His Winter Rose and Apple Blossom Bride (15 page)

“Order. Folks, we’re way over time. I’d like to thank Wainwright Inc. and Dylan for taking the time to explain all that.”

“No problem.” Dylan began replacing the charts and drawings in his portfolio. “I’ll get together with Dad and we’ll come up with some changes.” He glanced around the table, oozing charm. “Wainwright Inc. is committed to meeting your needs, folks. We want to hear your concerns, and if at all possible, we want to address them. When we make a commitment, it’s for the long term.”

“We appreciate that.”

The meeting was adjourned. Piper caught up with Dylan outside a few moments later as he was loading his case into his SUV.

“Are you angry that I shot holes in the proposal?” she asked quietly. Their father was the problem, not Dylan.

“Of course not. All part of doing business.” He turned to face her. “You don’t think we get a contract on one presentation, do you?” He laughed. “Come on, Piper. You know better than that.”

“Yes. But I also know how much time you put into each presentation, especially when you told me you had nothing going.”

“You know Dad. Pulls things out of a hat.”

Or plans them way ahead.
Forgive.
Piper shook off the anger. “It’s a great hotel, Dylan.”

“Just not for here.”

“No.” She decided to be honest. “I’m not sure Wainwright can do the kind of hotel we want for here.”

“My concepts aren’t good enough for you, Piper?”

She was stunned at the bitterness she heard in those words and laid a hand on his arm.

“Your concepts are fantastic, Dyl, and you know it. I just meant that this is a poky little lakeside town—not your usual forte.”

“I’m an architect with a master’s degree in business administration. My forte can stretch to anything it needs to,” he said, his voice icy. “That’s why Dad made me second in command of Wainwright Inc.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything. Please don’t be angry,” she begged, exactly as she had when they were children and she’d hurt his feelings with a snide comment about her father.

He glared at her, then like lightning, he was her big, charming brother again. “Sorry, sis. Put it down to the grueling drive here. You folks need some roadwork done.”

“We’re working on that.” She stood on tiptoe, brushed his cheek with her lips. “Want to stay at Cathcart tonight, get an early start in the morning?”

“No.”

The abruptness of his rejection dismayed her. But then Dylan had never appreciated the Bay and especially her grandparents’ home. He’d hardly ever visited after she’d moved in with them, and then only with her father. Dylan had witnessed the same bitter feud she had.

“Okay.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, sis. I just meant I can’t. I’ve got three early meetings tomorrow. I have to get back tonight.”

“You should have flown.”

“You should have an airport,” he countered.

“We’re working on that,” Jason said from behind Piper. “She’s got her finger in so many pies I’m amazed she doesn’t get confused.”

“She’s a wonder all right. Best development officer in the biz.” Dylan touched her cheek with one finger, squeezed her hand. “See you, Piper. Jason, it was nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ll be talking in the coming days.”

“I look forward to it.” He stood beside Piper, watching as Dylan drove away.

“He seems nice.”

“He is,” she agreed. “I hope we didn’t dash his hopes too much. I know he put a lot of time into that proposal.” She glanced at Jason. “What did you think of it?”

He held her gaze. “Do you really want to know? Or are you just being polite?”

Piper frowned. “What do you mean?”

“It’s pretty clear you’ve already decided to throw a negative light on Wainwright’s ideas, no matter what they are.”

He was right. Even if Dylan had brought in that perfect model she had at home, Piper knew she would have found fault. But she couldn’t admit it.

“That’s not true.”

“Sure it is.” Jason thrust his hands in his pockets, but his gaze never wavered from her face. “There’s something else going on here, Piper, and I’d like to know what it is. I’m not denying you might have a legitimate reason for distrusting the company, but we can’t let that past experience impinge on what we’re trying to do here.”

“You thought the ideas he presented were what we wanted?” she asked, deciding a counterattack was better than defense. “You approved that plan? Because that isn’t the impression you gave this afternoon.”

“I didn’t say I approved all of it. But there were some really good features. The ability to open out one side and make a patio café for the pool—that was excellent. The materials and the decor—they’re very close to what we’d hoped for.”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“You never said that. You jumped hard on all the negatives.” He glanced over her shoulder, lowered his voice. “It came close to an attack on Wainwright. I’ll be surprised if he comes back to us a second time and that’s not good for the Bay, Piper. We need a broad variety of interest and if Wainwright can give us what we need, I see no reason not to choose them.”

I do,
she wanted to scream. But she silenced that inner cry by gripping her briefcase a little tighter. A twist of anger coiled inside her stomach. Where was God in all of this? Did he honestly expect her to welcome Wainwright to her sanctuary?

“You’re telling me to back off,” she said.

“I’m
hoping
you’ll get past whatever grudges you’re carrying and see the possibilities in every presentation,” he said softly.

“I was
hoping
we were aiming for top-notch and not settling for the first idea that came along,” she murmured. “My mistake. Next time I’ll note my concerns and hand them over for you to check before I say anything.” She slid the strap of her bag over one shoulder. “I need to get home now. Good night.”

But he wouldn’t let her go so easily, insisting on walking beside her to where
Shalimar
was tied.

“What’s really wrong?”

She ignored him, slipped out of her heels and into the deck shoes that would save the glossy wooden surface.

“Talk to me, Piper.”

She straightened, met his scrutiny and decided to tell him.

“You hired me, presumably, because of my skills at economic development. But every time I offer an opinion, every time I try to do my job, for the benefit of Serenity Bay, you challenge me. Maybe I’m not the person you need to do this job, Jason.”

He grasped her elbow so she couldn’t leave.

“You’re the only person who could do such a good job for us and you know it. But this—” he jerked his head toward the town office “—this wasn’t about your job. It’s about something else and I want to know what is going on.” His voice dropped; he touched her hair, brushed it out of her eyes. “Tell me the truth, Piper. Maybe I can help. Is it Dylan? Was he the problem—something in your past?”

“No.”

It would be so easy to release the memories that flooded back—dark, painful snapshots of seventeen-year-old Dylan begging her to go with them, angrily asking her to stop antagonizing their father, to stop causing a fuss. Her prayers that always went unanswered. Her secret fear that if she stopped fighting her father, she’d never be her own person again.

Piper could use words to describe the long days and nights after her father had taken Dylan away, the months he’d refused to allow him to visit, the long, lonely nights when she’d despaired of ever having her big brother close again—but words alone wouldn’t help Jason understand how abandoned she’d felt. Letting him see the hole inside would only make her appear weak.

Dad needs you here with us, Piper. He needs his family. We haven’t got anyone else but us you know. Wainwrights stick together.

But Baron hadn’t needed her; he’d wanted to control her—just as he did everything else in his world. Just as he’d controlled and manipulated Dylan into becoming a replica of himself. Besides, Baron Wainwright had not been there when she’d needed him most.

Forgive.

How could Jason possibly understand that?

“Just talk to me,” he whispered, reaching out to draw her closer.

But Piper backed away.

“I’m tired. I’m going home. You decide if you want me to stay or if you’d rather I left so you can get on with courting Wainwright.”

She heard his hiss of exasperation but ignored it by casting off. Free of the dock, she revved the engine and took off across the water, in no mood to sail tonight.

The calm bay waters accelerated her progress and soon
Shalimar
was inside the boathouse. She climbed the stairs to the house. The lights were on, casting a yellow glow up the hill where Cathcart House lay waiting. Having the locks changed made coming home less of a worry, something the new security system enhanced.

Once she’d changed clothes and made herself a cup of mint tea, Piper curled up on a deck chair and searched the night sky for answers. Was it time to leave the Bay, to give up on the plan that had brought her here?

Why don’t you ever help me when I need it, God?

I demand that you love each other as much as I love you.

“I do love him,” she admitted at last, “but I hate him, too.”

God is love.

“If you love someone, you will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, always stand your ground in defending him.” She could almost hear him reciting the passage from Corinthians.

“He hurt me.” She wept. “He hurt them. And he didn’t come when I needed him. How can I forgive him?”

Let love be your greatest aim.

“I can’t love. It hurts too much.”

But that wasn’t true. She thought of Jason, of leaving as she’d suggested. Of never seeing him again.

A soft sigh of sadness filled her at leaving the friendly souls she’d grown to care about. Abandoning her work plans wouldn’t be half as bad as not seeing Jason again.

She was in love with him.

The realization surprised her, left her shocked.

Cared about him, yes. Wanted him to succeed, yes. But loved him?

She thought for a moment, comparing this love to her love for Vance. The soft, sweet rush of love she’d felt for him was nothing like what she felt now. With Jason it was different, more like a tiny fire that flared to life when he was near. Her breath caught whenever he walked into the room. Her heart skipped a beat when he winked at her in that audacious way he had. She found herself wanting him to wrap her up in his arms. To forget about Wainwright and hotels and the Bay and simply enjoy his presence.

But Jason was like Baron. He was consumed by his plans for the Bay, so much so that he was willing to cave on the rest of his dream if it meant getting the hotel he so desperately wanted.

She thought of Jason discovering the girl he’d cared about in the arms of another man, learning that his best friend had betrayed him. Perhaps he was coping with that betrayal by using the Bay to prove himself.

Hadn’t her father used his work to compensate in the same way after Piper’s mother had died?

Her parents had seemed close. Certainly her mother had never been shy about giving Baron her opinion on anything. They argued. They made up. Until he’d started that last project, the one that had overtaken his entire life. Nothing her mother had said then seemed to make a difference to him. He was gone for long periods of time and when he came home they’d argued. Then she’d died. Baron had become more controlling, more demanding.

And Piper had left home.

Tears trickled down her cheeks at the death of a family. Why had God let her mother die?

“Piper?”

She blinked. Jason stood in front of her. “What are you doing here?” He leaned down until his face was level with hers. He reached out to wipe the tear from her cheek.

“I had to come back,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

The simple words touched a spot deep inside that she’d thought long dead. Piper put her hands in his, rose and leaned into his embrace.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he whispered, hugging her tightly. “I’d never do that. I only wanted to help. Instead I upset you. I’m so sorry.”

She said nothing, simply laid her head on his chest and slid her arms around his waist, allowing his quiet words and gentle touch to heal. His kiss asked nothing in return but offered sweet comfort. How could she not love a man like this?

After a long time he turned her so they could both watch the stars.

“Why were you crying?”

“I was thinking about my mother, about how different things might have been if only she’d lived. I never understood why. Our lives were ruined.”

“Sweetheart, your life isn’t ruined.” His words held a certainty she envied. “I know it hurt and I know the pain never totally goes away, but you coped, you kept going. You’ve made a difference. I’m sure your mother is very proud.”

“Do you think so?” She watched a star skate across the sky. “I have a hard time believing that.”

“Why?” He rested his chin against her shoulder.

“Has to do with my idea of heaven, I guess. Or rather God in heaven. I feel like he punished us and her by taking her too early, for no reason. I’ve always felt that God is sort of like a stern judge, sitting up there, peering down at us, waiting for one little misstep. In my head I know that’s wrong. But inside—” She sighed.

Jason was silent for several minutes, then he coaxed her to sit down. He crouched down in front of her.

“Piper, God didn’t punish you by taking your mother. He had other plans for her and for you, but He made sure you had grandparents who loved and cared for you. He gave you a wonderful place to live, and two very good friends. And then He brought you back here because He loves you. He has so much in store for you. You can’t even begin to imagine.” He touched her cheek. “He’s not a God of hate. He’s a God of love. He’s your Father.”

She made a face. “Maybe that’s my problem. God as a father is one analogy that doesn’t work for me. My real father is bad enough.”

“Tell me about him.”

“What do you want to know? He’s driven, arrogant, controlling, demanding, pushy, manipulative if he has to be, and he thinks he does.” She shook her head, tossing away the pain. “I don’t think he ever saw me as anything other than an extension of his own ambition.”