Flirting with Felicity (21 page)

Pain gripped her. She clenched her eyes shut, as if blocking
out the light would make this last wound hurt less. It didn’t. Memories of her
and Blake, playful and carefree in Hawai‘i, merged with her unspoken hopes and
dreams until they became a tangled, useless coil of burning pain.

What a fool she had been, falling in love with him. For a
short time, he’d actually made her believe she deserved to be loved, to be
happy, that good things could happen to her. He’d shined a light upon her and
she’d reached out of the darkness for the warmth that he offered her. But now
that light was gone, and she was back where she’d started.

Alone.

Blake tore his gaze from the love in Felicity’s
eyes. He didn’t believe it was real. He couldn’t allow himself that luxury, not
when everything he’d worked for over the past few years was at stake. He had
been forced to take irrevocable steps to banish Felicity from his life.
Felicity or, if she was to be believed, someone else had exposed his deepest
secrets to the world, only reinforcing in the public’s mind the truth about who
he was. He prayed for blessed numbness to seep over him, to spare him any more
pain. But numbness didn’t come, just the hard, cold reality that he had always
believed—that he was unworthy of love.

Across the table, Felicity’s gaze met his. For a heartbeat
her bright brown eyes searched his with such an aching need that it made him
hurt all the more. Her face went ashen as he stood and headed for the door,
leaving her alone with Marcus. That final look of sadness on her face tore
through him. He’d been a fool to let things go this far. He’d started this game
knowing the consequences and sacrifices that would come in the end. Bancroft
Industries was his life. There was no room for anything more. As he approached
his waiting car, he growled his frustration, making Peter jump.

“Everything all right, sir?” the startled driver asked.

Blake doubted anything would ever be right again once he
returned to his old life in San Francisco, a life without Felicity. “I’ll be
fine. I just need a minute.” Sliding into the car, Blake shut the door. The
sound resonated deep in his soul.

“Take me to Pioneer Square, please. There is something I need
to do before leaving town.”

“No problem, sir.” Peter started the car and whisked Blake
away from the Columbia Center and Felicity.

“Damn you to hell, Uncle Vernon,” Blake breathed as they made
their way through downtown Seattle. Even from the grave, his uncle had wounded
him by bringing Felicity into his life.

The next day Felicity sat in her office, attempting to
go over the hotel’s accounts, but the numbers jumbled before her eyes. No
matter how hard she tried to focus her thoughts, the task eluded her today. She
looked out her office window only to see summer rain rolling down her
windowpane.

She quickly averted her gaze. The rain reminded her too much
of the tears she tried so hard not to shed. Blake Bancroft was gone from her
life. She should be happy about that. Instead, it felt as though she might
never be happy again.

A light tap on the door interrupted her thoughts. Edward
stood there, framed by the doorway, a look of concern etched on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Felicity asked as a sense of foreboding came
over her.

“There is a man—a Mr. Marcus Grady—here to see you,” he said.
“He says he has papers he must hand you personally.”

Blake’s lawyer wanted to serve her with yet another lawsuit?
Felicity went pale. “Did he say what sort of papers they were?”

Edward shook his head. “He refused to say until I threatened
him.” Edward’s eyes slid away, his face harsh with sorrow. “They’re from Mr.
Bancroft.”

The world reeled as Felicity tried to stand. What would he do
to her now?

“I really think I hate that man,” Edward said, coming to
Felicity’s side, offering her a supportive hand.

Felicity stiffened. “It’s okay, Edward. He can’t hurt me
anymore. Tell Mr. Grady to meet me in the Dolce Vita in five minutes.”

In those five minutes, Felicity tried to run through every
possible reason that Blake could sue her yet again. Was it because she’d
applied for historical protection? Was he upset that she still lived on the
premises with her father? Was it because she used the hotel’s kitchen for
purposes other than feeding paying customers? She had absolutely no idea what to
think as she hesitantly approached the man she’d met yesterday.

When she entered he stood and greeted her. “Greetings,
Felicity. How are you?” His tone was cordial, friendly even, confusing Felicity
all the more. He didn’t wait for her to answer his question as he pulled out a
chair at the table he’d been sitting at and encouraged her to sit down. “I’m
sure you’re surprised to see me, especially after our—”

“I’m sorry,” Felicity interrupted. “If this is about the
lawsuit, I think you should talk to my lawyers at Vetter Douglas.”

He gave her a radiant smile. “This is about a different
matter. Blake asked me to deliver these papers to you.” He slid a thick manila
envelope across the table toward her. When she hesitated to touch it, he said, “Go
on. Nothing harmful in there.”

Silently she opened the envelope and read the first page of
the packet of papers on top. It was the property deed to an old building in
Pioneer Square. The second stapled packet was official paperwork for a
nonprofit agency called Hungry Hearts, complete with a logo of a saucepan with
a heart suspended above it. A headache banged to life behind her eyes. “I don’t
understand,” she said, more confused than ever.

“It’s a gift from Blake. He bought you a building and filed
paperwork on your behalf, establishing your Hungry Hearts program as an
official nonprofit entity.”

Felicity suddenly found it hard to breathe. “He bought me a
building?”

“He’s also engaged an architect who specializes in remodeling
the interiors of historic buildings to plan out the space for a new cooking
facility and dining area. He’s contracted a construction company known for
their preservation work to start the buildout next week. And he’s included a
sizable donation in a bank account set up for the nonprofit to outfit the
facility with state-of-the-art equipment.”

She couldn’t stop the tears that shimmered in her eyes. “But
he was so angry with me yesterday. And he’s suing me over the Bancroft. Why
would he do something so . . .”

“Kind?” Marcus supplied.

Felicity nodded.

Marcus leaned back in his chair. “Between you and me?”

She batted at her cheeks with the back of her hands and
nodded.

“I’ve known Blake a long time. I’ve never seen him as happy
as he’s been over the last week, or as angry over what he presumed was your
betrayal.”

“I didn’t betray him. I would never tell Destiny Blake’s
deepest secret. I don’t believe he was responsible for his parents’ deaths. It
was a sad coincidence. Nothing more.”

Marcus smiled. “I’ve told him that same thing for years.”

“The accident also explains why he thinks Vern abandoned him,
isn’t it? He’s let himself believe Vern blamed him.”

Marcus grinned. “I knew I liked you.”

Instantly she sobered. “Blake wouldn’t listen to my
explanation. He’s shut me out.” Felicity bit her lip, trying to force back
sudden tears.

“I’d say what he’s done for you today is a good sign that
eventually he’ll come around.”

“What he’s done is nothing short of miraculous.”

Marcus nodded. “That’s it. You keep believing in miracles,
and don’t give up on him yet.”

Keep on believing in miracles? How could she not?

After Marcus had left, Felicity moved from the dining room
into the one place in the hotel that brought her a sense of peace: the kitchen
of the Dolce Vita. The restaurant wasn’t open yet for lunch, and she was all
alone.

No matter what chaos ensued in her life, cooking always
calmed her, made her feel more in control. A few simple ingredients could be
combined in many different ways to create any number of things. Knowing exactly
what this moment called for her to create, she lit the stove and reached for a
tall-sided pot.

She filled the container with salted water and set it to
boil. Once that was done, she pulled a saucepan down from the rack overhead and
set it over a low flame while she gathered butter, flour, milk, cheese, spices,
and her favorite pasta to prepare the only dish that might make her feel as
though Blake hadn’t ripped her heart out: her specialty, macaroni and cheese.

Lost in the process of making a roux, Felicity’s thoughts
returned to the one man she couldn’t seem to extricate from her brain no matter
how hard she tried. She added spices to the butter and simmering milk, letting
the flavors mix. The mustard and bay leaf were her secret weapons, and the
reason no one else could replicate her dish’s unique taste unless she revealed
her recipe to them. Without much thought to what she was doing, she assembled
the rest of the dish until she placed it in the oven to bake. Fifteen minutes
later, she took it out and set it on the counter.

And all the while, she kept thinking back over what Marcus
had said . . . to wait for Blake to come around.

Her attention returned to the kitchen at the sound of
footfalls in the hallway. Her heart sped up and nearly stopped when the doors
separating the kitchen from the dining area opened. It wasn’t Blake who stood
there. It was her father, escorted by Mary Beth.

“Dad?” Felicity started toward him, then stopped, noting the
steadiness of his steps and the clarity in his gaze.

Mary Beth greeted her with a smile. “I stopped by your room
to give the nurse a break. I thought we’d find you here.”

“Are you hungry, Dad?” She didn’t expect a reply.

He smiled.

Her chest tightened at the response. Cheered by his progress,
Felicity grabbed two stools from the corner and placed them near the prep
station. She signaled for her father to sit on one, Mary Beth on the other. Felicity
gathered three plates and three forks from the rack and set them on the table
before her father, Mary Beth, and herself.

She pasted on a bright smile and dished them each a scoop of
the creamy pasta. “Do you remember the first time I made macaroni and cheese?
What a disaster. I got cheese all over the kitchen. I spilled so much on the
burners, I had to open all the windows to air the house out.”

“Are you okay?” Mary Beth asked, interrupting Felicity’s
rambling.

“I’m fine,” Felicity said, perhaps a bit too brightly.

Mary Beth gave Felicity a sideways glance. “You’re way too
perky, and I know you too well. What’s happened?”

Felicity released her breath in a rush. “Blake gave me my heart’s
desire.” At her friend’s questioning look, she explained about Blake purchasing
a building for her and not only establishing her Hungry Hearts nonprofit, but
funding it as well.

Her father sat back and looked at her as though he’d been
tracking their entire conversation. He brought his hand to his heart and
thumped his chest. When she continued to stare at him with a curious expression
on her face, he frowned and thumped his chest again.

Felicity took a stab at interpreting the motion. “I love you,
too, Dad.”

Her father shook his head, his agitation growing.

“Come on, I think we should take you back to your room.”

Felicity moved around to her father’s side. He brought his
hand up to cover her heart. “Alligator,” he said for the second time.

It was the way they’d always said goodbye to each other for
as long as she could remember. “Oh, Dad,” Felicity said, folding him in a hug. “I
wish I understood what you were saying.”

Her father shook his head and once again tapped her heart.

Mary Beth reached for her plate of macaroni and cheese and
scooped the gooey mixture onto her fork. “I think your father knows a lot more
than he can communicate. I swear he’s telling you to trust your heart with
Blake.”

Her father visibly relaxed, and Felicity could only assume it
was because Mary Beth had guessed correctly.

“There’s too much between us,” Felicity said, her tone raw,
aching. “The only way things could ever work out is if I gave up the hotel. Are
you asking me to give up the hotel?”

He didn’t answer. He simply reached for the plate she’d set
before him. He lifted the fork to his mouth, chewed, then smiled.

Silence stretched between them until finally Felicity
released a pent-up sigh. “I know what I need to do.”

Her father said nothing. He simply took another bite of
macaroni and cheese before him. Pride shone in his eyes.

Felicity ignored her food as her thoughts centered on Blake.
He’d come into her life so unexpectedly. He’d been an adversary who became a
friend and then a lover. As they grew closer, he filled the dark spaces in her
soul, the parts she’d never exposed to anyone else. With his gallantry and
charm he’d swept her off her feet and made her fall in love. Hopelessly and
completely.

She’d always thought love would solve all her problems, that
when she fell in love no one and nothing could ever hurt her again. But she’d
been wrong.

Love hurt her in places even hunger and poverty hadn’t
touched. But even so, her heart belonged to Blake now. And if he wanted it, he
could have it for nothing in exchange—no gifts, no money, no demonstrations of
devotion, nothing but knowing he loved her, too. Just her heart in exchange for
his.

Was that too much to ask?

She drew a shaky breath, one filled with infinite hope, and
she knew exactly what she had to do to find out.