Lost and Found (14 page)

Again, he listened for a moment, and
then his face softened and he laughed. “I’m sure Valerie would love
to go with me. This is right up her alley.”

He hung up the phone, and his face
grew hard again. “How was brunch?”

“
Very nice.”

He nodded curtly and gathered up the
stack of papers on his desk. “I need you to book me a flight for
Saint Louis for tonight. I’ll need my own car, so arrange that as
well. Then get on the phone and call Carson Maguire. He’ll need to
meet me on site.” He waved his hands around as though to clear the
slate. “Actually, get Valerie on the phone for me. She’s going to
have to go with me.”

Darcy sat there and absorbed
everything he’d just thrown at her.

He narrowed his eyes. “You can do
this, right?”

“
Yes, sir.” She pushed
herself up from her seat. “I’ll see that it is all done within the
hour.”

She turned to leave, but Ed had moved
from behind his desk and in front of her before she could even
clear the chair.

“
You can handle me at work,
right? I mean, nothing here changes even if we are going to see
each other.”

“
I didn’t expect special
treatment. The ‘aunt ambush’ threw me off this morning. But I
understand what my responsibilities are.”

“
Ambush. Do you think I set
that up?”

“
Well, you have a lot to
lose if you decided you
had
feelings
for some psycho that you ran into
and gave her a job because you felt sorry for her.”

“
You think I felt sorry for
you?”

“
Why else did you run me up
here and give me a job?”

His mouth dropped open. “Because I
read your resume.”

She really hadn’t considered that he
thought she was actually qualified for the job.

“
Darcy, I didn’t send my
aunts to grill you for information. You’re an honest and
hardworking woman. There is no reason for me to try and learn about
you through others.”

Darcy bit down on her lip. She was
going to need to come clean with him if she wanted to keep
him.

“
Ed…” she started when his
phone rang again.

He let out a grunt. “This build is
going to kill me. I have to get that. We’re okay?”

She nodded. He hurried back to his
desk and picked up the line to his uncle again, and Darcy went back
to her desk.

She clasped her hands together and let
out a long breath. When they’d had that one intimate moment in her
apartment, she thought she could handle “Ed the boss,” but that was
going to take some work. And she was very willing to try. Her
feelings had moved way past like…she was slipping into love and
that scared her to death.

Within the hour, everything he’d asked
her to accomplish had been done. He’d be gone for the next three
days in Saint Louis. She would be alone.

Her mind began to work
overtime.

She’d have three days to get to know
Curtis Keller. Maybe he remembered a warm, August day twenty-four
years ago.

By four o’clock, Darcy fully
understood the issues they were having in Saint Louis. Valerie had
run into Ed’s office an hour earlier, as well as Zach and Mary
Ellen. The firm of Benson, Benson, and Hart had just encountered
their first weather catastrophe that had shut down
production.

A string of storms had brought three
tornados down on the outskirts of Saint Louis. The severe storm had
compromised the integrity of the building’s structure. The foreman
had been trying to clear the site of workers when a beam, which
hadn’t been completely fastened, fell and narrowly missed
him.

The meeting around Ed’s desk was
frantic. Everyone was trying to get everything in place.

It was almost six o’clock by the time
everyone had gone their separate ways, and Ed hurried to get the
last of his papers together for the flight.

“
You’re not going to have
time to go home and pack anything,” Darcy said as she handed him
the documents for his flight.

“
I’ll get some clothes
there, and I can buy a toothbrush at the hotel.” He opened the
folder she’d handed him. “Good, this is the hotel closest to the
site, right?”

“
Just across the
street.”

He nodded in a way that she knew she’d
done a good job.

She looked at her watch one more time
and realized that the last bus toward her house had left ten
minutes ago. There was no way she was going to ask him for a ride
home at this point, but she wasn’t going to mention not having one
either. When he’d gone, she’d call Christian and see if he was
available.

“
I really should have had
you book yourself on this flight,” he said as he shoved files into
his shoulder bag. “I could use you to keep things
straight.”

“
I’ll be here when you need
me, and I can make sure everything on this end runs smoothly and
that you’re not bothered by petty things.”

For the first time in hours, Ed looked
up at her and the thin hint of a smile formed on his lips. He set
down his case.

“
Come here.” He held his
hand out to her.

Darcy moved around the desk and set
her own notebook next to his bag.

Ed took her in his arms and pulled her
close to him. She could hear his heart beating in his chest. He
didn’t want to have to deal with the trauma that awaited him. She
could tell by the way he held her in his arms.

He smoothed his hand over her hair.
“I’m going to miss you. It’s crazy that in the past few days I’ve
only had a few moments with you.”

“
It’s not like you’re going
to be gone forever.”

“
Yeah, but I’d like to have
gotten in a lot more kissing.”

Darcy sighed against his chest as he
chuckled.

Ed leaned back and placed his finger
under her chin. “When I get back, I just want to wrap you in my
arms for an entire weekend. We can turn off all our phones, lock
the door, and never come out.”

“
I like that.”

He leaned in and brushed her lips with
his lightly, and then again, but this time he deepened the
kiss.

Ed lowered his hands and wrapped his
arms tightly around her waist as she lifted her arms around his
neck.

This was a moment she’d bring back
into her thoughts when the man who was her boss snuck through and
ruined the image of the man she loved. This delicate, dreamy,
mind-blowing kiss would be her go-to thought when she needed him
and he wasn’t there.

Ed rested his forehead against hers.
“Do you think you’re okay to drive in Nashville?”

Darcy’s head was still swimming, but
she opened her eyes and looked up at him. “I suppose so.
Why?”

“
Drive me to the airport.
Kiss me again like that before I leave.”

That was it. There was no more
indecision on whether she loved this man or not. Darcy McCary was
head over heels in love with Eduardo Keller.

Darcy pulled up in front of the house
at nearly ten o’clock. Letting go of Ed had been one of the hardest
things she’d ever done. There was a truth that he’d have to travel
with his job—a lot. She was going to need to get used to him not
being with her.

As she turned off the engine to his
truck, she noticed that the house was fully illuminated. Three more
cars were parked in front, and she could see people moving
about.

She let out a sigh. She was tired.
Hopefully Christian wasn’t having a party.

She climbed out of the truck and was
headed toward the house when the front door opened and Simone
stepped out.

“
Darcy, I’m glad it’s you.
I thought maybe Ed had missed his flight.”

“
No. I took him to the
airport. Is everything all right?”

Simone crossed her arms over her chest
and walked down the front steps. “The downfall of being married to
a doctor.” She nodded to the house. “Christian tore a muscle at
practice, and Curtis came by to check it out.”

“
Don’t they have team
doctors for that?”

Simone laughed. “Yes, but Curtis is
very protective of his nephews and his niece. You’d think they were
all his children, even if they are grown adults.”

Darcy couldn’t imagine such a network
of people rallying around one person. Even when her mother was
dying, it was only her and her father there to take care of
her.

Simone touched her arm. “You should
come in and say hello.” It, however, wasn’t just a suggestion.
Simone took her arm and led her into the house.

Christian leaned back in the recliner
while Curtis sat on a chair next to him, wrapping up his
leg.

“
Hey, look who came to my
party,” he said, obviously having had something to numb his
pain.

“
Are you okay?”

“
Happens all the time.” He
smiled, and his eyes glossed over.

A moment later, Christian’s mother
came from the kitchen with a glass of water and a sandwich on a
plate.

“
Hello, Darcy.”

Darcy felt her palms began to sweat at
the thought of Ed’s mother talking to her. The other night it had
been fine—but now things were different.

“
Hello, Mrs.
Keller.”

“
Oh, you can call me
Madeline.” She smiled and turned to Christian. “Here, eat this
before those pain meds make you sick.”

The front door opened, and Carlos
Keller walked in. “Curtis, just cut it off. He doesn’t need it as a
catcher.”

“
Funny, Dad.”

Carlos gave a nod in Darcy’s
direction. “Hey, Darcy.”

“
Hello, Mr.
Keller.”

He walked over next to her and put his
arm around her shoulders. “You can call me Carlos.”

She only smiled as he walked toward
his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“
Okay, I think that’ll do
it.” Curtis stood from his seat and stretched his back. “You know,
if you do that too many times you’re going to need
surgery.”

“
Great. Nothing like not
making it to the show
and
hurting this bad.”

“
Crybaby.” Curtis laughed
and headed to the kitchen.

Darcy smiled. This was probably a very
serious situation to Christian, but the family dynamic was amazing
to her. She couldn’t get over the serious and the silly banter
being mixed together and each person participating. Her parents
were always very serious people. Everything was always so planned
and thought out. This family came together, all in separate cars,
at ten o’clock at night, and it seemed that no matter what there
could be humor and love.

“
Did Ed get out okay?”
Madeline asked.

“
Yes. I just dropped him
off at the airport.”

Carlos looked out the window. “You
drove his truck?”

“
Yes,” her voice creaked
out.

Carlos and Madeline exchanged glances,
and then Carlos smiled. “He doesn’t let anyone touch that
truck.”

Darcy swallowed hard. That was a
serious sign of commitment. Southern men took their trucks very
seriously. Even her father never let her drive his
truck.

She forced a smile to her lips and
then directed her attention to Christian. “I’m going to unlock the
doors between my place and yours and leave it open. If you need
anything, just yell and I can come up and help you.”

He gave her a groggy grin then looked
up at his mother. “He told me I had to keep my hands off
her.”

Madeline shook her head, and Darcy
could feel the heat rise up in her cheeks.

“
Christian, fall asleep
before you stick that foot down your throat.” Madeline kissed him
on the forehead and headed into the kitchen.

Carlos turned off the lamp and grabbed
the quilt off the back of the couch. He gently laid it over
Christian, who was already battling droopy eyelids.

Darcy didn’t know what they’d given
him, but it seemed to be working.

Carlos followed everyone to the
kitchen. Darcy walked past Christian, and he reached for her. Even
half asleep he seemed to be quick with the only woman in a
room.

“
Thanks for offering to
take care of me.”

“
You’re
welcome.”

His eyes closed. “He’s a very lucky
man,” he said just as he dozed off.

As she looked down at the man who
resembled the man she loved, she realized all of this could be
hers. Not the house or the cherished truck, but this family
dynamic. She could have it all.

When she walked into the kitchen, the
talking stopped. There was tension in the air, but then again, she
assumed that it was only her.

“
I was just going to unlock
the door,” she said, pointing to the staircase.

“
I got it,” Curtis said as
he ran down the steps and clicked the inside lock. “This one is
ready.”