Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [16]
"What about –"
"Tell her I'll be there in twenty minutes, and she better be ready." He was relieved to hear the door shut as Carey left. His chest was tight again, but this time it had nothing to do with exercise but with the past.
It had not been his mother on the phone -- he knew that. There was no reason to think otherwise. None at all. But despite the ruthless affirmations, deep down inside there was a part of himself that still wondered where she was, and if she was ever coming back.
* * *
An hour later, Riley was less concerned about his mother's whereabouts and more interested in when David Hathaway would show up with his grandmother's dragon. They'd been cooling their heels in the executive offices of Hathaway's for fifteen minutes and there was no sign of David or his daughter, Paige.
"This is ridiculous," he said with irritation. He'd never been good at waiting, but he especially didn't like waiting for what belonged to him.
Nan worked her knitting needles with quiet, competent hands. He had no doubt that by his April birthday he'd have another sweater to put in his closet.
"Relax, Riley," she said. "I'm sure they'll be with us at any moment."
"It's after five. We should take our dragon and leave. There are plenty of other potential buyers out there. We don't need Hathaway's."
"Why don't we wait and see what they have to say? They gave us that lovely tea yesterday, and Paige is such a sweetheart. Pretty, too, don't you think?"
He frowned as he stretched out his long legs. "I didn't notice."
"Blind now, too, as well as hard of hearing," she teased.
Riley ignored that and jumped to his feet when the receptionist said, "Miss Hathaway will see you now."
Paige met them at the door to her office. She wore a blue suit with a lacy white see-through blouse that offered just enough cleavage to distract him. But he wouldn't be distracted, not today, not by someone he had no intention of ever seeing again.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting—" she began.
He cut her off. "Where's the dragon?"
"Why don't you come in?"
Riley followed her into her office, his grandmother close behind. He'd hoped to see David Hathaway, or at the very least, the ugly dragon statue, but neither was there. Paige looked decidedly nervous as she stood behind her desk, motioning for them to sit down in the chairs in front of her desk. Nan did as suggested. Riley decided he preferred to stand.
"Well?" he asked.
"My father has been delayed."
"Where's the statue?"
"He'll be here very soon, I'm sure." She offered him a tentative smile. "Can I get you some of that strong coffee you like so much?"
"No."
"Mrs. Delaney?"
"I'm fine, dear." Nan pulled out her knitting and sat back in her chair, content to wait. During the past year, Nan had spent a lot of time waiting for doctors to come back and tell her what was happening with her husband. She didn't deserve to have to wait for this, too.
"Miss Hathaway," he began again.
"I know. I'm very sorry. My father probably lost track of time. He does that sometimes. He doesn't mean to make anyone feel as if they're unimportant. He just gets caught up in the moment."
"I used to know someone like that," Nan said, a sad note in her voice. She glanced over at Riley, but he looked away.
She was talking about his mother, and he didn't want to go down that road. "This is ridiculous." He waved an impatient hand as he glared at Paige. "You're running a business here, aren't you?"
"Yes, but I can assure you that everything will be fine. This is just a small delay. If you'd rather come back tomorrow—"
"Absolutely not. I don't know what kind of scam you're running, but I'm not putting up with it."
She stiffened, her conciliatory smile turning angry. "I'm not running a scam. My father is simply late."
Riley's instincts told him that something was wrong, the same instincts that had been raising goose bumps along his arms since they'd discovered the damn dragon might be worth something. He leaned forward, rapping