another week to do so. She wanted to know if he could still affect her as he had that January day in the elevator. The evidence—her never-ending thoughts of him, her incredible excitement that he had finally called, and her giddiness at the prospect of seeing him again—already pointed to the fact that he could, he would, and he did.
As if that weren’t enough to stress over, Cinda feared that she wasn’t yet ready to act on that speeding bullet of awareness between them. It could turn out that she just thought she was ready and that she’d back off when—if—things heated up between her and Trey. And if she let it get that far and then backed off? Well, it wouldn’t be fair to him. Or to herself. So here she was, not completely in touch with her emotions beyond the recognition of a confused mishmash of desire and restraint.
And none of that altered the fact that Trey was due at any moment. Cinda had already changed outfits—hers and the baby’s—no less than four times. Right now she had on a new flower-sprigged sundress, but she had yet to call it her final decision. Nor was she satisfied with Chelsi’s outfit. But her daughter wore a mutinous expression that promised a tantrum of diva proportions should her mother try yet again to poke her chubby arms and legs through one more article of complicated baby clothing.
Respecting Chelsi’s stubbornly poked-out bottom lip, Cinda dropped the dress issue and set about making everyone else in the house miserable. With Chelsi in her arms, and with Major Clovis on their heels, Cinda now flitted through every room of the two-story Southern Colonial mansion, conducting an inspection tour. She told herself she simply needed to make certain everything was cleaned and straightened. She wanted to make a good impression. Was that so awful? She stopped in the richly decorated, sunny formal living room and looked around appraisingly.
“Begging your pardon, ma’am,” Major Clovis said, “but we didn’t go to this much trouble for the IG’s visit back during my days in the military.”
“The IG?” Cinda asked distractedly, balancing Chelsi carefully while fluffing a throw pillow on the sofa. “What’s an IG?”
“Inspector General, ma’am.” Major Clovis put the pillow back where it had been. “A high mucketymuck with the power to make your life a living meat grinder if he found so much as one speck of dirt on the ground outside.”
Pinched by the comparison, Cinda began to feel a bit surly. “I hardly think I’m going that far. And I wouldn’t define Mr. Cooper as a mucketymuck. I just want everything to be nice for his visit.”
“I understand. I believe the barracks will pass muster, ma’am. I hired three extra maids for this major field day.”
Long ago Cinda had given up trying to get Major Clovis to call her anything except ma’am or to forego the use of military jargon. Still, as she inspected the hang of the curtains Cinda remained distracted. “What’s a major field day, again? Some sort of military maneuvers?”
“In a way of speaking.” Major Clovis reached around Cinda to shake out the folds she’d just shaken in. “It’s when everyone falls out under orders to clean an entire installation from top to bottom.”
“I see.” Cinda flitted to an end table and ran her fingers over a lampshade. She checked it for dust. There wasn’t any. “Sounds like a worthwhile thing.”
“It’s meant as a punishment, ma’am.”
Cinda faced her adjutant, who stood at ease with her hands behind her back. “Well, that’s not what we’re doing here, Major Clovis. Certainly no one is being punished.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As much put out with herself for caring so much how everything looked as she was with Major Clovis’s hovering, Cinda clung stubbornly to her defensive mood. She stood back from the gilt-framed beveled-glass mirror that hung over the fireplace and gave it the once-over. “Will you look at that? Why haven’t I ever noticed before that it’s hanging crookedly?”
Mindful of her daughter on her hip, she reached up on tiptoes to straighten the mirror’s edge.
“Here. Allow me, ma’am.” Major Clovis leaped to help, essentially swinging the mirror’s position back to where it had been a moment ago. She then stood back with Cinda to inspect their counterproductive handiwork. “There. Good as new.”
Assessing the frame, tilting her head this way and that, Cinda frowned, “I suppose.” She then focused on Major Clovis. “Mr. Cooper will be staying for lunch. Has Marta prepared the menu I requested?”
Major Clovis executed a sharp nod of military precision. “Yes, ma’am. I told her she’d be court-martialed if she failed to please.”
Already hating herself for asking, Cinda eyed her aide. “How exactly did you say that to her since you don’t speak Spanish?”
The beginnings of a smug little grin became a self-satisfied pursing of the major’s lips. “I know a few words, ma’am. But I believe my exact word this time was muerte.”
Cinda could only stare without blinking. “Dead? You told her she’d be killed, didn’t you?”
“At sunrise.” The major’s light gray eyes swam with feigned innocence. “Was that too much, ma’am?”
“If it explains the shrieking commotion I heard last night, yes it was.”
“I wasn’t aware of any such—”
The front doorbell rang, playing a melodious tune. A least, it was supposed to play a melodious tune. Cinda directed an exasperated how-could-you look the major’s way. Obviously the woman had reprogrammed the door chimes. To wit, a very patriotic and rousing rendition of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” rang out through the house.
Over the booming tune, which had baby Chelsi blinking rapidly and screwing up her face as if she weren’t sure if she was supposed to cry, Major Clovis said, “If you’ll excuse me, ma’am. Your guest appears to have arrived.”
My guest. The full implication of those words ran through Cinda, weakening her knees. Forgetting all else, she shot a hand out to stop her assistant from leaving. “Wait. Bring him to me in the family room. And not in chains or with his head on a platter, do you understand?”
“Whatever you say, ma’am.” The wiry woman, dressed in olive-drab belted slacks, a light green button-down blouse and sensible shoes, then performed a sharp about-face and, marching in time to the music, headed for the front door.
In a complete fluster, Cinda walked rapidly toward the back of the house to the family room. She pinched her cheeks to bring more color to them and smoothed a hand through her hair. She pulled a thick lock of it into her view, studied it, and wanted to groan. Just as she’d feared. It looked dull, like dirty dishwater. What had happened to the blondeness? To the highlights? She hated her hair. It just hung there straight. It had no body. Could it be more stringy and lifeless?
Great. Well, if she couldn’t be gorgeous, she could at least be gracious.
Once in the family room, Cinda sat on the sofa and perched her daughter next to her so she could give her a final going-over. Chelsi’s dark-blond hair stood up at right angles from her head. The child looked like a little blue-eyed baby monkey. When had that happened? Horrified, Cinda quickly moistened her fingers by dabbing them against her tongue. Then, utilizing a time-honored mothering technique, she applied her wet fingertips to Chelsi’s hair and tried to
