Read The MacGregor Grooms for Free Online Page B

couldn’t believe it.”
    “Oh.” Flustered, Layna ran a hand over her hair, scanned her office to be certain everything was in place. “Show her right in.”
    Layna rose quickly, smoothed her skirt, hitched at the line of her jacket, then rubbed her lips together to see if she’d chewed off her lipstick again. The answer was yes, but she didn’t have time to dive for her bag and repair the damage. She moved forward with a smile as Shelby came in.
    “Mrs. MacGregor. What a pleasure.”
    “I know I’m interrupting your work, but I was shopping and thought I’d just drop in for a moment.”
    “I’m delighted you did. Please sit down. Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea?”
    “No, no, don’t fuss.” Shelby smiled easily as she surveyed the woman and her office. Tasteful, she decided, choosing a high-backed chair with a petit point seat. Cool but not cold, controlled but not rigid. “I won’t keep you long. I was just browsing through casual wear. You have a lovely selection.”
    “Thank you. Of course, I’m already focused on next fall.” Though puzzled, Layna smiled as she sat. “Plaid’s the big news.”
    “That will delight my father-in-law. You haven’t met Daniel, have you?”
    “Yes, actually. My godmother wanted to visit and didn’t feel up to making the trip to Hyannisalone. I went up with her for a couple days last fall. It’s an amazing house, and your in-laws are delightful people.”
    “Yes, indeed.” And the plot thickens, Shelby thought. “Of all the grandchildren, D.C. most resembles Daniel.”
    And she saw it, that flicker in the eye, the faint rise in color. Oh my, Shelby thought. She’s hooked.
    “Yes, I suppose so. They’re both a bit larger than life, aren’t they?”
    “The MacGregors are all a bit larger than life. They’re demanding, charming, frustrating, generous. Being married to one, I can say that boredom ceases to be part of my vocabulary. And very often chaos becomes the key word.”
    “You must handle chaos very well.”
    “Oh, Layna, I adore chaos.” With a laugh, Shelby rose. “I’d love to have lunch sometime.”
    “I’d like that, very much.”
    “Then I’ll check my calendar and we’ll set it up.” Shelby took her hand, held it a moment. “When the man is larger than life,” she began, “the woman has to be smart and clever. You strike me as a smart and clever woman, Layna.”
    “Ah … thank you.”
    “I’ll call you,” Shelby said as she breezed out. But first, she decided, she was going to call Daniel. After she’d blistered his ears for meddling in her son’s life, she’d tell him she very much approved of his choice.
    That, she mused, would throw the old devil off balance a little—long enough, she hoped, for D.C. and Layna to figure out they were falling in love.
    *   *   *
    Crowded, noisy clubs were stimulating. That was why D.C. enjoyed dropping into one occasionally. He could listen to the music, the chatter, watch the movement. Most of all, he could see the shapes of thoughts and emotions. When he sketched in a place like Blues Corner, he didn’t sketch faces or bodies, but feelings.
    Layna watched him, studied the slashes and splots and squiggles he drew on his pad. She didn’t understand them, but they were fascinating just the same. Just like the man who created them.
    He had kicked back and was lounging at their tiny table, shoulders braced against the wall behind them. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt, and had yanked his hair back with some thin string of leather. The lights were a dim, hazy blue; the tables around them jammed with bodies. On the stingy slice of stage a man with hair down to his shoulders plunked deep notes from a bass guitar, while another wearing tiny sunglasses blew aching tenor notes from a sax. A painfully thin young man caressed the keys of a scarred piano.
    Seated on a stool was an old black woman with a face as wrinkled as a raisin. She sang in a voice like whiskey and cream about the