Always (19 page)

"Revenge! Revenge!" yelled several men in the bunch.

"Do it! Do it!" Elinor's steps slowed as the crowd took up a chant. She turned back to look at him.

Cole climbed out of the tank, his drenched clothes plastered to his body. His blue gaze met hers, a challenge shot through with laughter.

Slowly, she pivoted, her friends and neighbors urging her on.

"We've had a challenge!" the mayor called out. "What about it, Elly? Will you do your part for the 4-H Club?"

"I'm sure you have other willing victims," she declined, regretting her impulse to take Cole on in front of a crowd.

"What's the matter, El?" he taunted. "Chicken?"

She felt her backbone stiffening. He thought she'd run.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" The chant rose around her.

"How much did he pledge, Mayor?" She raised her voice above the crowd's noise.

"A hundred bucks."

Cole stood watching her, a smile glinting on his handsome face. His blond hair darkened by water, he seemed totally oblivious of the soaked shirt and pants that molded to his muscular frame. How did he manage to look so good in such a ridiculous situation? she wondered in despair.

"Do it! Do it!"

"Where's your civic pride, El?"

"Make it five hundred," she snapped. "If it'll earn money for the 4-H Club, I'll do it."

"Atta girl!" Cole encouraged her, stepping back as she was urged forward by the cheering crowd.

It was a very different matter, Elinor realized a few moments later, to climb above a dunking tank wearing a short, full skirt. But she managed without exposing herself too much. She settled on the tiny platform, sending Cole a killing smile.

This was a mistake. The realization hit her with full force as she sat on the platform with her bare legs dangling above the water. How had she allowed herself to get talked into letting Cole throw softballs at her? It was the final humiliation.

"How many balls do I get for five hundred dollars, Mayor?" Cole tossed one of the balls easily in his hand.

The mayor stroked his chin in thought. "Well, boy, I don't know. Let's see. How about twenty-five balls? That seems fair."

"And after that, can I go on a five-dollar-per-ball rate as needed?" Cole wore a deadpan expression, only his eyes giving away his amusement.

Mayor Stephens threw Elinor a humorous glance. "I guess so. How wet do you need to get her?"

Cole laughed. "That remains to be seen."

Elinor could feel the steam rising from her, she was so furious. How dare he make more of a spectacle of them?

"Ready, Ms. Prescott?"

"Ready, Mr. Whittier," she sang back, her smile sweetly poisonous.

"All right. Here goes." He wound up, his powerful arms straining back to hurl the ball.

She closed her eyes, preparing to splash into the tank.

Thunk.
It went wide. Very wide.

Elinor looked at Cole suspiciously while the crowd razzed him.

Again, he pulled back and let the ball fly.
Thunk
. The ball went wide again, but seemed an inch or two closer to the target.

Cole picked up a third ball. "I'm willing to make a deal with you, Ms. Prescott."

"Not a chance," she shot back, her anxiety lessening. Maybe there was one thing that Cole Whittier couldn't do. Just because a man looked like an athlete didn't mean he had the skills of one.

Thunk.
The third ball missed by less distance.

"What's the matter, Mr. Whittier? Didn't you get to play in Little League?" Elinor fluffed out her short skirt.

"As a matter of fact, El, I did." The ball left his hand in a blur.
Crack!

Elinor felt the small platform break away beneath her as she plunged into the lukewarm water. Gasping, she surfaced seconds later to hear the wild cheers from the crowd.

Once the platform clicked back into position, she carefully climbed back up. Her milkmaid dress felt heavy with water, the once-puffy skirt bunched around her thighs like a furled umbrella. Settling herself back on to her perch, she tugged at the bodice, pulled lower by the weight of the water.

She brushed back the strands of bedraggled hair that obscured her vision and forced herself to smile broadly at the crowd.

Cole stood waiting, his white shirt drying in the Louisiana sun. "Ready to talk business?"

Elinor's smile turned razor-sharp. "I only do business with people I can trust."

The buzz from the growing crowd rose with her comment as Cole shook his head. "You leave me no choice, El."

Again the ball left his hand.
Crack
. The crowd of townspeople disappeared from view as she plunged into the tank.

"Ready to talk turkey?" Cole called out to her as she climbed out and positioned herself again on the platform.

"No!" Elinor tugged valiantly at her shrinking bodice.

"Okay," he said sadly. "Here we go again."

This time she was fully prepared.
Crack.
She dropped into the water like a stone. Seconds later, she grabbed at the ladder with both hands and hauled herself out of the tank once more.

The crowd around Cole had taken on the air of a party, Elinor realized as she flipped her skirt aside and perched on the too-familiar platform. "Anybody got a snorkel handy?" she yelled as she wrung out her streaming hair. With the options of looking like a martyred fool or an intentional fool, she'd choose the latter.

Laughter echoed around the group.

"Ready to say 'uncle'?" Cole asked, the warmth in his eyes reaching out to her.

"Not on your life." She tugged at her once-perky sleeves.

Crack.

The next few minutes passed by in a blur. Elinor lost track of how many times Cole wound up and let fly, sending her into the tepid water over and over again. She could feel scales growing on her skin, possibly her body's attempt at modesty since the milkmaid's outfit grew smaller by the minute. Outside of her doctor and a few close friends, nobody had seen more of her skin than was on display at this moment.

Crack.

Water closed over her head before she had time to close her mouth. Elinor came up sputtering, vaguely aware of a ringing in her ears.

Once more she went through the routine, climbing onto the platform, fluffing her skirt, wringing her hair. The crowd seemed divided now, half of them cheering for Cole's unprecedented accuracy and half of them chanting, "Go, Elly! Go, Elly!"

Through water-logged eyes, she could make out a few faces, noting that the battle seeming divided by gender. Surprisingly, even Norell seemed to be cheering her on.

Crack.

This time water went up her nose and Elinor reared out of the tank, coughing. The crowd was one continuous roar in her ears as she strove for her breath.

Enough was enough. Proving a point wouldn't give her much satisfaction if she had to die for it.

"Uncle!" she cried out, throwing herself across the platform like a beached whale.

Applause rose from the crowd as people realized the spectacle was over. Clusters of citizens began drifting away.

Elinor climbed up the ladder, her limbs shaking. Throwing her leg over the side of the tank, she felt for the outside ladder.

"Here it is." A large, warm hand closed around her wet calf.

"I can manage fine by myself," she gasped out angrily just before missing her footing. She fell back a few inches, feeling Cole's solid arms close around her.

"Give yourself a minute to get your land legs." His amused voice was close to her ear.

"Let go of me!" Elinor jerked away.

"Hang on, El." He reached out to steady her, his hand catching on a sodden puffed sleeve.
Rippppp.

Aghast, she looked down at her torn bodice. Rent from neck to waist, the water-logged material fell open to expose her bare breasts. Elinor shrieked, crossing her arms in front of her instinctively.

In a flash, Cole stepped in front of her, shielding her predicament from the few people who still lingered in front of the booth. "It's okay, El, no one saw." His voice was tight with restrained laughter.

Rage flowered in Elinor's head. "Cole Whittier, get away from me before I kill you," she ground out from between clenched teeth.

His shoulders shaking with mirth, he took a step closer. "I don't think you really mean that, honey. Not at this exact moment."

"My life was fine before you came here," she sputtered in a low, emotion-riddled voice. "You have done nothing but scheme against me—"

"El? Do you really want to have this conversation standing here holding your dress together?" Cole started shrugging out of his shirt.

Elinor clenched her tongue between her teeth. He had invaded her heart and her mind to such a degree that she felt barely aware of her actions. The man was making her crazy. "What are you doing?" she snapped as he pulled his arm free of his shirtsleeve. His tanned shoulders gleamed bronze in the afternoon light.

"I'm minimizing your exposure," Cole soothed as he dropped the shirt over her.

It was still warm from his body. The scent of his skin filled Elinor's nostrils, detonating memories more sweet and powerful than his most potent smile. Would she ever forget the special scent of him as he held her in his arms?

Cole tugged his shirt over her shoulders, his fingers gentle against her wet skin. "Here. Give me your hand right through here."

"I am fully capable of dressing myself," she told him icily, jerking back to thread her arms through the sleeves of his borrowed shirt.

"I used to think so before I saw you in that outfit," Cole commented, his voice dry. "Now I'm not so sure."

She drew in a deep angry breath as she pulled the too-big shirt down over her hips. "Now, will you go away and leave me alone?" Bending, she retrieved her purse from behind the dunking booth.

"No way, sweetheart. You promised you'd hear me out."

"Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest in anything but open body posture. "Let's just get it over with."

"Come on, I'll drive you home." He put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her gently toward the parking lot.

"But I came with Daisy—"

"I'm sure she'll figure out that you got home. She's probably heard about our dunking each other from ten or twelve people by now."

Cole's gleaming luxury sedan sat in the parking lot, wedged between an ancient pickup and an equally aged Cadillac. He unlocked her door.

She balked. "I can't get into that leather seat like this. I'm drenched."

"Screw the leather seats," Cole responded amiably.

Elinor shrugged and climbed in. She knew she should deplore his casual attitude about the luxury car, another sign of his moral decadence when it came to money. But she felt too full of sorrow and anger to add anything else to the tally against him.

In minutes, they were on the road, headed for her cottage, the silence between them thickening as her nerves stretched taut.

When he made no move to launch into an explanation, the angry words buzzing in Elinor's head spilled out. "I used to think you were slick, but it's clear now that you are the lowest form of life on two legs. You set me up from the beginning. You charmed me and chased me, knowing all the time it was just part of the plan to set yourself up as King of Bayville."

Cole's eyes remained on the road, his face impassive.

"Well," she goaded, "where's the explanation? Aren't you going to try and convince me there are extenuating circumstances?"

He swung his gaze to her face for a second. "Go on and spill the rest. Get it out of your system."

"Out of my system?" she nearly shrieked. "Do you think this is some minor problem? Like a virus I'll get over?"

"Probably not." He swung the car into the dirt road that led to her cottage.

"I trusted you and you used me and lied to me from the beginning. Anything to get what you wanted." Water squished beneath her as she leaned back in the leather seat in a huff. "I hope owning Oakleigh is worth it. You certainly hustled to get the whole ball of wax—factory, the house, and a roll in the hay." Her voice broke. "You must have had a hard time keeping a straight face when you told me that you don't need to go to bed with a woman to close a deal."

Cole stopped the car in front of her house. Elinor got out quickly. She'd given him a chance to defend himself and he hadn't even bothered.

Rounding the vehicle, she came to a stop when she found him out of the car, blocking her path.

"You're wrong about a lot of things, El—" He held up a hand to stop her interjection. "But you're right about a lot of things, too. I screwed this up big time."

Never had his blue eyes seemed more serious. "I didn't know you when I made the offer to buy Oakleigh. You never entered into it. But once I was here and we had met . . ." He shook his head. "I should have bailed out the minute I realized I was falling in love with you."

Elinor felt her heart clench in pain. Two days ago she'd been ready to commit her life to this man. Now she wavered between wanting to shoot him and wanting to throw herself into his arms.

"You have every right to be furious with me." Cole's hands gripped on the open door. "But I'm
not
like your father. The house, the money, they couldn't mean less to me without you. Nothing is more important than you. But I let my biggest fault mess me up. I gambled that I could get it all. Oakleigh and you."

He pushed a hand through his damp hair. "I've gotten to where I am in life not by disregarding people but by finding ways around obstacles. I'm pretty good at discovering win-win options, El. I tried to do that in this situation with you. And now, I might lose it all."

Leaning into the car, he pulled a manila envelope from under the seat. "I understand your being angry. But I want you to know that I never lied to you, except by default when I didn't identify myself as the buyer of your house. Everything else that went on between us came from my heart."

Elinor searched his face. Could she trust him? Despite the evidence to the contrary? He hadn't been totally honest with her before. How could she know he was being truthful now?