The Wedding Bargain
Drew bent to his task again. Moments later, a trucker stopped and offered the use of his jumper cables. Before long, with the battery recharged, the car started on the first try. Drew dropped the hood with a satisfied “thud.” With a tip of his hat, the trucker drove away.
“Guess that does it.” Drew wiped his hands on a rag.
Olivia sat in the driver’s seat. Unsmiling, she rolled down the window. “Thank you so much for your help. I’d like to pay you something for your trouble.”
At her offer, Drew backed away. “No thanks.”
Olivia frowned, her fine brows arched. “But I would have paid a mechanic.”
Drew shook his head, absorbing the fact that she was different from so many women he’d known in his life who wanted something from him. Being broke eliminated that worry.
“It’s not necessary.” He wouldn’t accept money from her, even though he could use it. The fact that she’d probably guessed stung his pride.
But when he looked into her wide gray eyes, he didn’t see pity, just understanding. Acceptance. He was down on his luck, there was no hiding it.
After a lifetime of trying to live up to everyone’s expectations, and failing badly, Drew was free of the Pierce wealth, free of all the family trappings—which left him in the middle of nowhere—with the lonely night bearing down on him with each passing second, and the rain carrying the cold sting of autumn.
“Thank you,” she said simply.
“You’re welcome.” With an ironic smile, Drew turned away, leaving her with a half-mocking, “So long, Angel.”
Chapter Two
A ngel.
Olivia smiled ruefully.
He’d obviously forgotten her name.
She didn’t watch him walk away. She refused to let his careless dismissal hurt. No matter how intriguing, Drew Pierce was nothing more than a passing stranger—and not a very friendly one at that.
Men like him were good at one thing—walking away from a woman. She wasn’t sure how she knew that after such a brief encounter, but she did. Her smooth brow knit into a pensive frown. It occurred to her that Drew was the type of man who would make an ideal husband for her purposes—an absent one.
Despite the obvious benefits of such an arrangement, Olivia shuddered at the mere thought of marriage as a clear-cut business arrangement, even a temporary one. It was unthinkable, but then, so was losing Stone’s End.
When the wind blew a few fat drops of rain through the open car window, she rolled it up, then turned on the heat, along with the radio. Warm air took off the chill, soft music poured into the silent void, drowning out her troubled thoughts.
She didn’t want to think beyond getting to Stone’s End—while she could still call it home. Unless she could find a legal method to break her birth father’s will, it wouldn’t be home much longer. Had she found Stone’s End only to lose it?
At the age of nineteen, she’d connected with her birth family through a detective the family had hired to search for clues concerning a long-lost daughter.
Admittedly wary when first approached and afraid of building her hopes too high, Olivia had learned that her mother had been married to Ira Carlisle for a number of years. When the marriage ended, Avis left without informing Ira that a third child was on the way. As a result, Olivia had grown up not knowing she had a father, and an older brother and sister. Finding out she had a family was a lifelong dream; and typically, the reality didn’t live up to the fantasy.
When Ira died six months ago, Olivia had sincerely mourned the loss. He’d divided his beloved farm equally between his three grown children. Jared and Jessie had each received their generous portions when they married, so the terms of the will no longer governed their lives. But it created havoc with Olivia’s life.
Leave it to Ira not to leave any loose ends—particularly concerning his long-lost daughter, Olivia thought with a dispirited sigh. In his ironclad will, Ira left her a share of Stone’s End, which included the original farmhouse and a fair parcel of land.
There was only one small catch. She needed a wedding certificate in order to claim it. The terms gave her a year to find a husband and tie the knot.
She had only six months left.
Olivia shifted the car into gear. A red warning light in the dashboard caught her attention; her gas tank was nearly empty.
Fortunately the gas station attached to the diner was still open. She filled up, then stocked up on a few snacks from a vending machine. A couple of candy bars and bottled water should tide her over until she got home.
Moments later, when she turned the car key in the ignition, nothing happened. Holding her breath, she tried again. When the engine roared to life, Olivia released a deep sigh of relief.
She wouldn’t let herself think of the long lonely stretch of road ahead or the empty house waiting.
By now, the diner was flashing a Closed sign.
A couple of motorcycles roared past. Trucks pulled out, heading east, west, south, anywhere but north—her direction.
At the first crossroads, Olivia slowed when she observed a deep shadow on the edge of the road. A hitchhiker. The man’s features were shadowed, but she instantly identified the tall wiry build. She should keep driving. But Drew Pierce had generously repaired her car and asked for nothing in return.
How could she leave him stranded in the rain?
The small powder-blue car slowed to a stop.
Drew groaned inwardly. He thought he’d seen the last of her. Olivia. Now here she was again. He kept walking, hoping she’d get the message and drive on.
No such luck.
The horn beeped once, twice. Her persistence simply amazed him. When she reached to open the door, heat rushed out of the car.
“Do you want a ride?” she asked, her voice casual, but friendly, with that soft feminine persuasive note that could probably melt an iceberg.
Drew wasn’t totally immune.
For a moment, he searched his brain for any excuse, some glimmer of common sense that would keep him from accepting her invitation and getting further involved with her, this woman who made him ache just by looking at her.
He looked up and then down the highway, hoping for a reprieve, any sort of transportation that didn’t come with a delicate blonde in the driver’s seat. Unfortunately no one else was going his way. Just then, he felt the rain penetrate another layer of his clothes. Despite the chilling reminder of his present circumstances, he was still tempted to refuse her offer.
Then common sense came to his rescue.
Drew tossed his gear into the back seat. Avoiding Olivia DeAngelis wasn’t worth getting a case of pneumonia. He hoped.
“Thanks,” he muttered, folding his considerable length into the small passenger seat of her car. He couldn’t resist an irritated, “Do you make a habit of picking up strange men?”
Her eyes widened. “But I know you.”
He sighed. “Lady, you don’t know the first thing about me.”
“The waitress vouched for you.”
Biting off a few choice words, Drew said, “She never set eyes on me before I walked in there tonight.”
“But she knows your family.”
Drew stared at her in disbelief. “And that does it for you?”
“Why not? Is there something wrong with them?”
“No, of course not,” Drew muttered, refusing to be drawn into that sensitive topic. “But that isn’t the point.”
“Then, exactly what is?” She tilted her head. Definitely not an airhead, he decided. Sharp intelligence and stubborn determination gleamed in her gray eyes when she insisted, “You did me a favor when you repaired my car. I always pay my debts.”
Always?
He wondered if that was true.
For a moment, the overhead light illuminated the interior of the car, flickering over her bright hair and fair skin. In that instant, every detail about her registered in his mind, like an indelible stamp that would linger long after she did.
His gaze drifted lower. At some point, she’d unzipped her black leather jacket. Underneath, she wore a white tailored shirt and a snug-fitting suede vest. The look might have been severe, except for the whimsical needlework, roses and primroses, embroidered along the front panels. The vest hugged her, drawing his attention to the slender curve of her waist, the faint shadow between her breasts.
Drew dragged his eyes away from that sweetness, taking in the fine pulse beating in her throat. Her eyes looked wide—and wary—not totally trusting. Apparently she wasn’t as brave, or as bold, as she appeared on the surface.
That look of vulnerability melted his irritation.
The interior car light wavered, then blinked off, shutting out her image.
“Just drive,” Drew said, trying to dismiss her.
But his senses were filled with her. He smelled chocolate, and apples, and Olivia—a floral scent he couldn’t quite identify though it nagged at him, tantalizing, yet innocent and fresh. Soft music played on the radio, flutes and drums—no doubt meant to be soothing—but the rhythm and the rain threatened his last ounce of resistance.
He hadn’t been this close to a woman in five years—and he didn’t plan to start with a delicate blonde with a sweet smile and false bravado. She was obviously too young, early twenties, he guessed, and she made him feel every single one of his thirty-two years. He’d gone into prison a cocky young man and come out older. The gap between them was more than years and couldn’t be breached.
An awkward silence fell between them, splitting the air with tension. They drove north, at times passing a town, a blur on the landscape. Long stretches of open farmland and deep dark forests that looked dense and forbidding at night whizzed by.
At an intersection, her voice startled him. “I forgot to ask—you are going to Henderson?”
“Yes.”
“Are you staying long?”
So now they were going to make conversation. “Only a few days. That’s it.”
“Oh.” After a couple more failed attempts at conversation, she subsided into silence.
Drew preferred that to expanding their acquaintance. A relationship—even a fleeting one—wasn’t in the cards. Nevertheless, he was aware of her. A few miles later, when she visibly drooped, he noticed. “Why don’t I take over?”
The offer surprised Olivia.
“Thank you. I could use a break,” she said, grateful for his consideration. She was exhausted.
They traded places. Olivia slid along the seat, while Drew got out and went around to the driver’s side. After adjusting the seat to accommodate his long legs, he shifted the car into gear.
Olivia reached for a blanket from the back seat, then wrapped it around her shoulders. She sighed. Her eyes felt scratchy. Yet she couldn’t sleep. She dreaded going home alone.
Stone’s End would seem empty, the rooms filled with everyday reminders of Ira. Like so many, her memories of him were bittersweet. Nothing in Olivia’s life had ever been simple. From the first, Ira had seen past her flimsy defenses.
Through some hereditary alchemy, he’d recognized a certain trait in her and known how desperately she wanted to belong, how much she loved Stone’s End and everyone there—long before she knew it herself. Over the last four years, she’d grown to love Ira Carlisle; she thought he loved her. But then, he left the will, and now she wasn’t so sure.
Why did love always have conditions?
Why wasn’t she ever enough?
Earlier that day, she’d consulted a lawyer who termed the situation “awkward,” as if finding a husband to meet the terms of her father’s will was nothing more than an easy stroll down the aisle with a besotted bridegroom. Olivia had seen what love could do, and undo. Far better to rely on herself. In any case, there was no groom in sight, besotted or otherwise.
She had every reason to avoid marriage. Her parents were divorced before she was born. Among her mother’s many marriages, the one to Mike DeAngelis had been the most stable, but even that hadn’t lasted long—just long enough for Mike to adopt Olivia when she was ten. He’d given her a sense of security for the first time in her life. Out of loyalty, she still used his name.
She stifled a yawn, regretting that she’d changed her mind about staying overnight in Bangor and canceled her hotel reservation. Only hours ago, she’d waved her brother, his wife and their four children off at the airport. They’d be back in mid-December at the end of the Cornell University semester. She was going to miss them!
Nevertheless, she’d urged Jared to go when he offered to cancel his plans to present a wildlife lecture series, part of a prestigious grant connected to his veterinary practice.
Jared was concerned about her. Before leaving, he’d asked her not to do anything rash to comply with Ira’s will. Olivia had promised. Now she cast a guilty glance in her companion’s direction, wondering—did Drew Pierce come under the heading of something rash? Thank goodness Jared wasn’t here.
Shifting uneasily, Olivia stared out the window at the passing night. Although the foliage was still at its peak, a few bare limbs marked the passage of autumn, the coming of winter. At first sight, she’d fallen in love with Maine’s unspoiled beauty. With more experience, she’d learned it could be daunting. Just as the wind could steal your breath, the winter could steal your soul.
Despite that, she loved it with a fierceness she couldn’t quite explain. Like Stone’s End, it was in her blood. She frowned at the thought and tried to deny the intensity of her feelings. In her experience, opening up and caring that much about anything, or anyone, always invited emotional chaos.
Now, deliberately shutting out her companion, Olivia leaned her head back and closed her eyes, just for a minute.
Some time later, when the car stopped, she sat up abruptly. “Are we home?” One glance at Drew’s grim expression told her something was wrong.
He turned to look at her, his dark gaze apologetic. “No such luck. It’s the battery again.”
Was this a recurring bad dream?
“But you fixed it.” She twisted in her seat to stare at him. “It was working fine.”
Drew released a harsh breath. “A temporary fix. You probably need a new battery.”
“Where can we get one?” She looked out the window. They were in the middle of nowhere. “Where are we?”
“We just drove through Stillwater.”
Suddenly aware that the temperature in the car had dropped several degrees, Olivia shivered. “We’re still miles from Henderson.”
He nodded, saying impatiently, “You’re half-frozen. We can’t stay here. I know a place nearby, a summer cabin.”
She looked at him in dismay. “Do you think it’s wise to go wandering around the forest in the dark?”
“It may be overgrown, but there used to be a path. I think I can find it.”
At a glance, the woods looked thick and dark. Although her car had let her down, Olivia clung to the familiar safety. “But shouldn’t we stay right here and wait for help?”
“Look, we can’t stay here. I haven’t seen another car on this road in over an hour. So you can forget about anyone coming to our rescue. That gives us two options.”
Options—that didn’t sound too awful. “What are they?”
“We can sit here and argue all night, with the temperature dropping below freezing, and risk hypothermia. Or we can go to this cabin. It’s pretty basic, but we can get a fire going.”
Aware that she was quickly running out of excuses not to venture out into the night, Olivia argued, “But if you haven’t been there in a while, how do you know it’s still standing?”
“It’s sturdy, built of logs, and it’s been around for more than fifty years. It’s not going anywhere.” His patience worn thin after the lengthy explanation, Drew climbed out of the car. “We can walk. It’s not far.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she followed.
Drew knew his way around cars—fast cars and fast women. He had a bad feeling about this one—the car, not the woman. Or maybe both, if he was honest. In any case, he suspected there might be something seriously wrong with her car, something more complicated than a dead battery. The car had gradually lost power. He’d coaxed it up the last hill before it came to a dead stop. Now they were stuck.
He waited while Olivia tucked a few candy bars in her pocket, then reached for her purse and her umbrella. Juggling all three, she wrapped the wool blanket around her, then opened her umbrella. A strong gust of wind tore it out of her hand. It took off, twisting and twirling down the road, round and round, like a spinning top.
“Oh!” She tripped in her attempt to retrieve it.
“Leave it.” Drew took her hand, surprised at how it fit.
They walked.
At least he was on familiar ground. There was a lake nearby, more cabins. Logging roads crisscrossed the area. He was familiar with those. Squinting into the darkness, he looked around for a landmark. His gaze fell on a break in the solid line of pine trees edging the road.
Locating a road overgrown with leafy ferns, he ducked under a branch, Olivia at his heels. Within the forest, tall pines provided some shelter from the rain. Everything smelled damp.
And fresh.
Washed new.
“This looks right,” he said to assure her.
“It does?” Olivia peered into the dark gloomy woods.
He murmured back, “Mmm.”
The wind carried a bite.
Left with little choice but to go where Drew led, Olivia plodded on through the thick brush. He obviously knew his way—as if he had an inner compass. Olivia stumbled, catching her breath when he caught her waist and righted her on the path. She didn’t find her voice until he released her.
“Thanks,” she murmured huskily.
“Watch your step.” With that instruction, he moved on, obviously expecting her to follow in his wake.
“Me Tarzan, you Jane,” she muttered under her breath.
She might have laughed, except that she didn’t think he’d appreciate the joke. So far, she hadn’t found any evidence of his having a sense of humor. He was outdoorsy and rugged—a handy man to have around under the circumstances. Trying to imagine some of her artsy friends back in San Francisco coping in a similar situation, she smiled.
He caught her expression and frowned. “What’s so funny?”
Olivia gulped. “Nothing at all.”
Clearly he didn’t see any humor in their situation. When he looked at her like that, all dark-browed and glowering, she didn’t, either. He turned back to the path, and she released a frustrated sigh. Make that outdoorsy, rugged and moody. She plodded on, pushing aside a branch.
It snapped.
The sound echoed through the night.
Olivia shivered.
The road was full of deep ruts. It went nowhere, except deeper into the woods. With each step, images of lurid newspaper headlines filled her imagination. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, it was just that…well, she wasn’t a complete idiot.
She laughed nervously. “I should warn you my father was a cop in San Francisco. He taught me how to defend myself.”
Drew grunted something unintelligible.
Despite the lack of response, she persisted. “He taught me how to use a gun.”
“So you’re armed and dangerous?”
Olivia stiffened at the challenge in his voice. “I don’t carry a gun with me. But I do have a can of mace in my purse. And I have a black belt in karate. So don’t try anything.”
At that deliberate challenge, he stopped and turned to glance at her. “Is that supposed to frighten me?”
Olivia caught the cynical twist in his smile and regretted that she’d put it there. “Well, I wouldn’t want to hurt you.” She laughed, realizing he could probably recognize the fake note.
Unfortunately Drew didn’t feel like laughing back. “You are really something.” There was dry irony in his voice. He should have known Olivia DeAngelis was too good to be true.
All that sweet innocence and trust had disappeared at the first sign of trouble. He supposed he had to get used to that now that he had a prison record. As if matters couldn’t get worse, her stepfather had been a cop!
He turned back to the path.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she said at his back after a moment of strained silence.
“You didn’t.” He smiled tightly. “In fact, it’s a relief to know that if there’s any trouble, you can defend yourself against all threats, even bears.”
Her voice wavered, suddenly unsure.
“What bears?”
Drew laughed. “You never know. One might come along.”
“You’re just trying to frighten me.” Despite the bravado, she picked up the pace, walking close to his back where the road narrowed into a single overgrown track. “There aren’t really any bears, are there?”
“They rummage around these woods for food, both day and night. It doesn’t help that the tourists feed them.”
“Oh.” Clearly alarmed, she pressed a hand to the candy bars in her pocket; she was a walking target.
“You needn’t worry.” He waited to hear her faint sigh of relief before he added, “Just stay close.”
Olivia bit back a retort. If that was meant to be reassuring, it wasn’t. In fact, given a choice, she didn’t know who posed the biggest threat to her safety and peace of mind—Drew Pierce or a ravenous bear, who might or might not have an appetite for her.
Drew stopped suddenly.
With her head down, Olivia walked right into his back. It felt solid, warm. She looked around his shoulder.
A cabin was visible in a clearing. At first glance, it looked abandoned. Built out of logs, it was rustic, long and low, and surprisingly large. There were No Trespassing signs posted all over the place.
Olivia frowned. “It’s private property. We can’t just break into the place.”
Ignoring her, Drew found a key under the mat, then opened the door and entered. “I know the owners. They won’t mind.” At the evidence of recent use, he added, “Looks like someone’s been using it as a hunting camp.”
Once inside, Olivia took note of the sparse furnishings—a lopsided oak table and chairs, a sofa, plus two cots, one on each wall. She didn’t dwell on the sleeping arrangements. A door to the left probably led to a kitchen. She hoped there was a bathroom.
Drew found an oil lamp and lit a match to it. The small light wavered, throwing the corners of the room in shadow.
Olivia asked, “Do you hunt?”
“I used to.” Drew didn’t explain that he’d stopped hunting years ago after he accidentally shot a neighbor’s dog. The Carlisles had never forgiven him for that…and other things too numerous to mention.
The sight of Olivia still wrapped in her wool blanket brought him back to the present. She looked frozen. He raked out some leaves, then set some tinder and a few logs on the fireplace grate. He lit it with a match from a box that sat on the mantel, and soon had a fire blazing.
A neatly piled stack of wood stood beside the fire-place.
“That should see you through the next few hours,” he said with satisfaction. “There’s a generator housed in a shed out back, but I don’t think you’ll need it.”
Olivia latched on to the one small detail he’d failed to explain. “Where are you going?”
“To see if I can dig up a mechanic. Stillwater’s only a few miles back the way we came.”
“But it’s raining,” she objected.
He headed for the door. “It’s either that, or spend the night here.”
Olivia’s gaze skittered over the narrow cots. She backed away, wrapping the blanket tighter. “I’ll be fine.”
Nevertheless, she followed him out to the covered porch.
Since first setting eyes on Drew Pierce, she’d felt threatened; now she felt more alarmed by his imminent departure.
Perhaps sensing her unease, Drew looked back. “Don’t go wandering around on your own in the dark. There’s a lake nearby and some ledges.”
“I won’t.” She didn’t want to fall. Warning taken.
He smiled. “Then there are the bears.”
She smiled back. “I’ve got my spray can of mace.”