“Twenty-seven.”
“A lot of your friends are engaged or married. You’ve probably got girlfriends with kids.”
“Yes,” Lesley admitted, agreeably enough, “but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Who are you trying to fool? Not me! As far as I’m concerned, marriage and a family were the big attraction with Tony. He was never your type and we both know it. What you were looking forward to was settling down, getting pregnant and doing the mother thing.”
“We agreed not to discuss Tony, remember?” Lesley reminded her neighbor stiffly. Her former fiancé was a subject she chose to avoid whenever possible with her friends, especially with Daisy, who’d insisted from the first that Tony was all wrong for her.
“You agreed we wouldn’t,” Daisy muttered, chewing the cookie, “but I’ll respect your wishes as long as you fill me in on your date last night.”
Lesley smiled. “Ah, yes, my date.”
“You must’ve gotten back late. I didn’t go into work at the bar yesterday because I had to study and I wasn’t through until after midnight and I didn’t hear you come home.”
Lesley hadn’t stopped to chat with Daisy, fearing that sharing her experience would somehow diminish it. She’d gone to bed almost immediately, wanting to mull over her time with Chase, put some perspective on it, luxuriate in the memory of their kisses.
She’d intended to think about all that. Instead, she’d fallen asleep almost immediately. Even now she wasn’t sure how to interpret their evening together.
“Did you have a good time?” Daisy asked.
“Wonderful. We walked along the waterfront, and then went to dinner.” She didn’t mention the ferry ride. She couldn’t. It was too special to share even with Daisy.
She didn’t know what, exactly, had happened between them, only that something had. Whatever it was, she’d allowed it. Had participated in it, and in the end couldn’t deny him or herself the pleasure of those kisses.
No one had ever kissed her the way Chase had, gently, with such infinite care, such tenderness. He’d kissed her the way a woman dreams of being kissed, dreams of being held. Trying to explain that was beyond Lesley. She had no idea where to even begin.
Daisy yawned with great exaggeration. “Sounds like a boring date if you ask me.”
“Maybe, but I’ve never had two men fight over me with switchblades the way you did.”
“Both of ’em were staggering drunk. Besides, I had no interest in dating either one. After being married to Brent for five years, why would I want to involve myself with another biker wannabe? Charlie had the police there so fast my head spun. Good thing, too.”
Personally, Lesley believed Charlie the bartender had a crush on Daisy, but she’d never said as much. He was a nice guy and he looked out for her neighbor, but in Lesley’s opinion, his feelings were more than just friendship for a fellow employee.
“Don’t sidetrack me,” Daisy insisted. “We were talking about you and Chase. That’s his name, isn’t it?” Lesley nodded. “There’s not much more to say. I already told you I had a nice time.”
“I believe you described it as wonderful. You seeing him again?”
“We’re going to a movie…at least I think we are. He mentioned it last night, but we didn’t discuss the time. And he didn’t say anything about it when he phoned a few minutes ago.”
“So he’s already called again?”
Lesley tried not to show how pleased she was. Chase had seemed distracted, but there was no disguising the warmth in his voice. She hoped he’d tell her whatever was troubling him when he picked her up that evening. He’d asked for her address and Lesley had no qualms about giving it to him.
“What’s this?” Daisy asked, reaching across the table to a stack of mail and pulling out a catalog.
“A knitting catalog,” Lesley said, putting the cookie sheets in her sink to cool.
“When did you start knitting?” Daisy asked, slowly flipping through the pages.
“A couple of months ago.”
“Aha! The nesting instinct strikes again.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lesley said impatiently. She walked onto her back porch, retrieved an empty coffee can and filled it with cookies. “Here,” she said, thrusting the can toward her smart-mouthed neighbor. “For Eric and Kevin.”
Chuckling, Daisy stood and reached for the cookies. “I can take a hint. You don’t want me talking about Tony and you don’t want me saying anything about your hormones. It’s downright difficult to carry on a conversation with you, girl.”
After shooing Daisy out the door, Lesley made herself a sandwich and turned on the local noon news. She was chewing away when the billboard she’d seen earlier that week came on the screen.
Her interest was piqued, and she put her sandwich back on the plate.
The camera left the billboard to focus on the reporter who was standing below it. Lesley liked Becky Bright and the offbeat stories she reported. It was a compliment to her professionalism, as far as Lesley was concerned, that Becky Bright could cover the billboard story and keep a straight face.
“This morning I talked with the man who’s so earnestly seeking a wife,” Becky announced. “Chase Goodman agreed to an interview and…”
Chase Goodman.
Lesley didn’t hear a word after that. His face appeared on the screen and he squinted into the camera and said he only had a limited time in Seattle and wanted to be as straightforward as he could.
Straightforward. He’d misled her. Talk about being unethical; why, he’d…he’d kissed her. He’d held her in his arms and… Mortified, she raised her hands to her face. She’d so desperately wanted to believe in Chase, but he was like all the other men she’d known. He was just like her father, who’d cruelly deceived her. Just like Tony, who’d broken her heart. Never again would she make herself vulnerable. Never again would she be so naive as to trust a man.
Never again.
* * *
“Your next appointment is waiting,” Sandra Zielger, the attractive middle-aged woman Chase had hired that morning, announced. He’d been interviewing women all afternoon.
The first one who’d come was a pleasant woman a few years his senior who worked as an executive assistant for a big manufacturing company. She was congenial, well-educated and professional. When Chase asked her why she wanted to marry him and move to Alaska, she said she was ready to “get out of the rat race” and take life at a more leisurely pace. She’d been divorced twice, with no children. After ten minutes with her, Chase knew a relationship between them wouldn’t work. He wasn’t comfortable with her the way he was with Lesley.
The second interview turned out to be with a female plumber who’d been working in construction. She’d been out of work for three months and was looking for a change of scene. The first thing she asked was whether he wanted to sleep with her to sample the goods before making his decision. Even before he collected his wits enough to respond, she’d unbuttoned her blouse, claiming she didn’t mind a little kinky sex if that interested him, but she wasn’t overly fond of whips and chains. By the time he’d ushered her out the door, Chase felt shaken.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he’d placed the ad, but it wasn’t this. He was looking for a woman with a generous heart, one with pluck and spirit. A woman with depth and sensitivity. A woman like… Lesley.
He rubbed the back of his neck, closed his eyes and sighed.
He tried phoning Lesley just to calm his nerves, but she wasn’t home. He didn’t leave a message.
By four, Chase had talked with so many women that their names and faces and stories had all started to blend together. Not a single one had strongly appealed to him. He couldn’t meet with these women and not compare them to Lesley. They seemed shallow by contrast, frivolous and, in some cases, reckless. There were a couple he might’ve liked under other circumstances, and he’d kept their names and phone numbers, but not a single woman to compare to the one he’d
met yesterday, quite by chance.
He glanced at his watch and knew he wasn’t up to interviewing another woman. The suite he’d rented at the hotel was packed with applicants. Word had gotten out that he was in the process of talking to prospective brides and they were coming in off the street now. Sandra Zielger seemed to have her hands full, and seeing that, Chase intervened, escorting the husband-seeking women from the room with promises of another day.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Sandra said, pushing her hair away from her face with both hands. “You should’ve brought some of your bachelor friends with you.”
Chase closed his eyes and expelled a weary sigh. “How many women did we see?”
“Twenty.”
“That’s all?” He felt the panic rise. He’d spent nearly an entire day meeting with women, and he’d hardly made a dent in the crowd.
“I take it you’re finished for the day?” Sandra asked.
Chase nodded. He needed space to breathe and time to reflect. What he really needed was Lesley. He hadn’t stopped thinking about her all day, or the kisses they’d shared. Nor could he forget how she’d felt in his arms. He wanted to hold her again, and soon.
He was halfway out the door when Sandra said, “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“You mean I can’t?”
“Well, it’s just that there are a number of phone messages that need to be returned.”
“Who from?”
“The radio stations, for one. Another TV station.”
“Forget them. That last thing I need now is more publicity.”
Sandra grinned. “I’ve had several interesting jobs working for Temp Help over the years, but I’ve got to tell you, this is the most unusual. I wish you luck, young man.”
“Thanks,” Chase answered. He had the distinct feeling he was going to need it.
* * *
Lesley had been filled with nervous energy from the moment she’d seen Becky Bright stand beneath that ridiculous billboard and say Chase’s name. None of her usual methods for relieving tension had worked.
She’d gone shopping and fifteen minutes later left the store. She was too mad to appreciate a fifty-percent-off sale. That was an anger so out of the ordinary it surprised even her.
A long soak in the tub hadn’t helped, either. By the time she’d finished, she’d sloshed water all over the floor and had spilled her favorite liquid bubble bath.
Even a fitness DVD didn’t help, but then she’d stopped five minutes into the exercises and turned it off. If she was going to do anything aerobic, Lesley decided, she’d prefer to work in her yard.
She weeded the front flower beds and was watering the bright red geraniums with her hose when Daisy walked out of her town house in a pair of shorts and a Mariners T-shirt.
“You upset about something, honey?” she called, crossing the driveway that divided their properties.
“What makes you ask that?” Lesley returned in a completely reasonable voice. The fact that Daisy could easily see how upset she was fueled her already short temper.
“Could be ’cause you’re nearly drowning those poor flowers. They need to be watered like a gentle rainfall—” she made sprinkling motions with her hands “—and not with hurricane force.”
“Oh,” Lesley murmured, realizing her neighbor was right.
“The boys thank you for the cookies.”
“Tell them I’ve got a jarful they’re welcome to, as well.”
“I thought you baked those cookies for Chase.”
“I never said that.” Lesley was sure she hadn’t.
“Of course you did, maybe not in words, but it was obvious. You like this guy and you aren’t going to fool me about that. All I can say is great. It’s about time you got over that no-good jerk.”
“Chase isn’t any better,” Lesley said, continuing with her watering efforts, now concentrating on her lawn.
“What makes you say that?”
“You know that billboard off Denny Way that’s causing all the commotion?” Lesley asked.
“The one where the guy’s advertising for a bride?” It must have clicked in Daisy’s mind all at once because she snapped her fingers and pointed at Lesley. “That’s Chase?”
“The very one.”
“And that’s bad?”
“The man’s insane,” Lesley muttered.
“You didn’t think so earlier in the day. Fact is, you were as happy as I’ve seen you in ages.”
“That was before I knew. He goes on TV and says the reason he decided on the billboard was so he could be—and I quote—direct and straightforward. He wasn’t either one with me.”
“You’ve got to trust your instincts,” Daisy advised, “and you had a wonderful time with him last night.”
Now Lesley had heard everything. “Trust my instincts? I was engaged to a man who wasn’t even in love with me and I didn’t figure it out until half the school knew, including the student body.” It still mortified her to remember the strange, sympathetic looks she’d gotten from her peers weeks prior to her broken engagement.
“Quit blaming yourself for that,” Daisy said, placing her hands on her hips. “You didn’t suspect Tony because you shouldn’t have suspected him. Believe me, honey, you got the better end of that deal. Mark my words. Two or three years down the road, he’s going to start looking around again. It’s a pattern with certain men. I’ve seen it before.”
“Tony’s not like that,” Lesley insisted. Even after all this time she couldn’t keep from defending him. She still wasn’t over him, still wasn’t over the loss of her dreams and the future she’d envisioned. She wanted to forget him, but it was hard. The first ray of hope had been Chase, and now that hope was dashed by his deception.
“It seems to me there’s more to Chase than meets the eye,” Daisy said thoughtfully. “You have to admit he’s innovative.”
“The man rented a billboard and advertised for a wife,” Lesley cried. “That’s not innovation, it’s stupidity.”
Daisy went on, undaunted. “He shows initiative, too.”
“How can you defend him when you haven’t even met him?”
“You’re right, of course,” Daisy agreed, “but there’s something about him I like. He can’t be so bad, otherwise you’d never have gone out with him.”
“That was before I knew what he really was like.”
“The guy’s obviously got money. Did you ever stop to think about that? Billboards don’t come cheap.”
“Money’s never interested me.”
“It doesn’t unless you need it,” Daisy answered with a hint of sarcasm. “Another thing…”
“You mean there’s more?”
“There’s always more. This guy is serious. He isn’t going to string you along the way you-know-who did. Good grief, you were with the-guy-you-don’t-want-me-to-mention how many years?”
“Five.”
“That’s what I thought. Well, let me tell you, there’s an advantage in knowing what a guy wants from you. Chase doesn’t have a hidden agenda.”
“Everything you say is true, but it doesn’t discount the fact that he deceived me.”
“Just a minute.” Daisy frowned at her. “Didn’t you tell me Chase ran after the guy who stole your purse? It isn’t every man who’d get involved in something like that, you know. Did you ever stop to think that mugger might’ve had a gun?”
Lesley had raced after him herself and that possibility had completely escaped her. Apparently it had escaped Chase, too.
“It isn’t every man who’s willing to put his life on the line in order to help another human being,” Daisy continued.
“If the mugger had owned a gun, he would have used it to get my purse,” Lesley said. That had just occurred to her. Now she was free once again to be furious with Chase. She didn’t want to think of him as a hero, even if he’d gotten her purse back for her. The action had been instinctive, she told herself, and nothing more.
“
I’m offering you some advice,” Daisy said.
“Are you going to give it to me whether I want it or not?”
“Probably.”
“Then fire away.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge Chase. He sounds like the decent sort to me, and more of a man than—”
“I thought we weren’t going to discuss Tony again.”
Daisy shook her head as if saddened by Lesley’s lack of insight into men. Her eyes brightened as she looked toward the road. “What type of car did you say Chase drives?”
“I didn’t. Why?”
“Because a great-looking guy just pulled up in a red car.”
Lesley whirled around to see Chase climbing out of it. His smile was tentative as his eyes fell on her watering the lawn.
“I haven’t come at a bad time, have I?” he called from the driveway.
Four
“Hey,” Daisy whispered as Chase approached, “this guy is gorgeous. You don’t happen to remember the phone number on that billboard, do you? I think I’ll apply.”
Lesley cast her neighbor a scalding look.
Daisy laughed, obviously considering herself amusing.
“I take it you saw the noon news,” Chase said cautiously.
“You mean the story about your crazy billboard? Yes, I saw it.”
Chase took a couple of steps toward her. “Are you going to squirt me with that hose?”
“I should.” She figured it was a credit to her upbringing that she didn’t.
Angry shouts burst from Daisy’s house and Eric chased Kevin out the front door. Lesley’s neighbor hollered for the two boys to stop fighting. It soon became obvious that she was needed to untangle her sons.
“Darn,” Daisy said, “and I was hoping to hear this.” She stepped forward and shook hands with Chase. “I’m Lesley’s neighbor, Daisy Sullivan. Be patient with her. She’ll come around.”
“Daisy!” It irritated Lesley to no end that her friend was siding with Chase and worse, offering him advice on how to handle her.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Daisy said as she hurried over to her own house.
“I would’ve said something yesterday,” Chase told her, keeping a safe distance between them. “But you mentioned having seen the billboard yourself, remember?”