“Why? Because Rachel might find out you were less than a Boy Scout?”
“Because it isn’t true. You would let Rachel suffer for your own ego?”
“Tell me how I was the one for you, Adam,” she cooed.
He felt his cheek flinch. His mouth would never form such words. But thinking what it might cost Rachel back home in Montana, he swallowed roughly, trying to rid his throat of the terrible lump. “Why would you want me to say that? You belong to another man—that’s how God ordained it.”
“That’s how I ordained it, Adam. I gave up true love for money. You might have thought that was a mistake, but now I can have both. I know you’ve thought about it. All you have to do is tell me, Adam. Did you think I brought you to California for my health?”
He stared at Andrea with a man’s eyes. She was beautiful on the outside, the peak of fitness with elegant, luminous skin, but inside her heart was dead. Frosted over by years of ignoring God’s call and neglect by a husband who bought her affections, but now cared little for what she did. Adam tried to keep the contempt from his face and see her as the pathetic figure she was. Cheated on by Mike Williams, who apparently thought she was nothing more than a possession. She was ripe for vengeance. Adam seemed to hold the key to her retaliation.
“I think you brought me to California on a lie. What we had was a long time ago, Andrea. It was special when we were younger, but that was a lifetime ago. You don’t really love me. I’m a builder. I will always be a builder. I know you don’t respect that.”
“But it doesn’t matter now, Adam. I have enough money for both of us.”
He reached for her hand. “If you think I ever cared about money, you never really knew me.”
“I know you need the money now. I know Rachel needs it, and if you want payment from Mike, you’ll do what’s right.”
“No.” Adam shook his head. “I would never do what you consider right. I love Kayli.”
She cackled. “You can’t possibly love Kayli. You’ve been on what, one date?”
“I don’t expect you to understand it. I don’t understand it.”
She placed a key in his hand. “The guesthouse. Make your choice, Adam. You’ve got until Tuesday.”
Chapter 8
A dam watched Andrea drive away in a black Mercedes. He knelt and prayed vigorously for her. They had been childhood friends, high school crushes, and that’s where it should have ended. His ignorance showed in coming to California. He should have known God wouldn’t have appreciated the easy route. The fast buck. He would pay for his mistake now. Worse yet, so would Rachel.
Andrea’s threat was useless and without merit. Mike Williams was no fool. He would pay up on his contracts or face court. Adam would get his money—eventually. The question was, how long would it take? A scorned husband could make it harder than Adam had time for. He couldn’t afford a battle or his boss thinking he’d had anything to do with Andrea’s schemes. He prayed over the matter and called Kayli. He wanted to hear her voice. To know all women weren’t capable of such lying and wicked games, that a woman out there still enjoyed the simple things in life. One who took joy in decorating the front walk or placed a tiny cow of dough on an apple pie.
The phone rang twice, and Adam breathed a sigh of relief when Kayli’s voice sounded alert. “I didn’t wake you?” he asked.
He heard the smile in her voice. “No, you didn’t wake me. I was reading a novel. How are you doing? You don’t sound so good.”
“Andrea was here.”
“Andrea—was at your house?” Kayli stammered, and Adam felt the heat flare into his face.
He shouldn’t have told Kayli. She’d think he had something to do with it, but the alternative was worse.
“She’s really a hurting soul.” Adam sounded as though he were justifying Andrea’s behavior, and he quickly recanted. “I would feel sorry for her if I didn’t fear what she might do.”
“You should fear what she might do, Adam. Women don’t find their way into Mike Williams’s heart without a plan. And they don’t find their way out without a better one.”
Adam scratched his head. “You couldn’t have discerned all that from five minutes of meeting the woman.”
“Adam, you must be kidding. We women see so much you men don’t. First off, women committed to their husbands don’t find a way to be alone with another man at a party. Second, a woman of Andrea’s means should have nothing to fear in the likes of me. Andrea has a distinct plan, Adam, and you’d be smart to get out of the way if you value your reputation.”
His stomach turned. “Are you saying you think it’s time for me to leave?”
“No, I don’t want you to leave.” She let out a breath. “I want you to stay and tell me more of the beautiful rivers running through Montana. I want to hear about the trains to the old mining camps and exploring the ghost towns.”
“How much time do you have?” He heard a thump.
“My book just got boring.”
They talked of childhoods and dreams and shared hopes until Adam made the mistake of returning to a hard subject.
“Listen, about Andrea.”
“I don’t care about her, Adam.”
“But you need to know. She’s up to no good, and I don’t want you to believe her.” He didn’t add that Andrea planned to thwart his payment unless he cooperated. Kayli wouldn’t have believed any woman capable of that.
“Adam, one thing I’ve learned about you in these two weeks. You are not a man who takes the easy route. You have yet to see an apple pie, but you keep showing up, somehow believing one day it’s going to be there. ”
“It will be. I’m certain of that because I believe in you, Kayli.”
“You’d be smarter to believe in God and let Him handle the rest.” Her tone had a chill in it, and Adam started.
“What?” Adam looked into the phone, unsure of what Kayli was trying to say.
“You’re leaving, Adam. I’ve got you what, two months, tops? I feel as if for once in my life, I have someone whose opinion I really value. Someone who makes me feel like a princess. Let me live in my little world. Don’t remind me you’re leaving. Don’t remind me a woman named Rachel is waiting back home.”
“Rachel is—”
“No,” she said, stopping him. “Don’t tell me. I told you I want to live in my little world. In two months I’ll go back to being Kayli Johnson, struggling pastry chef. Today I want to be Kayli Johnson, princess, or none of this is worth it. I want to be the woman who arrives on the arm of Adam Harper, rugged builder and envy of Mike Williams. A modern-day prom queen.”
He felt stunned and tense. What was Kayli telling him? Why did she want him to play this charade? He didn’t toy with women’s hearts. He was steadfast and true. Yet he looked at the trail of women around him: Rachel, Andrea, and now Kayli. What did it matter if he saw himself as steadfast when others saw him as divided and noncommittal?
“I can’t join you for dinner tomorrow night, Kayli.” I’m not worthy.
He thought he heard a small whimper, but her resonant voice came back to him. “It’s just as well.” A light click followed.
Kayli arrived at the coffee shop after church. Robert wasn’t there yet, so she ordered a nonfat double mocha, anxious to thwart the pounding headache she attributed to caffeine withdrawal and a long night on the telephone.
She wouldn’t give Adam Harper the benefit of knowing it was he who caused her pain. Why would she get involved with a man like him anyway? She’d only listened to that chemical fusion between them, their shared hopes for three children and a mom who stayed home. She hadn’t given any credence to the facts. She was sure she’d heard God’s voice and that He’d been in favor of the courtship; yet she supposed today was proof He wasn’t.
“Hey!” Robert waved at her, bringing in another woman. Another era ended. Their Sunday mornings at the coffee shop had been sacred, a time to regroup, and Robert had never allowed someone else to invade their time.
Robert’s eyes reprimanded her, forcing her to be polite. “This is Joanie Hanson.”
Kayli tried to smile. Joanie was entirely too bouncy for someone who hadn’t had coffee yet. “Nice to meet you, Kayli. I understand you and Robert have been friends a long time.”
“We have,” Kayli said flatly. “But apparently not long enough.” She flashed her eyes, and he pulled her by the waist.
“We’ll just order coffee, Joanie. Why don’t you save our table? Latte?” The redhead nodded. “Great.” He drew Kayli into line and stood behind her. “So you want to tell me why you can’t be decent to my friend?”
“Robert, this is our time. What’s she doing here?”
“I saw her at church after our date last night, and she asked to come along. You can’t have your way forever, Kayli. You made your choice about me a long time ago.”
“What does that have to do with our friendship?”
“It has everything to do with it. I’m not going to turn down the opportunity for a girlfriend and possibly a spouse in order to be at your beck and call anymore. Your heart was apparently stolen overnight, so you’d best not chastise me.”
Shame washed over Kayli like extra foam through a latte. The reason she understood Andrea’s actions had nothing to do with being a woman. It was being a woman like her.
“My heart was not stolen.” Kayli crossed her arms. “It was temporarily misguided.”
“Things are working out with Joanie and me. Why can’t you deal with that?” The cut in Robert’s words hurt her. Was she so selfish as to deny her best friend a woman of his own? Simply because no man wanted her?
“I suppose I have to.” Kayli’s coffee came up, and she reached for it. “Tell Joanie I said good-bye. No sense being a third wheel.” She turned, making her way through the tables of countless people reading the Sunday paper. She heard Robert call after her, but she ignored him. She offered a phony smile and a wave to the sweet little redhead who’d captured Robert’s attention and made her way out the door through the sidewalk tables.
She stopped where she was. That’s it! As owner of a local small business, she could get Robert to approve sidewalk tables and café rights before Mike Williams opened his business. The city wouldn’t allow two such businesses within a block of one another. Kayli dashed home, determined to beat Mike Williams to the punch and force thoughts away of a dashing builder who made her feel like abandoning thoughts of the future as she knew it: as a successful business owner.
A wife and mother, she sniffed as she walked home balancing her coffee. I’m not meant for that lifestyle. I’m meant for a higher calling—destined to bring European delicacies to the American masses. She smiled to herself. That had to be it. That’s why the Lord had allowed all of this to happen. Kayli was allowed to feel like putty in Adam Harper’s arms so she could know that was a mere whim and wasn’t supposed to be her destiny.
She rushed home to make an apple pie. She needed to purge her system of all thoughts and dreams of Adam Harper. Finishing her assignment was a necessary part of flushing him from her mind for good, but not before he knew what he’d be missing.
Chapter 9
S unday afternoon smelled of cinnamon and warm apples, all the comfort of a familiar quilt. Such a homey scent. Kayli wished it felt that way. The air only reminded her that apple pie was Adam Harper’s favorite. He didn’t care for her white chocolate truffle or elegant apricot tarts. He enjoyed the simple things in life. Kayli enjoyed the extravagance of life: the different and unique. But would she ever feel the same about excess when Adam enjoyed apple pie in Montana?
Fresh, warm apple pie reminded Kayli of her own mother and their afternoons spent baking. Hot, stinging tears sprang to life. She instantly understood her disdain for apple pie and the reason her bakery had never created one. Some memories were too painful. Her mother had died young and with her, those cozy afternoons. Adam Harper seemed to bring all that emotion bubbling to the surface.
She let the pie cool a bit and placed the disposable pie tin in a custom-made basket. Looking a bit too much like Little Red Riding Hood, Kayli set the pie on her front seat and placed some books around it to prevent its shuffling. Then she squared her shoulders and started her car. She took out Adam’s business card and noted the scribbled address on the back. She was on a mission. Adam was about to learn that even the simple things in life could take on an added dimension with Kayli at the helm.
Kayli studied the address on the card then the boxy units in front of her. Adam lived in an old yet desirable part of town. His apartment was on the first floor of a tired-looking building with perfectly manicured lawns. Enough upkeep and neighborhood to keep his rent high, she supposed.
She knocked on the door, not expecting him to be home on such a bright and sunny afternoon, but he answered swiftly. “Kayli.” She couldn’t tell if he was happy to see her or not, but it didn’t matter. This was the end.
“I brought you your pie.” She pulled out the tin with a towel. “It’s still warm so be careful. You can keep the towel.” Turning to leave, she felt him grasp her forearm with his free hand.
“I don’t want the towel.”
She faced him. “Fine. I’ll take it.” She reached for the towel, but he wouldn’t relinquish it from his grip.
“I have to go back to Montana.” His voice held no inflection. “It’s Rachel.”
The game stopped. “You’re leaving? You said two months.”
“What does it matter? I take it this is my good-bye gift regardless of what state I’ll be in.” He raked his hand through his hair, his glass-green eyes fighting back emotion. It broke her heart to watch this steely man lose his normally unnerved stature. His tie from church draped near the phone carelessly, his face blanched. Kayli now understood the freshness of his pain.
“Adam, what’s happened?”
“My mother took a turn for the worse.”
“Your mother?”
“Rachel. She’s the woman who married my father when my mother walked out on us. Technically she’s my stepmother, but in my heart she’s the only mother I ever had.”
“Rachel’s your mother?” Kayli’s relief could not have gone unnoticed. She nearly cried from the joy that permeated her heart. Perhaps she wasn’t there to say good-bye after all.
Adam continued, “She would never take the name of Mother from me. She hoped my mom would return to me someday. She kept that hope alive in me, though I know now she’s my mother. She’s in a rest home in Montana.” He dropped his head. “I knew I should have taken care of her. I should never have left, but I couldn’t make any money to care for us, Kayli. I had to work. The rest home costs are tremendous.”
Kayli searched for words. He’d done so much. Didn’t he understand that? She didn’t have to know the details to know he’d done everything he could. She reached for him and pulled him into an embrace. “It will be okay,” she heard herself say. “Mike Williams won’t withhold payment when he knows the circumstances.” But even Kayli didn’t believe that.
Adam shook his head. “I didn’t listen to my conscience once. I won’t ignore it now.” He stood tall, gazing at her with a look that said more than words ever could. He squinted, the worn lines from his constant smile reminding her of his capacity for joy. How did she know what this man meant with only his eyes?
“Yes, you need to go.” What was she saying? She didn’t want him to go. Her business, her condominium, her bills, her future—suddenly none of it seemed important. None of those things made her feel the way Adam did.
He shrugged. “Tom can take over for me until I get back. I have to pray for the best.” He stooped and kissed her cheek, then found her lips and pressed his firmly to hers. Nothing prepared her for what coursed through her body. This was it. She’d never hesitated before when she knew what she wanted. No man would ever make her feel this way. Of that she was certain. Her soul mate did indeed exist, and s
he felt numb thinking he might walk out of her life forever. She couldn’t let that happen.
“Are you coming back?” She clutched his forearm, as if to force him to stay.
A black luxury car rolled into the apartment drive, and Kayli separated from Adam immediately. Andrea Williams got out of the vehicle, dripping with platinum baubles and wearing an orange silk pantsuit. Kayli swallowed hard, stepping in front of Adam protectively. This might be her last moments with Adam, the only opportunity she would have to tell him to return to her, and Andrea was stealing what belonged to her. This precious time.
“What do you want?” Kayli asked rudely.
Andrea lifted an eyebrow. “Since I’m not at your house, suffice it to say, I don’t want anything from you. It’s my employee I wish to speak with.”
“Andrea, go home,” Adam said.
Shock registered on Andrea’s face. “Adam, we have business to discuss, and it won’t wait until Tuesday.”
“We have nothing to discuss. I work for your husband. If he has something to say, tell him to call me in Montana.”
“Montana? You can’t leave for Montana! You have a restaurant to finish.”
“I have other, more pressing responsibilities.”
“Adam,” she said in a low, threatening tone, “you don’t want to do this to me.”
Kayli lost the momentum to breathe. “What do you mean, Andrea? What do you think is between the two of you?” An uneasy swirl started in Kayli’s stomach and moved to her throat, stifling any further words.
“I’m the one who got away—isn’t that right, Andrea?” He sniffed. “The one who didn’t wither under her seductive glance. She doesn’t want me. She only wants to feed her ego, to know I’m still hovering about, wishing I could have her.” Adam tossed his head.
Andrea’s eyes widened, as if she didn’t know what Adam might be talking about. “That’s not it, and you know it.”
“Well, Andrea, I don’t wish it. As a matter of fact, I count my blessings every day that the Lord saved me from you. I’m a man who knows what he wants, and I knew a long time ago that I didn’t want you.” Adam flinched, as though such ugly words pained him, but he obviously felt the cost necessary.
Sweet Surprise: Romance Collection Page 6
