Finding Harmony (7 page)

Harmony wrapped her arms around her waist and closed her
eyes. Every nerve tingled as she sought control. It was bad enough Rick had
intruded on her centering exercise. Her space. Her thoughts, if she were
completely honest. She’d been fantasizing about him just a moment before he’d
shown up.

He was right, darn it. She wanted him. She wanted his
kisses. His touch. Oh, and his body. She shivered as one last tremor racked her.
Her whole body felt swollen and tight. True, she wasn’t a virgin. But nothing
she’d felt before had hinted at what she guessed Rick could give her. If she
hurried she could get him right back where she wanted him.

“No way,” she said. “Never gonna happen, my friend.”

He was still out there. She could smell him, believe it or
not. What the heck happened? One minute they were talking about family and the
next he looked so lost and hurt she wanted nothing more than to hold him. To comfort
him against whatever made him look so forlorn. The moment after that…

She hadn’t expected that kiss. Or the hunger it awoke inside
her. There hadn’t been anyone since Adam and that had suited her just fine. Until
now.

“Don’t kid yourself,” she grumbled. She poured some water
from a pitcher onto a towel and patted her face. “One kiss from Rick and you
were in heat.”

She’d expected him to be practiced, skilled and distant as
he tried to seduce her. But she hadn’t thought he’d be so hot, so fierce. It
called to something inside her. Something that frightened her more than giving
her trust to a man. She feared she’d surrender her heart to feel that closeness
again.

Her response shouldn’t embarrassed her. Rick was hot and a
wonderful kisser. His smell, his taste, did things to her she’d only imagined. Oh,
it was just an organic reaction. Surely it had nothing to do with the
compassion she’d felt when she’d asked about his mother. There was a story
there, one he guarded closely. Who was she to press him on the subject?

A sound came from a distance, tires spinning on gravel as
Rick’s SUV barreled away from her lake. Good. She’d keep to herself like she’d
vowed before. Passion wouldn’t cloud her mind. Oh, even she didn’t buy that. Rick
made her hotter than Adam could have hoped to all those years ago. And just look
what a fool she’d been for him! She wouldn’t risk everything for passion. Not
again. She wouldn’t risk her heart on a man who could keep his focus as she
lost hers.

Rick’s vulgarity should have shocked her but he was right. She’d
accused him of coming out her expressly to get in her pants. It was obvious he’d
come out seeking information on the Institute’s progress.

He was right about her response, too. It wouldn’t have taken
but a touch for him to send her flying up to the starry sky. Ooh, those strong
fingers…

She changed into her nightshirt and grabbed one of the
bottles of essential oils she kept on the ledge beside her bed. Touching a drop
to each wrist, she breathed in deeply, closing her eyes once more. The calming
scent of lavender filled her senses as she climbed into bed. But her skin still
felt flush, her pulse still raced. Her hand moved over her belly, to where she ached
unfulfilled beneath her cotton panties. Just one touch. She fisted her hand and
pounded it on the bed. Oh, but only one person’s touch would do, not that she’d
feel it tonight or any other night. Rick’s.

Turning into her pillow, she let out a moan of frustration.

***

Rick stood inside the Welcome Center three days later,
staring at the topographic table display of the sprawling development. He’d
stopped by the Institute but the redhead at the desk said Dr. Robbins was busy.
He’d told Harmony the guy was vague. Maybe he was sharper than Rick thought. He
certainly handled both the developers and the environmentalists easily enough.

The Center’s interior was painted in greens and decorated
with photos of Cypress Corners. It was built like an estate home, plush and
inviting with expensive wood trim and light fixtures. He had an eye for that
stuff, since he’d been raised with his father’s money in Boston. Again the
contrast of pricey real estate surrounded by raw nature struck him.

He joined the other people standing around the table as the
tour guide’s voice droned on from a far corner. He caught bits of the
presentation, aimed to draw people to the very contradictions Rick found so perplexing.
A championship golf course and five-star restaurants bracketed by pristine
lakes and a friggin’ pet park, for Christ’s sake.

He tuned out the guide and the chattering prospective
residents and looked at the miniature layout of Cypress Corners on the table. He
found the lakeshore park easily enough, and the street where the house he was
staying in was located. But far on the other side of the table was the other
large lake. No tiny houses dotted that area. Not even the tent-cabin he knew
was there. He pictured the small camp, the narrow dock that jutted out onto the
lake. If he set his mind to it he could see the figures tangled on that dock,
so close to something he’d only imagined before.

Maybe he was lucky Harmony had pulled away. Hell, she hadn’t
pulled away. She pushed him away with her sudden coldness. Maybe she did him a
favor. He doubted one coupling on a smooth wooden dock would ease his need for
her. Hadn’t he spent the nights since then wanting her?

“… many pleasures here at Cypress Corners,” he heard the
guide say.

Rick turned to watch the animated guide. The guy was about
twenty-five, one of those fresh-faced people who were excited to be wherever
they were. He extolled the place’s many virtues to a group of about eight
people who would never guess the pleasures Rick was thinking about right now. Steamy
nights spent surrounded by nature, urging you to give in to your baser desires.
He laughed to himself. Somehow he didn’t think Tammy ought to put that in the
brochure.

Well, he’d killed enough time. Might as well go back to his
comfortable rented house and watch that big screen. Then in a couple of hours
he could hit the five-star restaurant for another lonely dinner. At least he
wouldn’t have to eat alligator.

He nodded farewell to the girls working the information
desk and stepped outside. That’s when he saw Harmony across the street and looking
happier than he’d ever seen. She wasn’t looking in his direction, obviously. He
heard her laugh, light and throaty, as she threw her arms around a woman with
long curly brown hair streaked with gray. The woman wore clunky shoes and a
gauzy purple skirt that had sparkly things on it. He could hear the bells on
her wrists and ankles from where he stood. She had to be Harmony’s mother. The
balding beanpole who picked Harmony up and twirled her around could only be her
father. What an odd pair to produce such a daughter. Well, he was nothing like
Bill Chapman, right? At least he hoped not.

A wildly-painted RV sat parked near the curb, smaller than
he’d envisioned. Harmony had shared that with her parents? No wonder her
tent-cabin was sparsely furnished. The girl was probably used to doing with the
bare minimum. He felt a pang of guilt as he recalled the stuff that had crammed
his room growing up. Not from his mother, no. From Bill, in lieu of his time.

He took a breath and started across the street. Maybe he’d
avoided her since that night on the dock. But his mother raised him to show the
manners God gave him. What harm was there in a simple “hello?”

***

Harmony hugged her parents, happy as always to see them. She
wouldn’t focus on the RV, showing spots of rust beneath the gaily-colored paint
job her father refreshed every couple of years. This year it sported a mural,
towering cypress trees dripping with Spanish moss surrounding what could be her
lake. She smothered the thought of what happened near the lake, the shame she
still felt for trying to ignore what she’d done. She’d led Rick on, let him
think she was ready. Heck, she’d practically taken the man’s clothes off! If he
never spoke to her again she wouldn’t be surprised. But maybe she’d be a little
relieved.

“How are you, dear?” her mother asked. She adjusted the
round glasses perched on her nose. “We haven’t heard from you in weeks.”

She knew to interpret the question at face value. Her
mother didn’t use false guilt like the girls at college had complained about. No,
there were no games in the Brooks family.

“I’ve been busy, Mom,” she said. “There’s a species of
endangered plant on the property and I have to find more evidence of it.”

Max Brooks grinned. “That’s my girl. Give ‘em hell.”

Harmony hid her smile. Max was a radical looking for
something to protest—though he’d missed being a conscientious objector to the
Vietnam War by a couple of decades. She hugged him again, tugging on the short black
ponytail at the nape of his neck.

“The developers work
with
us, Dad,” she said.

Her father shrugged. “Then why do you seem so edgy?”

“Edgy?” She pulled back, fiddling with the hem of her
shorts. “I’ve just been busy.”

Her mother snorted. She grabbed Harmony’s wrist and brought
it to her nose. “Lavender.” She released her. “No, you’re not edgy.”

Harmony waved her hand. “I’ve been having trouble
sleeping.”

Her mother’s eyes, a blue-green that sometimes seemed out
of focus, suddenly sharpened. Harmony knew that look. Her mother missed nothing.
Harmony only prayed she didn’t wear her frustration on her face.

“Something’s going on,” her mother said. She turned to Max.
“Max, don’t you think Harmony—?”

“Harmony!” Rick called.

Harmony nearly jumped at the sound. Oh, great. Just what
she needed when her mother’s radar was in overdrive. A visit from the very “something”
that was keeping her up at night.

She turned as Rick crossed the street toward them. He
looked casual today, inn a light blue golf shirt and camp shorts that suited
him better than the creased clothes he’d been wearing. His hair wasn’t perfect,
either. It was curly and mussed. Oh, her stomach did that flip thing again.

He looked expectantly at her parents as he joined them on
the brick walk. She watched him for any condescension as he ran his eyes over
the RV. Nothing but mild interest was on his face, so he’d probably gaped his
fill before he decided to join them.

“Hello, Rick,” she said. At least her voice was even if her
pulse wasn’t. “Please meet my parents. Ariel and Max Brooks.”

Rick shook Max’s hand. “Rick Chapman. Pleasure to meet you,
Mr. Brooks.”

Max shook his head and smiled. “Call me ‘Max.’”

“Max, then.” He turned to her mother who stared at him with
those too-sharp eyes. “Nice to meet you, Ariel.”

Her mother’s light laughter joined the jingle of the tiny
bells encircling her wrist. “Very nice to meet you, Rick.”

Her mother’s eyes settled on Rick’s face as she gripped his
hand. Uh-oh. Harmony silently prayed Ariel wouldn’t offer him a crystal, or
something for the indigestion he would get two weeks from now. Her mother had a
way of putting people on edge with her little “forecasts.” She didn’t want to
guess what Ariel saw in Rick’s future.

Flames of embarrassment flooded Harmony’s cheeks as she
clearly envisioned the future that could happen if she was ever alone with Rick
again. She closed her eyes. She prayed her mother wouldn’t picture her and Rick
naked together.

“You’ll join us for dinner, Rick,” Ariel said.

She remembered to breathe. Whew. That wasn’t so bad.

“In December, I think,” her mother went on.

Great.

Rick looked from one quirky parent to another, his brows
drawn together. “Okay… ”

Her mother tilted her head to one side. “A bit cloudy. You
could use—”

“We always get rain storms in the afternoon,” Harmony said
quickly. The last thing she needed was Ariel reading Rick’s aura there on the
street.

“What about dinner tonight, then?” Max asked. “We can go to
The Boathouse, maybe? Killer fried clams.”

Her mother still held Rick’s hand, so he gestured with his
left. “Oh, I think I’ll pass tonight.” He winked at Harmony. God help her, he
winked! “I don’t know if I’ve recovered from the last time I ate there.”

She smiled. “I don’t think the alligator agreed with him,
Dad.”

Her father looked genuinely confused by that, a look Rick
mirrored.

“Oh!” Her mother released his hand at last and hurried
toward the RV. “I have something for you, Rick.”

Harmony squeezed her eyes shut. Please. Not a charmed wedding
ring or a tie clip that once belonged to Ralph Nadar, please. The metal door
slammed and Harmony faced Rick, gauging his response. He seemed curious and
wary, a condition his parents easily incited in strangers. She wondered at that
wink. Was he putting on the charming corporate guy for her parents? Well, his
efforts wouldn’t win him the benefits that behavior in Boston might. Her
parents had learned as much from Adam as she had. At least
she
was
stronger now, darn it.

Ariel bustled back from the RV, a familiar beige square in
her hand. “You can’t turn down my cheesecake, Rick.”