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don’t. Get back here. Since when are you anxious to get to work?”
    â€œSince five seconds ago,” she said with an unrepentant grin. “Go easy on her. She’s had a rough morning.”
    Bobby sighed. “I’m not in the habit of terrorizing people.”
    â€œYou know that and I know that,” Maggie agreed. “She doesn’t seem to be so sure. Why is that?”
    Bobby had no intention of going down that particular road, not with a female who’d long since declared her intention to find him a woman. Between Maggie and his father, his personal life was doomed. He sure as heck didn’t want either of them getting the idea of dragging Jenna Pennington Kennedy into it.
    â€œNever mind,” he said. “Go to work.”
    â€œI made coffee,” she said, looking pleased with herself. “Just in case you didn’t have time, what with your early meeting and all. It’s instant, but it’s better than nothing.”
    Bobby shuddered. “No, it’s not. From now on, leave the coffee brewing to me. Yours tastes like axle grease.”
    He walked through the yacht center to the restaurant kitchen, prepared a decent pot of coffee, poured two cups, then took them back to his office and sat behind his desk. Jenna still hadn’t emerged from his bathroom. He alternately checked his watch and gazed warily at thedoor as if a restless tiger might be lurking behind it. Finally the knob turned and his pulse kicked up a notch. He deliberately attributed it to annoyance at her tardiness, because anything else was unacceptable.
    â€œYou’re late,” he said, just to emphasize his displeasure.
    Those bright patches of color in her cheeks deepened. “No,” she said, just as emphatically. “I was right on time. Imagine my surprise when I was told that you never come in before eleven. If I’d known that, I could have found a better way to get here than running all the way.”
    He stared. “You ran? Why?”
    â€œMy car ran out of gas. Because you made such a big deal about me being on time, I got out, took off my shoes, hiked up my skirt and ran, which is why you found me in your bathroom looking like a complete wreck, and that was after Maggie and I had repaired most of the damage.”
    â€œI see.” A dozen questions came to mind, along with quite a few disconcerting images. He would have paid money to see her crosstown race to get here. In fact, he was surprised he hadn’t heard about it from someone by now. Then again, maybe that explained a couple of the fender benders he’d spotted along a normally quiet road.
    She eyed him warily. “That’s all you have to say? I see? ”
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said. “You could have called and explained.”
    She shook her head. “My cell phone was dead.” As if she realized she was making a less than stellar impression, she drew in a deep breath and said, “Maybe we should justforget all this and get straight to my ideas for your boardwalk development. This is just preliminary, of course, to make sure we’re on the same wavelength. It can be adjusted and it will have to be fleshed out with architectural renderings.”
    Bobby sighed. This was what they were here for, though he was no more enthusiastic now than he’d been the day before. “Sure. Why not?” Listening didn’t mean he had to agree to anything.
    But as Jenna talked about a park setting, about family-style attractions, about picnics and concerts and sidewalk cafés that would become gathering places for a community, he began to see a revitalized area along the riverfront that would be absolutely perfect for Trinity Harbor. Not overwhelming, not unmanageable, but ideally suited for the small town atmosphere he wanted to preserve, even while contributing to the area’s economic growth.
    â€œI assume the centerpiece would be an antique carousel,” he