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phone pinged again.
    3 mins til meeting.
    Gage. Like his staff meeting of five
had
to start at nine o’clock sharp. When Susanna made it to the second-floor landing, he was waiting for her.
    “Well?” He folded his arms and searched her face.
    “Well what?” She pushed past her boss—and friend—lowering her satchel to her desk.
    “How’d it go?” Gage fell against the ornately carved doorframe, motioning toward her left hand. “How come I’m not blinded by bling?”
    “I thought we had a meeting.” Susanna reached for her University of Georgia mug sitting on the credenza. Time and use had faded the logo and the UGA looked more like IGI. And the bulldog mascot no longer had a nose.
    “Yeah, we have a meeting but I wanted to see the bling. Adam came home, right? You left early Friday to meet him.”
    “I need coffee.” Susanna slipped past Gage and down the stairs. She’d held herself together while talking to Aurora, but Gage’s inquiry encroached on her emotional fortress. He’d been her friend, and Adam’s, since the romance began and had been on the sidelines, watching, occasionally coaching, for twelve years.
    “Suz, what happened?” Gage’s steps thundered down the stairs after her.
    “Nothing happened.” Susanna ran into Myrna, the office manager, when she reached the bottom.
    “Gage, leave the girl alone.” Myrna smacked her gum and glanced at her clipboard schedule. “Susanna, your ten o’clock appointment cancelled.”
    “Glenn Cowger? No.” Was it too late to join Aurora in the woods? “Did he say why?”
    “Not a peep, darling. And I tried to get something out of him.” She peered at Susanna. “You don’t look half bad for a woman who got dumped.”
    Susanna made a face. “Yay me. So, did you ask Cowger to reschedule?”
    “Shug, look who you’re talking to. Me. Myrna.” The woman with the henna-rinsed hair and the countenance of a marine on duty curled her lip. “Of course I asked him. Gave him ten ways to Sunday to reschedule, but he’d have none of it. Said he’d think on it, would call you later.”
    “Great.” Susanna glanced at her boss. “Scratch Cowger Homes off our morning meeting.”
    “Let’s not give up so easily,” Gage said. “Get a plan together,Suz. Myrna, pull files on the other architects in the region. Let’s see if we can figure out who else Cowger is considering. Also, pull the city building permits. Wonder if he’s run into a snag. Tell Clark and Alexis we’re postponing the meeting for ten minutes.”
    Myrna went into action. “On it, boss. And, Suz, don’t worry about Adam, he’ll come around.”
    “Ugh, I’m so glad my personal life is out there for all to comment on.” Susanna started for the kitchen. She really needed coffee. Gage trailed after her.
    “Do you have any idea who Cowger—”
    “Come on, Gage, he’s clearly made another choice.”
    “We don’t know what he’s doing. There’s a good chance he didn’t get his building permit. So let’s keep after him. Win him over.” Gage cornered her in the kitchen. “I need your A game, Suz.”
    “How about my D-minus game?”
    “No, I want the hotshot Atlanta landscape architect who won major jobs for Remington & Co.”
    “I had the Remington & Co. reputation behind me when I won those jobs.” She let her expression and tone seal her implication. Gage Stone Associates was still building their company and reputation.
    “Okay, fine. We’ve got a ways to go, but you had Cowger.”
    “And now I don’t. Want my opinion? Your rates are too high, Gage.” Susanna yanked the coffee carafe from the machine. Bone dry. She leaned toward the doorway and hollered into the hall. “All right, y’all. Who drank all the coffee and didn’t make any more, huh? It’s only nine o’clock.”
    “What do you mean my rates are too high?” he asked.
    “It’s not rocket science, Gage. You charge too much.” Susanna opened the cabinet for the coffee. She popped the lid of the