Deirdre were still engaged in an intense discussion. She was relieved to see that her sister didn't look overly distressed by what had happened here.

The microphone squealed as Harrison started to speak over the din i
n the ballroom. "Ladies and gentl
emen, please. I think we have everything under control. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have, but I don't want us to forget why we're here tonight. Pio Baldovino works hard all year to bring this competition to our city and provide opportunities for aspiring culinary artists across the country. We came here to support and encourage them—" He glanced at the buffet table, where Ethan and the security staff had managed to net the bulk of the birds. "Although you'll
probably want to avoid the buffet." He won a beleaguered laugh for that.

He glanced at Baldovino, who still sat in a boneless heap on the chair. "Pio, I have to hand it to you. I attend fifteen to twenty of these benefits a year. I've never been to a more memorable one." This was met with more laughter and scattered applause. Harrison continued. "I regret that my personal situation put a pall on the festivities, but I think you all should know what Pio told me earlier. Thanks to your support, this event has raised over half a million dollars for Chicago's public schools and enrichment programs." This time the applause was louder and sustained. "So I'd like to thank everyone for coming, for your support of Pio's work, and I encourage you to come again next year." He chuckled. "I'm sure you'll want to tell your friends this is an event not to be missed."

The crowd roared its appreciation. Harrison switched off the mike. He caught Abby's eye and gave her a sad smile. She blew him a kiss, then made her way toward Rachel.

Rachel and Deirdre were laughing. "God," Rachel said as Abby reached them, "can you believe this?"

Deirdre patted Rachel's arm. "It'll be the talk of Chicago for years."

Abby regarded her sister closely. "I'm really sorry, Rach. I know how much this meant to you."

Deirdre shook her head and pointed to where
Ethan finally had the birds back in their cages and on the way out of the ballroom. "Things aren't nearly as bad as they probably seem, Abby. You'll see."

A
nother hour passed before the staff had cleared away all the debris. By mutual consent, Baldovino and his board had agreed to wait until the next day to announce the winners. Fortunately, the tasting portion of the competition had concluded before David made his move.

Ethan had insisted that Abby and Rachel leave with him shortly
after Harrison's speech had con
cluded. They'd met Harrison and Deirdre at a small coffee shop near the MDS building. An exhausted Abby sat beside Ethan with a wet linen napkin draped over her forehead. Rachel, he noted, seemed buoyant. The night at Festival Hall hadn't taken the same toll on her that it had on her sister. Deirdre, too, seemed energized, while he sensed an undercurrent of anger in Harrison. It echoed his own. Ethan was beginning to see how much he had in common with his father.

Rachel and Deirdre were rehashing the events with glee. Abby groaned and leaned her head against Ethan's shoulder. "What did I do to deserve this?" she asked him.

"You know what part I liked?" Rachel said, drumming her fingers on the table. "I liked the part where the crow landed on Baldovino's hair."

"It was a blackbird," Abby said with another groan.

Beside her, Ethan's chuckle was warm and rich. "You have to admit, Abby, it was a priceless moment."

"Did you see all those reporters?" Deirdre asked. "The publicity should be spectacular."

"I've never seen so many cameras in my life," Rachel remarked.

"Great," Abby said. "Maybe we'll make the front page of the
Tribune
tomorrow."

"Can't you see
it?" Ethan exclaimed. "A full-
page spread of Baldovino with that bird tangled in his hair and the caption, 'Can you find the old crow in this picture?' "

Harrison continued to stare broodingly into his coffee. Rachel erupted into a fit of giggles. Deirdre's shout of laughter sounded slightly more sadistic. "Serves him right. That man is so histrionic."

Harrison regarded his sister stonily. She laughed and patted his arm. "I know, darling. You're thinking I've got no right to comment."

"You seemed to enjoy yourself tonight," he said.

"I did," she agreed. "Immensely. I wouldn't be a Montgomery if I didn't love spectacles."

Abby pulled the napkin off her forehead. "Rach, are you sure you're all right? I didn't want this to ruin the night for you."

Rachel shrugged. "I'm fine. Aunt Deirdre and I had a long talk about it."

Deirdre patted Rachel's hand. "Just remember what we talked abo
ut, dear. No one's going to for
get your first competition."

Rachel nodded. "And it wasn't like I expected to win or anything. Cripes, there's always next year."

"If Baldovino lets us come next year," Abby muttered.

"He will," Deirdre said confidently, "for the right amount of sponsorship money."

Rachel nodded again, emphatically. "And frankly
,"
she continued, "I really don't think it was all that bad. I mean, everything was basically okay until that stupid David and the birds."

"He's behind bars now," Harrison said moodily.

Ethan linked his hands behind his head. "And he's going to stay there."

"And we have notoriety," Deirdre said. "Nothing is better than having notoriety."

Abby sighed. "Why don't I feel comforted?"

"Oh, come on, Abby," Rachel protested. "It was hilarious."

Abby frowned. "If you say so."

Harrison set his coffee cup down and pinned Ethan with a shrewd look. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked him in an abrupt change of subject that had the impact of a nuclear bomb.

Ethan felt Abby go still beside him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You've got no reason to stay in Chicago now. The case is closed. Wilcox is through. MDS is as good as sold. When are you heading back to San Francisco?"

"I haven't decided yet," Ethan replied.

Harrison held his gaze. "I've never tried to give you fatherly advice, and I won't start now. But at least listen to the voice of experience." He shook his head. "You don't always get a second chance. It might seem like too much of a risk right now, but if you don't take it, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

seventeen

O
f all the qualities the man had to recommend him, Abby
thought—and they were many—what
appealed to her most about Ethan Maddux was his incredible passion.

Abby strolled into his San Francisco office and studied him from behind. He was on the phone, staring out the window at his prizewinning view of the San Francisco Bay. It had been a week since she'd seen him. After that night in the coffee shop, he'd stayed in Chicago long enough to ensure that the charges against David Wilcox stuck.

But she'd felt him withdraw. Rachel had come back home, and
Ethan had moved back to his ho
tel room. Day by day, little by little, she'd watched as he'd carefully reconstructed the walls around his heart. She'd spent a long time convincing herself that she couldn't accept him on those terms. She wanted everything, or nothing at all.

Deirdre had been the one to convince her that "nothing at all" was an awfully high price to pay for not being willing to compromise. They had met for lunch yesterday, ostensibly to discuss the final arrangements for the fund-raiser. With smart-bomb precision, Deirdre had pinned Abby to the wall. "You look terrible," she'd told her.

Abby had shrugged. "I haven't been sleeping well."

Deirdre had laughed. "I can imagine. Missing someone in your bed?"

"
Deirdre
—"

She'd shaken her head. "For God's sake, Abigail, are you going to mope about that man or are you going to fight for him?"

"He made his choice."

"He did not," the older woman had insisted. "He left the choice up to you." She'd leaned across the table and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "It's a thing men do to avoid taking responsibility. I should know. I've had five husbands."

"And you yourself said that the Montgomerys can't commit to one person."

"I was wrong about the men, evidently," Deirdre admitted. "I had no idea Harrison felt so deeply about Lina. I don't know how I missed that."

"He loved her."

"So much that he never married."

Depressed by the conversation, Abby had picked at her meal. Deirdre hadn't relented. "Ethan is so much like his father."

That had gotten Abby's attention. "He is not."

"Yes, he is, dear. That brooding nature. All that pent-up angst." His aunt's eyes sparkled. "No wonder you think he's so sexy. What woman wouldn't?"

Abby drew a deep breath. "He made absolutely no indication that he's interested in cont
inuing his relationship with me.
"

"Except that he fled back to San Francisco hoping you'd chase him."

"Don't be ridiculous."

Deirdre's expression turned serious and concerned. "Abby, are you really going to let pride stand in the way of getting what you want?" She paused. "You love him, don't you?"

"Madly," Abby confessed.

"Then fight for him, darling. He's just waiting for an excuse to tell you he can't live without you. Sometimes men need help seeing that."

"I don't know what to do."

Deirdre had reached into her purse and produced a first-class ticket to San Francisco. "Your plane leaves in an hour. You won't have time to pack." She handed Abby an envelope. "Harrison sent you this to cover whatever you need to buy."

There was a thousand dollars in cash in the envelope.

By the time Abby arrived in California, her stomach was tied in knots. It was after seven, and she'd asked her cabdriver to take her to the Maddux Consulting offices, thinking she'd find a hotel nearby and confront Ethan in the morning.

But the light in his office was on. She'd seen him silhouetted against the window. The security guard in the lobby had taken pity on her babbling explanation and admitted her into the elevator. She'd passed Ethan's secretary on the way out. Edna had waved her into his office with a muttered "Thank God you're here," and now she was back where it all began.

Uneasy, she moved quietly toward his desk while she listened to him issuing quiet instructions over the phone. She'd forgotten how much she missed the sound of his voice.

Her gaze fell on a pencil near the co
rn
er of his desk blotter. The eraser had been chewed off. Abby found her confidence restored in that small piece of evidence, which mea
nt he hadn't com
pletely forgotten her. With a slight smile, she picked up the pencil and began coiling her hair. Ethan finished his conversation.

"Hello, Ethan," she said softly before he had a chance to replace the receiver in its cradle.

He spun, eyes wide, and slammed the phone down on his desk. "Abby."

She still had her arms above her head in an effort to insert the pencil into the coil of her hair. She froze. His eyes registered a sea of turmoil. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Not exactly the response she'd hoped for, but not a denouncement either. She finished securing her hair, then lowered her arms. "Fighting for you," she said quietly.

He stared at her. Abby gathered her courage. Deirdre was right. Pride made terrible company on lonely nights. She rounded the desk and placed her hands on his chest. "I've had some time to think things over."

"You don't—"

She tugged at his tie. "This long-distance thing isn't working for me. First of all, my phone bill is going to be huge. And now that Harrison has a buyer for MDS, I may not even have a job. The foundation is on solid financial footing, but the buyer may want to bring in his own people."

"Honey—"

She gave him a shove and he toppled into his chair. "So I'm thinking of relocating." Ethan watched her warily as she pushed him farther back in his chair. "I've heard California is a pretty nice place. My sister kind of likes the cuisine."

His eyes glittered. "What are you—"

Abby pulled his tie off. "But I don't know. Do you think I could be happy here?"

"Abby, I can't—"

She pressed her fingers
t
o his lips, her expression turning serious. "I know. And I should have realized that. Ethan, I love you. I didn't think it was possible for me to love anyone as much as I love you. I spent a lot of time thinking that maybe I couldn't let anyone be that important to me."

He looked a little shaken. She smiled and smoothed the crease from his forehead with her fingertips. "I wanted you to do all the work. I wanted you to take all the responsibility away from me by demanding that I be with you." She shook her head. "It wasn't fair to you, and it's not fair to me."

"Honey—"

"No." She quieted him. "Deirdre made me see this. If I'd convinced you to do that, I would have always wondered if you really meant it. Did you really love me because you couldn't help yourself, or did I just manipulate you into it? I never would have known." She took a deep breath. "I don't need you to be wild about me. I'm wild enough for the both of us."

That remark seemed to galvanize him. He captured both her hands and pulled her onto his lap. "Abby, listen to me. I've been going crazy without you."

"You didn't call—"

"I was giving you space."

"I didn't want space."

"My mistake," he admitted. "I've been driving
myself and my staff crazy so I could get back to Chicago. My pilot is waiting for me at the airport."

Her heart tripped into double time. "Good thing I turned up, then," she quipped. "I saved you a trip."

"I was kind of hoping I could wrangle a meal out of your sister."

"I could maybe make you a tuna sandwich from what's in the mini-bar in my hotel room. Does that count?"

Ethan's eyes filled with tenderness. He swept a hand over her hip, then jerked open his top desk drawer and took out a small velvet box. "I was going to beg you," he told her and flipped open the box. A diamond winked at her.

She looked deeply into his eyes and framed his face with both hands. Tears stung her eyes. "I don't need that. I just need you to love me."

With a low groan, he crushed her in his arms and covered her lips in a kiss filled with promise. "I do," he whispered. "You can't imagine how much I do."

"Then marry me," Abby said and laid her hand alongside his face. "Marry me and spend the rest of our lives showing me."

Ethan kissed her again. "Are you sure you want to take a chance on a Montgomery?"

"Absolutely sure," she told him. "I've been miserable without you."

"Abby—" He plucked the pencil from her hair
so it tumbled over her shoulders. "I can never tell you how much you mean to me. You gave me my life back."

Her eyes started to tear again. He tenderly kissed each one and whispered, "You are the love of my life. I've been waiting for you forever."