Fatal Intentions

“Madeline, will you marry me?”

“Chance!  No!  You know better,” I hissed.  “We’ve had this discussion before!”

A few heads turned from diners at nearby tables, with sympathetic expressions for Chance.

“I know Madeline, I’m not trying to rush you.  But, I just love you so much.”

“You are trying to rush me and you know it.  Look Chance, lets table your proposal, then when, and if I’m interested in accepting it, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Ah, Madeline, why do you have to be so damn independent?  We make a great team.”

“I am not out to be a team, Chance.  Anyway, everything is going rather nicely between us, so why spoil it with a piece of paper?”

“I want you to be my wife.  I want to come home to you each night.  I want you in my bed every night.”

“Yeah, well I get the bed thing, you should have listed that first,” exasperated.

Thank goodness just then the first course arrived and the waiter refilled my champagne glass.    Tonight we were dining at a new restaurant called Pickled Pete’s.  Upscale, fine dining, white tablecloth, you get the picture.

Hi, I’m Madeline Fox.  I am a 37-year-old Interior Designer with a specialty in period furniture.  I live on the beach of the Pacific Ocean, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, in a 17 room, 70 windowed Victorian.  A turn-of-the century Victorian, that is.  I live here with my two girls, a 7-year-old, and a 3-year-old Shih-tzu.   They are Onyx and Emerald, respectively.

Chance Stoneworthy is a wealthy winery owner, and quite honestly, the most eligible bachelor in the county.  He lives in an 11,000 square foot house, high atop a hill, overlooking his hundreds of acres of vineyards. 

I have been seeing him for a while now.  After his wife left him over a year ago, he started seeing a woman named Connie Smith.  After turning down many invitations, I finally agreed to have an after dinner drink with him.  And so, the relationship ensued.  However, I knew nothing of this Connie Smith, nor of the way he unceremoniously dumped her for me.

So, she tried to kill me.  First by attacking me with a huge cleaver and leaving me for dead.  Then, after spending weeks of recovering in a hospital, she took her second shot at finishing me off by trying to shoot me, in my own house!

I am currently redecorating a guest cottage for Porsche Sterling and am having great fun with it.  I so often work with period pieces, that doing the cottage has been a breath of fresh air.  And, not to mention, I love nautical. 

The cottage is rather large compared to the normal bungalow.  It has two bedrooms, two baths and an eat-in kitchen.  She wants the works, including all new furniture, dishes, linens and accessories.

The cottage has a large fireplace that hasn’t been used in a while, so I have my chimney sweep, Mitch, owner of Sparky’s scheduled in first.  After that the painter’s I use, Smith Painting.  They consist of two brothers, Steve and Dean, and they’re the best in the business.  Then the cleaning crew, Dust Busters, will finish up.

It’s Saturday night, and early fall, September 24th.  Fall is my favorite time of the year, and Halloween is my favorite holiday!

“Madeline, what do you say we take a drive to Sonoma County tomo