chest and looked up. âI mean, working here, right where poor Jonathan fell. How will you ever deal with that?â
Jared felt Annie go rigid beside him. Nothing that Myrna said or did should shock him anymore, but for a second he felt as if heâd been punched in the chest. He also suddenly realized how tightly he was holding on to Annieâs arm. He let go and felt her draw in a slow breath, then cursed himself when he saw the imprint of his hand on her smooth skin.
âThis is my job, Mrs. Stone,â Annie said with a patience that amazed Jared. âMy personal feelings have no place here.â
Myrna sighed. âYes, well, I know what itâs like to lose someone you love. Itâs only been eight months since J.T.âs been gone, and I just canât imagineââ her lower lip quivered and she blinked several times ââwell, I just loved him so much. I hope someday Iâll be able to get over his death as bravely as you have Jonathanâs.â
That was it. Jared had had enough. Heâd just use his bare hands. That would give him more pleasure, anyway. He took a step toward his stepmother. âMyrnaââ
Annie laid her hand on Jaredâs arm. âBravery has nothing to do with death, Mrs. Stone,â she said quietly. âWe have no choice but to accept it, no matter how deep or how black the pain. Itâs also the one thing in life that no one escapes, the one thing that makes us all equal, no matter how different or how special we might think we are.â
Annie turned to Jared then, and he saw a tension in her eyes that belied the calm expression on her face. âI still have some questions on cost estimates, Jared. When youâre finished here, Iâll be in the office.â She faced Myrna again and nodded. âMrs. Stone, itâs been a real...pleasure.â
* * *
Eight hours later Annie sat in a booth at the Cactus Motel Café, staring intently at the menu a perky waitress with short platinum hair had thrust into her hands after reciting the nightly specials. The smell of grilled steak and onions wafted deliciously on the air, reminding Annie that sheâd forgotten lunch in her hurry to not only finish her report, but to call in a report to the manager at Arloco and ask for verbal authorization for approval.
It was a go.
Sheâd only heard an hour ago, and the excitement that had been building inside her was bubbling over. Jared would be here any minute, and she couldnât wait to tell him the good news. Sheâd already ordered wine to celebrate.
Even recalling her run-in with Myrna earlier in the day hadnât dimmed Annieâs pleasure. Thereâd been a cool distant look in Jaredâs eyes after the woman had finally left that made Annie uneasy. Heâd apologized for his stepmother, but Annie had shrugged it off and insisted that whatever the woman said or did had no bearing on the project.
But there had been that one moment, she realized, that one second when sheâd looked up at the rig, and doubt had shivered through her....
No. She closed her eyes. No doubts. She could handle this project. Sheâd put the past behind her, dealt with those ghosts long ago.
But Jared was no ghost. And he wasnât the past. He was the present. And that was where her doubt truly lay.
Her body still hummed from his touch that morning. When sheâd laid her hands on his, sheâd only meant to reassure, to comfort. Then suddenly heâd been comforting her, and heâd been so close, his body so hot against hers, and she hadnât been able to think about anything else.
She closed her eyes, remembering the heavy beating of his heart, the strength of his broad chest, his hand slowly moving up her arm, and she couldnât help but wonder...
âAnnie, you okay?â
Her eyes flew open and she looked into Jaredâs worried gaze as he slid into the booth across from her. She felt her face