She gave a gasp of shock as Ferrucci’s words registered. Though she’d been expecting some sort of objection from him, Lily felt herself pale at his blatant accusation. “I assure you, Mr. Ferrucci, that these samples came from zone one of Coral Beach’s patch reef. I collected them myself.”
“Gosh, I know you’d like me to believe that,” he replied with a condescending drawl. “But I can’t. Not when I and everyone else in this room know how
involved
you and Mayor McDermott are.”
Lily’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “What are you implying—”
“I don’t think I need to spell that out, Dr. Banyon.” He smirked as he glanced about the room. “Let’s just say I refuse to give any weight to this nonsense you’ve been telling us—nor should anyone else in this room—not after we’ve had a scientist carefully monitoring the reef for the greater part of a year. . . .” Ferrucci’s voice died away, suddenly aware of a commotion at the back of the room. The other committee members, Banyon, too, were no longer listening.
He looked over to where their attention was directed. Fear stopped his heart, and then sent it racing madly.
“Why, Mr. Ferrucci, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Sean’s voice, though quiet, reached the far corners of the conference room. “Please continue, Mr. Ferrucci. I believe you were talking about Dr. Lesnesky. You know, I had a feeling you might mention his study today, so I arranged for him to come and address the committee himself.”
Lily was glad she was holding on to the lectern. Her legs were none too steady. What was George Hunt doing here? And how did he come to be here with this frail man in the wheelchair—this obviously desperately ill man, whom Sean had identified as none other than Abe Lesnesky. And the biggest mystery of all, when and how had Sean arranged to bring Dr. Lesnesky to the coral reef meeting?
What was going on?
she wondered wildly.
“Dr. Banyon,” Sean said, penetrating her confused thoughts.
With an effort she collected herself. “Yes, Mayor McDermott?” answered Lily, pleased that her voice betrayed none of her confusion.
“If you’ll be generous enough to excuse a second interruption, I believe Dr. Lesnesky would like to tell the members of this committee and the townspeople exactly why his study didn’t reveal any indication of disease in the southern section of zone one.”
“Of course,” she replied with equal formality.
“Thank you.” Sean inclined his head. “And on behalf of this entire committee, let me add that you have the town of Coral Beach’s sincere gratitude for having conducted such a thorough and systematic study. Most of us here are aware that you and your team took extraordinary measures to obtain the samples and photographs we saw today. Your commitment to this project and to protecting the environment is exemplary.” Around the room, applause started, and Sean joined in.
Lily pressed her trembling lips together and nodded in acknowledgment before walking over to her seat next to Karen.
Karen was struggling to hide a grin of triumph. Lily leaned close to her and whispered heatedly, “What’s going on here?”
“You’ll see. Sean went to New York while you were in the hospital. He did—” Karen cut her reply short.
Sean had just motioned for George and Lesnesky to approach.
“By the way, Mr. Ferrucci,” he said, as George pushed Lesnesky to the very front of the room. “It might interest you to know that Police Chief Reynolds has already had a long talk with Dr. Lesnesky.”
Lily saw Ferrucci’s face turn ashen with fear.
Her gaze flew to Sean. He gave a quick nod, confirming her suspicions. She pressed her hand to her mouth, muffling her gasp of astonished outrage as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
But as she sat and listened to Abe Lesnesky’s halting speech, Lily felt tears prick the back of her eyes. Although she was overwhelmed with relief that the fraud had been exposed and her own study vindicated, she was also horribly saddened by this dying man’s heartbreaking confession.
When Lesnesky finished, the conference room erupted in pandemonium. Reporters rushed forward, trying to reach Lily, Sean, and Lesnesky. Two uniformed officers were already escorting Pete Ferrucci from the room.
Sean reached her before the reporters did. “Come on, Lily,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Don’t worry about Lesnesky. George and Evelyn will take care of him.”
In a mad dash, Sean led her through a maze of halls and doors. She was breathless by the time they finally reached the rear entrance.
A smile lit his handsome face as he turned to her. “God, you were fantastic, Lily. How are you feeling?”
Before she could reply, before she could catch her breath, Sean’s mouth was covering hers.
Instinctively she pressed closer, her lips parting in eager welcome. His answering groan had her smiling against his lips.
His expression was achingly tender as he raised his head to smile back at her.
“Let’s get you home, away from this zoo,” he murmured. His fingers caressed her face. “You’re still a little too pale for my peace of mind.”
“I
am
a little woozy, but that’s probably from shock,” she said. “Sean, will you tell me what’s been going on? How did you manage to get Lesnesky to confess to manipulating the study? It was so sad listening to him, the poor man. I nearly cried when he said that he wanted to donate the money Ferrucci had paid him to the town. And what was George doing—” She stopped in midsentence. Sean had uttered a string of curses. “What’s the matter?” she asked, alarmed.
“More reporters,” he said. “They’re heading this way. I don’t think we can avoid them. Listen, Lily, just follow my lead. You don’t have to say a word to them.”
It was intensely intimidating being surrounded this way.
She and Sean had nearly reached the car when the group of reporters descended upon them, bringing her and Sean to a reluctant halt.
They were shouting questions and snapping pictures. Lily saw video cameras aimed directly at her, like hostile eyes. The questions were coming so fast and furious Lily didn’t catch half of them.
Then one reporter out-shouted the others. “Dr. Banyon, can you give us a statement about whether you intend to press charges against Mayor McDermott?”
“What?” she gasped, stunned.
Impossibly, the shouting got louder, a relentless roar in her ears. Everything around her began to move in a strange slow-motion. She watched Sean step forward, placing himself between her and the reporters.
“Dr. Banyon has no comment on this issue, nor will she ever.” His voice sliced through the noise, the anger in it forceful enough to part the pack of reporters. Sean took advantage of their momentary reprieve to rush Lily toward the car.
Removing the keys from her nerveless fingers, he opened the door for her. Numbly, she slid behind the wheel.
He leaned over as he closed the door. “Go home, Lily,” he instructed, his tone harried. “I’m sorry, I can’t come with you now—they’d only follow us. I’ll do what I can to keep the press from hounding you.”
Lily walked into May Ellen’s kitchen. Her grandmother and Anne Prentiss were watching TV. They’d turned on the local newscast. As soon as she saw Lily, though, May Ellen reached for the remote. Lily stopped her.
“No,” she said, her voice flat and lifeless. “Let me see it, Granny.”
The TV crews at town hall must have been filming live,
she thought absently as she sank into the chair, her eyes glued to the screen. It was funny how something appeared on the other side of the TV, on the other side of a camera lens. She looked pale and frightened as the reporter thrust the mike toward her, demanding to know if she intended to press charges; Sean looked as if he were about to explode with rage.
The clip ended with her driving away and Sean storming back toward the building. The newscaster took up the story. “While Dr. Banyon refuses to comment on the accusation of harassment and intimidation that she made against Mayor McDermott last week, the scandal has already begun to affect the Mayor’s political standing. Our sources inform us that these charges could force the mayor to bow out of the upcoming mayoral race. We’ll have more news for you after the break.” The face of the news anchor was replaced by a commercial for laundry detergent.
Lily laid her head on her grandmother’s kitchen table and wept.
May Ellen looked at Lily, whose shoulders were shaking with the force of her sobs, and her own eyes brimmed with tears. May Ellen stood, and, from a cupboard, took down three highball glasses. Anne rose, too, and fetched the whiskey bottle from the liquor cabinet.
Laying a hand on Lily’s shoulder, May Ellen shook it gently but insistently. “Lily, sit up.”
Anne set a glass of whiskey before her. “Drink this, Lily. You need it.” Then added dryly, “We all need it.”
The whiskey had definite restorative qualities. By the time Lily had swallowed half of it, she was able to look Anne Prentiss in the eye. “I can’t begin to tell you how terrible I feel, Anne. I didn’t mean any of those things I said.” She cringed as she recalled the words she’d hurled at Sean. “I was consumed with jealousy, angry because I’d seen him with Stacy Malloy.”
But Lily knew that was no excuse at all, and berated herself for her stupidity. Sean was an elected official, and she’d accused him in a public place of harassment.
“I only wish I’d known about this earlier,” she whispered brokenly, hanging her head. “I would have tried to stop it.”
“Sean wouldn’t let us tell you what was happening,” May Ellen told her. “He was so worried about you when you got hurt during the storm.”
“The entire situation has caused a terrible mess,” Anne said fretfully. “How I wish there wasn’t this silly fund-raiser tonight. You know politics, my dear. No one’s going to contribute to Sean’s campaign financially if they think their candidate won’t make it out of the starting gate.”
“The gala’s tonight?” She’d had no idea. Of course, when Stacy Malloy had mentioned the date, it hadn’t really registered. Lily had assumed she’d already be long gone, working on her reef regeneration project in Lucaya.
She guessed immediately why neither Sean nor anyone else had mentioned the gala to her until now. Sean had wanted to protect her from the media’s feeding frenzy. And there was bound to be lots of reporters covering tonight’s fund-raiser.
Her breath caught as a seed of hope unfurled inside her. “Are there speeches scheduled for the fund-raiser?”
“Why, yes.” Anne nodded. “There are still
some
people who want to talk about the good Sean’s done for this town!”
Lily jumped to her feet. “I’ve got to call Evelyn Roemer right away. Granny, where’s Kaye?”
“Why, she’s over at Dana’s, of course. Probably watching the news.”
“Can you call her on your phone and ask her to meet me at Fiona Gray’s? I’m going to need her and Fiona’s killer instincts.” She turned to Anne. “I am so sorry for the hurt I’ve caused. You have a wonderful grandson and I’m desperately in love with him. I hope you don’t mind if I shout it from the rooftops.”
Her hazel eyes misting, Anne hugged Lily. “Of course not. You go right ahead, Lily.” She pulled back to smile at her. “And you know he loves you just as deeply.”
“Yes,” Lily replied, thinking of all Sean had done for her. “Yes, I do know.”
May Ellen was beaming with happiness. “It just took you both a while to understand what some of us have known all along. Once we get this nasty business sorted out, Anne and I will begin planning a lovely wedding for the two of you—”
“Of course, we’ll have to let Dana and Kaye think they’re the ones organizing it,” Anne said with a sigh.
Lily grinned, not fooled for a second. “You know, I’m beginning to realize that the two of you have a great deal of talent when it comes to gently guiding people so they do exactly what you want.”
“Why, Lily, whatever gave you that idea? True, we might have rung that lovely George Hunt a few times,” May Ellen admitted with a girlish laugh.
“But we had to!” Anne chimed in. “We just couldn’t wait much longer to be great-grandmothers.”
“I’ll pass that on to Sean,” Lily promised solemnly.
“There’s a good girl.”
CHAPTER FORTY
The enormous double doors to the hotel’s ballroom were shut. Lily paused in front them and drew a breath to quiet the million butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She turned and gave a quick hug to Kaye and Simone. “Wish me luck. I’ve never done anything quite like this before.”
“Think of it as a new role, Madame Mayor,” Simone suggested with a teasing grin.
“You’ll knock their socks off, Lily,” Kaye predicted.
“That’s because you and Fiona are geniuses. Thanks for everything you’ve done, Kaye. I’m glad to have you as a friend.” Lily smiled.
“Go on with you,” Kaye laughed shakily, “before we all ruin our mascara.”
Lily opened the door and slipped inside.
Large round tables filled the ballroom with elegantly dressed people clustered around them. The guests were clapping in a round of polite applause for the last speaker.
Lily swallowed nervously, smoothed her hands against the cool crepe de chine fabric, and began winding her way toward the podium, her head held high. As she passed by, excited whispers flew from table to table. The guests had recognized her. From the far side of the room, bulbs began flashing. Deliberately, Lily made her smile extra warm and looked straight at the camera lenses trained on her.
Seated at the center table, his back to the doors, Sean felt a sudden jolt of awareness course through him—that was as shocking as it was familiar. In stunned disbelief, he turned around in his chair.
Dressed like a goddess in a delicate shade of ivory that set her skin aglow and turned her hair into a halo of light, Lily was a vision of enchanting loveliness. Sean could only stare as his heart beat loudly, calling out to her.
Her eyes sought his as she came ever nearer. She held his gaze as her smile went from warm to radiant. Then, to Sean’s astonishment, she continued past his table and stepped up to the podium.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” she said in a voice that rang with confidence. “My name is Lily Banyon, and as anyone who has read the papers this past week can tell you, I have a lot to say about Sean McDermott.” She paused, a mischievous smile playing about her lips as she let her dry words sink in. Her smile grew as she heard a scattering of startled laughs from the listeners.
“What you wouldn’t know from either the papers or the TV, is that Sean and I are very close. Knowing Sean as well as I do, I could talk about him all night. I could tell you how committed he is to keeping this town a wonderful, beautiful place to live and to raise families. But you’ve already heard that tonight, in speech after speech. I could also tell you how brilliant Sean is, but I know tomorrow’s papers are going to be filled with articles recounting how Sean exposed an attempt to destroy scientific evidence by one of the members of the coral reef committee. So that brings me to the real reason I am here before you tonight.”
Lily paused to send a quick prayer heavenward that her gambit would work. So very much was riding on it.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you tonight because Sean McDermott can be positively infuriating. Sometimes he actually believes he can tell me what to do!” Lily exclaimed, infusing mock outrage into her voice. “Oh, yes, it’s true,” she said and nodded vigorously. “I’ve been trying to break him of this annoying habit all our lives. Haven’t I, Sean?”
She looked at him with an angelic smile.
Sean’s grin split his face. “Yes, dear, whatever you say,” he replied with just the right touch of meekness to his tone.
“That’s very good, Sean,” Lily said approvingly. The assembled guests whooped with mirth.
When the laughter had subsided, Lily spoke again, and now her tone was earnest, simple and direct. “Last week, Sean and I were having one of these very silly disagreements. Unfortunately, someone overheard us. And that person used my words to hurt Sean’s career. Those words, ladies and gentlemen, were spoken in private and were
never
intended to reflect on Sean’s public role as mayor of Coral Beach,” Lily said, letting her gaze travel to the farthest reaches of the ballroom. “Now, you all know what a fine and principled man Sean is. I’m sure you’re equally aware that he is someone who’s fiercely protective of the people and things he loves. That’s why he is such an outstanding mayor. So you won’t be surprised to learn that Sean decided to protect me from the very scandal I had unintentionally caused. His desire to shield me from public scrutiny came at a great cost to himself—too great. Tonight I hope you’ve realized what a fine man Sean McDermott is, and how much this town needs him. And I hope, too, that tonight this other unpleasantness has been laid to rest. Forever.” Here, Lily stopped, allowing her words to settle over the room, then bestowed upon the guests her most dazzling smile as their hearty applause answered her words.
As the clapping echoed throughout the vast room, Sean felt as if his heart might burst. He couldn’t believe what Lily had done for him. She’d single-handedly defused the scandal with a stellar mix of candid charm and clever wit. He wanted to rush up to her and take her in his arms. But he waited. This was her show, and from that special gleam in her eye Sean knew the finale would be worth hearing.
Lily raised her hand to quiet the applause. “Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I have just one more thing to say about the candidate tonight. He’s a man who keeps his promises.” She paused to look directly at Sean, and her heart began to hammer as he returned her look and gave her a smile—that was for her alone. It was the smile his face wore when he was deep inside her and she was trembling all around him.When Lily spoke again, her voice was husky, filled with desire for this wonderful man. “Now I have a promise I’d like to make in return. It is this . . . that I love Sean McDermott, and will continue to love him for the rest of my life. But he has to marry me—our grandmothers said so!” Lily’s words came tumbling in a rush as Sean raced toward her to claim her in a passionate embrace.
The guests were still on their feet, cheering goodnaturedly, when the strains of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” floated into the room. Hand in hand, Sean led Lily to the dance floor.
“You are the most extraordinary woman in the world,” he whispered. “By the way, I accept your proposal of marriage, Dr. Banyon,” he said, capturing her lips again as their bodies began to move as one across the dance floor. “Though I’m somewhat annoyed you beat me to it.” He grinned at her look of surprise. Then, his right hand releasing her waist, Sean pulled out a slender, velvet box from his pocket. Their feet stilled as he opened it for her. Nestled inside was a marquis diamond. It flashed, reflecting the lights shining from above. Lily’s hand trembled beneath his as he slipped the ring onto her finger.
“I was working out the kinks in my plan to abduct you,” he told her. “I was going to hold you hostage until you agreed to my every demand.”
“And they are?”
“To love me forever.”
“You’re so easy, McDermott,” she teased. “How about we abduct each other? I know this lovely cottage in the Bahamas we can rent for a couple weeks.”
“This sounds very tempting.” His fingers splayed across her lower back, pressing her against him. “We could work on your project—”
“That’s right. And start on another one—one I think you’ll be quite enthusiastic about.” Smiling, she leaned closer to whisper in his ear. Pulling back slightly, she thrilled at the naked hunger stamped on his face. “It seems the grandmothers would like to be ‘great,’ ” she added with a grin.
“Well, then, we’d better get to work right away.”
“I have some other projects in mind, too.” Lily said. “There’s a certain town in Florida which is crying out for a study on reef regeneration. My boss wants me to start working on a book.”
“Are you sure, Lily?” he asked, looking deep into her eyes. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. I love you so much, Sean,” she said, sealing her words with the sweetness of her kiss. Then, her smile turned mischievous as she warned, “But I hope you realize I’ll make a terrible politician’s wife.”
“No. You’ll be perfect, because you’re perfect for me.” His arms tightened about her. “I love you, Lily.”
Lily smiled, basking in the light that shone in his eyes. “You know, Sean, it’s a beautiful night. And the storm is past. It’s an absolutely perfect night for night swimming.”