The Scent of Rain

by Kristin Billerbeck

  Anne regained her composure. “May I help you gentlemen?”

  “We’re looking for Daphne Sweeten,” the older man said. “She’s a nose. Are we in the right place?”

  Jesse stood. “She’s at the hospital.”

  The man dropped the briefcase he carried.

  “No, no, she’s fine,” Jesse reassured him. “She’s at the hospital visiting a coworker.”

  The man’s eyes closed, and he crossed himself. “Where can I find this hospital?”

  “I’m Jesse Lightner, her boss. May I assist you?”

  “I’m Daphne’s father,” he said. “And this is Arnaud Polge from Givaudan.”

  “You’re Daphne’s father?” Jesse came around the desk and extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, sir. I wish things weren’t so out of sorts.” He extended a hand to the other man. “And, Mr. Polge, I know of you by reputation, of course. Welcome to Gibraltar. It’s an honor to have you here.”

  Mr. Polge nodded his response. Jesse didn’t know if the man understood a word of English, but he tried to maintain composure and rely on his business acumen.

  “You’ll have to forgive us. Two of our employees were involved in a terrible accident, and we’re awaiting word on their condition now.” He couldn’t bring himself to announce a death to two unknown men in suits. “Daphne’s at the hospital checking up on them.”

  “But she wasn’t in the car?”

  “No, sir. She was with me at a wedding show this morning.”

  “A wedding show? She just had her heart broken at a wedding a few weeks ago,” her father chastised. “Did you know that?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “What kind of sadistic boss makes a woman go to a wedding show weeks after her groom walks out on her?”

  “I would never do such a thing,” Arnaud said in English.

  “She assured me she was fine with it,” Jesse said.

  “I’m sure she did. She almost convinced us she was happy in this sweatshop, but that’s Daphne. She’ll tell you what you want to hear to make it easier on you. She never cares about herself first.”

  “Even in the short time I’ve known her, I’d have to concur with that statement.”

  Anne spoke up next. “I’m Anne. Daphne and her friend Sophie stayed with me for a couple weeks while our church fixed up her house. I hate to say it, Mr. Sweeten, but that place was not in livable condition.”

  “That’s not what I gave her,” Mr. Sweeten said. “Her fiancé was supposed to buy a lovely house on Peach Orchard. State-of-the-art kitchen and a master suite out of a design magazine.”

  “Not in her house,” Jesse said. “I’ve been there. It’s quite old. And Anne is right; it was uninhabitable.”

  “I didn’t buy her that house,” Mr. Sweeten repeated. “I am a Greek man. Do you think I’d let my daughter live somewhere that was not fit for her? You insult my heritage.”

  Anne’s soothing voice took over. “Jesse meant no harm, I assure you. Can I get you both some coffee?”

  But Mr. Sweeten was still staring at Jesse. “You, the man who would take my daughter to a bridal show after what she’s been through? You would insult me as a father?”

  Jesse didn’t have time for the drama. “Would you like to wait for her? Or should I tell her you’ll meet her at her house? I imagine she’ll be home early today.”

  “I do not know where she is living. As I said, that’s not the house I intended for her.”

  “We’d like to go see her now if you can tell us where she is,” Mr. Polge said. “She’s not answering her cell phone.”

  “I’ll take you to her,” Anne said. “The hospital is just a short drive from here.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Mr. Polge said. “We have something personal to discuss with her.”

  Jesse didn’t like the way Arnaud acted. As though Daphne belonged to him. As though he need only say the word, and she’d go crawling back to him at Givaudan.

  Daphne belonged to him now. At least for the next few months. If the esteemed Monsieur Polge had made the mistake of letting her go, why should he, Jesse, pay the consequences? He felt his fists tighten at the idea of anyone stealing Daphne away from him so soon, but what claim did he have on her, really? Whatever emotions were stirring in him, they were the stuff of dreams.

  “You should probably just wait here then,” Anne said. “She should be back soon. She’s not a relative, so the hospital won’t be able to tell her much anyway. We just thought Gibraltar should have a representative there for the families.”

  “I need to see my daughter!” Mr. Sweeten’s voice filled with anguish as he spoke to Arnaud. “You told me this was for the best, but my daughter thinks I don’t care. I fail to see how this is best. Her boss thinks I bought her a rattrap! And I—”

  “Gentlemen, why don’t you come sit down?” Anne said in her soothing pastor’s wife voice. “There’s a sofa in the foyer. Make yourselves at home, and before you know it, Daphne will be here.”

  Anne led the two men away, then came back and shut the door behind her. “They’re not here to take Daphne back to Paris or San Francisco, are they?”

  “I don’t know why they’re here,” Jesse said. “But I’ve got to get up to the lab and talk to the scientists.” He dropped his head. “I burned the marketing reports, and now what? Kensie’s not here to help with packaging.”

  He’d make it work. He owed it to Gibraltar. To Dave. But once again, Ben would pay the price with an absentee father. He couldn’t win.

  “But what about Daphne? We can’t lose her now.”

  Jesse shrugged. “We can’t stop her from going if that’s what she wants to do. Slave labor is a thing of the past, thank goodness.”

  “Jesse Lightner, if you don’t put up some sort of fight for that young woman, I will never forgive you. Did you not see what happened today? Life is short. If anyone knows that, it’s you. I’ll bet you knew the first time you laid eyes on Daphne that she was meant for you.”

  “Anne, that’s crazy talk. You’re just upset. I’ve told you that if I were marriage material, I’d have a wife by now. As for Daphne—you should have seen her face when she woke up in the hospital and thought I was Mark. She positively glowed. She burst into the biggest smile I’ve ever seen, and then, when she discovered it was me at her side, it vanished. Of course, I was there to fire her and she probably knew it.”

  “This is your second chance, Jesse. You can listen to your heart, no matter how foolish it seems, or you can let Daphne go back to her old life with those two old men in Paris or San Francisco, or wherever she lands. She needs a home, Jesse. She wants to be settled, or she’ll run her whole life concentrating on the details and missing the point.”

  Chapter 24

  Daddy! Arnaud! What are you doing here?” Daphne embraced one, then the other.

  “We came to take you home,” her father said.

  “Well, I guess I am home. Daddy, the house you bought me—”

  “I did not buy you that house. I picked out a beautiful house with a state-of-the-art kitchen and a Jacuzzi tub. Do you think your mother would allow me to buy our only daughter a fixer-upper?”

  “I thought maybe because the wedding had been so expensive—”

  “Daphne, I know I haven’t always been there for you when you needed me, but, sweetheart, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

  “We couldn’t warn you about Mark,” Arnaud said. “We didn’t know who he was involved with, and Interpol would not let me tell you anything. At first they suspected you too.”

  “Suspected me? Of what?”

  “Mark never gave up the idea of the mind-altering drugs through the aromatherapy spray. He was essentially an international drug dealer, and his stuff must have worked. He had quite an international clientele.”

  “But, Arnaud, I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I couldn’t,” he said. “I was under strict orders. When I realized I could give Mark
a job and they could get the evidence they needed, that’s the route we decided to go. But it was dangerous for you, Daphne. Mark used your father’s money to help fund his operation.”

  “I was in danger?”

  “It’s safe now. The dealers who were selling him chemicals have been captured. All is clear for you to come back to Givaudan.”

  For some reason, Daphne looked back to Jesse’s office. “I promised I would stay here for a while.”

  “Daphne, this place is beneath you,” Arnaud said. “If Madeleine could see you here, she would cry, after all the work you did to get your credentials.”

  “You love Paris,” her father said.

  “I love Dayton.”

  They both looked at her, perplexed. “I can’t let you stay in that house. I’ve heard it’s uninhabitable.”

  “Not anymore, Dad. The men from Anne’s church have made repairs, and Sophie came out and painted, and it’s going to be lovely. And it’s mine. I don’t want anything more.”

  She gazed down the hall toward Jesse’s door, not ready to admit why she really wanted to stay.

  “You don’t know anyone out here. I refuse to let you stay.”

  “I promised, Dad. You raised me to be a woman of my word.” Her shoulders fell. “And, Arnaud, I still can’t smell anything. I’m not capable of coming to work for you.”

  “You are. I’ve smelled the formula for your cologne. It’s impeccable. And I cannot mimic it. You did as I taught you and left an important ingredient out.”

  She smiled.

  “You will have to change the formula a little to lower the price point, but it is perfection. To see the student outshine her master is such a feeling of pride for me.” He closed his eyes and put his hand to his chest.

  “You want Volatility!? We’re going to use it here. In a dog shampoo.”

  “Of course we won’t call it that. You might want to take the marketing courses again when you’re back at the Institut. I’m willing to pay for the formula, but I’d rather have you back in Paris to create more hit fragrances. Your nose will come back when all is right in the world. You’ve been under such terrible stress.” Arnaud kissed her on both cheeks. “We were protecting you, my princess. Madeleine would never forgive me if I allowed something to happen to you.”

  She looked again toward Jesse’s closed office door, and panic rose in her at the sight, though she couldn’t have explained why. It was as though a part of him was already unavailable to her. “I’ll be right back,” she said.

  She knocked softly on the door and then pushed it open. Jesse was bent over in his chair, his head in his hands. She rushed to his side and crouched beside him. “I’m sorry about Dave,” she said.

  He nodded.

  “Jesse—”

  “Arnaud wants you back in Paris.” He nodded. “You can have your scent back then. No dog shampoo and spritzer. I’m sure Givaudan will make better use of it.”

  “I’ll have to cheapen it with a few chemicals to get it on the market, but, Jesse, I promised it to you. If you want Volatility!, it’s yours. It’s the least I can do.” What she wanted to tell him was that if he wanted her, she was his. All he had to do was nibble at her offer.

  “When will you leave?”

  “Not until Kensie is on her feet. I suppose that will be around Christmas—and I promised to stay till then anyway. I’m going to have her stay with me in the house.”

  “What? Why the sudden love for Kensie?”

  “Because I want to pay it forward. You all came around me and loved me when I couldn’t smell. Anne housed me when I had nowhere to go. Mr. Riley brought me enough food for the next year. You all helped me get back on my feet even though I wasn’t capable of doing what you hired me to do. I’ve had to reevaluate what makes me important. I always thought it was because I could smell better than anyone else, but it isn’t that.”

  His face came close to hers, and she felt warm and tingly just being beside him. He emanated a feeling of safety, and it was lovely, better than the scent of rain. If she could bottle that, it would put Volatility! to shame.

  She felt his breath tickle her ear.

  “What was it then?”

  “It’s that when I couldn’t smell at all, God’s people were there to pick me up off the pavement. If God’s people can love me so much, God must love me just because. He’s created a family for me wherever I’ve gone.”

  “But when will you find a family from God that will make you settle down and stop moving?”

  “What if I said I didn’t want to go to Paris?”

  “I’d say you were sacrificing yourself again, so focused on the details that you’re missing the big picture.”

  “While I help with Kensie recuperating, I might help with Ben too, if you need to get the product cycle quickened.” She looked down to the carpet. “Now that . . . you know . . . Dave is gone.”

  “You’re an amazing woman, Daphne. What will I do when you’re gone?” He stood over her and gave her a chaste, grandfatherly kiss.

  “You’ve made it this long, I’m sure you’ll survive,” she joked. But in her heart, she wanted to tell the truth. She wanted to tell Jesse that she’d never met another man like him. “I’d better get out to my father.”

  “Are you sure about the scent? You won’t be offended by the dog shampoo?”

  “The scent is yours. I’ll have to change it chemically to make it work for Givaudan anyway.” She stood, and the way he looked at her, she willed him to say what he was really feeling. She felt his gaze to her soul, and with only one word of encouragement, she’d tell Arnaud to go without her. “I’ll help you get the next quarter out like I promised.”

  He waved her off. “Don’t be silly. We’ll make it without you.”

  “Is that true?” she asked. “Your schedule is so full as it is.”

  They stared at one another for a long time, but neither one said more. She left his office and explained to her father that the next few days would be busy. “There will be a funeral, I’m sorry to say, and lots to do to make the product cycle.”

  Her father smiled. “That’s my girl. A chip off the old workaholic block.”

  “When will you be back?” Arnaud asked.

  “December,” she said while staring at Jesse’s door. “December is good.”

  Jesse came out of his office and pumped Arnaud’s hand. “Congratulations,” he said. “The best man won.” Then he strode out of the foyer and down the hallway.

  The scent of winning trickled into her memory, and her eyes followed Jesse until he disappeared into the elevator.

  Jesse berated himself all the way to the lab. He was being ridiculous. Yes, he had this amazing chemistry with Daphne, but he knew enough science to know that was all just pheromones and attraction. Just because he’d finally been attracted to another woman didn’t mean he needed to go off the deep end.

  Yet the thought of Daphne leaving Gibraltar tugged at his heart. She’d sprinkled her joie de vivre like glitter. As he headed toward the lab, his cell phone rang and he answered it on the first ring. “Abby?”

  “Hey, Jesse, I heard there was an accident in town. You all right?”

  “I’m fine.” He’d been so busy he hadn’t even thought to call and check on his own son. “Abby, we’re going to have to find a good daycare for Ben. I’m going to be VP for a while again.”

  “VP? Jesse, no!”

  “I have no choice. Dave is . . . Dave is gone. There’s no one else who knows the business.”

  “Just quit, Jesse.”

  “I can’t quit. I have to feed my son.”

  “I’m not going to Cincinnati and leaving Ben with some stranger while you work your life away. What would Hannah have said?”

  “I can’t talk about this right now,” he said. “I have to go tell my scientists the clock is ticking. They have to come up with the products fast, and there’s only me to review them.”

  “Do you think there’s no other way God can make a path
for you than to work your entire life away? You’re not helpless, Jesse. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, you’re not going to get to buy Ben all the fabulous wooden trains he wants. But that’s not what he really wants anyway! Do you know he named his favorite train after you? He talks to it like it’s you, because you’re never here. That’s the legacy you’re leaving.”

  “Abby—”

  “Don’t Abby me. I’ve got a good mind to petition to adopt Ben. He needs someone to be there for him, and you feel the call of dish soap is higher.”

  Abby hung up on him. He had to get out of the office. John and Willard would find out soon enough. He thought about the two men in their lonely lab, all alone without so much as a conversation, and he saw his future. The rain fell and it fell, but if he didn’t take cover, could he really blame someone else for his standing there soaked?

  Daphne led her father and Arnaud, who were in a rental car behind her, back to her charming little house. Pride of ownership welled up within her, and she couldn’t imagine leaving it. When she got to the stoop, she could hear her landline ringing, and she jiggled the keys to open the door.

  “Getting the phone, Dad. Check out the place.” She huffed over to the phone and figured it was probably only a sales call. But it would be her sales call. “Hello?”

  “Daph, it’s Sophie.”

  “Why are you calling on this line?”

  “I was hoping you were home from work. I have a message I think I’m supposed to give you.”

  “A message?”

  “I read today about a woman who couldn’t stop sneezing. No matter what she did, she sneezed and she sneezed. Through breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even sleeping. The longest respite she got was like a couple of minutes.”

  “Can we talk about this later, Sophie? It’s been a long day. My dad and Arnaud are here. And Mark’s in jail.”