“Are you sure?” She nodded, and he hailed one for her and helped her into it, in the long gown and high heels. “I had a great evening talking to you,” he said. “Now go. I hope everything will be okay.” But it was a very old building, with lots of wood and full of flammable garments. He was worried for her and the store as the cab pulled away, and he walked back inside, thinking about her. She was nothing like he’d expected. He had imagined a dragon from her stern refusals, and she had turned out to be a lamb, in wolf’s clothing perhaps, but she was clearly a good person, dedicated to her children, her business, and her grandfather’s legacy. He understood much better now why she was afraid of investors who might try to take the store from her. She was the keeper of the flame, the guardian of the holy grail her grandfather had left her. They hadn’t talked business all night, but he understood her now, and he liked her immensely. He admired her, which made him even more interested in her store. She was an intriguing woman, of many facets, and great competence he could guess.
The party lasted for another hour, with speeches and thanks and an explanation of the plans for the new program, and then they all got up and the party ended. Mike noticed that Bill left with the blonde, and he had a feeling that Spencer wouldn’t have cared, or at least he hoped not. He had already made a quick assessment that Bill wasn’t worthy of her. She was an amazing woman, and he didn’t deserve her. He seemed like an ordinary guy with nothing special about him.
Maureen made a dry comment in the car on the way home. “You seemed to be having a good time with the girl in the gold dress.”
“It was business. We’ve been researching investing in her company.” He didn’t explain that she owned Brooke’s. He didn’t feel he needed to. Maureen was never interested in his business. “She doesn’t want us to invest, she’s afraid she’ll lose control.”
“Smart girl,” Maureen said, and lost interest in the subject, as he wondered how bad the fire was, and hoped it was only a minor scare. They went to their respective rooms when they got home, having said good night in the hall.
“Thanks for going with me,” Mike said, and she just looked at him and nodded and closed the door a minute later to what was now her bedroom, and no longer theirs.
Chapter 6
Spencer gave the cab driver an extra twenty dollars for getting her home as fast as he could. She paid him and raced inside to change out of her evening clothes. Francine and the boys were asleep as she pulled on jeans, a warm sweater, and running shoes, and raced out again, hailed another cab, and was at the store minutes later. There was gray smoke coming from the roof, which Beau explained meant the fire was in the process of being put out. The fire had been on the top floor that held the restaurant, some of the offices, and the lower-priced department. But there were also locked storerooms where the staff kept some high-priced goods. As well as fire damage, Spencer was worried about water and smoke damage, which could be just as bad.
Marcy and Beau had come, and they stood on the sidewalk with Spencer, talking to the fire chief. He said that the fire had started in the kitchen, possibly an electrical fire, or someone had left something on when they closed the store for the night, and it had burned slowly for hours and then burst into flames. The firefighters weren’t sure of the cause yet. The store had lost merchandise. The question was how much. It was too soon to know. The three of them, Spencer and Marcy and Beau, huddled together, waiting for news, and wanted to go inside to assess the damage, but the firefighters said it was still too dangerous to go in, and the fire could become more active again. The risk was not entirely over.
The homeless people who clustered around the store at night had been scattered by the police and had taken refuge elsewhere. It was a grim scene as the charred furniture from the restaurant was thrown onto the street, and the firefighters were still inside hosing things down and causing more damage, although for a good cause. They had to be sure the fire was out and wouldn’t reignite. Spencer looked grim as a cab stopped near where they were standing, and a tall man in jeans and a baseball jacket with disheveled black hair got out. Spencer saw immediately that it was Mike Weston. He headed toward her with a serious expression. The other two didn’t know who he was, but he was a striking-looking man, and it was obvious that Spencer knew him. Beau raised an eyebrow questioningly at Marcy, and she gave a small shrug. She didn’t recognize him either.
“How’s it going?” the man asked Spencer in a warm tone of concern, as though he knew her well. He felt as though he did now, and this was an intensely personal moment of fear and worry for her.
“The fire is almost out. We’re waiting to assess the damage, but they won’t let us go in yet. It started in the kitchen of the restaurant. It was burning for hours before it burst through the roof. Thank God it did, instead of going down to the lower floors. But the smoke and water damage may be bad. We don’t know yet. And what are you doing here, by the way?” She smiled gratefully at him.
“I wanted to be sure you were okay, and I don’t have your number.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, and introduced him to her associates, who looked shocked once they knew who he was. They would have questioned her about it, but they couldn’t with him standing there. “Mike invited me to the Met party tonight. I didn’t know before I got there,” she explained to them.
“Or she wouldn’t have come,” he added, and Beau and Marcy laughed, since they knew the situation and that Spencer had been refusing to meet him. “Hopefully, the damage won’t be too bad,” he said, and they all nodded. It was two in the morning by then, and he stayed with them until three, when they finally left. They couldn’t go in until morning. It was still too hot and dangerous. Mike had stayed with them, and took Spencer home in a cab.
“Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee?” she asked him when they got there. She looked exhausted, and they both had soot on their faces from ash floating in the air.
“You need to lie down and get some rest,” he said gently.
“Thank you for coming. I was terrified till I got there. They already had it under control. But the damage could be pretty bad. I don’t know how much merchandise we lost. We had a leak in the warehouse last week, now this.” She looked beaten for a moment, and he gave her a hug.
“Sleep. It’ll look better in the morning. And your insurance will take care of it,” he reminded her, and she nodded. Marcy had already called and left a message. “I’ll call you,” he said, and then remembered that he didn’t have her number. She gave it to him willingly, and he gave her his. He had been so kind and compassionate all night. It was amazing how life worked out at times. Only a day ago she had considered him a potential enemy, and overnight he had become a friend. His showing up at the fire had demonstrated that he was a decent human being and a good person. As he left in a cab to go home, she realized that she hadn’t heard from Bill all night. He hadn’t called to check on her after the party, to see how things had worked out. And Mike had come there to see what he could do to help. Bill hadn’t given any sign of life. It was a big statement about how little he cared about her, and it wasn’t lost on her.
She went back to the store that morning after she’d slept for a few hours. There was burnt wood and charred furniture piled up in the street. Marcy had called a cleaning crew to take the debris away. They were already working. There were two firefighters on the scene who escorted Spencer and Marcy into the building to survey the damage. The top floor was frightening. The other floors had been untouched by the fire. But there was noticeable smoke damage, and some water had gotten to the lower floors. The store would probably have to be closed while they made repairs. The insurance adjuster was coming on Monday morning to assess the damage.
Beau Vincent and Paul Trask came that afternoon, but there wasn’t much they could do on their own. They all went to a nearby coffee shop after they had toured the store and surveyed the damage. It could have been much worse, and Spencer was grateful it wasn’t. They had just ordered coffee when Beau looked at Spencer with a quizzical eye.
“Excuse me, Ms. Brooke, would you like to explain how Mike Weston happened to show up here last night, acting like your best friend?” She looked embarrassed for a minute and smiled at them. Paul looked like he was about to keel over when he heard it.