Sentimental Journey

by Janet Dailey

  Sentimental Journey

  Janet Dailey

  An [ e - reads ] Book

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, scanning or any information storage retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing from the Author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 1979 by Janet Dailey

  First e-reads publication 1999

  www.e-reads.com

  ISBN 0-7592-0159-5

  Author Biography

  Janet Dailey was born Janet Haradon in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa. She attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances.

  In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin, her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED. She has since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on The New York Times bestseller list. She has won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three-hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.

  Other works in Janet Dailey's Americana Series also available in e-reads editions

  Dangerous Masquerade

  Northern Magic

  Sonora Sundown

  Valley of the Vapours

  Fire and Ice

  After the Storm

  Difficult Decision

  The Matchmakers

  Southern Nights

  Night of the Cotillion

  Kona Winds

  The Travelling Kind

  A Lyon's Share

  The Indy Man

  The Homeplace

  The Mating Season

  Bluegrass King

  The Bride of the Delta Queen

  Summer Mahogany

  Bed of Grass

  That Boston Man

  Enemy in Camp

  Giant of Mesabi

  A Tradition of Pride

  Show Me

  Big Sky Country

  Bossman from Ogallala

  Reilly's Woman

  Heart of Stone

  One of the Boys

  Land of Enchantment

  Beware of the Stranger

  That Carolina Summer

  Lord of the High Lonesome

  The Widow and the Wastrel

  Six White Horses

  To Tell the Truth

  The Thawing of Mara

  Strange Bedfellow

  Low Country Liar

  Dakota Dreamin'

  Savage Land

  A Land Called Deseret

  Green Mountain Man

  Tidewater Lover

  For Mike's Sake

  Wild and Wonderful

  Withe A Little Luck

  Darling Jenny

  Preface

  When I first started writing back in the Seventies, my husband Bill and I were retired and traveling all over the States with our home—a 34' travel trailer—in tow. That's when Bill came up with the great idea of my writing a romance novel set in each one of our fifty states. It was an idea I ultimately accomplished before switching to mainstream fiction and hitting all the international bestseller lists.

  As we were preparing to reissue these early titles, I initially planned to update them all—modernize them, so to speak, and bring them into the new high-tech age. Then I realized I couldn't do that successfully any more than I could take a dress from the Seventies and redesign it into one that would look as if it were made yesterday. That's when I saw that the true charm of these novels is their look back on another time and another age. Over the years, they have become historical novels, however recent the history. When you read them yourself, I know you will feel the same.

  So, enjoy, and happy reading to all!

  Introduction

  Introducing Janet Dailey's AMERICANA. Every novel in this collection is your passport to a romantic tour of the United States through time-honored favorites by America's First Lady of romance fiction. Each of the fifty novels is set in a different state, researched by Janet and her husband, Bill. For the Daileys it was an odyssey of discovery. For you, it's the journey of a lifetime.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Sentimental Journey

  Chapter One

  OVERHEAD, THE SUN WAS BRIGHT with the promise of spring. Its direct rays were warming, but the nipping north wind retained the cool breath of winter. A sudden gust whipped dust into an eddy and sent it whirling across the busy intersection, sweeping the street and bouncing off traffic.

  Jessica Thorne strolled along the sidewalk, glancing into store windows, her hunter-green coat unbuttoned to the brisk air. She adjusted the shoulder strap of her handbag and slipped her hand back into her coat pocket. The teasing wind mussed the waving wing of silky blond hair at her temple, but Jessica made no attempt to smooth it into place. There would be time enough to freshen up when she returned to the office.

  A twinge of restlessness swung her gaze to the Tennessee hills rising around Chattanooga. Evidence of spring was visible in the delicate shading of green on the hillside—new leaves, new grass, new life. Soon the dogwood and rosebud would be blooming. The knowledge shadowed the already dark green of her eyes. But Jessica was unaware of it and would have been at a loss to explain why it should.

  Her shoulder brushed against a passerby, returning her attention swiftly to her surroundings. "Excuse me," she murmured in apology, but the woman was already several steps beyond her and didn't hear.

  The traffic light at the intersection was green. Jessica quickened her pace to catch the light. As she reached the crosswalk, it turned to amber, Don't Walk flashing beneath it. Traffic surged forward and she had to wait with the other pedestrians on the curb.

  A man stood beside her. His imposing height attracted her glance. Coatless against the invigorating weather, he wore a dark business suit and tie. When Jessica would have looked away, the breeze ruffled the sable black mane of hair. A memory clicked in her mind, elusive yet strong.

  Her gaze sharpened on his craggy profile. There was a quality of toughness in his lean, hard features that was familiar. Jessica was certain that she knew him, but she couldn't place where or how. He wasn't the kind of man a person could easily forget, which made it all the more confusing.

  The man was someone from the past. Time had etched lines around his eyes and mouth, hinting that his age was in the middle thirties. That eliminated the possibility that he was someone she had gone to school with, since she was only twenty-three.

  Perhaps the clothing or environment was wrong. The dark suit was hand tailored, the material expensive. He wore it with an ease that indicated that he was accustomed to such clothing, yet Jessica had the distinct feeling he had not been wearing such attire whenever she had met him. What had he worn? A uniform? The answer eluded her.

  Becoming aware of her scrutiny, the man glanced at her. His eyes were a shattering blue, narrowed to have the piercing effect of a hard blue diamond. The look was familiar, but Jessica e
xperienced a sense of unease that bordered on fear. She felt her pulse fluttering in alarm. The impulse was strong to look away, to avoid any further contact with the man.

  She was stopped from obeying it by the recognition that flickered uncertainly across his face. His raking gaze made a swift, piercing study of her, noting her honey-colored hair and the clouded green of her eyes. So thorough was the inspection that Jessica had the sensation that her coat was stripped away to allow him to examine the slender curves of her figure.

  Dark eyebrows drew together in a frown. "Do I know you?"

  The voice fitted the man, low pitched and demanding in its curiousness. It struck a familiar chord, but Jessica still could not remember his name.

  The shake of her head was more uncertain than negative. "I'm not sure."

  "That voice." He paused and seemed to search his memory while his gaze never left her face. "My God!" Recognition glittered in the hard blue eyes, tempered with a hint of skepticism. "Can it be? Jordanna?"

  "Jordanna is my sister." Eight years older than Jessica, there was a similarity between the sisters despite the age difference. Besides, all the Thornes had blond hair and either green or blue eyes.

  "Of course." His mouth quirked at the corners in self-derisive amusement. "I should have realized you're too young to be Jordanna. You're about the same age Jordanna was when I left. I guess I didn't make allowances for the amount of time that's passed."

  Neither noticed the traffic light change, but as the other people at the curb brushed past them to enter the crosswalk, they became aware of the fact. His hand cupped Jessica's elbow to guide her across. The strong, firm grip of his hand sent a tremor of unease through her. The physical contact increased the feeling that she should stay clear of him.

  As he escorted her across the intersection, Jessica was still no nearer to remembering who he was. She had searched her memory, trying to recall the men her older sister had dated. None seemed to resemble the man striding beside her.

  Stealing a glance at him, Jessica could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. For an instant, there was a cunning look about him. The thought leaped into her mind that, ultimately, he would always get what he wanted. It didn't seem to bode well.

  Safely across the street, he stopped, his hand halting her. "What a small world it is!" His lazy smile looked pleased. "Almost my very first day back, I meet a Thorne. It's an amazing coincidence."

  "Yes," Jessica agreed, although she didn't know why it was. "Were you a friend of my sister's?"

  "A friend?" he repeated with a faintly cynical gleam. "No, I wasn't a friend. I had met your sister, but we never reached the stage of knowing each other well, through no fault of mine."

  Jessica was intrigued by his answer. She didn't know what it meant—whether her sister had not wanted to get to know him better or whether her sister was too complicated to know well. She would have pursued the subject, but he changed it.

  "Where is Jordanna now? Married, I suppose."

  "Yes, she is. She has two children, a boy and a girl. She and her husband live in Florida."

  He removed his hand from her arm and Jessica breathed a silent sigh of relief, as if she were once again in full possession of herself. He slipped both hands into the pockets of his slacks, a seeming concession to the brisk air except that his suit jacket was pushed open. The thin material of his shirt covered the muscular wall of his chest down to the trimness of his waist and fiat stomach.

  When Jessica had first noticed him standing at the crosswalk, there had been an impression of a man on his way somewhere. Now he seemed prepared to stand on the street corner and chat away the day. It was a confusing reversal.

  "What about your parents? They're well, I hope," he commented.

  Did he know them, too? "Yes. Daddy retired two years ago. They moved to Florida so mother could be near the grandchildren." Jessica wondered if she should be telling him all this. She didn't even know him. Of course, there was a lot he seemed to know already.

  "And your brother, did he get his degree from Harvard?" There was something cynical, almost sardonic, in the question.

  "Yes. He joined a law firm in Memphis. He's doing quite well." Jessica found herself defending her older brother. She thought she had detected a note of sarcasm when the man had referred to Harvard and it irritated her.

  "A Thorne couldn't do any less than very well for himself." The man smiled cruelly When he said it, and behind the joking response, Jessica suspected a taunt. "I never did ask—did Jordanna marry that wealthy Radford man?"

  "As a matter of fact, she did, but money had nothing to do with her choice." Jessica bristled. "She happens to love Tom."

  "Did I imply otherwise?" He seemed genuinely taken aback by the suggestion. "I apologize for my choice of adjectives to describe Radford. I meant nothing by it."

  Was he sincere or merely acting? Jessica couldn't tell. She had been anticipating that he would introduce himself, but obviously he wasn't going to.

  "I'm afraid I can't place you." She forced him to make an introduction. "You do look familiar, but…"

  "I doubt that we've met before," he said, not at all disconcerted. He withdrew his hand from his pants pocket and offered it to her. "The name is Hayes, Brodie Hayes." His name brought her memory of him into clear focus and a chili shivered down her spine. "You're Jordanna's sister, but I don't know your name."

  Shock at his identity had whitened her face. Through the tightness in her throat, she squeezed out the answer, "Jessica."

  Automatically she reached to shake his hand. The instant contact was made, warm skin against warm skin, she pulled her hand free.

  Brodie Hayes! Her disbelieving eyes swept over the expensive clothes he wore, the fine leather shoes visible beneath the precise crease of his trousers, and the large diamond ring on his finger. Only after these changes were noted did her gaze return to see the bemused and mocking look on his rawly masculine features.

  "You do remember me, don't you?" he said.

  "I've heard about you." Jessica recovered some of her poise. "I believe I saw you once or twice."

  "I vaguely remember that Jordanna had a little sister?" Brodie Hayes admitted. "A cute little thing with braces on her teeth."

  Jessica didn't smile, nor attempt in any way to reveal the perfect set of white teeth. "You seem to have done very well for yourself, Mr. Hayes," she commented a trifle frigidly.

  "Brodie," he corrected, and glanced down at his suit, giving the impression that its cost was of little importance. "I've come a long way from the poor boy who lived on the wrong side of the tracks."

  A long way, Jessica agreed silently. He was a rough diamond that had been cut and polished into an expensive gem. But the outer look didn't change the fact that inside he was still that hard, rough diamond capable of cutting through anything.

  Finally Jessica obeyed the impulse that had become embedded in her mind from the first moment he had looked at her. "I know I must be keeping you from something important. It was nice seeing you again."

  Before she could take a step away, he was speaking. "You're not keeping me from anything." Brodie Hayes disposed of that excuse.

  "Surely you must have some old friends you want to look up," she insisted.

  "My old friends?" He seemed to consider the idea with bitter regret. "Unfortunately they wouldn't feel comfortable with me anymore. That's one of the prices you pay when you climb the ladder, Jessica. You leave people behind. It isn't often that you can help them come up with you."

  "If they're your friends—" Jessica started to protest.

  "If you meet someone you haven't seen in years and if that person has made a success of himself while you're still struggling to make ends meet, you get the feeling you're a failure, whether you are or not. It's not a feeling many people want to experience, however much they may like the other person," Brodie reasoned with unquestionable logic and the bitter taste of experience.

  "I suppose you're right," she conceded, and glan
ced pointedly at her watch.

  Brodie took the hint. "Am I keeping you from an appointment?"

  "I've reached the end of my lunch hour. I have to be back to work in a few minutes." Actually she had plenty of time to spare, but common sense demanded she spend no more time in his company.

  "You're a working girl, then, not a lady of leisure." He seemed mildly surprised by the discovery, as if he had expected her parents' wealth was a reason for her to be idle.

  "Living the life of leisure can be boring. Perhaps you haven't reached the point where you've discovered that yet." This time it was she who was faintly acerbic in her response.

  Brodie Hayes seemed to find it amusing. His mouth remained in its half-curved line, but there was a sparkle of mocking laughter in his hard eyes. It didn't endear him to Jessica.

  "Perhaps I haven't," he agreed.

  "It was nice seeing you again." She repeated her earlier exit line with the same result as the last time.

  "Have dinner with me this evening," Brodie invited before she could move away. "Your husband is welcome to join us."

  "I'm not married," Jessica answered, then realized she had fallen for an old gambit.

  "Your boyfriend, then. You do have one?" His skimming look seemed to say any woman as attractive as Jessica had to have a boyfriend or there was something wrong with her.

  "Thank you, but I'm afraid I can't accept," she refused as graciously as her clenched jaw would permit, and purposefully adjusted the strap of her shoulder bag.

  "Please reconsider." His slow smile was packed with compelling male charm. Jessica was aware of its potency and wavered under its spell. Only it frigid woman could be immune to it, and she was definitely not frigid. "Take pity on a lonely man who's tired of eating his meals by himself."

  "If you eat alone, I'm sure it's by choice. There are probably any number of people who would be delighted to join you." She felt a drawing fascination and fought it vigorously as she discounted his appeal.

  "My dinner companions generally want to discuss business or money, directly or indirectly." Brodie Hayes didn't deny her allegation. "Yours is the first remotely familiar face I've seen since I returned. I'm a stranger returning home to find no one here to welcome me. I would like to spend an evening with you, reminiscing about old times."