The Lure of Love (14 page)

The woman
pouted, touched him on the chest. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

He backed up
a couple of steps, putting some distance between them. “No, I’m not happy to
see you.” He knew better than to yell at her; she’d only make a scene. “I’ve
told you before, Donna. What happened between us was a mistake and I’m sorry,
but there is no ‘us’.”

Her eyes glittered
and he began to wonder just how stable she was. “Come on, Craig. You can’t mean
that.”

“I do mean
it.” He glanced around and saw Jamie running to the other dock. He pointed to
her. “You see that woman?”

Donna looked
at Jamie and frowned. “Whoever she is, she has no fashion sense. Who is she?”

Oddly enough,
her comment made it easier. “That’s Jamie Nicholson, and she means everything
to me. That’s who she is.”

Jamie jumped
into the runabout and pulled out. Craig gritted his teeth in frustration. “I can’t
imagine what she’s thinking right now, but I’m going to follow her and set
things straight.”

Donna looked
at him oddly. “You mean that, don’t you? Even after I came all this way.”

He exhaled
slowly, tried to gentle his voice. “I didn’t ask you to come and yes, I mean
it. I’m in love with her.”

“Oh.” She
glanced up at the Lodge, and her cool gaze took in the other buildings and the campsite.
“Can’t say I think much of the place.”

Craig shook
his head. “No, you wouldn’t.” He was smiling now. “You wouldn’t understand it
at all.”

She raised an
eyebrow. “Well then, I’ll be on my way. Goodbye, Craig.”

“Goodbye,
Donna.” He stood in the middle of the lawn, watching as she walked toward her
rental car. When it disappeared from sight he let out a sigh of relief and strode
quickly toward the dock.

Craig walked
up to the older man. “Hello, Howie. Do you have a boat I can take out?” He
looked up the lake and thought he spotted the runabout disappearing behind the
island.

Howie noted
the direction of his gaze and pointed to an outboard. “That’s the fastest I
have, but it’ll get you there. It has a 40HP motor.”

Craig smiled.
“Then it will have to do.”

“Do you know
how to start it?”

Craig looked
at the motor. “It’s been a while.”

The older man
took him through the steps and the motor fired on the first pull. Craig smiled
his thanks and pulled away from the dock.

* * *

Jamie heard
him coming. She hadn’t changed position and still sat with her chin resting on
her knees. She watched him run the outboard up on the sand beside the runabout
and climb out. He didn’t seem to mind that he’d landed with both feet in the
water. He tied the rope to the tree root and stood there, looking at her for
what seemed like the longest time.

“May I come
up there?” He waited for her to respond, but she just shrugged.

“I’ll take
that as a yes.” He climbed up, sat down beside her and took a deep breath.

“That was
Donna,” he said, speaking slowly. “She was my publicist and I made the mistake
of going out with her earlier this year.”

Jamie watched
him closely.

He turned and
looked into her eyes. “It was a mistake. I told her that, but she wouldn’t
listen.” He raised his hands in a helpless gesture. “I couldn’t seem to get rid
of her. She kept calling me, pestering me. I finally had to get a new
publicist.” He picked up a small pinecone and started tearing it apart. “I
thought I was rid of her, but she obviously decided to try one more time.”

She gave him
a crooked smile. “You don’t have to explain,” she said.

Something flared
in his eyes. “But I do,” he said. He pried her hands away from her knees and
took one in his hand, stroking it with his thumb. “I messed up earlier today. I
know that, and I’m sorry. Maybe I should have insisted that we stay up at that
lake for a few more minutes so I could tell you how I feel.”

Her heart
started to beat faster. “What do you mean?”

“I’m falling
in love with you, Jamie.” His eyes searched her face. “I thought you knew.”

“But…” she
paused to collect her thoughts. “You said you were leaving.”

He stared at
her. “No I didn’t. When did I say that?”

His words
were indelibly stamped on her mind. “We were talking about using the machete to
keep the trail clear. You said you’d have to come back to keep the trail
clear.”

“And I will.
As soon as you fly us back in again…” his words trailed off as he realized
what she was saying. “You thought I meant come back from Toronto? No, I meant
come back to the lake.” He edged closer and put an arm around her shoulders. “It’s
no wonder you took off when you saw Donna. Here I’ve been making all these
plans in my head without talking them over with you. I just assumed you knew
how I felt.”

She looked up
at him. “Plans, what plans?”

“I’ll tell
you in a minute.” He tipped up her face and kissed her thoroughly. She sighed
and leaned into him. “I’ve been thinking that I can set up a studio here to
work on my documentaries. And I can travel from anywhere. What if I moved here
so we can really get to know each other?”

She only had
to consider his words for a moment. “I’d like that,” she said simply. “Because
I’m falling in love with you, too.” She jumped up and pulled him to his feet.
“Come on, let’s go home.”

* * *

Brooke and
Leeza were having a quiet coffee break in the lobby when Jamie and Craig pulled
up in the runabout, the outboard trailing behind.

“I wonder
what that’s all about,” said Leeza, eyeing them over the rim of her mug. “Two
boats.”

“I don’t
know, but I saw Craig earlier with some woman. They seemed to be having an
argument and then she left and he ran down to the dock and took off.” Brooke
smiled as Craig and Jamie walked down the dock, their arms around each other’s
waist. “Whatever it was, it looks as though they’ve sorted it out.”

Leeza sighed.
“You and Billy. Jamie and Craig. I had to fall for the married one.”

Brooke turned
to her friend. “You really like him, huh?”

Leeza nodded.
“He takes my breath away. I just have to look at him and I get turned on.” She
set down her mug. “I know there’s no future, but I’ve never known anyone else
who made me feel like this.”

“Wow. I don’t
know what to say.”

“Better not
say anything,” she murmured, watching Craig and Jamie as they headed for the
Lodge, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world. “I might cry.”

“Oh, Hi.”
Jamie noticed them sitting in the corner. “Is this a good time to talk?” She
let go of Craig’s hand and walked toward them.

Brooke and
Leeza exchanged looks. “Sure,” they said together.

Jamie turned
back to Craig. “See you later, then.”

He nodded and
headed for the stairs.

Jamie sat
down. “I’ve been thinking, and I’d like to go ahead with the spa idea. Her eyes
sparkled more than usual and she glanced toward where Craig had disappeared up
the stairs. “Both Craig and I think it’s a wonderful fit with the Lodge.” She
turned back to her friends. “I’m confident we can all do well with it.”

“That’s
great.” Brooke rubbed her hand together. “Now the real work starts. I can’t
wait.”

Jamie smiled
at her enthusiasm. “I’ve also decided to sell the remaining property. I haven’t
quite decided how yet, but I’ll feel better if I contribute something.”

Brooke
nodded. “That’s fine. We’ll work out the details.”

Leeza spoke
up. “Interesting that you’ve decided to sell. Matt went to look at that land. He
might have some ideas for you tonight.”

“Tonight?”
Jamie looked at the chef.

“The guys
were talking about a bonfire tonight.” She made a circle motion with her
finger. “A small one, after dinner; just the six of us.”

“Good. I’ll
look forward to hearing what Matt thinks about the land.”

Brooke stood
up. “I’m off to work. There’s no time like the present to get things started.”

“Me too, I
guess.” Jamie rose reluctantly. “I have to fly down to Nettie’s and get some
avgas. See you guys later.”

* * *

It was late
in the evening by the time everyone gathered around the campfire. Billy and
Matt had outdone themselves again, purchasing a couple of bottles of champagne
in town, and had kept it on ice since early afternoon.

Billy stood
as Leeza and Brooke crossed the lawn, the last to join the party. He thrust
glasses of champagne in their hands and raised his own.

“Here’s to
the Spa at Long Lake!” The six friends raised their glasses.

“I like it,”
said Brooke. “We could use that for a name. The Spa at Long Lake.” She turned
to Jamie. “What do you think?”

Jamie leaned
into Craig. “Sounds good to me.” She took another sip of champagne and put her
glass down. “I don’t know how many of you have heard, but since we’re making
announcements, I’m going to sell off the land to the north of the campground.”
She looked over at Matt. “Did you get a chance to look at it today?”

Matt nodded.
“I did. The bottom line is that you can do anything you want with that land and
it will sell. It’s a beautiful piece of property and I can see why you don’t
want to cover it with high density housing.”

“I wish I
could afford to give it to the government for a park or something, but that’s
not in the cards. The ideal solution is to sell it off so that it has the least
impact on the lake.” She stared into the fire. “Come to think of it, turning it
into a park would increase the number of people using the lake. Maybe that
wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

Matt listened
quietly before he spoke. “What if you broke it up into large lots that stretch
from the road down to the water? Slice it up like a loaf of bread; all you have
to decide is how thick the slices will be. These days most waterfront lots are
small. If you did things differently and made these a generous size I think
you’d find people coming out of the woodwork to buy them.”

“Like me!” Billy
spoke up immediately. “I get to choose the first one.” He glanced over at
Craig. “Or is that the second one?”

“I’ve been
thinking.” Craig smiled down at Jamie before addressing the whole group. “I can
make my headquarters anywhere. I’d like one, too.”

All eyes
turned to Matt, and he shifted uncomfortably. “You can make the lots as wide or
as narrow as you like. If I were you, I’d get together with a realtor and work
out what’s best. Ask him to present you with several layouts and what he
estimates the lots will sell for. You could even offer some smaller lots back
beside the road and give them lake access through the Lodge property. There are
lots of ways you can configure this.”

Jamie leaned
forward and spoke in her usual forthright manner. “Would you do it for me?
Could you at least set it up, or be my consultant?”

Leeza wasn’t
sure, but she thought she saw tears in his eyes. “If things work out with my
license, I’d be honoured.”

“Good, that’s
settled.” Jamie raised her glass again. “Here’s to an exciting new start next
year.”

The three
couples chatted quietly as the fire burned down. There was a lot to discuss
with respect to the upcoming year; plans began to take shape as ideas and suggestions
flowed.

Craig and
Jamie were the first to stand up. “Sorry, guys, but it’s been a long day.”
Brooke and Billy soon followed, leaving Leeza and Matt sitting by the fire.

A small log
exploded, sending a shower of sparks into the air. Leeza watched them flare and
burn out. She couldn’t help but compare them with this thing she felt for Matt.
Hot and explosive one minute, gone the next.

“They liked
your idea,” she said eventually. “About the big lots. Do you think Jamie will
get a decent amount of money that way?”

He shrugged.
“It depends on what she calls decent, but we can work it out several ways.” He
tilted his head to one side and looked at her, his eyes black in the light from
the fire. “I have a feeling she’s not into money.”

“You’re right
about that. With Jamie, it’s her way of life that matters.”

He poked at
the fire, releasing a fresh shower of sparks. “She and Craig seem to be getting
on well.”

Leeza nodded.
“And I’m happy for her. They seem perfect together.”

He stood up
abruptly. “I thought so, too.” He looked around for the large cans Billy had
cadged from the kitchen earlier. “Let’s douse this fire and I’ll walk you home.”

“Are you off
tomorrow morning?” he said finally as they neared her cottage. Landscaping
lights cast soft pools of light in the flower beds on either side of her door.

“I start at
noon.”

He paused.
“Would you like to show me the waterfall?”

Silly
question. “We’d need to leave early. It’s about an hour away, and there’s about
a half hour walk to get into the falls when we get there.”

He smiled,
softening the sharp angles of his face. “I’m good with that. How about seven?
We could pick up coffee and something to eat on the way, couldn’t we?”

“Yes, we
could.” Leeza was already counting the hours.

“All right,
then.” His eyes were barely visible in the reduced light. He touched her cheek
with his fingertips and trailed them along under her chin. His thumb brushed
against her lips and she thought her legs might give way. “Good night, Leeza.”

She couldn’t
speak, so nodded her head. That seemed to suffice. He smiled, turned and
disappeared into the darkness.

A fine mist hung
over the lake when Leeza and Matt pulled out the next morning. Matt slipped on
mirrored sunglasses and looked over at her as they reached the main road. “Is
it always like this in the morning? The mist, I mean?”

He looked so
good this morning. A loose shirt over a T-shirt and faded jeans; it was all she
could do not to rip them off him. She forced herself to look away. “When it’s
going to be a nice day, it’s usually like this.” She glanced at her watch.
“It’ll burn off soon.”