The scent of jasmine lingered in his nostrils. He would enjoy bringing each nugget of her personality to the surface. The thought amused him. After all, he was a miner, wasn’t he?
* * * *
The next morning Sabina stood in the shower longer than usual. After claiming exhaustion, she had tossed and turned throughout the night. The scene at her door last night had unnerved her, yet she found she could barely wait to engage the enemy again. She turned off the taps.
The tempting aromas of coffee and frying ham permeating the air made her hurry, and she dressed quickly and searched out the homey kitchen. Crisp no-nonsense yellow and white checked curtains covering a row of tall windows appeared to capture and magnify the sun pouring through them.
“You’re just in time, Sabina. Erica, go finish dryin’ your hair. You’ll catch your death if you go out in the cold with a damp head.” Clara rested her hands on apron-covered hips and eyed Sabina’s Icelandic wool sweater and twill slacks with approval. “Your boots are all clean. I put them next to the register so’s you’ll start off warm. How do you like your eggs?”
Sabina protested, “Mrs. Kincaid, you didn’t have to do that,”
“Don’t thank her. You haven’t seen her bill yet,” Erica threw over her shoulder as she left.
Ignoring the saucy interruption, Clara demanded, “About those eggs . . .”
Chastened, Sabina took the seat Erica had vacated. “Scrambled, please. If it isn’t too much trouble.”
Chad’s voice, low and teasing, reached her ear. “Actually, if she hadn’t taken a liking to you, your boots could have rotted on the back step.”
“I heard that, Chad Peters. You just eat your flapjacks and tend your own business.” Clara’s voice held authority.
Sabina tilted a grumpy look in Chad’s direction. “You’re certainly cheerful this morning.” She found mornings impossible until she had had at least two cups of coffee.
As if guessing her problem, Chad moved a glass and a pitcher of orange juice in front of her before filling a blue and white mug with steaming coffee. “Here. Drink up and join the living.”
Without turning, Clara commented, “He always was one for wakin’ up on both feet. It’s never seemed natural for someone to smile that much before breakfast. I wouldn’t have let him in the door this morning if he hadn’t insisted he’d come to pick you up.”
“Now, Aunt Clara, I’m just being cooperative. You don’t want her to make a bad report on Calico, do you?”
After sipping her coffee, Sabina said dryly, “I think it’s more a case for the courts, Mrs. Kincaid. My department doesn’t deal in rehabilitation.”
Chad poured golden honey over his pancakes and smiled sunnily. “Some of us are even grumpy at lunch.” His look challenged her to remember her testiness of the day before.
She ignored him while she inspected the plate of ham and eggs Clara deposited in front of her, hoping the aroma of the food would overpower the scent of soap, fresh air, and masculinity which seemed to surround her. Eating breakfast next to so much vitality stimulated more than her appetite for food.
Clara brought her own brimming plate to the table. “Don’t know what’s gotten into Daniel. He’s polite and helpful, but he’s been awful quiet lately. You best have a talk with him, Chad.”
“He’s a senior, Aunt Clara. He has a lot on his mind . . . classes, that girlfriend, and the state basketball tournament. I could use his help at the mine, but there’s no point in pressuring him. Give him some space.”
“Somethin’s eatin’ at him, but I can’t put a finger on it.” Clara cut a piece of thick pink ham. “All I say is, he might talk to you before he will me. If it’s women, you’d be the one to know.” She placed the meat in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
Sabina struggled to swallow her laughter, choked, then cleared her throat instead
Clara’s observations about his private life had amused Chad for years. Today the public reference irritated him. Reports of his personal activities had always circulated the small community, mostly because no one had anything else to talk about. Actually, he was flattered, because no human could keep up such a pace. Not while he managed two demanding businesses.
Seeing the curiosity in the cobalt blue eyes watching him, he realized he had been judged and found guilty. “I imagine you can tell him anything he really needs to know, Aunt Clara.”
He watched Sabina seek refuge in the food in front of her. He knew his sudden shifts in mood confused her, but they were new to him, too. He wondered what was causing the solemn expression on her face.
* * * * *
The only man Sabina had ever spent much time with was her ex-fiancé, and they’d both been so zealous in their defense of the environment that laughter and teasing had never been part of their courtship. After their breakup, she’d felt both relief and guilt. Now only the relief remained. She dragged herself back to the present and looked up to see laughter lurking in her hostess’s merry brown eyes as she said, “Maybe I’d best send Daniel ‘round to Jonas with his questions.”
Chad and his aunt grinned at the idea, and Sabina felt curiously left out. She finished her meal in silence, while her breakfast partners discussed local happenings. She filed one statement away for future consideration, and said, “We’d better get started, Chad. I have a lot of ground to cover, and time is short.” Sabina stood decisively before adding, “Everything was delicious, Mrs. Kincaid. I’m glad I won’t be here long. I’d have to let out all my clothes.”
Chad watched her slender back disappear through the swinging door, admiring the trim fit of the wool slacks swinging jauntily from her hips. “We couldn’t have that, could we, Aunt Clara?”
“That’s a nice young woman, Chad. Don’t you go getting her riled. I called Moogie this morning myself and put my money on her. He said the odds were even.”
He grinned. “I’m crushed. First money said I’d send her back to Columbus with a bug in her ear. Now even my own family expects me to be the loser. Such loyalty!”
“I talked to Jonas last night. He says she knows as much as you do.”
“She may know theory, but she hasn’t figured out how to apply it creatively. Given time, I bet I could make a convert of her.” Lazy speculation that had nothing to do with mining drifted through his mind. His eyes narrowed.
Clara considered his expression warily. “Now, Chad, you behave yourself.”
* * * *
The ride in the frigid Jeep didn’t reassure Sabina. Chad had reverted to brooding silence, broken only by his comment as the ever-present labrador nuzzled her cheek from behind the seat. “He has a thing for women’s makeup. He licks it off.”
“He’s welcome to any he can find.” Sabina answered tartly. She wore only enough makeup to maintain her self-confidence. Her job was to ensure proper practices — not to win beauty contests. The spiraling tension she felt was tripled in the confines of the Jeep; she furtively inhaled the wonderful aroma of clean, early morning male. Stealing a glance from beneath her lashes, she surveyed the sharp, shaven line of his jaw, the slightly thickened bridge of his otherwise straight nose. She wondered how he had broken it, visualizing athletic contests — or even a brawl with one of his employees.
The scrap of Clara’s breakfast conversation surfaced in her thoughts. “What did your aunt mean about buyers calling?”
His eyes steady on the highway, Chad answered, “Oil companies and foreign investors have discovered small mining companies. Actually, they want the mineral rights we’ve contracted more than the companies themselves.”
“But why?”
“Coal is plentiful here, but most of it is high sulfur. The market has dwindled because of clean air regulations. Some of the operators are glad to sell cheap to get out from under.” He sounded uneasy, as if the subject were distasteful to him.
A penny dropped in Sabina’s mind. “But technology is on the brink of solving the sulfur problem. When that happens . . .”
“W
hoever owns the rights will control the energy the coal represents,” he finished, pleased by her quick understanding.
“Are you going to sell Calico?”
Chad asked himself the same question with annoying regularity. Hearing it from Sabina’s lips made him feel selfish and disloyal — traits he despised. His curt answer gave nothing away. “Not this week.”
Chad parked in front of the concrete block building, swinging fluidly to the asphalt before the engine died. In a display of misplaced loyalty, Sock exited on Sabina’s side of the mud-splattered vehicle, causing Chad to mumble beneath his breath about the fickleness of man’s closest companions.
Sabina followed Chad to the privacy of his office, once again confused. Where was the man who’d greeted her so cheerfully at breakfast? His silence seemed to bounce off the walls. The welcome aroma of freshly made coffee filled the air. Sabina had a feeling she would need it.
Sun filtered through mini-blinds to highlight the polished surface of the oak desk, skitter over cranberry carpet, and came up short at the base of a pine-paneled wall. The room was clean and neat — a vast improvement over most mining company offices she’d visited. There wasn’t even a girlie calendar or a bulletin board of yellowed “good ol’ boy” cartoons. She decided Chad’s banker’s orderliness must carry over into his second job.
The walls were hung with large, framed, color photographs of scenery — not calendar art, but beautifully matted scenes of flower-strewn meadows and stands of young trees.
“What stunning pictures!” she exclaimed, pausing in front of a particularly appealing shot of a well-designed housing development. A sweeping hillside of pines rose behind it.
Chad’s smile was triumphant. “Reclaimed land, Sabina. Each of those once looked just like the ugly mess you saw yesterday. The family’s been doing this the right way for years. Since before there were strict rules.” He opened a large metal cabinet behind the desk. “Now we can get down to business.”
Sabina viewed with dismay the stack of neatly labeled manila folders, the photo albums, and the tidy rolls of topical maps. “Surely it won’t be necessary to go through all of that.”
“You’re the one who wants to check every step. By the time we’re finished you’ll know exactly what that land looked like before and what it will look like when we finish — not to mention how we’re going to do it. And we’ll go over the last two sites the same way.” He placed several folders and an album on the desk.
His voice took on a different timber, his eyes darkened, and he moved toward her. “Just you and me, huddled over all this paperwork. But first let’s get this out of the way.” He spoke casually, as if in afterthought.
She felt the warmth of his fingers as he took hold of her arms, and stiffened as he turned her toward him. “Ever since you popped up at the site, I’ve wondered what you taste like. I can’t wait any longer.”
Sabina froze in place, mesmerized by the golden glow of his eyes, incapable of protesting. She breathed shallowly.
His eyes darkened. “I was afraid of this,” he murmured, as he lowered his head.
Sabina responded to his touch by instinct. She felt as if her soul were being dredged up and opened for his inspection; she couldn’t back away. Even if she wanted to.
The kiss ended as abruptly as it had begun. The challenging light in Chad’s clear eyes told her this was only the beginning.
“Now we can get to work. Coffee?”
Anger at his arrogance brought heat to Sabina’s cheeks. What had she been thinking to allow him to take control like that? She gathered assurance around her like a wrinkled cape and managed to meet his eyes without wavering. “Yes, thank you. Just as it comes from the pot. I hope you have a lot. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Chad filled a lipstick-red mug and extended it. She had no recourse but to brush her fingers against the warmth of his as she took it. She accepted the risk.
CHAPTER FOUR
Sabina drew her pen from her briefcase. “Your permits first, Chad.” She paused to sip the steaming coffee. “Let’s start on the same page.”
Silently, battling a quickened pulse which astounded him, Chad furnished the originals. The slight tremor of her hands gave him some satisfaction. It was only fair that she be as shaken as he.
They worked for the next hour, limiting conversation to the necessary, while the kiss simmered between them like a campfire.
Chad watched the play of expressions on her face, surprised by the warmth beneath his breastbone. Never before had such trivial details about a woman triggered this rush of tenderness. Even at her most suspicious and professional, he found Sabina enchanting. The realization made him smile.
“Is something funny, Chad? Everything looks perfect so far, but if you continue to smile so secretively, I’ll think you’re trying to put something over on me.”
All the material he’d furnished was textbook perfect. Her natural caution pleased him.
“A private joke, Sabina. One on me,” he added truthfully.
When the phone rang, she continued her perusal of the papers on the desk, politely ignoring Chad’s conversation. The man’s going to drive me crazy with that smile, she told herself.
“Another call from the bank,” he apologized. It was the third thus far. “Can we reschedule some of this? I have to be there this afternoon, and I want to show you some reclaimed sites before lunch.”
His distracted expression softened Sabina’s heart. In a complete reversal of her unsympathetic attitude the day before, she accommodated to his problem without hesitation. “I can finish this tomorrow. Let me take those photo albums and the topical maps. I’ll look them over this evening.”
Coming much too close for her comfort, Chad rested one warm hand on her forehead. “No fever. Did I hear you correctly? Is this the same woman who tried to tear me apart yesterday because I didn’t salute when she spoke?”
Sabina slapped his hand away. She wanted him to kiss her again; the realization stunned her. “If you’d been honest at the beginning I would have been more understanding. Let’s not waste any more time.”
The fine lines around his eyes crinkled as he leered melodramatically. “Does my work ethic turn you on?”
Sabina wanted desperately to respond in kind. She didn’t dare, not with the scented breeze coming in the window announcing the miracle of a false spring. The combination could be fatal.
As if agreeing with her assessment, Chad said, “I’ll bring the albums. We can look at them over lunch.” He tucked them under one arm, opened the door and guided her through.
The desk in the small lobby was no longer unoccupied. A thirtyish woman hunched over the keyboard. Her head lifted slowly, adoration in the look she gave Chad. “Chad! I thought you’d be here all morning.”
He rested the books on the desk and pulled Sabina’s jacket from the old-fashioned rack in the corner. “They need me at the bank, Edna, and Miss Hanlon and I have to visit some sites. Will you be all right alone here?”
The woman’s smile, slow in coming, was blinding. “I’ll be fine, Chad. Dad’s coming for me at one o’clock.”
Her eyes traveled curiously to Sabina, and Chad introduced her. Sabina realized the girl’s adoration now included her, and extended a warm greeting as she buttoned her coat.
“You won’t need your scarf or your hood, Miss Hanlon. It was real pleasant when I came in.” Edna enunciated each word with great care.
Sabina thanked her, then preceded Chad through the door. He boosted her into the Jeep, placed the albums on her lap, and fastened her seat belt before disappearing around the rear of the vehicle. He was in the driver’s seat by the time she caught her breath. Sock scrambled in behind them.
He smiled at her. “Thank you for being sweet to Edna. She’s a sort of shirt-tail cousin. She’s educable, and has a knack for computer entries, once she knows what’s required. She works here four hours a day. It’s important for her to feel she’s contributing . . . and she is.”
She recalled his lighthearted teasing last evening — and the matter-of-fact way he’d approached kissing her this morning. A kiss which had been rather more than matter-of-fact.
“How did you break your nose?” she asked, desperate to break the silence.
The Jeep swung around a corner and settled back into its normal stiff ride. He swiveled, treating her to a wicked grin. “Nothing very romantic. I walked into the edge of the dining room table when I was five. My mother said it would be a permanent reminder to me to watch where I was going.” He laughed ruefully.
“Sounds as if you didn’t get much sympathy.”
“She was hugging me when she said it.” They bumped along a narrow mining road which branched off the highway. The clear air was almost addictive.
Sabina unbuttoned the top button of her coat, then stuffed her woolen gloves into her pocket. She wanted to get out of the Jeep and revel in the scented breeze. As if in response to her unspoken wish, they plunged to a stop.
“This is a good place to start,” Chad threw over his shoulder as he climbed out.
Sabina joined him. Acres of land spread before her, the earth slick and damp beneath a sparse cover of dead grasses. The landscape was a blur of subtle contours sloping to the left toward a meandering creek.
“Was that the stream you diverted?” She visualized the paperwork; the diversion had been creative, avoiding disturbance of the water table during the operation.
His expression patient and solemn, Chad responded, “Yes, ma’am. And now the creek’s back where it was before we began.”
Sabina swallowed the temptation to stick out her tongue at him. “What kinds of trees are those?” She pointed right, where a slope of seedlings climbed toward a heavily wooded area.
“Pine, oak, walnut, maple, ash, spruce, locust, lots of dogwood . . . I’m partial to dogwood in the spring . . . plus anything else that will grow here.” Enthusiasm lit his voice. “Follow me to the creek so you can see how it’s coming along.”
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