January 11, 2010 by admin
Filed under Contemporary Romance, Looking for Home, Nan Donahue
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Flipping open her phone, she keyed in his speed dial number.
“Hey, it’s me. Do you have a minute?”
“Just one. What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“I think so. I just wanted to run something by you.”
“Shoot.”
“Jonathan, the guy I’m living with…ah…I mean…”
“M, I know what you mean. Go on.”
“Well, he’s a Chartered Accountant. He’s offered to help me with the business end of starting my business. Like read my business plan—ha! As if I have one! Anyway, he’ll help. For free. I don’t really know why, but he will. Do you think I should take him up on it?”
“Do you think he has an ulterior motive?”
M chewed her lip and squinted at a pouffy cloud overhead. “No. I honestly don’t think he’s playing any games.”
“Then go for it. Those guys don’t come cheap.”
She swirled her feet for a moment before saying anything else. “Charlie?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you really think I can do this? Start a business, I mean?”
“Sweetie, I think you can do whatever you put your mind to. If this is what you really want, you’ll find a way to make it happen.”
“You’re not just saying that?”
“Come on. We’ve always been straight with each other. You know that.”
Despite her mood, M laughed. “Yeah, I do. Even when you’re pretending you’re not.”
“Har har.”
“Couldn’t resist. Anyway, thanks, Charlie. I needed to hear this. I’m not feeling too confident about myself right now. Don’t worry. I’ll explain when you have more time.”
“I’ll see that you do. Anything else?”
“No. Charlie?”
“Uh huh?”
“I wish I’d had someone like you around when I was growing up.”
“I love you too, kid. And I’m around now. That should be all that matters, dontcha think?”
He certainly had a way of slicing to the heart of a matter. “I think you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. Later, sweetie.”
“Bye, Charlie.”
Charlie was right. She spent far too much time mired it the—well, mire—of her past. She needed to break that destructive cycle and focus on her present. Her future.
She’d only been in Toronto since yesterday, and so far it had been an experience fraught with varying degrees of anguish, but for some reason she was more determined than ever to make this work.
Did Jonathan Davenport have something to do with it? What alluring quality did he possess, making her forget all reason?
The man who’d answered the door yesterday had been cold, aloof. And okay, maybe that made sense. Things were different in the big city. You opened your door to a stranger with a degree of caution. And she really couldn’t fault him for his prudence since inviting her into his home. She tried to imagine letting an unknown have compete freedom to roam in her private space and knew she’d have a hard time with it.
Since then, she’d seen the opposite side of him, and she had to admit to being enthralled. Against her will, of course.
So, what was the attraction? Certainly, his relationship with his sister made a huge impression. Watching a man in his thirties relate to his five year old sister made her heart ache. In her opinion, the way you treated children said a lot about you. Oh sure, there were probably loads of people who were monsters on some level, while being kind to kids and animals, but she didn’t believe that to be the case here.
Given what her sister had done to his family, his treatment of her so far amazed M. He’d been willing to overlook a lot, and ask her into his home.
And the way he treated Mrs Brickman. He obviously didn’t view her as merely the hired help. He treated her with respect and a huge dose of affection. And concern showed in his eyes as the followed her slow movement around the house. M had seen him kiss the older woman’s cheek, as well as give her loving squeeze. Those two obviously had more than an employer/employee relationship.
His offer of assistance amazed her. He’d done so much already. Oh sure, he would get something out of this deal too. She knew her being here wasn’t all about him being kind and helpful to a stranger in need. And despite the family connection, that’s exactly what she was. A stranger.
As a CA, he stood at the top of the accountant pile. Surely his services didn’t come cheap.
She’d read somewhere that a lot of professions in Canada faced dwindling numbers. Since the baby boomer generation had hit retirement age, the number of professionals were falling off at an alarming rate. That has to cause some fierce competition among the ranks. If you were good at what you did—and she had no doubt Jonathan Davenport would be at the top of any class—you could likely pick and choose your clients and charge anything you wanted. You didn’t go around offering your services free of charge.
M clenched her toes and halted the motion of her feet in the water. The tranquility of the evening, the sound of the waterfall, and the rustling, twilight breeze, had done their job—almost—and moved her thoughts from an angst ridden past, to a quiet thoughtfulness about her present and future.
Thoughts of Jonathan moved her from a place of lazy reflection to somewhere where the soft glide of water on her feet and legs became akin to the sensual caress of a lover’s hands on her flesh.
How—why—did he churn her up this way? He hadn’t been overt in any way. Sure, he paid attention to her, watched her as if he was a biologist and she was some foreign organism sitting in his Petri dish.
With nothing more than a searing look from those pale green eyes, he could warm—warm? Ha, he could start a conflagration—her insides in a way no man ever had. Even the man she thought she’d marry. The intensity of it frightened her. Her life needed to be about remaining in control. Because who knew the ramifications of losing control? Where could the destructive influence of the fires he started lead her?
And why did she have to be so negative? Why naturally assume this emotion could be destructive? Maybe she had the chance at something good—great even—for once her in life.
Ha. Not. Time to get real M. You’re negative because in some sick way you really are a product of your environment. This is all about learned behaviour. Life has taught you that as far as you’re concerned, it only has the negative to offer. Get over it.
No. Don’t get over it. Change it!
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Thanks to Nan Donahue for sharing one of her manuscripts.
