Hot Stuff

him. Then just as suddenly she sat down, obviously rethinking her decision as she clasped her hands tightly in front of her.

Something inside him froze as he realized he'd caused the change. He'd pushed her away. Leaving her in New York had seemed prudent at the time but he hadn't expected to feel so empty now.

'What's the good news?' she asked, all business.

Thrown by his emotional reaction to her distance, he decided business was best. 'As you can see, no damage to the main part of the lodge. We'll have to rebuild what's been destroyed and we'll lose a good number of bookings as a result, but because there are rooms in the main section, too, we can still open on time.'

'That's fantastic!' she said, her voice rising, her pleasure obvious.

He was nearly drawn in by her enthusiasm until he realized she'd grabbed a pad and a pen and had begun to take notes and scribble down ideas. Deep in PR mode, she'd found a damn good way of avoiding discussing anything personal between them.

She glanced up. 'Any solid leads on who might have started the fire?'

'The police think Laura's the best suspect. She has no alibi.'

Annabelle frowned. 'I don't know. That sounds like an awfully flimsy tie in to me.'

'Yesterday I'd have agreed with you. Today I'll grasp, any lead or possibility if it means this being over.' He swept his arm around him.

She nodded in understanding.

'It's like this person is either a genius or so damn lucky it defies description. Either way he-or she- is winning.' He slammed his hand against the desk as he'd done too many times before.

'Interesting analogy.' She cocked her head to one side. 'Do you look at everything in terms of win or lose?'

'Pretty much.'

'Do you think the person responsible views things the same way?'

'Meaning?'

She tapped the pen against the desk. 'Well, it's similar to Detective Ross's theory. Laura wouldn't want you to win while she's suffering defeat.' Annabelle paused in thought. 'I just wonder if whoever's doing this thinks maybe you took something away from them and so they're trying to take something from you in return.'

He frowned. 'If that's the case, Laura or not, I'm definitely being hit where it hurts.'

As she listened to Vaughn's reply, she wondered if the lodge wasn't just his most obvious weak spot, but his only one. Certainly nothing else in his life mattered to him as much as the lodge.

Did anyone matter as much? Could anyone?

She licked her glossed lips, trying not to let her emotions show as she performed her job. After all, her reasons for being in Greenlawn revolved around Vaughn's need for PR support. When that need ended, she would return home to New York since any supplemental work could be accomplished from there.

She'd waited until this morning to return because professionally, that was the smartest time to begin work. Though she'd taken Micki's advice and not run from her feelings, the initiation of anything personal between them would have to come from Vaughn. She'd met him halfway by coming here at all.

She reached into her bag. 'I've prepared a press release I need you to okay.' She handed him the paper with the words she'd come up with while working late into the night. 'If you have any changes, let me know.'

'I will. Thanks.'

She rose from her seat and pulled her keys from her purse.

'Leaving so soon?' he asked, sounding surprised.

'I assume you've done no food shopping since I've been gone?' The fridge was near empty before she'd left for New York.

'That would be a good assumption.'

'I figured as much. So even though it's not in my job description I'm going to see to it you're well fed.'

She could also use some breathing space that didn't include the smoky air and Vaughn's imposing presence.

She couldn't be surrounded by the devastation from the fire and not be compelled to take him in her arms and tell him she understood his pain. That she'd be there for him always. Suddenly she understood why Lola had decided to pack up and leave. Except Annabelle refused to devote a lifetime to unrequited love.

Vaughn made her want on so many different levels she couldn't name them all. He also knew how to withhold, thereby deepening her yearning. His parents had taught him not to count on anyone and to withdraw when things were tough. She hadn't had parents to teach her a damn thing.

She wondered where that left them now.

AFTER LEAVING THE LODGE, Annabelle stopped at Vaughn's to pick up Boris. She placed him in his carrier and headed for town. Now that she had her car, she also had the freedom to explore and she took advantage.

She passed the high school and its legendary football field, since renamed Brandon Vaughn field. She drove by Vaughn's parents' house and was struck by the fairy-tale quality of the house and its surroundings, the white picket fence, daisies blooming all around and the veranda with a porch swing built for two. How could two people, two parents, live in such a perfect place to raise a child and turn his life into an unhappy, unhealthy nightmare? She wondered sadly.

Instead of making a right turn, which would take her directly into town, she drove the long way around the outskirts just so she could pass Vaughn's present residence. The house he'd purchased so he could have peace, quiet and space. But the house gave him none of those things and merely reinforced all that was lacking in his life-unlike the warmth of the lodge, which filled at least a portion of the aching emptiness he had deep inside.

She thought she understood him a little better now. The desire to keep himself apart from the family that hurt him had led him to buy on the outskirts of town. The neverending hope that those parents would come around kept him from making his home somewhere far away. But he'd chosen the most unwelcome home he could find and had done nothing to make it warmer. Not, she suspected, because he didn't know how, but because never having experienced love, he was too afraid to embrace it. She pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket, no closer to figuring out how or if Vaughn would ever come around.

Before she'd barely stepped out of the car she heard someone call her name. She glanced over her shoulder, shocked when she realized Estelle Vaughn was waving and striding toward her, a welcoming smile on her face.

'Looks like things are about to get interesting,' she whispered to Boris whose head stuck out of the carrier so he could look around.

'Miss, um…Annabelle, I'd like to have a word with you.'

Annabelle turned and waited for the other woman to walk over. 'What can I do for you?' she asked Vaughn's mother.

'Would you like to get a cup of coffee?' she asked, taking Annabelle by surprise. 'There's a place just around the corner. My treat.'

She added the last quickly, as if she was afraid Annabelle had been about to say no.

'I suppose food shopping can wait.' She treated his mother to a welcoming smile, hoping to ease her obvious discomfort. 'I hope you don't mind Boris here.' She swung around to show the dog's sweet face.

'Oh! Well, no. Not at all.' She reached out tentatively.

'Go on. He doesn't bite.'

Mrs. Vaughn patted Boris on the head and he responded by attempting to crawl out of his carrier.

'Stay,' Annabelle said.

Five minutes later, she found herself seated in Cozy Cups across from Estelle, as she'd asked Annabelle to call her. Joanne was obviously attempting to listen shamelessly but incoming customers kept her too busy to remain near their back table.

Annabelle wrapped her hand around the frozen Macchiato she'd ordered and waited to hear what Estelle had to say, but the other woman merely sat and unnecessarily stirred her coffee, staring into the dark liquid.

Annabelle decided she had no choice but to break the ice and begin conversation. 'Nice weather we're having,' she murmured politely.

'Is Brandon okay?' Estelle asked right after. 'I woke up this morning and heard the news of the fire. I've been