The Magic in her Gift (13 page)

The businessmen looked at her
expectantly. “Uh, that’s very nice of you. Please, come inside and
get comfortable.” Sara turned toward the house.

“
Here are the bags,” Bart
said. “Where do you want Elias to put them, Sara?”

Sara looked up and saw Elias coming
down the path, struggling with three large suitcases. She started
down to help him and Bart grabbed her arm. He looked down at her
with dark eyes. “Tell Elias which rooms to put the bags in,
Sara.”

She glanced over at Elias and cringed
at the scowl on his face. Bart was treating him like a servant. “I
made up the two guestrooms yesterday, Elias. Would you please put
the luggage in the hall outside the doors and we’ll sort them out
later?”

“
Mine is the blue bag,
Elias. You can put it in Sara’s room.” The look in Bart’s eyes
dared the man to argue.

“
Yes, sir, Mr. Everett.”
Elias walked by her with the bags and winked before carrying them
in the house.

“
Please come in, gentlemen,
and make yourself at home.” Bart motioned toward the door and
followed them inside. He stopped in the main hall and pointed
toward the study. “Why don’t you have a seat in there and Sara will
get us some refreshment.”

She watched the two strangers as they
went into her favorite room and then turned to Bart. “What’s going
on, Bart? How could you talk to Elias that way? He doesn’t work for
us.”

Bart sighed and rubbed his temple. “Not
now, Sara. We can discuss this later, but for the record,” he
stared into her eyes, “Elias is a paid employee, nothing more.” He
leaned in close and kissed her cheek. “Would you please get
something cold for us to drink and bring it to the study?” He
didn’t wait for her to agree before walking off to join his
associates.

Mumbling under her breath, she got the
pitcher of lemonade she made fresh that morning and put it, four
glasses and a plate of homemade cookies on a tray. Gritting her
teeth, she picked up the tray and returned to the study.

“
Just set it here on the
table, Sara.” Bart looked down at the tray and frowned. “You
haven’t been baking a lot of sweets this week, have
you?”

Sara narrowed her eyes. “No, I thought
this might be a nice surprise for you.”

He patted her hand absently. “That’s
fine, dear. Why don’t you run up and unpack my suitcase for me?” He
glanced at the sofa where the other men sat. “We’ve got some
business to discuss and you’d just be bored.”

Sara glanced at the men briefly. Rodney
looked bored, but Adam caught her gaze and held it. He ran his eyes
up and down her torso and then smirked. It was all she could do to
keep from dumping the lemonade over his head. Without a word, she
turned to leave.

“
Close the door on your way
out, Sara, and make sure Elias leaves the house. Tell him to wait
near the phone in the caretaker’s cottage.”

Sara left the room and winced when the
door slammed hard enough to shake the picture hanging on the wall.
She put her ear to the wood and almost laughed when she heard Bart
explaining about the drafts that ran through the place with all the
windows open. Shaking her head, she headed toward the kitchen. “He
can unpack his own, damn suitcase.”

Sara found Elias sitting in the
kitchen, helping himself to one of her cookies.

He grinned, cookie crumbs coating the
outside of his lips. “You sure can cook, little girl,” he
praised.

His words warmed Sara’s cold heart. She
went to the refrigerator and pulled out two Pepsi Colas. She’d seen
him drink several in the car on the long drive to the coast from
the airport when they arrived. Grinning, she handed him the cold
can.

Elias took the drink and smiled.
“Darling, you’re a life-saver.” He popped the top and took a long
swallow.

Sara sat down and motioned toward the
other chair. “Take a load off, Elias.”

“
Don’t mind if I do.” He sat
down and reached for another cookie.

“
I want to apologize,
Elias.”

He looked up and frowned. “Whatever
for?”

She shrugged. “You shouldn’t have to
put up with Bart treating you like that.”

Elias chuckled.

“
What’s that about? You
sound positively wicked.”

“
Well, he and his friends
may think they have the last laugh now, but they still have to get
back to the mainland.”

Sara’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t
strand them here, would you?”

“
Course not. That’d be
punishing you.” He grinned slyly. “Let’s just say, with your
permission, their trip back won’t be anywhere near as smooth a ride
as the one out here.”

Sara was silent for a moment and then
threw back her head and laughed. “Permission granted,” she managed
to get out as she wiped tears from her eyes.

“
Little lady, you’ve had a
lot of time to think the past couple of days. Are you still going
to let him sell this place?”

She sobered quickly and looked down at
the can she was twirling in her hands. “I have to sell, Elias. It’s
too far from my home and family and I don’t have the money I’d need
for its upkeep.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You do remember
you inherited a few bank accounts, don’t you?”

She smiled. “Yeah, I know, but it’s
still too far away from the real world. If we sell, we’ll have
plenty of money to make a good life in Atlanta. We could build
something solid and watch it grow.”

Elias snorted and shook his head. “I
know those aren’t your words, Sara. You’re just repeating the bull
he gave you to convince you to let this place go.” He picked up
another cookie. “What’d you think of my friend, Mel?” he asked
casually.

Sara choked and had to reach for a
napkin to wipe up the Pepsi she’d spewed onto the table. “I, uh, I,
um, he was—”

“
Uh-huh, nicely
said.”

“
You just caught me off
guard. I thought he was very nice. He was an excellent guide and
really smart. I learned a lot about the islands from
him.”

“
Huh, well, he thought you
were pretty special. Didn’t say anything about how smart you were,
but he sure went on about how pretty you are.”

Sara’s head came up. “He
did?”

“
Yes, he did. Although I
believe the word he used was beautiful, not pretty.”

Sara slammed the can down on the table
hard enough to slosh the cold, sticky liquid out over her hand.
“Damn it, Elias, stop trying to play matchmaker.”

“
Is that what you think I’m
doing?” he asked innocently.

“
I already have a fiancé. I
don’t need a boyfriend on the side. I’m going to marry Bart and
have his babies and be very happy on the money he gets from selling
my island.” Sara wished with all her heart she believed the drivel
coming out of her mouth.

“
Yes it is
your
island and you
shouldn’t forget it.”

“
I—”

Elias stood, walked around and pulled
her out of her chair for a hug. “I’m sorry, Sara. I didn’t mean to
upset you, darling.” He rocked her back and forth. “I just want you
to be happy.”

“
What the hell is this?”
Bart demanded to know.

Sara pulled away from Elias and glanced
toward the door. Bart’s hands clenched at his sides as he stood
there, glaring at them through narrowed eyes.

“
I was saying goodbye to
Elias while I had the chance. I figured when we leave, I’ll
probably never see him again.”

“
What, no wedding invitation
for me?” Elias asked with a wink.

“
I need you to take my
associates back to the mainland. They’ve got other business to take
care of before we leave for home. I’ve already brought their
luggage back down. We’ll need you to come back to take us to the
airport day after tomorrow,” Bart said through gritted
teeth.

Elias looked down at Sara, a question
in his eyes.

She lowered her head, letting her hair
fall forward to hide the flush she could feel creeping up her neck.
“Can you do that for us, Elias?” she asked quietly.

He put his hand on her
shoulder. “Anything for you, Miss Sara. I’ll give them a
ride
back to the
mainland.”

The slight intonation he
gave the word
ride
had her raising her eyes to his. She covered her laugh with a
cough when he winked and headed for the door. She almost felt sorry
for the two men.

Elias turned before he left and looked
at Sara. “Follow your heart, Miss Sara, and you won’t go
wrong.”

Before the shock settled at hearing
those words, Bart spoke up.

“
Sara, we need to talk.” He
turned and left the room, not waiting for a response.

He probably couldn’t
imagine a scenario where I didn’t do what he told me to.
Sara giggled softly and followed him to the study.
Her refreshments sat on the coffee table untouched.

“
Sit down and I’ll pour us a
cool drink.” Bart reached for the glass pitcher.

Sara’s eyes wandered to the rug in
front of the fireplace and memories of her dream lover caused her
nipples to tighten painfully. She tore her eyes away and shifted
nervously in her chair. She was uncomfortably aware of a dampness
spreading between her thighs.

“
They’ve made a very good
offer for the island and I’ve tentatively accepted for you.” He
handed her a glass of lemonade.

She took the glass from him and raised
her brow. “How could they make an offer? They didn’t even look
around the place. I thought they were staying overnight.” She
looked at Bart’s raised brown and settled back in her chair.
“Sorry, I’m listening.”

He leaned back and stretched his arm
along the back of the sofa. “Twenty-three million, Sara, cash if we
close the deal in the next thirty days.”

Sara frowned. “Wait, twenty-three? Um,
I’m the first to admit I’m not a real estate expert, but that seems
kind of low for an island paradise.”

Bart sighed and set his glass on the
tray. “You’re right, you’re not an expert. There are other factors
to consider. Location, size and local interference with the law
combine to make this not as ideal of a location as we first
believed. What they’re offering is pure profit, Sara. We’ll be set
for life.”

Sara set down her glass and strode over
to the window. “You’re asking me to sell my family heritage, Bart.
Once we sell, it’s gone forever.”

“
Sara, do you really want
the life I can give you?”

She closed her eyes and
thought carefully before she turned around. She knew she didn’t
want to fight. “I do want to be your wife and live my life with
you, Bart.”
I don’t remember the last time
I told him I love him. Have I ever said those words to Bart?
She walked back over and joined him on the couch.
“I’ve dreamed of being a wife and a mother since I was a little
girl.”

Bart laughed and patted her leg.
“Michael might not be willing to let you play at being a mother
very often. He doesn’t even like his real mother.”

Sara felt a strange chill and gave a
little nervous laugh. “I’d never try to take his mother’s place.
I’m looking forward to being a mother to our children.”

Bart recoiled and moved away from
Sara.

“
What’s wrong?” she
asked.

He shook his head and put up a hand as
he backed away as if he was warning her off. “Sara, I thought you
were past the age where you would even think about such nonsense.
It was one of the things that attracted me to you when your mother
proposed our meeting.” He sat down and stared at her with cold,
dark eyes. “I have no intention of having any more children. I
fully intend to leave everything to my son when I die and I’ll not
have a brood fighting over his inheritance when I’m
gone.”

Sara blinked rapidly to hold back her
tears. She felt numb all over and didn’t know what to
do.

“
We’ll fly back with Adam
and Rodney day after tomorrow. You can sign the power of attorney
when we get home and I’ll get the paperwork ready for the sale.” He
glanced away. “I told them there’s no hurry. We’ll finalize
everything after the wedding in a few weeks.”

Sara wasn’t a legal genius, but even
she knew the reason for the delay. He wanted to make sure the money
came to them and not just to her. “I want to offer my mother the
chance to take anything she wants from the house.”

Bart frowned and looked around. “There
are some pretty nice antiques here. I think you and I should pick
what we want first and then if there’s anything left she can have
it.”

Sara gritted her teeth and nodded. It
was going to be a long couple of days.

She had to squish down the
top of her suitcase to get the zipper closed. They were leaving to
return home in the morning and Bart had already told her he wanted
her bags packed and ready to go before they went to bed
tonight.
Not that he’ll know if it’s ready
or not.
He’d moved his suitcase into the
guestroom the first night he returned, reminding her they were
saving themselves for their wedding night. Sara snorted and gave
the zipper a vicious tug.