CHAPTER TEN

Will was already up and staring blankly at his laptop when his mother came rolling into the kitchen looking worlds better than she had the previous day. Joyce whirled around in her wheelchair and poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Angelina get here all right?”

“She certainly did.” Will looked accusingly at his mother. “And what a surprise her arrival was.”

“Don’t you take that tone of voice with me, young man. If I want to hire a Feng Shui expert, I’ll damn well do it.”

Will had to work to fight back a grin. “If that’s your version of the tough-mom routine, it needs a little work.”

Joyce chuckled. “I thought the ‘damn’ added a nice dramatic flair.”

Right then, Angelina walked out of the guest bedroom and Will momentarily forgot his mother was even in the room. Angelina looked more gorgeous than ever.

But while he couldn’t take his eyes off of her, she didn’t even seem to know he was in the room as she rushed over and clasped his mother’s hands in hers.

“Joyce, it is such a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise, my dear. I hope your trip wasn’t too tiring.”

Angelina paused and then murmured something about it being fine. “How are you feeling this morning?” She regarded Joyce’s wheelchair and cast sympathetically.

“Not too well I’m afraid,” Joyce responded, forcing her eyes away from Angelina’s sharp gaze, lest she give away her game.

Will’s eyes shot to his mother’s face. He thought about calling her bluff, but she was having such a good time trying out her new acting skills, he let it go.

“Honey,” Joyce said, turning to Will, “Margie is expecting you to go over right now to pick up some treats she made.”

“But Mom,” he complained, sounding less like a full-grown CEO and more like a little boy who wasn’t getting his way, “all of her daughters were over here yesterday dropping off food. What else could they have possibly made for us between now and then?”

Joyce shooed him out of the kitchen, deftly using her wheelchair to get him moving towards the front door. “And remember, dear, be nice to all of her lovely girls. I’m sure they’ll want to have a good long chat with you since you were too busy to talk yesterday.”

After he closed the door behind him, Joyce wheeled back into the kitchen.

“Sit down dear and I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

Angelina just wanted to get the consultation over and done with, but she knew when she was beat, so she dutifully took a seat.

She sat quietly at the kitchen table while Joyce boiled the water. Even with Will's mother confined to a wheelchair, Angelina had a feeling she was barely going to be able to keep up with her.

Joyce handed her a steaming cup of Chamomile tea. “I hope you don’t mind how insistent I was about having you come out to New York to meet with me.”

Angelina wasn’t sure how to respond. The truth was, she did mind. Not because she had anything against Will’s mother, but because she couldn’t handle being this close to her son.

Joyce waved away any answer she might have come up with. “Frankly, it’s not me that I’m worried about, it’s Will.”

Angelina was thankful she’d just swallowed her mouthful of tea. Otherwise she would have spit it out.

“I think you need to know about his father.”

“Joyce, I think we should be focusing on you if we’re going to -” she began, but Will’s mom cut her off.

“When Will was young he idolized his father, Howard. You should have seen them—wherever Howard was, you were sure to find Will. If Howard was building something, Will had his toy hammer out and was pounding on blocks. He was five years old when his father left without saying goodbye.”

“Before Howard left, Will was carefree, happy. He loved to paint with his fingers any and everywhere. I should know,” she said, chuckling softly. “I spent hours cleaning finger paint off of the walls and the furniture.” Too quickly, the smile fell from her face. “Overnight, Will stopped being a child. He shouldered the burden that his father left as the man of the house. It was as if he felt that it was up to him to support us both. No matter how much I tried to let him know that I could take care of us, he has always felt responsible for me.”

Joyce continued, looking up at Angelina, her eyes glazed with unshed tears. “The worst thing of all, though, was when he told me he was never going to have children of his own.”

“Why would he say a thing like that?” Angelina asked.

Joyce shook her head. “He has some crazy notion that he’s going to be just like Howard. That he’ll let down his own children.”

“Will would never do that,” Angelina protested hotly. “He’s amazing with kids.”

Joyce nodded in agreement. “I know that, and you know that, but he doesn’t seem to.” She cleared her throat. “I know I sound like a meddling mom, but yesterday I saw a joy in him I haven’t seen in thirty years. When he was telling me about you.”

Angelina’s mouth fell open, but no sound came out.

“And now that we’ve met, I like you just as much as I thought I would.”

Angelina know what to say.

“Joyce, I thought you wanted a Feng Shui consultation?” She was barely able to get the words out with so many conflicting thoughts swirling inside of her head.

Will's mother patted her hand. “Oh honey, I do. But I truly am exhausted. Do you mind if we postpone until later this afternoon?”

Angelina had no choice but to nod helplessly.

Joyce grabbed her empty cup and put it in the sink, but before she wheeled herself out of the kitchen and into her bedroom, she turned back with concern in her eyes. “Suddenly I feel terrible about all of this. I've never been a matchmaker before. I'm afraid I'm not very good at it. I hope one day you will forgive me.”

Angelina smiled. “Joyce, there’s nothing to forgive.” She couldn’t blame Will’s mother for the state of her heart, or for even forcing her to come out to New York. “I’m the one who decided to get on that plane. I could have said no.”

With that, Joyce gave Angelina a wide smile then wheeled out of the room.

Having said as much to Joyce, Angelina had to finally face the truth. No matter what she tried to tell herself to protect her heart, she had walked on to that plane because she wanted to find out more about Will from the person closest to him.

She threw on a sweater to ward off the slight chill in the air and stepped through the sliding door and onto the back deck of the house, which overlooked the lake.

Angelina couldn’t help but be delighted by the beauty all around her. The water was so perfectly blue she felt as if someone must have painted it. Poplar and birch trees blanketed the mountains surrounding the lake. She felt as if the mountains were wrapping their arms around her, whispering softly that everything was going to be okay.

Throughout her life, whenever Angelina was grappling with problems, she had found her answers by spending time in nature. It occurred to her now, as she walked through the incredible Adirondack Park treasure, that living amidst suburban sprawl in California had her on the verge of losing touch with the natural surroundings that were integral to her peace of mind and happiness.

Yuppie heaven and high tech were hardly her style.

A voice in her heart told her she wasn’t in the right place anymore. Suddenly, Angelina longed to be back in a quiet community where people were more concerned with who was throwing the weekend BBQ than who had the newest cell phone.

As she walked past the cute cottages, people of all ages waved at her while they gardened or played with their kids on the beach. What would it be like to live on this lake, she wondered?

It was a crazy thought, but something about it felt so right. At the same time, Angelina didn’t know if she could trust herself to make the right decisions about her life, considering that she seemed to make all the wrong decisions about men.

A family of ducks swam under the dock, but she was so engrossed in her thoughts she hardly saw them. Will scared the daylights out of her when he plopped down beside her on the pier.

When her heart rate returned to normal, she asked, “How were things with Margie’s three daughters?”

He put his head in his hands. “Worse than you could ever imagine. They had actually put together a scrapbook of articles about me.”

In a soft voice she said, “Why didn't you tell me the truth about who you are? Krista had to tell me to check out the latest copy of People. ”

“I know it might sound ridiculous, but when you get to be a public person, you become suspicious of why people want to be around you.” He looked up at the blue sky, as if asking for assistance in what he was going to say next. “At first, when we met, I assumed you knew who I was.

But when you didn’t know what I did for a living, it was such a relief.”

“I suppose,” Angelina conceded, “it must be hard to be so well known.”

“The truth is, I can’t remember the last time someone was interested in me, instead of what I can do for them. Until you. That's why I didn't want you to know.”

“How could you think that something as stupid as how much money you have in the bank or how many magazines have your picture in them matters to me?”

Will turned and held her heated gaze. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

All of her anger evaporated with that simple sentence. She was unable to drop her eyes, unable to break the fragile bond that they were building.

“Can you forgive me?” He grasped her hand tightly in his own.

She wondered, for a moment, what he wanted her forgiveness for. For lying to her? Or for being a better man than she had the grace to admit he was?

Suddenly, she forgave him everything. She had no choice. Her feelings for him were that strong. “Yes, I forgive you.”

She thought he was going to lean in to kiss her and she could hardly wait to feel the sweet pressure of his lips on hers. Instead, he stood and reached out a hand to help her up.

“So, tell me, what were you thinking so hard about before I got here?”

Angelina reeled slightly from the change of subject. “I wasn’t thinking about anything much,”

she lied, knowing she couldn't possible admit that she'd been thinking about him. “Your mother said she was going to rest a little, but I’m sure she’s waiting for me by now. I should be heading back.”

Will, who hadn’t let go of her hand yet, said, “Not so fast. Mom can wait. Right now, you’re coming with me to my favorite place.”

Not even bothering to protest—she wanted to be with him more than she wanted to do a consultation, especially now that he was being straight with her—she followed willingly into his car.

“Where are you taking me?”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “This trip is on a need-to-know basis. And you, sweet Angelina, don’t need to know.”

A few minutes later they arrived at the site of a small carnival, complete with a Ferris wheel, a miniature roller coaster, an arcade and a booth selling cotton candy and toffee covered popcorn.

He was out in a flash to open her car door. Her hand in his, he made a beeline for the Ferris wheel.

“Madam,” he said as he paid for their tickets and helped her into the slightly sticky seat, “your carriage awaits.”

Amazingly, Angelina really did feel like a princess. They inched closer and closer to the top as the rest of the passengers boarded. When they reached the very top, he said, “When I was a kid I thought this was the top of the world. I would save all my paper route money and come here with a fistful of nickels, just to see what the world looked like from the sky, over and over again.”

Angelina followed his gaze out across the lake to the thick forest beyond. “It’s incredibly beautiful.”

“Every summer I’d memorize this picture, trying to keep it with me for the next nine months until I could come back.”

She felt like she was looking straight into his heart. “Couldn’t you have taken a photograph back with you?”

“A picture could never do this justice. I tried to paint it once in college, but...” He stopped short.

Angelina was so shocked to find out Will could paint, that for a moment she was utterly speechless. By the time she regained the use of her tongue, all she could manage was a lame, “I didn’t know you painted.” Realizing what an idiot she sounded like, she added, “Except for finger paints, that is.”

He gave her a confused look, so she explained, “Your mother told me how you used to smear finger paints all over the house when you were a little boy.”

He was quiet for a long moment. “Funny. I don’t remember that.”

She laughed. “She definitely does.” Will grinned and Angelina fit the puzzle pieces together.

“You really take after her, don’t you?”

“I wish. I used to fiddle with painting in college, but eventually I accepted that the only way I was ever going to make a living was out in the real world, working in an office like everyone else.”

Even as she listened to Will’s disparaging remarks about his artistic talent, or lack-thereof, Angelina guessed he was being far harder on himself than any art critic or teacher could have ever been. Not only was he discounting all of his special talents that made it possible for him to start a Fortune 500 company, but she could hear the passion and longing in his voice when he talked about painting, no matter how he tried to disguise it.

Too soon their ride was over and she lost her chance to probe deeper into Will’s artistic past.

He grabbed her hand and directed them across the park to the mini roller-coaster. After they were seated, Angelina said, “You should know, I’m not very good on roller coasters.”

Will gestured to the pint-sized ride. “Even ones with butterflies and sunflowers?”

“Even those.” At his look of disbelief she explained, “When I was about five a fair came to our town in Idaho. It had a roller coaster like this one and I begged my father to let me ride it, even though he said I was too small.”

Will gave Angelina a slow smile. “Let me guess. You didn’t give up until you got your way.”

She lightly punched him in the arm before continuing her story. “I still remember that ride. It was the scariest thing I had ever done. I screamed ‘Let me off!’ the entire time.”

He was obviously trying to hold in his laughter. “Go ahead,” she said, poking a finger in his chest, “laugh at me. But just wait until this thing gets going and I scream so loud you go deaf.”

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “You probably just needed someone to hold you tight.”

She tensed as the ride started, but his body was so warm against hers, and his arms felt so safe around her, she was surprised to find herself actually enjoying it.

A couple of minutes later when the coaster came to a stop, he helped her step safely back to the ground. “So, how was it?”

She smiled up at him. “I can’t believe it,” she marveled. “It was almost fun!”

“Now that’s a resounding endorsement for the hug-you-tight technique.” Putting one arm around her, he steered them toward the cotton candy booth. “Now that we’ve worked up an appetite, it’s time for sustenance.”

He bought them each a huge stick of cotton candy and an enormous bag of popcorn to share between them. They took their feast out to the end of the public pier and stuffed themselves.

Mouth full of sticky spun sugar, Angelina said, “I don’t normally eat this kind of stuff.

Will gave her a wolfish glance. “It shows.”

She blushed and stuffed a hunk of cotton candy into his mouth so he couldn’t say anything else to embarrass her.

“Mmph, mmph, mmph,” he grunted.

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to talk with your mouth full?” she scolded, her eyes twinkling.

Finally, after another couple of sticky bites, Angelina’s aching stomach got her attention.

“Ugh,” she said, sitting back against the chair with her hands holding her flat stomach. “I just had one too many mouthfuls of sugar.”

“Me too,” he said, tossing the rest of his cotton candy into a nearby garbage.

As they sat next to each other, feet dangling over the end of the pier, Angelina thought about how good it felt to be with Will. Just hanging out and having fun, Angelina felt like she had everything in the world that she would ever need.

Could it be? Had she finally been able to work her Feng Shui Cupid magic on herself?