Mystery Lover

by Annette Broadrick

  “Thank you.”

  “I have noticed, though, that when you transcribe my dictation it does not come back to me in the same form in which I dictate it.”

  Jennifer tried hard not to show how his comment affected her. She had tried to make only the revisions she felt absolutely necessary.

  “You seem to feel the necessity to correct my grammar and my sentence structure from time to time,” he pointed out in a dry voice.

  She forced herself to meet his bland gaze, but she could read nothing. The golden eyes seemed to look right into the most vulnerable part of her being.

  “Tell me, how did you hear about this job?”

  Jennifer was surprised at the sudden change of subject.

  ‘ ’A friend at school mentioned that the agency was looking for stenographers. So I applied.“

  He continued to sit there, waiting, as though she had more to say. Jennifer had never seen a man who could be so still. His hands rested on the desk in front of him and she covertly studied them. They were large, strong hands. He was a large, strong man.

  “Had you ever heard of the agency before? Or of me?”

  She glanced up at his face again, startled by his questions.

  “No, sir.”

  “You don’t have to keep calling me ‘sir,’ you know. I may look old enough to be your father, but that’s not quite the case.”

  The personal remark unnerved her, just as their whole conversation had done. She had never known anyone like him and didn’t know how to respond to the man.

  “Are you always so quiet?” he asked.

  “When I don’t have anything to say,” she admitted.

  He smiled and she was amazed at how the smile softened his harsh features. The smile quickly disappeared.

  “I’d like you to begin working closely with Marlene for the next few weeks and learn her job before she leaves us, if that’s agreeable with you.”

  Jennifer gasped. “Me?”

  He glanced quickly over her shoulder, then his gaze pinned her to her chair. “I believe you’re the only other person in the room. Why? Do you see some problem?”

  “I, well, I, uh, no, not exactly. I mean,I don’t have much experience and—” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “I realize that. What I also realize is that despite your rather tender years, you show a great deal of initiative, intelligence, ability to grasp a new situation, willingness to work—in other words, all the attributes I want in an assistant. Do you want the job?”

  Dazed, she stared back at him. Did she want the job? Did she want to work closely with this man every day? She knew so little about men. Chad? What should I do?

  There was no answer. Chad was good at that. He might spend time with her going over her options, but he never made up her mind for her.

  “Mr. Cameron, as you may well guess, this comes as quite a surprise to me.” She searched for the right words. “If you don’t mind, I’d like a day to think it over.”

  He watched her for a moment, then said, “Ah, yes. I did forget one rather important piece of information—your salary.” He named a figure that doubled what she was presently making. “That’s a beginning salary, of course. As you progress and take on more responsibility I will see that your raises reflect your increased worth to the company.”

  He stood up and she immediately got to her feet. “Perhaps you’re right, Ms. Chisholm, to want to think this offer over. I will be waiting to hear your decision.”

  Jennifer barely remembered leaving his office and returning to her desk. She worked the rest of the day with no idea of what she was doing. Thank goodness the transcriptions of tapes had become so routine by then she could manage without her total concentration.

  As soon as she got home that night and greeted Sam, who was still little more than a kitten at the time, she said, “Chad? I really need to talk to you.”

  “Go ahead, Sunshine. Talk.”

  Jennifer gave a sigh of relief. There were times when she couldn’t get in touch with him, and she’d been afraid that tonight of all nights he wouldn’t respond.

  Kicking off her shoes she sat down in her favorite chair with a sigh.

  “I got a terrific job offer today, Chad. I need to talk to you about it.”

  “I thought you just started a job.”

  “I did. It’s the same place, only a different position. A much higher position. I’d be working as Mr. Cameron’s assistant.”

  “Isn’t he the fellow who runs the place?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Who is he?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what do you know about him?”

  “Not all that much, really, except for office gossip. He’s single, attractive—”

  “And that’s why you’d go to work for him?” She could almost hear the disgust in his voice.

  “Of course not. I’m not even sure I want to work for him, actually.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that I don’t know that much about men. I don’t remember my father that well. I never had any brothers. The boys I knew in school were more friends than anything. I think I’m a little afraid of him.”

  “You mean you think he’d chase you around the desk?”

  She thought about that for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. He doesn’t seem to be the type of person. If he were, I’m sure the office staff would know about it. There’s never been any talk about his personal life.”

  “Then what’s to be afraid of?”

  “He’s so stern, so rigid. All business. He doesn’t ever seem to relax.”

  ‘’Maybe he’s busy. “

  “I’m sure he is. I understand his dad opened the agency some years ago and when he was killed his son came home to run it.” She got up and wandered into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of apple juice. “I’m sure that wasn’t easy for him to do.”

  “Probably not. What had he been doing before then?”

  “Nobody has ever said.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you want from me, Sunshine.”

  “I’m not sure, either.I think I’m afraid of failing. The job has so much responsibility attached to it. I’m not sure I can handle it.”

  “Your boss must think you can or he wouldn ‘t have offered you the position.’‘

  “I thought of that. I just don’t know how he can tell so much about me. He doesn’t know me at all.”

  “Maybe he’s a good judge of character.”

  “What if I let him down?”

  “But if you don’t try, won’t you be letting yourself down?”

  “I suppose. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  “Only you can decide what you want out life, you know. Nobody else can do that for you. If you’re content working as a stenographer, if you don’t want to learn anything more, then be the best stenographer you can be, and be happy doing it.”

  Jennifer was quiet for a few moments. “I guess I’ve still been blessing my opportunity to get a job as soon as I finished school. I hadn’t looked any farther down the road than that.”

  “Now you’re being challenged to look down that road to your future.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, for the record, I believe in you, Sunshine. I know that you can do anything you decide you can do.”

  “Thank you, Chad. What would I do without you?”

  “You’d do just fine and you know it.”

  The next morning she went into the office and told Mr. Cameron that she would be pleased to work as his administrative assistant.

  Jennifer sat there in the truck, watching the two men talking. Slowly she opened the door and crawled out of the cab, already feeling the bruises on her backside. When she approached the two men they stopped talking and turned to her. Tony smiled, obviously pleased that they had found his friend. Chad, or C. W. Cameron, she wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to think of him from no
w on, stood there waiting, watching her expression, revealing nothing of his thoughts to her. He never had. Only Chad had done that. Chad. She felt such a sense of loss that she almost crumpled with the pain. Chad, her lifelong friend, seemed to be gone. In his place stood the cold, aloof and distant man she had worked for all these years.

  She didn’t know what to say.

  C. W. Cameron suddenly smiled, a warm, relaxed smile that caused a feeling of light and energy to flood over her. He took a couple of steps toward her and enfolded her in his arms. Holding her close, he laid his cheek on the top of her head. “You finally found me out, didn’t you, Sunshine?”

  Chapter Five

  Contents - Prev / Next Jennifer’s ear was pressed hard against Chad’s chest and she could feel the heavy thumping of his heart inside. She had never been so close to him before, never felt the strength of him.

  Raising her head she looked into his eyes. They were guarded, but there was a hint of emotion that she had never seen before. “How are you feeling?” she managed to say. Her voice sounded weak and trembling.

  “I’ll feel better once we get away from this place. If you hadn’t arrived, things could have gotten a little desperate. There’s nothing to eat up here and the nights get a little cold, even in August.”

  “Did you have some water?”

  “Yes. There’s a well.”

  Tony spoke up. “We’ve got food in the truck. I don’t see any reason to hang around here, do you?”

  Chad glanced over at him. “No, I don’t. Especially if you think you’ve been followed.”

  The three of them started for the truck, but Chad hadn’t let go of his grip around Jennifer. He had tucked her under his arm, his hand clamped against her waist, holding her to his side.

  Jennifer clambered into the truck quickly and sat in the middle. The men hastily followed, slamming their doors. Tony had automatically slid behind the wheel again, leaving Chad to sit beside her. Because of the floor shift, Jennifer found herself plastered against Chad’s side. His arm was draped on the seat behind her. She wriggled, trying to place some distance between the two of them. His hand fell on her shoulder, effectively pinning her to his side. “You’re fine, just where you are. ”

  Of course. He still knew what she was thinking. He had always known, even when they were working together. Never by any hint had he given away his extra knowledge of her. She wondered how he’d managed.

  ‘’It wasn’t easy, Sunshine, believe me.“

  She darted a glance in his direction, but he wasn’t looking at her. Instead he had leaned forward and was digging into the sack at his feet. “Ah, food.” Reaching down into the sack he pulled out a plastic-wrapped sandwich. With a grin he handed it to her. “How about opening this for me, would you? I’m short of hands at the moment.”

  Since his left hand was curved around her shoulder and he gave no indication that he would ever move it, she recognized that he preferred their current position over eating, despite how hungry he was.

  Without saying anything, she unwrapped the sandwich and held it out to him. He seemed to inhale it. She reached down and found the six-pack of soda they had bought and without asking, opened one of them for him.

  “Thanks,” he muttered, taking a long swallow and exhaling with a sigh.

  “What do you think is going on?” Tony asked.

  That was what Jennifer wanted to know, but she had a hunch they were concerned about two different subjects.

  “The way I figure it, your friend didn’t appreciate all my questions. I was sent out here on a wild-goose chase.”

  “Where did they force you off the road?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never been out here before. It was long before we left the highway, though,” Chad replied. He began to massage Jennifer’s neck and shoulders, his fingers pushing and kneading the stiff muscles. They hit a sudden bump and he held her against him for a moment, then eased his grip and began to stroke across her shoulders again.

  “I didn’t see any sign of your car.”

  Chad sighed. “I’m not surprised. I didn’t have a chance to remove the keys. There were three men in the car. Only two brought me up here. My car will probably turn up abandoned somewhere.”

  “Do you think they intended to let you die up here?” Jennifer asked.

  “Who knows? I didn’t make any friends when I hit the first guy. That’s when I must have gotten clobbered from behind. By the time I came to I was in the back seat with a pistol aimed at me and we were on this road. My biggest fear was that one of the holes in the road would cause that pistol to go off. You can bet I stayed as quiet as possible.”

  Tony laughed. “Actually, you look a hell of a lot better than I expected. I can remember some of the scrapes we used to get into when—”

  “Yeah. Me, too, Tony. But I’d rather not go into them at the moment.”

  Jennifer felt his gaze rest on her profile but she refused to look up at him. He still didn’t want her knowing any more about him than he could help, which she found extremely annoying, under the circumstances. He knew everything about her.

  “Not everything, Sunshine.”

  She forced herself not to answer him out loud. Tony didn’t need to know what was between them. Why didn’t you ever let me know who you were were?

  “How could I? Remember, it wasn’t my idea for you to come to work at the agency. It took me a few weeks to overcome the shock of finding you working for me, and another few weeks to decide that despite everything, you were the best employee I had.”

  She remembered now that he had questioned her on her choice of coming to work there. At the time they were having a high turnover of employees. Since then, the problems had been worked out and the work force was much more stable.

  “People still move away and have babies. That’s the norm for the working world these days,” he continued.

  If you didn’t want me working for you, why did you make me your administrative assistant?

  “I didn’t say I didn’t want you working for me. I said it was a shock. Like I told you, despite our relationship, you were the most suited for the position. The personnel director suggested you to me, although I had already recognized how well you edited my tapes as you went along.”

  I thought you were upset about that.

  “I was more amused than anything. You have such a keen mind. You constantly amaze me. You might be shy in other areas, but when you know you’re right you do what you have to do.”

  I am not shy.

  ‘ ’Of course you are. You rarely date.‘’

  Whose fault is that? she demanded, glancing up at him out of the corner of her eye.

  Chad had been eating another sandwich while she held his soda. Now he took it from her, deliberately trailing his fingers across hers.

  “/ never stopped you from dating. You and Jerry seemed to have a good relationship. ”

  A friendly relationship, that’s all.

  “What’s wrong with being friends?”

  Not a thing.

  “Are you still blaming me for telling you Larry Donahue was married?”

  Of course not! She thought back for a few minutes. Wait a minute. You’re the one who introduced me to Larry.

  “Right. But I didn’t expect you to date the man just because I introduced him to you.”

  Then why didn’t you say something there in the office?

  “Because we don’t have that sort of relationship in the office.”

  Jennifer grew quiet. So much had hit in the past hour that her head was still reeling. What was going to happen to her now? Nothing in her life was going to be the same again.

  “That’s the way life works, Sunshine. Nothing ever stays the same. We wouldn’t want it to, now would we? That’s part of our growth pattern—to learn, to gain wisdom, to expand. ”

  I was perfectly content to leave things the way they were.

  “Oh, were you now? Who was it who insisted on coming up here to finally meet Chad?
Who was so gleeful that you had found me in a position where I had no choice? You wanted to know. Now you do.”

  Now I do, she repeated a little sadly.

  “And you’re disappointed. ” Chad shifted. She could feel the long length of his leg pressed against hers. Since he had taken the can of soda out of her hand, it was free. She could almost feel the hurt that he was experiencing at the thought that she was disappointed to learn his true identity. She shifted her hand until it rested on his thigh.

  Not disappointed. Shocked is more the word. When I think of the times—

  “Don’t think of them.”

  How can I possibly forget them? You listened patiently while I carried on and on about how cold and unfeeling my boss was. You must have had a tough time not revealing how amusing you found me.

  “I wasn’t amused, Sunshine. I could feel your frustration with the situation. Unfortunately, what

  you were dealing with was the real me out in the business world.“

  Nonsense. You are not cold and unfeeling. You are warm and caring and— Jennifer caught her breath as the memory of his earlier words came back to haunt her. He had told her that he loved her. He had told her that he had always loved her. Chad loved her. That meant that C. W. Cameron also loved her. She was dazed by the thought.

  He sat quietly beside her, refusing to comment on her most recent thoughts. She was almost grateful.

  The two men began to talk and Jennifer gratefully tuned out their conversation. Her mind was in such turmoil. In all the years that she had tried to guess at the type of person Chad was, she would never have pictured him as a no-nonsense businessman, brisk and efficient.

  Jennifer let her head rest wearily against his shoulder. Too many things had come at her too quickly for her to take them in. She allowed her eyes to close, enjoying his solid warmth beside her. She would have to think about everything later.

  By the time they reached the smoother surface of the highway, Jennifer was sound asleep in Chad’s arms.

  Later Jennifer vaguely recalled being lifted and held close and a sense of movement, but that was all. She had been so tired. And why not? She’d made the drive from Los Angeles, plus the additional one into the Utah mountains. She’d been bounced and bruised and she had met her lifelong friend in the flesh, which had been traumatic, to say the least.