Page 48 of Halstead House

He walked to a table he’d already moved twice and shifted it again, rather than answer. Then he walked between all the tables, zig-zagging back and forth. “Did Eliza come up with this seating arrangement before she left?”

My heart rate picked up at his expression. “No, this arrangement was my idea.”

“Well, that explains it.” He pushed another table over an inch with his toe. “The flow is totally different than I’m used to. The tables are laid out all wrong,” he mumbled.

Different didn’t have to be wrong, but my throat felt tight at the thought of bombing my first solo event. “Eliza never said there was a particular layout.”

“She knows my preferences,” he responded, toeing a chair out of his way as he once again moved around the room.

“Unfortunately, she didn’t share those preferences with me,” I said, keeping my tone apologetic.

“Perhaps you should have thought to ask.” He glanced my way.

The look he gave me wasn’t unkind, but it made me feel about two inches tall, which was something I hadn’t felt for a while now. I didn’t like it. Not one bit. It no longer fit, as though it was a pair of shoes I’d outgrown. I’d made myself two promises recently. One was to stand up for myself more, and the other was to not push back at Lucas again. I was in a no-win situation here.

After some thought I said, “I have a lot of experience with this type of thing, and Eliza left it in my care, with her trust.”

Lucas’s expression didn’t change. “Then surely you understand that part of the process is finding out what the customer would prefer.”

Our eyes locked and I felt that familiar feeling in my brain that choked off arguments and demanded obedience. I opened my mouth, ready to ask him what his chosen setup would be, but after a strong inner struggle I instead turned and walked back to the housekeeping room. That’s right, in the choice between fight and flight, I flew. Inner wolf, schminner wolf.

Ana was no longer there—she really was having a busy day—but the last three tablecloths were ironed and waiting for me. I paused next to the stack and hung my head, sucking in deep gulps of air and trying to loosen my tongue again. I had to face him, and I had to do so professionally. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why, after so many years of dealing with difficult and demanding people, he should be the one to get under my skin and make me want to argue back. He was not the right person to try out New Grace on.

When I reentered the dining room, Lucas was standing exactly where I’d left him, and he watched me with a remarkably stiff countenance as I walked toward the tables.

“Do you always walk away during a discussion?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t.” I headed for the nearest empty table to begin spreading out cloths once more, this time with shaky hands. “Would you have questioned it if it had been Eliza who had opted for a new setup?” I asked.

“If I’m the customer and I want it a different way, then yes.”

“I see. So you have a complaint with the work I’m doing.”

A lump was forming, rock hard and large, in my throat. Moisture rose behind my eyes as we stood staring at each other. I tried not to blink or show any sign that I was truly upset, yet something shifted in his gaze, softened. His shoulders relaxed and he took a breath while running a hand over his beard.

“We’ll try it this once, but if I’m not satisfied with the new arrangement, I hope you’ll be willing to accept that in the future,” he stated in a quiet voice, then turned and walked from the room without a backwards glance.

I looked around at the haphazard placement of tables and scattered chairs. He’d shifted and pushed things around until there was no reason to where they were sitting. It was a perfect outward expression of how I felt inside. I wondered if the same was true for him. Perhaps we were both on edge over handling this event without Eliza.

The rest of the morning sped by with preparations, and before it seemed possible, Lucas’s guests had begun arriving. I was stiffly attired in my dove gray super suit, hair in the tightest chignon I’d ever managed, makeup done with precision, and still feeling shaken over the conversation with Lucas earlier.

I pushed emotion away and smiled warmly as I welcomed guests and showed them to their seats, all the while wondering what made this luncheon so different from the hundreds of others I’d attended and arranged. I knew how to greet, seat, and feed people. But, still...

Lucas caught my eye as he worked his way around the room. He looked superb in his tailored suit. His grooming was, as always, impeccable. His expression was one of casual welcome. He had been smiling at his last guest when he glanced up in my direction. My breath hitched in my throat as his gaze met mine, his eyes still slightly crinkled at the edges.

We hadn’t ended on a good note earlier in the day and hadn’t spoken a word to each other since, even though he had come down to double check the details before returning to his room to get dressed. Still, I had a job to do. I offered a small nod and moved on.

The luncheon itself began with Lucas calling the meeting to order. He was an engaging and knowledgeable speaker as he addressed the crowd. It was obvious from my place standing in the back corner that he had the group riveted and absorbed by what he had to say about their various business interests. The Halsteads had always known how to build an empire, and Lucas was no exception to the rule. It was amazing to me to think that a family who had started off manufacturing tools for oil companies now had their hands in fishing and hotel chains. It was a diverse portfolio, and Lucas had been raised to manage it all.

He didn’t once look my way while he spoke, and I was grateful. I was also thankful for the chance it gave me, for perhaps the first time, to truly study him without it being strange. It was totally acceptable for me to watch the speaker at a business lunch.

The more I watched him, the more I began to feel things I was afraid of. He was not the most handsome man I’d ever seen, but he was definitely on the list. Worse, he was attractive to me in a way others hadn’t been. He was tall, athletic, well-spoken, and carried himself with confidence. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why he so often treated me with such remoteness. I was certain Mary had told him about me. He’d known about my mother, after all. I would have been perfectly happy to strike up a friendship with him, but the feeling was not mutual.

Perhaps it was because that when I was around him I was someone different. When he pushed, I wanted to push back. When he was unkind, I didn’t handle it in a docile way, but instead felt red hot anger bubbling under the surface. I didn’t seem to be able to blow Lucas Halstead off like I had so many of life’s other little hurts. I didn’t understand it. He terrified me. It was strange and new, and it was bringing out a side of me that I had never explored.

A small smile tugged at my lips as I thought about telling Ana that Lucas was giving me free therapy without realizing it.

When I focused back in on Lucas, he had just wrapped up his speech and was returning to the front table where he would be seated. Our eyes caught again, and my smile dimmed as I saw a curious look on his face. At first I didn’t understand it, but then I realized that the end of his speech was my signal to get the food service started. I had missed my cue in all the woolgathering I’d been doing. Shoot!

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