Love Captures the Heart (Sully Point, Book 3) (15 page)

He stopped and stood still. "Lately, I dream about a
house. A house I want to design, not for anyone else, but for myself. It's the
perfect house. And she's always there, in the dream, always waiting for me in
that perfect house."

He looked down at Anna and saw that she'd gotten tears in
her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. That's just so sweet."

"Sweet? Good grief, woman, don't you realize what this
means?"

"Yes, I do, but I'm not sure you do."

"It means I have to stop seeing her! I've let myself
get too close to her. I've--"

"Hold it right there, Jason," Anna said firmly.
She got up from the chair and stood facing him. "It doesn't mean anything
of the sort. Don't tell me that you're the kind of man who walks away from
happiness. When I think of the buildings you've designed in the city, so filled
with joy and exuberance in life, I can't believe you'd run from love."

"But I never--it wasn't supposed to--what the hell am I
going to do?"

Anna reached out and patted him on the arm. "You're
going to live. Let yourself experience your life. See what you and Holly can
figure out between you. But don't turn away from something that has so much
potential, just because you're afraid. Love isn't about fear, Jason. Love heals
fear."

And he knew, in that moment, that she was right. He was
running because of fear. Afraid to let himself become so close to someone.
Afraid of losing them as he'd lost his parents. But Anna was right in another
way as well. He'd always promised his parents he'd live his life as fully as
possible, living for them and not just for himself. To start denying his feelings
wasn't a way to truly live.

He reached out and hugged Anna, who gave a surprised,
"Oof!"

"Thank you, thank you so much."

He let go of her and she smiled at him. "You'll be okay
now, right? You and Holly?"

"I don't know yet what I'll say to her or when, but I
won't run from it anymore."

"Good, good. Although, I have to tell you that she can
be really stubborn. I know she seems really nice--and she is! Don't get me
wrong. But, as her sister, I can say that she knows how to dig her heels in.
She may take some convincing, in other words."

He laughed. It was a joyful laugh, one that made him feel as
if he'd walked out of a dark room and into the light. "I believe you. But
I won't give up."

"That's all I needed to hear. And on that note, I think
I'd better get home to my own two loves. It will be good to have some time with
Sam. I'm betting Maggie will stay away until after the little one goes to bed.
But I'd like to have a snack made for her for when she comes in, so I'd best be
off. And you--keep drawing! Those are really good."

"Will do. Thanks for everything, Anna."

He walked her to the door, and watched her go down the
stairs. Even as he headed for the kitchen for another stuffed roll, he wondered
what Holly was doing that night, whether she'd remembered to eat. Maybe it was
time for a phone call.

* * * *

Lana walked into Holly's office when she heard her boss
slamming things around. "Holly? Everything okay in here?"

"What? Yes, of course. Everything is perfectly fine. If
he wants to spend time--never mind. I mean it's not like I have any claim--that
isn't the issue anyway. But if you bother to call me and then harp on about special
meetings with your new best friend, Maggie--not that I even care!" She
slammed a phone directory down in the middle of her desk.

Lana hesitated, and then came to stand in front of the desk.
"Who exactly called you? Jason?"

"Yes. And all he could do was talk about Maggie!"
Holly stared at Lana for an instant, and then burst into tears. Sinking into
her chair, she covered her face with her hands.

Lana shook her head. She'd wondered what Marla had meant
this morning when she had called and mentioned Maggie as a player in all that
was going on. This made it very clear. What on earth was Marla thinking--unless
it was to make Holly jealous, which it looked like she'd done.

"Has Jason been meeting with Maggie about the
project?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes. A whole lot of meetings," Holly managed to
say. Then she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "First he calls, he
says, to see if I've eaten dinner. Which seemed kind of sweet to me. But then
he starts telling me about his day and how he and Maggie did this, and then
they did that--on and on! I got off the phone--told him I had to get back to
work."

"I see." And she did see. What sounded like
nervous chatter from Jason, had turned into something entirely different in
Holly's mind. She looked at the younger woman with sympathy, then firmed her
lips and said, "So. Are you finally ready to acknowledge you have feelings
for him?"

"Feelings? Sure, he's a good friend."

"Holly...you know that's not what I mean."

"I don't. I don't know what you mean." She began
arranging things on top of desk, fingers fluttering from one item to the next.

"Holly Grainger. Are you telling me you're afraid to
admit you're in love with the man?"

"I'm not afraid! Not really. But, surely, I'm not in
love with him. I like him, of course, I do. Love, however--love is a whole
other ball game. I can't love him. I'm too busy. My life is too full. I don't
have room for a relationship, damn it!"

"Whether or not you have room, it looks like it's
happening anyway."

Holly gulped, and then said, "Love? Is this what love
feels like? It's awful!"

Lana gave a soft laugh. "Holly, dear, you only feel
awful because everything is up in the air at the moment. You're afraid he
doesn't love you, am I right?"

"See, we had this agreement where we could get together
and...well...anyway, we both agreed we didn't want to get involved or have a
relationship--any of that. So I don't see how he could be in love with me. He's
so focused on his work."

"Like you?"

"Yeah, like--wait a minute. Are you saying he might
have had love sneak up on him, too?"

"It is possible."

Holly's face had brightened, but it fell again. "I
doubt it. And anyway, now there's this whole thing with Maggie."

Lana sighed. "I honestly don't think there is anything
going on with Maggie. You set it up for her to work with him. So, she's working
with him. It doesn't mean anything bad."

"Then why does he bring her up all the time? Explain
that, if you wouldn't mind."

"It sounds to me like nerves. That he's using his
meetings with Maggie as something to say when he's uncertain. Of course, I
could be wrong."

"Hmm. That idea does kind of fit. Or you could be
wrong, and he's falling for her. I don't even want to go to Sully Point this
weekend feeling like this."

Lana frowned. This wouldn't do. "You have to go this
weekend. Everyone involved with the project will be there, and you know some
major things will end up being discussed. You don't want to be left out of
that, do you?"

"No, not really. Besides, I guess if there is something
going on with him and Maggie, I could find out for sure. And that could end all
these stupid feelings I'm having...okay. I'll go home this weekend."

"That's good." Lana smiled at her and then walked
back to her own desk. She'd have to call Marla later with an update. Getting
Holly and Jason together was the toughest matchmaking job she and Marla had
ever done. How could two people so well-suited actually believe they were too
busy for love? Actually, the fact they both believed it just proved how much
they belonged together.

* * * *

Things were going on. Right in his house, even. Frank
Grainger sighed. Today, he'd walked in on three separate conversations where
people didn't seem very forthcoming. He didn't mind a little conspiracy as long
as he was in on it.

First, he'd seen Marla and Maggie clam up at breakfast. But
he'd heard the name 'Jason' before they stopped talking. Then he'd come across
Anna and Julia having lunch in the park with his grandkids. He knew the look on
someone's face when they'd been gossiping, and Anna had definitely had that
look. As he'd approached them he'd overheard 'Holly' mentioned.

The third conversation had actually been about him. He'd
walked up behind Maelynne as she was going into the bakery. She was gossiping
with her friend all about how Frank had finally found someone, a woman he had
living in his house! Of course she meant Marla, not realizing Marla was Jason's
assistant. Frank let her have it--explaining who Marla was and that he was just
doing a favor for a friend letting her stay there. He hoped he'd gotten through
to Maelynne, because Betsy Gilchrest, his actual 'woman friend,' would not be
happy hearing about Marla. He and Betsy continued keeping their relationship a
secret, which in the town of Sully Point, was a major achievement.

All he really knew was a gut feeling that something was
going on that involved Holly and Jason. He'd wondered about the two of them,
from little things he'd noticed when they were together. He liked Jason, and
thought he was a good man. But over the years, he'd come to believe Holly might
just stay on her own forever. He knew a part of that came out of losing her
mother, and watching him losing a dearly loved wife. Holly had been old enough
to see how much her father had loved her mother, and how devastated he'd been
when she died. That first year had been traumatic, and Holly had been there as
the oldest, always helping out. She'd seen him suffer through that loss.

He thought it wouldn't be surprising if she was hesitant to
fall in love. Even after seeing how happy Anna and Cody were in their
marriages, she still knew that if you loved deeply, you could be terribly hurt
if you lost that person. Maybe it was time he sat her down to talk about it
all. Maybe he should let her know that she couldn't give up on love out of
fear. And perhaps it was time to tell, at least to tell her, about his feelings
for Betsy. Holly needed to know it had become possible for him to love again.

Chapter 8

The weekend arrived swiftly, and by Friday, Holly was more
than ready to get to Sully Point. She drove down and called Jason from the car
as she approached town.

"Hey, I'm almost there," she said into the headset
microphone plugged into her phone.

"Hi there. You made good time. When did--"

He stopped talking and then she heard him laugh--and heard a
woman's laugh in the background.

"Sorry about that," he said and gave a chuckle.

"You're busy? I didn't realize you had company."

"What? No, I'm not busy. Maggie stopped by and we were
looking over some things for the meeting tomorrow. Then we got to talking about
movies. Did you realize she has the same love of old science fiction movies
that I do?"

"Actually, no, I didn't realize that." Holly felt
a massive headache begin, right behind her eyes, eyes that wanted to tear up.
"So, Maggie's been there a while? Have you guys had dinner?"

"We were just talking about getting pizza or something.
I wasn't sure when you might be getting into town."

"You should go ahead and do that. I've got a horrible
headache, so I was thinking I'd just head to Dad's house and lie down in a dark
room to try and get rid of it. I'm no fun tonight."

Jason was quiet on the other end of the phone. Finally, he
said, "Holly, is everything okay? I mean, besides your headache? You sound
funny."

"Sorry about that--pain tends to make me sound funny.
Listen, I'm going to hang up and just focus on getting there in one piece
before this damn headache totally takes over. You and Maggie have a good time."

"Sure, okay. Well, take it easy Holly and I'll see you
tomorrow."

"Yeah. Later."

She hung up and clung to the steering wheel for support.

By the time she arrived at her father's, she had herself
more in hand. She surprised him as he watched the sports news channel, eating
popcorn in front of the TV.

"Holly! I didn't expect to see you until
tomorrow." He held out the bowl of popcorn to her. "Hungry?"

She gave him a smile. "Not for popcorn, but thanks
anyway, Dad. I need something for my headache and maybe some soup."

"I have some canned soup in the pantry. Nothing
homemade I'm afraid. I plan on making clam chowder tomorrow for everyone."

"Canned soup is okay. I'll go fix some. Is my bedroom
free?"

"Yes. Marla is staying in Anna's old room."

She trudged back into the kitchen and heated up chicken
noodle soup. It was soothing on her stomach, and her headache backed off a bit.
She felt like she was in the middle of a bad dream that she couldn't wake up
from or get it to end. How could Jason sound so lighthearted and happy? Hadn't
he come here because he was down and depressed? Was Maggie all it took to make
him all cheerful?

It didn't matter, she decided. They had their agreement.
They had no commitment to each other. Each of them was free to see whomever they
might choose. Simple. Time to move on.

She washed out her bowl, said good night to Frank, and
headed up to her room. The thought of staying awake any longer was too much,
and she undressed and went to bed. She dreamed of a house that overlooked a
cliff with a view of the ocean. A man was walking toward her in the house, but
he was fuzzy and she could never actually see his face. She woke up with a
feeling of longing, wishing to be in that house, that home.

Her cell phone rang not long after she got out of bed. She
lunged across the mattress to grab the phone off the night stand, sure it was
Jason.

"Hello?"

"Holly, this is Gloria. I hope you like an early start
in the morning. I want to see the town and need to get something for breakfast.
Can you pick me up and play tour guide for a while?"