Breath of Scandal (36 page)

For seven years he had been outrunning his guilt. The coroner's report stated that Debra and Charlie had died accidentally, but Dillon knew he was responsible. After the ambulances had taken away their bodies, while he was raging through the house, demented with grief, he had discovered the list of chores he hadn't got around to the preceding weekend. The last item on the list was, "Check furnace. "

After leaving Tallahassee, he had ain-dessly wandered about, with his guilt in tow. He had taken it with him te

the frozen frontiers of Alaska and into the teeming jungles of Central America. He had tried to drown it in gallons of whiskey, abuse it with meaningless sex, and kill it by taking unnecessary risks. Yet, he couldn't shake it off. It was like regenerative living tissue, a part of him as distinguishable as a fingerprint.

After days of contemplating Jade Sperry's proposal, it occurred to him that perhaps he could merge his two obsessions. If he accepted this job and performed it well enough, it might atone for his failure that had brought about the deaths of his wife and son.

"Everything is set."

Dillon jumped reflexively when Jade reentered the room, bringing with her a three-page contract. He studied it carefully, filled in the missing details, then signed his name.

She said, "As soon as you have a permanent address in Palmetto, please call it in for the records."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to live on the premises. "

"At the construction site?"

"I'd like to lease a trailer large enough to serve as an office and living quarters. "

"Suit yourself." Jade stood and moved toward the door. Dillon followed.

"I've notified Mr. Sefftin. His office is in another building, but he's on his way over.

"Mr. Stein heard that you were in the building and asked to meet you, too. Beforehand, there's another matter I feel we should clear up."

She lowered her eyes. From his angle, her black, curly eyelashes looked like they had been painted onto her fair cheeks with a fine brush. "You shouldn't have kissed me that night in L.A. Nothing like that can happen again. If you have a problem working under a woman's supervision, I need to know."

He deliberately waited to respond until she lifted her eyes back to his. "I would have to be a blind eunuch not to

276

Sandra Brown

Breath of Scandal

277

notice that you're a woman. You're a beautiful woman. But it wouldn't matter if you had a mustache as thick as mine. I want this job.

"You've also left no doubt in my mind that I answer to you. That's cool. I don't have any sexist hang-ups. Finally, you're safe from me. When I want a woman, I'll find one, but it'll be for the night only. I don't want one I have to look at or talk to the morning after."

Her deep swallow was audible. "I understand."

"No, you don't understand, but that's immaterial. Just rest assured that I haven't made a practice of romancing the people I work for."

"Then why did you kiss me?"

He smiled wryly, tilting up one half of his mustache. "Because you pissed me off."

"How?" "I wasn't having a very good day to begin with," he said sarcastically. "Then you came along, a real cool customer dressed fit to kill and flashing a Gold Card. I'm a grown-up. I don't appreciate being ordered around any more than you like being condescended to because you wear perfurne and pantybose. I don't know a man alive who likes being patronized by a woman.

"And vice versa."

"Then you should have slapped me when I kissed you." I 'You didn't give me a chance."

The conversation had lasted ten times longer than the Idss, and he was ready to drop the subject. It made him uncomfortable. He didn't know what had motivated him to kiss her. The only thing he was sure of was that he didn't want to know. Nevertheless, he couldn't let the matter drop without asking one more question of her.

"If that kiss bothered you so much, why'd you hire me?" "Because I've dedicated my life to the success of this project, Mr. Burke. Measured against that, one kiss is hardly important. " Her eyes turned a darker hue and, not for the first time, Dillon wondered what motivated her. "However, it mustn't happen again."

"As I explained, it wasn't sexually motivated."

"Good." Her smile indicated that she was as relieved as he that the topic was closed. "Before we go see Mr. Stein, is there anything else on your mind?"

"Yeah. Who is Mr. Stein?"

CHAPTER

Twmty

Palmetto, May 1991

The civic auditorium was packed to capacity that balmy first day of May. Jade was seated in a row of chairs that had been set up on the stage at the front of the room. it was rapidly filling up with a noisy, curious crowd.

Gradually word had gotten around that a large parcel of land had been purchased and rezoned for industrial use. Dillon had been in Palmetto for several weeks, obtaining the necessary building permits and arranging for public utilities to be accessible at the site, but he had kept as low a profile as possible and certainly had made no public announcement.

Gossip was rampant. Rumors circulated that everything from a theme park to a nuclear reactor was being built in Palmetto. Jade had requested that the city council-the members of which weren't even certain what GSS planned-call this town meeting to allay fears and to enthuse and involve the community.

Her speech had been thoroughly prepared, but there were butterflies in her tummy. To calm them, she thought about the house she had leased for as long as she, Cathy, and Graham would be living in Palmetto. it was an older house that had spacious rooms, hardwood floors, and ceiling fans. The owners had completely refurbished and modernized it

278

Sandra Brown

Breath of Scandal

279

before deciding to tackle another     renovation project in Charleston. Jade, working through a realtor in New York, had signed a lease as soon as the house became available.

Cathy would love the sunny kitchen and screened back porch, which would undoubtedly remind her of her house in Morgantown. The deep, tree-shaded backyard was encircled with azalea bushes. Jade had designated one of the upstairs bedrooms as Graham's. He would like the built-in shelves where he could arrange his stereo system.

Enthusiastically, she had described the room to him via long-distance. "It's got three large windows that overlook the front yard and a walk-in closet with so much more space than you've got now. You're going to love it."

He was still feeling some uncertainty and reluctance.       It sounds okay, I guess. How far is it from where you          , re building the plant?"

"Several miles. Why?"

"Just wondering. Dillon said maybe I could come out there sometime."

Dillon had been introduced to Graham in New York when he dropped in at the office one afternoon after school. They had met only one other time, but Graham frequently mentioned the man. Hank was the only adult male Graham was close to. Jade reasoned that his idol worship of Dillon was harmless, as long as it went no further. Although Dillon Burke was exactly what she needed to build TexTile, she wasn't certain that he was a suitable role model for her impressionable son, especially since Dillon might be looking to replace the son he had lost.

She knew more about Dillon than he suspected. Besides herself, the contractor would be the most important individual on the project. During the two-week interval between their meeting in Los Angeles and his appearance in New York, Jade had utilized GSS's wealth of resources to delve into his background, hoping to prove that her instincts about him were right.

She now knew about his troubled childhood, the time he had spent in a detention center, and his college career. She knew about Pilot Engineering Enterprises and his difficulties

with the new management after it was acquired. The tragic deaths of his wife and child explained his cynicism. She had learned from former employers who remembered him that he was an exceptional but wasted talent.

When she had asked him for references, it had been to test his integrity. His truthfulness had convinced her that she had made the right choice. He had personal reasons for wanting to tackle this project. They weren't as strong as hers, but they were powerful in their own right. If he hadn't shown up in New York, she would have returned to L.A. and sought him out.

It was decided that Graham and Cathy would stay in New York until Graham completed the school term. If the prospect of seeing Dillon again made him more agreeable to relocating, fine. However, Jade didn't want him to regard Dillon as a playmate. She was confident that once Graham started school in Palmetto next fall, he would make new friends and adjust quickly.

Although he had grown up with two women, he was a well-adjusted boy, without any ambiguities regarding his sexuality. He was four when he had first asked, "Mom, where's my dad?" They had just moved from Morgantown to Charlotte, and Jade had enrolled him in a preschool. He was bright and inquisitive, so it wasn't surprising that, after his first few weeks in the school, he had noticed that his family lacked what all others seemed to have.

do "You don't have a dad," she had gently explained. "You n't need one. You've got Cathy and me, and before he died, you had Poppy. You're very lucky to have this many people who love you so much."

He was temporarily pacified, but the topic came up again after a visit from Hank. "is Hank my dad?"

"No, darling. He's just a dear friend who loves you." Graham's stubborn streak had grown in proportion to the rest of him. The twin bars of his eyebrows drew closer together over the bridge of his nose, and his blue eyes darkened mutinously. "Then who was my dad? I had to have one."

"You had one, but he isn't important."

280

Sandra Brown

On the contrary, having a father was extremely important to a seven-year-old. Unlike before, the topic wasn't so easily dismissed. "Are you divorced from him?" he asked. "No. "

"Can he come to see me sometime?" "No.-

"Didn't he like me when I got borned?"

"He wasn't there. Just me. And I loved you enough for ten people. A hundred." By then he had reached an age where hugs were unwelcome, but he had let her hold him in her arms for a long time that night.

There had come a time when he dealt with the problem in his own way, sometimes deviously. It got back to Jade that Graham was spinning tales about a father who died while saving a baby from a burning building-

"Why did you say that, Graham?" She posed the question gently, not as a reprimand-

He shrugged. He was pouty, but his eyes were shimmering with tears he was too manly to shed, having just turned ten

"Do the kids at school tease you about not having a father?"

"Sometimes." Her hopes that Graham wouldn't feel short-changed had been unrealistic. Having only one parent made a difference. Much of her youth had been spent in a single-parent home, but during her formative childhood years her father had been there. After his death, she had photographs and memories of him to sustain her. She had never forgotten their quiet talks together, his warm, encompassing hugs, his goodnight kisses, or his whispering to her," Don't ever be afraid, Jade. "

Telling Graham the truth wasn't an option she considered. If he knew that he was the result of a rape, he would likely blame himself for living. She refused to lay that kind of guilt on her child, recalling the cruel responsibility Velta had placed on her the last time she'd seen her.

Cathy disagreed. Every time Graham raised the topic of

Breath of Scandal

281

his father, she urged Jade to tell him, but to no avail. The stigma of not having a father was bad enough, without his knowing the rest. To help ease his conflict, she had given him permission to lie. "I hate lies, Graham. You know that. Sometimes, though, I think they're okay, if they're told to protect someone else and not oneself.

"So, when your friends ask you about your father, you can protect them from being embarrassed by simply saying that he died. I give you my permission to say just thathe died before you were bom. Okay?"

Evidently it had been okay, because Graham had never broached the subject again. He had reached a level of maturity where he could work it out for himself. Thinking about how quickly the years were passing made Jade's heart wrench with homesickness for him. She couldn't wait till June, when he would join her in Palmetto.

"You've drawn quite a crowd."

Jade snapped out of her reverie and turned her head in response to the low voice near her ear. Dillon sat down in the vacant chair beside hers. "Good morning, Dillon. You look very handsome."

"Thanks," he replied self-consciously.

He was wearing a new suit for the occasion, and his hair had been trimmed.

She had dressed with utmost care herself. There would be old-timers in the crowd who remembered the scandal she had created when she left. Most were merely curious about Palmetto's new industry. Either way, she wasgoing to be the focal point of everyone's attention today. She wanted to dazzle them.

"I drove out to your trailer last night, but you weren't there," she told Dillon.

"Sorry I missed you."

"it looked as though you're settled in."

"There wasn't much to settle. I'm ready to get to work. "I didn't know you had a dog."

"Dog?" "There was a dog lying on the top step of the tr"er.

282

Sandra Brown

Breath of Scandal

283

"Oh, him," he said, frowning. "He showed up a few days ago, and I made the mistake of feeding him a few table scraps. "

Tilting her head, she smiled teasingly. "And now he's adopted you?"

"Not for long. I'm going to take him to the pound the first chance I get."

"After his leg heals, you mean. That looked like a homemade bandage," she said, her goading grin still in place. Dillon's scowl deepened. "He'd been in a fight, had a

bad scratch. I poured peroxide into it and patched it up. That's all."

"I don't   know, Dillon," she said breezily. "I think you've got a pet for life - "