Lesley didn’t blame them. Chase had treated them with compassion and kindness; not only that, he knew how to entertain them.
The phone rang then, and Lesley glared at it. She let the answering machine take the calls most of the time now, since there was always a chance the caller could be Tony. She needed to invest in call display, she told herself. It had been pure luck that she’d picked up when Chase phoned. Her reaction had been instinctive, but she was pleased she’d answered because the caller had been Chase.
The phone rang again and the machine automatically went on after the third ring. Whoever was calling didn’t listen to her message and disconnected.
A moment later, she heard the doorbell. It had to be Chase. She inhaled a calming breath, squared her shoulders and crossed the room.
With a smile firmly in place, she opened the door.
“Hello, Lesley.”
“Hello,” she said, stepping aside for Chase to enter. “Come in, please.”
He hadn’t taken his eyes off her, which was both reassuring and disconcerting.
“I’m glad you could come.”
“Thank you for inviting me.”
How stiff they were with each other, how awkward, like polite strangers. “Sit down,” she said, gesturing toward the sofa.
Chase took a seat and looked appreciatively at the cheese and crackers.
“Would you like a drink?” she asked. “I have a bottle of pinot grigio, if you’d care for that. There’s a pot of coffee, too, if you’d prefer something hot.”
“Wine would be nice.”
“I thought so, too,” she said eagerly, smiling. She moved into the kitchen, and Chase followed her.
“Do you need any help opening the wine?”
“No, I’m fine, thanks.” A smaller, daintier woman might have trouble removing a cork, but she was perfectly capable of handling it. He watched her expertly open the bottle and fill two wineglasses.
“You mentioned the boys’ letter,” Chase said. Their thank-you note had been an excuse to contact him and they both knew it.
“I’ll get it for you,” she said, leaving him briefly while she retrieved the note. “They really are grateful for the time you spent with them.”
He read it over, grinning, and handed it to her to read. Eric had written the short but enthusiastic message, and Kevin had decorated the handmade card with different colored fish in odd shapes and sizes.
“So,” Lesley said, leading the way back into the living room. “How’s it going?”
“Okay.” He sat next to her on the sofa. “How about you?”
“Same.”
Chase studied her. “Are you going to tell me what Tony wanted or are you going to make me guess?”
“I don’t know,” she answered, sipping her wine. She hoped he didn’t detect the slight shake in her hand.
“You don’t know if you’re going to tell me or if you’re going to make me guess?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t know what he wanted. I didn’t return his call.”
This seemed to surprise Chase. “Why didn’t you?”
Lesley raised one shoulder in a shrug. “I couldn’t see that it would do either of us any good.”
“You were afraid to, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” she admitted in a husky murmur. “I was afraid.”
“Is that why you contacted me?”
“Yes.” He wanted his proverbial pound of flesh, she realized, and at the same moment knew she’d give it to him. “But I don’t love you, Chase.”
“It’s a bit difficult to care for someone like me when your heart belongs to another man.” After a significant pause, he added, “A married man.”
He made it sound so cold, so…ugly.
“He wasn’t married when I fell in love with him,” she said, defending herself.
“He is now.”
“I don’t need you to remind me of that,” she cried, raising her voice for the first time.
“Good,” he said brusquely.
“How are the interviews going?” she asked, hoping to make light conversation and gain the information she needed.
“All right.” He set the wineglass aside as if preparing to leave.
“Would you be willing to look at another application?”
“Probably not.” He stood and shoved his hands deep in his pants pockets. “I’ve got more than I can deal with now. Are you going to recommend a friend of yours?”
“No.” Lesley closed her eyes and forced herself to continue. “I was hoping you’d consider marrying me.”
Seven
“You?” Chase repeated slowly, unsure he’d heard her correctly. It seemed too good to be true, something he dared not believe.
“Yes.” Lesley was standing now, too, her steady gaze nearly level with his own. She studied him as closely as he was studying her. “I’d be willing to marry you.”
“Why?” Fool that he was, he had to ask, although he was confident he knew her answer. He wondered if she’d be honest enough to admit it.
“I like you very much,” she said, obviously choosing her words with care. “And it’s clear that there’s a physical attraction between us. I don’t usually respond to a man the way I have to you.”
He gave her no reassurances nor did he discourage her. She seemed nervous, understandably so. “Those are the only reasons?” he pressed.
“No.” She was irritated with him now and he felt relieved. The more emotion she revealed the better. “I don’t want to live in Seattle any longer.”
She’d disappointed him. “If that’s all you want, isn’t marrying a man you don’t love a little drastic? All you need to do is apply for a teaching position elsewhere. I’m not up on these things, but I seem to remember hearing that teachers were in high demand in a number of states. Try Montana. That’s where your mother’s living, isn’t it?”
“I don’t want to move to Montana. I’d rather be in Alaska with you.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you? You’d like to see me humiliate myself, but I’m not going to. Now, do you want to marry me or not?”
There’d never been a single doubt in Chase’s mind. He knew exactly what he wanted and he had from the beginning. He wanted Lesley. He’d always wanted Lesley, and that wasn’t going to change.
“It’s Tony, isn’t it?” he said, as unemotionally as he could. Funny, he’d never met the man but he despised him for what he’d done to Lesley and for the way he was treating his wife. “You’re afraid he has the power to reduce you to something you find abhorrent. He wants you, doesn’t he? But he’s married and that means you’d be his mistress and you’re scared out of your wits that you’ll do it because you love him.”
“Yes. Yes!” Angry tears glistened in her eyes and her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides.
“You think marrying me and moving to Alaska is the answer to all your problems.”
“Yes,” she cried again. “I’ve never lied to you, Chase, not even when it would’ve been convenient. You know exactly what you’re getting with me.”
“Yes, I do,” he answered softly.
“Well?” she asked with an indignant tilt of her chin. “Are you going to marry me or not?”
“Is this a take-it-or-leave-it proposition?”
“Yes.”
“All right,” he said, walking away from her. “We’ll be married Wednesday evening.”
“Next week!” She sounded as if that was impossible. Unthinkable. “I can’t put together a wedding in that amount of time. My mother and Ken are traveling in their trailer this summer and—”
“Do you want them at the ceremony?” he interrupted.
“Yes, but…not if it means ruining their vacation.”
“Then we won’t tell them until they’re home.” If Lesley was looking for solutions, he’d willingly supply them.
“I’d like to try calling them.
And I want to invite a few friends and have a small reception.”
“Fine with me. The hotel can arrange whatever you want with twenty-four hours’ notice. We’ll talk to them on Monday.” Chase didn’t intend to give her any more time than that or she might well talk herself out of it.
“What about the invitations?”
“Well, there’s always email.”
“No, I want real invitations.”
“I’ll have a messenger service hand-deliver them.”
“But they’ll need to be printed, and…oh, Chase, there are so many things to do. I have a dress, but I don’t know if you’d want me to wear it since I bought it for another man, but it’s so beautiful and—no, I couldn’t possibly wear it, and that means I’ll have to buy another one. But it took me weeks to find the first one.”
Chase held his breath until his chest ached with the effort. “It seems to me you’re looking for excuses.”
“I’m not! I swear I’m not. It’s just that…”
“Be very sure, Lesley, because once we say those vows we’re married, and I take that very seriously. I assume you do, too.”
She nodded slowly. “What about all my things? What will I do with them? I can’t cram everything I own in a couple of suitcases.”
“Pack what you want and I’ll have the rest shipped. You won’t need the furniture, so either sell it or give it away—whatever you want.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“We’ll need to apply for the wedding license tomorrow morning. I’ll be here by ten to pick you up,” he said.
She nodded again and he started for the door.
“Chase.”
He turned around, impatient now and not understanding why. Lesley had agreed to marry him, which was more than he’d expected. “Yes?”
“Would you mind kissing me?” Her voice was small and uncertain. He purposely hadn’t made this easy on her for the simple reason that he wanted her to know her own mind. To be satisfied that marriage to him was the right decision. He would’ve liked to kiss her, and use their mutual attraction to convince her, but he couldn’t. That would have felt unethical to him.
He saw that Lesley had taken several steps toward him; the least he could do was meet her halfway. She needed reassurance and he should have given it to her long before now.
He walked back to her, held her face in his hands and kissed her. The kiss deepened and deepened until Chase’s control teetered precariously.
He’d forgotten exactly how good she felt in his arms. It shouldn’t be like this. His experience might not have been as extensive as that of some men, but with other women he’d always been composed and in control. His response to Lesley worried him. The fact that he found her so desirable was important, but that he could so easily lose his head over her was a negative.
Lesley exhaled, that soft womanly sigh that drove him to distraction. He lifted his mouth from hers and concentrated on the nape of her neck, scattering kisses there while struggling with his own composure.
“Thank you,” she whispered. The beauty of her words and the sweetness of her mouth were fatal to his control.
“This will be a real marriage, Lesley,” he warned.
“I realize that.” She sounded slightly offended, but Chase refused to leave any room for doubt.
“Good. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning, then.”
Lesley nodded and Chase felt a sense of victory, hollow though it was. She’d agreed to marry him, but for none of the reasons he would’ve liked. She was running away from a painful situation that could only bring her heartache.
He was the lesser of two evils.
Not the most solid foundation for a marriage. But time and patience and love were the mortar that would strengthen it.
* * *
“You’re getting married!” Lori and Jo Ann repeated together in stunned disbelief.
“I didn’t offer to buy you lunch in a fancy restaurant for nothing,” Lesley commented brightly, forking up a slice of chicken in her chicken-and-spinach salad. “What are you two doing Wednesday evening?”
“Ah…nothing,” Lori murmured.
“Not a thing,” Jo Ann said.
“Great, I’d like you both to stand up for me at my wedding. Chase and I are—”
“Chase?” Jo Ann broke in. “Who on earth is Chase?”
“I didn’t know you were dating anyone,” Lori said, sounding more surprised than upset.
Neither of her friends had touched their seafood salads. They sat like mannequins, staring at Lesley as if she’d announced she was an escaped convict.
“Chase Goodman,” Lesley repeated casually between bites. “That’s the man I’m marrying.”
Lori, small and fawnlike, with large dark eyes, gnawed on her lower lip. “Why does that name sound familiar? Do I know him?”
“I doubt it. Chase’s from Alaska.”
“Alaska.” Jo Ann said the name of the state in a low voice, as if trying to remember something. She picked up her fork. “Speaking of Alaska… Did either of you see the news story last week about this guy who came down from Alaska and advertised for a—” She stopped, her eyes widening. She made a few odd sounds, but nothing that resembled intelligible words.
“You’re marrying the guy who advertised for a wife?” Lori looked from Lesley to Jo Ann and back again.
“Lesley, have you lost your mind?” Jo Ann finally sputtered.
“Maybe.” She wasn’t going to argue with her two best friends. A week earlier she’d thought the whole idea of marrying a stranger was crazy. She’d said as much to Chase, belittled the women who’d applied, even made derogatory remarks about the type of man who’d defy convention in such an outlandish manner.
One week later, she’d agreed to be his bride.
“You will be my bridesmaids, won’t you?”
“Of course, but—”
“No buts. The wedding’s on Wednesday. I don’t have time for arguments, and please, don’t try to talk me out of this because you can’t. Chase and I are leaving for our honeymoon after the wedding.” She smiled. “The location’s a surprise. After that, we’re heading to Twin Creeks where Chase lives. He has to be on the job in eight days and that doesn’t leave us much time.”
“Pinch me,” Lori said to Jo Ann, “because this doesn’t seem real. We’re not actually hearing this, are we? Lesley, this isn’t like you.”
Jo Ann shook her head and added, “It’s because of Tony, isn’t it? You’re far too sensible to do something like this otherwise.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Lori looked down, rearranging the salt and pepper shakers on the cream-colored tablecloth. “But…Tony phoned me. He’s worried about you, Les. He said he’s been trying to get in touch with you, but you weren’t returning his calls.”
“Tony’s been calling you?” Jo Ann sounded outraged. “Does April know about this?”
“She’s out of town.”
“That creep!”
“I knew when he married April that it wouldn’t last,” Lori said with a hint of self-righteousness.
Lesley laughed, grateful for her friends’ loyalty. “You suspected it wouldn’t last because Tony wasn’t marrying me. If he had, you would both have been singing his praises.”
“I’m beginning to think Daisy might be right about him,” Jo Ann said, stabbing her fork into some crabmeat. “How could she see through him so quickly? The three of us work with the guy nine months out of the year and we have to be hit over the head before it dawns on us that Tony isn’t playing fair.”
“What did you tell Tony about me?” Lesley inquired casually, although her interest was anything but casual.
“Nothing much, just that I’d talked to you recently and you sounded happy.
“He seemed surprised to hear that and said he was afraid you were depressed and avoiding people. He acted concerned and guilty about the way he’d hurt you. I…”
“Yes?” Lesley prompted.
&n
bsp; “I felt sorry for him by the time we hung up.”
“Sorry for him?” Jo Ann asked, incredulous. “Why would you feel sorry for Tony? He’s the one who broke Lesley’s heart and married someone else.”
Lori shrugged, looking mildly guilty herself. “He didn’t actually say so, but I had the feeling he regrets marrying April.” Lori paused, frowning. “She’s never been very friendly toward the three of us, has she?”
“Who can blame her for being unfriendly?” Lesley was the first one to defend April.
“Tony made her situation impossible at school,” Lori agreed. “We did our best to make her feel welcome, but we’d all worked with Lesley and April knew that. She attended hardly any faculty functions after the wedding. I’ll bet she’s really a nice person, and we’d find that out if she ever gave anyone the chance to know her.”
“She gave Tony plenty of chances,” Jo Ann muttered, unwilling even now to forget the upheaval the new first-grade teacher had brought into their lives.
“You haven’t talked to Tony yourself?” Lori asked, ignoring Jo Ann’s pettiness. For that, Lesley was grateful.
“Not since school got out.” She felt good about resisting the temptation to phone him, but it had exacted a high emotional price. “I won’t, either,” she said, her resolve growing stronger.
Jo Ann nodded vigorously. Lori looked uncertain.
“Aren’t you curious about what he wants?”
“Come on, Lori. What do you think Tony wants?” Jo Ann asked.
Lori studied her for a disbelieving moment. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Lori, wake up!” Jo Ann said sarcastically and snapped her fingers. “When a married man phones another woman—his ex-fiancée, no less—while his wife’s out of town, there’s only one reason.”
“I hate to think Tony would do that.”
Lesley felt the same way, but she couldn’t allow her tenderness for Tony to mislead her.
“Stop.” Jo Ann raised both hands. “We’ve strayed from the real subject here and that’s Lesley’s wedding.”
“‘Lesley’s wedding,’” Lori echoed, sending a dismayed glance at Jo Ann. “Are you in love with Chase?” she asked.