LITMIR.BIZ

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sushi to go? Everyone loved it. Fiber-rich chocolate cake? Not so much.

      She walked across the room to where a series of framed black-and-white photos hung over the banquette in a small sitting area on one side of the kitchen. That and inviting, red, upholstered wing chairs, plush red, black and cream area rugs and stately porcelain horse sculptures seemed to be waiting for the master to arrive home after the hunt. An open Bible—obviously well read—lay on a mahogany end table, a sight that warmed her heart.

      She moved gracefully into the niche, running a finger over the soft leather of the banquette. “I’d sit here to choose recipes for the night’s dinner—scampi maybe, or a nice tortellini with red sauce….”

      While Marlo drifted into her Barefoot Contessa fantasy, Lucy stared at the photos on the wall. “Magnificent,” she breathed. “Absolutely magnificent.”

      Lucy usually saved that kind of praise for cakes with rolled fondant icing, so Marlo was surprised to peer over her shoulder and realize that she was looking at the black-and-white portraits of gleaming, powerfully built—and, yes, magnificent—horses.

      There were horsey things subtly scattered elsewhere: a needle-point pillow on one of the chairs boasted a muscular black horse; embroidered delicately onto hems of the luxurious red-and-cream curtains was a stylized rendition of the head of a stallion.

      “I always wanted a horse,” Marlo said wistfully. “But we lived in the city and there was never any money to board a pony back then. My bedroom was papered with pictures of horses I’d cut out of magazines, drawn or colored. Mother said I preferred whinnying to talking and wanted to eat oatmeal three times a day after I learned horses ate oats. Can you imagine?”

      “You must have been a very odd child.”

      “My sister and I were both odd children, if you ask me. When I wasn’t thinking about horses, which I knew little or nothing about, we lived in a world of pink castles, party dresses and charming princes. We were the most girly girls you’d ever want to meet. We played dress-up and walked around on the arms of imaginary princes.”

      Though she didn’t admit it, those childhood fantasies had made a lasting imprint on her view of the world. She still believed that handsome, gallant princes did exist—somewhere. Unfortunately, she hadn’t run into any of them yet.

      “In a six-year-old mind, what qualities does a good Prince Charming have?”

      Marlo grinned and her eyes sparkled. “Mine always smelled like oatmeal-raisin cookies.”

      Ever since Marlo and Jenny had seen the movies Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, they’d played a private little game about the traits they each would require of their own future Prince Charming. In their tween years it was things like a driver’s permit and playing on junior varsity. It was a silly childhood joke that she and her sister still occasionally revisited, tongue in cheek. To the list of requirements for their ideal man, they’d since added a 401K and health insurance.

      “We called it ‘the Cinderella List.’” Marlo smiled at the memory of those two little girls, pencils in hand, somberly devising the List. “It’s changed a lot over the years. When I was a kid, my Prince Charming had to have enough money to buy me candy, be able to ride a two-wheeler and wear a baseball cap.

      “As a teenager, I wanted him to have a cool car, play football and get along with my parents. As I matured, so did my list. I still remember the last list Jenny and I concocted. It was pretty good, if I remember correctly.”

      “And you’re still looking for a man with the qualities on that list?”

      “Like I said, it was a good list. Too bad I didn’t use it a few years ago.” Marlo obliquely referred to her former Prince Charming, who turned out to be a royal toad. “By now we’ve refined the list so much that a man doesn’t exist who can fulfill it.”

      “I’m going to ask Jenny about this.”

      “You’ve got better things to do, Lucy, like figuring out where to place the ice sculpture. By the look of this house, we should have ordered one in the shape of a horse. Most people have pictures of their children on their walls. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

      Marlo sank onto the arm of one of the big chairs. Her expression grew pensive and her large blue eyes unfocused. “I like daydreaming about the people who own the houses in which we work. What are their interests? How did they get where they are? Are they happy?”

      “You spend too much time with your head in the clouds.” Lucy grabbed a dish towel and began to wipe the counter. “Still, that creative part of you comes in handy. It amazes me how you can toss the most unlikely foods together and make them taste so good. It’s an art.”

      “I imagine a taste on my tongue, and then I work backward until I find the right combination of food and spices to make it happen, that’s all.”

      The expression on Lucy’s features implied that it was a strange gift Marlo enjoyed.

      Marlo ignored her, to concentrate on dishes of olives and pearl onions. Then the door opened and suddenly the fantasy man, the personification of the List she and Jenny had imagined for her all these years, walked into the kitchen.

      Chapter Two

      He was gorgeous. Literally.

      Here he was, the personification of that tuxedoed dream man she and Jenny had concocted, smiling and casually sampling a deviled egg. In her dreams, Marlo’s perfect man always wore a tuxedo. That, according to her father, was her mother’s fault. Mrs. Mayfield had watched a lot of old Cary Grant movies while she was pregnant.

      She could feel her heart pounding and her throat went dry. The response was so abrupt and powerful that it almost frightened her. Even when she’d discovered Jeremiah had betrayed her, her body hadn’t reacted as strongly.

      Marlo considered herself generally coolheaded but this…this was the guy on the white horse, wearing the armor, rescuing her from the dragon. Suddenly the joke she and Jenny had shared all these years didn’t seem quite so funny. Of course, she’d never expected the man from her imagination to turn up before her very eyes.

      “I see the housekeeper left the door open for you. Dining with Divas, I presume?” Her fantasy dreamboat stood framed in the doorway, his elegant, chiseled features lit in the golden glow of lights in the other room, his back to the richly paneled room behind him where an honest-to-goodness butler was standing as straight and still as one of the Queen’s guards.

      As he stepped into the kitchen, Marlo could see more clearly the even profile and the amused grin that played on his lips. He wore his hair short, but not short enough to tame the natural curl that evidenced itself above his ears and at the nape of his neck. She gawked at the perfectly polished shoes, his strong hands and even, charming smile. Fortunately, he didn’t appear to notice.

      “Your catering business has a very good reputation.” There was pleasant anticipation in his honeyed tone and his brown eyes twinkled. “I’m expecting great things tonight.”

      A pleasant shiver worked its way through Marlo as she recovered from her initial shock. Granted, this fellow looked like her dream man, but there was much more to her idea of the perfect mate than looks. She’d dated handsome men in the past and learned that the hard way. In fact, the most handsome man she’d ever loved had hurt her the most.

      He looked at the women’s dumbstruck expressions and smiled more widely still, his white, even smile appearing more amused than apologetic. “Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Jake Hammond. I’m part-owner of Hammond Stables. You’re catering a get-together for some of our clients tonight.”

      “Stables?” Lucy’s round, ingenuous face looked confused. “I thought someone from a place called HMD set up this engagement.”

      “HMD is Hammond, Mercer and Devins, an architectural firm. That’s my day job. Hammond Stables is my hobby.”

      Horses, Marlo

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