him.
It would keep them together, giving him time to fall in love with her, if he was ever going to.
He moved his king aside, leaving his bishop lined up on her unprotected rook. She moved a pawn forward to protect it.
And if the Van Chattans didn’t like her work? What then? Go back to Boston and start anew? Yes. Get another job, working for someone until she could get her business started again. Then, maybe, move her company out to Seattle, after it was going well. A success. She wouldn’t come to Zack as anything but.
The decision made, it should have been easy for her to accept, but as time passed, Jennel found her aching heart trying to find another answer, one that would allow her to stay close to Zack even if John Van Chattan said “no.”
“Check.” Zack moved his queen forward, checking her king, and she was forced to abandon her queen to protect it. Somehow it didn’t seem to matter.
No longer could she deny her need of Zack, both physically and emotionally. A person should not go through life alone. Her heart desired the gentle strength of this one man. He had become more important to her than anything else.
She lost her queen on the next move, but took his bishop with her pawn. His queen fell to her knight a short time later. Again they played to a draw, but Jennel didn’t pursue him. Her heart wasn’t in the game. It was with Zack. She wanted him to be the king in her life.
She put the pieces away and quickly prepared for bed, not wishing to engage in conversation. Her emotions were so strong, he might hear them in her voice, see them in an unguarded glance. If he did, and then kissed her.... Although determined to abide by her decision, she knew that if Zack tried to make love to her, she’d be lost.
She’d give him all her love, and if he didn’t love her in return...? The humiliation, the heartache didn’t bear thinking about.
Once in bed, her sleepy mind replayed the moments at the beach, refusing to leave the delightful haven of his arms, and wove its own fantasy of love and romance... and later of home and children.
Zack stayed up, reading a mystery novel. Jennel tried to stay awake, savoring the companionship of the moment, but soon drifted off to sleep.
When she woke late the next morning, Zack was up and dressed. She lay there for a few minutes, unobserved, watching him as he sat at the table, reading.
Dear Zack. How she loved him.
Those kisses yesterday had shown her another side of him. Fierce and hard, they had revealed an urgency, a need she hadn’t realized existed in him. He had always seemed so self-restrained. Had that fiery exchange been punishment? Frustration because she had pestered him to death? Or, was he feeling the same emotional attraction she felt towards him?
How was she to find out, short of asking him?
At that moment, he raised his head. The quick spread of pleasure across his face as their eyes met made her senses swirl with a soaring happiness.
“Good morning,” he said. “Sleep well?”
“Yes. What time is it?”
“Still early, not quite eight.”
“Good. I need to get a shower and get dressed before the Van Chattans arrive.” She wanted to look her best when she saw them. Zack’s eyes looked tired. How long had he read last night?
“Right.” He yawned as he shifted his weight on the bench, rumpling his dark hair in a manner unlike him, changing its neatly combed wave into a tousled look of disarray. “Fog’s gone. It’s a lovely day out. Clyde’ll be here within the hour. So will my crew. My foreman is raring to go.”
How had he persuaded Clyde to come? She almost asked, but caught herself. Zack still didn’t know about their arrangement.
“That soon? I’ve got to get dressed!”
“Good. You’ll want to pack, so you’ll be ready to leave with Clyde.”
“But if the Van Chattans approve my plans...”
“You can work in Seattle. You can’t stay here.”
The brief words landed like a hatchet blow, destroying Jennel’s happiness. They gave her the answer she sought, but not the one she longed to hear. Zack didn’t want her. His telling her to leave was as good as if he had made an out and out declaration against her. She was spared voicing the love she felt. It would have embarrassed them both. He didn’t want her. He wanted her designing skills.
“You didn’t tell me what you decided about my offer,” he said. “Or have you come to any decision?”
“I’ve decided not to take you up on it. Thanks anyway. If I have to do this job from afar, I’ll return to Boston.”
His mouth hardened. She could almost feel the chill in the air as he turned away for a moment.
“That’s fine with me,” he said, but it didn’t sound like it. “Leave your address and phone number so I can contact you.” He turned, picked up pen and paper from the table and prepared to write. “Address?”
“Ah—” She didn’t have one, actually. All her mail was being forwarded here. If Zack wrote to her apartment, the post office would send his letter right back.
Quickly she explained, adding, “I’ll write when I get a place.”
He frowned, visibly upset. “You don’t have anywhere to go?”
“No, but that’s okay.” Why should it bother him? He was getting rid of her like he wanted. She wouldn’t be around as a distraction. It wasn’t his problem.
“No one expects you back in Boston?”
“No.” Her parents thought she was successful, with her own apartment and a soaring career. She wasn’t going back to them like this. “No one. But I have friends there. I’ll find a place and write you. It’s just that I figured this job would last several months.”
“Of course. You were planning to work here.” He stood up, silently, dark head lowered in thought, his powerful square- tipped fingers tapping rhythmically against the tabletop. He wore his work clothes, sturdy cotton twill trousers, blue plaid shirt, and heavy construction worker’s boots. A pair of leather work gloves lay on the floor near the doorway. The outfit accentuated his strength and capabilities, sending a new wave of love through her, making her acknowledge to herself that she cared for him for many reasons.
He raised his head as he came to a decision. “If you don’t like working so far from your job, stay at one of the inns in Friday Harbor. Clyde can run you over whenever you need to view the site.”
“Won’t that be expensive?”
“There are bed and breakfast inns. It’s the off-season. You should find a place right away. Put it on your account.”
“I can’t, Zack. Not even for the day or two until the Van Chattans come.” She finally voiced her deepest fear. “What if Mr. Van Chattan refuses to pay his wife’s bills?” The tremendous worry showed in her halting voice, and he stepped down into the sleeping area and knelt next to her on one knee, his injured leg held straight. He put his right arm around behind her, hugging her to him, gently supporting her.
“Are you operating that close to the line?” His voice was a deep bass, quietly concerned. Gone was the arrogance she had rebelled against. He was suddenly sympathetic, as he must have been many times to his younger sister. He was so close, so intense,
It would keep them together, giving him time to fall in love with her, if he was ever going to.
He moved his king aside, leaving his bishop lined up on her unprotected rook. She moved a pawn forward to protect it.
And if the Van Chattans didn’t like her work? What then? Go back to Boston and start anew? Yes. Get another job, working for someone until she could get her business started again. Then, maybe, move her company out to Seattle, after it was going well. A success. She wouldn’t come to Zack as anything but.
The decision made, it should have been easy for her to accept, but as time passed, Jennel found her aching heart trying to find another answer, one that would allow her to stay close to Zack even if John Van Chattan said “no.”
“Check.” Zack moved his queen forward, checking her king, and she was forced to abandon her queen to protect it. Somehow it didn’t seem to matter.
No longer could she deny her need of Zack, both physically and emotionally. A person should not go through life alone. Her heart desired the gentle strength of this one man. He had become more important to her than anything else.
She lost her queen on the next move, but took his bishop with her pawn. His queen fell to her knight a short time later. Again they played to a draw, but Jennel didn’t pursue him. Her heart wasn’t in the game. It was with Zack. She wanted him to be the king in her life.
She put the pieces away and quickly prepared for bed, not wishing to engage in conversation. Her emotions were so strong, he might hear them in her voice, see them in an unguarded glance. If he did, and then kissed her.... Although determined to abide by her decision, she knew that if Zack tried to make love to her, she’d be lost.
She’d give him all her love, and if he didn’t love her in return...? The humiliation, the heartache didn’t bear thinking about.
Once in bed, her sleepy mind replayed the moments at the beach, refusing to leave the delightful haven of his arms, and wove its own fantasy of love and romance... and later of home and children.
Zack stayed up, reading a mystery novel. Jennel tried to stay awake, savoring the companionship of the moment, but soon drifted off to sleep.
When she woke late the next morning, Zack was up and dressed. She lay there for a few minutes, unobserved, watching him as he sat at the table, reading.
Dear Zack. How she loved him.
Those kisses yesterday had shown her another side of him. Fierce and hard, they had revealed an urgency, a need she hadn’t realized existed in him. He had always seemed so self-restrained. Had that fiery exchange been punishment? Frustration because she had pestered him to death? Or, was he feeling the same emotional attraction she felt towards him?
How was she to find out, short of asking him?
At that moment, he raised his head. The quick spread of pleasure across his face as their eyes met made her senses swirl with a soaring happiness.
“Good morning,” he said. “Sleep well?”
“Yes. What time is it?”
“Still early, not quite eight.”
“Good. I need to get a shower and get dressed before the Van Chattans arrive.” She wanted to look her best when she saw them. Zack’s eyes looked tired. How long had he read last night?
“Right.” He yawned as he shifted his weight on the bench, rumpling his dark hair in a manner unlike him, changing its neatly combed wave into a tousled look of disarray. “Fog’s gone. It’s a lovely day out. Clyde’ll be here within the hour. So will my crew. My foreman is raring to go.”
How had he persuaded Clyde to come? She almost asked, but caught herself. Zack still didn’t know about their arrangement.
“That soon? I’ve got to get dressed!”
“Good. You’ll want to pack, so you’ll be ready to leave with Clyde.”
“But if the Van Chattans approve my plans...”
“You can work in Seattle. You can’t stay here.”
The brief words landed like a hatchet blow, destroying Jennel’s happiness. They gave her the answer she sought, but not the one she longed to hear. Zack didn’t want her. His telling her to leave was as good as if he had made an out and out declaration against her. She was spared voicing the love she felt. It would have embarrassed them both. He didn’t want her. He wanted her designing skills.
“You didn’t tell me what you decided about my offer,” he said. “Or have you come to any decision?”
“I’ve decided not to take you up on it. Thanks anyway. If I have to do this job from afar, I’ll return to Boston.”
His mouth hardened. She could almost feel the chill in the air as he turned away for a moment.
“That’s fine with me,” he said, but it didn’t sound like it. “Leave your address and phone number so I can contact you.” He turned, picked up pen and paper from the table and prepared to write. “Address?”
“Ah—” She didn’t have one, actually. All her mail was being forwarded here. If Zack wrote to her apartment, the post office would send his letter right back.
Quickly she explained, adding, “I’ll write when I get a place.”
He frowned, visibly upset. “You don’t have anywhere to go?”
“No, but that’s okay.” Why should it bother him? He was getting rid of her like he wanted. She wouldn’t be around as a distraction. It wasn’t his problem.
“No one expects you back in Boston?”
“No.” Her parents thought she was successful, with her own apartment and a soaring career. She wasn’t going back to them like this. “No one. But I have friends there. I’ll find a place and write you. It’s just that I figured this job would last several months.”
“Of course. You were planning to work here.” He stood up, silently, dark head lowered in thought, his powerful square- tipped fingers tapping rhythmically against the tabletop. He wore his work clothes, sturdy cotton twill trousers, blue plaid shirt, and heavy construction worker’s boots. A pair of leather work gloves lay on the floor near the doorway. The outfit accentuated his strength and capabilities, sending a new wave of love through her, making her acknowledge to herself that she cared for him for many reasons.
He raised his head as he came to a decision. “If you don’t like working so far from your job, stay at one of the inns in Friday Harbor. Clyde can run you over whenever you need to view the site.”
“Won’t that be expensive?”
“There are bed and breakfast inns. It’s the off-season. You should find a place right away. Put it on your account.”
“I can’t, Zack. Not even for the day or two until the Van Chattans come.” She finally voiced her deepest fear. “What if Mr. Van Chattan refuses to pay his wife’s bills?” The tremendous worry showed in her halting voice, and he stepped down into the sleeping area and knelt next to her on one knee, his injured leg held straight. He put his right arm around behind her, hugging her to him, gently supporting her.
“Are you operating that close to the line?” His voice was a deep bass, quietly concerned. Gone was the arrogance she had rebelled against. He was suddenly sympathetic, as he must have been many times to his younger sister. He was so close, so intense,
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