Chapter 3
M aureen should be having the time of her life, but her splendidly crafted world had shattered when two of the contestants on her primo cooking show fell ill right on the set and were carted off to the nearest emergency room. Someone had it in for her was all she could think. Right after that dreadful incident, the TV network asked her to take a two-week sabbatical.
As the mini ferryboat vaulted along, she wondered if she should have taken her contestants flowers or make some sort of amends. Feeling responsible, she could have visited them at the hospital where they’d spent the night. But the network’s leadership would not hear of it. “Keep a low profile” were their instructions. “You haven’t taken a vacation in years.”
“But I don’t want a vacation.” What would Maureen do with herself? Where would she go?
“Let’s wait for this to blow over.” He’d folded his arms across his barrel of a chest. “If it does.”
Was he thinking that the sight of Maureen would make the two contestants sick enough to drop dead or incur a lawsuit? She knew her eight o’clock Friday night spot was coveted by many. Did one of her rivals have it in for her?
A trip with her husband and daughter had seemed like the best distraction. Somewhere peaceful and relaxing.
“No way” had blasted from James’s mouth as if he were in the courtroom when she’d asked him to accompany her. “I have a business to run and cases to handle. I can’t just leave on a whim.” Her big-shot attorney husband always had something more important to do than to spend time with Maureen and their daughter, Amanda, so she should be used to it by now. He was devoted to his clients. They always came first. Just thinking about his reaction sent jabs of pain through her chest and abdomen like sharp scissors, but she would not complain. She was used to keeping her thoughts and disappointments to herself.
It wasn’t as if Maureen hadn’t contributed to their family’s income for the past five years. James had griped often enough about what a high tax bracket they were in because of her job. He might be thrilled silly if she got fired.
A gull swooped so low that Maureen bent at the waist. The obnoxious bird was no doubt on the prowl for food and garbage. Maureen never used to be so timid. But everything seemed to be going wrong.
She wondered if her TV program would be permanently canceled by the time she got home. A cooking diva with a program called Marvelous Maureen’s Menu . Would she be replaced by a younger, prettier woman? Or would her husband do that first? He had a roving eye, but now was not the time to fret about him.
Ordinarily, she would have called her mother for advice. But no longer was Mom available. That grizzly truth spiked into Maureen again.
Only weeks before her show’s debacle both of her parents died. She could barely stand to think of it, so she pushed the gruesome images aside.
Mom had been a blonde head-turner who’d retained her svelte looks to the end, thanks to her beauty salon and plastic surgeon. In her younger years, people had said Maureen was the spitting image of her gorgeous mother. But Maureen had nibbled a few too many desserts. She had to sample what was prepared on TV, didn’t she? She might go on a diet and sign up for that exercise class their neighbor recommended when she got home.
The ferry bobbed across the steely gray sea. The clouds hung so low they melded with the water, and her feet were cold. Not a place James would have chosen. She was glad he wasn’t here to berate her, but she could hear his voice in her head.
“Who in their right mind would want to go to the Isle of Skye this time of year?” he’d asked, as if she’d planned to hop aboard a rocket ship headed to Mars. “Now St. Andrews might be a different story... No, I don’t even have time for golf with my workload.”
Didn’t he understand she was grieving for the loss of her parents? He’d attended the memorial service but did little more.
Maureen glanced down at Amanda, who wore a frown on her face. Thank goodness Maureen had thought to bring her daughter’s cheerful nanny, Lydia, a twenty-three-year-old Amish beauty.
Maureen inhaled to her fullest and tried to appreciate the salty air while her stomach soured. Standing at the bow of the boat, she caught sight of the island through the mist, and her heart filled with gladness. She vowed to let nothing stand in the way of her temporary happiness. Not even Denny would rattle her, nor Amanda, who was often lippy and unappreciative. Maureen knew she had spoiled the girl rotten but too late to fix that now. She hoped her younger sister and Lydia would be a good influence on Amanda. And on Maureen. Distract her from her many losses anyway.