The problem was Caroline. Jamie would rather die than hurt her mother, and this would hurt.
She gave it a final shot. “And even aside from the Mom issue, I don’t have time. The host of the show does a ton of behind-the-scenes work, but I’m already in over my head.” There were currently three licensed architects in MacAfee’s design department, but their head architect, Jamie’s mentor, was finally retiring after threatening it for years and had bequeathed his major projects to Jamie. “We’re talking ten private homes, a library, two office buildings, two banks, the spring Gut It! project, for goodness sake, and that’s not counting anything the Weymouth property may produce—and then there’s planning what I’m supposed to be saying on air this fall about the design plans alone.”
“You always do great on tape days.”
“Because Mom leads. She sets the tone and asks the questions. Mom is perfect for this job. I am not.”
Roy drained his coffee, set down the mug, and sat back. “If it’s not you, it’ll be someone else. Like I said, it’s a done deal.”
“For fall? Can’t they wait another season or two?”
“Ratings don’t wait. Consider that redheaded Barth over there. If he ratchets up the competition, we may need all the help we can get. Do you want MacAfee Homes to fall behind?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “Claire’s calling Caroline later to arrange a meeting.”
Jamie sat back. “Please, not today.”
“It has to be soon. Brian and Claire want this sewn up so that they can start putting together promo material. You know your mother best. What approach should Claire take?”
Jamie also knew her father. When his sentences came short and as fast as they did now, he was immoveable. Oh yes, the decision had been made, and it infuriated her.
She wasn’t impulsive. She was a thinker, a studier, a strategizer. But her parents were her weakness, and what he proposed was untenable.
That was why, without thinking beyond the moment, she said something she would come to regret.
“I’ll tell Mom.”
BARBARA DELINSKY is a New York Times bestselling author with more than 30 million copies of her books in print. She has been published in twenty-eight languages worldwide. A lifelong New Englander, Delinsky earned a B.A. in psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in sociology at Boston College. Delinsky loves knitting, photography, and cats. She lives in Massachusetts. Visit her on the Web at www.barbaradelinsky.com. Or sign up for email updates here.
Also available from St. Martin’s Press:
Sweet Salt Air
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Author Intro
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Blueprints Teaser
About the Author
Also available from St. Martin’s Press
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
COMMITMENTS. Copyright © 1988 by Barbara Delinsky.
Excerpt from Blueprints copyright © 2015 by Barbara Delinsky.
Cover for Commitments: © Christin Lola / shutterstock
Cover for Blueprints:
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover photograph of ladder © Ojo Images/Getty Images; blueprint © Comstock/Getty Images
Cover hand lettering by Iskra Design
Author photo © Kerry Brett
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eISBN 9781466853935
First eBook Edition: May 2015