Kitabı oku: «A Colorado Match», sayfa 2

“Does it hurt?” She took a seat next to him on the couch and crossed her feet at the ankles.

“It itches. I’ll live. Six weeks, if I’m on good behavior.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“The cast. I’ll get it off in six weeks.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding relieved. “For a moment there I thought you were talking about me.”

Vince shook his head. He was thinking about her, but he wasn’t talking about her.

“Good, because you’re not getting rid of me.”

She was almost as blunt and straight-to-the-point as he was, and it took him aback. He stared at her for a long moment, wondering if there was anything he could say to dissuade her from her purpose.

From the look on her face, not much. Unless, of course, he could convince her she was wasting her time.

Which shouldn’t be that hard to do, all things being equal. His daily life was anything but glamorous; and really, having a cast on his leg wasn’t any huge hindrance to the mountains of paperwork on his desk that he had to tackle this afternoon. How exciting was that? She’d soon find that there was little she could do to remove the mind-numbing pace of running the lodge, and his business system, while not as up-to-date as she’d no doubt like to see it, worked for him.

More or less.

Maybe she would see he was hopeless and just leave him alone. His work—his life—could be summed up in three words: boring, tedious and dull. Okay, and maybe unsystematic, but certainly not chaotic.

For the tiniest moment he wished he had something exciting going on in his life, something that would spark the interest of a beautiful, successful woman like Melanie.

Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. Besides, it was the lodge she was interested in—not him personally. He scoffed internally at his own foolish musings.

Better she learned the truth up front. And better he keep his mind where it belonged—on the lodge.

And not on a certain redhead.

Chapter Three

It was hard for Melanie to concentrate with Vince’s clear, blue-eyed gaze on hers. He was probably wondering what kind of valid help she could possibly be to him.

If he knew the truth, he’d be bolting out the door without looking back.

She was about to rock his life—or the business part of it, anyway. The thought made her smile inwardly, although she kept her expression carefully neutral as Vince sized her up as if she were some kind of competition to him, like players on the opposing sides of a field.

He really didn’t get that they were supposed to be teammates here. She was working for him, not against him, but she sensed it would take her a while to get that piece of information through his thick skull. He had been perfectly polite, of course, but she knew he didn’t want her there. No doubt he was thinking of the quickest and most efficient way to get rid of her.

Which wasn’t going to happen.

Nevertheless, she was relieved when he finally looked away. It disconcerted her to have him staring at her so intently, especially when he cocked his head and flashed her a secretive smile.

“So…” he began, and then let his sentence dangle uncomfortably.

“So?” she challenged. She tipped her chin up and met his reflective gaze again, ignoring how ill at ease it made her feel to do so.

“What am I supposed to do with you?” he mused aloud, tapping a finger on his chin, right over the charming dimple that divided his strong, square jaw.

“Simple. Let me help you. This process is going to go a lot easier for both of us if you step back and allow me to do my work.”

He stared at her a moment more before speaking. The expression on his face didn’t change, but the sudden spark in his eyes let her know something was afoot.

“Okay,” he said at last.

“Okay?” she repeated, completely in shock. After the scene yesterday, she hadn’t really expected him to give in so easily. Or give in at all, really. He’d seemed too stubborn to go down without a fight. And now he was conceding?

“Sure.” His gaze narrowed as he smiled, or smirked, more like. Something was definitely afoot in Vince’s mind, and Melanie knew she wasn’t going to like whatever it was. “I have some paperwork to do in the back office. Because I’m short on help today, you can cover the front desk for me.”

“What?” she said, tempering her voice so it didn’t become tight and shrill.

The man was thoroughly exasperating. His eyes retained that amused spark, and the left corner of his lip completely betrayed him when it twitched upward oh so slightly. He was acting remarkably smug.

Did he think he’d won this round?

Well, then, he’d better just think again. She knew what he was up to. She arched her brow, her mind racing. Due to the restrictions laid on him by his family, he couldn’t turn her away outright.

But if she quit on her own? That would be an entirely different proposition now, wouldn’t it?

He was trying to annoy her on purpose—which would only work if she reacted as he expected her to do. It was, she realized, going to be a remarkably simple thing to turn the tables on him.

“All right, I’ll do it,” she said, smothering a smile. He wanted to play? She was all in.

He stared at her, looking unconvinced. His smug little smirk turned into a cute little frown, furrowing his brow under the top rim of his glasses.

“Really,” she assured him as she stood and walked to the door to the front office. She opened it, gesturing for him to enter before her. “I’m guessing the front desk could use some of my organizational finesse. It’s as good a place to start as anywhere. Once you see my work, I know you’ll change your mind about me.”

Vince shook his head and then nodded, looking a little bit dazed. Then, without a word, he pulled himself to his feet with his crutches and hobbled past her. He looked back only when he’d reached his office door.

“I’m warning you. You’re going to get bored. Fast. There’s really nothing to this job but waiting on the guests if they have questions or need extra towels. This time of day it’s usually deathly quiet around here.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” she answered. “Quiet is good. It will give you the chance to sit down and rest that leg of yours, and for me to get some work done.”

Vince frowned. “This isn’t going to matter, you know. It’s only a matter of time before you realize your efforts are futile.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” she said, twirling her finger to indicate he should turn back toward his office. “Now. You. Go. Sit.”

Vince couldn’t argue with Melanie. He didn’t really want to argue with her, when it clearly wasn’t going to make a bit of difference. He sat down in his comfortable black leather office chair, resting his head back and pressing over his eyes with his palms. He was getting a tremendous headache, but as he had told Melanie, he had a lot of paperwork to do. With a tired sigh, he leaned forward, opened a ledger and then, for a good ten minutes, rhythmically tapped a pencil against the smooth oak of his desktop.

At this rate he would accomplish nothing. She was already disrupting his routine, and she really hadn’t even started meddling yet. How was it going to be when she was standing over his shoulder, analyzing his business practices and criticizing his every move?

He closed his eyes, willing himself to concentrate on the paperwork in front of him. If he could just center his thoughts, he might be able to get something constructive finished; but that wasn’t likely to happen, especially because he could hear Melanie bustling about the front desk.

He couldn’t imagine what she was finding to do that was making so much noise. He couldn’t stand it any longer. Using his desk for leverage, he propped himself up and shuffled out to the front office. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to walking with the crutches, and he knew he must look ridiculously awkward and inept.

Heat rushed to his face, and he frowned. He wasn’t usually so self-conscious. It wasn’t like him at all. These new, confusing feelings had arrived along with Melanie, and he wasn’t sure what to do with them.

Melanie whirled about when she heard him, and for just the slightest moment, her breathtaking copper-colored eyes were wide and blinking, as if he’d caught her in some kind of mischief. It was enough to cause him to hesitate momentarily.

But the startled look was gone, replaced by the self-possessed demeanor he’d already started associating with her personality. Maybe he was imagining things.

“Ta-da!” she announced, sweeping her hand to indicate the front desk area.

“Wow,” Vince said, giving a low whistle as his gaze swept across the newly cleaned and organized desk. Every scrap of paper was neatly stacked, the date books were perfectly arranged and opened on the counter and the whole room smelled like some kind of lemon-scented furniture polish.

He hadn’t realized how messy he’d let the outer office become until he saw how much of a difference Melanie had made with it. Had the guests seen the same thing? Was he truly that disorganized?

Melanie reached for a tin that held a dozen pencils and pulled them out for his inspection. “See? I even sharpened the pencils for you.”

“You really didn’t need to do that,” he said gruffly, shaking his head.

“Yes, I did,” she countered. “I know this project wasn’t your idea, and I know you don’t want me here. Frankly, that knowledge doesn’t exactly make me want to jump for joy at being here either. But if you think you’re going to somehow coerce me into quitting, think again. I’ve got a major promotion riding on this assignment, and I’m not about to lose it because the two of us can’t work together. You’d better get used to me being around because I’m here for the duration.”

“Are you sure?” he prodded.

She frowned and propped her hands on her hips. “You aren’t going to give me an inch, are you?”

He wasn’t. Or at least he thought he wasn’t.

He knew the moment he’d lost the battle, which was the second their gazes met. Her nose wrinkled, making the smattering of freckles dance on her cheeks. He couldn’t keep his gaze away from them.

“Well?” she demanded when he didn’t immediately answer her. She sounded a little put out. Probably because he really wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying.

Those freckles…

“Well?” he repeated, feeling as lame as he knew he sounded. “What?”

“I can put the office back the way it was—which, for the record, was completely messy and disorganized, in case you hadn’t noticed. Everything I’ve done can be undone except for the pencils.”

Her right eyebrow twitched upward. “That is, unless you want me to break all the leads off them, which, at the moment, I’d be happy to do.” The frown that followed her comment wasn’t, Vince thought, completely convincing. It was more mischievous than anything.

“You would, wouldn’t you?” From the look in her eye, he thought she might.

Then again, she might simply be teasing him. He wasn’t certain of anything anymore, especially where Melanie was concerned. What he knew about women could fit on the tip of one of those pencils she had sharpened.

Whatever else was to be said about Melanie Frazer, she was nothing if not interesting.

And determined.

And absolutely beautiful.

What could possibly go wrong?

On her second day officially on the job, she was up and about early. The front desk was vacant; but then again, Melanie thought, it wasn’t yet eight o’clock in the morning.

Vince might not even be at his desk yet, although she suspected he would be. Despite their short acquaintance, she’d made abundant notes on the man, particularly in light of her revealing encounter with him the day before. He struck her as a bit of a workaholic.

And he was definitely set in his ways. Like solid concrete.

She eyed the bell on the front counter, and then decided she would simply let herself into the back and check Vince’s office to see if he was there. He probably wouldn’t be expecting her so early, and for some strange reason it gave her a bit of a rush to think that she might actually catch him off guard.

“Knock, knock,” she called as she simultaneously rapped twice on the half-closed door to Vince’s office. “Hello? Anybody here?”

She pushed the door open and stuck her head inside the office. Vince was sitting behind his desk, facing her. His expression was harrowed as he stared determinedly at the mountain of receipts towering on his desk. An ink-marked ledger was spread in front of him, and the fingers of his right hand were splayed across the numbers of an ancient-looking adding machine, which was spewing out mounds of ticker tape with an old-fashioned clickety-clack.

He looked up as if in a daze, that same stubborn lock of silver-streaked brown hair tumbling forward and his glasses slightly askew on his nose. He would be an attractive man, she thought, if he wasn’t being so difficult about everything.

It would be nice if he smiled once in a while. But of course, the moment their eyes met, his brow knit in consternation. It didn’t take a genius to realize he didn’t like her. Or at least, he didn’t like what she stood for.

Change.

“There was no one at the desk, so I just let myself in. I hope that’s okay,” she explained in her best business tone. She wasn’t going to let his crotchety manner get her down. She wanted to get an early start.

“Already,” he groaned. It wasn’t a question. He sounded annoyed. So much for second chances.

Too bad for him.

He obviously didn’t like it, not even after having been able to sleep on it. He clearly wasn’t in a better mood this morning, and she wasn’t doing backflips herself, but she had a job to do and a promotion to acquire. Today she was determined to get started—really started—with her work.

Because the sooner she started, the sooner she’d be finished—and she could get away from Vince, this rustic lodge and these horribly uncomfortable hiking boots, which she was wearing due to Vince’s questionable advice.

Just let him try to stand in her way.

She was prepared for him. She already knew what the first item on her agenda would be.

Gesturing toward the mountain of receipts in front of him on the desk, she asked, “So what are you doing?”

Vince rubbed the tips of his fingers against his temples and tightened his gaze on her. She knew he was deciding how much information to give her—or even if he wanted to answer the question at all.

After a moment, he dropped his hands back onto the desk and sighed. “I’m preparing the P&L and balance sheet for last month. I’ll admit it’s not my favorite part of this job, but it has to be done.”

“You’re working by hand?”

“Well, I’m not adding the numbers in my head, if that’s what you mean,” he said, tapping his fingers on the adding machine.

Melanie’s eyebrow arched as she pointed over his right shoulder to a closed laptop computer sitting on the pinewood credenza behind him.

“Have you ever heard of a computer?” she asked, trying to keep the edge from her voice. He really was behind the times. She wondered if he knew how much.

He shrugged. “The way I’ve got it figured, by the time I input all these receipts into the computer, I may as well have done it by hand.”

“That’s backward thinking,” she informed him. “Let me set you up with some computer spreadsheets. You’d be surprised at how much time they save you.”

“Not interested,” he snapped, gathering stacks of receipts and stuffing them in a manila envelope marked and dated for the previous month with a red felt-tipped pen.

Melanie wouldn’t be swayed. “It looks like your filing system could do with an overhaul as well.”

“Do tell.” He deliberately turned his back on her as he stuffed the manila envelope into a beat-up metal filing cabinet.

“Look, I know you don’t believe me, but give me the benefit of the doubt.” Give me a break, she thought, although she didn’t say it aloud.

Vince glanced at his watch. “How long is this going to take?”

He asked the question as if he expected her to simply file a single folder and be on her way, but she saw the telltale gleam in his eye. He was being intentionally difficult, and they both knew it.

“Weeks, Vince,” she said, suddenly tired. “This changeover is going to take weeks. Especially with the condition of your office,” she added, not realizing until the words were out of her mouth that the remark sounded like a personal jab, when she was really only stating the facts.

“I was planning to start my work today,” she continued hurriedly, trying to mask over her previous statement. “Right now, in fact. Unless that’s inconvenient for you.”

Chapter Four

She belatedly realized she shouldn’t have added that last part of the statement because he was going to grasp at any excuse he could to block her directive. With her response, she’d just unintentionally handed one right to him.

She was really going to have to watch her mouth around him, that was for sure. He was an intelligent and quick-witted man. He knew how to take it as well as he gave it. She definitely needed to be on her guard with this guy.

“As a matter of fact,” Vince jumped in, without missing a beat, “Jessica should be here any moment, so I’m afraid we simply won’t have time just now to start on your project.” He emphasized the last word just enough to make her want to grind her teeth.

“Jessica?” she queried, wondering if she was somehow supposed to recognize that name, and then deciding he was purposefully baiting her.

“Jessica is Nate’s fiancée,” he explained, his voice lowering and becoming a bit more gravelly.

His gaze deflected for the tiniest moment, and his lips twitched and one corner pinched together. She had the distinct feeling there was something going on behind the scenes in Vince’s mind, and she wondered what it was.

Probably how much he disliked what she was trying to do here. Or maybe how much he disliked what she stood for. Or, possibly the most likely scenario of all, how much he disliked her in general.

As if on cue, a pretty blond-haired woman with a wiggling baby bundled in her arms came sweeping in the door of Vince’s office. If she was surprised to see that Vince was not alone, she didn’t show it. She flashed Melanie a shy but genuinely friendly smile and turned her gaze toward Vince.

“I hope it’s okay that I brought Gracie along,” Jessica said, propping the baby in an empty chair to remove her snowsuit. “Nate had to go to Denver for a couple of days to get some supplies for the lodge.”

Vince’s brow creased for just a moment, but once his gaze alighted on the baby, he was all smiles.

As soon as baby Gracie was free of the restrictive clothing, she wiggled around onto her tummy and scooted off the edge of the chair, kicking her legs as she dangled. Melanie didn’t know if she’d ever seen a more adorable baby than the curly-haired little girl; especially when Gracie reached the floor, propped herself into a standing position using the chair for balance, and gave her Uncle Vince a full, cheeky eight-toothed grin.

Vince chuckled and came around the desk, giving the baby a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. “You know I’m always happy to have Gracie here.”

He turned to Melanie. “Nate is adopting Gracie, so she’s my niece.”

The woman smiled at Melanie. “I’m Jessica Sabin, by the way. I’m the day care director here at Morningway Lodge. Or at least, I was. In the interim, I’m working behind the front desk.”

She paused and gave Vince an encouraging smile. “But I’m sure that won’t be for long. The ministry the Morningways do here for the families of patients staying at the RMPR Hospital can’t be replaced, but buildings sure can be. God will bless us.”

“He will,” Vince agreed.

Melanie was keenly aware of her sudden, involuntary intake of breath, and she tensed, hoping the other two hadn’t heard it. She’d already heard Vince refer to Morningway Lodge as a ministry, so she supposed she should have been prepared for it, but God talk, as she thought of it, made her incredibly uncomfortable, bringing to mind other times and other situations she would rather not dwell upon.

“And,” Vince continued, thankfully not appearing to notice the change in Melanie’s demeanor or breathing pattern, “Jessica forgot to mention she’s the local heroine around here. She rescued several children, and even Gracie here, from the fire at the day care center. There would be a lot of grieving parents, my brother included, if it were not for her brave efforts.”

Melanie studied the woman with renewed interest. Her gaze had dropped to her feet and she was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. Jessica might be a local celebrity, but if the bright pink stain on her cheeks was anything to go by, Melanie thought the poor woman must not care much for the spotlight Vince was beaming her direction.

“I’m Melanie Frazer,” she said, knowing how uncomfortable she felt when Vince put her on the spot, and wanting to give Jessica a way out of it. “My life story is not nearly as glamorous as yours, but I’m glad to meet you. I’ll be staying at the lodge for about six weeks, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other around.”

“Oh?” Jessica asked. “I assumed you were a new employee, since you’re in the back office and all.”

Vince barked out a dry laugh. “Hardly. Melanie is the business consultant Nate hired for me.”

When Vince turned away, Jessica rolled her eyes at Melanie in silent woman-to-woman communication. Clearly she was aware of the animosity between the two brothers, but to Melanie’s surprise, Jessica didn’t try to defend Nate or push the tender subject with Vince.

“You said Nate took off again?” Vince asked with a huff, addressing Jessica, though his back was still turned on her. He whirled around, using one of his crutches to center himself and the other to keep from toppling over.

“Yes, he did. Why?” Jessica smiled patiently. She was being a lot more tolerant with Vince’s attitude than Melanie would have been, given the same circumstances.

He pushed his glasses up his nose and scoffed. “It figures.”

What was wrong with the man? Melanie thought. Something was certainly stuck in his craw and was eating him away. His Jekyll-and-Hyde disposition was unlike anything Melanie had ever run across in all her years on the job. What was underneath all that bluster?

Maybe that was exactly the question she needed to be asking. As far as her business services went, Melanie found it was helpful to get to know the person she was working for—although to be fair, that was not exactly applicable in this case, because Nate had hired her, and not Vince.

And Vince and Nate did not get along. That much was patently clear.

It was no wonder she and Vince had gotten off on the wrong foot, what with Nate bringing her in behind Vince’s back and without his knowledge.

But she thought it might be partially her fault things had gone downhill from there. Maybe she’d pushed him too fast in her hunger to get the job done. Maybe if she’d given him a bit more time to get used to the idea, they wouldn’t be butting heads so ferociously.

She couldn’t help but think maybe she could still turn things around for them and make their working relationship less contentious. If she could figure out a way to bridge the gap; and that was a big if.

“I was planning to visit the burn site tomorrow morning to see how the cleanup is going,” Vince told Jessica. “The youth group from the church is going to help, so I wanted to stop by and thank them. But I guess that won’t be happening because I won’t have Nate’s help. I can’t drive my truck with this stupid cast on. It’s a standard transmission.”

Melanie couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity—time with Vince, out of the office, visiting the grounds of a family business that was clearly important to him—even if he did resent the thought of change.

She cleared her throat to remind both Vince and Jessica that she was present, if not exactly part of the conversation.

“No problem. I’ll drive you.”

By mid-morning the next day, Vince and Melanie were on their way to the burn site. “The clutch is a bit sensitive,” Vince commented as the gears made a slight grinding sound when Melanie shifted from first to second gear. He gave her a sidelong glance out of the corner of his eye.

Her gaze was firmly on the road as she maneuvered the truck up a steep incline. From the way her forehead was creased and her lips were pursed, she was obviously concentrating ferociously.

That, or she was upset about something. It didn’t matter either way. Even with her face all scrunched up, she was one pretty lady. He couldn’t help but admire her from his peripheral vision.

As they crowned the hill and the blackened remains of the day care came into view, Vince’s focus immediately changed. His breath stung in his throat and he swallowed it back. He’d never get used to looking at the razed, utterly desolate land. He imagined it was a bleak sight even for Melanie, who had no vested interest in the place.

Even with the area teeming with life in the form of teenagers with garbage bags doing what they could to clean up the site, it was still heartbreaking to see. And while he appreciated all the help the youth groups from combined churches in the area were giving him, it was only a scratch on the surface of what needed to be done.

Vince closed his eyes. God was with him, and God was good, he reminded himself. No matter how stark the reality of the situation looked from a human perspective, God was in control. Vince had to believe that.

He did believe that.

It was a necessary reminder, and an internal conversation Vince used with himself on a regular basis, especially since the crisis with the day care.

Melanie hit a rut that bounced Vince out of his seat. He automatically reached for the bar over the door and braced himself, although the road wasn’t any worse than the usual winter washboard.

“Oh, dear,” Melanie said softly, as she cruised the rest of the way down the hill and parked the truck not far from the burn site. “I’m hurting your leg with my bad driving, aren’t I?”

Vince opened his eyes and turned his gaze toward her. She was staring back at him with wide, blinking copper-penny eyes and concern lining her face.

“Not at all. I’ve lived in the mountains all my life. A little washboard can’t hurt me.” Surprisingly, the smile he flashed her didn’t feel forced, even though his spirit had plummeted the moment they’d driven up to the site.

“Well, I’m sorry, just the same.”

“Don’t be,” he said softly.

“Who are all these teenagers?” she asked, clearly eager to change the subject.

“They are a combined youth group from some of the local churches. When they heard about the fire, they offered to help clean the debris.”

“For free?”

Despite his melancholy, he smiled. “That’s what Christians do. Support each other in times of need.”

She snorted. “Not in my experience.”

His eyebrows raised in surprise at the vehemence of her denial. “No?”

She shook her head fiercely but didn’t offer any details. He was reluctant to push her if she didn’t want to talk about it, but he was wondered what kind of Christians she’d been around to cause her to feel so much animosity.

“Jessica seems nice,” she commented, clearly eager to change the subject.

His smile faltered as a dark cloud briefly passed over his heart.

“What?” she asked. He wondered if that was concern and empathy on her face, or merely curiosity.

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” He shook his head. He was not the kind of guy who liked to talk about it.

“You won’t tell me what you were thinking just now?” She was pushing him, but the words were spoken gently and with respect, and Vince suddenly found himself opening up, which was a revelation in itself.

“I was thinking about my mother,” he admitted hesitantly.

“Oh? Does she live here at the lodge?”

“She died when I was a teenager.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Vince assured her, shaking his head. “It’s just—”

He paused and pursed his lips. She didn’t speak, but her expression was open and caring, so he continued.

“My mom always fussed over Nate and me. Now Nate has Jessica to care for him. It makes me more aware than ever that I don’t have anyone like that in my life.”

“You’re lucky that you had her,” she whispered. “I never had anyone who cared enough to fuss over me. Not in my whole life.”

“No one?”

She looked away, her gaze taking on a distant quality. He hoped he hadn’t stuck his foot in his mouth and inadvertently hurt her with his words. He felt like a heel, and Melanie’s emotional withdrawal only highlighted his mistakes.

He noticed her hand was still resting on the gear shift. Her skin looked soft and delicate, reminding Vince once again that he shouldn’t make sweeping judgments about someone before getting to know them first. Holding his breath, he took what was maybe the biggest risk of his whole life—he placed his hand over hers.

He thought she’d probably pull away, but she didn’t. Instead she turned her hand over and squeezed his.

She’d obviously been through a lot in her lifetime, and he wondered why there’d been no one there to protect her and care for her. It went against every fiber of his being that someone or some circumstance had caused lasting inward scars on this outwardly beautiful woman, wounds that had stayed with her into adulthood. He silently prayed that her future would hold the love and peace she hadn’t found in her childhood.

She still wouldn’t look at him. The conversation had taken a much more personal tone than either of them had expected, and he sensed she was even more uncomfortable than he was with it.