Free Be My Love Song by Sable Hunter

on her face. “I need to
go shopping!”
    “Yes, you do. But you also need to look at that proposal.”
Tilly pointed to the papers on Maddie’s desk.
    She huffed out a breath. “You’re right.”
    For the next half hour, Madeline read and reread the
estimates, laws, proposals, and costs. Finally, she laid her head on the desk
and quietly beat it with her fist. “I’m going to lose it. There’s no way I can
come up with this amount of money on my own.”
    Tilly, who had been going back and forth to the desk to take
care of guests, was now standing at her side. “Are you sure?”
    “Yes, unfortunately. If Mother and Morgana would pay their part,
I could swing half. But they’re not going to agree to it. I’m going to have to
go to the bank and get a loan.” Madeline felt like she was about to cry. “If I
don’t, I’m going to lose my home, Tilly!”
    “Is West trying to gouge you?”
    “No, he wouldn’t do that. He even included the costs of
other building projects they’ve brought up to code. This is just a lot of
work.”
    Tilly hugged her. “Stop fretting. Today’s not the day to
worry about it. It’s Valentine’s! Let’s tell Elaine to handle the desk and you
and I hit the Strand and make you sexy. You can be like Scarlet O’Hara and
worry about all of this mess tomorrow.”
     
    * 
*  *
     
    “Do you really think it looks good?” Madeline turned in
front of the mirror, first one way and then the other. The dress was simple, a
short red sheathe with a sparkly shawl. Or at least it was simple till one saw
the back, all bare except for a couple of thin jeweled straps crossing over.
She and Tilly had made a day of it. Maddie was sporting a sexy new haircut,
seductive red nails and she’d had spa treatments from one end to the other.
    “I think it looks fabulous. Now all you need are some do-me
heels and barely-there underwear that will be more fun for him to take off than
it is for you to put on.”
    Madeline shivered. That wasn’t the way the date would go,
but it was nice to dream. “Is this happening?” She held Tilly by the arms and
playfully shook her.
    “Yes, Miss Maddie, it is. And you deserve it.”
    “I think I’ll take this one.” She pirouetted in front of the
mirror again. “Now, let’s hunt a thong!”
    The girls had a blast examining what was available in
intimate wear. “I don’t think you’ll be able to wear a bra. How about pasties?”
Tilly held up a pair and waved them around.
    “No, I don’t think so.” Maddie laughed. “I’m pretty small, I
think I can use the shawl to cover me up if I get cold.”
    “Or turned-on.” Tilly teased. She looked at her watch. “My
goodness, look at the time. We need to get a move-on or Cinderella will be late
for the ball.”
    “Oh, that will never do. I don’t want to keep my Prince
Charming waiting.” They took the packages and raced to Maddie’s car to head
back to the Windswept. Once they were on the road and had settled down enough
to think, curiosity got the best of Maddie. “Tilly, you wouldn’t know anything
about another man showing up around dinner time last night, would you?”
    Tilly cleared her throat and chewed her bottom lip. “Well,
there was this guy I saw coming out of the break room behind the check-in
counter about dawn. He looked quite satisfied and Elaine was smiling all
morning.”
    “Huh, how strange.”
    Looking at Madeline, Tilly narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
    “Fate is a funny thing, Tills.” She laughed, deciding there
was no use hiding what happened from Tilly. They were friends and the truth
would eventually come out anyway—especially if she was able to get the loan.
“Yesterday, when my sister was pressuring me about selling Windswept, she just
got on my last nerve. Her eternal song is how pathetic I am since I don’t have
a man in my life. Something snapped.” She clutched the steering wheel. “Anyway,
I hired an escort to throw Morgana off and make her think I had a boyfriend.