The Maverick Part 9

"I'll drop by the cafe tomorrow to see if you need anything. Eat and get a good night's sleep."

"Well, bless his sweet heart," Ca.s.s whispered as she continued laying out the King Ranch chicken ca.s.serole and shrimp Portofino and salads and decadent desserts. "How thoughtful. Maybe there are a few decent New York lawyers, after all."

AS IT TURNED OUT, the tile floors in the bathrooms and kitchen were fine, but those in the serving area and office were a lost cause. Ca.s.s and Sunny shopped around and selected a laminate wood floor that looked like old planks and promised to wear like iron. The installers arrived on Thursday to lay down the new surface.

Their mother and Aunt Min were arriving on the same day. The twins had only a few hours notice to air out the town house their mom and aunt shared a few blocks from the cafe. They called a maid service to clean and change linens. Sunny stocked the pantry while Ca.s.s bought flowers and a couple of plants to brighten up the place, which had been closed for months.

Ca.s.s placed a vase of irises on the hall table and stepped back to admire them. "I wish we could have talked them out of coming," she said to Sunny. "They were having a wonderful time in France and could have stayed another few weeks at least."

"When have we ever been able to talk those two out of anything? They still think of us as their babies."

Ca.s.s sighed. "I know. They worry. What time is their plane due?"

"Three o'clock. We'd better get going. They'll be exhausted, and the time difference is going to be hard on them. I hope they slept some on the plane."

"Fat chance."

They locked up and headed for the airport.

"We got another one of those letters today," Sunny said as they drove.

"What letters?"

"The one from the guy in New York offering us an obscene amount of money for Chili Witches and the surrounding property. He upped his offer by ten percent."

"You're kidding. After my reply to his last offer, I certainly didn't expect to hear from him again. Let's just ignore this one."

"Don't you think we should mention it to Mom and Aunt Min? After all, they're the majority stockholders of the company."

"I suppose so," Ca.s.s said, "but you know their answer. They'd sooner sell a kidney than part with Chili Witches. The guy probably wants to raze the buildings and put up offices or, G.o.d forbid, another condo high-rise."

"I thought the high-rise craze had pa.s.sed."

"Nope. Rumor is it's coming back with a vengeance. POAC is a watchdog for irresponsible destruction and building, and we keep our ear to the ground. If we hadn't been on our toes last month, some idiot would have leveled an entire grove of pecan trees and put in a car wash."

"Ca.s.s, a car wash is a legitimate business."

"Of course it is, but we worked with the guy to reconfigure his layout and be able to save most of the trees. It not only made for a more attractive place, but now he can also bill his business as eco-friendly, and eco-friendly is in."

"Well, good for POAC," Sunny said. "And good for you, tiger. Sic 'em."

Ca.s.s THOUGHT HER MOTHER and aunt had never looked so lovely-even after a grueling overseas flight. Gloria and Minerva O'Connor weren't twins-Aunt Min was older by a year and a half-but they looked very much alike. Both were still trim and a couple of inches shorter than Sunny and Ca.s.s. The streaks of gray in their strawberry-blond hair had disappeared in the months they had been gone, and they both had new short and fashionable haircuts instead of their old styles, which was usually some sort of convenient twist. They both looked ten years younger than their sixty plus. and aunt had never looked so lovely-even after a grueling overseas flight. Gloria and Minerva O'Connor weren't twins-Aunt Min was older by a year and a half-but they looked very much alike. Both were still trim and a couple of inches shorter than Sunny and Ca.s.s. The streaks of gray in their strawberry-blond hair had disappeared in the months they had been gone, and they both had new short and fashionable haircuts instead of their old styles, which was usually some sort of convenient twist. They both looked ten years younger than their sixty plus.

"You look fantastic," Ca.s.s said, hugging her mother, then Aunt Min. "What have you done to yourselves?"

Gloria beamed. "I highly recommend retirement. And the new French makeovers helped." She fluffed her hair. "Like it?"

"I love it. Aunt Min, are you sure you haven't had a face-lift?"

Min chuckled. "Absolutely not, but we went to this lovely salon for skin treatments." She rubbed her cheek. "Soft as a baby's b.u.t.t. Feel."

"You're right, and you both look so rested. Were you able to sleep on the plane?"

"We were," Gloria said. "You two, on the other hand, look like you've been dragged through a knothole backward. But not to worry, we're here to help handle things."

"There's nothing to handle," Sunny said. "Everything has been dried out and checked out and approved. The new floors are going in today and the contractors are coming tomorrow for some minor repair work."

"What about...?"

"Supplies have been ordered for the kitchen," Ca.s.s said, kissing her mother's cheek, "and the cooks and kitchen help are coming in over the weekend to see that everything will be ready for business on Monday."

Gloria looked at Min. "See, I told you our girls could handle the situation."

"Ha!" Min said. "You were chomping at the bit to get here. Same as me. We have Sunny's wedding to plan, anyhow. We just came back a little early."

Sunny sighed. "I've told you. There's nothing to plan. We're going to have a simple wedding with only family and a few friends."

"We'll discuss that later," her mother said, clearly intimating her preference for a more elaborate do. "Even small weddings take preparation. We're eager to meet Ben."

"He's eager to meet you, too," Sunny told her. "He'll probably be over for dinner tonight."

"Good, good," Min said. "Come on. Let's get our bags and stretch our legs. We love Europe, but it's wonderful to be home. I've been dying for a big plate of barbecued ribs. Did you know you can't get a decent barbecued rib in France? For all their culinary expertise, they've never managed to make a good old Texas barbecue sauce."

"Or a good bowl of chili," Gloria said as they walked toward the baggage carousels. "And forget enchiladas. Of course, we could make our own chili and enchiladas, but we didn't have a proper barbecue pit."

Ca.s.s laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't build one and open a barbecue joint and a chili parlor."

Gloria and Min glanced at each other. "We've considered it," Min admitted.

"Don't you dare!" Ca.s.s said. "You're retired."

Gloria sighed. "I know. And I love having time to paint."

"Tell you what," Sunny said. "Let's get you settled, and you can come over and see my new house tonight and have a big barbecue dinner."

"I'll vote for that," Min said. "That's one of my bags. The one with the red ta.s.sel."

After the bags were collected and loaded, the two older women insisted on stopping by the cafe before they went home. Ca.s.s and Sunny were eager to check out things, too, so they made a swing by the place. The a.s.sistant manager and two of their waiters were moving chairs and tables back inside from where they'd been stored in Ca.s.s's apartment. What wouldn't fit there were in Sunny's garage, courtesy of friends with pickups.

"Oh, I like the new floor," Gloria said.

"So do I," Min added. "The old one had seen better days, anyhow. Was the wiring damaged?"

"Luckily, no," Ca.s.s said. "At least nothing major. Everything has been checked out and is working fine. We hired a restoration company who got right on it. They had the water pumped out and the fans going almost immediately. The registers and computer equipment are stashed upstairs in Hank's living room, and Griff hired a moving company to move the office furniture and file cabinets to Sunny's storage unit."

"Who's Griff?" Gloria asked.

Trust her mother's antennae to go up.

"He's a guy I've been dating."

"And why haven't we heard about him before? Is he local?"

"No, Mom, he's not local, and I've only been seeing him for a couple of weeks. It's nothing serious."

Gloria's eyebrow rose, and she glanced at her sister. "What does he do?"

"He's a lawyer."

Gloria's eyebrow went even higher.

GRIFF, THE SWEETHEART THE SWEETHEART, insisted on providing the barbecue dinner. Ca.s.s was surprised he didn't suggest having it catered. He'd been uberhelpful and attentive during their crisis at Chili Witches, certainly more solicitous of her than Daniel had ever been-and they'd been engaged. Maybe all New York lawyers weren't tarred with the same brush.

Sunny had invited Ben and Jay over, as well. Their mom and aunt were itching to meet the groom. Ca.s.s was sure there wouldn't be any objections to him; Ben McKee was a dear. And she couldn't imagine them not liking Griff as well. He was a first-cla.s.s charmer.

Chapter Ten.

It was Jay who stole the show. Both Gloria and Min fell in love with Ben's little boy, who was especially delightful in relating his Montessori cla.s.s's trip to a goat farm.

After the men left, Gloria said, "Jay is a little doll. And, Sunny, I like your Ben very much."

"He's a wonderful father and will make a good husband for you," Min said. "He obviously adores you."

Ca.s.s waited for comments about Griff, who had been charming and solicitous as usual. None came. She finally said, "Griff was very sweet to provide our dinner."

"Yes, he was," Gloria agreed.

Min began clearing coffee cups. "The ribs were among the best I've ever had. Just suited my taste."

"What did you think of him?" Ca.s.s asked directly.

"He has beautiful eyes," her aunt said. "Reminds me a bit of Paul Newman."

Ca.s.s had lived with these women long enough to recognize a runaround when she heard it. "But what about him as a person?"

"I don't know him well enough to have an opinion yet," Gloria said, busying herself with cleaning up the remnants of their meal.

"Don't bother with that," Ca.s.s said, taking the bowl from her hand. "We'll clean up later. Come on, Mom. Don't dillydally."

"About what?"

Ca.s.s chuckled. "About Griff."

"He seems a bit too..."

"Slick," Aunt Min chimed in.

"I was going to say 'prep school,' but that, too."

"Oh, come on, you guys. You've been in France and loved it there. The French wrote the book on sn.o.bbery. And Griff's no sn.o.b."

"That's only in Paris, and only a few people," Min said. "The French are quite nice folks. And Griff is quite nice, too, I'm sure. We just need to get to know him better. He's not a Texas boy."

"True," Gloria said. She yawned hugely. "My, my, look at the time. I think jet lag is catching up with me."

"Me, too," Min said, managing a yawn of her own. "I think we'd better get along home. We can talk all day tomorrow while we're setting things straight at the cafe."

AFTER SHE AND S SUNNY HAD dropped off their mother and aunt, Ca.s.s said, "Obviously Mom and Aunt Min don't like Griff. How do you feel about him?" dropped off their mother and aunt, Ca.s.s said, "Obviously Mom and Aunt Min don't like Griff. How do you feel about him?"

"The question isn't how do any of us feel about him. How do you feel about him?"

"I'm not sure. Sometimes I'm crazy about him, and at other times I feel like he's a little too..."

"Slick?"

Ca.s.s laughed. "Well, yeah. But I'll tell you this. He's h.e.l.l on wheels in bed."

"Ca.s.s! You haven't already..."

"Yep. I have. And the man turns me on like a house afire."

Sunny chuckled. "There's something to be said about that."

"For sure. And it's not as if we're into any sort of permanent commitment. Griff has made some noises about moving to Austin, but I suspect when his business is finished, he'll hightail it back to New Yawk, and I won't see him again until he's back on business."

"How does that make you feel?"