White Mountain (20 page)

“Then my business here is done,” he said.
 
He started to leave, then looked back at Jack.

“You.
 
What’s your name?”

“You mean besides sorry son of a bitch?

“Jack, for Pete’s sake,” Isabella muttered, anxious for this to be over.

Jack heard her and grinned, but waited for Lawton to ask.

“Yes, besides that.” Lawton said.

“My name
 
is John Jacob Dolan, but everyone calls me Jack.”

Lawton took a deep breath and then nodded, slapped his hat back on his head and strode out as forcefully as he had entered.

“Good Lord,” Isabella said, when the door had swing shut.

Jack turned and winked.

She started to laugh when Delia came out of the office and interrupted.

“Oh, Miss Abbott.
 
A special delivery package came for Mr. Rufus about a half hour ago, but I can’t find him.
 
What should I do with it?
 
It’s marked Fragile, and I’m afraid if it’s left up here at the front desk something will happen to it.”

Isabella looked beneath the counter where Delia was pointing, for the first time seeing the long wooden box with international potage.

“Probably more of his archaeological stuff.
 
I should probably take it to his room”

“I’d be happy to carry it for you,” Jack said.

Isabella hesitated.
 
“Are you sure?
 
I don’t want to delay your own work.”

“This is part of my work,” Jack said.

“What do you mean?”

His gaze slid past her mouth, then settled on her eyes.
 
“Well…if you let me carry this for you, then I will have a legitimate reason to spend some more time with you.”

Her blush heightened, but she laughed.
 
“Far be it from me to deny my knight in shining armor his one desire.”

“Oh…it’s not the only desire I have, but it’s a good start,” he said softly, then handed her his FedEx pack.
 
“If you don’t mind?”

She took the packet as he circled the desk and picked up the long bulky box.

“After you,” he said, and let Isabella lead the way.

“We’ll take the elevator,” she said.
 
“No use carrying that all the way up three flights of stairs.”

Jack waited for her to get in the elevator and then angled the box slightly as he entered after her.
 
At once the tiny car started to climb, creaking and groaning as it lifted off the first floor, then passed the second.
 
When it stopped, Jack was none too reluctant to get out.

“Are you sure that thing’s safe?” he asked, as Isabella started down the hallway.

:Certainly, or we wouldn’t be using it.”

“It makes a lot of noise.”

“Right now, so are you,” she said.

Jack grinned, but Isabella didn’t see it.
 
She had stopped at the second door on their left and was knocking.
 
No one answered.

“Uncle Rufus, it’s me, Isabella.
 
Are you in there?”

Still no one answered.
 
Satisfied that she would not be intruding upon his privacy, she began digging in her pocket for the passkey.
 
Just as she was about to put the key in the lock, the door at the end of the hallway opened and David Schultz looked out.

“I thought I heard people out here,” he said.
 
“Were you looking for Rufus?”

“yes.
 
A package came for him.
 
It’s marked Fragile, and Delia was afraid something might happen to it, so Mr. Dolan volunteered to carry it up here for me.”

The curiosity on her uncle’s face was impossible to miss.

“A big box at that, isn’t it?” he said, as he ambled out of his room.

“Yes.
 
I was just going to put this inside the door.
 
I don’t think he’d mind, do you?”

“Certainly not,” David said.
 
“Here, you unlock it and I’ll hold it aside.”
 
Then he smile at Jack as the door swung inward.
 
“Quite a cumbersome thing.
 
Careful you don’t scrape your knuckles as you come through the door.”

“Right,” Jack said, and carried the box inside.
 
“Where do you want me to put it?”

Isabella hesitated.
 
“I’m not—“

“Pout it here,” David said, indicating the floor near a small dining table.
 
“Otherwise it might scratch the furniture.”

“You’re right,” Isabella said.
 
“Here, Jack.
 
Let me help you.”

Together, they lowered it carefully to the floor.
 
At the moment when they let go, the both happened to look up and found themselves almost nose to nose.

Jack’s belly tightened.
 
One inch farther and he would be kissing her.

Isabella saw her own reflection in Jack Dolan’s eyes and for a moment felt as if he’d stolen her soul.

“Well now,” David said.
 
“I wonder what Rufus has gone and gotten for himself this time.”

His question broke the tension between Jack and Isabella.
 
They stood abruptly.
 
Again Jack was disconcerted by the emotions he kept feeling when he was around this woman, while Isabella was struggling with confusion of her own.
 
She didn’t know whether these things she was feeling for him were just remnants of gratitude for his coming to her rescue, or if it was something more.

Before Jack could think of what to say, Rufus Toombs entered, a jovial smile on his face.

“Have I missed my own party?”

Isabella laughed and wondered if it sounded as fake to everyone else as it did to her.

“Almost,” she said.
 
“You had a special delivery, Uncle Rufus.
 
I asked Jack to carry it up for me.”

Rufus looked past them then, for the first time seeing the long wooden box lying on the floor.

Jack thought he saw an odd expression come and go on his face, and then the old man clapped his hands together as if he’d just been given a gift.

“Wonderful!
 
Wonderful!
 
I’m thinking this might be the find a colleague of mine was going to send.”

“What kind of find, Uncle Rufus?”

“Now, Isabella, how on earth could you ask such a question?
 
You know me.
 
It’s bound to be a parcel of old relics.”
 
He put his hand on Isabella’s back and gently urged her toward the door, chuckling as he went.

Jack had no option but to follow, and before they both knew it, they were outside in the hallway, while the two old men were still inside together.

Isabella raised an eyebrow and then grinned wryly.
 
“Why do I feel like we’ve just been given the brush-off?”

Jack was of the same opinion, but more suspicious of the reason why.

 
“does stuff like this happen often?” he asked, as they got back on the elevator.

“Stuff like what?” Isabella asked.

“You know…packages of old relics and the like?”

“It used to a lot when I was a child.
 
Actually, it’s been ages since it’s happened.
 
Of course, he’s much older now.
 
It only makes sense that he would cut back on the work.”

“Exactly what does he do with them…the contents, I mean?”

Isabella gave him a look that was almost accusatory, making Jack afraid that he had asked too much.
 
Then she seemed to discard whatever she’d been thinking and answered.

“They have a lab or a workshop or whatever you want to call it down in the basement.
 
Uncle Frank used to catalogue and sketch his botany finds.
 
Uncle Rufus’s specialty was in Egyptology.
 
He used to get all sorts of things that other people either couldn’t identify or else needed confirmation that their suppositions were correct.
 
Uncle John was a geologist.
 
Even though they’ve all retired, he usually keeps a rock tumbler going, polishing some of his latest finds.”

“Interesting,” Jack said.
 
“But what about the other?”

“They used Daddy’s lab at the clinic for their infertility work.
 
This is just a place for the other to putter.
 
Most of their real work was done on-site.”

The elevator stopped.
 
The door opened.
 
Jack stood back for Isabella to get off first.
 
When she didn’t immediately move, Jack looked over to see what was wrong.
 
She was standing without moving watching his face.
 
His heart sank.
 
Damn it.
 
I asked too many questions.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

She stared for another moment longer, then finally shook her head.

“I hope not,” she said quietly, and walked out of the elevator, pausing only long enough to thank him one more time.

“You’re welcome,” Jack said, mentally cursing himself up one side and down the other.
 
“Oh…Isabella!”

She stopped.
 
“Yes?”

“I’m going to do some research on the geography of this place today.
 
Is there anything you would recommend that I see?”

The niggle of worry in Isabella’s belly began to relax as she reminded herself that curiosity was probably part of a writer’s mentality, but before she could answer him, he added another question that made her heart skip a beat.

“I don’t suppose you’d want to go with me?” he asked.
 
“We could take a picnic, and you could show me the sights as we drove.”

She started to refuse, then remembered how gently he’d held her last night, and how his mouth had felt beneath her lips when she’d kissed him.

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” he added.

Even as she was thinking of a way to say no, she was wondering what it would be like if his best behavior ever slipped?
 
She’d seen a glimpse of his passion when he’d put Bobby Joe Cage in the dirt, and again just now when he’d stood between her and Lawton Cage.
 
After a lifetime of perfect behavior, Isabella knew she was changing.
 
Maybe it had been coming all along, but she’d been more aware of it than ever since her father’s death.
 
She wanted to love—and be loved.
 
And how was that ever going to happen unless she took the occasional risk?

“Now?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“I need to change my clothes.”

“I’ll wait.”

“And I need to tell the kitchen to fix us some sandwiches.”

“I can do that while you change.”

Isabella’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
 
“Do you always get your way?”

Jack shove his hands in his pockets.

“Are you coming?”

She hesitate, then nodded.

He smiled.
 
It was a slow, gut-burning look that went all the way to Isabella’s toes and back, and in that moment she knew this man was someone who could matter to her—matter a great deal.

She’d been in love once, or thought she had, when she was in her teens.
 
About four months into the relationship, they had made love.
 
It had been her first and last attempt at misplaced passion.
 
The boy had dropped her within weeks, and she’d been ashamed and in a panic until her period had come and gone.
 
After that she’d sworn never to put herself in that position again unless it was with someone who matted.

And now there was Jack Dolan.

She wasn’t a child any longer, but the risks were still the same.

“Wait for me in the lobby.
 
I won’t be long.”

“I’ll wait.”

The quiet certainty in his voice was her undoing.
 
She shuddered as she walked away, wondering if he would wait long enough for her mind to wrap itself around the fact that one day she would lie naked in his arms.

They had been driving for almost two hours before Isabella felt relaxed.
 
Jack’s manner had ranged from cordial and interested in what they were seeing to playful and teasing.
 
Slowly the tension she’d been feeling had begun to disappear.
 
She had almost convinced herself that she’d imagined the sexual tension between them.

Almost.