The Cinderella List (9 page)

M
arlo catapulted out of her car and hurried toward Jake, looking so intent and businesslike that he had to suppress a smile. She always made him feel like smiling. Her animated features, expressive blue eyes and unique take on the world gave Jake more pleasure than he’d had in a long time. Her unapologetic candor and genuine unaffectedness delighted him. He’d be willing, Jake realized, to do even more of the entertaining he usually disliked, just to keep her around.

The first thing out of her mouth was “How about a scavenger hunt? Lucy and I will run the hunt while you and your father conduct business.”

“Good morning to you, too.” He watched an attractive pink color wash over her cheeks. “You can do all this?”

“We charge extra for babysitting,” Marlo said cheerfully.

“If you can keep the kids, their parents
and
my father happy, I’ll pay you double.”

“I like people willing to try new things. It’s a deal.” She made a check mark in the air with her finger.

It probably meant something, Jake thought, but he had no idea what.

“I’m not very well acquainted with horsey things,” she continued. “If you really want the children to feel like they know Hammond Farms, I’ll need your help.”

“I believe we’ll need coffee to get this done.” Jake tipped his head toward the house. “Let’s go inside and work on it.” He took her arm and guided her along the stone paving that led to the home. Someday he hoped to live here, when his father and mother decided that it was their turn to retire. Unfortunately, most of the women he knew wouldn’t love it like he did. Too far out in the country for most, too far from urban life, this place demanded a special person to enjoy a community where the majority of the population had four feet rather than two.

He opened the large carved door that led to the dusky interior. “Perhaps you’d like to step out on the deck while I get some coffee.”

He left her looking at the view and returned with a tray containing a carafe of coffee, two mugs and a plate of sugar cookies. When she heard him at the door she spun around. Her eyes were wide and dancing with delight. “What an incredible view!”

“I know what you mean. It’s my favorite spot in the house. We’ll use the sunroom. It’s perfect in there this time of day.” He led her to the large four-season porch filled with wicker furniture, plush pillows and a greenhouse worth of flowers. Pastures flanked them on three sides.

“Why do you ever leave this place? It’s incredible.”

“It would be crowded, for one thing. As I said, my grandparents live in one wing, my parents in the other. I can’t quite imagine myself caught in the middle of this house, with my father and grandfather offering stereo suggestions as to what I should do with my life. In their eyes, I’ve never quite grown up—and never will.” The thought made him cringe. “That alone was enough to make me buy my own home.”

He put down the tray and began to pour coffee. “I’ve learned
to roll with the punches and not let anything bother me too much. The older my father gets, however, the more uptight he becomes. He sees problems behind every tree and bush these days, and wants to control everything around him.”

“I understand. My family is bossy enough, and I’m not even in business with them.” She rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Tell me about your family.” Jake found himself genuinely interested.

“My parents live in Wisconsin, where they run a fishing resort. It’s their dream—Dad gets to fish and Mom gets to cook for fishermen. I learned how to cook from my mother and enjoy it
almost
as much as she does. I have an older brother in California who has no children, and a sister here in the Minneapolis area. She’s the mother of my nephew, Brady.”

“Are you close?”

“We’re crazy about each other, if that’s what you mean. Of course, they’d all tell you that they are very normal compared to me. They never read the last page of the book first.”

“You do that?” Amusement deepened the smile lines around his eyes. Even the way she bounced all over the map when speaking charmed him.

“They can all read maps and drive better forward than they do in reverse.”

Jake’s curiosity was piqued, and he wanted to ask more questions. Discovering all there was about Marlo could occupy him for weeks, he was sure. Maybe years. Unfortunately, the issue at hand was still Saturday’s luncheon.

“Where do we start with these clues? I have to confess that I’ve never been on a scavenger hunt.”

“Then you suffered a deprived childhood,” Marlo said firmly. “This will be good for you. Just name some spots around the property that could be on the hunt. The kids will get a clue to start
the game. When they solve the riddle and go to the spot hinted at in the clue, they’ll find another clue.” Marlo pulled a pencil and a notebook out of her pocket and looked at him expectantly.

Did she know she narrowed her eyes when she asked questions? Or that one corner of her mouth had a comic tilt? Probably not.

He furrowed his brow as he rattled off a string of suggestions. “Riding arena, round pen, paddocks, tack room, water tank, hay loft…”

“What are the half-doors in the barn called? The split doors I saw closed at the bottom and open at the top.”

“Dutch, or stable doors. They were originally meant to keep animals out of homes while letting light and air in. Now they’re used in barns.”

“That’s a great place to start.”

She wrote a few words, frowned, crossed them out, tapped the eraser end of the pencil on the table and repeated the process until, finally, she held up the battered piece of paper triumphantly. “Here.” She handed it to him to read it out loud.

“‘We’re not in the Netherlands, but you can find these all over the barn. Look to the west, where outside meets in.’” He handed the sheet back to her. “I don’t get it.”

“That’s because you haven’t thought about it. What are the people of the Netherlands called?”

“The Dutch, of course.”

“And where might the outside of something—like a building—meet the inside?”

Puzzled, Jake felt like a child trying to figure this out, in order to win a game or capture a prize. “Walls, windows, doors…”

“Exactly!” She clapped delightedly.

“I don’t quite see….”

“Dutch doors!” she crowed, as if the fog had been swept away
by the sun. “The next clue for the hunt can be found by the Dutch door on the west side of the barn!”

He grabbed the paper and reread the clue.

“‘We’re not in the Netherlands but you can find these all over the barn. Look to the west, where outside meets in.’

“Isn’t that a little difficult for kids to figure out?”

“Lucy and I will be there to help. You’d be surprised what children know.”

“When you were a child, did you know what a Dutch door was?”

“Maybe not, but I knew about the Netherlands, and I knew east from west—sort of. The first thing I’d do with a clue like that is check out the west side of your barn. They won’t even have to know what the rest means, because, if they’re smart, they’ll
see
the spot to pick up their next clue.”

“Very clever. You just thought of all that?” The energy that bubbled out of Marlo was catching.

“It isn’t hard. In my mind, I imagined a clue being just outside one of the barn doors. That made me think of how they are split, so the bottom can be closed without closing the top. Dutch doors. Then it was an easy leap to the Netherlands. I know it sounds backward, but it works for me.”

“Just let me watch you work. Don’t tell me anything about how you get to the clues. You make very expressive faces while you’re thinking.”

“Lucy says that, because my logic runs backward rather than forward, I have to strain to come up with something.”

“I’m not touching that statement with a ten-foot pole.”

While Jake refilled the coffee carafe, Marlo picked another of the items on his list. When he returned to the room she handed him her notebook. He stared at the clue written in the middle of the page.

It rhymes with a smelly fish but you’ll find horses there.

“A smelly fish? That’s no help. And there are horses everywhere around here. In the stalls, being worked in round pens, in the paddock….” He paused and a big grin spread across his features. “A smelly fish is a haddock, so you’d find the next clue in a paddock!”

“Now you’re catching on.” Marlo beamed at him as if he were an elementary student who’d just seen the light in understanding fractions. “And, no, it isn’t too hard. The kids can work backward. Besides, the harder clues will take more time to solve. They can find all the places there are horses and then ask the stable guys what they’re called. Paddock-haddock will be easy then.”

Jake leaned forward and laid his hand over Marlo’s small hand. It was warm, delicate and oh-so-appealing. “You amaze me at every turn. What more is there to discover about you?” A powerful attraction tugged at him and he removed his hand quickly.

What was it about her that made him feel like the tide, helplessly ebbing and flowing as she, the moon and sun, lured him? That was the last thing he’d expected to be served up by his caterer.

Marlo held on to the steering wheel, eyes straight ahead, radio blaring and her mind even noisier. Spending yesterday afternoon with Jake had done something to her head. Her brain was doing cartwheels as she tried to sort out her feelings. Did Jake think their relationship might continue even if Dining with Divas left the picture, or was he just planning social events for clients long into the future? He’d certainly been friendly, but maybe she was reading something into his smiles that wasn’t really there. What about Sabrina? Marlo wasn’t sure, but it made her uncomfortable. Maybe he was just very good at flirting. He’d obviously had lots of practice.

He’d touched her hand for a brief moment and it had set a
crazy avalanche of emotions into action. Mental pictures raced through her head—she and Jake at the barns, brushing colts, laughing over dinner, holding hands, lips touching…. She shook herself like a wet dog, as if to fling the images as far away from her as possible. It was outlandish and unwise to think like that.

Much as she hated to admit it, Sabrina and Jake together made sense. Their families had been friends forever. They were part of the horsey set. Wealth was familiar to them. Their expectations were far different from her own.

Marlo’s idea of success was to own a business in which she did not have to cook, tote, carry, serve and clean up every day. Having an employee sounded like a radical luxury to her. That was a far cry from running an architectural firm and owning a horse ranch that sat on land worth millions.

Forbidden fruit, that was what Jake was. Not only was he involved with someone else, but he was out of Marlo’s league.

No, she’d better accept reality right now, she thought unhappily, and prevent the man from drawing her in. It would save her a lot of pain and frustration in the future. Jake and Sabrina were destined to be Mr. and Mrs. Hammond, and she wasn’t about to interfere with that. Marlo was nothing if not practical.

“We have a Thanksgiving wedding to cater,” Lucy said, when Marlo walked into the Divas’ kitchen on Monday morning. “It’s going to be a big one. Mammoth, gargantuan, colossal.” She leaned back in her chair and tapped her front tooth with the tip of her pen. “And if I’m right, it is going to be one huge pain in the neck.”

“Refuse it.” Marlo picked up a fresh apron and put it on. “We do well enough. If something looks like trouble, we don’t have to take it.”

“Oh, there will be even more trouble if we don’t accept, mark my words.”

“Who are these people, Lucy? What’s the problem?” She poured herself a mug of coffee and topped it with cream.

“It’s Angela’s wedding I’m talking about.”

“Oh, no.” Suddenly feeling leaden, Marlo sank onto a stool. “Angela is the most exacting, difficult-to-please human being on the planet. Her wedding will make a space launch look simple.”

“Exactly. She’s already been on the phone three times this morning, giving me instructions. Edible flowers on every plate. No shrimp in the reception hall because her family is allergic. And could we please consider buying new dishes if we don’t have enough matching china? She wants the tables to be uniform. Oh, yes, she wants us to create centerpieces for the tables, as well. Edible ones. Bouquets of fresh fruit and cookies. And wait until you hear about the ice sculptures.”

Marlo put her head in her hands. “What did we do to deserve this?”

“It’s really nice of her to throw such a big event our way, even though it’s going to be a logistical nightmare. But that’s not the worst of it.”

“There’s more?” Marlo was already trying to imagine how they could keep edible centerpieces fresh. The apples and bananas would turn brown unless they bathed them in pineapple or lemon juice. If Angela wanted fruit and cookies mixed in each bouquet it was inevitable that the cookies would get soggy, unless she could figure out a way to apply a hard frosting…. “How could there be more?”

“She’s asking every one of us from the Bridesmaid Club to be
her
bridesmaid, as well.”

Soggy brown centerpieces flew out of Marlo’s mind and were replaced by a new vision. Her, wrestling trays of chicken à la orange and tomato aspic in a shiny purple bridesmaid’s dress with
a peplum, two miles of ruffles and a matching hat. Hollywood made entire horror movies out of scenes less scary than that.

For the first time in a long time, Marlo felt vulnerable. Maybe this time, considering her emotions toward Jake, the upcoming scavenger hunt which could easily become a regrettable fiasco and Angela’s unrelenting wedding demands, she’d taken on too much.

“T
his crazy, harebrained scheme is not going to work.” Randall’s tanned face had darkened to a dangerous beet color. “We have four couples and nine children between the ages of seven and fifteen arriving in less than two hours. You expect me to be able to talk business and show horses while you and those kids are running wild around here on a scavenger hunt?”

He glared at Jake, who, coffee cup in hand, was visibly, at least, unperturbed about the paternal eruption. “Why didn’t you tell me this before now?”

“Because I knew what your response would be,” Jake said, thankful that he’d cultivated the ability to let all his father’s comments roll off his back.

Randall spun on his heel to face Marlo, who was divesting the Dining with Divas van of cases of soda and paper products. “This is your fault. He wouldn’t have had a crackpot idea like this on his own.”

Much to Jake’s delight, Marlo didn’t shrink back as his father had obviously expected, but faced him, her feet firmly planted on the ground. “Excuse me for saying so, sir, but I wouldn’t
underestimate Jake,” she said pleasantly. “From what I’ve observed, he has plenty of half-baked ideas of his own.”

Randall blinked at the unexpected reply. Then he threw his hands in the air and stomped off, muttering, “Kids and business do not mix. I should just call this meeting off. I don’t care how wealthy these investors are….”

Jake gave her a thumbs-up. “Good for you. You didn’t let Dad run all over you.”

She smiled at his encouragement. “Is he always this grouchy? Maybe he needs more fiber in his diet.”

Jake nearly spit out his coffee. When he caught his breath, he put the mug down on top of a fence post. “Maybe he does, but I’m not going to be the one to tell him that. Dad was an only child. I’m his only child. He has no grandchildren. I really don’t think he knows what to do with children. The only child I’ve ever seen him enjoy is Alfred’s granddaughter, Cammi. He adores her. I think a group of children actually intimidates him.”

“Fair enough,” Marlo said. “But it’s my job is to keep the children busy so he
can
show these investors they can have faith in his operation.”

“Unfortunately you’re outside Dad’s concept of intelligent business practices. He doesn’t know quite what to make of you.” Just like Marlo was outside all his own experiences, too, Jake thought, but he was intrigued, not dismayed, by her uniqueness.

“Welcome to my world,” Marlo said, with mock weariness. “For some reason, I affect people that way. I guess most business plans don’t involve much
fun.
”

He couldn’t—didn’t want to—resist. Jake wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. His cheek rested against her dark hair, which smelled of strawberries. “That’s what I love about you, Marlo—the fun.”

It was in his nature to be affectionate, but Marlo had the
ability to test his gentlemanly restraint, he realized, and pulled his arm away. He’d laughed when Sabrina had brought up the way he responded to Marlo, discounting what she’d called her “woman’s intuition.” Maybe there was something to those feminine hunches after all. It was disconcerting to consider.

“I’m done setting up the clues.” Lucy chugged toward them like a little steam engine. “We’re ready for your guests to arrive, Jake.”

“If we can pull this off to my father’s satisfaction, I’m taking you ladies out to dinner—you pick the restaurant and I’ll spare no expense.”

“Then I’d better recheck Marlo’s plan. I don’t want to miss an opportunity like that.” Lucy turned and trotted off again.

“I’d better see to the main table,” Marlo said quickly—as if she, too, sensed the electricity between them. “If these people are driving in from the airport, they’ll probably be ready to eat immediately after they arrive.”

So the encounter had disconcerted her, as well. It was obvious to Jake that whatever he might say about the two of them, she didn’t want to hear it. She was probably right. They were on a friendly, even keel. No use rocking the boat.

Shortly, cars began to pull into the driveway, and out tumbled an array of adults and children who appeared to have been outfitted by Ralph Lauren.

Before Jake stepped forward to greet their guests, he eyed the group. It would be easy to make the adults feel at home. The youngsters, however, had
boring
written all over their faces. What if Marlo’s plan didn’t work? These were privileged children, accustomed to whatever money could buy. Maybe a scavenger hunt would be laughable to them. He winced at the thought.

Randall Hammond waved Marlo over to the group and Jake watched her cross the yard. She might have had lead in her shoes, for all he knew, the way she was dragging her feet. She must have
had an attack of nerves, as well. Jake also saw the look of surprise on her features when his father tucked his hand into the crook of her arm and moved her nearer the guests.

“This is Marlo Mayfield. She is catering our luncheon today and has something special planned for the children. Marlo thought they might like to get acquainted with Hammond Stables on their own.” There were murmurs of approval from the adults.

His father was making certain that these people realized that if the next few hours flopped that she, and she alone, was responsible, Jake realized. Then Randall nodded to Marlo as if to say, “You’re on.”

“I hope you all enjoy scavenger hunts,” she addressed the restless children, “because that’s what we’re doing. I’ve got the first clue here.” Her eyes began to sparkle as she spelled out the details of the game, intent, playful and beautiful all at once.

The oldest boy, who was about fifteen, blurted, “At least it will be better than sitting around.” They began to crowd closer to Marlo. The littlest ones reached eagerly for the scraps of paper that she was holding. She quickly formed teams of three. From the corner of his eye, Jake noticed that the men who’d come to talk to Randall were smiling.

“Now you can read your first clue,” she told the children.

The fifteen-year-old read aloud. “‘Where a horse would go if he wanted to clean up for a party like this one.’”

One of the adults chuckled knowingly.

“I’ll bet I know!” a girl with pigtails and pink cutoffs exclaimed. The entire group took off running, searching for the location of the wash stalls.

Marlo turned to the parents. “Some of the clues are harder than others, so it should take a while. The stable hands will watch out for them so no one gets hurt. They can also give helpful hints if everyone is stuck on a clue. The last clue reveals where
the picnic table is set up for their lunch. There are prizes there. You probably have an hour and a half of uninterrupted conversation before they all return.”

“Brilliant!” one of the men interjected. “I thought this might be a problem with the kids underfoot, but now…” He slapped Randall on the shoulder. “You’d better show us those two-year-olds you’ve been talking about.”

As the others disappeared, Jake hung back and fell into step with Marlo. “I have to give you credit. How did you get the men to agree to help out? They can be a crusty bunch.”

She tipped her head to one side in that way he’d observed. It made her appear flirty, although she likely didn’t realize it. “I asked them. Nicely, of course. Lucy and I made a special brown-bag lunch for them, as well.”

“Bribery. Nice touch.” It would be entertaining, he realized, just to watch how this day would unfold. “Now what?”

“I just make sure everything is going smoothly.” An earsplitting wail reverberated somewhere inside the barn. “And it looks like we’ve hit our first bump.” Marlo took off for the barn with Jake close behind.

“Don’t you have to be with those people?” Marlo asked breathlessly.

“They don’t need me, but maybe you’ll need my help.”
And hopefully not that of an ambulance,
Jake thought to himself.

The kids were clustered in the center aisle, big-eyed and pale.

“What’s going on?” Marlo said, with admirable calm in her voice.

“Anna wanted to see what was up those steps.” A small boy pointed to a staircase leading up to the hayloft.

“We told her that wasn’t where the clue would be, it didn’t say anything about stairs or climbing or even hay, but she wanted to see anyway.”

“She’s so snoopy,” an eight-or nine-year-old girl with a blond ponytail said. “She’s always getting into trouble.”

“She’s dumb,” a burly ten-year-old added unsympathetically. “She’s my sister and she’s scared of heights. She knew better than to go up there. Now she can’t get down.”

Grateful that it didn’t appear that bloodshed was involved, Jake headed for the staircase. He reached the loft only seconds ahead of Marlo, who was close on his tail.

“Oh, my,” Marlo murmured as they stared up at the vast heaps of small bales set neatly into place, stacked nearly ten feet high. A wooden ladder rested against one of the tall heaps and the little girl clung to the top of the ladder, screaming at the top of her lungs.

“I told you she was dumb,” a disgusted voice said behind them. It was the girl’s brother, who had climbed the stairs to get a better look at his sister’s predicament. “Now what are you going to do, Anna? You’re stuck!” Then he added without a hint of brotherly love, “Maybe for life! Wait until I tell Mom and Dad. They’ll leave you up there, I’ll bet.”

The girl’s wails intensified. For a brief moment, Jake gave thanks for not having siblings.

Marlo took the boy by the shoulders and gently turned him around so he was facing the stairs. “We’ll have her down in a minute. Why don’t you wait for us downstairs?”

“A minute? Are you sure?” He sounded dreadfully disappointed. “Bummer.”

Meanwhile, Jake moved swiftly to the ladder and climbed it until he was just under the howling child. “You’re okay now. I’m right behind you so you can’t fall. Just put one foot on the rung below you and I’ll walk you down, okay?”

Anna quit howling but continued to snivel as Jake walked her backward off the ladder. When she reached the floor, she wiped
the tears from her eyes. Then they narrowed into slits. “Where’s my brother? I’m going to pound him.”

“She recovered quickly,” Marlo said.

“Yes, but her brother might not. I think she’s concocting devious plans for the drive home in the back of their parents’ car.”

“At least they’re on to the next clue and not much worse for wear.” She ran her fingers through her hair until it stood on end.

“Want some coffee? There’s fresh in the break room.” He didn’t feel like leaving her side. He found it too soothing and too pleasurable to disturb.

“What about the horses and your guests?”

“I believe I’m needed more here—to pick damsels in distress out of haymows. Besides, Dad loves to show the horses. He’d rather have me here, making sure that none of the kids get hurt.” And he’d definitely rather be here, Jake thought.

“Suit yourself. I doubt this will be the last of the minor calamities. I could use the help.”

Almost as if on cue, they heard a yelp and peals of childish laughter. By the time they reached the paddock, the youngest of the children, a little boy with pale blond hair and huge, horn-rimmed glasses which made him look like a tiny scholar was pulling his foot out of a large, relatively fresh pile of horse droppings. His eyes were huge behind the thick glasses and his lower lip quivered.

“No problem,” Marlo announced briskly. She strode to the little boy and picked him out of the muck. “Looks like we’ll have to wash
you
off in the wash stall, buddy. What do you think about that?”

The little guy’s expression brightened. “Me? Cool!”

Like the Pied Piper, the children followed Marlo to watch the show.

As Jake waited outside, listening to the laughter, and Marlo
used a sprayer to banish the grime from the child’s foot, he smiled to himself. There hadn’t been this much fun on the ranch since…he couldn’t remember when. Granted, the stables had always been his retreat, but Marlo added a new element to the place—laughter, lightheartedness and fun. He hadn’t realized how much of that was missing until she’d arrived. Now, once that he’d experienced it, he didn’t want to let it—or her—go.

By the time Randall and his buyers returned, the game was still going on and excitement for it had built rather than lessened. It went far better than any of them had expected, Jake realized, especially his father, who was downright jolly as the meal the Divas had prepared was served.

As Marlo and Lucy were cleaning up the remnants of the meal, Jake walked into the kitchen. “Whatever you did with those kids, it worked miracles. As Dad showed the horses, the parents watched the children running around and laughing in the distance. The kids were happy but not underfoot. You made the day memorable.”

In a positive way,
he added to himself. There were so many negative ways the day could have been etched into people’s minds, with all these children running around. Fire, stampedes and broken bones came to mind. He found himself genuinely happy that it had all worked out so well, not just for himself, but for Marlo.

“It was actually my father who finally figured out the haddock-paddock connection for the kids,” he continued. “If Dad could pat himself on the back for hiring you, I believe he would. In fact, I think we’re having a little difficulty getting them to leave. Would you like to come and say goodbye?”

Marlo followed Jake to the front door, where the little boy named Theo, the one who’d had the foot-washing incident, had his arms crossed and lower lip poked out in a pout. “I don’t want to go. It’s
fun
here.”

Randall looked downright jolly as he patted the boy on the head. “Maybe you’ll come back with your father sometime. It sounds like we’ll be working together often.”

Jake gave Marlo two thumbs-ups.