Seattle Cinderella Part 7

"Brent," he called out, "I'm going to take Dee home; she's had a break-in and might need my help."

Brent raised his head. "Who?"

"Dee. She's-" Luke turned his head to introduce Dee to Brent, but-he was alone.

He spotted her across the room headed for the stairs leading to the exit door, shoes in her hand, running in her stocking feet across the tile floor with the speed and grace of an athlete. As coordinated dodging through the crowded room as Cindy had been on her in-line skates during the hockey game.

"Dee! Wait!" Luke yelled at the same time as he broke into a run.

As he called, she turned her head, breaking her synchronization. She b.u.mped into a portly gentleman in a bad suit, throwing her off balance. She slipped along the floor, bent at the waist, and with her shoes and purse tucked neatly under one arm, touched her fingertips to the floor. Her gla.s.ses flew off her face, but she recovered her balance and straightened. She squinted and looked right at him as he came toward her.

But before he reached her, she took off with the speed of a rocket up the stairs and disappeared through the door.

Luke skidded to a halt and picked up her gla.s.ses. One arm was badly bent but could probably be fixed. He headed up the stairs after her.

Just as he yanked open the door, he saw Dee scramble into an orange taxi, which took off with a squeal of rubber and disappeared around the corner.

He stared at the gla.s.ses in his hand. Not only did he have to return them, but he needed to ask her one more question.

She hadn't told him her last name but that didn't matter. Brent had a database of everyone they'd sent tickets to, and the scanner at the door logged everyone in by their ticket number.

He didn't know who she was, but it wouldn't take long to find out.

Chapter 10.

Standing by the open door for bay two, Cindy smiled and inhaled deeply. It had been a week, but she was fully over the cold. She could finally fill her lungs to capacity without breaking into a cough, and her voice was back to normal.

Not only that, Annie and Zella had actually been pleasant to her all week. They'd even asked to come to church with her, and after the service they'd gone out for lunch and she'd had fun with her two stepsisters for the very first time, ever.

Best of all, it hadn't been hard to avoid Luke. It had almost been like he'd been avoiding her. Brent said Luke had been making calls to customers and he'd hardly been at his office for the past week. When she'd gone to his house to pick Kat up after supper, Kat said he'd been visiting clients who had been at the banquet who were unavailable during the daytime.

The banquet had been fun. It had been awkward talking about herself as a third person, but it had been worth it to spend the time with him with no pressure or consequences.

Cindy waved at Kat as she hopped off the school bus then smiled as Kat changed her path and walked toward her instead of going into her uncle's office. A quick glance at Luke's empty parking spot told her what she needed to know.

"Have you seen Uncle Luke? I need him to sign a permission slip for tomorrow morning, and I can't forget."

At Kat's question, Luke's car pulled into the parking lot. When the door opened, Cindy started to wave a greeting to him, but her hand froze in midair.

His posture was slumped and his pace was slow. He looked exhausted.

When he saw Kat, instead of going to his own office, he trudged across the lot and headed toward them.

Cindy led Kat through the building to meet Luke in the office, where he could sit down.

Annie was busy at her desk, actually doing work. She smiled briefly then returned to her spreadsheets.

"Hi, Luke, can I get you a coffee? You look..." The words deserted her when she saw what he held in his hand.

Her gla.s.ses.

"Maybe later. I need to talk to you." He laid the gla.s.ses on the counter. "I met a woman at the banquet who lost these. I've been to see all my corporate clients during the daytime, and then the private sector clients at night. No one knows who she is, even after I show them her gla.s.ses."

Kat nodded and groaned then pressed one hand over her stomach. "Yeah. We've had pizza five days in a row."

Guilt roared through her. This was her fault.

Luke jerked his head toward his office. "Brent had a log of every ticket, but there was one ticket he didn't have in his database, a replacement for a lost ticket, and of course, that's the ticket of the lady I'm looking for." He sighed then looked into her eyes. "I made her promise she wouldn't tell you that she was talking to me because we talked a lot about you. Good stuff, but I thought you'd be embarra.s.sed if you found out. It's been a week, and I haven't been able to find her. I really want to give her back her gla.s.ses, so I've given up on finding her on my own. As a matter of a fact, she knows you quite well. Dee. How can I contact her?"

"I, uh..." Cindy stared down at her old gla.s.ses. The day after the banquet she'd called the banquet hall's office, and they hadn't been turned in. She'd a.s.sumed the janitorial staff threw them out, and that would have been okay. With her contacts, she only needed them for a backup. Which now she'd never do, since Luke had seen her wearing them.

Luke held the gla.s.ses up. "When she dropped them they got bent, but I had them fixed. They're good as new."

She couldn't believe he'd spent money on her old gla.s.ses. Or that he'd spent a week, day and night, looking for her.

Luke put them back down. "She knows you. Quite well, as a matter of a fact."

The phone rang and Annie answered it. She listened for a few seconds then put the caller on hold, stood, and joined Cindy at the counter. "Joe Fitzgerald is on the phone. He's wondering about the warranty and wants to know..." Annie stared down at the counter then picked up the gla.s.ses. "Hey. I thought you said you'd lost these." She turned to Luke. "Where did you find them?"

"They're yours?"

Cindy felt like she could melt from the intensity of Luke's stare. He looked at all the parts of her she'd changed, thanks to Farrah, that were back to normal. The hair color had taken three washes, but it had eventually come out. She'd put her contacts back in during the taxi ride. Her nails had felt a little funny after she'd taken off the fake ones, making her wonder why women did things like that. It had taken two days for her ankles to stop hurting after trying to balance in Brittany's shoes, but she'd liked the shoes so much she'd gone to the same store and bought the same pair, in the right size, for the day that she might actually need to wear them. Of course that meant buying a dress first.

"Dee?" Luke's voice came out an octave lower than usual. "Cindy. Why?"

Beside her, Annie pressed her hands over her mouth as she studied Luke's intense stare. "Oh no. Did I say something I shouldn't have?" She cleared her throat. "Come on, Kat. Let's go get a c.o.ke."

Luke continued to stare while Annie and Kat made a quick exit, leaving them alone in the foyer. "You said had a break-in that night. Was that real? Is any of this real?"

Her voice came out in a little squeak. "It was real-but a false alarm. One of the guys must have left a door unlocked and someone tried to open it. When the alarm went off, whoever it was got scared and took off."

"You looked so different that night. How did you do that to your eyes?"

"I'm wearing colored contacts. I lost the clear ones before we met."

"Then I guess you know how I feel about you."

Her heart pounded. "Yes."

Luke stepped closer. "You still haven't answered my first question. Be honest. Why didn't you want me to know it was you?"

Cindy held her breath. If she was going to be honest, she'd have to tell him that she'd fallen in love with him, especially after he'd had no hesitation about making it known that he loved her, too. Being with him felt so right, but the timing was all wrong. She was about to jump off a cliff to battle with Melissa in court, and she wouldn't come out unscathed.

She doubted she would win the house, but she refused to lose the business. Her mother had thought it cute that daddy's little girl loved to pretend she was fixing cars with him. Even as a child she spent more time with her father, playing with his tools at the shop, than playing dolls with her friends.

Then when her mother died, she hadn't just played with the tools-instead of going to daycare her father had taken her to the shop, and when she got old enough, she'd learned to actually use them. Together they'd built a successful business, Cindy working at her father's side when all her friends got other jobs, which earned them money. She'd even forgone her dream of going to business college to keep the business running when he married Melissa and needed to cut back on his hours. When he died, she'd completely taken over.

m.u.f.ford Brake and m.u.f.fler was her father's legacy and now it was hers-or at least it would be after the court battle. The situation was ugly enough, but if Luke got involved, knowing Luke had money would only give Melissa more ammunition and motivation.

She couldn't do that to Luke. Or Kat.

Cindy gulped and looked up into Luke's eyes. "Because I can't let this happen, this thing between us. I can't drag you and Kat into the middle of my family's battle zone. I have to do this alone."

Luke stepped closer, resting his hands on her shoulders. "Is that what you really want?"

Cindy rested one hand on his chest, feeling his heart pound beneath her palm.

What did she really want? Until now, all she'd wanted was to carry on her father's legacy-the business was all she had left of him. But was that what her father would have wanted for her? Of course she needed the income, but she had skills. She could always work for someone else.

What her father wanted for her was for her to be happy. If she was happy fixing cars that was fine, but there was more to life than work. What would really make her happy was beneath her palm: Luke and the love he offered.

Was fighting Melissa for total owners.h.i.+p of m.u.f.ford Brake and m.u.f.fler worth letting go of Luke?

She nibbled her lower lip while he smiled and looked down at her, his question still hanging with one quirked eyebrow.

"No," Cindy said on a sigh. "It's not what I really want. If I have to push you away to get control of the business, then it's not worth it. I'd rather have you. I love you, Luke."

Luke groaned and pulled her closer. "I've wanted to do this for a very, very long time." He tilted his head, closed his eyes, and kissed her. He tangled the fingers of one hand in her hair, the other hand drifted to the small of her back to pull her closer.

And Cindy kissed him back with all the love in her heart.

A bang from the shop reminded Cindy where they were. With the deepest regret, she nudged him away. He didn't fight her, but she could tell he didn't want to stop.

When she could see his face, he opened his eyes, glanced over her shoulder, and then focused on her eyes and grinned. "We have an audience."

"Oh, no. Kat..." Cindy's cheeks burned, and she increased the distance between them.

As soon as they were separated, the door from the shop creaked open. Kat skipped through. "When's the wedding?" she squealed. "Do I get to be a bridesmaid? Can I put a bow on Tippy?"

Cindy squeezed her eyes shut.

Luke stepped forward once more and grasped Cindy's hands with his. "What about an answer to Kat's question?"

Cindy groaned. "Sure. As long as it's not a b.u.t.t bow."

Luke froze. "A what?" He shook his head. "Not that question. The other one. About the wedding."

"Wedding? What wedding?"

"Ours." He raised one hand to cup her cheek. "Cindy, will you marry me?"

"I, uh..." Her brain stalled and her head swam. She could be Luke's wife, but she hadn't given any thought to being a stepmother for Kat. A stepmother...like Melissa. Luke picked up her hands. "I know what you're thinking. You're nothing like Melissa. Kat already loves you; she told me so the night of the banquet, and you already love her. Everything will be good. Great. We can work out all the details. We'll be fine."

She stared into his face. He was right. When they all loved each other, everything could be worked out.

She took a deep breath. The expression in his eyes told her she was doing the right thing. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Behind them, Annie gasped. "This is so wonderful! I have to tell Zella." She ran to the desk to retrieve her cell phone but picked up a piece of paper instead. "I forgot to tell you. The lawyer called. He said he needed to talk to you right away, that it's important."

Cindy pressed her fingers into her temples. "I know what he wants," she muttered. "I had some questions about making the garage into a suite and living there. I should probably call him back and tell him it's no longer necessary." She opened her eyes and looked at Luke. "Please tell me you don't believe in long engagements."

Luke's eyes widened. "Short. Really short. How about next week?"

Cindy didn't say anything; she only hoped he wasn't joking as she picked up the paper with the lawyer's number.

Luke pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "I'll leave you to your phone call. Tonight when we're finished with work I want to take you out for supper to celebrate." He turned to Kat. "Without you."

"Then I'm going to give Tippy more chicken pizza."

"You go right ahead, as long as I don't have to eat it." He grinned. "I'll be back at closing."

Before he could turn around, the phone rang. Annie ran to pick it up then started waving one hand in the air. "It's the lawyer! Don't go!"

Cindy's stomach dropped into the bottom of her steel-toed work boots as Annie pressed the b.u.t.ton to put the call on speaker.

"Cindy? I have some bad news for you," the lawyer's voice droned then paused.

Cindy sucked in a deep breath. "If it's about the garage, don't worry about it. I don't need it anymore because I'm getting married soon." Her mind swirled. She was happy about getting married, but at the same time she felt the magnitude of what she was giving up. "I also need to tell you that I'm not going to fight Melissa contesting the will." She tried to tell herself that it really was a no-win situation anyway. Even if she fought Melissa and won, the legal fees would use up most of the equity of the business. She wondered if Melissa was so vindictive that it had been her plan all along.

"Married, you say? That changes everything." She heard the shuffling of paper echo through the phone. "Here it is. Effective on the date of the wedding, the terms of the will of David m.u.f.ford changes the conditions of his a.s.sets left behind to, 100 percent of the business of m.u.f.ford Brake and m.u.f.fler reverts to Cindy m.u.f.ford, and 100 percent of the house reverts to Melissa m.u.f.ford. I have a list of which contents of the house go with Cindy and what stays with Melissa. There is no contesting this." He paused, and the tone of his voice lightened. "Cindy, your father did this because after you're married you won't need the house, and Melissa never wanted the business. He didn't want you to know about this until after you were engaged, so you wouldn't choose the wrong man. I a.s.sume you've chosen the right one, so congratulations, and I hope you live happily ever after with him."

She could barely believe it, but she'd just heard it. Emotion tightened her throat, and a tear rolled down her cheek as she looked up at Luke.

He smiled down and squeezed her hand.

"Yes," she choked out. "I met my Prince Charming, and we certainly will."

LOVE BY THE BOOKS.

Dedication.

Dedicated to my writing buddies in Scribes211-in alphabetical order-Bob Kaku, Donna Mumma, Ginny Hamlin, Jennifer Uhlark, Linda Truesdell.