Finding Harmony (15 page)

Rick just stared at her. Harmony took a breath and held
herself in check. She had to be strong. Not think about anything but letting
him go. For him. For herself.

“Your work is important to you,” she said. “I know that. I’ve
always known that, from the day you stepped onto the ant pile. What I don’t
know is why you’re putting all this on me.”

He took a step closer and she braced herself.

“Damn it, Harmony.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I
thought we had something here.”    

She shook her head. So did she. “You might be able to fool
me, Rick. But don’t fool yourself.”

He grabbed her arms and she couldn’t move. Not from the
force of his grip but from the look in his eyes. If she didn’t know better
she’d think he really had feelings for her beyond the sexual.

“We’re good together,” he said.

She fought to keep her control. Her throat was tight, her
heart racing.

He drew her closer. “I don’t want to lose what we have.”

That did it. She had to break free now, or she would be his
fool forever.

“What do we have, Rick?” she wrenched away from him and
rubbed her arms where his fingers had been. She’d never be able to erase the
memory of his touch.“Tell me what we have. Because I didn’t see that it was anything
but sex when it was convenient.”

He cursed softly. “I know I haven’t said the words, but—”

“Well, don’t say them now,” she warned, covering her ears. She
brought her hands down slowly. “You’ve never lied to me. Don’t start now.”

She couldn’t face him any longer, not with the hurt in his
eyes and her heart in hers. Turning, she focused on a weed tangling around the
dock platform beneath her.

She felt him step closer and steeled herself for whatever
might come next.

“Come to Boston with me,” he said.

Oh, God. She hadn’t expected this. “No,” she whispered.

He was silent behind her. She could hear him breathing,
could smell that Rick-scent that would always mark him as the last man to ever
break her heart.

“That’s it?” he asked. “Just, ‘no?’”

What else could she say? Her parents needed her. They
needed the money. To pay them back, she needed her job. She had to stay here. He
had to go back.

There were no two ways about it, even if some lovesick jerk
had temporarily taken over Rick’s body. He’d be long gone before the plane
touched down in Boston.

She faced him again, her arms crossed over her chest. “You
need to go back, Rick. I don’t. You need everything your father is offering.”

She saw it in his face as his mouth thinned. She could
almost hear the denial he wanted to make. But he couldn’t deny it, not to her
who knew just what Chapman Financial meant to him.

“You need the money and all it buys you,” she went on. “Your
new position, the recognition.”

“But that doesn’t… ”  His voice trailed off.

She wouldn’t help him. Couldn’t help him take a step he’d
regret within a week.

“That doesn’t what?” she asked. “Doesn’t matter?” She
blinked rapidly to stop the tears before he could see them. “It’s everything to
you. And nothing to me.”

“Harmony.” His voice broke. “I can’t change. I… I have to
do this.”

His eyes were a soft gray now, deep and sad. It would pass.
He’d throw himself into his work and today would be a memory for him.

“I’m not asking you to change. We’re different. You have
your job there and I have my responsibilities here. End of story.”

“Just like that?” He swallowed. “Just like that, you can
let this go?”

She feigned an indifference she hadn’t ever felt where he
was concerned. “Why not? It was nice while it lasted, but I’m not going to lose
any sleep over it.”

He grabbed her again and for one long minute she let
herself be held by the man she loved. His hands pressed against her spine, his
heart beating against her cheek as she closed her eyes. But he wasn’t really
here. The man she loved didn’t really exist at all.

“Tell me to stay, Harmony.” He kissed her hair, her temple.
“Tell me to stay and I will.”

God, how she wanted to. But there was no place in Cypress
Corners for him.  She knew it if he didn’t. He needed this job. He wanted this
more than anything. She knew that. The tenderness in his eyes would soon fade
if she made him give up his big chance.

“Go,” she whispered. “Go and be happy.”

He sucked in a breath and released her. “Fine. I’ll go.”

She watched him with a steady gaze as he stepped away from
her. Then he turned away and she nearly cried out with relief. A few more steps
and he was in the SUV. Another minute and he was driving away from her.   

By Monday he’d be back in Boston, making deals and earning
the money that would one day show Bill Chapman what he was worth. Maybe he’d
think about her once in a while, when he was lonely or had a free night. But
he’d never know what she felt. He’d never know he was worth so much more than
money and deals to her. He was worth everything.

She crumpled onto the dock and sobbed until her throat was
sore.

***

Rick threw his suitcase in the back of the SUV and slammed
the door shut. How could he have misjudged a person so much? How had he so
misconstrued what he and Harmony meant to each other? But he’d seen it. In her
eyes when they’d filled with tears and in her body when she’d relaxed against
him for that brief moment. But she wanted him out of her life? Fine! He’d go
home and she could have the gators to keep her company.

When he’d left her camp he’d called the airlines. They’d
had an open first-class seat on a flight to Boston tonight, so why the hell not?
There was nothing here for him. She’d told him so.

She hadn’t even come to see the snack bar. Not once. He’d
changed more than the tile and the paint, but she didn’t care. He’d taken what
she’d taught him about nature to make changes that would be sound financially
and environmentally. It didn’t matter to her. Nothing he did mattered. He might
as well go back to Boston. At least he had no illusions there. He knew nothing
he did there mattered, either.

He took a long minute and looked up at the starry sky. It
really was beautiful here, this place built with a mind to nature as well as
money. Weird. But beautiful.

He drove to the Welcome Center and dropped the house key in
the box where Tammy had told him to and drove out of the community. As he
headed toward the airport he glanced in the rearview mirror. There was nothing
there. His stomach clenched. He knew it was because of those special street
lights, the ones that didn’t throw any light upward. But to him it was more
than that. It was as if Cypress Corners and everything that happened there had been
just a dream, gone as quickly as he’d found it.

Well, that was what he’d wanted from the start, right? A
diversion? No strings? He should be happy he got out of there before making a
fool of himself for a woman he thought cared for him. He was happy. He slashed
a thumb over his cheek and wiped it on his jeans. Damn it, he was happy.

By the time he arrived at his apartment, his head pounded. The
meal on the plane had been less than filling. The three drinks he’d had hadn’t
helped. He dropped his bags on the marble-tiled foyer and walked through to the
kitchen. Another beer, maybe. Hair of the dog and all that.

The message light on the phone blinked. A voicemail. It
wouldn’t be from her. She didn’t have this number. No, it must be from Bill. While
Rick was in the air his BlackBerry was turned off. His father must have called
here as a last resort when he couldn’t reach him at Cypress Corners or in the
sky.

Well, this was what he wanted, right? Might as well jump
right in.

“Hit the ground running, Rick,” he told himself.

He punched the button and waited for his father’s first edict.

“Chapman,” his father’s voice boomed. “Tammy at Cypress told me you left. Come to the house for dinner Sunday. I want to talk over some
new acquisitions.”

He cursed softly. He heard Tiffany’s voice in the back,
breathy and false as she added her own demands.

“Tiffany said to come at two. She said Jake might stop by.”

With a click his “family” cut off. Maybe Jake would be
there. Rick hadn’t seen his brother in months. But Jake didn’t like Tiffany any
more than Rick did, and Bill could barely stand the second son who didn’t do
more than try half-assed to work for the company.

“Maybe Jake has it right,” he muttered.

He skipped the beer and stepped into the shower, letting
the four steaming jets pound away his headache and his thoughts. With a fluffy
towel from the heated towel bar wrapped around his waist, he padded into the
bedroom and hit a button on the wall to turn on the state-of-the-art sound
system. He collapsed on the satin comforter on his king-sized bed and stared up
at the coffered ceiling.

This place was richly-appointed, a fact he paid plenty for
every month. But when he closed his eyes he didn’t picture the deep carpet, the
magnificent view of the harbor or the gourmet kitchen he didn’t use. No. He
pictured a cozy one-room furnished with an old bed covered with a worn and
unbelievably soft quilt.   Nothing fancy, just warm and snug and occupied by
the one person who could make any place feel like home. The only person since
his mother who could ever make him feel like he belonged.

“Harmony.”

He threw an arm over his eyes and fisted his hand.
Sleep,
Rick. Forget.

***

“We missed you Sunday.”

Rick looked up from his desk and watched as Bill strode
into the room. “Tiffany was upset.”

He bit back the comment he wanted to make. “I was busy. I’m
playing catch-up here.”

His father adjusted the creases on his slacks and nodded at
the simple explanation. Why wouldn’t he agree? Wasn’t work the most important
thing? Why mess it up with family dinners.

“Jake couldn’t make it, either,” Bill said.

He opened his mouth to ask why but shook his head. Two
sentences was about all Bill would spend on family discussions. Better to get
on with business.

“I’ve been looking over the Aspen property,” Rick said. “It’s
very promising.”

Bill settled in the big leather chair facing Rick’s desk. “Good.
There’s an investors’ meeting Thursday morning. I want to have a few things to
tempt them.”

He nodded. Bill sat there at stared at him.

“What?” Rick asked him.

His father shrugged and stood. “Nothing. You look a little
tired.”

He waved a hand. “Like I said, Dad. I’ve been busy.” 

“Let me know what you have ready for Thursday’s meeting.”

With that Bill left the room. The exchange with his father
was odd, but Rick wouldn’t read it as fatherly concern. Not that he’d recognize
it coming from Bill, even if it bit him in the ass.

He returned his attention to the papers on his desk. Acquisitions.
Deals. Investments. Returns. This was what he’d trained for. Where he excelled.
For once he’d take a page from his father’s book and clear his mind of
everything else.

By two o’clock the headache was back, beating dully behind
his eyes. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes and pressed the
intercom button on his phone.

“Yes, Mr. Chapman?” his new executive assistant said. She
was young and shapely and no doubt hand-picked by Bill.

“Bring me a coffee and a couple of Advil, please,” he said.

“Yes, sir.”

The girl clicked off and he turned his chair toward the
view his new office provided, taking in the tall buildings and the crowded
street thirty stories below.  His headache pounded harder. Only looking up at
the clouds he could see between two buildings brought him a bit of relief. Strange.
He heard the door open behind him.

“Just leave it on the desk,” he said. “And thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” his brother said.

He spun his chair around and faced Jake. Younger than Rick
by three years, Jake seemed even younger. Tanned and grinning, he looked like
he just stepped off the cover of an adventure magazine. He wore an open flannel
shirt over a thermal undershirt and rumpled khakis. Rick saw he still wore his black
hair long to his shoulders and it was tied back in a ponytail. A gold hoop
dangled from one ear. God, he was a sight for sore eyes.

“Jake.”

“Hey, bro,” Jake said.

He stood and crossed to him, wrapping him in a bear hug. “It’s
been a long time.”

Jake hugged him back. “Yeah. Too long.” He pounded Rick’s
back and they parted. “I thought I’d see what Bill’s got you doing now.”

He ignored the barb and sat back down. “I see you’re still alive.
In spite of yourself.”

Jake slumped in the chair their father had just vacated and
grinned. “Belize was a challenge, but I’m still alive and kickin’.” He lost his
smile. “Which is more than I can say for you.”