But only a moment later, Simone’s smile returned. “Tell me, Darcy, why did you choose to come here and work?”

There was little she could tell these two women, even though she was now having doubts about Mary Ellen and Zach being her birth parents. That, she figured, had just been quick, wishful thinking. She’d fallen into everything else so easily.

“I was born in Nashville. I suppose I felt as though I had some connection.”

Regan’s eyes seemed to catch hers. “You were born in Nashville, and then your family moved to Kentucky?”

“My father was a military doctor. We did a lot of moving around the first few years of my life.”

Regan’s face softened. “That sounds nice.”

Simone waved her hands. “Do you know if you were born at Nashville General?”

“Yes. I know that I was.” Had she said too much?

“My husband was in emergency medicine for years there. Funny that you might have been born while he was there.”

Darcy swallowed hard. Interesting. She wondered how she could get a lunch date with Curtis Keller.

Darcy’s brunch with Simone and Regan proved to be absolutely wonderful. Those two women could talk up a storm, giggle like little girls, and eerily read each other’s thoughts.

Darcy walked back to her desk and realized it was nearly one o’clock. There would be no catching the express bus tonight. However, she was sure she could convince her boss to drive her home.

Her heart gave a little hitch when she thought of just how much she did want to take him home.

She tapped on Ed’s door after she’d deposited her purse in her desk drawer. As she opened it, she could see him at his desk, his head in his hand and the phone pressed to his ear with his other hand.

His morning hadn’t looked to be as pleasant as hers had.

When he noticed her, he waved her in as though he needed her urgently. Then he pointed to the chair as if she was a child and he needed her to sit.

She did so. There was no need to think things were going to be nice and sweet at the office.

Darcy hadn’t quite picked up on what was happening, but there was something wrong with a build. She also noticed that the phone was on an internal line. Could the voice on the other end of that call, which she could almost hear perfectly, be Zach?

“I got it. I got it.” Ed shook his head. “I can get there by eight if I can catch a flight.” He nodded. “No. This is my responsibility, and I’ll take care of it. I’m not fifteen anymore. I don’t need to take you or John with me.”

Again, he listened for a moment, and then his face softened and he laughed. “I’m sure Valerie would love to go with me. This is right up her alley.”

He hung up the phone, and his face grew hard again. “How was brunch?”

“Very nice.”

He nodded curtly and gathered up the stack of papers on his desk. “I need you to book me a flight for Saint Louis for tonight. I’ll need my own car, so arrange that as well. Then get on the phone and call Carson Maguire. He’ll need to meet me on site.” He waved his hands around as though to clear the slate. “Actually, get Valerie on the phone for me. She’s going to have to go with me.”

Darcy sat there and absorbed everything he’d just thrown at her.

He narrowed his eyes. “You can do this, right?”

“Yes, sir.” She pushed herself up from her seat. “I’ll see that it is all done within the hour.”

She turned to leave, but Ed had moved from behind his desk and in front of her before she could even clear the chair.

“You can handle me at work, right? I mean, nothing here changes even if we are going to see each other.”

“I didn’t expect special treatment. The ‘aunt ambush’ threw me off this morning. But I understand what my responsibilities are.”

“Ambush. Do you think I set that up?”

“Well, you have a lot to lose if you decided you had feelings for some psycho that you ran into and gave her a job because you felt sorry for her.”

“You think I felt sorry for you?”

“Why else did you run me up here and give me a job?”

His mouth dropped open. “Because I read your resume.”

She really hadn’t considered that he thought she was actually qualified for the job.

“Darcy, I didn’t send my aunts to grill you for information. You’re an honest and hardworking woman. There is no reason for me to try and learn about you through others.”

Darcy bit down on her lip. She was going to need to come clean with him if she wanted to keep him.

“Ed…” she started when his phone rang again.

He let out a grunt. “This build is going to kill me. I have to get that. We’re okay?”

She nodded. He hurried back to his desk and picked up the line to his uncle again, and Darcy went back to her desk.

She clasped her hands together and let out a long breath. When they’d had that one intimate moment in her apartment, she thought she could handle “Ed the boss,” but that was going to take some work. And she was very willing to try. Her feelings had moved way past like…she was slipping into love and that scared her to death.

Within the hour, everything he’d asked her to accomplish had been done. He’d be gone for the next three days in Saint Louis. She would be alone.

Her mind began to work overtime.

She’d have three days to get to know Curtis Keller. Maybe he remembered a warm, August day twenty-four years ago.

Chapter Ten

By four o’clock, Darcy fully understood the issues they were having in Saint Louis. Valerie had run into Ed’s office an hour earlier, as well as Zach and Mary Ellen. The firm of Benson, Benson, and Hart had just encountered their first weather catastrophe that had shut down production.

A string of storms had brought three tornados down on the outskirts of Saint Louis. The severe storm had compromised the integrity of the building’s structure. The foreman had been trying to clear the site of workers when a beam, which hadn’t been completely fastened, fell and narrowly missed him.

The meeting around Ed’s desk was frantic. Everyone was trying to get everything in place.

It was almost six o’clock by the time everyone had gone their separate ways, and Ed hurried to get the last of his papers together for the flight.

“You’re not going to have time to go home and pack anything,” Darcy said as she handed him the documents for his flight.