“Yes, Jaye, good seeing you and I’m glad you could drop by. How’s your father?”
“He’s doing well.”
Lester was confined to a wheelchair these days after an auto accident had left him paralyzed. He had been drinking and lost control of the vehicle. The embarrassing thing about it was that he hadn’t been alone. A woman, probably his flavor for the evening, had been killed instantly.
“That’s good.” Karen paused a moment and then said, “The reason I wanted to meet with you was to hire you. I need you to find out something for me. And it’s information that I’d rather not use any of the local agencies to uncover.”
“And what information is that?”
She was trying to get a feel for him and couldn’t. She needed someone she could trust to keep her secrets, and who’d do what they were told without asking questions. She decided to take a chance since she was somewhat desperate at this point. Erica’s wedding was in three months.
“As you know, Erica is getting married in August. I’m also sure you’ve heard that I am totally against the marriage. Although the man is a successful attorney in Texas, I don’t think he is good enough for my daughter. It was always my dream that she find a good man here in Hattersville.”
Jaye didn’t say anything for a minute and then asked, “What is it that you want me to do for you?”
She lowered her guard somewhat. “It’s my belief that most men have a past they prefer not revealing. I want you to find Brian Lawson’s before the wedding.”
“And you think there’s something in his past that will be severe enough for Erica to call off the wedding?”
“I’m hoping so. It’s obvious he might have once been a ladies’ man. I’d like to find out about one or two of these ladies. See if they’re really out of his life completely.” She met his gaze and then added, “And even if they are, I want to know if—for a price—they are willing to return to stir up some trouble.”
Jaye Pittman didn’t say anything for a moment, but from the look in his eyes, she knew he had understood fully what she was asking of him. He leaned back in his chair as if to consider her business proposition. Then he asked, “And you’re willing to go that far to make sure a wedding doesn’t take place?”
She didn’t hesitate in responding. “Yes.”
He nodded his approval and smiled. “In that case, you have the right man for the job.”
Chapter Seven
“Excuse me, but do you have any idea how much longer my flight will be delayed?” Rita Lawson asked the agent behind the customer service counter. She had been in Sweden for two weeks and had rushed to the airport for her flight home, only to be told of a delay.
“No, sorry,” the woman said in a thick Swedish accent. “All the flights have been delayed as a result of the volcanic ash from Iceland.”
Rita nodded. She recalled the same thing happening once before. Airlines couldn’t risk the possibility of engine failure if they were to fly through the ash. “When will we know something?”
“Not sure, but we will keep you informed of any updates. Here is a courtesy coupon for the restaurant on the next floor.”
Rita drew in a deep breath. She didn’t want a courtesy coupon; she wanted to go home. Although she always enjoyed her business trips here, she couldn’t wait to get home and see Brian’s smile for herself now that he knew about the trust fund. She had heard it in his voice when he’d called her earlier in the week but she needed to see it.
After Patrick died, she had made Brian her entire life. It was only after he’d left home for college that she’d decided to get a life of her own and further her education. She’d gotten a bachelor’s degree while attending Tuskegee University, where she’d met Patrick, and had decided to go to grad school when Brian left home for college. She used that master’s degree to get her current position of landscape architect and she enjoyed traveling all over the world.
And now with Brian getting married in a few months, she was glad she wasn’t one of those parents who built her life around her child. She loved him with every breath in her body, but had accepted he had his own life to live and she had hers.
She smiled thinking of the woman her son would marry. Brian loved Erica deeply and, after having met Erica and spent time with her, Rita knew in her heart that Erica Sanders was the woman who would make her son happy. And, she thought as she walked away from the customer service counter, although it might be a wee bit too early to think about, she was looking forward to the day when she would become a grandmother.
After stepping off the escalator, she glanced down at the meal voucher she’d been given and decided to get something to eat.
It seemed to take her forever to go through the line for her food order, but she occupied her mind. At some point she needed to let Brian know of the delay, since he would be picking her up from the airport. Normally, she would leave her car parked at the airport but she had decided to have the vehicle’s yearly service-check performed during the two weeks she was away.
Finally she got her food and, holding her tray firmly in her hand, she glanced around and saw an empty table. She quickly headed toward it. At least she had a good book to read while she waited.
She had settled at the table when she felt a presence next to her. She glanced up. Rita couldn’t help the smile that touched her lips when she recognized the individual. “Wilson!”
He chuckled. “Yes, and I’m glad to see a familiar face among these bodies of disgruntled flyers. May I join you?”
“Of course.” Rita couldn’t contain her excitement at seeing him and didn’t question why she felt good about it. He’d mentioned at the engagement party that, like her, he traveled internationally quite a bit, but what were the chances of them running into each other during one of those times?
“You’ve been in Sweden?” she asked, watching him pull out a chair to sit down. Although she knew it wasn’t possible, he seemed taller today than the last time she’d seen him.
“I had business to take care of in Finland and for some reason I had a connecting flight here. What about you? Have you been in Sweden?”
“I’ve been here for two weeks. In fact I arrived here a week after the engagement party.”
He nodded as his smile broadened. “I understand that Brian made partner at the law firm he works for. Erica called and told me. That’s a wonderful accomplishment. You have to be proud of him.”
Rita could feel herself beaming. “I am. He’s worked hard and deserves it. Erica’s going to Dallas this weekend to help him celebrate.”
“Yes, that’s what she told me.”
She glanced over at his plate and saw the muffin that he would occasionally munch on while sipping his coffee. “That’s all you’re having?”
“Yes. I’m not a big eater.”
“Yes, but there’s no telling how much longer we’ll be stuck here so you might as well endure it on a full stomach.”
His smile deepened and she could see that he had dimples in the same place on his face as Erica. And she couldn’t help noticing how totally masculine his facial features were. He was definitely a handsome man and his pleasant attitude and disposition made him even more so. If she were to guess she would say he was just a few years older than she, which would put him in his late fifties.
“I’m hoping it’s not much longer, but even so, it’s not going to be too bad now that I have such nice company.”
She accepted his words as a compliment. Had it been any other man she would even go so far as to think that he was flirting with her. But she knew better. Wilson Sanders was a married man. The father of her son’s fiancée. But still, as off-limits as he was, she still found him desirable and, for a woman who hadn’t shown any real interest in a man since her husband’s death fifteen years ago, that was a startling surprise.
But then, she was still a woman.
“Thanks for saying that. You know, in a few months our families will become connected through our children.”
“And what are we toasting?” she asked, laughing, following suit and holding up hers.
“To your son and my daughter. May they have a wonderful marriage. One that’s filled with love.”
Rita couldn’t help but smile in seeing that Wilson’s attitude toward the upcoming nuptials was nothing like his wife’s. “Yes, to Brian and Erica.”
Their cups touched and then they smiled as they took sips of their coffee.
As much as he didn’t want to be, Wilson knew at that moment he was attracted to Rita. And that wasn’t a good thing.
He drew in a deep breath as he looked beyond her to study the landscape outside the window. At least he was pretending to study the landscape, when in all actuality his main focus was still on her.
She looked elegant in her own sort of way, and now he knew what it was about her that he admired. Style. He found it totally hilarious that he was drawn to her for the very thing Karen thought she lacked. As far as he was concerned, she didn’t need to wear all those famous name brands and designer labels that Karen boasted about. Rita made a statement in a way that he found admirable.
Even now for traveling she was wearing jeans and a printed peasant blouse. Her hair was pinned up and a pair of hoop earrings dangled from her ears. Another thing he liked about her was her positive attitude. If he was a man interested in pursuing an affair with a woman he would definitely put her at the top of his list.
But he didn’t have a list. He’d never had a list. He’d never had a choice of a mate, either, since one had been chosen for him before he could walk. Probably before he’d been born. It was only lately that he’d found himself reflecting over his life and realizing just how unhappy he was married to Karen. How unhappy he’d been for a long time. It wouldn’t be so regrettable if there’d been any phase of their marriage he would say he’d found memorable. But sadly, he couldn’t. The only good thing that had come from it was Erica. And he was determined to make sure she married for love even if he hadn’t.
But with all those emotions he was now bringing forth and all the rights Karen had been denying him as a husband for years, he had not once been unfaithful to her. He had thought about it once or twice but could never go through with it. Things were as they were. He’d made his bed years ago when he’d allowed his parents to run his life and he’d been paying hell for it since. He rubbed a hand over his brow. The entire thought was depressing. He would be sixty at the end of the year and he’d spent all of his life trying to please someone. First his parents and now his wife. Erica was probably the only person that truly loved him unconditionally.
His gaze returned to Rita. She was sipping her coffee and appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. He couldn’t help wondering what they were. And, since she seemed preoccupied as he had been earlier, he allowed his gaze to travel over her. He liked what he saw too much and forced an image of Karen in his mind but it refused to come to the forefront where it belonged.
The best thing to do would be to finish off his coffee, stand up, bid her a safe trip back home and then go somewhere where he couldn’t see her, where he couldn’t think about her, where he couldn’t wonder…
“Was this a productive trip for you, Wilson?”
Her soft voice intruded into his thoughts and broke the silence surrounding them. Their gazes held, maybe for a second too long, because she then looked away, down into her coffee cup. And then it hit him. She had picked up on the same vibes that he had picked up on earlier. And like him she was trying to ignore them. Doing so made perfect sense, since they shouldn’t be having these feelings anyway. He wasn’t free to act on them. But she was a widow and free to do whatever she wanted with any other man, although not with him. He was taken. Why did that realization dampen his spirits?
He leaned back and forced his brain to formulate a response to her question. “Yes, I think it was productive, and my staff will agree since I clinched a million-dollar deal.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks. What about you? Was this trip productive for you?”
She laughed. “I didn’t clinch a million-dollar deal or anything close to that, but I did get a few members of the royal family to agree to consider my company when they landscape the palace grounds.”
For the next twenty minutes or so they continued talking, engaging in pleasant conversation about their work. He enjoyed being educated about something he didn’t know a lot about. Plants. His only excuse was that the Sanders Estates always had a gardener who knew what he was doing, which meant that Wilson didn’t necessarily have to learn.
The more Rita talked the more he kept thinking that it didn’t seem possible that a woman like her—smart, stylish and classy—who had a lot going for her, had remained single after her husband died.
When there was a pause in the conversation, he heard himself asking, “Why didn’t you ever remarry?”
She glanced up and looked stunned by his question. She could have said it wasn’t any of his business, and it would have been within her rights to do so. Instead she said, “Patrick and I were college sweethearts and I took his death extremely hard, mainly because I hadn’t seen it coming. He’d never been sick a day in his life.”
She paused a moment when a waitress came by and refilled their coffee cups. “I figured he would be here forever,” she then said. “I had assumed that he would always be my rock, my shining star, the man who was everything a husband and father should be. The pain of losing him was excruciating, but I had to endure it for Brian. Although I was hurting, I knew he was hurting just as much. He was very close to his father.”
She took a sip of her coffee. “It was important to me not to bring another man into Brian’s life that would take Patrick’s place because I thought no one could. So I filled the role of both mom and dad and was satisfied with doing that.”
Wilson nodded. “What about when Brian left for college?”
She shrugged what he thought were beautiful shoulders. “I dated but not often, and never let anyone think it was serious. Patrick’s parents tried encouraging me to go on with my life, saying that’s what he would have wanted, and I know that to be true, but I couldn’t date anyone else. To fill the void of Brian leaving home I decided to go back to college for my master’s degree.”
She lowered her head and took another sip of her coffee as if reliving those times.
“Do you date now?”
She lifted her gaze, tilted her head and studied him for a second. “Why do you want to know that?”
That was a good question. Why did he want to know the answer to that? “Curious.”
He waited a heartbeat for her to ask why. Instead she said, “I go out on occasion with friends—both males and females—but that’s all I want right now. Friendship. Less cluttered and complicated that way.”
He was saved from having to say anything when a voice came over the speaker system. “Attention, passengers. We regret to inform everyone that all flights have been cancelled for the next twenty-four hours. Please go to your respective airline’s customer service counter for further details regarding obtaining a hotel voucher. We repeat, all flights…”
He watched as Rita stood. “I guess that means I need to go back upstairs. It was good seeing you and I hope that—”
“The announcer said we’re stuck here for twenty-four hours. Would you like to join me for dinner somewhere?” he asked as he stood.
She began shaking her head even before he could get all the words out of his mouth. “Thanks, but no. I’m just going to stay in my room and relax. It was good seeing you again, and I hope you have a safe trip back home.”
“You, too.”
He watched her hurry across the floor toward the escalator as if fire was nipping at her heels. Evidently his line of questions had made her uncomfortable. Understandably so. He’d really had no right asking them. But it was something he wanted to know. Something he
needed to know.
He walked to get information from his own airline, in the opposite direction from where she had gone. At least they had offered them a hotel room. He wished he could say he intended to relax, as Rita had indicated she was going to do, but he couldn’t. After checking in to the hotel he planned on going out and finding the nearest bar to wash away these emotions, which he shouldn’t be having in the first place.
As he stepped onto the escalator that would carry him down to his gate, he thought that a glass of scotch later sounded pretty damn nice.
Rita glanced around her hotel room a moment before tilting her head back, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath. She inhaled the scent of cinnamon and all but licked her lips at the thought of all the goodies in the bakery across the street. An image of her enjoying any sort of pastry with a cup of coffee made a silly grin form on her face. She immediately opened her eyes when images of something else flashed across her brain…or should she say someone else.
Wilson Sanders.
She could admit in private that she liked him a little too much. She had begun feeling things she should not be feeling. The man was married, for heaven’s sake, and he was her son’s future father-in-law. Then why did she—a woman known to be more interested in the positioning of yucca plants than men—find herself so attracted to him?
When he smiled, funny feelings would erupt in her midsection. Even when he did something as simple as shrug his massive shoulders, she was consumed by emotions she hadn’t felt in a long time. And that in itself wasn’t good. She felt completely out of her element around him, while at the same time she felt like a real woman for the first time in years. A woman with primitive urges and true yearnings. That would be all well and good if the object of her attention wasn’t who he was.
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