“Your parents. Where are they?”
“Oh...” The pain of loss could still overwhelm her all these years later. “They passed away when I was still in college.”
He rested his hand on top of hers. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “So young. Do you mind me asking how?”
“My father had been ill for a while. A heart condition. Unable to keep working, his life became centered on my mother. When she died unexpectedly, I—I think he just gave up.”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “Do you have siblings?”
She shook her head. “My parents—”
The sudden barking outside caused Emma to jerk around, and she accidentally knocked over her coffee mug. Thankfully, it didn’t break, but coffee spilled and dripped down to the floor. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said, quickly righting the mug. “I’ll clean it up...as soon as we make sure everything is okay outside.”
“The dogs are fine. They’re playing.”
Despite Josh’s assurance, she rushed to the window. Relieved that nothing was amiss, Emma turned. Seeing Josh mopping up her spill, her nerves jumped and she rushed back. “Oh, no. Please let me do that.”
She reached for the dishtowel, but he pushed her hand away. “It’s okay. I’ve got it.” He gave her a long look. “There’s no harm done.”
“Good. I’m so—”
“Please don’t say it again,” he said, cutting her off. “You don’t have to apologize, but even if you had something to be sorry for, you’ve done it enough already.”
“I’m s—” She had almost apologized for apologizing so much, but caught herself. Instead, she chuckled awkwardly and glanced toward the window.
“You don’t have to worry about those two getting along. They’re doing fine and working out their hierarchy in a constructive way,” he said as he tossed the dishtowel in the sink.
She placed her now empty mug next to it. “Speaking of the boys, I better get them home. I appreciate the coffee.”
“Anytime.” As they reached the back door, he placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. “It wasn’t my intention to have made you sad. Before you leave, can I show you something that might lift your spirits?”
Uncertain of what it was all about, she followed him into the clinic. He pushed open the door to the recovery area and stepped aside to let her look in.
“Oh, gosh...!”
At the sound of her voice, the golden retriever lying on her side raised her head and the five tiny yellow balls of fur snuggled against her stirred with a chorus of yips and yawns. As soon as Emma squatted down, the pups scrambled to their feet and over to her. In their eagerness to get her attention, they climbed and tumbled over each other, and her, causing her to lose her balance and land on her backside. The pups wasted no time and piled into her lap.
“Aren’t you guys the cutest?” she said, lifting one pup. He wiggled and slathered her face with lavish kisses before nibbling on her nose with his sharp puppy teeth. “Ouch!” Emma exclaimed, then hugged the pup to her and laughed.
“That’s nice,” Josh commented.
“What?”
“Hearing you laugh. It’s a nice sound. You don’t do it enough.”
When she looked up at him, there was an odd light in his eyes.
“Have dinner with me, Emma. I’d like to get to know you.” His smile was warm and encouraging. “How about it? Let me take you out one night this week.”
Her mouth was suddenly dry. She wanted to say yes. She really did. But the flutter in her belly made her nervous and the word was stuck in her throat. “Umm, I...”
He arched a brow and held his hand out to help her up. When she was standing, he didn’t let go but, rather, covered their joined hands with his. “I hope the word you’re searching for is yes.”
“Some communications professional I am,” she said with a self-deprecating chuckle. “Yes,” she finally said, and found herself drowning in his honey-flecked brown eyes. “I’d like that.”
“Is Saturday good for you?”
“Sure.”
“Terrific!” He nestled the puppies back with their mother, followed Emma out and helped her load Max and Theo into her X5. He waved to her as she pulled away.
As she drove home, she admitted to herself that she was looking forward to her meal with Josh. After all, he was intelligent, charming, funny and very appealing to the eyes. What did she have to lose?
Then she thought of Richard.
Josh was not Richard, she reminded herself again, and she had to stop making comparisons. Why shouldn’t she enjoy the company of a good-looking, fascinating man who seemed to be interested in her? The possibility that he was interested in her sent a little thrill up her spine. It made her feel wanted, and she liked the sensation. Richard had hurt her and he’d shaken her self-confidence. It was nice to feel wanted again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
FOR EMMA, SATURDAY arrived in some ways much too soon and, in others, not soon enough. The day dawned clear and unseasonably warm. The trees were shrouded in their fall splendor, and the ground was carpeted in the russets and golds of the leaves they’d already shed.
Later, as she rummaged through her closet, she tried to convince herself it didn’t really matter what she wore for her dinner with Josh. Then she berated herself for not having had the foresight to bring at least some of her dressier clothes from the city so she’d have more to choose from. It couldn’t be helped, she resigned herself. She would just have to make do with what she had.
She pulled out a flowing silk dress in shades of blue on a white background and a simple gray jersey one, and took both into the bathroom. Holding first one, then the other before her in front of the mirror, she settled on the pretty, feminine silk. She had no idea where Josh was taking her, but the silk dress would be suitable for a casual setting or something a little more formal. She was certain there were no restaurants in driving distance for which it wouldn’t be appropriate.
Hanging the dress on the hook behind the door, she stood in front of the mirror and deliberated what to do with her hair. As Josh had only seen it loose or in a simple style, she decided she would do something different. She arranged it in a neat chignon high on the back of her head. She left some tendrils framing her face to soften the effect.
Brushing on pale blue eye shadow made her eyes more blue than gray. She added a couple of strokes of mascara, swept some blush along her cheekbones and finished with a light coating of natural lip gloss.
She removed the dress from its hanger and slipped it on. Walking back into the bedroom, she searched through the bottom of her closet. She considered blue pumps and white high-heeled sling-backs. Deciding it was warm enough, she settled on the sexier sling-backs. With shoes in hand, she headed downstairs.
The dogs were sprawled side by side across the tile hearth in the kitchen. She loved how well they got along, as if they’d known each other their entire lives.
“All right, guys. Let’s go outside.” She headed to the back door, the dogs scampering after her.
Barefooted, shoes dangling from one hand, the rich silk of the dress fluttering around her legs in the soft breeze, Emma strolled along the stone pathway beside the gardens still ripe with the dazzling colors of her fall-blooming perennials, and tried not to feel nervous about her date with Josh.
* * *
EMMA WALKING IN her gardens in a sexy dress, the dogs by her side, was the first thing Josh noticed as his Yukon crested her driveway. The very appealing sight made him think of an impressionistic painting—a Monet perhaps. It was a vision of a lovely woman and two playful dogs against the canvas of luminous fall colors. He laughed at himself for romanticizing things, yet he put his Yukon in Park halfway down the driveway and soaked in the view. He knew the instant she noticed the truck. She halted, then waved and str
olled toward him.
As soon as Josh got out, the dogs dashed over and he squatted down to rub and scratch to their delight. When Emma reached them, he glanced at her and held up a hand to shade his eyes from the early evening sun that was haloing her.
Giving the dogs a couple of final rubs, he rose and walked with Emma toward the cottage, the dogs racing ahead of them. As he followed her up the porch steps, he couldn’t help but notice her slender shape and long, graceful legs, and considered himself a lucky man. He hadn’t seen her in a dress before and he liked what he saw. “You look...sensational,” he declared. “You take my breath away.”
She glanced over her shoulder, surprise registering on her face. Her smile wavered then firmed, and he wondered what had caused the look of uncertainty.
“Thank you,” she said. Her gaze slid to the shoes she still carried in one hand. “I think it’ll work better when the shoes are on my feet, not in my hand.”
“It’s part of the appeal,” he assured her.
As they walked into the cottage together, he placed a hand on her elbow in a friendly gesture and felt her stiffen. The sensation was gone so quickly, he wondered if he’d imagined it.
Emma settled the dogs and slipped on her sandals as Josh brushed the fur from his clothes. He went to get his truck from where he’d left it on the driveway while she locked up. By the time Emma stepped outside, he was holding the passenger door open for her.
It was a short half-hour drive to Lake George. Josh had made reservations at the Charthouse, a historic boathouse converted into a casually elegant restaurant with stunning waterfront views. They were seated on the patio by the railing.
A waitress with a sleek cap of sable-brown hair and a bright smile took their orders and, after serving their drinks, discreetly left them alone.
Emma sipped her wine and gazed out over the water at the occasional passing boat. There was something wistful in her eyes that prompted him to ask “What’s on your mind?”
She shifted her gaze to meet his. “Oh, I was just thinking how wonderful it is not to have to worry about my next appointment or listen to the blare of congested traffic. How much better to have no one to answer to for my time except myself and be lulled by the gentle sloshing of the water against the rocks and pylons as the waves roll ashore.”
The corners of her mouth curved upward, but Josh sensed something melancholy about the gentle smile. He brushed his hand lightly along her forearm. “Despite your words, you don’t seem happy.”
The smile dimmed and she glanced back to the water. “I don’t know if being unhappy would be possible here. There’s something calming about this place. Not just the restaurant. I mean Sanctuary Cove.” One side of her mouth quirked again. “So peaceful. There’s so much beauty here.” She gestured with her hands and her soft laugh stirred something inside Josh.
“That’s why I set up my practice here,” Josh responded. “I have no interest in living anywhere else. I’d suffocate in the city. It’s not me.”
Taking another sip of her wine, Emma placed the glass on the table and rested her hand next to it. “You don’t miss the clubs, the restaurants, the activity...the people?” she inquired with a degree of skepticism.
He smiled. “What’s there to miss?” He took her hand into his. It pleased him that she didn’t pull it away. He stroked his thumb across the soft skin in the center of her palm, then the small ridge of calluses at the base of her fingers. He raised a brow inquiringly, but she didn’t seem to notice, so he continued. “I was never much for clubs, although I went to my share of them while in university. As you can see, there are great restaurants here, and the views can’t be beat. I find the people here warmer, more genuine, more community-minded than anywhere else I’ve been. Frankly, I’ve always found big cities too impersonal.” He leaned forward and raised her hand to his lips. Placing a kiss on her palm, he curled her fingers over it.
When Emma drew her hand away, she kept her fist closed, as if trying to hold on to what he’d placed in it, and it pleased him.
As the waitress arrived to serve their appetizers, they lapsed into silence.
Once she left again, Josh asked, “What did you do in the city?”
Emma toyed with the food on her plate, then took a small bite of her stuffed mushrooms. “I worked in communications and media relations,” she finally responded.
“That sounds interesting. What made you leave it?” He took a bite of his crab cakes and then reached for his wine.
“I—I found I wasn’t as well suited to the job as I’d thought.”
Josh glanced up. “What do you mean by not suited?”
The sun was drifting below the horizon, and streaks of crimson and gold shot into the darkening sky and across the midnight blue surface of the water. Emma shrugged her shoulder, popped another stuffed mushroom into her mouth and looked away. “I guess it just wasn’t meant for me. I...in the end, I suppose I wasn’t good enough to play in the big leagues.”
He noted the look of hurt in the depth of her eyes again. “How long did you have your job?”
“Just over twelve years...but not the same job. I had a few promotions.”
“Someone doesn’t hold a job for a dozen years and get promoted if they’re not good at what they do.”
“Oh, well...”
She was clearly uncomfortable with the topic. Josh hadn’t intended to push it, but he felt she was being much too hard on herself. He decided to let it go...for now.
They finished their appetizers and sat in companionable silence as their plates were cleared, their meals served and their wineglasses topped up.
Josh was struck again by how beautiful Emma was. Her eyes were a soft gray in the muted light, with just a hint of blue. Her cheekbones were strong slashes across her face, her nose straight and small. And her lips—her lips were full and wide, and glistened with warm color in the candlelight.
When the waitress left, Josh took Emma’s hand in his again. “You’re exquisite, Emma.”
Her discomfort was immediate and palpable. She tried to pull her hand away but he held tight. She forced a smile but it didn’t reach her eyes. Inadvertently, he’d already happened upon a number of hardships she’d had to endure, but he’d just hit on something else. She wasn’t comfortable with compliments.
He released her hand so they could eat, but held her gaze a moment longer. “I like you, Emma,” he said softly. “I want to understand what’s hurt you.”
She cut into her steak. “It’s a long story.”
“I’m in no hurry,” he assured her. “And it might help to talk about it.”
Emma poked the steak with her fork a few times, before tasting the piece she’d cut, then glanced up at him with guarded eyes. “Until six months ago, I was engaged to the man I’d believed I would spend my life with. And I had what I considered a successful career. My ex-fiancé, Richard...” She paused, and kept her head lowered. “I’ve always been a firm believer of leaving past relationships in the past.” She took a sip of wine, and with a short laugh, she glanced up at Josh. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“I’m a good listener,” he said.” As he watched her struggle, something inside him shifted and then seemed to settle in place. He was reminded again of a wounded bird, she looked so forlorn. Yet, what he was feeling wasn’t sympathy for her pain, but something decidedly more.
“Richard, and I,” she continued, “had collaborated professionally on occasion. I was with Tyson, Myers and Smith.” She glanced at him and he shook his head, not recognizing the name.
“They’re one of the top communications firms in the state, and Richard is a criminal defense attorney with a major law firm. Frequently, his corporate clients seeking legal defense also required advice from a communications or media relations perspective as their alleged acts were often a topic of sharehold
er or media scrutiny.”
The waitress appeared to ask about their meals. When they were alone again, Emma gazed across the darkening water and continued. “Our last collaboration wasn’t a successful one. We had a high-profile client who was attracting a great deal of media attention. In this person’s line of work, reputation is crucial. When I learned more about the circumstances that led to the media interest... I couldn’t do what my client wanted me to. Add to that, he wasn’t forthcoming or truthful with us.” Her gaze shifted back to Josh’s and held. Her eyes were a deep gray, shadowed by regret and pain.
“I found that my fiancé didn’t embrace the same set of...values as I did.”
Her voice was steady, her expression calm, but he could see it was costing her. She paused to toy with the food on her plate once more.
“I wanted to resign the commission. Richard sided with the client, tried to pressure me into staying on and doing what he and the client wanted. When I refused, I discovered that...that Richard’s career was more important to him than I was.” The final words were said in a hushed whisper, so Josh had to strain to hear her.
“Richard thought it was a lifetime career opportunity for me. I just saw it as wrong. He considered me weak, lacking in some way, because I wasn’t prepared to do what they wanted me to.”
“Weak?” Josh said incredulously. “I’d call it principled!”
Emma stared at him for a long moment, and then slowly took another drink, nearly draining the contents of her glass. Josh refilled it. Their meals remained largely untouched for the time being.
“I suppose it’s a matter of opinion,” she said softly. “We separated. Actually, he left me. I resigned the contract, was fired from my job, packed my bags and here I am.”
She’d tried to make light of it, but her hesitant smile seemed unbearably sad. She lifted her glass but just swirled the golden liquid within. “I know it sounds like running away, but it’s not just that. There’s nothing in the city for me any longer, and I’ve always loved it here.”
“How long are you planning to stay?” he asked casually, yet it surprised him, as he thought about it, how much her answer mattered.