Moonlight on Monterey Bay (3 page)

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, dear,” Eleanor said. “It’s simply a matter of expediency.”

Maddie just couldn’t give up without a fight. She had dreamed about the house, even about the kind of flowers that should be planted along the deck. She wanted to design this house for Joseph.
She
wanted to do it, and she
could
do it. She had a feeling about the place. She knew she could bring something to it that no one else could.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Ames,” Eleanor said. “Mr. Eastland is awfully stubborn once his mind is made up.”

Well, Maddie thought, she wasn’t exactly known for being a pushover. Two could play the stubborn game. An idea began to percolate in her mind. Oh, what the heck, she didn’t have anything to lose. “Ms. Williams?” she said. “I think we ought to compromise on this.”

Eleanor laughed. “You have spunk. I like that. So how would you suggest we effect a compromise, Miss Ames?”

“The other firm will send in some ideas, correct?”

“Yes. By next week.”

Next week?
He had only given her two days! “Next week, all right. How about if we, at our own expense, of course, put something together in that amount of time and you can show Mr. Eastland both
plans. Let him at least make an informed decision.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Eleanor smiled.

“It does?” Maddie held the phone away from her ear and stared at it. For some unknown reason, this woman whom she’d never met was on her side. Maddie grinned. Guardian angels—they
did
exist. “Thank you, Ms. Williams.”

“Eleanor. Since we seem to be co-conspirators in this, the least you can do is use my first name.”

“And I’m Maddie. Eleanor, you won’t be sorry. Mr. Eastland seemed preoccupied, distracted. I’ll design an interior that will soothe that troubled spirit of his, you’ll see!”

“I’m sure you will. I have a feeling your instincts for these things are right on target, dear.”

Maddie sat in her claw-footed bathtub that night and thought about instinct. Would that be enough? She blew a bubble off the bend of her knee and sighed. What had she gotten herself into this time?

The sound of waves crashing against the rocks in the distance brought some comfort. The ocean’s powerful rhythm always managed to put things into perspective. It was her therapy, she often said, part of what put her back together when life fell apart. She loved the water, and she loved the Eastland beach home sitting on its shores, looking as if it had
sprouted there, all wood and windows and beauty. Designing the inside of it would be a dream come true. She closed her eyes and imagined using color to pull the outdoors in, and filling the spacious skylit rooms with comfortable, tasteful furniture. And as she sank deeper into the fragrant cloud of bubbles, images of the house’s enigmatic owner flitted across her mind. Sam Eastland provided a challenge, too, there was no doubt about it. Exactly how great a challenge, she felt she was just beginning to realize.

The next day Maddie began work with a vengeance.

The library had everything she needed: several years’ worth of the San Jose newspapers on microfiche and all the recent magazines. Maddie settled into a small carrel near the windows, stretching once before she got down to work. And then she targeted all her thoughts and energies on Samuel William Eastland.

Six hours later Joseph found her there, and lured her outside with a sackful of Chinese food.

“Was your search successful?” he asked. He pulled two white cartons from the bag and handed one to her along with a spoon.

“I don’t know.” Maddie opened the carton and breathed in the delicious aromas. “I found out plenty about the man, but I’m not sure how much of it will help in designing his home.”

“So tell me what you know.”

Maddie swallowed a mouthful of Szechuan chicken and began. “Well, he owns a sizable portion of Silicon Valley for starters. He’s a self-made man, was married for seven years—” Maddie paused and looked into the distance. Seven years … that was a long time to be married.…

“Children?”

“One. There was a picture of mother and baby on the society pages a few years ago at an Easter-egg hunt. It benefited some charity or another and the guests were people of note, as the reporter put it. What does that make me, Joseph? Person of unnote? Sour note?”

Joseph patted her knee. “Oh, a little off-key perhaps, but a lovable note all the same.”

Maddie took another bite and continued. “He’s divorced now, lives alone, but according to the society photos, he shows up regularly at events, always with a beautiful woman. He’s a fine catch, as they say, and apparently plays the field.”

Joseph nodded, satisfied. “It sounds like a most successful afternoon. I think Sadie would have called this a prime job.”

“Yes, I believe she would have. But I’m warning you, Joseph, it’s still a long shot.”

“I have full faith and confidence in you, Maddie.”

Maddie chewed her food. Joseph
did
have full confidence in her, and that bothered her sometimes. She
had backed into the job, having helped Sadie part-time when she first moved to Santa Cruz and desperately needed work. Sadie trained her patiently, paid for her to take some courses, and slowly moved her into actual design work.

“Maddie dear, have I lost you?” Joseph was leaning forward, intent on the expression on her face.

“No, I’m still here. I’m still missing an angle on this man. None of the clippings told me enough about him to help me decide on colors for a closet, much less furniture for a house. I need more.”

“Maybe you’re going to too much trouble, Maddie. Why not a simple, tasteful design? Something anyone would like.”

“That’s probably what the other firm is doing. And in that case, we won’t get the job because he likes them better to start with. We need an edge.” She put the empty box back in the bag and faced Joseph. “I think I’ll take tomorrow off and drive to San Jose to nose around. Explore his turf.”

“For this I pay her a fortune?”

Maddie laughed and touched his dry, wrinkled cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow night when I get back.”

Tuesday was bright and sunny, and as Maddie drove through the hills toward San Jose, she thought about the dozens of newspaper clippings she had pored over the night before, and the man whose life they
revealed. He had come to San Jose from northern California, a business magazine had revealed. And the rest was business history as he built a support system for the computer industry that was unrivaled in the posh Silicon Valley. What kind of a man gained that sort of success while still in his thirties? she wondered. And at what sacrifice? Her thoughts turned to the beautiful beach house, empty and undefined.

A short while later Maddie turned off Highway 17 and drove into San Jose, gazing up at the soaring buildings that lined the boulevard. She glanced down at the address lying on the seat beside her, and a few blocks farther she made a right turn. Maybe something about his office would strike her; that’s what she was hoping for, a lightning strike straight out of that gorgeous blue sky.

The Eastland Building was tall and impressive with a beautiful landscaped park disappearing behind it. Maddie parked and walked into the cool lobby, taking note of the mauve marble slab floor, the curved reception desk, the tall elegant paintings. Was
this
decor Sam Eastman? She stood near the bank of elevators and closed her eyes. It all disappeared. Nothing remained when she blocked it from her immediate sight, nothing was startling, memorable. No, that wasn’t the man she had met at the beach. She got on the elevator and pushed the button that whisked her silently up to the executive floor.

At first, no one noticed Maddie. A young woman sat behind a highly polished desk in the elegant reception area. Several men and women sat around on tastefully upholstered chairs; soft music played in the background.

Maddie walked over to the desk. “Eleanor Williams?” she asked.

“Certainly,” the pleasant woman said, smiling. She spoke softly into a receiver, hung up, and nodded toward the opposite wall. “Through there.”

A brass plate on wide double doors indicated the executive offices of Samuel Eastland, and when Maddie walked in, she knew she was in the palace of the king. It was elegant and formal and luxurious. A woman at the other end of the large office stood and walked around her desk. She was a handsome older woman with a kind face. “May I help you?” she asked pleasantly.

The familiar voice made Maddie smile. She held out her hand. “Hello, Eleanor. I’m Maddie Ames.”

Eleanor registered no surprise at Maddie’s unannounced visit. Instead she smiled and suggested they sit and have a cup of tea. Maddie grinned. This was some lady that Sam Eastland had as his assistant; the man couldn’t be all bad.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Maddie,” Eleanor was saying, “but Mr. Eastland isn’t here.”

“I didn’t come to see him. I thought that walking around Mr. Eastland’s kingdom”—Eleanor’s knowing smile stopped her for a moment—“would tell me more
about who he is. I’ve read everything ever written about him and it has helped about as much as the
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Great material for a research paper, but not much help in choosing colors for walls.”

Eleanor laughed. “Well, you’re an enterprising woman. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Maddie looked around the outer office. It was like the rest of the building only more so—elegant, expensive, filled with beautiful vases and paintings and a luxurious carpet. An Impressionist print hung behind Eleanor’s desk. “Did Mr. Eastland choose the painting?”

“Oh, no. The ex–Mrs. Eastland worked with a decorator on it.”

“But it’s what Mr. Eastland likes?”

“He’s never said he
didn’t
like it. But to tell you the truth, Maddie, I don’t think he notices. Sam Eastland works very hard, and I believe he feels that his surroundings are simply meant to be tasteful and unobtrusive here at work.”

“There has to be something here that reveals him.”

“Don’t you think going to the source is always best?” Tiny lines fanned out from the corners of Eleanor’s eyes. “He’s being given an award today. Why don’t you go downtown and watch the presentation? Perhaps seeing him in action will help you.”

“That’s a terrific idea!” Maddie was up out of the chair. “Eleanor, you’re terrific. I don’t know why
you’re helping me like this, but I do appreciate it. A quite wonderful man owns the firm I’m with, and this job is important to
him
as well as to me.”

Eleanor scribbled an address on a piece of Eastland stationery and handed it to Maddie. “If you leave now, you should make it in time.”

The traffic was blessedly light and Maddie found a place to park, then hurried over to the grassy area in the center of the city park where the crowd had gathered. She had forgotten to ask Eleanor what the award was for, but decided it didn’t really matter. What mattered very much was getting the chance to see Sam Eastland in a setting that might reveal something of the man himself. And what mattered the most was getting the job for Joseph. Up ahead, several distinguished-looking men and women were sitting on a small platform. And then she spotted him, standing alone on the edge of the group of dignitaries.

In that one brief moment, while she stood wedged between a woman with a baby stroller and a cigar-smoking man in a three-piece suit, her breathing stopped … and she thought she might faint. It was the heat, the smell of the cigar, fames from the buses going by. She shook her head to clear away the fogginess.

Sam. She felt an odd connection with this man, as if he were destined to have a great impact on her life. Here, in this crowded square and fully clothed, he was every bit as disconcerting, every bit as
sensual as he’d been at the beach house, alone with her and nearly naked. His crisp white shirt made his face look more tan. The noontime heat had caused him to remove his expensive gray suit jacket, and he had thrown it carelessly over one shoulder. He looked rugged and restless, as if he wanted to be somewhere else, as if he had a million things to do. His forehead was slightly furrowed, his startling blue eyes seeing something miles away, in some private world nobody else could see. Maddie stared at him, trying to position this handsome, now familiar man, into the mess of facts and figures the newspapers had written about him. But she was having trouble concentrating on anything but the man who stood in the distance controlling the speed of her heartbeat.

Someone was tapping the microphone now and the sound caused people to settle down to listen. Sam slipped his jacket back on and stepped over to the group gathered on the platform. He shook hands, spoke, but it wasn’t until the master of ceremonies introduced each man and woman in turn that he finally smiled. Maddie squinted, watched, and listened.

Sam’s award was the last presented, a civic award for donating money to build a new wing on the children’s museum.
Children’s museum
. That surprised Maddie. She had expected something else, something more remote, like an award for the company with the biggest growth.

When the mayor gave his concluding remarks a short while later and the crowd began to disperse, Maddie saw Sam stand still for a minute on the platform, scanning the crowd. Had he seen her? She stepped behind a woman in a broad-brimmed hat and collected herself. Well, so what if he had? Chances were he wouldn’t remember her. And if he did, it would mean little to him that she was there. So why the chaos in her stomach? She frowned against her own irrational feelings and looked back up to the stage.

Empty. Sam was nowhere in sight. A wave of disappointment swept through her. She ran her fingers through her thick black hair and then fanned the heat from her face. She was acting idiotically. The man was beginning to get to her. Maybe it wasn’t Sam Eastland at all; maybe she was just hungry. She glanced at her watch. That was it all right, she was starving. The slight gnawing inside of her had nothing to do with Sam Eastland. She looked at the restaurants across the street until her eyes lit on a plain storefront with the word
diner
on it. The dignitaries had gone off in a group, probably to the Fairmont Hotel or some other place that would cost more than Maddie earned in a month. What she needed was a blue-plate special.