A Mum For Amy. Ann Evans
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pictures of the finished product, he’s going to be showing them off at every convention he goes to.” She tapped her monitor for emphasis. “And he goes to a lot, according to the research I did on him. Some of his colleagues may want aquariums for their own offices. And I want Lou referring them to Sapphire Seas. He’ll do that if we go this extra mile for him.” She offered her friend a consoling look. “Cut the cherry, Zack. We can always save the oak for another project.”
Zack remained thoughtful for a long moment. Then he cocked his head at her. “Do you ever stop hustling for business?”
“No, and neither should you. Not if we’re going to put Sapphire Seas on the map this year.”
“Do you know who you sound like?”
“Who?”
“Your sister.”
That surprised her a little. Alaina’s name rarely came up between them. Partly because Maggie so seldom saw her family anymore, even though they were only hours away in Miami Beach. But mostly she avoided talking about Alaina for Zack’s sake. Her sister had broken his heart years ago, and he could pretend all he wanted, but Maggie knew he was still in love with her. He just wasn’t willing to do anything about it. Of course, Alaina was married, so maybe that was just as well.
Maggie shuffled the latest stack of bills on her desk. “Good,” she said in a deliberate tone. “It’s taken me twenty-seven years to turn into Alaina. Too bad Mom and Dad aren’t here to see it. Like they’d ever bother to come down for a visit.”
“Like you’d ever invite them.” Zack snorted. “Hell, no. You’re not bitter.”
He was right, and Maggie knew it. The fiasco of eight years ago was like a scar that wouldn’t fade. Just to be civil, she kept in contact with her parents. But it wasn’t much of a relationship, and none of them tried very hard to change it.
She stopped fiddling and stared up at him. “I’m trying to grow this business. To stick with the game plan. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing,” Zack said with a shrug. “If it’s the right game plan. If it doesn’t keep you from enjoying yourself.”
Lately Zack had been giving her grief about her social life—or the fact that she didn’t have much of one. But after what had happened in Miami so long ago, after she’d had to depend on someone else’s kindness just to keep from ending up on the streets, Maggie had learned that there were a lot of different ways life could beat the crap out of you. What was wrong with being…cautious?
“I am enjoying myself,” she shot back. “Now stop pestering me. I’ve got work to do.”
“I liked you better when you were Alaina’s wild and crazy kid sister. You were a lot more fun.”
“Wild and crazy and fun doesn’t put food on your table or money in the bank. It only gets you into trouble.”
She suddenly realized she sounded like her father. Wow. Maybe you really could mature.
“You need to lighten up, Mags. You’ve been pushing hard for months now—”
Before she could cut him off, the phone did the job for her. She looked at Zack to see which one of them was going to answer it.
“Let it go to the machine,” Zack said.
She shook her head at him again as she snatched up the receiver. Really, sometimes Zack was the least motivated businessman she’d ever met. “Sapphire Seas Designs. This is Maggie Tillman.”
It was Teddy LaCrosse’s office up in Miami—a call she’d been holding her breath for. An entrepreneur with the attitude of Jimmy Buffett and more money than Midas, Teddy had loved the aquarium designs she’d pitched for his new South Beach project. He’d even come down to check out their studio and workshop. Maggie was ninety-five percent certain Sapphire Seas would get the job. The bid had been fair, and her designs innovative.
She crossed her fingers and raised them to Zack, mouthing who was on the line. It wasn’t LaCrosse, but his assistant, Susan. Close enough, Maggie figured. As long as the answer was yes.
They exchanged pleasantries, then Susan said, “Miss Tillman, Mr. LaCrosse asked me to call. He’d like to schedule a time when the two of you could talk. It’s about the designs you submitted for the South Beach property….”
Maggie felt her heart drop. Right then and there, she knew the answer was going to be no. She had a gut instinct about this sort of thing. Maybe because she’d been hearing the word an awful lot lately. She couldn’t control her disappointment and shock. “Oh, hell,” she said. “He went with someone else, didn’t he? I can tell by your voice.”
“Miss Tillman, I’m not at liberty to discuss this matter with you. I’m only—”
“Just tell me, Susan. I know the kind of assistant you are. There isn’t a thing that goes on in Teddy LaCrosse’s office that you don’t know about. Who did he go with? Was it Coastal Communities?”
“I’m sorry. I really can’t give you that information. Please…”
“Okay, you’re right,” Maggie said in a quick, conciliatory tone. “I’m sorry I put you on the spot. It’s just that getting this job is very important to me.”
Maggie spent the next few minutes being professional and polite with the woman—when all she really wanted to do was yell or throw something. She’d spent weeks coming up with those designs. She’d furnished LaCrosse with enough testimonials from happy clients to choke a horse. She’d practically had to take out a bank loan in order to wine and dine him properly. She’d done everything to get this job except sleep with the man, and she’d be lying if she said the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. And now, she knew it. It was all going to be for nothing.
“Then it’s set,” Susan said. “Mr. LaCrosse will be in touch with you tomorrow at two.”
Maggie shook her head at Zack, indicating failure. “There’s no way I can speak to him today?” This minute, she wanted to add.
“I’m afraid not. Right now, he’s holding a press conference regarding his plans for the resort.”
By the time Maggie tossed the telephone receiver back in its cradle, she could hardly contain her disappointment. She cupped her face in her hands and swore softly.
“You don’t know it’s a bust,” Zack said.
“In all the years we’ve been doing this, have I ever been wrong about whether or not we got a job?”
“No.”
“I can read between the lines. I got lots of practice when I lived with my folks, trying to guess when and where the next argument was going to come from.”
Zack stood, settling his tool belt on his hips. “So we don’t get the contract. We’ve been shut out before.”
“This was big, Zack. We could have bought the new oven. We could have stopped subcontracting to that toad Jefferson.”
The commercial-sized oven they needed to heat acrylic so they could seal joint seams properly was a particularly sore spot for Maggie. Although the equipment was horribly expensive, no aquarium design firm worth its salt relied on outside help for that sort of thing.
But ever since their ancient, secondhand oven had bitten the dust a year ago, Sapphire Seas had been contracting out the work. To a squinty-eyed jerk up in Marathon who thought that every bit of oven time he sold Maggie ought to come with a free overnight stay in her bed. So far she’d been holding him off, but purchasing an oven of their own would have stopped that nonsense forever.
Oh, well. Goodbye to that dream. For now.
She flung a disgusted glance around the office. “Why didn’t I try to clean this place up before Teddy came down here? Everything looks so shabby. The remodeling needs remodeling, for pity’s sake.”
“Mags,