Met Her Match

by Jude Deveraux

  “Food!” she yelled.

  With a half grin, Nate nodded in understanding, dropped, then kicked the balls under the overhang of a building.

  “Funny!” she said as he got into the boat and she took off.

  The rain was coming down harder and Nate was getting drenched, but he held his face up to it and wiped his hands over his head. He was using it as a shower.

  “Get down!” Terri shouted.

  When it came to shouted warnings, Nate was well trained. Instantly, he flattened out, his chest on the wooden seats.

  Terri bent and the next second they went under a steel fence that stretched from one piece of land to another. She slowed the motor as they entered a narrow spit of water. On both sides were stairs leading to houses that could barely be seen through the pounding rain.

  As soon as she reached the dock, Nate got out and did a perfect cleat hitch to tie the boat in place.

  Terri followed him and they ran up the stairs.

  At the top was a house, all cedar and glass. Terri ran to a small porch, pulled a ring of keys from her pocket and unlocked the door.

  Inside, they stood in a puddle as she removed her slicker and hat. Nate was so wet he made her laugh. “Stay there and I’ll get you a towel.” She went down a hall.

  Nate remained by the door, but he could see through to the front with its big glass windows looking out at the water. The rain was beating down hard, making a misty fog that seemed to enclose them.

  The interior of the house was too “designed” for his taste. The part of the living room he could see had white couches and chairs, with white pillows that glistened like they were made of silk. It wasn’t the kind of room where you could drink beer and eat nachos with your friends while you watched a football game.

  “Here.” Terri held out a stack of clothing and towels. “These belong to Greg, who owns the house. He’s about a hundred pounds overweight so they should fit you.”

  “Was that a slam?”

  “Just a fact.” She was smiling. “Don’t take a step off the welcome mat. These floors are... I don’t know what they are, but I make sure they stay dry.”

  She was still holding the stack as Nate began to peel off his wet shirt. When his hard, flat stomach was exposed, she just stared.

  “Give me a hand, will you?” He was tangled in the wet cloth and it was stuck.

  She tossed the dry clothes to the floor, then reached up and pulled. When the neckline caught on his ears, they both worked on it and finally got the shirt off. Terri handed him the towel, then stood there watching him dry off.

  For a moment, their eyes met—and she could feel her face turn red. “Lunch,” she murmured and pointed to the room just off the entrance. “Kitchen.” She scurried away.

  Around the corner from him, she opened the freezer door. “Pizza okay? Miranda leaves a variety in here for me. Do you have any preference?” When she closed the freezer door she could see Nate’s reflection in the shiny surface.

  He had his back to her and he was peeling off his wet trousers. They landed on the mat. Then came his boxers. He stood up straight and was drying himself, lifting his legs to do his thighs.

  Terri could feel herself beginning to sweat. He had a truly magnificent body! Shoulders the width of half an oar, then down to a small waist. The curve of his behind was tight and high, topping thighs that were like tree trunks.

  When he started to turn in her direction, she nearly leaped toward the sink.

  “Just so the food has flavor,” Nate said as he pulled on the dry clothes. “Why does someone leave food for you here when you live just a few feet away?” Nate was standing behind her. “Are you okay? You’re shaking.”

  “Just got cold from the rain, I guess.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward the living room. “Go sit down and I’ll stick a pizza or two in the oven. What about wine?”

  “Can’t. I have to work later.”

  Nate nodded toward the windows. “This isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Let’s have lunch and you can tell me all about this place.”

  “Love to,” she said as she sat down on a white chair. She didn’t dare put her shoes on the ottoman for fear of getting it dirty. She could hear him in the kitchen. “The Kissels—”

  “No,” Nate said. “I want to know about you and the present. It was good to finally meet your dad.”

  Terri laughed. “He loves you. Really. He asked me how much you’d charge to work here full-time. He and Uncle Frank—”

  “And he is?”

  “The sheriff. Remember I told you that Dad first came to Summer Hill to visit an army buddy?”

  “And they were going into business together.” Nate handed her a glass of cold white wine. “There’s red if you want it.”

  Terri hesitated, but she took it. “This is good, thanks.” She was watching Nate as he looked from one white piece of furniture to another.

  “I’m afraid to sit down.”

  “You have Greg’s clothes on, so I think you’re safe.”

  “Good point.” He sat on the couch, but didn’t lean back and he kept his drink on the all-glass coffee table. “Is the sheriff the buddy?”

  “No. That was Jake.” Her voice lowered. “He and Dad were great partners and worked well together. We were all shocked when he suddenly died just as I graduated from college.”

  “Ah.” Nate seemed to be searching her eyes. “What plans of your own did his death force you to give up?”

  Terri shook her head in wonder at his keen perception. “All of it. Everything. I was going to go through Europe with some girlfriends. Europe on two cents a day, that sort of thing. We were going to have wild affairs and...” She shrugged. “Dad needed me, so I returned. What about you? How’d you get involved with Kit?”

  Nate ignored her subject-changing question. “How’s the sheriff connected to your dad’s partner?”

  “Frank Cannon was Uncle Jake’s bad boy little brother. He was always getting into trouble. When I was a kid I thought Uncle Frank was wonderfully exciting. But Dad and Uncle Jake were always threatening to murder him if he didn’t straighten up. Finally, Uncle Jake said that since Frank knew so much about criminals, he should try to catch them. For once Uncle Frank listened and now he’s the sheriff of Summer Hill.”

  “How did he—”

  “Oh no, you don’t. It’s your turn. Tell me about your years with Kit Montgomery.”

  Nate started to speak but the timer went off for the pizzas and he got up. “Shall we go to the dining room?”

  “They have a rug in there that costs more than I made last year.”

  They looked at each other and when a flash of lightning lit the room, they smiled. “I’ll get the towels,” Terri said and ran down the hall.

  By silent agreement, they had decided to eat while sitting by the windows and looking out. They’d have to move some furniture and they’d have to cover the white upholstery in case food was dropped, but they could enjoy the storm.

  When Terri returned with an armload of towels, Nate had moved two chairs in front of the big window. Terri covered the pristine surfaces while he sliced the first pizza.

  Minutes later, they were seated in front of the window. The lights were off so there was only the hazy gray of the rain. They set their wineglasses on the sill, their plates on their laps.

  “So tell me all,” Terri said. “Start when you went back to Dartmouth and majored in something besides beer. What I want to know is why you chose business. From what I’ve seen, you’re not a person who sits still.”

  “Was that a compliment? I’m the guy you have to babysit. Remember? I squeal at live bait. I only eat off fine china. Never been on a boat that didn’t have a crew. I—”

  “But I was right on most of it. Are you going to tell me about Kit or just whine that I
misjudged little ol’ you? And by the way, I got the rugby smack on.”

  Nate grinned. “You got a lot of it right. I majored in business because I have a natural aptitude for it. Ask me to add, subtract, multiply something.”

  “Okay—2,782 times 671.”

  “Mmm, 1,866,722.”

  “I’m impressed. I guess. If you’re right.”

  “I am,” he said, his mouth full. “How many houses do you look after and do they all leave food for you?”

  “I look after many of them, but only about eighteen or twenty at a time. A lot of people leave things for me. It’s an enticement. A bribe to get me to spend time in their house. Empty houses get into trouble. A couple of years ago some of the kids who work here during the summer got hold of the keys and began using the cabins for...uh, parties.”

  “That ol’ sex thing again, huh?”

  “That’s right. If you’re so good at math, what made you run away with Kit?”

  He looked out the window for a moment. “I think it was my mother introducing me to a very pretty girl.” He looked at her. “You ever have one of those moments when you can see the world with crystal clarity?”

  “Yeah. At Uncle Jake’s funeral. When I saw my father crying and saying he couldn’t run this place alone, I knew what I had to do.”

  Nodding, Nate looked back out the window. “That’s exactly how I felt. I could see my future. I looked into that girl’s eyes and I saw everything. I would go into business with my uncles, and in a couple of years I’d marry the girl standing in front of me. I could see three kids—it was like I even knew their names.” He took a breath. “I panicked. I don’t know why. It wasn’t as though what I envisioned was awful. It just seemed like the end. I threw some clothes in a bag and flew to Maine to be with my Montgomery cousins. They always seem to be sure of what they want to do in life, so I hoped some of it would rub off on me.” Nate was silent as he looked at the rain.

  “I take it that being there didn’t help you to decide.”

  “No.” Nate gave a low chuckle. “But then, Uncle Kit arrived. All of us—kids and adults alike—were in awe of him. For all that he was part of the family, none of us knew much about him. We used to make up things, like how he was the prototype for James Bond, that sort of thing.”

  “I can believe that,” Terri said. “Does he ever slump?”

  “No, never. No matter how tired he is or how defeated, he carries himself in a way that makes people follow him, believe in him.” There was awe in Nate’s voice.

  He picked up another slice of pizza. “I’d been there about a week when one day we were in the big living room of the old Montgomery house watching some football game and arguing over who should win. But I was standing against a wall, my mind full of the question of what I was going to do with my life. Kit came in, looked around and stopped at me. He said, ‘Come with me.’ I followed him outside and...” Nate shrugged. “He asked if I’d like to work for him. Even now, I’m astonished that I didn’t hesitate for a second. I said yes. The next day we took off in a government helicopter.”

  “And you stayed with him for twelve years.”

  “Yes. Technically, I worked for the CIA, but actually, I was Kit’s...”

  “Assistant?”

  “Yeah, right. I was his whatever he needed. Bodyguard, human calendar, the buffer between his temper and people who wanted to remove his head. We went everywhere. We stayed in five-star hotels and in tents full of scorpions.”

  “I can tell that you hated every minute of it.” Terri was smiling.

  Nate’s eyes took on a faraway look. “I liked the people. We met some so rich they thought they were gods—and others who were so poor they were starving.”

  “And you got along with all of them,” Terri said.

  “More or less. But I had to learn how. Kit has a ferocious temper and he hates stupidity. And trust me, we saw a lot of that!”

  “But then, Kit retired. Why didn’t you stay on?”

  Nate took his time answering. “I’ve never said this before, but Kit hurt my feelings. Injured my ego. He’d never mentioned retiring. We were in the desert, sitting by a campfire, and he told me he was going to retire and go to Summer Hill, Virginia, to get the woman he loved. In all our years together, I’d never heard of the town or the woman. I knew his ex-wife, but their relationship was more rage than love.”

  He took a deep drink of his wine. “One thing about Kit is that when he makes up his mind, he doesn’t change it. Just six weeks later, he was out of the service and I was left behind.”

  “How did you do without him?”

  Nate laughed. “Since most of the things he and I did were...how do I say this?...off the radar, my record was very tame. No one knew what to do with me, but since I had a business degree, I was given a desk job.” He grimaced. “I was put to the task of dealing with big financial accounts.”

  “So you were back where you started.”

  “It was like my years of following my uncle around the world had never happened. They all thought I’d been Kit’s secretary. They’d dump papers on my desk and give a couple of taps and say, ‘Need it by Thursday.’ At one point I ripped my shirt open and showed the scars of three bullet wounds that I got when Kit decided to get involved in a tribal war. But my official record said that when that happened, I was on recreational leave. I’d actually been in a hospital fighting for my life. Kit’s blasted secrecy had been carried through into my record.”

  “And then you met Stacy.”

  “Yes. Kit met her in Summer Hill and got her to go to DC. He wanted her to meet his son.” A muscle in Nate’s jaw began to clench. “You know how it is. Blood is thicker than water. I walked into firing rifles in front of that man, but when it came to introducing pretty girls, he only wanted his son. But Rowan was fed up with his dad playing matchmaker, so he invited me to go to dinner with them.”

  “And you and Stacy fell for each other.”

  “It wasn’t difficult since Rowan was on his cell most of the meal. I knew that first night that Stacy was exactly what I’d missed out on. I was thirty-three years old and every cousin my age, every guy I went to school with, was married and had at least one kid.”

  “And even Kit had left you for a girl.”

  Nate grinned. “Right. I left the service. I didn’t look back. I had to endure lectures about ruining my record, about losing my pension, all of it. But I’d made up my mind.”

  “Like Kit,” Terri said.

  “I guess so. But it was really Stacy who made me decide. She’s pretty and educated and talented and...” He shrugged. “You know her so you understand.”

  “So that’s what you’re going to do with your life? Marry Stacy, have kids and open a financial office in Summer Hill?”

  “You make it sound boring, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do. My uncles, Mike and Kane, are geniuses with money, and I’m going to start a branch management firm. I’m going to help people prepare for retirement, that sort of thing.”

  “That sounds like an excellent plan. Well thought out and sensible.”

  Nate looked at her, trying to see if she was being sarcastic or not, but he couldn’t tell.

  She smiled at him. “If you don’t like that work, Dad will give you a job at the lake. In fact, I’m sure he’d let you run the whole place. He and Elaine could go travel and see the world.”

  Nate was watching her as she kept her eyes straight ahead, but he couldn’t tell if she was serious or joking. He decided to go the lighter way. “Would I have to get my real estate license?”

  Terri grinned. “Oh yeah. That’s a big part of the job. Showing houses to clients and hearing them complain that everything is wet. You get to explain that lakes are liquid.” She turned to him. “Is Stacy a water person?”

  “I don’t know. I never asked her. We lived in an apartmen
t in DC and she liked it. She used the pool a few times.”

  “That’s good for you,” she said. “I wish you all the best the world has to offer.” The words came out with more feeling than she meant to expose. She could feel Nate looking at her.

  “What about you?” he asked. “You have a plan for your life?”

  “Oh sure.” There was laughter in her voice. “Someday I’ll take over for Dad, my hair will turn gray and I’ll be seventy and showing lawyers and trophy wives how to bait hooks. And cleaning up beaches of naughty bits.”

  Nate didn’t laugh but kept looking at her profile.

  Terri turned toward him, but she didn’t meet his eyes. “You finished? I need to get back to work.”

  It was still raining hard. Nate got up, empty plate and glass in hand. “What do we do next?”

  She stood up. “I need to check on the cabins. You can... You’re a guest here. Go enjoy yourself. I’m sure there are people in the clubhouse.”

  “I could have an exciting game of pinochle.”

  “Are you kidding? The Player wives are into strip poker.”

  “Hedonistic place, isn’t it?”

  “Not on my part,” she said, then started to correct herself. She didn’t want to sound like some lonely heart. “At least not when the Turner Twins aren’t here.” She had the satisfaction of seeing Nate blink. As she headed for the kitchen, she turned so he wouldn’t see her smile.

  “I’ll go with you,” he said as he washed their dishes and left them on the stainless steel rack to drain.

  “Checking cabins is no fun.” She couldn’t suppress the hope in her voice. “It’s dull work. And this rain isn’t going to stop.”

  “When you’re on a camel in the desert and the sun is trying to sizzle your brain, you dream of rain like this.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re scared that if you don’t go with me, Dad will ask you to do something awful, and you’re afraid of the women playing strip poker. You’re using your travels to make me take you with me, aren’t you?”