Love Is Patient and A Heart's Refuge (2 page)

“Mother, that’s not necessary.”

“I know you, Dylan. You’ll come alone like you always do.”

The slight edge in his mother’s voice told him how serious she was about this. And what was in store for him if he didn’t show up with someone. Anyone.

Dylan had sat through tough negotiations with rival companies, bluffed his way through contract negotiations with suppliers, all without losing his self-control. But his mother’s desire to see him wed was an immovable force against which he had bumped time after time.

His headache grew with each passing moment. Showing up without somebody,
anybody,
to create a buffer between his mother, his sisters and his sisters’ friends would create a nightmare.

Lisa took the signed letters from him.

“Excuse me a moment, Mother,” he said. He looked up at his secretary. “Just wait, Lisa. I need to go over a few things with you.”

“Oh, my goodness,” he heard his mother say over the phone. “I’m sorry, Dylan. I didn’t realize you were busy.”

Dylan smiled at Lisa in apology for taking up her time. And gave her a second look. Her curly blond hair was tamed today, pulled back from her face in an intricate arrangement of pins. Funky without looking too offbeat. Her soft brown eyes were framed by thick lashes. Her high cheekbones were softened by the dimples lurking at the corners of her mouth. She smiled back, releasing the dimples.

And he felt a faint stirring of attraction.

Was he crazy? Hadn’t he learned his lesson from Felicia?

“Well, then, we’ll be seeing you Thursday evening?” his mother was asking.

Dylan pulled himself back to the reality of his mother and the conversation they were having.

“Of course,” he said, leaning back in his chair.

“And your father really needs to talk to you about the business.”

“I thought the problem with that accountant was dealt with.”

“Not completely, I guess.”

Lisa suddenly bent to gather the papers on his desk, then pointed over her shoulder at her office. He nodded. He could talk to her later. No telling how long his mother wanted to chat.

Then, as Lisa straightened, her eyes caught his, her gaze intent. And once again a frisson of awareness tingled through him.

Lisa usually avoided his gaze. Made minimal eye
contact. As the door closed behind her, he wondered what had caused the change.

“Come as soon as you can, Dylan. Your father really needs to have you around.” Stephanie paused, as if hoping Dylan would fill the momentary silence. But he wouldn’t bite. If his father wanted him around, Alex could phone and say so himself. But he never did. “You take care of yourself, son,” his mother was saying. “Love you.”

Dylan echoed his mother’s reply, then said goodbye. As he hung up, his eyes fell on the desk calendar his mother had given him. It was a pad with a Bible verse for every day. He hadn’t looked at it for a month.

Yet he was looking at today’s date. And today’s verse. Maybe Lisa had kept it current.

Idly he turned the calendar toward him to read it better. “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him” was the verse for the day. And that was just the trouble, wasn’t it? His father’s continuing compassion for one child in particular. Ted.

Charming, exuberant, unreliable Ted.

When Alex Matheson had approached Dylan five years ago to quit his successful job with a marketing firm and join Matheson Telecom, it was with the tantalizing promise that Dylan would be taking over the head office in Vancouver.

But when the time had come, his brother, Ted, had been given the reins of the company instead, with no explanation on his father’s part. Dylan, angry with his father’s betrayal of trust, had left to take over the
Toronto branch of Matheson Telecom. He’d lost himself in his work, determined to prove his worth.

Since then the two of them spoke only when necessary.

The Toronto branch had done well, but Dylan chafed at the restraints put on him by his brother and father in the head office. When Dylan saw his father wasn’t going to change anything, he started making his own plans and grooming Perry Hatcher to take over.

Dylan pushed away from his desk and strode to the window looking out over the Toronto harbor. He used to have a sailboat docked there, just a small sloop, but setting up this branch of the company took up all his extra time. That it was now more successful than the Vancouver branch was bittersweet proof to his father that Alex Matheson had made a mistake.

Now his father wanted him to come back and clean up behind Ted. And his mother wanted him to come with an escort. If he didn’t, he would have to spend the entire visit home avoiding his sisters and their friends.

This wasn’t going to be much of a holiday after all, he thought with a light sigh.

Lisa closed the door behind her and slowly blew out a shaky breath.

When Dylan had mentioned “accountant,” her heart had plunged. She was sure he was talking about Gabe. And she was also sure from the way he’d looked at her that guilt had been written all over her face. What if he found out about her connection to Gabe?

She didn’t know how he could. She and Gabe had
different last names. When she had filled in the paperwork for employment she hadn’t marked the box asking if any family members worked for Matheson Telecom. Gabe had already been fired, so technically he wasn’t working for the company anymore.

She was too jumpy, that was all. If she wanted to help Gabe, she’d have to perfect her innocent look.

Trouble was, Gabe’s phone calls were starting to frighten her. He had called again just last night, angry and frustrated.

She had tried to reason with him not to quit his current job as a salesclerk. But he was feeling depressed and wondering why he should bother doing honest work when his employer didn’t believe him.

Thankfully he had settled down when she’d told him that she was working for Matheson Telecom. That she would get to the bottom of what had happened. Gabe just needed to be patient.

Patience wasn’t Gabe’s strength. Ever since they’d been put into foster care after their parents died Lisa had watched out for Gabe. When she’d graduated from high school she got a job and an apartment and applied to have Gabe move in with her. Thankfully, Social Services had agreed.

In high school Gabe had started hanging out with a bad crowd. After a close brush with the law, Lisa had pulled him away from this rowdy group of boys, scared that Social Services might separate them. She had put her own life on hold to take care of him. To give him a chance. His graduation from college with a degree in accounting had been a celebration for
Lisa and a validation of all the sacrifices she had made for him.

Now he sounded as if he was going to throw away everything she had done for him unless Lisa could find a way to clear his name. She had to find a way to get to Vancouver, she thought. Had to find a way to help him. He was the only family she had now.

Settling down in front of her computer, she opened the most recent file and began typing, her fingers still trembling from the close call a few moments earlier. The routine of the work slowly eased her jitters, so that when Dylan emerged from his office at the end of the day she was fully in control.

He stopped in front of her desk, dominating the space with his presence. His tie was loosened, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, giving him a casually vulnerable air. “I wanted to ask you if you’ve got that spreadsheet done.”

Lisa looked up at him, her secretary smile in place. “Almost, Mr. Matheson. So if you want to wait a moment, I can show you the sales figures.”

“Please, just Dylan.” He scratched his forehead with an index finger, looking hesitant. “It’s past five o’clock. Why are you still here?”

Because she was hoping to look through some more files when he was gone. She had so little time with Dylan still around. She was starting to feel a little panicky. In less than a month he would be gone, and she still hadn’t found anything substantial.

“Just like to get done.”

“Very dedicated.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his head tilted to one side as he looked at her.

“Is there something else you wanted?” she asked, her heart kicking up shards of guilt. She just wanted him to go.

He sat down in the chair across from her desk, as if he was settling in for a chat. “Yes. I want to stay here and avoid my sister’s wedding and my parents’ anniversary.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Lisa was surprised at his sudden disclosure. In the past week he had been polite, but a bit distant. Just the way she liked it.

“Because if I go, my mother is going to play matchmaker and I’m going to end up trying to avoid yet another sweet but boring young lady.” Dylan sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.

“Why don’t you find someone yourself?”

“I should,” Dylan said heavily. “But I’m going to be so busy with company business while I’m there that anyone I take would be sitting around while I dealt with that.”

An impulse jumped into her mind. She needed to get to Vancouver. In less than a month Dylan, and her one solid connection to the Matheson company, was going to be gone. It was the perfect opportunity, and before she could even think about it, she spoke. “I could go with you. Help you with your father’s problem. Pose as your girlfriend. Could cover two things in one easy solution.”

Dylan’s head snapped up. He stared at her a moment, then nodded, a grin crawling along his lips. “You know, that would be a great idea. I think it could work just perfectly.”

Lisa beat down a flurry of nerves.

Vancouver. Already.

She didn’t want to think about the implications of attending the wedding as Dylan’s escort. She’d deal with that as it came. For now, she’d have an opportunity to meet his family. And maybe, just maybe, his work would involve the conversation he’d had with his mother in his office this morning. Things were starting to come together quite nicely.

“I’ll have to phone my mom and tell her,” Dylan said, pushing himself to his feet.

Lisa frowned. “Tell her what?”

“To make up an extra bedroom. I usually stay at my parents’ place.”

Sleeping with the enemy. Lisa pulled in a steadying breath. “Okay. I’ll let you arrange that, then.” Lisa turned back to her computer, quelling a sudden rush of nerves. This was a good thing, she reminded herself. Staying at the Matheson house would bring her closer to the family and any potential source of information.

“One more thing, Lisa.”

She turned to him, her smile cautious.

“Pack something dressy for the wedding and the anniversary party.” Dylan gave her a crooked smile, then left.

Second thoughts swirled through her mind as Dylan closed the door behind him. With each request he made she felt pushed into an ever-shrinking corner.

What had she done? Bad enough that she was working for him under false pretenses. Now she was going to Vancouver burdened with even more.

Don’t think about it. You’re doing this all because of Gabe.

And staying that close to Dylan?

That thought crept into the part of her mind that couldn’t help acknowledging Dylan’s appeal. His good looks.

She quashed the idea ruthlessly. Dylan was her boss. And part of the company that had falsely accused her brother.

And if she didn’t want a repeat of Tony, she would do well to keep her professional distance.

T
he runway flew past her window. Lisa’s exhilaration built with the speed of the plane. Then she was pressed back against the seat as the front of the plane lifted off the ground, the city of Toronto dropping away from them.

Point of no return.

Anxiety trembled through Lisa. No time for second thoughts. She was on her way.

Lisa glanced at her seatmate. Dylan casually thumbed through a magazine as if he was sitting in his living room rather than within a thousand tons of steel hurtling through the air.

When Lisa had phoned Gabe to tell him she was coming to Vancouver, his skepticism had fed her nervousness and planted the seeds of second thoughts.

She shook them off. If she was careful, there was no reason the Mathesons or Dylan should discover her plan. And if she was right, her actions would be vindicated.

And how do you fit this with the promise you made in Dylan’s office? To go to church if you got this job?

Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do.
The thought slipped into her mind, ringing with clarity. Gabe’s father used to laughingly quote this passage from the Old Testament laws whenever Lisa made one of her many extravagant promises.

Lisa and her mother didn’t go to church until Trish met and married Gabe’s father. Rick Haskell introduced Lisa and Trish to church. And God. They went regularly and Lisa attended Bible classes, eagerly absorbing the teachings.

But after the accident that killed Lisa’s mother and Gabe’s father, Lisa’s faith took a blow. She didn’t trust God, and neither she nor Gabe had attended church since.

Dylan glanced up and caught her gaze. “How are you doing?”

“Good.” She looked away, out the window at the patchwork of fields and roads spread out below her, pushing her doubts and her guilt aside. “This is quite a rush. Flying.”

“You don’t fly often?”

Lisa quelled her embarrassment. “Actually, this is my maiden flight.”

Dylan was silent, and she couldn’t help looking over to check his reaction.

His gray-blue eyes held hers, his mouth pulled up in a half smile. “You’ve never flown before?”

“I know it’s an anomaly in this peripatetic age, but no, I’ve never flown before.”

“Well then, we’re even.” His half smile was full-blown now, crinkling the corners of his eyes, softening the austerity of his features.

Lisa frowned. “How do you figure that?”

“I’ve never heard words like
anomaly
and
peripatetic
used in the same sentence.”

She laughed. “Sorry. That’s a holdover from a game I used to play with my stepfather and…” Just in time she caught herself from saying Gabe’s name. “And he used to challenge me to find unusual words,” she amended, stifling her beating heart. “Then use them as often as possible in one day.”

“Where is your stepfather now?”

“He died ten years ago.”

“And your mother?”

“She died at the same time.” The flicker of sorrow caught her by surprise. It had been a long time since anyone had asked about her parents. A long time since anyone had cared.

“I’m sorry to hear that. You must have been about fifteen when that happened. Where did you go then?”

“Foster home.” She looked down at her hands, twined tightly on her lap. Each question of Dylan’s probed places in her life that still felt painfully tender, even after all the years. And they created a discomfort she wanted to deflect. Well offense was the best defense. “What about your family? What are they like? Busy? Happy? I guess I should know, if I’m supposed to be attending as your escort.”

Dylan held her gaze, his expression intent. As if he knew she was avoiding his questions. But thankfully
he simply smiled and rubbed his chin. “My parents’ names are Stephanie and Alex Matheson. Married thirty-five years.”

“Hold on a minute.” Lisa pulled a pad of paper and a pen out of her briefcase. “I think I might need to write this down.”

“Always the secretary,” murmured Dylan.

“That is my job, Mr. Matheson,” she said, scribbling down his parents’ names.

A strong finger pressed down on her pad of paper, catching her attention.

“Since you’re also my escort slash girlfriend, it would look better if you called me Dylan.” He smiled again, his eyes holding hers.

Lisa couldn’t look away. She could lose herself in those eyes. More gray now, soft and inviting.

She blinked, breaking the insidious spell he seemed to be weaving.

“Okay.” She tossed him a smile, then looked back down at the pad of paper. “You mentioned your parents. Tell me about the rest of your family.”

“They’re just family. You’ll meet them one at a time.”

“And I’ll forget them the same way. A computer I’m not.”

Dylan shrugged, and Lisa sensed in him the same reticence she had just displayed. For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to say anything.

“My mother’s name is Stephanie, as I said, and she doesn’t stand on formality, either. My father is Alex. Tiffany is younger than me and looks the most like me,” he said. “She’s married to Arnold. They have two
children, Justin and Tammy. Chelsea is twenty-five, pretty, but then I’m prejudiced. It’s her wedding we’ll be attending. After her come twin sisters, Erika and Amber, unmarried, with more single girlfriends than Solomon had wives. Sometimes they live at home, sometimes they rent an apartment downtown. I’m not sure what it is this month.”

“Sounds like you’re a very lucky man.” Lisa couldn’t keep the light note of envy from her voice. “All those sisters.”

“I also have a brother. Ted.”

Lisa looked up from her scribbling, her heart skipping at the sound of his brother’s name. The man who had fired Gabe. “And where is he?”

“Ted is married to Dara. He is a partner with my father in the company.” His hands, clutching the armrests of his seat, betrayed the emotion his voice and expression held back. Then he glanced at her, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. “And that’s my family.”

Lisa put the pad of paper away and looked out the window, sensing they weren’t going to be talking much anymore. It seemed they both had their secrets.

“I called my mother, and she’s expecting us for supper,” Dylan said, slipping his cell phone into his briefcase.

“Supper?” Lisa’s heart did a slow flip in her chest. “Already?”

“I guess they’re anxious to meet you,” he said with a sardonic lift of his mouth.

Lisa stifled another attack of nerves as they walked
to the gleaming row of rental cars, their footsteps echoing hollowly in the concrete car park. “Wow, meeting parents,” she said lightly as Dylan unlocked the trunk of the car. “Something else to add to my ‘things I’ve never done before’ file.”

“No boyfriends you dated that wanted you to meet Mom and Dad?” Dylan asked, dropping their suitcases into the back.

“No parents to reciprocate.”

Dylan held her gaze, his expression growing serious. “I’m sorry. That was unforgivable. I had forgotten.”

“It’s okay. With your family you probably can’t imagine someone going it alone in the world.” She didn’t want to sound whiney and hoped her flippant tone would put him at ease.

“So how long has it been since you’ve been back home?” Lisa asked when they were settled in the car.

“About half a year.” Dylan glanced over his shoulder as he reversed the car out of the parking lot. “I usually go home more. My sisters and my mother have come to visit me a few times in Toronto.”

“So what’s been keeping you away this time?”

Dylan’s only response was a shrug. Another mystery.

He switched lanes, sped up and switched again, the traffic becoming more congested and busier as they entered the canyon of buildings in the downtown core.

Then buildings fell away, trees loomed ahead and within seconds they were speeding through silent, dark woods.

“Is this Stanley Park?” she asked, twisting in her seat to get a closer look at the decades-old trees forming
a lush canopy above and beyond. “Right in the middle of the city like this?”

“One of Vancouver’s true beauties,” Dylan said. “You could spend a couple of days just walking around this park.”

“I might have to try that someday,” Lisa said, trying to take in the size of the trees, the depth of the forest. It looked cool, inviting. Secretive.

A young couple walked along one of the paths, pushing a stroller, a younger child in shorts and a T-shirt bouncing ahead of them. Sunlight filtered through the trees, dappling their figures. A family.

Lisa watched them, turning her head as they fell behind, envy surprising her. Then Dylan rounded a curve and they were hidden from view.

She turned, watching the approaching bridge, the two lions guarding the entrance. Suspension wires swept gracefully between two pillars. The bridge went on, higher and longer. Far below them she saw large ships and barges pulled by squat tugboats. Sailboats fluttered amongst them like ballet dancers weaving through a pack of wrestlers.

She craned her neck to see better, watching as the boats slipped through the water. “What a beautiful sight.”

“Ever sail before?” Dylan asked.

Lisa shook her head. “Never.”

“I’ll have to take you in the family’s boat if we have time.”

“Your family has its own sailboat?”

Dylan threw her a puzzled frown. “Yes.”

The tone in his voice implied an “of course.” As if it
was the most natural thing in the world for a family to own something as luxurious as their own boat. Lisa had never even owned her own car until she had paid off Gabe’s and her student loans. And that car was a fourth- or maybe even fifth-hand beater.

Sailboats, in her mind, were equated with the very upper class. A group of people who moved in a world far beyond her everyday reality.

She swallowed down a flutter of nerves.

Dylan followed the freeway, bordered, as well, by trees. He swung off onto an exit and soon they were climbing another hill, the road twisting back on itself. The higher they went, the more expansive the view behind them and the larger the homes.

When Dylan finally turned into a curved driveway bordered by a stone fence, Lisa couldn’t help but stare at the sight that greeted her. The house soared three stories above her, all glass and lines and cantilevered levels. A glassed-in balcony swept along the front, following the curve of the huge bow window that broke the austere lines of the house. The same balcony was echoed one floor below, but smaller. The entire building was a stark white against the deep green of the cedar trees surrounding it on two sides, dark and mysterious.

“Ugly, isn’t it?” Dylan said dryly as he parked in front of one of the doors of a four-car garage. “The house, I mean. Mom has always dreamed of designing and building her own home. So my father bought this lot, and found a contractor willing to work with Mom. Together they created this monstrosity.”

“It’s very impressive,” she said cautiously.

“Mom paid for impressive. You’ll have to tell her so.”

“If it’s something she designed herself, then it’s amazing.”

Dylan looked down at her, his expression softening. A faint smile crawled across his lips, deepening the line that ran from his nose to one corner of his mouth. “Tell her that and she’ll fall in love with you,” he said.

Lisa couldn’t look away and he didn’t. Love? From a mother? That had been a while, she thought with a twinge of sorrow. And what would your mother say about the deception you’re playing now?

She pushed the thought resolutely aside and was about to get out of the car when Dylan laid his hand on her arm. She pulled back.

“If we’re supposed to be together, you might want to avoid avoiding me like that,” Dylan said with a faint smile.

“Sorry.” Lisa felt silly. It was just a casual touch, yet it had sent a tingle up her arm.

“I feel I should warn you about a few things before we go in. I have never brought any of my girlfriends home to meet my parents yet. The fact that I’m bringing you here will make them suspicious. And when my sisters and mother get suspicious, they get nosy. I hope to head them off when possible, but don’t be surprised if they ask you a bunch of questions.”

“Like how we met?”

“We’ll tell them we met at work.”

He sighed lightly, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

“I’m guessing there’s more?” Lisa said, prompting him.

“Yes. Every time I’ve mentioned a girl to them they always ask me if she’s a Christian.” He waved his hand as if dismissing their concerns. “Don’t be surprised if that comes up somewhere in the conversation. I know we’re technically not ‘together,’ but they don’t know that.”

“Don’t worry. I think I can handle myself.”

“That’s what I was hoping. I’ll get the suitcases.”

Lisa gave him a bright smile, which faded as she got out of the car. Deeper and deeper, she thought with a flash of panic.

It’s just a game, she reminded herself. Just a game.

She took a deep breath and followed Dylan up the stone walkway to the main entrance of the house.

The double oak doors at the top burst open and two young women launched themselves at Dylan. He dropped the suitcases just as they grabbed him.

“Dylan, you came.”

“We’ve been waiting and waiting.”

“Chelsea thought you wouldn’t show.”

“How was your flight? How are you? It’s been ages.”

The words fluttered around them as the girls clutched Dylan’s arms, bracketing him like matching bookends.

The twin sisters, Lisa guessed as she watched the exuberant reunion. Their short caps of dark brown hair were the same shade as Dylan’s. Where he was tall, they were of slight build, coming only to his shoulder. They wore matching hip hugging blue jeans, artfully faded. One topped them with a bell-sleeved shirt in peach, the other a fitted T-shirt and a wooden beaded necklace.

One of the girls stood on tiptoe to kiss Dylan soundly on the cheek. “We’ve missed you, big brother.”

“I missed you, too, Erika.”

Dylan turned to Lisa, beckoning for her to come forward.

She steeled herself for the all-too-familiar tightening of her stomach. How many times had she endured these “first meetings” in the many families she’d been brought to? The acknowledgments, the reserve that always greeted her. The moment of awkwardness, the hard work that accompanied all these initial moments.