The Fountain of Infinite Wishes (Dare River Book 5) (7 page)

“Hello, Gail, it’s good to see you,” he said.

She swatted his chest and looked him straight in the eye, waggling her painted-in eyebrows. “But not good enough to take me up on my proposition.”

She propositioned him every time they met. He told himself she was joking about them becoming lovers. Well, mostly. “Gail, you’re one hell of a woman and gorgeous to boot, but alas, you’re a client.” This had been his script for years. Her scene was up next.

Her dramatic sigh made the white feathers on her boa sway like a willow in a summer breeze. “Oh, Vander! You always disappoint me with that answer. I’ve been asking you since I got rid of that bastard ex-husband of mine. Need I remind you, I’m only ten years older than you. That’s not much, is it, dahling?”

“Gail, you propositioned me after you divorced your first husband for stealing money from you for his horse gambling problem.” Gail was nothing if not persistent.

She pushed at his chest flirtatiously. “Just imagine what might have happened if you’d taken me up on it! I might never have married Calvin, rot his soul.”

Jeffries cleared his throat behind them, and Gail gave him the fish eye like she knew the butler was interrupting on purpose. Jeffries might be old-fashioned, but he was also protective—especially when it seemed like Gail was taking things too far.

“Well, fine, bring in the drinks, for heaven’s sake, if you’re going to interrupt us,” Gail said to Jeffries, waving a hand in acceptance.

The silver tray the butler set down on the glass coffee table held a tumbler likely filled with Vander’s current favorite bourbon, a green juice concoction he couldn’t imagine Gail drinking, and some canapés.

“I can’t drink this,” Vander said. “It’s not even noon.”

She simply shrugged.

Without waiting to be asked, Vander sat down in the sofa chair with the pink, hibiscus-pattered cushions. He knew it was rude, but he couldn’t lollygag with Gail for the rest of the day. There were cases for him to attend to, meetings to prepare for.

“What in the world are you drinking?” he asked Gail when she held her nose and sipped at her green drink.

“It’s a kale and pineapple juice with a splash of lemon,” she told him. “The doctors want me off alcohol for a spell, and I finally conceded. Every time I drink this concoction, it feels like the end of the world. You might as well engrave my tombstone now. Tell me, Vander, how am I supposed to enjoy life if I can’t imbibe every now and again?”

Vander was hesitant to ask Gail why her doctors had her off the sauce, but since she was watching him so closely—almost daring him to give her permission to tell her sob story—he reached for his bourbon as a distraction. A few sips wouldn’t hurt him.
 

Her face fell.

“All right,” he said, giving in, “tell me why you’re drinking that disgusting concoction.”

Her smile was infectious as she launched into an emotional story about how the health of her heart was at risk due to a condition called hypertriglyceridemia. When she detoured into her family’s medical history, waxing on about how blueblood Southerners never spoke about their health issues and how that tendency had almost killed her, he decided to take another sip of his bourbon. Gail was on a tear.

“And that’s why I sent Shelby your way,” she finished off, earning a sharp look. “She simply
has
to know about her daddy, Vander. Her very health could be at risk—and that of her siblings.”

“Wait a minute,” he said, setting his drink aside. “You sent Shelby to me? Shelby McGuiness? Related to Sadie McGuiness?”

“Good Lord, Vander!” Gail uttered. “How many Shelby McGuinesses do you think there are in Nashville, anyway? I mean, I know her mama named her after that Julia Roberts character in
Steel Magnolias
, but seriously. Of course I did!”

“This is unexpected. How do you know Shelby?” He didn’t like being caught flat-footed—heck, he was the private investigator—but Gail was clearly loving this.

“She works for me, you fool!” she said, reaching for his bourbon. “I need a sip. To fortify me.”

He rolled his eyes. “What does she do for you? I don’t typically run a client’s history unless it’s related to the case.” He didn’t need to know what she or Sadie did for a living to find their father. Then he remembered how Charlie had run both of the McGuiness women in their databases. Dammit, she must have discovered this. Why hadn’t she told him? They were going to have a talk when he saw her.

“Oh, I love knowing something you don’t,” Gail said, pretty much finishing off his bourbon in two more healthy sips. “That must get your knickers in a wad. She’s my personal accountant.”

Shelby was an accountant? Somehow that intrigued him. She’d purposefully chosen an orderly profession, governed by legal structures like his was, even if hers was the IRS and his was the Tennessee Private Investigation and Polygraph Commission. But she also worked for Gail, the pinup girl for drama and chaos. What about Shelby had made her want to dance with both extremes on a daily basis?

“How did you two hook up?” he asked.

Gail picked up the silver bell she always carried around the mansion and rang it. “Jeffries! Excuse me a moment.” When the man appeared, she gave him a radiant smile. “Another bourbon for Mr. Montgomery.”

Vander shot her a look, which she pointedly ignored. “Thank you, Jeffries,” he said. “I find myself thirsty.”

When the butler was gone, she leaned forward, giving him a smile that could have made a Confederate general rethink his battle strategy, and whispered, “I only have a sip here and there. That won’t kill me none.”

His mouth twitched. “Nothing is going to put you in the grave unless you say so, Gail. That’s one thing I know about you.”

She slapped his knee. “That’s why I love you so much. Vander, are you sure you don’t want to knock boots with me?”

Vander shook his head.
“Gail.”

“I can’t help it!” she said, fanning herself. “You’re so handsome and compelling. I barely remember you’re a Yankee when we chat.”

He found himself chuckling, knowing she was mostly teasing. It didn’t matter that he’d been born in Nashville and lived here his first ten years. He’d left—and then come back without a Southern accent. To some, that was heresy. “You were about to tell me how you happened to hire Shelby.”

“Right! She applied for the advertisement pretty much right out of college, but she had grit—something I admire in people—and she was so earnest, what with her mama being a preacher and all. I just knew she’d never steal any money from me like my first husband did.”

“How is it you haven’t mentioned her to me before?” Vander asked.

“I don’t have you investigate everyone who works for me, Vander,” she said, “and since you refuse to come to my house parties, y’all have never crossed paths until now.”

Gail’s house parties pretty much terrified him, and Vander didn’t scare easily. The engraved invitations were enough to make him queasy, partly because they reminded him of the kind of events his mother and grandparents used to hold in their Boston mansion. He’d never been allowed to attend any of the family parties because he was a reminder of his mother’s greatest mistake. He’d been kept upstairs with his nanny, the orchestra music and laughter filtering in through the windows his only link to the events going on two stories below.
 

This past May, though, Gail had invited him to something his old-moneyed Boston family would never have imagined in a million years: a May Day celebration, the entertainment of which had included a painted yellow horse and dancing fairies. Of course, the fairies were actors from the local theatre scene, but still. There wasn’t enough bourbon in all of Nashville to entice him to attend a party like that despite how unique the invitation had been.

“All right, I’m glad to know about the connection,” Vander said. “It’s interesting Shelby didn’t tell me you referred her.”

Gail gave Jeffries an innocent smile when he reappeared with the bourbon. “Vander, your drink.”

He took the drink and played along. “Thank you, Jeffries.”

The man bowed and left, and Vander handed Gail the glass. After taking another healthy sip, she sighed and said, “Bourbon is so delicious, don’t you think? Especially on a Monday morning.”

“It’s almost noon, Gail,” Vander said to make her feel a little better.

“It is indeed,” Gail replied, rearranging her boa. “I’m not surprised Shelby didn’t mention that she works for me. The girl is special that way. She doesn’t use her connection to me like she might. Because of that and all of the good she has done me over these years, I’d like to pay your fee. That’s why I asked you to come in today, Vander.”

He sat back in his chair. “You want to foot the bill? She must be special to you.”

“She is,” Gail said, patting her heart. “And pretty too.”

While he agreed, he still rolled his eyes. “You’re incorrigible.”

“And you’re getting too old to still be a bachelor around these parts,” Gail said with a wink.
 

While he might be having a recurrent nightmare about his dad asking him what more he was going to do with his life, he wasn’t prepared to give Gail any indication he was doing a personal inventory of it.
 

“I don’t want to end up divorced and paying alimony to no-good exes like someone else I know,” he said, both because it was partly true and because he could be balls-to-the-wall honest with Gail. “You’re not my only client who’s gotten screwed, blued, and tattooed by an ex.”

“That’s why I like you, Vander,” she said, leaning forward and giving him an enchanting smile. “You tell it like it is. When you marry, and despite your cynicism, I expect you will—you’re too handsome and kind-hearted to remain alone forever—you’ll choose well. No mere girl would suit you. That’s why I thought you might go for me. I’m a seasoned woman.”

Hearing Gail refer to him as kind-hearted made him more than a little uncomfortable, so he tried to keep things light. He let a smile snake across his lips. “Seasoned, huh? Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

She slapped him in the face with her white boa. “I’ll ignore that unchivalrous remark. Now, tell me what you’ve found out about Shelby’s daddy so far. I know y’all met on Friday. Plenty of time for you to run him.”

“Gail,” he said, leaning on the edge of his chair. “You might want to foot the bill for this case as a kindness to Shelby, but I can’t share any information with you. It’s unethical.”

“Unethical,” Gail harrumphed. “That’s ridiculous! I’m only trying to be supportive.”

Vander stood and buttoned his jacket, making a show of eyeing his watch. “I have another meeting. You can ask Shelby about the case, but not me. We need to get that straight right now. And no late-night calls or texts either.”

Her mouth pursed, and she threw her white boa over her shoulder again. When a feather landed on her lips, making her cough to clear it, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Fine!” She stood and fluffed her boa, sending more white feathers dancing into the air.

When she stuck out her hand, he shook it. “Deal.”

Rather than release his hand, she pulled him closer. “It was good to see you, Vander.”

He kissed her cheek. “You too, Gail. Behave for once.”

“I’ll go to my grave misbehaving,” Gail said, picking up his bourbon and toasting him. “You know where I live if you change your mind.”

She was as flirtatious as she was tenacious, but she’d never taken it any further, which is why he allowed it.
 

“Enjoy my bourbon,” he said as he left the parlor.

“Oh, I plan to,” she called out to him.

Jeffries appeared in the foyer as if by magic and opened the front door. Vander took note of the white BMW convertible cruising down the drive, but he didn’t realize it was Shelby until he’d made it down the brick steps. She cut the engine and reached for her purse before swinging out of the car.

Vander tried not to notice the curves hugged by her sage green dress suit decorated with a simple strand of pearls. Her shoes and purse matched—a totally Southern thing that still mystified him after all these years—and were an off-white. That luscious brown hair of hers blew in the breeze, and his fingers twitched with the longing to touch it.

When she saw him, she immediately halted. “Oh!”

He fought a smile at her greeting. “Hello, Shelby. I was just calling on your boss.”

She looked toward the house. “I didn’t want to use her name. Gail has had too many people use her. It was enough that she recommended you.”

Vander was seeing Shelby in a new light after his talk with Gail. There were layers there, and he suddenly wanted to discover them, everything from why she liked order to the kind of ethics that hadn’t allowed her to use Gail’s name. “On that, we agree. Some of the work I’ve done for Gail has been to protect her from just those kinds of people.”

Her nod was perfunctory. “I’d imagine so. I’ll…see you for our meeting later on.”

He’d scheduled them for five-thirty since the rest of his day had already been booked. “I’m looking forward to it,” she added, her voice a bit husky.

He wanted to linger, he realized, but that was exactly why he couldn’t. After giving her a curt nod, he started off to his car.