A Moment To Love by Jennifer Faye

there was a cemetery out here. No one mentioned it. I’ll make certain they fence off this area so no one disturbs it. You have my word on it.” It wasn’t a sales pitch. She’d definitely make the fence a priority.
    He jerked his hand away as though her touch had scalded him. “Even after telling you how important this ghost town is to my family, you’re still insisting on including it as part of the deal?”
    As much as she’d like to make Cord happy by walking away from this land deal, she couldn’t. This sale was necessary—for both their sakes. The Southwest contained only a handful of ghost towns. Mr. Santos had a lead on one in Arizona that was about to be listed, but nothing was definite yet. Still, Alexis found herself hoping for an alternative solution.
    “The plan for the resort won’t work without it. We’ll work something out to protect this area.” She waved her hand around at the cemetery. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
    “No, it won’t. You can’t understand unless you’ve lost someone close to you.”
    His words ripped a scab off her old wound. The pain was quick and intense. She struggled to swallow down the unexpected wave of pain. “What makes you think you’re the only one to feel pain and loss?”
    His head rose, and his eyes narrowed as if he was trying to determine whether she was being truthful. “Who did you lose?”
    “My mother.”
    The lines bracketing his mouth and eyes eased. “I’m sorry. It’s tough when a parent dies.”
    He misunderstood her. Though she didn’t want to delve further into this subject, she felt obligated to correct him. “She’s not dead.”
    “But you said—”
    Alexis took a deep breath, all the while chastising herself for opening up this subject. “I said I lost her. I guess it’d be more correct to say she walked out on me and my father.”
    What had gotten into her to go down this road? She didn’t even discuss the woman with her father, which seemed to suit him just fine. The fact Alexis resembled the woman was enough of a challenge for her father without her bombarding him with questions.
    Alexis gazed into Cord’s eyes, finding understanding and support—two things that she found herself craving. Since when had they moved from a business relationship to something more, something she couldn’t quite name?
    Cord’s unwavering stare compelled her to continue, to let him know that sometimes the death of a loved one wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. “My mother was beautiful and spoiled. My father gave her the best of everything, but when she got bored of playing mother and wife, she ran off with an associate of my father’s. She never looked back, unless you consider the legal battle she waged to try to strip my father of his company.”
    “Surely she saw you. You’re her daughter. What about visitation?”
    “She didn’t want to be bothered. I tracked her down when I was a teenager, but she gave me a list of excuses why a visit wouldn’t be convenient. She was preparing for her third marriage, and her future husband didn’t like kids. You see, you aren’t so bad off. At least your parents loved you and would be here if they could. My mother is alive and wants absolutely nothing to do with me.”
    His arms lifted as though he was going to hug her. She was surprised by the powerful wave of anticipation that washed over her at the thought of being held in his powerful arms. Something told her that once she was held securely in his embrace, nothing could or would hurt her—at last she’d be safe.
    As though he’d sensed the scary direction of her thoughts, he stepped back. “I…ah… don’t know what to say.”
    Disappointment flooded her body. “You could admit my idea for protecting the cemetery is reasonable and agree to the sale.”
    He cleared his throat. “I can’t. I promised my grandfather I’d always protect Haggerty. It’s all that’s left of my heritage, of my family.”
    Their gazes locked.