Perfect Fit (11 page)

The slut
, Sage immediately thought. That was what she thought of any woman who willingly became involved with a married man. For the life of her she couldn’t understand why any woman would want to be the
other woman.

“I disagree with you that there’s no need for Mom to know. I think she has every right to know you’ve been unfaithful to her.”

She watched her father release a long, slow breath before saying, “Not telling your mother is my decision to make, Sage, and not yours.”

Sage pulled back. His words had been like a slap to her face. “It’s not just your decision. I saw you. I know about it. Keeping it from Mom makes me feel disloyal.”

“You shouldn’t feel that way since it doesn’t concern you. This is between me and your mother, and I should be the one to tell her about it.”

“When will you tell her?” From across the room she could feel her father’s tension.

“I’ll tell her one day.”

Sage shook her head angrily. “One day! When she’s too old to care! There is something called AIDS, and I care about my mother’s health if you don’t.”

She was taken aback by the furious expression that suddenly appeared on her father’s face. “Do you think I’d place your mother at a risk such as that! I took the necessary precautions! I love your mother!”

Sage laughed. It was more in anger than humor. “You love Mom? Then, it’s a good thing I decided not to get married if committing adultery is the way a married man shows his love for his wife. Taking money out of my bank accounts without me knowing it was bad enough. I would hate to think that after we’d been married thirty years, the next best thing to expect was for Erol to engage in an affair … out of his love for me.”

“Sage, you don’t understand …”

“Yeah, Dad, you’re right, I don’t understand and doubt I ever will.”

For the longest time there was total silence in the room. Then Charles Dunbar spoke. “Will you
let me be the one to tell your mother at what I feel is an appropriate time?” His voice was so soft it was barely a whisper.

She sighed, not wanting to deal with anything any longer. A part of her wished she could leave Charlotte for a while. In fact, maybe it was a good idea if she did. The Denmark Corporation had several offices across the country, and maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to check in to the possibility of transferring to one of them.

“Yes, Dad,” she finally answered, in just as soft a voice as his. “I’ll let you be the one to tell her … unless I witness something like it again. Then I’ll be the one to tell her, no matter what.”

Charles Dunbar nodded quietly before crossing the room. Before opening the door, he turned to his daughter. “I know I’ve hurt you deeply and have let you down, and for that I’m truly sorry,” he said in a broken voice.

Tears slid down Sage’s cheeks as she gazed into her father’s crumpled and tormented face. “Yes, I’m sorry for that, too, Dad.”

He shook his head. “I just hope and pray to God that one day you will find it in your heart to forgive me and let me redeem myself in your sight. You are my daughter, and I love you very much.”

Without saying anything else, he stepped out into the hallway and gently closed the door behind him.

The next day Sage returned to work. She was reviewing the document she had just completed, a
Request for Transfer
form. The three locations she had chosen were Florida, Texas and Alaska. Mr. Poole had informed her that morning that due to
their exclusive contract with Landmark Industries and the future projects he had planned for Anchorage, a decision had been made to open an office in Anchorage. Although Sage much preferred relocating to Florida or Texas, at the moment she would be grateful for either of the three.

She looked up, surprised, when her secretary walked in carrying a huge vase containing a dozen red roses.

“These are for you, Ms. Dunbar,” the older woman said, placing them on her desk.

Sage thanked her, knowing word would probably get around the office about the flowers. A number of people were curious as to why she was no longer wearing her engagement ring. She’d been surprised that anyone would even notice, which went to show just how observant some people were.

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The flowers were from Erol, and the card read,

Sage stood and walked over to the window, carrying the card with her. She reread it a second time, then closed her eyes, briefly wondering if she would ever be able to find it in her heart to forgive Erol. She also thought of her father. Would she ever find it in her heart to forgive him as well for what he’d done to her mother? For what he’d done to their special father-daughter relationship? And now what about her feelings toward men in
general after the two most important men in her life had violated her trust this way? She would definitely find it difficult to let another man get close to her again.

Walking back to her desk, she glanced down at the transfer papers she had completed. She swallowed as she tried to calm her tormented heart. At the moment, she felt incapable of putting the past behind her and moving on … at least not here in Charlotte.

She had thought things through and had prayed about it. She needed to leave town, and whatever place Denmark sent her, she would make the best of it.

Having made her decision, she placed the card aside.

T
he storm that had threatened to erupt all day finally broke, sending sheets of ice particles pounding down on everything in its path.

Gabe Blackwell stood by the window and watched the turbulent downpour, glad he had returned from his five-day fishing trip to the Kenai River before the torrential rain had broken free.

Moving away from the window, he crossed the room to the fireplace, thankful for the heat it generated. Sitting down on the sofa, he held a mug of the hot chocolate he had prepared earlier, laced with brandy to ward off the January chill. He took a sip and glanced around the house he had purchased a month earlier.

It had been a business decision for the company to buy the huge multilevel log–cabin–style house instead of leasing it for the year he would be spending the majority of his time in Anchorage. He had fallen in love with the place as soon as the Realtor
had shown him around. It was just what he’d wanted, something large, roomy and secluded. Another added plus was that it sat on fifteen acres of land, most of which was wooded, and had a panoramic view of several canyons and snow-capped mountains as well as a beautiful, huge stocked lake.

The inside of the house was an architect’s dream, its unique design well worth the investment, although he had to admit that the forty-two hundred square-foot structure was more house than what he needed. During his first visit to Anchorage, he had made the decision not to live downtown in a condo but to escape civilization and enjoy the rustic beauty the rural area provided.

Setting his mug down on the table, he rubbed his chin that was covered with a day’s growth of beard and couldn’t help but smile. His mother would have a hissy fit to see him looking so unkempt. But he was enjoying the final week before construction of the ski resort began. A shave tomorrow would be soon enough.

The telephone rang, and he immediately decided to let the answering machine catch it. He wasn’t ready to discuss business with anyone, and if it was a family member, he would immediately call them back. He just wanted to kick back and relax awhile and enjoy the peace and quiet.

He leaned back to rest his head against the back of the sofa when he heard the feminine voice that came across his answering machine:

“Mr. Blackwell, this is Sage Dunbar, marketing manager for the Denmark Group. We met four months ago while attending a Landmark Industries business meeting here in Anchorage. I don’t know if you remember me….”

Gabe lifted his head as immediate recognition
hit. He definitely remembered the attractive, ultra-confident and very sexy woman. And one of the main things that stood out in his mind was the fact that she was engaged to be married … this coming June if he wasn’t mistaken.

“As you are undoubtedly aware, the Denmark Group has opened an office here in Anchorage, and I’ll be working as the manager of that office. I’m looking forward to getting with you to create the marketing scheme needed for the ski resort, which has officially been named Eden. Please give me a call so we can schedule a time the two of us can get together, hopefully this week. I can be reached at the Denmark office here in town. The number is …”

Gabe lifted a dark brow as he leaned forward. John Landmark had mentioned something to him about the marketing firm opening an office in Anchorage just to accommodate his needs. But at the time Gabe had thought it would be highly unlikely that Sage Dunbar would be involved in that venture since she was engaged to be married in a few months. She had mentioned that her fiancé owned a landscaping business in Charlotte, and Gabe couldn’t see the man relocating that sort of business to Anchorage for Sage’s career move. Did that mean she would be managing the office in Anchorage only on a temporary basis, and not for the full year that her services would be needed?

Gabe settled back in his seat as a number of questions went through his mind. All of them would be answered tomorrow when he returned Sage Dunbar’s call.

Out of habit, Sage double checked the locks on all her doors before going into the bedroom to undress. She smiled. No matter how horrid the
weather was outside, she intended to have a pam-per-yourself night. She had already arranged the lit candles around the bathroom, and their flickering flames as well as their strong vanilla scent were transforming her condo into a working woman’s haven. There was nothing like taking a hot bubble bath in a room illuminated with soft candlelight and drenched with the fragrance of her favorite flavor to ease her weary, torn mind and rest her tired, aching body.

Her first week at Denmark’s Alaskan office had gone well. She had an excellent staff that was dedicated to Landmark Industries’ needs. The first thing on her agenda had been to come up with a name for the resort, and earlier today John Landmark had embraced the one her team submitted, Eden, with open arms. Everything about the resort, down to the very minute details, would be nothing short of paradise. The architectural design of the resort was breathtaking and would put any ski resort presently in operation to shame. Even the cable ski lifts were state-of-the-art. There would even be a few private rooms, larger than the normal size and equipped with an elegant king-size air mattress and a compact bathroom for those individuals whose romantic fantasy included being suspended high in the sky in a cozy setting with snow-capped mountains surrounding them.

Sage’s smile widened. She was glad she had been the one selected to head up this office and appreciated Mr. Poole recommending her for the job before he’d left. If it had been left up to the man who the company had transferred in as Mr. Poole’s replacement, she would never have gotten the recommendation. Larry Bakersfield had, in just the short time he had arrived at the Charlotte
office, proved to be a male chauvinist of the worst kind. Sage hated that Rose was still in Charlotte working for the man and knew her friend was constantly completing transfer papers to be relocated elsewhere.

The four months Sage had remained in Charlotte after her breakup with Erol had been pure hell. She had caught it from both her family as well as his. Everyone thought she had taken things to the extreme by calling off their engagement. Only a few of her family members understood. Luckily for her, Cinnamon and Ginger had given their full support and understood her decision. Her parents, although they claimed they were remaining neutral, still let it be known that they thought her problem with Erol was something the two of them could work out.

The holidays had been the most difficult for her since her and her father’s relationship was still strained, and more than once her mother had questioned her as to why. Then it had been hard not to be weakened by the flowers Erol would constantly send or by his invitations to join him for dinner. However, she had held to her resolve and consistently prayed to God that her relocation request with Denmark would come through.

For weeks after their breakup, she had felt totally alone and would be the first to admit she missed their friendship as well as the intimate part of their relationship. A soft sigh trembled from her as she was reminded that Erol was the first and only guy she had slept with.

As far as Sage was concerned, her move to Alaska had come at a good time, and since she had gotten a promotion out of it, that made things even better.

Neither of her parents had taken her decision to relocate to Alaska well, although she had assured them it would be a good career move. They, as did Erol, thought she was moving to get away from him, which was only partly true. She’d also needed to put distance between her and her father as well. He still had not told her mother about his affair, and each time the three of them were together, Sage found herself feeling like a willing party to his deceit.

In the bathroom, she began filling the tub with water while doing her daily stretch exercises. When she thought the amount of water in the huge bathtub was enough, she turned off the lights in her apartment with a special remote control she had purchased, stepped into the tub and sank down.

She closed her eyes as a picture of Eden came to mind, just how she pictured it would look when everything was completed. An hour or so later after toweling dry and slipping into her nightgown, she heard the phone ring. Thinking it was probably her mother or Rose, she quickly crossed her bedroom to pick up the phone on the night-stand next to her bed.