Heartfire (32 page)

Josh moved aside to let Lexa pass, wondering how to keep his aunt from making the biggest mistake of her life.  He cared about her too much to let her put herself in financial jeopardy, let alone create more work for herself than she needed.

Lexa's delicate perfume lingered, teasing him.  After weeks of smelling only damp earth and woods, the scent affected him.  Or maybe it was her seeming fragility--the big brown eyes, that fluffy blond hair.  She certainly looked harmless.  So what was she doing meddling in Clare's life?

Josh turned toward his aunt, his black brows pulling together in an effort to concentrate on her problem.  "Is a rambling old house going to give you a new life?  I think it's going to give you headaches.  Think of the money you'll waste on repairs.  Something always needs to be fixed in old houses.  Who's going to pay for that?"

Clare's tone was defensive.  "Lexa says it doesn't need many repairs.  The door frames need a fresh coat of paint.  That's all."

The last thing he wanted to do was dismiss or hurt Clare's feelings.  She had given him a home since he was twelve and he loved her dearly.  But the idea of her giving up her nest egg worried him.  If Alexandra Kittredge had influenced Clare unduly, there'd be hell to pay.

"How does Lexa know what repairs this house needs?" Josh asked, amazed at the confidence Clare was placing in a stranger who could be a con artist, even if she didn't look like one.

"She knows the real estate agent.  She says he's honest and would tell us if anything else was wrong.  My partners and I looked at the whole place carefully."

Partners.  His aunt was involved over her head; he knew it.  "You have no experience dealing with people who might be less than honest.  A real estate agent has one thing on his mind--selling.  As for your partners, who are they and what do they know?"

Clare's lips tightened.  "I do not have the time or inclination to keep arguing with you.  I have to be packed in five days."

"Five days?  You mean the deal's closed...finished?  You did this without consulting me?"

His aunt's voice was even, but silver sparks studded her blue eyes.  "I'm an adult.  I don't have to consult you.  And how could I anyway when you were off in no-man's land back-packing?"

"You could have waited.  You knew my timetable."

She gently clasped his arm.  "I'm doing this whether you approve or not.  We had to move fast on the house.  Someone else wanted it.  We settle on Friday and I intend to move in Saturday."

Whenever he argued with Clare, he felt as if he was running against the wind.  She could be so bullheaded.  He wanted what was best for her but he wasn't sure this was it.  "You're moving too fast; I don't like the whole thing."

His aunt gave him a pat, then crossed to the desk and picked up a can of furniture polish.  "I've made my decision, Josh.  You're not going to change my mind so you might as well stop trying.  I have a lot to do and not much time to do it.  If you're going to help, you're welcome to stay."

Josh closed his eyes for a moment.  He was tired.  He had driven the last seven hours, anxious to get home, anxious to see how the toy stores were faring without him, anxious to find out what his aunt had been up to.  No one had heard him knock, so he'd walked in.  He'd never expected this.  The deal wouldn't be settled until Friday, so it could still fall through or be cancelled.

"I'm going to talk to Ms. Kittredge."

"You're not going to bully her.  This was totally my decision, no one else's."

"I want to know some details."

"So ask me!"

"You're too busy packing."

"Josh--"

"Aunt Clare," he parroted with the same wary intonation.

Clare threw her hands up in surrender.  "Okay.  But don't make her feel guilty or anything else.  She's been an extraordinary help.  I wouldn't have been able to do this without her."

Josh believed that.  But why had she torn his aunt's life apart?  He was determined to find out exactly what Lexa Kittredge had to do with this whole mess, and what kind of influence she obviously held over his aunt.

His footsteps were muffled by the carpet in the hallway.  But when he entered the living room, Lexa turned toward him,  as if sensing he was there.

She propped the painting she was holding against a sofa arm and sat down next to it.  "Clare is sure about the plans she's made."

Josh's expression was grim.  "Are they her plans or someone else's?"

Lexa stared up at him and didn't seem to take offense at his protective concern.  "They're her plans."

There were smudges of blue under Lexa's eyes.  Did she stay up late?  Did she live with someone?  He glanced at her hand.  No ring on her finger.  He wondered how she spent her free time and whom she spent it with, then immediately banished the thought.

He had to remind himself she could be manipulating his aunt for some gain of her own.  His words were brisk.  "Convince me.  Convince me that you had nothing to do with her pouring her life savings into an old house, nothing to do with her turning her life topsy-turvy at her age.  She said you've been advising her.  What gives you that right?"

"I have that right because I have the qualifications and because I'm her friend.  I have been since the workshop."

He crossed his arms over his chest.  "I can't believe she was interested in a second career.  She can't possibly want to work again.  She has a teacher's pension and social security."

"Why wouldn't she want to work again?"  Lexa sat farther back on the sofa, clearly making herself at home.  "These days, it's almost a necessity."

"She doesn't need to work.  She's financially secure.  If she needs anything, I'm here to help."

Lexa shook her head.  "Maybe she doesn't need to work right now, but she needs--"

"How do you know what she needs?  You can't just advise people without knowing their situation."

Her cheeks flushed.  "Mr. Flannigan, I majored in social work and I minored in psychology.  I run a job counseling and placement center.  I didn't go looking for your aunt, she approached me.  She was sad and depressed."

Josh felt as if she'd kicked him in the stomach.  "Depressed?  She's always smiling, whistling, doing something.  Clare's never depressed.  She's the happiest person I know and you can't seriously tell me--"

"I can seriously tell you she was depressed.  Just how much time have you spent with her the past six months?"

During the past six months he had been working more than usual, making sure his management and sales teams were running without a hitch so he could squeeze in a much-earned, overdo vacation before the Christmas rush.  True, he hadn't seen his aunt much...

Hell, why was he feeling defensive?  Ms. Kittredge was the one who had probably put this hare-brained scheme into his aunt's head.  "What does that have to do with this?"

"Relatives always seem to be the last to see discontent.  If you had sat down with Clare and really listened to what she was saying, you might have realized..."  When he was about to interrupt, Lexa held up her hand like a stop sign.  "Please let me finish."

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and gave her a nod to go ahead.

Eye level with Josh's waist, Lexa saw the denim pull across his thighs.  Realizing he had noticed where her gaze had strayed, she flushed slightly and raised her eyes to his.  "Clare's friends at the center know she's been unhappy the past year.  So I'm not telling you anything that's confidential.  They persuaded her to come to the workshop and to see me.  After we talked, I realized she didn't really want to get back in the work force, but she wanted something to put meaning in her life."

"So you advised a venture that could wipe out her life savings and give her more work than she can handle."

"I advised no such thing.  I told her to think about what she liked to do, what she wanted to do, and what she did best.  She took it from there.  She talked to other seniors and discovered she wasn't the only one who was feeling lonely and empty.  She wants to care for people.  That's what she did for thirty-five years.  She found two other people who want to do the same thing.  They want to share their lives, take care of and depend on each other."

Josh was feeling more and more guilty.  He didn't like the feeling so he struck out.  "And I suppose you don't get anything out of this?  You're just a do-gooder who goes around solving people's problems, giving direction to their lives?"

Lexa's eyes told him he had struck a nerve, that she had heard the accusation before.  "I've helped Clare find a road that will bring her happiness, the same kind of happiness my volunteer work gives me.  You're not thinking about Clare's life, you're thinking about the easiest route for yourself so you don't have to worry about her."

  The static between them crackled.  "You have no right to judge me."

She stood.  "And you have no right to judge my motives or your aunt's capabilities.  Clare's an older woman, not elderly, certainly not decrepit.  She has wisdom, experience, maturity, and goals.  Goals and aspirations don't die because you reach fifty or fifty-five or sixty.  She's smart, interesting, and has a lot to share and no one to share it with."

"She has me!"

Lexa tipped her head back.  "And you think you're enough to fill her world?  Get serious.  That might have been true when you were a recalcitrant teenager, but it's certainly not true now."

He felt at a definite disadvantage.  If his aunt had told this woman about some of his escapades, Lexa was one up on him.  "Aunt Clare's an innocent when it comes to financial matters.  How does she know she can meet the mortgage payments, repairs, taxes?"

"If you talk to your aunt...calmly," Lexa emphasized, "You'll realize she's not going into this blindly.  The widower who's moving in with her is an accountant."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?" he goaded, suddenly wanting to get a rise out of her.  To that end he stepped closer.  Lexa's perfume wafted around his head; his heart suddenly beat harder.  A slice of desire startled him.

"No, I don't.  But I've had experience with scores of people."

"The truth is you feel powerful influencing people's lives, changing their direction," he accused.

"The truth is, Mr. Flannigan, it makes me feel good, not powerful.  The truth is you don't want to let go of your aunt.  The truth is you don't want her to be independent and not need you.  And the truth is I don't think you'd know the truth if it bit you in the seat of your too-tight jeans!"

Josh needed to regroup.  Alexandra Kittredge had brought up some wrinkles he hadn't anticipated--wrinkles that, if she was telling the truth, couldn't easily be smoothed away.  "I want what's best for Clare, what's good for her."

"You might not know what that is.  Only she knows.  I'll leave so you can discuss this without interference." 

He reached for Lexa's arm and when his fingers closed around it, he saw the same jolt of awareness he experienced reflected in her eyes.  "Don't leave without saying good-bye to her.  She'll think I ran you out the door."

"Clare loves you.  She needs and wants your support.  This isn't easy for her."

Josh's eyes narrowed.  Lexa sounded so sincere.  If she was on the level, he wondered what had drawn her to Clare, what made her care so much.  He released her arm and let his hand drop to his side.  "I want to see her happy.  But I want her safe."