His Harbor Girl

by Rekha Ambardar

  HIS HARBOR GIRL

  by

  Rekha Ambardar

  WHISKEY CREEK PRESS

  www.whiskeycreekpress.com

  Published by

  WHISKEY CREEK PRESS

  Whiskey Creek Press

  PO Box 51052

  Casper, WY 82605-1052

  www.whiskeycreekpress.com

  Copyright  2004 by Rekha Ambardar

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  ISBN 1-59374-192-8

  Credits

  Cover Artist: Sahara Kelly

  Editor: Marsha Briscoe

  Printed in the United States of America

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  Dedication

  ~~To all my writer friends at Outreach International Romance Writers, whose many instances of inspirational support have helped me in the writing of this book.~~

  Chapter 1

  A jeans-clad figure filled the doorway. Only one man in the whole universe looked like that, stood like that, and regarded Leanna in that half-rakish, half-respectful way. And only one person had broken her heart.

  “Bryce!”

  Leanna steadied herself by pressing her palms flat on the glass surface of the case. If she were lucky, she’d still be able to conceal how the sight of him affected her. So many times she’d wondered what she’d do if he wandered through the door. Now, here he stood at The Tug, where a new inventory of quartz pendants on black silk cord kept her busy this morning.

  “What are you doing here, of all places?” She kept her voice low and steady, and even managed a smile, as if to say

  “no hard feelings.” They were two civilized people. At least, one of them was. She should be able to handle five years’

  absence since the last time they had been together.

  He moved closer for a second then stepped back. His glance took in her face and her cotton skirt and the near-transparent beige peasant blouse. Leanna flushed under his gaze.

  “I’m here to do a study of wolves on Benedict Island.

  Have you forgotten what I do for a living?”

  No, she hadn’t. She’d just never expected him to show up here.

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  His Harbor Girl

  He looked around the combination gift-and-supplies store with interest. Leanna concealed a grin as she took in what he saw. The pilothouse portion of it jutted out onto the lake, reminding amazed customers like him that this extraordinary structure was actually a boat. Its other end stood grounded in the sands with cement pads poured around it, the sides enveloped in walls so that it was still possible to see a clear line where they met the wall.

  “Doesn’t seem high enough for a boat.”

  “That’s because we had the bottom cut off with a commercial torch.” Leanna smiled at his disbelief. “The whole thing is just separate metal slabs welded together. You can cut off as many pieces of it as you want.”

  She watched him absorb the whiff of fresh paint that still lingered and dart a glance at the red-and-white inside that gave the whole structure a merry ambience. The boat’s anchor hung on the wall adjacent to the door, like a huge dangling pendant on a dowager’s necklace. Behind the counter on the wall, a miniature oil painting depicted The Tug in its previous lifetime as a boat in more somber colors—gray and dark green—serenely at anchor on a placid Lake Superior.

  Bryce let out a subdued breath. “Isn’t this just like you to open a store on a boat? In all the time I knew you, I never knew what you’d surprise me with next.” He stared at an arrangement of a stylized fishing net and shells hanging on another wall, and a telescope, set up on a stand in front of the window, was angled toward the lake.

  “The idea wasn’t mine. It was Dad’s. He was captain of this boat. When he retired, The Tug retired with him.”

  He looked around. “Small and compact.” He strolled to the far side of the store, where an addition had been built, and peered into the inner recesses.

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  “It extends to a studio apartment my father constructed.”

  She hung back and studied the man he’d become. The lanky, bleary-eyed student she’d loved had done a chameleon-like change into a muscular, well-built man. He was tanned from the outdoors and a red cotton bandana encircled his strong neck. His blond hair swept back from his forehead like an eagle’s wings in repose, and the deep tan of his lean features set off his light gray eyes. Now he’d walked back into her life.

  “Why here, Bryce?”

  He made a sharp half-turn at her question. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Out of all the places you could have gone to, why did you come here?” She busied herself with folding tissue paper at the counter. She had to calm her nerves, and at the same time, appear unconcerned.

  “You still manage to make your point. I’ll give you that.”

  He sounded amused. “To answer your question, I’m here for very professional reasons. We’re doing an ongoing study of wolves on Benedict Island. There’s been a decline in the population.”

  “And you didn’t know I was here.”

  “No, that’s not quite true.” Bryce traced the lines of a wooden, white-painted seagull set on one of the shelves alongside of him.

  Leanna looked at his hands, transfixed. Strong, gentle hands, she remembered.

  “I thought you might be here but wasn’t sure. You could have married. Did you?”

  The only man she’d ever wanted to marry stood in her store. But she couldn’t let herself fall for his charms a second time. Leanna toyed with one of several replies she could give as she came from behind the counter and leaned against it.

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  She folded her arms and let a few seconds go by before replying. “No, I’m not. And you?”

  “Me?” He stared down at the floor. For the first time since he came in, he avoided looking her in the eye. “I’m not married. Since you ran away without a word, there was no one who could fill your shoes. And it wasn’t for want of trying, believe me!”

  Leanna dropped her gaze and felt her stomach tighten.

  She could well believe that. There would have been hordes of women, given his charm; Bryce could turn it on. But she had to straighten out something first. “I had a good reason to leave.” Her voice shook.

  “And that’s just what you did.” His voice, deep and resonant, held the accusation of one who had been betrayed.

  “Without a word, or an address. I knew you’d be somewhere in Pelican Harbor or a town close-by.”

  Leanna stared at him. What would it take to make him understand the heartache of waiting endlessly for words that never came, moments stolen from a rival called work? She had made it easy for him, being there, a wife in every sense of the word, except in the legal one. “I wasn’t lost, Bryce. You were. In your work.”

  “After you left, I wished you’d told me...”

  “I did try to tell you, in so many ways. Only, you didn’t want to listen, or see what was happening.” She choked, making it difficult to get the words out. If only she could be anesthetized by some invisible power, instead of having to feel the pain.

  “We had good times together. Have you forgotten?”

  How
could she forget? How they’d sit by the pond, her head on his shoulders. The warm night air as they walked down the arboretum filled with the fragrance of petunias. A shiver ran through her and she bit her lip. “Yes, there were 4

  His Harbor Girl

  good times. But beyond that, you hardly noticed my presence.”

  “Not notice your presence! That was hardly likely when every guy on campus tried to date you. Not that I blamed them, brunette beauty that you are. Keeping the guys at bay was a full time job.” He took a step back and leaned against the opposite counter with the languid movements of a cougar.

  A glow of satisfaction swept through her but she tried to ignore it. As if a compliment carelessly given would wipe out the emptiness of those years of bringing up Kai, now four years old.

  The difficult questions Kai asked in her child’s voice had hurt. Where was Daddy? Did he go to work? Would he come back with presents? Then the slow realization he wasn’t ever coming back sank in. Finally, the questions stopped. In her happy, innocent way, she’d taken to talking to her stuffed toys.

  Leanna picked up a duster and wiped the glass cases as the early morning light poured through the windows. She didn’t want to have a customer walk in on a personal discussion between the owner and her former lover. Leanna shook her head; she didn’t know how to classify him now, ex-boyfriend or husband material. A dull knock hammered in the pit of her stomach. What a laugh! Bryce as husband material.

  Silence filled the empty space between them.

  “You have a store to run. Since I came to buy supplies I’ll pick up the things I need and get out of your way.” He found what he wanted and returned to the counter.

  Leanna rang up his items, put them in a white plastic bag and handed it to him.

  On his way out, Bryce stopped at a shelf holding an array of ceramic creations.

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  Special water carafes, soap dishes, muffin plates and flower pots fired in blue glaze and inscribed with the store’s name. “Very nice. Who makes these?”

  “Local artisans.” Why was he lingering? She clenched her teeth. It was just like Bryce to be obstinate. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  “Of course. But I hope you and I will run into each other sometime.”

  Would he stay long? She steeled herself from asking, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing her curiosity.

  “Are your parents well?” Interest marked Bryce’s question.

  “My mother died shortly after I came home.”

  A pause hung in the air as if waiting for a cue to vanish.

  Then he spoke. “I’m so very sorry.”

  “Thank you.” Many times, over the years, she’d longed to run into his arms and be comforted. But then she had to remind herself why she’d left—he’d never been there for her when she needed him. She’d struggled to get over the double loss of her mother and Bryce, and she’d done it. She felt stronger for it now.

  Leanna smiled. She wanted to part ways with him in good spirits. Whatever had happened in the past needn’t make her weepy now. She was over him, and not even seeing him after all these years would destroy the peace she’d found. If her stomach tightened at the sight of him, and she felt her throat close with tension, then that was to be expected. Beyond that Bryce didn’t have any power over her.

  “With research you’ll have your work cut out for you.

  And I have mine.” A subtle hint like that should keep him away. She’d be all right. She’d keep to her side of the lake and he could bury himself on Benedict Island doing his study.

  “I see that. You manage the store alone?”

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  “My dad helps me. He’s gone into town on an errand at the moment.” Her father had taken Kai into town to buy her a pair of beach sandals. Something prevented Leanna from mentioning Kai, a sort of vague superstition in her own mind.

  She threw a surreptitious glance at him as he stopped to examine a copper artifact. Kai. How long would it take him to figure out she was his child? Their child? She was tall for her age, but then so were both her parents. Kai’s hair was a rich brown, not the thick blond shock of hair Bryce kept pushing back sometimes in an impatient gesture. Nah, Leanna told herself, Kai was her own person, not a stamped variety of anyone. A sudden breath of relief escaped from her. She’d have to keep that realization in mind if ever the thought came galloping back to haunt her—whether Bryce would guess Kai was his daughter or not.

  The rumble of a car drifted in from the parking lot.

  Leanna turned her head, hearing female chatter as car doors slammed.

  As Bryce walked toward the door, it opened with the tinkle of a bell dangling above it.

  “Hello, Ida and Alice,” Leanna said to two ladies.

  “Good morning, ladies,” Bryce said. He held the door open. “Lovely day, isn’t it?”

  Leanna rolled her eyes, and watched him escort them in like prize debutantes. She turned to adjust a pewter candleholder on a shelf toward the back of the gift shop. Bryce seemed determined to charm his way in and out of Pelican Harbor. He still had his easy, friendly manner with people.

  So, she thought with a jolt, did Kai, who took to people quickly, offering them tokens like a bunch of flowers she’d just picked. Kai’s natural curiosity and interest in new things were something else that reminded her of Bryce. But then so 7

  His Harbor Girl

  did Leanna herself have these qualities; she was reading too much into everything she was seeing in Bryce.

  She gave herself a mental shake. She couldn’t deny the wariness she felt, coupled with the undeniable attraction. But the store and Kai were the most important things to her, and she’d see to it that it stayed that way. Bryce didn’t fit in the picture, not the way things stood between them.

  Still she could stand there watching him forever. But it was a workday, despite Bryce having dropped in from nowhere. She had to get a hold of herself and keep Bryce and Kai apart in her mind—for now.

  Bryce turned, waved, then sauntered out of the store.

  “Who was that young man?” Ida asked.

  “He’s a scientist who’s come to do research on Benedict Isle. He’s well known for his study on wolves. He’s even been on the evening news.”

  Leanna turned to the older of the two ladies. “Alice, thanks for helping with Kai so much. You really must let me pay you.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t take money. You, Chester and Kai are like family to me.”

  “That’s very sweet of you.”

  “It’s quite all right to need one another, dear.” Alice ran her fingers through her short, gray curls. She had a round, cherubic face and blinked constantly from behind thick glasses.

  Leanna remembered with fondness Alice and Gerald’s

  “adoption” of her, her dad and Kai when Leanna’s mother died. And when Gerald had died, she and her father had rallied round Alice. To their surprise, she had made a valiant recovery from grief.

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  “What’s the use of being glum?” Alice would say. “You wouldn’t have an ant’s chance if you didn’t pick yourself up and move on.”

  That seemed like sound advice to Leanna, who was still trying to get over her own loss.

  Ida busied herself going through the store. “I’m looking for a birthday present for my niece. You’ve got some really pretty things here.”

  “Thank you. Look around all you want and let me know when you find something.” The nervous excitement that Bryce had caused was gone now. She’d willed it away.

  Lately, the store had been taking in a good amount of money with the tourist season gradually approaching. Motor and sailboats were anchored at the pier. Recreational vehicles rolled in with visitors from Ontario and Lower Michigan to scout around for a suitable camping ground or just to enjoy the lakeside beauty of Pelican Harbor. Fat gulls strutted on the road, bleached white from the salt sprayed on it dur
ing winter, and waited expectantly for tourists and other pedestrians to throw breadcrumbs.

  Alice approached the counter, smiling with the elation of a party announcer. “Nolan Packard asked if I would pass on a message to you. He tried calling you.”

  “Oh?” Leanna had been introduced to him at the Chamber of Commerce office when she dropped off a few hand-printed brochures about The Tug. What could he have to say to her?

  Probably he was just looking for an excuse to ask her out. She hadn’t missed the look of admiration he had shot at her.

  Ida emerged from a corner, where she had been crouched looking at lacey scrimshaw work letter openers. “Isn’t he that developer?”

  “Yes.”

  After a few minutes of browsing, the ladies left.

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  A steady stream of customers kept Leanna busy at the cash register, which was good for business. She didn’t like the days when business dragged at a snail’s pace. On such days, she washed the windows and looked over the inventory to see if anything needed reordering.

  Toward noon, Leanna heard the sound of the back door opening and the heavy tread of hiking boots accompanied by the quicker sound of a child’s footsteps.

  “Hello!” A deep voice boomed with the authority of a foghorn making its presence known in pea soup fog.

  “Dad? In here.”

  A gruff, white-bearded man and a little girl clutching a parcel entered the store.

  “Did you have fun, baby?” Leanna smoothed away wisps of hair from Kai’s face with a tender touch and knelt down to unzip her mauve jacket.

  Kai nodded in reply, her curls bobbing. “Look what Gramps bought for me.” She sat on the floor and opened a small box to reveal a pair of sandals with a net-like plastic weave on top.

  “They’re lovely. Now you can wade in the shallow water when you go looking for starfish and colored agate.”