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  “I think I’ll carry my things back to my room and shed a few layers of clothing,” she said.

  “Mind if I come along for some girl talk?” Erica fell in behind her.

  Sabina soon discovered Erica wanted more than idle chatter. “I’ve thought about what you said. Tell me about your job.”

  Later, Sabina wondered how Chad could be oblivious to his cousin’s obsession with taking over Calico. The girl already knew more about the work, the rules and regulations, and management than some people already in the business. All Erica needed was schooling and experience.

  “I’m can’t encourage you, Erica. You’ll meet Chad head on over this.” She cared more than she’d thought possible. “I don’t want to be the cause of a family uproar.” Or your disappointment if Chad sells Calico.

  “You mean you don’t want Chad to think you encouraged me.” Erica sent her mentor a sparkling glance. “He’s totally hung up on you. Do you think he worried about my neck yesterday? Fat chance! He was shaken right down to his steel-toes over you. He wasn’t afraid the state would take revenge. That was just a good excuse.”

  Careful to control her expression, Sabina said firmly, “You’re reading things into this, Erica.”

  “Cop-out, Sabina. You two are wired whenever you’re together. Chad could’ve called last night about schedules. There’s a telephone over there on the table. I think he came because he thought he’d get a `fix’ from the sight of you,” she said, grinning cheekily.

  The humor of the situation struck Sabina and she giggled. She still wasn’t accustomed to open discussions of private lives. “I . . . I’m not used to such bluntness, Erica.”

  “You’ll learn. I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot of you around here.”

  A loud thump on the door of the tiny apartment rescued Sabina from further embarrassment. “Come in!” she called, unwilling to drag herself from the depths of the couch.

  Sock forced his way through the opening, wriggling in ecstasy as he threw himself on Erica’s reclining figure. Chad followed, looking rested and pleased with the world in general. “This is a textbook March blizzard. Either of you want to bet the roads will be clear by noon tomorrow?”

  Sabina looked at her watch. Had she and Erica been talking two hours? The blanket of white outside had wrapped them in a silent cocoon where time was suspended.

  “I need volunteers to bring in firewood. Aunt Clara’s unearthing the popcorn popper and baking beans. We’re going to roast hot dogs.” Chad sounded as enthusiastic as a small boy looking forward to a day off from school.

  Light dawned in Sabina’s mind as Erica set off in search of her coat and boots. “You’re enjoying this too much. Did you suspect the storm would arrive so soon?”

  “The signs were there if you knew what to look for. Aunt Clara could have told you, if you’d asked.”

  “You missed the game just so you could get snowed in?”

  He didn’t even have the grace to blush. His little boy grin was disarming. “They’ll win tonight. I’ll see an even better game next week in the quarter semifinals, but the chance to be snowbound with you won’t turn up again, at least this winter.”

  Before Sabina could recover from his frankness, Clara spoke from behind him. “The boy’s always been too ornery to live with honest folk.” She eased past him, a fat satin bundle in her arms. “I brought you this comforter in case the ‘lectricity goes off.”

  “Aunt Clara, if that happens we’ll have to huddle in front of the fire for warmth. I personally volunteer to make sure Sabina doesn’t get chilled,” Chad said.

  Reaching for the comforter, Sabina frowned at him. “I prefer this, thank you. After the way you tricked me into being stuck here, I certainly wouldn’t count on you to behave.”

  “Met your match, nephew.” Clara said before she bustled back to her kitchen.

  “Are you my match, Sabina?”

  The light question belied the seriousness in his eyes. The walls of the room felt as if they were closing in, and Sabina struggled against the tug of his voice.

  “Are we going out for wood or not?” Erica demanded from the dining room.

  The spell broken, Sabina pushed past him. “You two bring it to the door and I’ll carry it to the fireplace. I’m not going back out into that mess again.”

  “Fair enough,” Erica said. “Chad and I’ll bring the wood to the service porch. Put it in that tin wash tub in the den.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Later, Chad lounged to one side of the fire, pretending exhaustion from building the fire and watching Sabina’s graceful movements as she set out food.

  “Put the radio on, Gran. The game starts in five minutes.” Erica said, nearly dropping the meat in the fire in her excitement. “I hope Daniel makes so many baskets tonight the Celtics recruit him straight from high school.”

  “Don’t get so het up. Last week he couldn’t hit Lake Erie with a broom,” Clara said.

  Chad located the local station while the others filled their plates and settled about the room. It seemed natural, once he’d collected his own meal, to lower himself next to Sabina where she curled against a big cushion. The heady scent of jasmine blended with the piercing sweetness of the burning apple wood.

  Sabina watched the flickering shadows of the flames on the paneled walls. There had been a beautiful fireplace in the home in which she’d grown up; she remembered fires during the holidays. Early each January her mother had removed the ashes and scrubbed the grate. “This is wonderful. My mother said soot and sparks made a mess. I must have been sixteen before I realized you could make a fire whenever you felt like it.”

  “We have fires for no reason at all, even in July, if it’s cool,” Erica said, as if unable to comprehend otherwise.

  Sabina’s admission was no surprise to Chad. Her passion for rules and regulations had to come from somewhere. But whatever her past, Sabina had merged into his family as if she’d lived with them all her life. “Quiet. There’s the tossup.”

  By halftime Daniel had scored fifteen points. “This is no contest. We’re ahead by twenty points. I told you next week’s game would be more of a challenge,” Chad exulted.

  Erica eyed him slyly. “You act as if you’d planned the storm so you could keep Sabina here.”

  Clara’s laughter completed Sabina’s embarrassment. Even as her cheeks flamed she realized there was no malice involved in the affectionate teasing, and Chad was laughing in response. He had edged closer, and she felt mirth shake his body.

  “You’re just mad school was dismissed before the booster bus could leave,” Chad teased.

  “No, I’m jealous because I have to watch you romance Sabina.”

  “Hush, child.” Clara raised the radio’s volume. “The second half’s ‘bout t’ start.”

  The outcome of the game was never in doubt, nor was the winner of the poker game which followed. Chad had a mountain of chips, while the others nursed several small stacks. “Too bad we’re not playing for money, or even pieces of clothing,” he said smugly. He gathered the colorful plastic heap from the middle of the table with a careless gesture, his eyes golden and teasing.

  “What a thing to say to your aunt!” Clara’s eyes sparkled.

  “Why, Aunt Clara, you’re a good looking woman. Jonas mentioned it just the other day. Should I ask his intentions?”

  Though her color heightened, Clara protested his statement. “That Jonas. If you’re goin’ t’ make up stories, I’d best get on up t’ bed. I hope Daniel can get home tomorrow.”

  Obeying the hint in Chad’s eye, Erica yawned widely. “I’m going up too, Gran. Why does doing nothing make a person tired?”

  “Close the draft before you come up, Chad. Don’t keep Sabina up too late.”

  Chad’s hand shot out, staying Sabina’s attempt to rise. “Don’t worry about a thing, Aunt. I’ll even tuck her in.” He flinched as Sabina’s shoe made contact with his shin.

  Wrenching her arm free from Chad’s
warm fingers, Sabina said, “If you leave him here with me, you may have to bandage his wounds in the morning.”

  “He’s always been able to tend to himself, dear.” The words floated back over Clara’s shoulder.

  “I love bloodshed and violence. Can I stay and watch?” Erica asked.

  “Go to bed, brat,”

  Sabina wanted to run. The evening had been a delight; she couldn’t remember laughing so much. Now Chad’s firm declaration of intent and Clara’s unexpected aiding and abetting made her nervous.

  Chad rose from the card table and wrapped his warm fingers around her wrist. He tugged her to her feet. “No need to panic. I just want to talk, and maybe snuggle a little bit, until the fire dies down. This is a good night for snuggling, and it may be my last chance for a while. The snow’s stopped.”

  “Do you think I’ll be able to get home tomorrow?”

  He framed her face with his hands, looking at her intently. “Are you really that eager to leave?”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know.” Her eyelids fell, the spread of lashes dark against her cheek.

  “What’s waiting for you that’s better than this?” Chad brushed his lips over her forehead.

  When she failed to respond, he grazed lower, inhaling her fragrance. Each touch of his lips was like a tiny shock. Sabina pulled her face away and buried her face against his chest.

  Chad looked down at the curving bell of hair which separated above the slender column of her neck. He bent forward to kiss her exposed nape.

  He staggered backward as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him deeply.

  It was Chad who broke the kiss. Not in his aunt’s house. For the first time, Chad realized his midwestern morality was alive and healthy.

  His movement startled Sabina, and she moved from his embrace. “I . . . I don’t know what came over me. Let me go, Chad. Please.”

  Sabina freed herself and he reached for her, clasping her chin lightly. “Sweetheart, I don’t know why you’re apologizing. I’ve never been kissed like that before in my life.”

  She said seriously, “I . . . never give in to impulse. In fact, I’ve never had an impulse like that.”

  Chad smoothed the worried frown from the smooth expanse of her forehead. “Then maybe it’s time you did.”

  “There was something about the way you kissed my neck. Do you know no one ever did that before? Not even my fiancé.”

  An ingrained self-protective instinct made Chad pull away as he spoke. “Your fiancé”

  “Oh, not any more. Not for over six years.” Sabina said. “What if I’d said I was still engaged and that he was a bad-tempered professional football player?”

  Chad threw his arm around her shoulder, drew her to his side, and led her into the cozy den. A hissing bed of embers playing counterpoint to the moaning wind outside. “I’d have been hunting my passport and a plane ticket to Siberia. We have to talk.” He sat her firmly at one end of the couch and placed himself at the other end, leaving the middle cushion to serve as chaperon. “There’s nothing sinful about kissing. I’ve always enjoyed it.”

  “I don’t know what came over me.” Sabina said seriously, as if pondering her uncharacteristic behavior.

  “I want to know more about you. This evening is the first time you’ve let out more than a peep about yourself. On the other hand, you probably know enough about me and my family to write a book.” He slid the base of his spine to the edge of the couch, stretching his legs toward the fire. “You have a brother. Where did you grow up?”

  Sabina’s mind went blank. Then she stammered, “In . . . in Golden, Colorado.”

  “There, that was easy, wasn’t it? Are your parents still there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where’s your brother?”

  “Jack’s in Bangor, Maine.” She smiled before adding, “We both moved far away. My parents don’t seem to notice.”

  “Do you keep in touch?” Chad asked curiously. He spoke with his own parents in Phoenix several times a week. They picked up the telephone as casually as if the other person lived on the opposite side of town.

  Sabina’s voice was devoid of emotion. “Mother calls every month or six weeks. She and Dad are immersed in their careers. Neither of them writes letters.” She knew he couldn’t comprehend that kind of relationship. Would he believe she had never before thought it unnatural? “Jack and I keep up with each other. We’ve always been close,” she added defensively.

  Translation: You’re all either of you have.. No wonder she was so prickly and independent. She’d never known anything different . . . unless . . . “What about your ex-fiancé?”

  She lifted both hands, running them through her hair and lifting it above her head. The shining strands returned obediently to a smooth bell. She sighed. “I was always idealistic. Causes and issues, like conservation, attracted me, maybe because we talked about them at home.

  “I made friends with people who felt the same way. We protested . . . or whatever we felt had to be done. John and I became good friends. After graduation, it seemed logical to plan marriage, so we could continue to make a difference. We were very idealistic,” she defended.

  His gaze fixed on the ceiling, Chad nodded encouragingly. He supported numerous worthwhile causes, and he had seen the zealous intensity of those who lived their beliefs. Perhaps if he hadn’t, at an early age, accepted responsibility for the people who depended upon him for their livelihood, he might have been the same.

  Sabina was grateful he wasn’t looking at her. She couldn’t explain her broken engagement face to face. “We used different approaches. He was an activist, catching the public eye. I wanted to work within the system. He was gone more and more, sometimes even in jail. I . . . didn’t even miss him.” She swallowed nervously. “There wasn’t any magic.” The sentence flew from her lips before she could stop it.

  Sabina glanced sideways to assure herself Chad was still inspecting the ceiling for possible cracks. “In the end, I realized we wouldn’t have much of a marriage.”

  There. She’d said it. Jack had never liked John, and had made no secret of his estimate of her intelligence for considering marrying such a loser. She risked another sideways glance.

  His head propped in the wing of the couch, Chad was staring at her as if he’d never seen her before. It was several moments before he spoke, and when he did his voice was the dangerously quiet level she’d heard the day before when he’d dissected Jonas for allowing her to drive the front-end loader.

  “Let me get this straight. That wimp neglected you. He disappeared on little jaunts where he expended what little emotion he had on protests. I suppose when he came home he blamed you for anything that went wrong?”

  She glared at him. “I did figure out the problem before I did anything serious, like marry him! Not every family in the world is like yours. I’m not accustomed to people who really care about each other. They even seem to care about me.”

  “Why not? Is there something wrong with you? That selfish . . . He really did a number on you, didn’t he.”

  Where was the cool, analytical thinking she prided herself on? She couldn’t admit Chad unsettled her so completely she was ready to bite her fingernails. “I’m here to inspect Calico, so I expected everyone to be distant. Instead, they treat me as if they’ve known me forever.”

  She frowned. “I could get in big trouble for becoming involved with you. It might look as if one of us were trying to . . . to subvert the other.”

  “The attraction between us is real. There’s no reason we shouldn’t see if there’s something more, now that your inspection is finished.” He reached for her hand, capturing it as she tried to pull away from him.

  Sabina shrank into the pillows at her back. The more than talked, the more confused she became.

  He remained where he was, his eye alight with skepticism. “You horrified poor Jonas yesterday when you showed up at the office. He watched you take off that `city�
�� coat and snap on your chains. Your efficiency gave him such a fright he called the site to hedge his bets. You switched gears on him too fast, but you’re not too fast for me.”

  “He called me `Missy.’ If he’d been younger I’d have punched out his lights.”

  Chad’s grin widened. “Why didn’t you do that to me when you realized I fudged on the weather report?”

  “By the time I knew, I wasn’t as eager to leave.” She ducked, knowing he would lunge for her, then rolled beneath his arm and slid to the floor. “That was a major mistake. I should have been on the road before you got here this morning.”

  She didn’t rise quickly enough. Chad levered himself off the couch in one fluid movement, landing next to her. His arm anchored her to the braided rug and he kissed her. She felt the solid thud of his heart.

  The power of her response astonished her. His eyes, deep amber, dancing with deviltry, were inches from her own. Sabina couldn’t look away. When his strong fingers finally threaded through her hair to cup the back of her head, he whispered softly, “Don’t look so scared. I haven’t done anything yet.”

  “So the man says,” she murmured before he kissed her again.

  “Smile for me.”

  Confused, she stared at him blankly.

  “I said smile. Please?”

  Sabina smiled.

  “That sneaky dimple of yours is . . .”

  “Woof!”

  The sound brought Sabina back to reality. Sock advanced several paces into the room to repeat his demand. There was no doubt of his need.

  Chad groaned and rested his forehead briefly against Sabina’s shoulder before raising his head and looking ruefully into Sabina’s eyes. “He wants out. Now. I know that bark.”

  Sabina looked at Chad’s tousled hair glinting gold in the dying firelight. Regret, mixed with near-relief at the interruption, filled her. “You’d better let him out. I . . . should turn in.”

  He stood, holding out his hand to help her to her feet. “Maybe you better. Sleep well. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  * * * *

  “Time to rise, Sunshine!”