“It’s ‘Arm Candy Anonymous.’”
He smiled as though finding her sarcasm clever, “Forgive me for not recognizing you.” He held out a hand, long-fingered and steady. She experienced a tremor of hesitation. Did he expect her to take it? Besides having a reputation for enjoying plenty of arm candy himself, and for being married to his work, he was known for his diplomacy. “To be fair, I was at a disadvantage. Your face is in shadow.”
He had a point—about her face being in shadow—but she ignored it, just as she ignored his outstretched hand. “You’re not staying here, are you?” She prayed for his response to be no. When she won her free two-week stay at the quaint inn on Grand Lake in Northeastern Oklahoma, she’d been euphoric. She needed distance from Jerric Oil and Oklahoma City, not to mention precious time to heal, to recover her self-confidence. She planned to use this trip to reevaluate where she was going and what she wanted to do with her future. Having anybody at the inn aware of her poisoned reputation at Jerric Oil would put a huge damper on her recovery—most particularly if that somebody’s name was Jerric.
“I’m a guest here.” His grin grew crooked and wry. “You know, Miss Hudson,” he went on, “questions like that can be hard on a man’s ego.”
“For how long?”
“How long will my ego suffer?”
Was he trying to make her crazy? “No! What is it with you and egos?” She licked her lips, nervous. “I’m asking how long you’ll be here?”
“A couple of weeks.”
Horrible news. The worst possible news. Not that she was hard on his ego. It could use some filing down. The horrible news was that he would be a guest at the inn as long as she. “Oh, no. That’s how long I’ll be here.”
“Ouch,” he said with a exaggerated cringe.
“Sucks, doesn’t it,” she grumbled, “discovering somebody doesn’t find you all that terrific.” She experienced a rush of vindication. “Try seeing it from my perspective,” she said. “I’m sure you can understand why I might be upset that you’re here.”
“Not really.” His response held a note of impatience, as though her continued digs were taking a toll on his ability to remain diplomatic.
That was too bad. “I’m here to get away from—from everything that reminds me of—of…” She shrugged, arms outstretched. “You know.”
“Not really,” he repeated.
“Oh, please.” She spun away. “You know why I had to leave Jerric Oil.”
“I assume you got a better offer.”
“That’s what you assume?” she asked, sarcasm edging her tone. “Well, you assume wrong.”
He said nothing for a moment. The warm, June breeze ruffled the flowers. They rustled in the darkness, seeming to gossip in whispers. “Then why—”
“Don’t you dare ask me why I left!” she cut in. Talk about nerve! She plunked down on the stone bench, grimacing at the pain in her backside.
“But you seem upset, and I—”
“You think?” she demanded. “If you don’t mind, I’m not in the mood to chat.”
The night breeze rustled the flowers again. They bobbed and nodded, giving rise to more stage whispers. After a stressful few seconds, Roth Jerric cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me then?”
She clamped her fingers over the edge of the bench and stared straight ahead, looking at nothing. If she didn’t respond, he’d get the idea, even if he was as dense as the granite she sat on.
“It was fascinating visiting with you, Miss Hudson,” he said, his remark clearly cynical. She wanted to smart-off but managed to keep her mouth shut. It didn’t give her any satisfaction, but she wanted him to leave, and that wouldn’t happen if she kept their exchange going.
She began a calming count to ten. One…two…three…“Okay!” She spun around. “Just so you get it, I am no man’s arm candy, and hearing Milo smirking around the office, objectifying me that way, and knowing—others— agreed…” She wanted to say, You for instance. So unstrung with doubt about her ability, she couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge the rest. She went on with what she could admit. “Naturally I couldn’t stay at Jerric Oil after that.” Too late, she wished she hadn’t revealed that much. She bit her tongue for its betrayal.
Roth had begun to move toward the inn, but stopped with her outburst. For an instant he appeared startled, then he chuckled deep in his throat.
Laughing?
At her!
Again!
Okay, if he wanted war, he could have war. “You have a warped sense of humor, Mr. Jerric!”
He shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Had she heard him right? “Kidding?”
“Yes, kidding.” He looked dubious, and vaguely amused.
Amused! She burned with resentment. “Not at all!” She knew her cheeks blazed bright red and was grateful for the darkness. Feeling feisty, she shot to her feet. “Obviously you find my humiliation a total hoot.”
He started to speak, but she threw up a halting hand. “Don’t. Your judgments don’t interest me. Just go.”
She could tell by the play of shadow and light across his jaw he clenched his teeth. After a drawn-out silence, he nodded curtly, broke eye contact and strode off along the stone path.
She watched his exodus until she realized what she was doing, then she turned away. After a few minutes, she managed to calm down. She lifted her gaze toward the vaulted window in the old, stone wall. The moon no longer hung dead center in the space, but was set off-kilter in a corner. She felt as askew as it looked.
Unbidden, her attention slid back to the inn. In the distance she could see the ghostly image of Roth Jerric disappearing around the corner toward the front porch. She closed her eyes. Struggling to compose herself she sucked in a breath of fresh, night air.
“Okay, Hannah,” she whispered. “For the sake of your healing, keep your distance from…” She faltered on the words, so she went on silently…from that smug, disturbing SOB, Roth Jerric.
Roth walked away from Hannah feeling like crap. Of course, he already felt that way when he began his walk, but his brief encounter with the woman on the bench left him not only annoyed but confused. He didn’t need a fortune teller to see that she hated him, but he couldn’t imagine why. He’d spoken to her at meetings on occasion, or nodded a casual hello in the elevator from time to time. But he’d never said anything to upset her, let alone cause her to resign.
And he certainly hadn’t been laughing at her out there. He’d simply been incredulous that she would quit her job over anything Milo had said. The man was a competent lawyer, but on a personal level Roth found him to be a blowhard and a braggart. Had Miss Hudson given him half a chance he would have said so. Clearly his opinion was as unwelcome as his presence.
“Let it go, Jerric,” he muttered. “You have problems of your own.” He bounded up the steps to the inn’s expansive front porch and walked across the wooden planking toward the screen door. It was a different screen door from the one he remembered from his youth, when this house had been his family home. But it had the same rusty screech when pulled open.
The scarred oak door was the same one from all those years ago. He recognized it, even painted white instead of the bright green he remembered. He paused, his hand on the brass doorknob, its oval shape familiar in his grasp. It seemed smaller than it had when he lived there. He supposed it should, since he was ten when his family moved from this house, originally the parsonage for the old church which had burned down in 1919.
The