by Jackie Braun
“Dane tells us you’re married,” Audra said conversationally as they walked back to front parlor. “Will your husband be joining us today?”
Ree’s gaze slid to Dane before she busied herself at the tea service. “No. Paul is away on business.”
“Oh? What does he do?” Luke inquired.
“He’s an archaeologist. He’s on a dig right now in the Nevada desert, I believe.”
“That sounds exciting. Do you ever accompany him?” Audra asked.
“I used to, but I…I don’t any longer.”
“And he trusts you to stay home alone?” Dane’s words carried such obvious insult that his sisters glanced sharply in his direction. Even Luke raised his eyebrows in question.
Ree wasn’t cowed, though. For the first time all afternoon, real color rose in her pale cheeks. “Trust is a two-way street,” she replied, giving as good as she got.
“Um, so, your husband must be okay with the sale,” Audra commented.
“The property is mine to do with what I wish. My grandmother left it to me exclusively in her will. Paul has no claim on it.”
Her stark words were at odds with Dane’s definition of marriage, but he kept that thought to himself. He was already in the doghouse with his sisters thanks to his last stinging remark.
After a moment, Ree excused herself on the pretext of reheating the tea, but Dane figured she wanted to give them time alone to discuss the property.
“Well, I love this place,” Audra announced the moment Ree was out of earshot. “I was all for buying it sight unseen. Now, having seen it, I’m even more convinced that this would be a sound investment and a wonderful addition to Saybrook’s.”
Luke and Ali chimed in then, offering their views, which were pretty much in line with Audra’s. Then Ali poked Dane in the ribs, “So, what’s going on between you and Regina Bellini anyway?”
“Nothing.”
“Right,” Audra said dryly. “And I’m not pregnant.”
“Okay, when we first met, she didn’t divulge…some key facts,” he hedged.
“Key facts,” Audra mused. “Well, don’t stop there. You’ve got me curious.”
“The, um, withholding of those key facts resulted in a…misunderstanding and some hard feelings.”
“Well, get over it already,” Ali advised, earning a shout of laughter from her husband.
“This from the woman who carried a grudge against me for more than a decade.”
“That was different, Luke. I loved you and you broke my heart.”
Three sets of eyes snapped back to Dane, and he would have had to be blind to miss the speculation.
Dane was the last to leave Regina’s home. He told himself it was only because Luke’s Cadillac was parked behind his Trailblazer, but he had a couple questions he wanted answered. Once they were alone, he asked the one that seemed the least damning.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“Tonight?”
“Actually I was speaking in more general terms,” he clarified. “For all intents and purposes, your house is sold. We’re giving you your asking price. Assuming there are no sizable liens on the property, you can go anywhere, do anything. Not that it’s any of my business, but I was wondering what that might be.”
“Oh. I’m not sure.”
She blew out a breath and gathered the heavy cascade of hair into a rope at the base of her neck before letting it loose again. The absent gesture still had his groin going tight. All day he’d told himself that he was over the nonsensical attraction he’d felt for her. Over it. Yet now that they were alone, the sensation washed over him again, and Dane felt as helpless as he had bobbing around in Lake Michigan, pulled by forces beyond his control.
She was still speaking he realized, something about going to Italy.
“My grandparents are buried there now and I’d like to make sure the headstones I ordered have been installed. And I need to find a job, of course. Beyond that…” She shrugged.
“Will…will you be joining your husband?” Dane asked quietly. God help him, but he needed to know.
“No. My marriage—”
“Is none of my business,” he interrupted, coming to his senses at last. The woman’s private life was just that. Even so, it was difficult to ignore the outrageous relief he felt that Regina Bellini’s answer had not been yes.
But Ree didn’t let subject close. “Paul and I are legally separated. We have been since I moved back to Michigan to care for Nonna.”
“I’m…” Sorry? The word stuck in his throat.
“I know it doesn’t excuse my behavior that night. I’m not…I don’t…” She blew out a breath. “I’ve never been like that with anyone else. It’s hard to explain.”
Not so hard. He understood perfectly.
“You should try to work things out,” Dane said at last, forcing aside the more selfish urge to advise her differently. But what kind of man would that make him? “Marriage should be forever.”
“I know. I wanted it to be, believe me.”
“It takes hard work.”
Her smile was sad. “That’s what Nonna told me.”
“Well, you should listen to your grandmother.”
“Is that what you…would do?” she asked.
“We’re not talking about me.” Dane shoved a hand through his hair and paced toward the steps. He intended to leave, but he found himself turning around instead.
“I have an offer for you.”
The words came as a surprise, even though he supposed the germ of this idea had been festering since she’d walked them through the Victorian, pointing out its finer features. He didn’t want to think that the revelation she’d just made about her marriage had anything to do with what he was about to say.
“What kind of an offer?”
“Employment,” he said, succinctly and with determination. Yet he stumbled over the words when he added, “I want you…I want you to oversee the renovations.”
Ree blinked in surprise. “That could take months.”
“I’m aware of that. You said you needed a job. I’m giving you one.”
“What will your sisters and Luke think about that?”
“It was their idea,” he lied smoothly. Surely his sisters would have suggested it had they thought of it earlier, eager as they were to repay Regina for her kindness.
“I see.” Still, she tilted her head to one side, regarding him warily. “Why?”
He took a step back, tucked his hands into the front pockets of his trousers. He didn’t want to more closely examine his motives, so his tone was gruff when he said, “If you’re not interested, just say so.”
“Oh, I’m interested.” He swore she blushed then. Or maybe his ego just needed to believe she felt as flustered and awkward as he did. “I just…don’t understand why you all would be willing to do this for me. I’m hardly an expert on renovations or even Victorian architecture.”
“You impressed my sisters and Luke as being a quick study.”
“So this isn’t charity?”
“We’re in business for profit,” Dane replied dryly. “You’ll have to earn your keep.”
Of course, there was one little side bonus. Having Ree close at hand while knowing she was off-limits was bound to help exorcise these lingering feelings he had for her. Once he got to know her better, once he discovered all her idiosyncrasies and annoying habits, this white-hot awareness would burn itself out.
“The place needs a complete facelift inside and out to be up to Saybrook’s standards.” He chipped some paint off the weathered porch rail for emphasis. “You know what it used to look like, I assume.”
She nodded. “I even have pictures that the previous owners left my grandparents. They’re black and white, but they should be helpful.”
“Good. Come by my office later this week. We’ll go over the terms of your employment and determine the appropriate compensation.”
“Can I…can I live here during the work?�
�
“Are you sure you want to do that? Contractors will be walking in and out, making all sorts of noise and creating all sorts of messes.”
Ree shrugged. “If it gets too crazy I’ll make other arrangements, but I’d really like to stay on the premises.”
“Okay, we’ll save your bedroom for last.”
Her face brightened and a hint of a smile began to turn up the corners of her mouth. His own went dry. “Thanks, Dane. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”
The gratitude he saw made him uncomfortable and, oddly, a little angry. He didn’t want her damned gratitude. He wanted something he couldn’t have, something he was wrong to even consider.
“Thank my sisters,” he said.
Ree waited until the Trailblazer turned onto the main road before she twirled around in a circle and settled happily onto the top step of the porch.
She had a job and a home for the time being, her two most pressing problems taken care of in one fell swoop. The Conlans had seen to that. Even with things so strained between them, Dane had reached out in kindness. It was business, he’d said. And it was indeed that. But it was also humane. Her respect for him notched up higher. As did her forbidden attraction. She would have to keep a firm grip on that. The last thing she wanted to do was repay his family’s decency and soil what was left of her grandparents’ good name by acting on the damnable passion that kept bubbling to the surface no matter how hard she tried to cap it.
CHAPTER SIX
WITH the official tourist season over, the resort’s hectic pace slowed considerably, even though summer made a last stand in September with a batch of days in the low eighties.
Dane decided to take a half day off midweek to make some repairs to his dock before he hauled it in for the winter. He’d been expecting Regina at the office. They had an appointment set for ten to go over her responsibilities and compensation. She hadn’t showed. Nor had she called. She didn’t strike him as the irresponsible sort and unless she was an incredible actress, she had clearly been excited about his offer. Yet there was no sign of her.
He gave up waiting after two hours and headed for home. It was irritation, certainly not worry, that had him checking in with his secretary four times by one o’clock to see if Ree had put in an appearance or left a message.
He was shirtless, his tan cargo shorts wet from standing in waist-deep water, when he heard a vehicle pull up his driveway. He came around the corner of the house in time to see a vintage, bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle pull to a stop. It shouldn’t have surprised him that Regina was behind the wheel of an old car that obviously had been well cared for.
“Hello.” She smiled brightly. “I stopped by the resort, but Audra said you’d already gone home for the day. She gave me directions and said to come out. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I was expecting you at ten. It’s now, what, two? Do you make it a habit of showing up four hours late for a meeting? If so, maybe the job we’re offering you isn’t such a good idea.”
“I’m sorry.” Color had suffused her cheeks only to blanch back out at his last statement. “My car…he’s very temperamental. And then I missed the ferry and had to wait another hour.”
Dane cocked his head to one side. He couldn’t have heard her correctly. “Your car is a he?”
“Yes.” She shrugged.
“I suppose you named…him?”
“Oliver,” Ree supplied without hesitation. “You know, after the orphan in the Dickens classic. I got Oliver at a government auction.”
Dane was angry with her. Yet he found himself wanting to laugh or at least grin. And that ticked him off all the more.
“You could have at least called to let me know you would be late. I remember you saying you have a cell phone.”
“Had, actually.” Ree raised her chin. “I, um, streamlined my expenses last month.”
It was a fancy way of saying she was broke, at least until the purchase of her home was final. Husband or no husband, her love for the big Victorian notwithstanding, Regina obviously needed the money from that sale and the job Dane had discussed with her last week. He wasn’t such a hard case that he could snatch back the opportunity now.
“Give me a minute to drag on some clean clothes,” he said gruffly. With that he turned and left.
Ree watched Dane disappear through the side door of the house. He wasn’t pleased. Again. And yet she’d sworn she’d seen his lips twitch when they’d discussed her car’s gender. Maybe there was hope yet for friendship between them.
Friendship. Was that what she wanted? Was that all she wanted? Recalling the way he’d looked just now, shirtless, slim hips hugged by wet cotton, she felt that low, slippery pull of passion. As seductive as it was, it also concerned her. Could it be that despite her best efforts she was just like her mother? Irresponsible and impulsive. Doing what felt good at the moment and ignoring the consequences. Or, was she like her father? A cheat. Doing what felt good and ignoring her commitments.
Hers was quite the pedigree.
Dane Conlan, on the other hand, had plenty of self-control. Indeed even after all that had passed between them in her kitchen, when he’d learned about Paul, he’d told her she should work on her foundering marriage.
She’d long despised her husband’s apathetic approach to everything but his work, but was she any better? She could have forced the issue one way or another, taken the final steps to see the marriage ended officially. She’d filed the paperwork, but there had been no follow-through and that hadn’t been just for Nonna’s sake. Oh, she had taken off her rings and returned to using her maiden name, but those things hardly changed the facts.
She glanced down at her bare fingers now. The rings had gone to a good cause. She’d hocked them the previous winter to help pay for some plumbing repairs. But money wasn’t the only reason she’d done it. She still had the diamond ring that had belonged to her grandmother. No matter how tight things had gotten, she never considered selling it. That ring symbolized something real and enduring, something like the Victorian that could, with care and nurturing, withstand the test of time. Her princess-cut diamond and thick gold band had represented only failure.
Ree walked around to the side of the home that faced the lake and sighed at the view, finding comfort in its beauty. The big lake stretched for miles, its vast surface was calm today beneath a hazy September sky whose mix of blue and gray hues reminded Ree of the color of Dane’s eyes.
She heard the door squeak open and turned to find him on the ample covered porch wearing jeans and a polo shirt. He’d combed his dark hair, but he remained shoeless.
“The paperwork is back at the office, but the gist of it is Saybrook’s will expect you to put in whatever hours are needed until the project is completed. Your weekends will be your own unless the main contractor or a subcontractor absolutely needs to see you.”
He rattled off a wage that had her sucking a breath between her teeth.
“Something wrong?”
“No. Nothing. I wasn’t expecting…that’s very generous. Thank you.”
“You’ll earn it, believe me. Until I sign off on the renovations, you’ll be at my beck and call.”
He frowned after he said it.
“Will you be working with me on the project then?” Ree had wondered, since Audra and Ali had been responsible for her hiring, if she would report to his sisters.
“Not exclusively, but Ali and Luke have other responsibilities, mainly the new golf course. And with Audra due to deliver her baby soon, she’s not likely to be heavily involved in much of anything for the next several months. So, any questions?”
It was the perfect opening to ask about what she had in mind. Here goes nothing, Ree thought, screwing up her courage. For the past few days she’d been rehearsing how best to put into words the idea that had been kicking around in her head.
“Actually it’s not a question as much as it is a…request.”
“Oh?”
“I know
I’m not really in any position to be making requests.”
He gave a curt nod. “I’m glad you understand that.”
Ree swallowed hard before continuing. “You’re going to need a manager for the bed-and-breakfast once it opens for business, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’d like to be considered for the job.”
Dane’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You want to manage the bed-and-breakfast? I wasn’t aware you had a background in hospitality services or business for that matter.”
“Actually, I don’t. My degree is in journalism. But I’m a hard worker and a fast learner.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
She planned to make sure he agreed with her description when it was all said and done. “Please, say you will at least consider me for the job once the bed-and-breakfast opens.”
“Ali actually oversees personnel and she might have someone already on the payroll that she thinks is ready for the promotion.” His gaze was probing. “But I can make a recommendation if I feel strongly about someone.”
“So, I can apply?”
He nodded. “I’ll let her know that you’re interested and I’ll give her an evaluation after renovations are under way. No guarantees, you understand.”
She exhaled slowly. “I understand. Thanks.”
“Why would you want to work there?”
“I’d get to stay in my home.”
Dane said nothing. What words were there in response to that? The simplicity of her reason touched him deeply given his own strong connection to home and family. And he thought again about how much she had lost. Her mother had drowned just off the point. Her grandparents, who had loved the house, were gone now, too. Letting go of one’s childhood home would be difficult under any circumstance, but usually families moved to other homes where new memories could be made. Ree had no family left with whom she could make those memories. No family except an absentee father and an equally estranged husband.
“It must please you to know the Victorian will be restored.”
“It does. The house has a fascinating history.”
“Oh?”
