Page 247 of The Donovan Dynasty

The babies finally fell asleep.Before they could wake, Sofia and her mother put them in their cribs.Sofia lingered in the doorway, watching them with a slight feeling of awe for a few minutes before rejoining her mother in the kitchen.

“Did he sign a contract?”Cynthia asked, handing her a glass of sweet tea.

Sofia sat at the table and pushed aside the newspaper and pen.For as long as she remembered, John had worked the crossword puzzle every day.If he was too busy, the pages would pile up and wait for the weekend.It was a lovely, predictable rhythm that had helped define her life, comforting after the chaos of her birth father.

“The contract,” Cynthia repeated, bringing Sofia back to the present.

“I’m meeting with his grandfather and Erin next week.”

“The Colonel,” her mother said.“You know he wasn’t a real colonel?”

“No.”

“I think he was a captain.But he was so assertive that he was nicknamed the Colonel, and it stuck.He sure carried himself like a commander.He and Miss Libby were a fine-looking couple.I remember… When was it?Thirty-two, thirty-three years ago?Before I had the catering company, I was hired on as a server for one of Miss Libby’s fundraisers.”

Even though Sofia had heard the stories her whole life, she listened with renewed interest.

“She’d decided to host a British-themed event.Victorian… No.Edwardian.Well, one of them.It doesn’t matter, I suppose.She had it on the lawn.It could have been something out of a movie.All the ladies wore long dresses and carried umbrellas.”

“Parasols?”

Cynthia nodded.“The gentlemen wore top hats.They played croquet.”

“That sounds like a nice idea.”

“Except there were arguments about the rules.And it had rained.So the women had mud on their gowns.And the mosquitoes…” She shook her head.

The challenges of an outdoor event.

“The food was a disaster.No one really knew what to do with the clotted cream.One woman put it in her tea.The finger sandwiches went limp, and the chocolate melted off the strawberries.Which didn’t go well for the women who’d worn gloves.Everyone was trying to crowd under the few tents that had been set up.I’m afraid Miss Libby ended up letting people go into the big house to cool down in front of the air conditioner.Heard she never tried anything like that again.Went back to barn dances and barbecue.”

She answered a few of her mother’s questions then brainstormed ideas for the centennial celebration before giving her a goodbye hug.

* * * *

After stopping in at the Corpus Christi office to give the no-update update, she hit the highway toward San Antonio.She spent a couple of hours with Manny, the branch’s general manager, updating him, contemplating what would happen if Zoe spent more time there.

Manny had some excellent suggestions about moving staff into different positions, including promoting their current bookkeeper to a project manager.Evidently, she’d taken a course and had received her certification.Since Sofia was already there, she called the woman in for an impromptu discussion.She expressed an interest in the opportunity and agreed to shadow Manny for a few weeks to see if she had an aptitude for the job.Manny said he would put an ad online to begin collecting resumes for a new bookkeeper, in case the change became permanent.

Sofia checked into her hotel then wandered down to the River Walk to have dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant.She managed to grab a patio table.They gave her a basket of tortilla chips and salsa, and she ordered a margarita.

As she licked salt from the rim, the previous twenty-four hours caught up to her.All day, she’d had some success keeping thoughts of Cade at bay, but now she was no longer successful.

With the distance of both time and space, mortification seeped in.What had she been thinking?Sleeping with him, sceneing with him, wasn’t something someone like her should do.

The first night they’d met, at Lara and Connor’s reception, her self-preservation instinct had been strong.She’d given him a host of reasons why she shouldn’t be involved with him.Of course, he’d dismantled her arguments.

Being with him had been an amazing experience, but probably one she should have resisted.

She knew nothing about submission, didn’t have any experience in separating her emotions from her actions.As a result, everything felt like a jumbled mess.The nurturer in her wanted to help take away his pain.But the realist in her, who’d taken several psychology classes in college, realized that wasn’t possible.No one could be all things to anyone else.Unfortunately, her heart seemed to be cut off from her brain.

Truth was, she liked Cade.With his breathtaking good looks and mad sex skills, he appealed to every part of her, especially the newly discovered naughty bits.

She gave in to the impulse to grab a tortilla chip and dipped it in the salsa.

This was one of her favorite places in San Antonio.She loved watching the pleasure boat pass by with its entertaining captain and waving tourists.Tonight, though, she felt restless.She was accustomed to being alone in the city, but the feeling of being lonely was new.

Her phone beeped.She dug it from her purse and checked the message.