When she returned to the house, Spencer was all dressed
and ready to go to dinner at the hotel. He was waiting down-
stairs wearing a clean shirt and pants, and she hated to
-inform him that their reservations weren't until six-thirty.
-But she was glad he was excited about going out. That
broken foot had slowed him down some, and as a result he'd
seemed to lack some of his normal youthful enthusiasm. But
just yesterday, Audrey had taken him in to get a walking cast
-put on his foot and now he was getting around quite well
compared to when he'd needed crutches. This alone had
greatly improved his disposition. Maggie hurried upstairs to
-clean up, and before too long they were all on their way to
dinner.
''Cindy said it's been pretty slow here,'' she told the
others as they walked down the sidewalk toward the hotel's
entrance, "but I made a reservation for us anyway."
"Yeah," said Leah. "Last week when Jed and I came here,
there were only a couple of other tables filled. I felt sorry for
Cindy. I mean, she has fresh flower arrangements on every
table. It seems such a waste."
Looking for YouAllMy Life119
"That's too bad," said Audrey as they stepped inside the
lovely foyer. "But, hey, it looks like they're busy tonight."
Maggie glanced around in surprise. Sure enough, the
restaurant was nearly full, and it looked as though even
Brian was helping to wait tables.
"What's up?" she asked Cindy after a short wait.
"Isn't this great? I think it's all due to that nice Cohn
Byers-he gave us some great free promotion at the end of
the meeting today. He mentioned what a fine hotel this was
and how the food here was really first-rate." Then she low-
ered her voice. "He even said we're comparable to some of
the five-star restaurants he's eaten at."
Maggie blinked. "Wow. That's high praise. Well, good for
you guys."
"Thanks. Now, right this way to your table."
As chance, or Cindy, would have it, their table was just
opposite where Cohn, Rick, Greg, and a couple of other men
were already seated. Maggie pasted a smile on her face and
nodded politely in their direction. Thankfully, Greg and Rick
said nothing, but she did notice Cohn smile and nod in
return.
"Don't look now," she spoke quietly after they were all
seated. "But that's the developer I told you about. He's Sit-
ting right next to Greg just across the way."
"I overheard what Cindy said about the little promotion
he gave them," said Audrey. "For a skunk of a developer, he
seems like a rather nice man.',
-"Unfortunately, he does come across extremely well. I
even found myself questioning whether I'd researched him
correctly or not. He is so smooth." Maggie glanced quickly