Passion and Peril: Scenes of Passion / Scenes of Peril

He shrugged. “I didn’t overhear that part,” he mouthed to her. “Yo, Van,” he said out loud. “You planning to change your clothes between every bite of your roast beef?”

“I’m staying for a while.” Van’s voice sounded brittle.

“Oh, wow.” Stevie looked at Maggie again. They both loved their sister, but it was much easier to love her when she lived under a different roof. “What, is Mitch away on business or something?”

“Or something.”

Uh-oh.

The phone rang.

“I’ll get it!” Maggie and Stevie said in unison.

But their mother picked it up in the kitchen. “It’s for you, hon,” she called to their father.

“I’ll take it in the den.” He disappeared down the hall.

“Help me get this stuff upstairs,” Vanessa commanded.

“Yes, sir!” Stevie fired off a salute as Vanessa and Brock led the way. “She’s staying for a while,” he muttered out of the side of his mouth to Maggie.

“Matt’s going to be here any minute,” Maggie muttered back.

“Matt?” Stevie was delighted. “The friend you’re having dinner with is a Matt. Oh, boy.”

“Dinner’s almost ready,” their mother called from the kitchen.

“I’m going out. I’ve got a business dinner,” Maggie called back, loudly enough for Brock to hear. Except he was leaning close to Vanessa, listening intently to whatever she was saying.

“I can’t hear you with the water running!” her mother called back.

“What are you going to do?” Stevie whispered to Maggie. “I know—you could invite him to stay for dinner, too.”

“Bite your tongue!”

Stevie was laughing. “It’s the only solution. You know, this evening is turning out to be much more interesting than I thought.”

Maggie rammed Vanessa’s suitcase into the back of his leg.

“Ouch!” he yelped.

“Margaret!” their father shouted from the bottom of the stairs. “I want to talk to you. Now.”

Maggie froze, looking at Stevie. Uh-oh.

“God, what’dya do?” he asked, sotto voce.

“I’m almost thirty years old,” she whispered back. “Why do I feel as if I’m thirteen and I’ve left the basketball out in the driveway?”

The doorbell rang.

Uh-oh. “I’ll get it,” Maggie called, desperately trying to sound normal as she hurried down the stairs.

“I’ll help!” Stevie dropped Van’s suitcase and scrambled after her.

They both nearly crashed headlong into their father, who seemed to materialize out of thin air. He had on his fighting face.

“Maggie, that was just Bob Andersen on the phone,” he said. “He just happened to mention that you quit your job this morning!”

“Yo, Mags! Finally makin’ that rockin’ career move?” Stevie said approvingly.

“You did what?” Vanessa came down the stairs, followed closely by Brock.

The doorbell rang again.

“She quit her job at Andersen and Brenden.” Her father shook his head in disbelief.

“Will someone please answer the door?” Maggie’s mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“I’ll get it,” Maggie said again, hurrying to reach the door before her mother got there. She took a deep breath and pulled it open.

Matt was standing there, wearing his usual jeans and white T-shirt, his hair loose, looking like a dream date from a music video. “Hey,” he said with that smile that lit his entire face.

She reached for his hand and pulled him into the foyer. His smile turned to surprise as he saw her entire family staring at him.

“Everyone,” Maggie said in her best stage voice. “I’d like you to meet my new boss, Matthew Stone.”

“Oh, my God,” Vanessa said.

“Your new what?” Brock asked as he sized Matt up.

“Intense.” Stevie was impressed.

“Close the door, dear,” Maggie’s mother said, her voice faint with shock, “or bugs will come inside.”

* * *

MAGGIE SAT AT the dinner table, buzzing with nervous energy. How did this happen? She’d thought she’d been in control. She’d intended to stick to her plans and go out with Matt. After all, it was business, right? Instead, they’d ended up here, in one great big, hostile room.

She looked across the table and met Matt’s tranquil gaze.

Well, the entire room wasn’t hostile.

“You have how long to do what?” her father was saying as her mother passed Matt a plate heaped with mashed potatoes, vegetables...and a large slice of roast beef.

And he was a vegetarian. She opened her mouth to protest, but Matt caught her eye and shook his head very slightly, taking the plate with a graciously murmured thanks.

“We have a fiscal quarter,” he told her father. He seemed entirely at ease with the fact that everyone was staring at him. “And I’m not really sure what I have to do in order to inherit the business.” He smiled at Maggie. “That’s one of the things we’re meeting to discuss later this evening.”