Matt gave her a look that curled her toes. “You bought me beer?”
The way he said it, one would think she had bought him season tickets to the New England Patriots’ home games. “You seem to like it more than wine.” She reached into a cabinet for a wine glass.
“I wasn’t sure what kind to get; there are so many to choose from.” Three-quarters of the aisle at the food store had been beer. The other remaining shelf space had been wine and liquor. The only conclusion she could make from that was that the people of Maine must really like their beer. “I let Austin make the final decision. He picked the one with the moose on the label.”
Matt chuckled as he opened the door and pulled out a cold bottle of beer. “Smart boy. Remind me to buy him a tricycle or something.”
“Hey, I’m the one who paid for it.”
Matt set the bottle on the counter and then swung her up and sat her next to it. “So you are.” His mouth nuzzled her neck. “Does that mean you like me?”
“Some people would think that,” she teased. She loved the way Matt made her feel—like a woman. A very desirable woman.
“You taste like heaven.” Matt’s mouth nibbled its way over to her mouth for a long, slow kiss.
She melted under the onslaught of his mouth. Matt made her want things she’d never known she wanted. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and hung on as he carried her into the bedroom. Neither one broke their kiss.
Austin was in the next room, but nothing short of a nightmare or a bathroom call would wake her son now. Just to be on the safe side, she whispered against Matt’s mouth, “Lock the door.”
Matt fumbled with the lock. “Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Yes.” No, she wasn’t sure if it was okay or not. No one had ever handed her a mommy booklet when she gave birth to Austin four years ago. And she was sure as hell that no one mailed her “The Single Mom’s Guide to Sex Without Scarring Your Child for Life” pamphlet when her divorce was final. But this was Matt. This was the man she had fallen in love with.
This was the man she wanted.
Matt lowered her to the bed and followed her down. “I missed you today. I should have gone with you to pick up Austin. That was a long distance for you to drive alone.” Matt’s hands were undoing the front of her blouse.
She tugged his shirt over his head without bothering to unbutton it. “Your brothers needed your help in breaking down the wedding and returning the tents and tables.” She wanted Jake to meet Matt, the man she was hoping would become a very important person in their son’s life. But they would be meeting soon enough. Her father, Jake, and two other executives were flying in a week from Wednesday. She had nine days to prepare to knock their socks off.
Nine days to get up the courage to tell Matt who she really was.
With Matt’s mouth working its way down to the zipper of her jeans, nine days seemed like a lifetime away.
Matt couldn’t sleep. He lay with Sierra in his arms and wondered what she was hiding. She kept putting him off every time he mentioned the future. Their future. Time was running out, and so was Sierra. She and Austin would be leaving the day after Labor Day. Yet she was stonewalling him at every turn.
Why?
He glanced down at Sierra and gently brushed her hair away from her face. She was beautiful. She was also exhausted. He could see it in her face. She had been running herself ragged for the past couple of weeks. It wasn’t just the wedding either. She was up to something, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what.
He carefully eased Sierra out of his arms and got out of bed. He didn’t think they had locked the front door or turned off the living room lights. He stepped into his jeans and headed for the kitchen. It was only ten-thirty at night.
He chuckled as he put the wine and beer back into the refrigerator and got himself a glass of milk. Sierra and he had been so distracted that neither bottle had been opened. A distant low-sounding beep caught his attention. He followed the sound into the den.
He turned on the light and shook his head as a fax machine spit out a few pages. The businesswoman strikes again. He walked over to the Alberts’ desk, which Sierra had obviously overtaken. A fancy laptop was in the center of the desk and a portable printer/fax machine was sitting by its side. The machine had enough bells and whistles on it that it could probably contact the space station. Sierra took her work seriously.
He glanced at the page that had just come out of the fax, and he frowned. The letterhead was from the Randall Corporation, the hotel company that was trying to buy the lighthouse and its surrounding acreage. What would they be faxing Sierra?
He placed his glass of milk on the desk and picked up the page. It took a moment for his heart to understand what his brain was relaying. The signature that was sprawled across the bottom of the legal document said it all: Sierra Randall-Morley, vice president of the Randall Corporation.
Anger, hurt, and betrayal made it nearly impossible to breathe. He had to get out of there before he said or did something he would regret. He now knew what Sierra had been hiding.
Sierra woke alone at dawn. She stretched and yawned. Matt must have gotten up and left, knowing that Austin would be getting up soon. Matt and she hadn’t had time to discuss the logistics of the physical aspect of their relationship.
She didn’t want to spend her nights alone, but she didn’t want her son to see Matt coming out of her bedroom in the morning either. How would she explain that one to a four-year-old? She couldn’t.
A frown pulled at her mouth as she stared up at the ceiling. How did other single mothers handle situations like this? Did lovers sneak in and out in the dead of night, or was she supposed to take a vow of chastity now that she was a mother and single? She’d have to talk about it with Matt tonight.
She kicked off the blanket and got out of bed. There were a hundred things that she had to do, and hopefully the San Diego office had faxed her those documents she was waiting on. She pulled on her robe and hurried to the den. Hopefully she’d be able to get in an hour or two of work before Austin got up.
Sierra knew something was wrong as soon as she stepped into the hallway. The den light was on. It hadn’t been on last night when they had returned from Sullivan. Curious, she walked down the hall and peered inside. The sight of the half-drank glass of milk caused her to close her eyes and pray that she was still sleeping and that this was a nightmare.
A nightmare she would be waking up from very soon.
She opened her eyes and knew her prayers hadn’t been answered. The glass was still sitting there on the desk. With a heavy sigh she walked over to the desk and stared down. Someone in the legal department at the main office in San Diego had been on the ball, for a Sunday evening. The documents had been faxed.
Only one page had been moved. The page with her official company signature: Sierra Randall-Morley.
Matt had taken a look at the letterhead and her signature and added two plus two and came up with four. The only problem was, she was now on six, not four.
She slowly sank into the chair and looked at the desk. She had been so careful not to leave any paperwork out in the open. She hadn’t wanted Matt to find out this way.
Millicent had warned her.
Matt hadn’t even given her an opportunity to explain. He had just walked out of the house and her life without saying a word. She couldn’t blame him. The evidence had been incriminating.
Tears filled her eyes as she thought about her next step. She had two choices. One, she could pack up Austin and fly back to San Diego an emotional wreck and blow this one chance for true happiness. Let someone else from the company come out to Maine and complete her assignment.
She could prove to her father that he had been right all along, that emotions and business could never mix. That when the tough choices had to be made, the woman would make them from the heart, not with her head. And then she would drive herself sick wondering if she had made the right choice.
She would become her mother all over again.
She wasn’t her mother. She was stronger than that.
Or, number two, she could stay in Misty Harbor and fight for what she wanted. She wanted her father’s respect and an acknowledgment that she was just as good as the other executives of the corporation. The other, all male, executives.
She wanted her father to see once and for all she wasn’t her mother. She could be a woman, a mother, and a businessperson without falling apart.
She wanted a home for Austin. A real home, with good friends for them both that had nothing to do with the Randall Corporation or how big her bank account was or what her last name happened to be.
But most important, she wanted Matt. She wanted the man she had fallen in love with.
Chapter Sixteen
Wednesday morning was damp and overcast, but that didn’t stop the tourists from lining up to buy whale-watching tickets. Juliet knew Steve had to get going, but she didn’t want to stop kissing him. “I’ll call you tonight, okay?”
“Please drive safely.” Steve kissed her again for good measure. “You have my number, right?”
“Your home number, your cell phone number, and your e-mail address.” Juliet hugged Steve tighter. They were in Gordon’s apartment, while her mother and Gordon were downstairs giving them some privacy. “I’ll see you at the beginning of October.” October was a whole month away.
“If I can last that long without kissing you.” Steve kissed her again. “It might be the end of September.”
She laughed. It beat crying. “Okay, get going. I’ll talk to you tonight.” For the past three days it had been nearly impossible to get a moment alone with Steve.
Her mother had ruined her love life by arriving in Misty Harbor. Gordon at least gave her and Steve some space and time. Her mother was clinging tighter to her than Saran Wrap. At first she thought it was because her mother really had missed her. Then she realized the real reason. Victoria Carlyle was using her as a shield against Gordon.
Gordon was doing the same thing. Neither one wanted to be alone with the other. Juliet didn’t think it had to do with anger, resentment, or being mad at each other. She thought her parents still had feelings for each other. Only a blind man wouldn’t be able to see the looks they gave each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking.
It was cute. It was also embarrassing having your parents make cow eyes at each other. They should get a room.
Juliet frowned. Her mother had been sharing Gordon’s guest room with her for the past several days. Her mother wasn’t packed, nor did she show any signs of leaving today, which meant her mother and Gordon were going to be alone in the shop, and in the apartment.
She really didn’t want to think about that one too closely.
“Come on, Steve, you’re going to be late for the boat.” She tugged him toward the stairs. “Your uncle doesn’t strike me as the most reasonable man.”
“Lawrence is a marshmallow behind that wall of steel.” Steve gave her another quick kiss before starting down the stairs. “You should meet his wife.”
Five minutes later Gordon placed Juliet’s suitcase in the trunk of her car. “Are you sure you have everything?”
“If I don’t, I’ll get it at Thanksgiving.”
“So you’re definitely coming then?” Gordon seemed thrilled by the prospect.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Juliet kissed his cheek. “You take care of the shop. I’ll be inspecting for dust when I get back.”
Gordon chuckled. “I don’t know who you’ll be coming to see, Steve or me.”
“Both.” She wasn’t going to get into that argument.
“Hmmm . . .” Gordon’s brow raised behind his sunglasses, but there was a smile playing on his lips.
Juliet glanced at her mother, who was nervously pacing in front of the shop. She lowered her voice and leaned in closer to Gordon. “I’m going to be very disappointed in you if you upset my mother.”
Gordon frowned. “I asked her to stay an extra day or so, so we can talk. She said yes.”
“As long as it’s just talking,” she teased.
Gordon snorted.
“Do I need to buy a shotgun?” Juliet repeated Gordon’s words back to him.
“You’re twenty-seven years too late on that one.” Gordon was serious.
Juliet laughed. She had a somewhat better understanding of the situation. There was enough blame and heartache to go around.
“What’s so funny?” Victoria walked over to them.
“Nothing, Mom. I was just lecturing Gordon on the virtues of a dust-free shop. It increases the profits, and he just might be able to afford that return trip to Venice he’s been talking about.”
“Venice?” Her mother seemed intrigued.
She kissed her mother’s cheek and thought about how much her mother would love to travel overseas again. Ken Carlyle had been a “see America first” kind of guy. She doubted her mother had used her passport once in their entire marriage. “I’m sure Gordon will tell you all about it. Gordon loves to travel. It’s what he does in the off-season.”
She walked around to the driver’s side of her car and got in. “I’ll call your cell phone, Mom, as soon as I’m home.”
“Drive carefully.”
“Will do, and both of you behave. Try not to get into any more trouble.” She put the car in gear and drove down the street with a huge smile on her face. Neither parent appreciated her last comment.
Victoria watched as her daughter’s car turned the corner and disappeared from sight. Without looking at Gordon she walked back into the shop. Now the hard part was about to begin, the part she had been dreading for days.
How did she apologize for not telling Gordon she had been pregnant with his child twenty-seven years ago? Then to hide the fact he had a daughter for fifteen years, and then to send him a picture of her along with a letter begging him not to contact her, that some other man was raising her.
She was a horrible person. Seeing it from his perspective, sending him that picture and letter had to be the cruelest thing she had ever done. Gordon was never going to forgive her, and she didn’t blame him.
Tears swam in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself. Maybe it would have been best if she had left with Juliet.
Gordon entered the shop and closed the door behind him. The OPEN sign was hanging in the window, but it was just too cool to keep the doors open.
She glanced over her shoulder at Gordon. Twenty-seven years, one wonderful marriage, and four children later and she still had feelings for him. Watching the interaction between Juliet and her father these past few days had been heartbreaking. They had practically finished each other’s sentences. They had not only been on the same page, but also had been in the same paragraph.
As the old saying went, they were two peas in a pod. They should have been given the opportunity to know and love each other these past twenty-six years. “Gordon, I’m so sorry.” Tears overflowed her eyes.
“Vicki, I need to say something before you continue any further.” Gordon took a step closer but didn’t touch her. He never touched her.
“First, there’s nothing to apologize for. I was the one to break off our affair. I told you it was over. I was the one to tell you that I did not love you anymore.” Gordon looked at her with love in his eyes. “I lied, Vicki.”
“Why?” She closed her eyes and thought back to that night. “Why would you have said such a thing?”
“The board of trustees at the university found out about our affair. They suggested quite strongly that I end it immediately. To my lifelong shame, I did. I lied and hurt the woman I loved to save my precious job. When you didn’t return to the campus in the fall, I made some discreet inquiries and learned that you had gotten married over the summer. I tendered my resignation and left the university halfway through that year.”
“Oh, Gordon,” she cried. “You loved teaching.”
“‘For of all sa
d words of tongue or pen. The saddest are these: “It might have been!” ’”
She was crying in earnest now. He had loved her back then. “I don’t know who said that.” She didn’t even think she could remember all the names of her children.
“John Greenleaf Whittier.” Gordon took another step closer. “I want to thank you and Ken Carlyle for doing such a wonderful job raising my daughter, Vicki. Juliet is perfect, and for that I have you to thank.”
She gave a very unladylike sniff. “You forgive me?” How could he when the guilt was smothering her?
“There’s absolutely nothing to forgive you for.” Gordon opened his arms and she flew into them.
Gordon’s arms tightened around her like he was never going to let her go.
After a moment he pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Would you like to hear about Venice?”
With those words she knew she had been granted a new beginning. A different beginning. A better beginning. “I would love to.”
Matt couldn’t believe Millicent Wyndham had talked him into coming. Okay, she hadn’t talked, she’d threatened. Millicent had asked him nicely to attend a meeting Sierra was holding with the board members of the Randall Corporation concerning a possible hotel on the coast of Maine. He had politely refused. He did not want to attend any business meeting concerning the lighthouse, and he sure as hell didn’t want to face Sierra and her betrayal.
Millicent hadn’t taken no for an answer and had threatened to use the one person guaranteed to get his butt there: his mother. The wrath of Peggy Porter thinking one of her sons had been impolite to Millicent would be unimaginable. He would rather swim with a great white shark than suffer the ire of his mother. At least with a seventeen-foot killer shark he stood a chance.
Matt parked his truck and slammed the door for good measure. Not only had Millicent insisted he be there, but she’d had the gall to hold the meeting at her house as well. He stomped his way up to the front door and rang the bell. It was two o’clock on a Friday afternoon and he’d had to leave a job in Ellsworth to make this meeting. There was no way he was getting into a monkey suit for it.
A Misty Harbor Wedding Page 25
