Conflicts of the Heart (36 page)

What a shocking, calamitous blow for Dana. To think he left without giving her a chance to apologize for distrusting him, the one person she should have trusted.

Now when her life was coming together, the man she loved most in the world had gone. Her mind was a crazy mixture of fear and hope, fear he might not come back, and hope she might find a way to make up for all she put him through. If he did contact her and wanted her to come to him, would she be willing to give up her job and move to New York? Being with him any place in the world sounded wonderful, but what about the trauma to Michael and her dream of becoming an administrator? There were few opportunities like that. Few women occupied that exalted seat, and having a mentor like Gil to help her get there was rare. Plus, she'd made a promise to Gil that she’d carry on his legacy. God, she sounded like Patrick living with the promise he made to his father. What about their dreams? Weren't they worth anything?

Michael crept into her bedroom, and pulled himself up beside her and snuggled down. “Hi baby. You look sad.”

“Sad.” He glanced up with tears in his eyes. “Miss Pat …rick.”

“I know honey. But remember when we came here? We were
alone and started putting our lives back together. We’ll do it again. Who knows, maybe Patrick will come back to Ashton someday.”

“Miss him. He played with me. Games…”

“We’ll play games. Ruta loves you. We will be happy again. I promise you I’ll do everything I can to make this work.”

He nestled next to her and closed his eyes. She felt him shudder,
then settled into an easy breathing. He had fallen asleep.

The next morning she got up, took Michael to day care, and then went to the address Ken had given her. She pulled up in front of his apartment building and found his place on the ground floor.

He answered her knock with a cup of coffee in his hand. “Hi there, beautiful.”

She felt her cheeks flush. “Hi Ken. Thanks for seeing me.”

“You’re kidding, of course.”

“No, I’m not.”

“I know this is not a visit for you and me. It’s about Patrick. Coffee?”

“Thanks. Black, please.”

She sat down on the couch and took in his living room. His apartment had all the accruements any bachelor might have. The furnishings were leather. Painting of landscapes hung on a couple walls. She did notice he kept his place neat and clean.

He returned to the living room in short order, handed her the coffee and sat down next to her on the sofa. “Okay, here’s the skinny.”

She set her cup down and stiffened, awaiting any news about Patrick.

“He went back to New York. He didn’t get that big job he wanted.”

“What?”

“No. They said he hadn’t completed his contract here so all deals were off the table. He quit. He didn’t want to work the field anymore. He wanted to be near his daughter.”

“Can’t say as I blame him for that.”

“You really love the guy, don’t you?”

“More than I can say. My son loves and misses him too.”

“
I’m keeping his horse for him, just in case. He can’t have him in New York. Boarding is too expensive.” He took another sip of his coffee. “We do have a plan, but right now it’s in the iffy stage.”

“What’s iffy?” Dana’s heart started to drum away. Ken was going to tell her something and she, for the first time in days, sensed he might have something positive to say.

“We want to start a consulting firm here in Ashton. We need another twenty thousand to pull it off.”

“That’s a bundle.”

“Know anyone who might want to invest is a sure thing?”

She smiled. “Give me a few days and I’ll call you. Maybe Gil might be interested in a good investment. He’s retiring soon and I know he has the money. He likes Patrick too.

They ended their meeting with a hug. He chucked her under her chin. “You want to come out and ride with me. Yin could use a workout.”

“The last time I rode, I could barely walk for two days.”

“It gets easier each time.”

“Don’t sell Yin without letting me know.”

“Patrick asked me to hang on to him for six months. If we can’t pull our deal off, he will let the horse go.”

“Over my dead body.”

Back at work, trying to keep her head up and focus on the day to day business of getting the PNA contract signed and learning some of the responsibilities of being an administrator, Dana tried to put her feelings for Patrick in the back of her mind.

He hadn’t tried to get in touch with her. Did that mean he didn’t love her, or was he just busy putting his life back together? Wasn’t that what she was doing?

She and her mother had come to terms. At least they were working on it, and Michael held his own, despite Patrick's absence. Would her career be an empty victory without him? She’d read love conquered all obstacles. What a bunch of hooey.

“Buy a house,” Mother ordered in her usual bossy tone. “Michael needs a yard to play in.

“Will you live there with us?”

“Of course not.
Joel gave you all that money and you're just sitting on it.”

“I’m holding out for the right investment.” She hadn’t bothered talking to Gil about investing in Patrick and Ken’s business, because she decided she wanted to be a part of his life in more ways than one. “I'm looking for a place, but this isn't something you just jump into.”

Mom poured more tea into their cups and surveyed the room. “This place gives me the creeps. Honest to God, Dana, if it was me, the minute Joel handed over that money, I would have been out of here in a flash.”

“I know. I’ve seen you in action.” They grinned at each other. “We're different.”

Since Michael's disappearance, her mother had never mentioned again that he be institutionalized again. Dana had a hard enough time running her own life without trying to change her mother's. They'd never be the perfect mother-daughter duo, but that was okay, as long as they loved each other.

“You aren't holding out for that Patrick Mitchell, are you?”

“I'm not holding out for anyone.”

“Whatever happened to Teal?” Her mother sipped her tea.

“The last I heard, she went to Joel for help, but he wised up and told her to find her own way. She lost her condo and Corvette and moved back in with her folks.”

“Isn’t that her worst nightmare come true?” Mother chuckled. Dana nodded.

“I can't believe that little darling could turn out to be such an evil girl. Who’d have guessed?”

“When your back is against the wall, some people will do anything to survive. I just hope she finds another job and gets on with her life.” Dana rose and pushed her chair back under the table. “I'm going out on business for a couple of hours.”

“On Saturday?”

“Yes, on Saturday. I'm going to see a man about a horse.” Mom raised a thin shaped eyebrow.

“Would you stay with Michael until I get back?”

She smiled. “You are a sly one, Dana Claiborne. You tricked me
into coming over here this morning.”

Dana grinned. “The only way you're going to get to know your grandson is to spend some prime time with him. Being alone is the best time. Try playing with him. He responds nicely when you play that game piled on the floor.” She pointed to the
Jenga game in the corner Patrick bought for Michael. She would never forget that night when her son made eye contact with him for the first time, and then after Michael went to bed, she and Patrick made love. The memory would linger on for the rest of her life.

Never had she felt more loved. His scent still lingered in her mind.

Winter settled in. Fog ruled the morning. Rain sporadically broke the pattern. She dressed in her smartest business suit. She headed out to meet Ken and sign papers for her first important business venture.

The modern, fog-shrouded, five-story building at the corner of Shaw and
Melborne was the place she knew would change her life forever. She sat in her car waiting for Ken to accompany her to the attorney’s office. Moments later, he pulled up and parked behind her car. He got out and opened Dana’s door. She got out and gave Ken a hug, as if seeing her brother after a long absence.

“Patrick’s going to freak when he finds out you’re our silent partner.” Ken’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’m looking forward to this business as much as he is. I’m really tired of leasing cars. Talk about boring. You know we couldn’t have done this without you.”

“You guys are worth it. I have a few selfish motives of my own, too.” She chuckled. “Shall we go?”

Ken took her arm and led her up the front steps. They entered the marble foyer. She pushed the up button at the bank of elevators and snapped her fingers in nervous anticipation. The
doors whooshed open. She entered the mirrored cubicle and hummed some nondescript tune as the car whisked them up to the fifth floor.

They got off the elevator. DARNELL, FROST, HILLARD, & RUSSO greeted them, painted in gold on the glass window.

Inside the sumptuous office, a petite gray-haired lady announced visitors over the intercom. She didn’t give names. A gruff voice responded, “Send them in.”

The secretary opened the door. Ken led the way with Dana following behind. Patrick turned. Dana stepped out from behind Ken. The color drained from Patrick’s face. She was as surprised to see him, as he was to see her.

“May I introduce you to your new silent partner.” Russo winked at Dana.

It was as if Steve Russo and Ken weren’t even present. Everything became a blur. Seeing Patrick rising from his seat, standing tall and handsome, and dressed casual as usual, was all that existed in the room.

Russo cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you alone for a while. Seems you all have some catching up to do.”

He exited from the office silently and swiftly. Dana and Patrick stood frozen, staring at each other, both in shock. No one had told Dana that Patrick would be here. Neither knew the other was going to be in this office today. All Ken had said was to bring a check, come in, and sign papers. Her heart pounded like a set of bongos gone wild.

“How?” he asked.

“Joel. He surrendered. Big!”

“Why my business?”

“Because I love you and more importantly, I believe in you. When Ken told me that all you two needed
was twenty thousand dollars more to start up the consulting firm, I figured I'd get an inside track on a pretty sure investment. So you’re going to work both sides of the table now. Hmm. I wonder if we’ll have another conflict of interest.” A twinkle like she’d never seen before lit up his eyes.

Ken cleared his throat. “Hey, guys. I’m still here.” Patrick shook Ken’s hand. “Get lost. I’ll talk to you later.

“Don’t get pissed at me now. This was one secret I had to keep.” He backed out of the office with a sheepish grin on his face.

Patrick and Dana moved toward each other. He reached out. She fell into his arms.” Boy have I missed you.” He bent down and placed his lips on hers. She collapsed in his embrace. Life would be good again.

He drew back an inch from her lips. “It's good to be home.” He stepped back but didn't let go of her. “Can you trust me?”

“I think it's the other way around. Can you trust me?” She pulled away, took his hand, and walked him to the window. “See that fog? Well, that's what I’ve been walking around in for the past several months, but I've learned to navigate in that stuff since you left. “When Joel and I divorced, I lost all my faith in men. As much as I loved Gil, I didn't even trust him enough to tell him about us. Then I blamed you for getting me in trouble with him because you didn't tell me about the incident at Shaver Lake.” She started laughing. “It was Gil and Brenda waving at us.”

“You're kidding.”

“He was furious with me for not telling him.”

He grabbed her around the waist. “Come here, you beautiful, exciting woman. We can talk about all this stuff later. I want to feel you against me, feel your lips on mine one more time.” He kissed her deeply.

Her pent-up passion was too great to unleash in those few precious moments.

When he withdrew his lips, he said in a loving whisper, “Will you marry me? No questions asked?”

“Yes.” She stood on her toes to kiss the tip of his nose. “We'll work everything out, one day at a time.”

“Ah, you have come a long way. Wasn’t it ten minutes at a time?” She laughed and nodded.

“I’ve added an extension since I’ve
become more secure in how I think about time.”

“
Come with me. My daughter's in the next office.”

“You got her?”

“I did. Permanently. The judge said she was old enough to choose which parent she wanted to live with. Can you be a mother to a daughter, too?”

“Maybe a few more,
if you play your cards right.”

“You have changed.” He smiled down at her.

“Ah, life is good when all the stars are in the right places at the right time.” She sighed.