Between a Jock and a Hard Place: A Romance Novella by Mona Ingram Page B

surfers bobbed in the swells, waiting for the next
big wave. To the right, a group of people were clustered around something on
the shore. She went back inside and grabbed the binoculars that had been
provided for whale watching. The people appeared to be looking at gently
rounded rocks; it took a few moments for her to realize that they were grouped
around sea turtles that had hauled out onto the beach.
    She smiled to herself. She’d been right
to come here. With a sigh of contentment, she turned slowly back into the condo
and began to unpack.
     
    * * *
     
    “What time is your flight again?” Jack
glanced across at Cassie as they sped toward the airport.
    “Three o’clock. We’re a bit tight for
time, but I’ll make it. Just drop me off at Departures.” She glanced sideways
at her brother. “I’m glad I came, Jack. I only wish things had turned out
differently between you and Claire.”
    He nodded, not trusting himself to
speak.
    “You know” she said, “that friend of
Claire’s... Zoey is it? She knows where Claire is.”
    Jack’s head snapped around.
    “Keep your eyes on the road.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    Cassie looked up with a disgusted sigh.
“Because I’m a woman, that’s why. They’re best friends, and she knew. I could
see it in her eyes. Besides, she never did actually say that she didn’t know.
She said she was sorry she couldn’t tell you, and something else equally vague,
but she never came right out and said she didn’t know.”
    Jack thought back, replayed the
conversation in his mind. “You’re right.” He smiled for the first time that
day. “Do you think Randy knows?”
    “No. He doesn’t know.”
    “How can you be so sure?”
    She glared at him.
    “Okay, I believe you. Randy doesn’t
know.”
    “Go back and talk to her again, Jack. So
what if you make a fool of yourself? She’s worth it, isn’t she? Claire, I
mean.”
    He slid into a parking space in front of
YVR. “Oh, yeah.”
    “Then give it another try. What have you
got to lose?” She looked affectionately at her big brother. “Or maybe I should
say what have you got to lose if you don’t try?” She opened the door and
stepped out. Heads turned as she strode into the terminal on long shapely legs,
blonde hair flying.
    He watched until the crowds swallowed
her up. “Let’s hope you’re right,” he said to himself, and then pulled back
into traffic.
     
    * * *
     
    By the time Jack got back to the Phoenix
building, staffers were leaving. He walked into the lobby and looked around,
trying to remember which direction Zoey had come from when Randy called her up
to his office. He was about to ask someone when he spotted her. She was on the
phone, and her eyes widened when she saw him. She said a few hurried words and
disconnected.
    He paused at the door to her office.
“May I come in?”
    She nodded and sat up a little
straighter. “What can I do for you?”
    He noticed that she didn’t call him by
name. Was that a bad sign? He forged ahead.
    “I was hoping to find you here,” he said
with a tentative smile. “My sister said you know where Claire is.” He gave an
embarrassed shrug. “She says it’s a female thing.”
    Zoey frowned. “Your sister?”
    “Yes, Cassie.” He turned as though she
was standing next to him. “The blonde who was with me yesterday when we barged
in here.”
    “That’s your sister?” He wasn’t sure,
but it looked as though the ice was beginning to thaw.
    “Yes. She lives in Toronto. She came out
to be with me after we lost.”
    Zoey nodded.
    “She told me to come here and make a
fool of myself if necessary.” He raised his hands, palms out. “She seems to
think that if I don’t make one more effort to find Claire, I don’t deserve her.
I love her, Zoey. I know guys aren’t supposed to say stuff like that, but I
don’t care. I want another chance.”
    Tears welled up in Zoey’s eyes. “You
don’t play fair, Jack Logan. You know that, don’t