by Judith Yates
“But some people don’t,” Holly countered, recalling the tidbits she’d heard around Golden. “They’re afraid someone will put up a bunch of ticky-tacky houses on that land.”
“Exactly. That’s why a rehab of the building might be a good compromise. As long as the plans meet a town meeting approval, that is.”
“You think that’s possible, Gabe? This town doesn’t take change well.”
“People might be persuaded if a developer comes up with good plans. And the board of selectmen is willing to propose it to the town,” Gabe advised. “We’ve already agreed on it—unofficially, you understand.”
This was the best news she had heard in weeks. It gave her hope. Maybe, just maybe, she could keep her business in Golden and be near Stephanie throughout the day. That was what she wanted more than anything. While Jordan asked Gabe about the packing plant, Holly found herself daydreaming about how she’d design the new shop, where she would place her products and how she would display them. She could hear the two men talking, but she was too caught up in her imaginings to listen.
“Holly. Holly.”
A tap on her arm jolted to attention. “I’m sorry,” she gasped, looking from one man to the other. She felt her skin grow warm with embarrassment. “Doing a little dreaming, are we?” teased Gabe.
“Sort of. What did I miss?”
“Gabe suggested a walk down to Summer Pond,” Jordan explained. “I know I’d like to stretch my legs before driving back to Boston.”
“Ooh, can I go? Can I, Mommy?” Stephanie peered up at Holly with beseeching eyes.
“I thought we could all go,” Gabe added.
Holly quickly realized that this was her chance. She was determined to reach her father before Jordan got back to him, and she needed to be alone when she made the call.
“Look, why don’t the three of you go ahead while I clean up here?” she suggested.
After some back and forth, she had overcome their objections to leaving her behind. She waved them out the back door, smiling at the sight of her tiny blond daughter sauntering along between the two tall, dark-haired men.
As soon as they had disappeared from view, Holly reached for the kitchen telephone. Her father answered on the first ring. “How could you send Jordan Mason here?” she demanded, letting loose the resentment she’d kept pent up all afternoon. “Why did you do it?”
“He did come to see you?” Ted inquired with a whisper of disbelief. “I wasn’t sure he’d actually follow through.”
“Oh, Jordan followed through, all right. He’s still here, in fact,” she revealed. “He showed up at my house unannounced, he saw Stephanie—”
“Did you tell him?”
“No!”
“No? But, honey, the Masons have to be told.”
“Why?” Holly asked. “We settled this matter years ago. You promised Mom.”
“Against my better judgment. And, under the circumstances, I’m regretting it now more than ever.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Didn’t Jordan tell you about his father?”
“No. He hasn’t said a word about Lawrence.” Her head had begun to ache, and she didn’t like the alarm in her father’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Apparently, Lawrence had a severe heart attack and had to undergo emergency bypass surgery,” Ted explained. “He’s been very ill. Jordan was on his way back from visiting him in Florida when I ran into him at Hilton Head.”
“He’s going to recover, isn’t he?” Holly felt sick at heart. She had held a special affection for Lawrence Mason. He’d been like a second father to her.
“He’s home now, recuperating, and Jordan said the doctors are optimistic.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Holly, the man almost died—without knowing that his dead son had fathered a child, without knowing he has a granddaughter. I can’t live with that anymore,” Ted insisted. “Lawrence Mason was once my closest friend.”
“Oh, Dad.” Unable to continue, Holly swallowed hard.
“You know I never liked keeping Stephanie a secret from the Masons. Especially after Scott was killed. But you were so upset, and your mother was so adamant...”
She took a deep breath in an attempt to steady her voice. “That’s why you sent Jordan here?”
“Yes. Because as much as I wanted to tell him, it’s not my place. You and your mother made that clear long ago,” he said with unmasked bitterness. “But you have to. You have to tell Jordan so that he can break the news to his father. Please, Holly, before it’s too late.”
Holly’s hand trembled as she hung up the phone. The ache in her head was now a full-blown throb. How naive she’d been to think she could keep Scott’s child a secret from the Masons forever: And she’d been wrong to try—terribly, terribly wrong.
She sat on a kitchen stool and stared out the window. Lawrence Mason’s illness weighed on her heart. Why hadn’t Jordan told her? If only he had said something... she grimaced at the thought of the elaborate lie she had told him just a few hours ago.
Noticing the sky was darkening, she realized a spring thunderstorm was headed their way. The walk to Summer Pond would be cut short, and the threesome would be returning any minute. Holly knew she had to have a serious talk with Jordan before he left. Finally, after five long years, the time had come to speak the truth—as painful and as difficult as that might be.
Despite the rumblings of fast-moving thunder, Holly heard voices approaching. Then the back screen door slammed and Stephanie ran into the kitchen.
“Mommy, Mommy,” she called in a panic, “the angels are bowling again! And they’re so noisy!”
Holding her daughter close, Holly tried to soothe her anxiety. “Maybe they’ve got a big tournament tonight, so they’re playing extra hard.”
Stephanie answered by burying her face in Holly’s shoulder.
Gabe and Jordan made it inside seconds before the rain began to pour. “This was unexpected,” Gabe said, peering out the window. “Looks like it’s going to be a big one.”
A crack of thunder resonated through the room. Stephanie hugged Holly tight. “I don’t like bowling.”
Gabe gave Stephanie a comforting pat on the back. “I’d better get home. My gang’s not fond of thunderstorms, either.”
“I should be going, too, Holly,” Jordan added. “I’ll follow Gabe out to keep from getting lost this time.”
“You can’t leave yet, Jordan,” she blurted out.
“I can’t?” He appeared startled. “I’ve got a long drive ahead of me, and this rain isn’t going to help any.”
“Then wouldn’t it make sense to wait out the storm? It’ll pass over.”
“I’ve already stayed longer than I’d planned.”
“Please, I really need to talk to you.”
He shrugged in resignation. “All right, I’ll stay—but just for a while.”
After saying goodbye to Gabe at the door, she and Jordan watched him run through the rain to his truck. By then, Stephanie was half asleep in Holly’s arms.
As soon as Gabe pulled out of the driveway, Jordan turned to her. “Okay, what is it you want to talk about?”
She glanced down at the golden head resting. on her shoulder. “I’ve got to put her to bed,” she whispered. “It shouldn’t take long. She’s so tired the thunder isn’t even bothering her anymore.”
With a restless sigh, he leaned against the doorjamb and promised to wait.
Upstairs in her bedroom, Stephanie rallied a bit when Holly started undressing her. “Have the angels stopped yet, Mommy?”
Her daughter’s sweet, drowsy voice filled Holly with tenderness. Earlier today, she had wanted to protect Stephanie above all else. She needed to protect her. But from what? A loving grandfather? Because now that she had finally allowed herself to consider him, Holly knew that’s exactly what Lawrence Mason would be.
And Jordan? Although he’d made the effort to get along with Stephanie a
t dinner, Holly sensed he had no real affinity for children. They played no part in his world. So what did she have to fear from him? As an uncle, his interest would be minimal at best.
After tucking Stephanie in bed, Holly sat holding her hand in the dark. The thunder was now nothing more than a distant echo, and soon her little girl drifted off to sleep. Holly kissed her baby-soft cheek.
Then, mustering up every last scrap of her courage, Holly went downstairs to face Jordan.
Chapter Three
She found him standing at a living-room window, gazing out at the bleak night. Jordan turned when her footsteps sounded on the wood floor. “The wind is gusting up again. I think we’re in for another round.”
Now that they were alone, Holly’s courage lagged.
“Let me get a pot of coffee brewing before we sit down.” She hoped a few extra minutes would calm this attack of second thoughts.
“Holly.” Jordan put up his hand to stop her. “I’d like to get out of here tonight. Another storm is heading in.”
The rising wind could be heard now, whipping through the trees and rattling the outside window shutters. Jordan’s point taken, Holly gestured to the living-room sofa. “I called my father while you were out with Stephanie and Gabe,” she began as they sat together on the camelback sofa, “and he told me about Lawrence. You should’ve said something.”
“God, Holly, I meant to. But when I got here and learned about Stephanie, it threw me. And then seeing you again...”
As he reached for her hand, their eyes met. “I got sidetracked, I guess. I’ m sorry.”
Her pulse sprinting into double time, Holly felt caught by the clear deep blue of his eyes. She did believe him, yet the warmth of his hand on her skin blurred the direct connect between thought and speech.
“Holly? You know I wouldn’t keep that from you,” Jordan added when she was slow to respond.
The concern in his voice cleared her head. “I know that. I was stunned when my father told me, though. It was so unexpected.”
With a low sigh, Jordan leaned back into the sofa. “This day has been full of the unexpected.”
As swift as the flash of a camera, a stroke of lightning brightened the room. Then a long, lumbering roar of thunder rumbled overhead.
Holly gasped, rising from the sofa. “That’s close. I’ve got to check on Stephanie.”
The electric lights flickered for a second before everything went dark.
Jordan muttered a curse. Then he came to her side, brushing against her in the dark. “I hope you have a flashlight or two around here.”
“In the kitchen. I can find it.”
She felt her way through the darkened rooms, sidestepping chairs and tables, skirting corners. Just as she reached the kitchen, a small flare of light glowed from the adjoining dining room...
“Here we go,” Jordan said, carrying in the stubby candle left from their candlelight dinner. “Luckily, you left the book of matches on the table.”
He directed this sole source of light over her shoulders as Holly groped through an upper cabinet. When she located the heavy-duty flashlight, she was relieved to find the batteries weren’t dead. Next, she pulled out a box of emergency candles. “These should fit in those candlesticks.” She handed the box to Jordan. “I’m going upstairs.”
With the flashlight illuminating her way, Holly hurried up to her daughter. She found Stephanie curled up in a deep sleep, apparently undisturbed by that first crash of thunder and oblivious to the current, more muted rumbles. Her breathing was gentle and even. Holly envied her child’s peace. And she worried about it, as well. Stephanie’s secure little world was bound to change once Jordan and Lawrence knew about her. But how much, and in what ways?
Her resolve wavering, Holly pushed the thought out of her mind. She would tell Jordan the truth, and then she’d hope and pray all would come out right in the end.
“She’s okay?” Jordan asked when she returned to the kitchen.
“Sound asleep. She didn’t hear a thing.”
“That’s some kid you’ve got there,” he said with a shake of his head.
The wry inflection in his voice made her wonder if he meant that as a compliment. It had always been like that with Jordan. Holly remembered the many times she’d been unsure of what he had meant She wondered if Jordan did it on purpose—to keep people off balance and at arm’s length.
A muffled ringing echoed from another room, breaking into her thoughts. Jordan gave her a puzzled look. “Is that your telephone?”
“I think it’s my cellular phone,” she said, somewhat puzzled herself. “It’s in my handbag.”
Holly aimed the flashlight toward the front hall, where she had left the bag. Jordan followed her with one of the sturdy white candles in hand.
She was surprised to hear Gabe’s voice on the other end of the static-filled line. Since the connection was poor, he quickly delivered news for Holly to pass on to Jordan. Switching the phone off, she turned to Jordan with a small amount of dread. He was not going to like this.
“That was Gabe. The phone lines are down, too.”
“He used your cellular number to check on you?”
“Not really,” she replied, baffled again by his tone. “He wanted to know if you were still here.”
“Why should it matter to him?”
“Because,” Holly continued, bracing herself against his inevitable displeasure, “lightning struck a couple of old pines by the creek bridge—the one you crossed on the way here. They’ve fallen right across the road, blocking the bridge.”
“Don’t tell me,” he said, his expression cool. “That’s the only way out of here, right?”
“’Fraid so. Gabe says the road crew won’t be able to clear the way until morning.”
Jordan groaned and leaned against the front door. “An apt ending for this day, wouldn’t you say?”
Expecting biting irritation, Holly found his resignation made her feel worse. “I’m sorry, Jordan. If I hadn’t asked you to stay...”
“Forget it, Holly. Even I’m not going to hold you responsible for acts of nature.” The slightest of smiles crossed his lips. “Guess you’ll be putting me up. tonight.”
“Guess so. There’s a sofa bed in the den. I hope you won’t mind it too much.”
“I’ve never slept on one.”
“Oh, you’re in for a treat,” she said diplomatically, brushing aside the temptation to tease him. “I’ll go make the bed up.”
“Holly.” Jordan caught her by the wrist. “It’s not even nine o’clock yet. I don’t know about you, but it’s way too early for me to turn in.”
She looked back at him with disbelief and then shined the flashlight on his wristwatch to check.
Jordan chuckled. “I know how you feel. This day never seems to end.”
Holly had to laugh. “All right. I won’t make you go to bed yet. But since it’s my fault you’re stuck here, I’ll lend you my cellular phone for as many calls as you need to make. You probably want to notify your office of your whereabouts.”
“I don’t have an office anymore.”
“You? Oh. That’s right,” she sputtered, “you sold CompWare.”
Jordan didn’t say a word.
An uncomfortable silence hung between them as Holly mentally kicked herself for her gaffe.
“Well, why don’t I open a bottle of wine and then we can sit back and relax,” she finally said, pointing the flashlight toward the kitchen. “Besides, you still have to tell me about your father.”
And she still had to tell him about Stephanie.
The candles at each end of the coffee table flickered and danced in the dark as she and Jordan drank red wine. The thunder and lightning had passed, but the rain rapped a steady rhythm on the windows. As they sat on the sofa, stocking feet resting on the low table, Jordan explained about his father’s heart attack and surgery.
“I’m glad to hear Lawrence is getting better. Although it sounds like it was touch-and-
go for a white.”
“Yeah, we almost lost him.” Jordan’s thumb traced the rim of his wineglass. “He still has a long recovery ahead, and he has to be very careful. But Rachel is taking great care of him.”
Holly remembered Lawrence’s young second wife fondly. “He’s lucky to have her.”
“Thank God he has her, especially after losing Scott and all.”
The slight catch in his voice both moved and troubled her. “He has you, too, Jordan.”
“I’m not much of a comfort to him, Holly. You of all people should know that.”
Indeed, Holly knew quite a bit about the stormy years between Jordan and his father. Jordan had been just about the wildest teenager their staid neighborhood had ever known. Lawrence always seemed to be bailing him out of one kind of trouble or another. And the loss of Jordan’s mother had created even more strain between them. Yet after Jordan had joined Mason CompWare, their relationship mellowed. Or so Holly had thought.
“Scott’s death should have drawn you two closer.”
“It had to, didn’t it? After all, we’re the only two left.”
“Jordan.” Holly reached for his hand. Regret for the family she had once felt part of, and her own painful memories of Scott, filled her with sorrow.
Jordan’s hand slid from hers as he moved off the sofa. “Don’t make it out to be worse than it is, Holly. Okay?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
After a moment, he turned back to her. “I didn’t mean to jump down your throat. Talking about almost losing Dad is hard—especially after what happened with CompWare. He wasn’t exactly one hundred percent behind the sale.”
“Actually, I was surprised that you would part with the company,” she revealed. “When your father retired, you took over without a hitch. Scott joked that it was as smooth as a royal succession to the throne.”
“Did he?” Jordan said, his smile wistful. Then he shrugged. “The business world moves with amazing speed these days, Holly. One has to be able to move with it.”
“Still, selling out couldn’t have been an easy choice.” Unless the money was too tempting to resist, she considered ruefully.