Best Laid Plans

“Corbin isn’t next on the list.”

Her words gave Nolan pause. “He’s not?”

“No. I decided to skip over Corbin, Emerson, Chance and Adam for the time being. Victoria is next.”

“Victoria?” he said in disbelief. She had to be kidding. Victoria, his twenty-six-year-old sister, was no more ready to be any man’s wife than he was ready to be any woman’s husband.

“Yes, Victoria.”

Nolan couldn’t believe this. He refused to believe this. He had to talk to someone. Hell, he needed to alert the entire family. Definitely warn Victoria. No one would agree to this. Victoria, who’d been named after their deceased paternal great-grandaunt, was the first female Madaris born in their generation. No one would agree to her being pushed into marriage. They would finally see that Mama Laverne had gone too far in her matchmaking schemes.

“Victoria won’t be getting married,” he said. As her oldest brother, he was protective of his sister. As were all his cousins and brothers. That protection went doubly so for his baby sister, Lindsay, who was attending college in Florida.

“Don’t worry about Victoria, Nolan. The guy I have in mind will do right by her. Just like I believe in my heart that you will do right by Ivy.”

Nolan had heard enough. Coming here had been a total waste of his time. He walked back over to his great-grandmother. He loved her to pieces but at that moment he was more frustrated and annoyed with her than ever for sticking her nose into his business. For trying to manipulate his life. “Mama Laverne, I’m only saying this once more,” he said with as much respect as he could muster. “Ivy Chapman is not my type, and she made it pretty clear today that I’m not hers. There isn’t—and never will there be—anything between us. Please stop concerning yourself with my love life or my lack of one.”

With nothing else to say, Nolan turned and left. He ran into his granduncle Jake on his way out. “How did it go?”

Nolan shook his head. “She thinks she has her plans all laid out with no room for error. She even had the nerve to tell me in so many words that I was wasting her time because she needed to move on to Victoria.”

A surprised look touched his granduncle’s face. “Victoria? What happened to Corbin, Adam, Emerson and Chance? They’re older than Victoria.”

“She’s skipping them to marry Victoria off. It’s time for the family to step in and do something, Granduncle Jake.”

“Something like what?”

Nolan shrugged massive shoulders. “I don’t rightly know. I need to get away for a while and think about it. Friday morning I’m leaving for my place on Tiki Island and plan to be there a week. When I return I’m calling a family meeting.”

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_6a943bdf-1f31-55b7-ae84-d453bb31cef5)

IVY MENTALLY AWAKENED from the ringing of her phone. Without opening her eyes, she reached for her cell phone on her nightstand. There was no doubt in her mind it was past the time she usually got out of bed, but when you were your own boss and worked from home, you had the luxury of sleeping late. Especially after putting in additional hours to finish a project from hell earlier than expected. And she planned to sleep the rest of the day since she didn’t get into bed until daybreak.

“Hello,” she said in a groggy voice.

“Congratulations!” a bubbly feminine voice said. “You’ve won a week for two on Tiki Island.”

Ivy slowly opened one eye. They had to be kidding. She never won anything. Pulling herself up in bed, she pushed back the hair from her face. “I won?” she asked, hoping she was speaking with a live person and not a recording.

“Yes. You’ve won a week for two in a beautiful beach cottage.”

“For two?”

“Yes, so you can include your husband, boyfriend or significant other,” the bubbly woman said.

Ivy frowned. She had none of those, but she did have a best friend. It would be a great girls’ trip if Tessa was available to go with her. More questions began flooding her mind, like how had she been selected? She didn’t recall entering any type of contest. “How did I win?”

“Your name was selected from a list of customers who frequent Altamonte Dry Cleaners.”

Ivy nodded, thinking that explained things. Since she hated ironing, she would drop her things by the cleaners every Thursday. “Is there a time frame that I have to take the week?”

“You can take it as soon as you like, but it must be taken within the next thirty days.”

Thirty days? That wasn’t much time, Ivy thought, rubbing a hand down her face. She would love to get away now before beginning her next project for Wonderbelly, a cyberware company in Boston. It would be nice to go somewhere and relax for seven days. If Tessa wasn’t available on such short notice, then she could take her grandmother with her. But then she doubted she would get much rest if she did. Even after their little talk a few days ago, Nana was still tossing Nolan Madaris’s name out whenever she got the chance. Take yesterday for instance. Nana had asked if she’d heard from him. Why would she hear from Nolan Madaris? Obviously, her grandmother refused to accept that the plan she and Ms. Laverne had concocted had backfired.

She truly hoped Tessa could go with her, but she would go alone if she had to. “Can I claim my prize and go to Tiki Island starting this week?”

“Yes. We can deliver the winning voucher to you or you can pick it up at our office.”

“Where is your office?”

The woman quoted an address that was less than ten miles from where Ivy lived. “I’ll stop by.”

“All right. Everything you need to know will be in the paperwork you’ll receive with the winning voucher. Again, congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

Ivy couldn’t help smiling when she hung up the phone. Seven days on Tiki Island was a dream come true. She’d heard rental property there was pretty expensive and couldn’t wait to tell Tessa. She hoped her best friend would be able to join her.

She had reclaimed her comfortable position in bed when the phone rang again. Thinking it was the bubbly woman calling her back for some reason, she shifted in bed, grabbed her phone and said, “Is there something you forgot to tell me?”

There was a pause as if the person was surprised by her question. And then a masculine voice she remembered all too well said, “Yes. I’m sorry for how I treated you when we were together.”

Ivy drew in a sharp breath not believing Damien Fargo had the audacity to call after all this time. “Too late for an apology now, Damien,” she said and hung up.

* * *

“HELLO, NOLAN. I saw I missed a call from you.”

“You missed several, Victoria,” he said, frowning. “Where are you?”

“New Orleans. I flew here for a job interview and I’ve been busy preparing. What’s up?”

Nolan’s frown deepened. “New Orleans? You’re thinking about moving to New Orleans?”

“If I get the job.”

“Why? There’re plenty of job opportunities here in Houston.”

“Yes, but in New Orleans I won’t have to worry about being treated differently because my last name is Madaris.”

Nolan didn’t say anything, not sure he liked the idea of his sister taking a job in another town. Another state.

“And before you say anything, Nolan Madaris, remember you moved to Chicago after college.”

“That’s different.”

His sister chuckled. “Always is when it comes to the guys in the family. I always get treated differently because I’m a female.”