“I’m the oldest. Colin.” He watched as she began to straighten the papers on the floor and put them back on the shelves. There was something quiet about her that he liked.
“I’m Gemma, and I guess I blew it with your mother, didn’t I?” she asked softly as she slipped an old hatbox onto a shelf. “Missing lunch was very rude of me. Isla and Kirk would never—”
“They’re too busy counting the silver to notice who’s there or not,” Colin said.
Turning, she looked at him in surprise.
“At least the boy is doing calculations,” Colin said. “That girl is ready to tell my brother what size engagement ring she wants.”
“You’re rather perceptive, aren’t you?”
“Nope. I’m just another big, dumb former football player.”
She c
ould see that behind his levity, he seemed to be asking her a question. “Big?” she said. “Are you kidding? I’m the official tutor for the football team, and two of my students make double-door refrigerators look svelte.”
Colin grinned. “They should meet my little brother. He’s still growing, and we’re afraid he’s going to resemble a Hummer.”
“Will your family have to get him tags and a license?”
“No, but he does sometimes wear taillights.”
They laughed together.
Colin was about to speak when his cell phone rang. He dug into his trousers pocket, pulled it out, glanced at the ID, then answered it. “You haven’t finished lunch already, have you?” He paused. “Oh. Sure. Here? Now? No, uh, actually, I . . . I’m on my way into town and I’ll eat there.” He glanced at Gemma as he listened. “Sorry, Mom, I’ll see you at dinner.”
He clicked off his phone. “The whole lot of them are on their way here. I’m leaving. You want to go with me and get some lunch?”
“I’d love to, but I’m afraid I’ve already offended your mother, so I think I’ll stay. Thanks for the offer, though.” Gemma looked around the room to make sure she’d put everything back just as she’d found it. Turning, she looked at Colin, who was still sitting in the chair. “You’d better make your escape. I can hear them now.”
“I think I’ll wait a while,” he said. “You really want this job, don’t you?”
“You have no idea how much! None at all.”
“Actually, I do. I wanted something once.”
“Did you get it?”
“Yes,” he said.
Gemma smiled at him, but she couldn’t imagine what someone as rich as he was could want as much as she wanted this job. When she heard Isla’s high-pitched laugh, she looked out the glass doors. Mrs. Frazier was walking between Isla and Kirk, just a few yards away now, and the three of them looked as though they were old friends. Obviously, Mrs. Frazier didn’t seem to have the same opinions that her son did. Too bad she was the one doing the hiring.
Gemma took a step toward the door, but Colin reached it before she did and opened it to his mother.
“Colin,” Mrs. Frazier said in surprise. “I thought you were going into town for lunch.”
“I couldn’t drag Gemma away from her research, so I thought I’d wait.”
“Oh? Have you two become friends?”
“She’s only interested in your boring old papers,” he said as he opened the door wider for the other two.
“Hello again,” Isla said brightly to Colin, sounding as though she’d known him for years. “Gemma, darling, you missed a truly exquisite lunch.” Isla went to her and kissed her cheek.
Gemma’s eyes widened. She didn’t exactly travel in the same circles as Isla, and they’d certainly never exchanged kisses before.
“Gemma,” Kirk said as he too kissed her cheek. “Isn’t this place wonderful?”