“Sounds like you’ve got everything under control.”
She smiled suddenly, looking very pleased with herself. “That’s not all. I saved the best for last. Perry was able to get some corporate sponsors to cover our expenses.”
Lance was happy for Fallen Heroes, and he knew the board would be ecstatic. He just wished he didn’t have to be so grateful to the competition. “Wow! I didn’t see that coming.”
“Neither did I. When he told me last night, I almost fell out of my chair at the restaurant.”
“At the restaurant, huh?” he asked, forcing a half-way decent smile to his lips. “As the guy who’s supposed to be your boyfriend, should I be jealous?”
Her eyes fell from his. “I wish I’d never involved you in this. In hindsight, my actions were juvenile. I freaked out over nothing.”
“I wouldn’t call it nothing.”
“It was based on a…misunderstanding. The situation has changed.”
Lance knew what he was about to say wasn’t going to win him any points. “Things seldom change, Norah. What usually happens is our approach to them changes. The same thing goes for people.”
“I think your line of work might have colored your opinion. Just because it doesn’t happen often doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In any case, I’m sorry for dragging you into my personal affairs. It was nice of you to help me.”
“I’m not sure what you’re thanking me for. I didn’t actually do anything.”
“Maybe not in an obvious way, but knowing you had my back meant a lot to me. If there’s anything I can ever do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
The irony of her offer had Lance laughing. “I’ll…keep that in mind. You better get going. I noticed Perry pacing in the garden as I came in.”
She rose to her feet. “It won’t hurt him to wait on me for a change.”
“You’ll get no disagreement from me.”
When she reached the door, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “You don’t like him much, do you?”
“His instincts as a businessman are unquestionable. As for what kind of person he is, I don’t know him well enough to have an opinion.”
“I hope I haven’t given you the wrong impression of him.”
“Only he can do that.”
She smiled uncertainly. “Well, have a nice evening.”
“You, too, Norah.”
Lance didn’t review the court documents stacked neatly on his desk. Instead he turned toward the window with its view of the staff parking lot. Five minutes later his vigilance was rewarded by the sight of Norah and Perry. They had a short discussion standing next to her car. Then they got into their respective vehicles and drove away.
It didn’t require the expertise of a lip reader to know they were planning to spend the evening together. Norah was getting her second chance, and he couldn’t blame her for taking it. He’d probably do the same thing in her place.
* * * * *
The elaborate gate Norah had been admiring swung open to reveal a brick driveway leading to a three-story house built in the traditional plantation style. Through the lush foliage surrounding Perry’s sprawling estate, she could see glimpses of blue water.
When they came to a stop in front of an attached four-car garage, he reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt. “It doesn’t fit my high-tech image, does it?”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“You were thinking it, though, weren’t you?”
Her lips twitched. “Maybe. Do your parents still live in town?”
“No. They moved to Hilton Head a few years ago.”
Together they ascended the double staircase leading to the porch. One side of the double front door opened to reveal a smiling man in his early forties.
“Norah, I want you to meet Roger. He and his wife Bonnie take care of this place for me. Roger, this is Norah Comstock. She and I knew each other in college.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Norah,” Roger said, shaking her hand. He looked back at Perry. “Dinner will be ready in a half hour.”
“Excellent. I’m starved. How about you, Norah?”
“I didn’t realize I was eating with you.”
Perry winked at Roger. “Did I forget to mention that?”
“Yes, you did.”
Roger laughed. “If you need me for anything, I’ll be in the dining room.”
“Thanks, Roger. See you in thirty.”
Once they were alone, Perry slid his arm through hers. “I can’t expect you to work on an empty stomach.”
“Looking at an Audubon isn’t working. It’s sheer entertainment.”
“You’ll be doing more than looking. I need help deciding where to put it.”
“If it was me, I’d hang it where I could see it most.”
“That would be my office, and that just happens to be where it is at the moment.”
Perry’s house breathed luxury on a level commensurate with its owner’s wealth, but it felt more like a stage set than an actual home. This wasn’t surprising given Perry’s single status. The addition of a wife and kids would add the warmth and character it was missing.
“You’ve come a long way from scribbling computer code on napkins.”
“I actually still do that.”
“I wish I’d kept some of them. They’d probably be worth a lot of money.”
He chuckled. “Would you like me to give you a few to take home?”
“You need to hold on to them for your children.”
“Why? So they can sell them on ebay?”
“When did you become such a cynic?”
“Right about the time I made my first million dollars.”
What he called his office was a rectangular paneled room with a towering ornamental ceiling, a huge cast stone fireplace and sliding French doors leading to a veranda. Norah’s entire apartment could probably fit inside its ample proportions.
He took her over by the fireplace. “Close your eyes.”
As she did as he asked, she heard him walk away and then the rustling of paper.
“You can look now.”
Sitting against the back of the chair opposite her was a folio size print in an old-fashioned dark wooden frame. A wide smile formed on her lips. “I can’t believe I’m standing this close to an original Audubon. I’ve only seen his work shrunk down to fit on the pages of a book, but this is how they should be viewed.”
“When I saw this, I remembered that book of bird pictures you used to carry around.”
“It belonged to my grandfather. Being a farmer, he didn’t have time for a hobby. Birdwatching was something he could do even when he was working. He could name every species of bird on his property. He was pretty good at bird calls, too.”
“You weren’t so bad at it yourself. I’d never met a girl who could whistle.”
She laughed. “Do you remember that weekend you spent at the farm?”
“How could I forget the worst weekend of my life?”
“You complained about the smell before we even got out of the car.”
“Animals smell, Norah. Your nose just got used to it.”
“Then you got spooked by the chickens and ran out of the hen house.”
“They were attacking me.”
“Chickens don’t attack people. The funniest thing was watching you try to get on Daisy, my grandfather’s Clydesdale.”
“Daisy was like ten feet off the ground, and she kept nipping at me.”
“She was looking for sugar cubes. My grandfather always carried some in his shirt pocket.”
“I was trying so hard to make a good impression, and all I accomplished was giving everyone something to laugh at.”
“You didn’t have to worry about making a good impression on me. I fell for you the first day I walked into computer lab.”
“It was much the same for me. You were the prettiest thing I’d ever seen.” He stepped closer and slid his fingers into her hair. “Norah?” he asked so
ftly, his eyes intent on hers.
“Y-yes?” she managed to get out over the frantic beating of her heart.
“We need to reintroduce the subject of Lance.”
“Wh-why is that?”
“Because I’m about to do something he won’t like.”
She swallowed, lost in his gaze as he lowered his lips to hers. If she’d been at all worried that his kisses wouldn’t live up to her memories, those fears were laid to rest. Perry had lost none of his ability to move her.
He drew back a few inches, his eyes fixed on her face. “No more evasions. Tell me the truth. It was never Lance, was it?”
She shook her head, unable to deny him the reassurance he sought. “It was you. It’s always been you.”
Something flickered in his eyes. “I can’t blame you for not wanting to get mixed up with me again. Not after the way I left things between us. Can I tell you again how sorry I am? I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know that now, and you don’t have to apologize anymore, Perry. It’s not necessary.”
“I think it is,” he said, lowering his head to take her lips once more. He kissed her until her lungs were screaming for air, and her heart felt as if it was going to burst. As he watched her attempt to restore some order to her appearance, he said, “Bonnie will take one look at you and know we weren’t just looking at a print.”
Norah’s cheeks turned every shade of red. “Couldn’t you have waited until after dinner to kiss me?”
His thumb grazed her cheek. “I’ve waited too long already.”
Chapter Twelve
“Hiding in Stratton’s office is beneath you.”
Lance looked up from the book he was reading and met Violet’s teasing glance. He loved all his sisters equally, but he and his youngest sister shared a special bond. Not only did they favor physically, but their temperaments and personalities were very similar. “Were you in on this?”
Violet crossed the length of the room and made herself comfortable on the arm of his chair. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Did you know Leah planned to invite a friend over to meet me?”
“She mentioned the possibility.”
“I wish you’d given me a heads-up.”
“Some things are better when you don’t know they’re coming. Besides, I was afraid you might take it into your head to skip Thanksgiving dinner.”
He laughed at that. “I might have been tempted, but I wouldn’t do that to Mom. It’s bad enough that she’s never going to have a picture to put in that empty spot on the piano.”
“Why do you say never? You can’t seriously want to live the rest of your life alone.”
“I never said I wanted to, but love doesn’t always have a happy ending. When life brings two people together, there isn’t just one result. Sometimes they fall in love, like you and Jackson. Other times they dislike each other, but later realize they were wrong, like April and Barry. And sometimes one falls in love and the other just wants friendship.”
“Is that what happened to you?”
He hesitated, torn between wanting to maintain his silence on the subject of Holly and a desire to share his burden with someone. “Yes.”
“Does this woman know how you feel?”
“No, and that’s for the best. She married someone else.”
There was a long moment of silence and then, “Is it Holly?”
Lance stared at her, unable to believe she’d made that connection. “Is that a lucky guess, or do you have some evidence to support your theory?”
“I don’t know if my evidence is up to legal standards, but I know you pretty well. You act differently when Holly’s around. You don’t have as much to say, and your smile never quite reaches your eyes. I’ve noticed it in the past, and I noticed it again yesterday when she and Devon dropped by with Rebecca and Jordan.”
How many other people had figured out his secret? Just the thought of such a thing had him squirming in his seat. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. I doubt anyone else knows.”
“Can I get that in writing?”
Violet laughed. “No need. Your bachelor status is the subject of many conversations among the female members of our family. If anyone suspected anything, it would have come up by now.”
“The two I’m most worried about are Holly and Devon.”
“They’re completely wrapped up in each other and their kids.”
Lance smiled faintly. “They’re happy as only ideally married people can be happy.”
“It takes a very honest and unselfish person to admit something like that.”
“I can’t deny what’s right in front of me. When you love someone, their happiness is always more important than your own. Holly has someone in her life who loves and appreciates her. I can accept and deal with that. I can even be happy knowing she’s happy. What I couldn’t handle would be the thought of her being with someone who didn’t love her. That would eat me up inside.”
“Losing out on Holly is rough, Lance. Don’t think I’m trying to make light of it. I know how I’d feel if Jackson had married someone else. But you can’t give up on love because it didn’t work out the first time. It’s romantic to think you can only love once, but in reality, it’s impractical and somewhat self-serving. The idea that a second experience wouldn’t be as meaningful, or that in some way, you’re settling for less is disingenuous to the meaning of love itself. Love isn’t limited to one time or place or person.”
“I don’t necessarily disagree with anything you’ve said.”
“Good. That means I can keep going. Taking those ideas one step further, I would venture to say that if a future experience had a happy ending, it might even erase the pain of those earlier memories.”
“Anything is possible.”
“Then why are you so averse to getting to know someone as sweet and lovely as Leah’s friend Eden. She’s the female version of you: charming, great sense of humor, highly intelligent, and focused on her career.”
“That’s a fair question.”
“Are you going to answer it?”
“I guess so. I’m on a roll divulging all my secrets.”
“They’re safe with me. I won’t even tell Jackson if that’s what you want.”
“I can’t imagine he’d be interested in my romantic failings.”
“He’d certainly understand. You’re not the only one with skeletons in the closet.”
Lance’s lips quivered. “I don’t think of Holly as a skeleton in my closet.”
She pushed against his shoulder. “You know what I mean.”
“I think so. As for Eden, I’m sure she’s everything you say. But there’s someone else that I’m interested in right now. She’s one of my employees.”
“Carolyn?” she squeaked.
Lance rolled his eyes. “Her name is Norah. She’s one of the tour guides.”
“You had me worried there for a second.”
“There’s still stuff for you to be worried about. You haven’t heard the worst yet.”
“Don’t tell me Norah is married, too.”
“I don’t make a habit of falling in love with married women. It’s like my interest is the trigger for them to find someone else. Maybe I should consider going into matchmaking.”
Violet ignored his poor attempt at humor. “So Norah is getting married?”
“No, but it probably won’t be long before she does. She recently got back together with a former boyfriend who I understand she’s still in love with. And here’s the kicker: I’m the one responsible for bringing about their reunion. Unintentionally, of course.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to throw in the towel. The reason Norah and this other guy broke up before might still exist. How they deal with it will determine whether they make a go of things a second time.”
“So I’m left with hoping they break up? That’s cold comfort, Violet. I don’t want Norah to be hurt a
gain. And even if things don’t work out for her and Perry, that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s going to fall in love with me.”
“I know things seem kinda bleak right now…”
“Seem bleak? This ranks right up there with getting socks and underwear for Christmas.”
Violet laughed. “If you can still crack jokes, you haven’t completely lost hope.”
“Whatever you do, don’t tell me Christmas is the time for miracles. I already heard it from Mom in reference to the fact that if I work hard enough, I could have a girlfriend to bring home for the holidays.”
“All right, I won’t say it, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.” She rose to her feet. “Everyone is gathering in the living room to watch the football game. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to rejoin the gang without having to explain your absence or make conversation. Just give me a few minutes to get there ahead of you. That way no one will realize we’ve been together.”
He grinned. “You’re pretty good at this.”
She smiled back. “I’ve had lots of practice. I’m the official confidante of our family.”
After Violet left, Lance closed the book on his lap and walked over to the window. Was what happened yesterday when he saw Holly the reason he’d been willing to tell Violet something he’d never told anyone? For the first time, he’d been able to be in the same room with Holly without feeling as if he was literally drowning in a sea of regret. The usual burning pain in his chest had been absent along with the feeling of being caught between wanting to see the person he loved and knowing the price he’d pay for doing so.
It seemed he was finally getting over his first love. Would it be a hollow victory? Was he merely trading one disappointment for another? He wasn’t one to be overly pessimistic, but unless something changed, it was unlikely he’d have any more success with Norah.
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