Finding Harmony (14 page)

Terrific.

Harmony stepped out of the cabin and waited for Rick’s stepmother
to approach. Tiffany didn’t hide her obvious distaste for the camp as she
picked her way through the brush on high heels, tottering dangerously as one got
caught on a root. For a secret moment Harmony wondered what Tiffany’s reaction
would be if she stumbled onto a fire ant mound. She swallowed a laugh.

“Hello, Mrs. Chapman.” She closed the door and waited. “What
can I do for you?”

Tiffany brushed her hair back from her face and adjusted
oversized sunglasses on her tiny nose. “Harmony.” She stepped over a log and
ran her hands over her short blue skirt. “It’s primitive out here. Backward.”

“Yep,” Harmony said. “Just me and the plants and birds. The
wild animals.”

Tiffany craned her neck and looked around at the woods. Then
she shrugged and adjusted the jacket of her expensive-looking suit. “I don’t
know how you stand it. Rick told me it’s got its perks, though.”

That put Harmony on her guard. Had Rick talked to Tiffany
this morning? After he’d left her bed? No. He hated Tiffany. Even if she hadn’t
seen it for herself last night over dinner she’d have known it from the way
Rick spoke of his father and stepmother.

“I like it,” she said.

Tiffany stepped closer and smiled as she removed her
sunglasses. She ran her eyes over Harmony and sniffed. “You would.”

Ouch. “What can I do for you, Mrs. Chapman?”

“I was just curious to see where Rick’s little tree-hugger
lived.”

“I’m not—”

“He told Bill all about you when he first got here,”
Tiffany cut in. “About how you and your stupid plant were going to ruin Bill’s
deal.”

This was interesting. Harmony crossed her arms and leaned
against the doorjamb. “And?”

Tiffany ran her painted fingers through her hair. “Bill
told him to take care of you, that’s all.”

Her heart began to pound and she straightened away from the
door. “What?”

“Bill told Rick to take care of the little tree-hugger. To
keep you busy until the Institute picked a new spot.”

No. Rick didn’t sleep with her to get her on his side. No!

Tiffany bent down and peered through the window. “How cozy.”
She straightened and winked. “I guess he did his job.” She waved her hand. “And
now he can finish Chapman’s.”

She couldn’t speak. Could what this woman said be true?

“Well, with a closer look I guess your place isn’t so bad,”
Tiffany said. “Looks like you have a shower out back. Hmm.” She slid an ugly
grin at Harmony. “No wonder Rick said roughing it wasn’t a hardship.”

“But he never… ,” Harmony said to herself. “He—”

“He wants the top position at Chapman, honey,” Tiffany said.
“And he’s willing to do anything for it.”

Cold settled in her belly. No. Rick couldn’t be like that!

“I don’t believe you,” Harmony said on a breath.

Tiffany began to pick her way back toward the car. “Believe
what you want. Rick is Bill Chapman’s son. Believe me, he has Bill’s ambition.”

She vaguely heard Tiffany start the car and drive away. Her
stomach began to churn. No. Rick hadn’t used her that way. They had a
connection. She’d felt it in his touch. Seen it in his eyes. The truth smacked
her square in the face. She’d fallen for it all over again.

“Stupid, stupid girl,” she told herself. “You saw what you
wanted to see.”

Rick was just like Adam. Just using her to further his own
agenda. She shouldn’t be surprised. She’d known about Rick’s ambition
before
Tiffany made it even clearer. It was why he worked at Chapman, why he took
Bill’s coldness and indifference for a chance to climb the corporate ladder and
prove himself.

She sank down on the step, curling into herself as tears
burned her eyes. She’d given Rick her body. That had been ridiculously easy. She’d
given Rick her heart. Now that had taken some doing. He took all she gave as a
corporate perk?

How could she be so stupid?

***

That evening, after a long day of work at the Institute, she
packed up her things and headed out. She and Dr. Robbins were finished for the
day, a little later than usual but it had been a relief to lose herself in work.
After Mrs. Chapman’s lovely disclosure, it had taken some time to collect
herself before riding into the village. But she’d given Dr. Robbins her full
attention as they wrapped up the presentation. Thankfully the man only asked
her what was wrong once before poring over their work again.

Rick had called a few times during the day, but she’d let Becky
know from the first phone call that she didn’t want to speak to him. She
couldn’t think of an excuse to tell the girl. She just wasn’t good at lying. Her
lip curled at that realization. That was her fatal flaw. Especially when she seemed
to attract liars.   Apparently it took one to know one, and she was woefully
clueless in that regard.

She expected Rick wanted see her tonight. Why should she be
surprised? Why shouldn’t he want to take what she gave him until he left for Boston, right? Well, there was no way she could see him and not think about everything
Tiffany had said. His career. His screwed-up family. His ambition. Her stomach
couldn’t take it. As for her heart? Her heart ached. She shoved her notes into
her pack and opened the trunk of her scooter.

“Harmony!”

She turned in response to the familiar voice despite her
resolve. Her shoulders slumped. Oh, great. Rick walked toward her, a smile on
his face. Oh, he was beautiful. So big and capable. His smile did things to her
insides as easily as those lips did stuff to her outsides.

“Hi, Rick.”

He stopped in front of her, slowly losing his smile. “What’s
wrong?”

He saw too much, that was one thing. She wouldn’t wear her
foolish heart on her sleeve, that was for darn sure.

She shrugged one shoulder. “I’m just really busy.”

“Yeah, I called you at the Institute but they said you were
tied up.” He eyed her pack as she stashed it into the trunk. “Finished for the
day?”

Yes, but she wouldn’t let him know that. “No. There’s this
report… ”

As excuses went, that was lame. She couldn’t think of a lie
fast enough before he touched her. Just one hand on her arm and she wanted to
melt. No! She straightened and leaned away from him.

He looked confused but soon smiled again. “Join me for
dinner? I’m just heading over to The Clubhouse now.”

Dinner? Candlelight and wine and Rick, smiling and charming
her out of her panties again? No way. Ariel and Max may have raised a flake but
they hadn’t raised a fool.

“I can’t,” she said. “I have this report to finish. I’m
going to be up all night.”

She flinched inwardly at her slip. That wasn’t a good thing
to say when all she wanted was to be up with him all night. Like last night. Nestled
in his arms, hearing him finally open up about his family, the drive behind his
ambition. But he must have missed her slip, because he just gave a quick nod.

“Okay,” he said. “I won’t bother you.”

Whew. But then he kissed her. He tasted so good she wanted
to keep kissing him forever. That treacherous thought brought her back to
reality. Rick wasn’t a forever kind of guy. He was all about right now, and she
wasn’t that kind of girl.  She couldn’t be. Her stupid heart was involved.

He ended the kiss too soon, darn her lack of control. He brushed
his lips on her temple and straightened. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, then.”

She couldn’t watch him walk away without telling herself
that soon he’d keep on walking. She hadn’t really lost anything, right? Rick
never made any promises.  But she ached for what she’d thought they’d had. What
she wished for, actually. A future together. A chance to make him realize that
he was worth so much more than what Bill Chapman thought. Well, maybe she was a
fool.

She waited until he entered The Clubhouse before driving
back to her camp. It must have been the wind in her face that made her eyes
tear.

She couldn’t be crying over Rick.

***

Rick sat in the lounge of The Clubhouse, marking time until
his take-out order was ready. He nursed his beer and peeled at the label’s
corner. He’d asked Harmony to join him for dinner, but she’d said she was busy.
He blew out a breath. Busy? Since when did her work spill over into the evening?
She’d seemed different there on the walk. Well, they had loved each other late
into the night.  Maybe she was just tired. He’d seen her tired before. He’d
seen her angry. He’d seen her happy. But he’d never seen her so… Un-Harmony,
maybe. There was no fire in those hazel eyes.

At least Bill and Tiffany were hell and gone from Cypress
Corners. He could make the changes he’d decided on without the old man’s
interference. If he had to swallow one more comeback to his father’s endless put-downs
he’d burst. Tiffany hadn’t hidden her continued interest, either. What a pair. He
drank some more beer. But the project was on target, the money would come in on
time, so Rick didn’t have any worries there.

He thought for a moment. Maybe it was Harmony’s work. God
knew he could lose himself and his good mood if a job or contract didn’t go
just right.

He looked through the archway into the restaurant and rethought
his conclusion. He spied Dr. Robbins sitting with a few people from the
Institute, laughing and talking as they shared a meal. The Institute’s director
certainly didn’t seem concerned about anything.

Rick put his bottle on the bar and stood, then made his way
through the tables toward Dr. Robbins. He nodded greetings to the director’s
companions, a young man he’d seen around and the red-haired receptionist, and
faced the doctor.

“Good evening, Dr. Robbins,” he said.

“Rick, hello,” Dr. Robbins said. He waved a hand at an
empty chair at their table. “Join us?”

He shook his head. “No, thank you. I’m just picking up
dinner. Have you spoken to Harmony?”

He ignored the speculative looks the other two exchanged, growing
curious as Dr. Robbins’ brow furrowed.

“Today? Why, yes. This afternoon we discussed her
presentation on migration.”

He knew nothing about that and didn’t pretend to. “So she’s
still busy with it, I suppose.”

Dr. Robbins blinked. “Not at all. We handed it over to the
developers in a nice neat package this afternoon.” He looked behind Rick and
frowned. “Actually, I thought Harmony would be out with you tonight.”

A server touched Rick on his elbow and he jerked. “Yeah?”

“Your order, Mr. Chapman,” the skinny kid said. “It’s on
the bar.”

“Thanks.” He turned to Dr. Robbins. “That’s my dinner. Have
a good night.”

He picked up his meal and headed to his house. A big juicy
burger and a couple of beers later he sat on the couch, reliving the passion
he’d shared with her on this spot. Where the hell was she tonight? Tucked into
that cozy cabin of hers, poring over her notes. Too busy for dinner? Too busy
for him, was more like it.    But what had he done?

It couldn’t be that he kept his feelings from her. Aside
from his admissions where Bill and his mother were concerned at least. She’d
never asked for any pretty words, and never burdened him with any from her. He
was the one who’d almost said he loved her. Thank God he hadn’t made that
mistake. Maybe those were just words, but they could do a lot of damage. That
jerk Adam had probably promised her the friggin’ moon when they were together.

He wasn’t about to make promises he didn’t intend to keep. All
right. He wasn’t a guy who ever made promises at all. They’d never talked about
love or commitment. Hell, he’d never talked about what he was going to do next
month let alone next year.

He had to keep his focus on what he wanted. Career. Proving
himself. Chapman was everything. That had been his goal for years now. He closed
his eyes. He wouldn’t think about it. If Harmony said she was busy, she was
busy.  He’d never met anyone like her before, honest and upfront about
everything. She wouldn’t start playing games now.

He wouldn’t play them with her, either. That was for damn
sure. He’d take his cue from her and give her space. He wouldn’t lose sight of
his ultimate goal. Harmony’s face filled his mind for an instant, her smile,
her laugh. The sweet way she’d loved him last night.

Just for tonight he’d allow himself to think about
something other than Chapman and the damn corporate ladder.

Tomorrow would come soon enough.

After that awkward discussion outside the Institute Harmony
hadn’t seen much of Rick. It had been a full three weeks, actually. He’d probably
been busy seeing the snack bar completed and she’d been tied up with her own
work. It was none of his business if she chose to avoid him. It was getting
harder and harder to think about him after what Tiffany had told her. But
tonight was Christmas Eve.  She didn’t want to spend the night without him.

As if on cue, she heard the crunch of dirt and gravel
beneath wide tires. Her heart skipped a beat in spite of her resolve as she
stepped over to the door. She wore a thin red buttoned sweater over a pair of
jeans, and nervously ran her hands over her sleeves before opening the door.

She’d strung little twinkling lights over the cabin and a
few of the trees nearby, and the light seemed to dance over his hair, his face.
He looked a touch apprehensive, nothing like the cock-sure guy he usually
presented. He shifted the bottle of wine he carried from one hand to the other,
a tentative smile on his lips.

She smiled in response. She didn’t turned him away, but for
a second there she wished she had the willpower to do so.

“Merry Christmas,” he said quickly. He held up a bottle of
wine. “I thought we could share this.”

She nodded and let him in. He glanced past her into the
room, looking for what? she couldn’t guess. He seemed relieved that the table
was set for one.

He set the bottle down and looked around the cabin. “I’m
kind of surprised you’re here.”

“Ariel and Max are up in Orlando for the week,” she said. “Mom
really makes a killing selling her organic pumpkin bread to the tourists. We’ll
get together tomorrow night.”

He took off his jacket and draped it over a chair, rolling
his shoulders as he did so. He almost seemed nervous. “I’m glad I stopped by,
then.”

She opened her mouth to tell she’d been all but wishing
he’d come by, but finally nodded. “I am, too.”

“Look, Harmony,” he began. “I’m no good at this. I don’t
know what’s been going on the past couple of weeks, but—”

“Don’t you?” she cut in.

He blinked at her for a moment, then frowned. “Look, I’m
not the one playing games here.”

She laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound to her ears. “Games.
You think
I’m
playing games.”

He sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. “No, I… I
don’t know what I think. But look. It’s Christmas. I wanted to spend it with
you. No games.”

She studied him for a moment. He seemed sincere, his gaze
open. He looked good, wearing tan khakis and a cream fisherman sweater she
wanted to rip right off him. Why not indulge herself this one last time? It was
Christmas Eve. Maybe there’d be nothing in her stocking tomorrow. But she’d
have Rick tonight. And if she lost a little bit more of her heart, who would it
hurt besides herself?

“I want to spend tonight with you, too,” she said.

He had the grace to look surprised even if he wasn’t. He
had to know that the minute she saw him there on her doorstep she’d wanted to
jump his bones. It had been weeks since she’d been with him. More than her
heart ached with the memory of their nights together. Her cheeks heated and she
turned to the fridge.

“I hope you don’t mind frozen turkey dinners,” she said.

She’d bought two. Funny.

“Anything is fine,” he said.

He opened the wine and she grabbed another glass from the
cupboard. As she drank she set aside any lingering doubts about spending
another night with him.  Those fingers that curled around his wine glass, those
eyes that sparkled at her.    They ate their meals quickly. That was a relief,
as she doubted she’d make it through dessert before throwing herself at him.

“The rec café is almost finished.” He put their empty
dinner trays next to the sink. “You have to come take a look.”

Okay. Work. That helped her focus. She poured some coffee
into a mug and handed it to him. “Why?”

He looked hurt, but that couldn’t be right. “No reason, I
guess. I just thought you’d be curious.”

She was. Dying of it, really. She’d heard the construction
that began early each morning, the whine of saws and the thrum of hammers faint
from a couple of miles away. She knew from Dr. Robbins that the trails were all
marked and in place. She just hadn’t hiked them yet. She couldn’t bring herself
that close.

“I’m sure it’s everything you promised the developers, Rick.”
She took her coffee and sat back down at the little table. “It’ll make
Chapman’s investors happy, too.”

“Yeah.” He stared into his mug. “Happy.”

He seemed young again, like the night they’d met Bill and
Tiffany for dinner. Vulnerable. She wouldn’t think of him that way, needing her
comfort when he had his money, his career, and God knew how many women in Boston to keep him warm.

“What’s next for you?” she asked, using the same words he’d
given her before.

He shrugged and drank from his mug. “Back to Boston after the New Year.”

She sipped her coffee, ignoring the sting as it burned her
tongue. “Oh.”

He put down his mug and grabbed her free hand. “I don’t
want to talk about Boston, Harmony. I don’t want to talk about anything but you
and me.”

Her heart began to pound. “You and me?”

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Tonight,
sweetheart. Together.”

Oh. Tonight. Right. She willed her heart to slow and placed
her mug on the table.

“That’s what I want, too,” she said. “Tonight.”

Climbing into his lap, she wrapped her arms around his neck
and kissed him.She stripped that sweater off him, taking a moment to breathe in
his scent on the warm wool before letting it fall to the floor. His lips were
urgent on her throat, her neck, as he pulled off her cardigan. He held her
close against him, pressing against her center as she sighed his name.

“Ah, baby.” The tip of his tongue played with the lace edge
of her bra as he worked her jeans down her legs. “Harmony… ”

He stood and tumbled her onto the bed and she put
everything out her mind.    His motives might not have been clear when she’d
first slept with him. Even that last time they slept together, when he’d shown
her his vulnerability and a tiny piece of his heart.

Soon she thought of nothing but the feel of his hands on
her skin. Her name on his lips as he kissed her everywhere.  

Tonight she had no illusions. It was just sex, like it should
have been from the beginning. Let her body have its way. Let her heart break
again tomorrow.

Merry stinkin’ Christmas.

***

“It’s finished.”

Rick waited for his father’s response, holding the
BlackBerry tight to his ear.   His father said nothing for a long minute. Rick
didn’t say more. It was bad enough he needed Bill’s approval. He’d be damned if
he was going to beg for it.

“Good work, Chapman,” Bill finally said. “I’ve been
thinking. Since our visit I’ve realized you’re worth something to Chapman Financial.
More than I gave you credit for.”

He held his breath. This was what he’d been waiting for. This
was why he busted his ass down here in Florida for the last few weeks.

“And?” he asked.

“Come back to Boston, Rick. The top position is yours.”

He closed his eyes and fisted his free hand at his side. He’d
done it. At last.

“Thanks,” he managed to say.

“See you in the office on Monday.”

Bill broke the connection and Rick took a breath. Yes! Wait.
Monday? That was only three days away. He had to talk to Harmony. She’d been
different Christmas Eve, remote. But only at first. By the time they’d made it
to her bed she’d been the warm, giving, passionate woman he’d known from the
first.

“Boston,” he said to himself. “Chapman. Everything.”

He sank down into the leather couch. Yeah, everything. Money
and prestige and all he’d strived for. But was it worth it? Could he leave what
he had here with Harmony for what he knew awaited him in Boston? Which Harmony
would he find when he told her about the promotion? The woman who kept herself
too busy to see him and kept herself out of his bed? Or the one who begged him
so sweetly to take her more than once the last time they were together?

“Damned if I know,” he said. He came to his feet. “But I’m
going to find out.”

He found her at her camp, sitting at the end of the dock as
the sunset danced over her. She hugged her knees to her chest, her back to him,
and stared at nothing he could see. Or at everything, if he took in the big
picture.

Trees dripping moss, birds flying low over the water,
ripples on the lake from the breeze that kicked up. Cypress Corners might have
been hot as hell in October but it was unbelievably comfortable by the end of
the year.

Boston would be cold. Frozen and gray and heavy-skied above
the soaring Chapman building. But it was home. Wasn’t it?

“Harmony,” he said.

She turned, just looked over her shoulder and gave him a
small smile. She didn’t seem surprised to see him. What did that smile mean? Happiness?
Regret? Resignation? He wouldn’t guess, not with his own emotions muddled.

“Hi, Rick.”

She didn’t get up as he walked toward her, his sneakers
making no sound on the smooth planks of the dock. He’d miss her place, that was
for sure. He sniffed the pines and the scent he would recognize as hers until
the day he died.

“I have something to tell you.” He settled beside her and
mimicked her pose. “I’m going back to Boston.”

She blinked and faced him, and a trick of the waning light
made her eyes unreadable. “Oh? When?”

“I have to be at work on Monday.”

She made a little sound in the back of her throat, like a
hiccup, and nodded. “At Chapman. Working for your father.”

He couldn’t look at her. She knew how pitiful he was, then.
Kowtowing to his father for any scrap of recognition. But the money and prestige…
His mother’s words still echoed in his mind. To prove himself a better man that
Bill Chapman could ever be. This was all he knew. What he’d always wanted.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m the new Executive Officer in Charge
of Foreign and Domestic Investments.”

She didn’t look terribly impressed at the title as she
nodded again.    “Congratulations. I know you’ve worked hard for this.”

Her voice was flat, her body still. He needed some reaction
from her. Something to show that she’d felt something for him these past weeks.

“Tell me what you really think, Harmony,” he said. “Don’t
sit there staring at me like I don’t know you at all.”

She blinked. “What?”

He stood and looked down at her. “Don’t look at me like we
haven’t made love a hundred different ways until I know your body as well as my
own.”

She jumped to her feet and flung her hair out of her eyes. “Wait
a minute.”

Good. Now she looked angry, and he welcomed the change.

“Don’t come here, telling me what to do, Rick,” she said. “What
do you want me to say? ‘Oh, don’t go?’  ‘Stay here with me forever?’  Well, I’m
not going to be the fool again.”

He knew it. She thought he was like Adam, that jerk.

“You’re not a fool,” he ground out. “Just because one man
broke your heart—”

“Adam didn’t break my heart,” she said. “And you won’t
either, believe me.”