The Sweetheart Hoax Read online

  “Excuse me?” Phil choked. He picked up his tea to clear his throat.

  “Don’t play innocent with me, Williams. Maggie was all over me before she left. Then I catch you two together and suddenly she’s not interested?”

  Phil carefully set his glass on the cocktail napkin with the club’s logo. “Margot dumped you?”

  McBain clenched his jaw and took a seat on the stool. “I wouldn’t exactly call it dumping.”

  So they were dating. Damn. Knowing they’d been together, for any amount of time, really stung. “At least you accomplished your research.”

  McBain scoffed. “Hardly.”

  “What do you mean hardly?”

  “I mean I never got past first base. One innocent kiss on the sidewalk, and then she shows me to the door. And I’m a great kisser.”

  Phil swallowed his gloating smile. “When did she dump you?”

  “She didn’t dump me!” He signaled to the bartender for a menu. “She said she didn’t have any interest in seeing me again. And I blame you.”

  “Did she say something about me?” Phil asked.

  “No, but I saw the way she looked at you at the airport. We hadn’t even made it to the hospital before she was letting me down easy. What gives?”

  So Margot dumped him right after they got back. He felt elated and ready to bolt from the club to her house when he suddenly realized he might have more competition than just McBain. Who the hell was with her the other night when he found her in her pajamas?

  McBain snapped his fingers in front of Phil’s face. “Hello? Anybody home?”

  “Sorry. Did you happen to see Margot later? The night you dropped her off at the hospital from the airport? Around seven-thirty?”

  He shook his head. “No. I haven’t seen Maggie since she traded in prime rib for hamburger meat.”

  “You’re an ass, McBain.”

  “And you sure are interested in your receptionist.”

  “Former receptionist.”

  “Details.” McBain sipped from his water before slamming it on the counter. “I ought to fire you. I called her first.”

  “You can’t call dibs on a woman. She’s not a piece of candy.”

  “Says you. I’ve been working her for months. I even told you about her.”

  “You told me about Maggie. I didn’t have a clue you were talking about Margot until we saw you at the airport.”

  “So you admit you tapped her?”

  Phil shoved his plate away and looked McBain in the eye. “I didn’t tap her, as she’s not a keg of beer. But if she doesn’t want to see you anymore, I don’t see why I can’t pursue her socially.”

  “Fine,” McBain said with a sneer. “You pursue her to your heart’s content. But learn from the master. If she didn’t want a piece of this,” he waved his hand from his head to his waist, “she’s not going to give it up for you.”

  Phil had to bite his tongue to stop from admitting she already had. He wouldn’t stoop to McBain’s third-grade level. “I guess we’ll have to see about that.”

  ***

  In all the years he’d lived in the Lowcountry, Phil had never been inside the local hospital. He thanked his hearty Midwestern genes for never getting sick and felt a measure of Danny’s apprehension just looking at the imposing brick building. He couldn’t imagine having to visit a loved one in the sterile environment. He thought of Margot. She’d said she missed most of her high school football games because her mom had been in the hospital. She practically grew up within these walls.

  Thoughts of Margot had driven him to the hospital to visit Kate and to dig for information.

  He punched the elevator button to go up to the ninth floor. The nurse who greeted him at the nurses’ station sat behind a large counter, typing into a computer.

  “Which way is 943?” he asked.

  She didn’t even look up. “About halfway down the hall to your left.”

  He didn’t move right away, but stared at the scrubs she wore under an ugly brown sweater. Puce.

  He shuffled down the hallway, a vase of flowers in his arms, and gave a quick knock on the door with Flannery written on the white board outside.

  “Come in,” he heard her call.

  Kate sat upright in the bed with wires extending from her huge belly to the adjacent machinery. Danny was in a recliner chair in the corner talking on his cell phone. Kate had certainly grown since the last time he’d seen her.

  “Well, look at you,” he said, setting the flowers on a table. She was still beautiful, with her dark hair pushed back from her face, but a little of her excited glow had paled and he could see the worry in her vibrant blue eyes.

  “Phil,” she said. “I was wondering if you’d ever show your face.”

  He looked around. “Not my usual stomping grounds.”

  “I wish it wasn’t mine, believe me.”

  Danny stood up, phone to his ear, and patted Phil on the back before escaping to the hall to continue his call uninterrupted. Phil could tell from the tidbits he’d overheard there was a problem at one of the sites. Kate’s eyes followed him to the door and then swung back to Phil.

  “He’s so stressed out,” she said. “I’m just lying here connected to all these machines and he’s up to his ears in work. I can’t get him to leave me for more than an hour or two. I’m worried about him, Phil.”

  “He hasn’t said anything about a problem.”

  “That was one of the contractors from Solitude. It’s been one headache after another. You know him, you know how he gets when he’s been cooped up inside for too long.”

  Phil certainly did know how Danny was when he couldn’t work. He was like a caged bear. “I’ll talk to him when he gets back, see if I can get him out to the site with me.”

  “I’d appreciate it.”

  “So are you here for the duration?” he asked.

  She shrugged and ran her hands along her belly. “My labor has stopped for the most part, but my blood pressure is still too high. I’m afraid I might be in here for a while. I’m trying not to get worked up. I mean, the longer I’m here, the more time she has to develop, but I’m almost as stir crazy as Danny.” She held her hands in the air. “But please, don’t tell Danny I just said that.”

  “I won’t.” Phil was struck by how both Danny and Kate worried over the other. The minute one was out of earshot, all they could do was worry over the other. Danny was one lucky guy. Phil remembered how hard they’d fought to be together and knew luck didn’t have anything to do with their happiness. “Did you say ‘she’?”

  Kate’s smile bloomed as if someone had turned on a switch and she was lit from within. “It’s a girl. She’s a girl.” She blushed. “We’re having a girl.”

  “I thought you weren’t going to find out?”

  “We weren’t, but after all this, I wanted to know.”

  “Is there anything you need, other than me getting Danny out of your hair?”

  “Actually, there is one thing.” She ducked her head and then looked up at him from under her lashes. “I hate to ask, but I don’t want Danny running any more mindless errands when he could be getting some work done.”

  “Name it,” Phil said.

  “Teddy’s driving Margot crazy.”

  Kate was going to make it easy for him to fish for information by bringing up Margot first. “I don’t really have the best set up for a dog at my place.”

  Kate laughed. “No, silly, I’m not asking you to take him from her. For goodness sake, you’d probably let him loose on the highway.”

  “I would not!”

  “Well, you’d want to.” She took a sip from an enormous covered cup. “Teddy needs his crate. He’s driving her crazy wandering all over the house.”

  “So you need me to get him a crate?”

  “Not a crate. His crate. Danny’s got it in the back of his truck. Would you mind running it over to Margot’s this afternoon? I talked to her this morning and she said she’d be home by now. She
had her test today.”

  “Sure,” he said. She’d even given him an excuse to see her. “I actually wanted to talk to you about Margot.”

  Kate’s blue eyes sparkled. “You did?”

  Phil took a seat in the chair Danny had vacated. “Do you know if she’s seeing anyone?”

  Kate’s lips twitched. “Not that I know of. Why?”

  “Well, the other night when I dropped Teddy off, there was someone at her house. I got the impression it was a man.”

  “Oh. I honestly don’t know who it could have been.” Kate looked down at her belly and let out a big sigh. “To be honest with you, Phil, I think Margot is interested in seeing you.”

  “She totally blew me off the other night.”

  “I think she assumed you regretted what happened over the weekend. Sorry,” she said with a definite blush in her cheeks. “She told me what happened.”

  Danny walked back in wearing a scowl. “Fitzgerald is pissing me off,” he said to Phil.

  “What is it?” Phil asked, trying to switch gears from Margot to work.

  “He ordered the wrong windows for the model and the ones we need for the foyer are on back order.”

  Phil slapped Danny on the shoulder. “Why don’t you run over there and take care of this in person? I’m up to my ears with the Wyndham project, or I’d do it myself.”

  Danny glanced over at Kate as if asking for permission. Phil felt embarrassed for Danny.

  “Go,” Kate said with her finger pointed at the door. “Check it out, make sure things are running smoothly, and if they aren’t, then deal with it. I don’t care how long it takes, I’m not going anywhere.”

  Danny walked to her side and leaned over her with his hands on each side of her head. “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “Danny, please. I’m fine.”

  “But what if you have to use the bathroom?”

  “There are nurses here to help with that.”

  “Baby…”

  “Danny, go. I insist. I’ve got the books Margot brought over and I’m feeling a little tired. I’m going to take a nap anyway. I won’t even know you’re gone.”

  He sighed, resigned, and gave her a lingering kiss before straightening up.

  Okay, Phil thought, it must be nice to have someone care that much.

  “I’ll be back soon,” Danny told her.

  “Take your time,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I’ll drop the crate off on the way.”

  “No,” Kate nearly shouted. “Phil’s going to take it.”

  Danny’s head whipped around and narrowed his eyes at Phil. “Why?”

  Phil shrugged. “I’m heading over that way.” When Danny just stared, Phil said, “Solitude is in the opposite direction and I’ll practically go right by Margot’s house on the way to Wyndham. I don’t mind.”

  Danny made a face at Phil and then at Kate. “Okay,” he said. “Is it going to fit in your car?”

  A dog crate? In his Mercedes? Yikes. “I’m sure we can wedge it in the trunk.”

  “I can break it down,” Danny said. “It’ll fit.” He gave Kate one last kiss and rubbed her belly before heading to the door. “Ready?” he asked Phil.

  Phil pecked Kate on the cheek. “You let me know if you need anything.”

  “I will,” Kate said, her eyes huge. “And thank you.”

  “Anything for you.”

  “Get your lips off my woman and let’s go,” Danny said from the doorway.

  “I can’t help it if your wife finds me irresistible,” Phil joked and tugged his tie into place. “All women do.”

  They walked to the elevator, past the nurses’ station where three of them huddled in puce scrubs.

  “So, daddy, I hear you’re having a girl.”

  “Can you believe it?” Danny said as the elevator dinged. “What the hell am I going to do with a girl?”

  Phil slapped his shoulder and squeezed as the doors opened in front of them. “Love her, man. Love her.”

  Danny looked at Phil and nodded. “I already do.”

  ***

  Kate reached for the phone as it rang by her bedside and tossed the magazine she was reading aside. “Hello?”

  “What are you up to?” Danny asked.

  She tried to sound her most innocent. “What are you talking about?”

  “Baby, I know you too well. You’re butting your nose in with Phil and Margot. Don’t even try to deny it.”

  The man was impossibly bright. “Fine. I may have asked him to take the crate to Margot’s house. So what?”

  “So what? Did you forget you promised me you wouldn’t get in the middle of whatever’s going on between them?”

  “I didn’t forget and I didn’t break my promise. I simply asked him to do me a favor. Come on, Danny. You know you’d rather check on Solitude than deliver the crate.”

  “Of course I would, but I’d also like to check on our dog.”

  “Oh,” she said. Sometimes she forgot that Danny loved Teddy as much as she did. “Sorry. I should have thought of that.”

  “You were too busy playing matchmaker to think about anything.”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t help it. They’re perfect for each another.”

  “Kate…” She recognized the warning tone of his voice. Danny hated to get involved with other people’s personal business.

  “Well, they are and you know it, too.”

  “I don’t know anything except what people tell me, which is too much. I don’t want to know they hooked up over the weekend. I don’t care.”

  “She’s in love with him, Danny. Don’t you want them to be happy?”

  He sighed. “Of course I do. I just don’t want to be responsible for them. I’m not responsible for them and neither are you.”

  “I encouraged her to go away with him, so in a way I am a little bit responsible for how miserable she is right now.”

  “Which is exactly why you should stay out of it. Leave them alone to figure things out.”

  “I just thought if I could get them in the same room, they might be able to work things out.”

  “Whatever happened between Phil and Margot is their business. Not yours.”

  “I like Margot,” Kate said. “She’s funny and real and such a nice person.” She straightened her arm as the blood pressure cuff began to tighten. “You’re the one who encouraged me to find women friends. Well, I’ve found one now and this is what friends do for one another.”

  “Kate, I don’t want you to get worked up about anything, especially our friends love lives. Think about Faith.”

  Kate reached for her belly as Danny spoke their daughter’s name. “I do, Danny. I’m so glad we found out. I feel closer to her already.”

  “Me too. She’s going to a beauty like her mama.”

  “She’s going to be strong like her daddy.”

  “I love you, Kate.”

  “Oh, Danny. I love you, too.”

  “So you’ll butt out?” he asked.

  She chewed on her lip. She didn’t want to lie to her husband. “I’ll think about it,” she said.

  Chapter 25

  Margot couldn’t go home. She could barely drive through the angry haze that wanted desperately to wrap around her heart and squeeze the tears from her eyes. She wouldn’t let him bring her to tears. Not now, not on the day she’d reached a major goal in her life despite anything he’d ever done for her.

  Without making a conscious decision about where she was heading, she found herself at the hospital walking along the familiar hallways to Kate’s room. She felt comforted by the bright lights and sterile smells that were so much a part of her childhood. Her friend would ease the sting. Her friend would help her calm down and put the episode behind her. But she wasn’t ready to tell Kate about her past.

  “Hey,” she said when Kate ushered her in with a beaming smile.

  “How was the test?” Kate asked.

  Margot blew out a breath, s
o relieved to feel her world tilt toward normal. “Good. It wasn’t bad. I don’t want to jinx it, but I’d be surprised if I didn’t pass.”

  “Yeah!” Kate clapped her hands. “I knew you could do it. When do you find out for sure?”’

  “It typically takes forty-eight hours for the results to post, but I’ve heard some people call to verify their license after twenty-four. I’m sure I’ll start obsessively calling tomorrow.”

  Kate cocked her head and stared at Margot. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Is something bothering you?”

  So much for normal. She thought she could hide her encounter with her father. She thought just being around her friend would help her put the incident behind her. She must have thought wrong. “I…I ran into someone. He upset me, that’s all.”

  “An old boyfriend?”

  Margot chuckled. “Not mine, no. He’s a jerk, and he said some things…” She shook her head and took a seat in the chair by the bed. She didn’t want to give her father the satisfaction of ruining what should be one of the best days of her life. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Okay, but if you change your mind, I’m not going anywhere for awhile.”

  “Blood pressure still up?”

  “Just a little too high. I’m trying not to get impatient. I want her to grow and get bigger and stronger.”

  “Are you glad you found out she’s a girl?” Margot asked.

  “Oh, so glad. Now I just can’t wait to see her, to see what she looks like. Will she have dark hair like mine, light like Danny, or something in between? Will she be round and chubby or long and thin? Hair or no hair? Content or fussy? There are so many unknowns.”

  “And you thought you’d ruin the surprise.”

  “Silly, huh?”

  “Have you named her yet?” Margot asked.

  Kate rubbed the side of her belly. “Faith Marie. I was a little worried about the double F’s, but Faith was the one name we agreed on.”

  “Faith Flannery,” Margot said with wonder. “I love it.” She spotted the laptop on the table in front of Kate. “What are you doing?”

  “There’s so much I haven’t done. I wasn’t expecting to spend the last few weeks in the hospital.”

  “I’ve seen her room. You’ve got it set up and ready to roll.”