Project Valentine (A Homespun Romance) Read online

  It wouldn't do to let him know she avoided freeway driving as much as she could, taking a company van pool to work and back each day.

  "Do you work close by?" The question seemed harmless enough.

  "I work for California Electronics. The company is based twenty miles away." She shifted in her chair, uneasy under his intense gaze.

  "How long does the commute take?" Karl broke off a small bunch of grapes, put one in his mouth.

  "About forty five minutes each way in rush hour traffic." She stared at the bunch he placed on her plate. She couldn't remember asking for any.

  "What do you do?"

  "I'm a computer programmer. I work in payroll."

  "I got a P.C. last year for my personal use but just use it for letters." Karl offered. "Still haven't had time to explore its full potential."

  About to offer to show him what else he could do with it, Jessica closed her mouth just in time, adopting her giant clam look. She wasn't going to make the mistake of giving this man the impression she was trying to instigate further meetings.

  Busy with her own thoughts, Jessica jumped a foot when Karl touched her. She stared down hypnotized by the finger trailing across the back of her hand.

  "So small," his touch brought a million nerve endings to life, "and yet so strong."

  Picking up her hand he looked at her nails, "Why do you bite them?"

  Jessica had to open her mouth twice before sound emerged. "It's a bad habit. I read a lot and I'm always chewing on my nails when I do that."

  A slight frown crossed his face. "It's also a nervous gesture. Tell me Jessica Woods, what makes you nervous. Boyfriend problems?"

  Other people blushed a delicate pink. Jessica's blushes were classified beetroot red.

  "I don't have a boyfriend," she said shortly.

  He was doing it to her again. Making her feel at a disadvantage. And she wished he would let go of her hand.

  His hold tightened, almost involuntarily. "No boyfriend? It's hard to believe some man hasn't staked a claim on you, yet."

  Staked a claim indeed! Hadn't the man had his head out of peoples' mouths long enough, to hear about women's lib?

  "It's a two way thing," she said stiffly.

  "Ah," his thumb caressed the mound under her thumb. The Venus mound. "So, it is. Tell me, Jessica have you ever experienced this er... two way thing?"

  The quirk infuriated her. Jessica went hot and then cold. How dare he laugh at her? How dare she enjoy it?

  "No." Speech was becoming difficult. His touch was interfering with rational thinking.

  "Uncle Karl, do you think Jessica can come with us to buy the book about Great Danes, and some rawhide bones for Arthur?" Molly leaned against his chair and blew on her fringe. “Why are you holding her hand. Is it hurt?”

  Jessica snatched her hand away.

  “It’s nothing,” she said. “Just a scratch.”

  "Why don't you ask Jessica if she wants to come with us?" Karl asked his niece. His expression gave nothing away.

  Jessica stood up and picked up her bag. "I'm sorry Molly, I have a whole heap of things to do today." A whole day in Karl Wagner's company was more than she could handle in her present state of mind. "Why don't you call me when you get back and tell me how Arthur's doing?"

  Cleaning her apartment didn't take long. Jessica had a system worked out. Vacuum, dust, clean kitchen, clean bathroom. She saved laundry for Sundays preferring to take it to a Laundromat and read while it got done, rather than make numerous trips up and down to the laundry room by the apartment office.

  As Jessica mopped the bathroom floor her mind wandered back to that morning. The picture of sun warmed eyes filled with laughter wasn't easy to dispel. The mop moved back and forth even more vigorously. Dr. Karl Wagner wasn't her type at all.

  Impulse moved her to the mirror. Taking off her glasses she brushed orange gold blush over her cheeks, dabbing a spot on her chin like the girl who had done her face once had demonstrated. A peachy lipstick, some mascara, dark eye shadow, and she stood back.

  Hands on hips she practiced a sway that would bring a man to his knees. It made her look like a sparrow with gout. Jessica sighed. What couldn't be improved had to be left strictly alone.

  By mid-afternoon she was settled on her plaid couch, a bowl of hot buttered popcorn beside her. There was a Western she'd taped midweek that she wanted to watch. Hand on remote control, about to switch her television set on, Jessica paused. Her hands did look awful. Setting the remote control down, she reached for the telephone book.

  The next morning Jessica almost decided to join the group that wanted a law passed against working on Mondays.

  She overslept, arriving at the park and ride area just in time to glimpse the receding taillights of the company van. Her car needed gas if she was to drive herself to work. By the time she filled the tank, her hands were smelly and she had a smear of dirt on the cuff of her ice blue blouse. The commute to work in stop-and-go traffic tied her up in knots as usual. A note from her supervisor awaited her on her desk, asking her to come in and talk to her if she ever got in. Below the flourish of Margo Hanes' name, was the time Jessica was supposed to be at her desk by each day. Eight a.m.

  Jessica made a face at the note. "You're lucky I'm here at all," she muttered as she put her bag away.

  Margo wasn't in her office but there was plenty to do. Slipping off her jacket Jessica switched on her computer terminal and got right down to work. One small slip had her going over her work till her eyes began to burn and the morning's promised headache became a thundering reality.

  The telephone rang and she snatched it up, "Jessica Woods."

  "Ms. Woods? I'm Edna Lucas, Dr. Wagner's office manager."

  "Yes?" Jessica rolled her eyes in silent prayer. Not another Arthur crisis. Margo stood at the door of her office making imperious signs with a crooked finger. Jessica held up a hand to show she'd seen her.

  "Dr. Wagner asked me to pass on a message," the rich syrupy voice went on. "He has hired a boy to feed Arthur and take him for a walk every day, so you don't have to bother going over there."

  "Thanks for letting me know." Naturally, he was too busy to call her himself. It shouldn't hurt, but it did.

  On her way to Margo's office Jessica told herself it was great news. She could read between the lines as clearly as anyone else. Karl Wagner could handle it from here, on his own. Which was a good thing. It left her more free time, a precious commodity in Southern California lifestyles. She could always find out how Arthur was doing from Molly.

  That particular door hadn't even made a noise as it had slammed shut in her face.

  Margo wanted her to work late. Normally the thought of the extra money she'd make working overtime, would have cheered Jessica up. Today it just added to the time before she could go home, eat a pound of chocolates and bite her fingers off. There weren't any nails left to chew on.

  It was eight thirty before Margo was satisfied with the figures they had come up with. The half empty freeways made up for the morning's traffic snarls. Jessica kept her eyes on the road but allowed her thoughts to wander.

  She'd never had a burning ambition to be anything. Unlike David, who had wanted to study medicine from when he was ten. When their father's bypass surgery had imposed a severe strain on the family finances, David had mentioned dropping out of pre-med courses and taking a job. Jessica had vetoed the idea immediately, interrupted her own studies, gotten a full time job delivering pizza, insisted David remain in school. She could help at home and the money set aside for her college expenses would go toward her father's medical bills. Everybody had pitched in financially, and it wasn't long before Jessica had found she could go back to school. It had taken another year of evening classes at the local community college to qualify her for an entry level position in computer programming. When a job fair in Oakland had netted her this job it had provided her with the excuse she needed to leave home. She'd worked at CE for four years now.

&nb
sp; On honest days, Jessica admitted she was marking time. Waiting for what, she wasn't quite sure. There were just moments when an ache inside her made her feel she wanted more out of life than a good job.

  She turned into the apartment complex, found a parking spot, ordered herself not to be silly. Tiredness always triggered the kind of soul searching she had no answers for.

  Bath and bed seemed all Jessica had energy left for when she entered her apartment. But that wasn't the way it worked. Changing into sweatpants and a tee shirt Jessica switched on the television set and her video recorder. Exercise was something she couldn't skimp on, late though it was. The benefits were too great to pass up. Maybe today it would help her regain control of her mind as well.

  She was into the leg lifts when the telephone interrupted. Jessica tried ignoring it but it was no use. It went on and on. It had to be David. No one else was that persistent.

  "Do you know what that mutt has done now?" Karl Wagner asked without any preamble.

  "What?" Jessica reached for the towel she'd set down on the arm of her couch and wiped her neck. Something warned her it wasn't as simple as running away.

  "He has dug holes all over the back yard." The suppressed anger in his voice seemed to leap out of the phone straight at Jessica and lasso her nervous system. "Moon craters. And they are filled with water. My entire backyard is covered with miniature lakes."

  "Wonder how he could have filled them with water?" The only possibility that occurred to her was ludicrous.

  "How he ....?" Irritation dark and intense replaced the split second query in Karl's voice. "Why do you always go off at a tangent? Do you know how much it cost to landscape that yard?" Exacerbation was the only word that aptly described Karl Wagner's tone. Beyond rage...beyond listening.

  "He's lonely and he's scared," said Jessica reasonably, "I hope you didn't yell at him and scare him further."

  There was a deadly silence for a few seconds. Karl Wagner's next words were dropped like stones into a pond. "I won't put up with this."

  The implacable tone pushed a panic button. "What do you mean?" Jessica couldn't keep the fear out of her voice. "You can't take him back now. You know his time is up at the shelter. He'll just be put to sleep. Can you live with that?"

  "Don't you dare lay a guilt trip on me." The clipped tone confirmed Molly's uncle was past persuasion. Into cold resolve. "I get enough of that from Molly as it is. I will not put up with destruction of my property."

  Rage, pure and red hot, shot through Jessica's veins. "That's right," she snapped, blinking furiously. "It's an investment isn't it? I suppose landscaping it enhanced its value. Tell me how much your property's worth Dr. Wagner? Four hundred thousand? Five? Six? What chance does a living breathing dog have against the value of your investment?"

  "It's not that..."

  But Jessica had heard enough. She was on a roll here and she let anger sweep her along to the crest. "Maybe that is what's best for Arthur as well," she flung at him. "He would be miserable living with a person so set in his ways that he cannot stand any disruptions."

  "I'm not......"

  But she wouldn't give any quarter, "I was wrong about you. I thought you had a kind mouth, a big heart. I don't know why I jumped to that conclusion. I'll pick Arthur up at eight tomorrow and take him back to the shelter."

  It gave Jessica the greatest satisfaction to bang the receiver down childishly.

  And one and two and one and two. The model's vacuous grin as she demonstrated the leg lifts grated on Jessica's tense nerves. Breathing deeply she stared at the television screen, her throat tight with the painful pressure of tears. Nothing was as easy as it looked. Not exercising. Not life. Her hands balled into obstinate fists. She would find Arthur another home. A better home.

  Getting down on the carpet, Jessica began to do sit ups. They were always easier when she was angry about something.

  One and two and three and...

  She would have to take a personal day off tomorrow and take Arthur back to the shelter. Maybe she could call Universal Studios again. Or the Los Angeles Times. Press coverage would definitely help.

  Twelve and thirteen and...

  Deliberately she painted cheerful mental pictures of being inundated with calls and letters from people wanting Arthur, clung to them.

  Twenty. No more.

  Panting Jessica lay down flat on her back. She closed her eyes and wished for a happy home for Arthur. And loneliness, blood pressure and anxiety for Dr. Karl Wagner.

  Momentarily her heavy breathing stilled as she thought of Molly. The little girl was going to be terribly upset. Should she call and talk to her about Arthur?

  No. That was Karl Wagner's problem. Let him handle it as best as he could. She didn't want to be accused of interfering.

  Promptly at eight the next morning she stabbed the doorbell of Karl Wagner's house. Her face wore her ready-for-the-boxing-ring look. Arthur's deep woof welcomed her from the side of the house. Jessica's heart swelled with emotion at the thought of taking him back to the shelter, even temporarily.

  Karl Wagner answered the door quickly. Dressed in a navy pin stripe suit and a sparkling white shirt he looked the epitome of success. His eyes held a watchful look. As if he expected her to spring at him and scratch his eyes out. As if he was the innocent party in all this. Jessica let out the air she'd been holding in her lungs and told herself all she'd to do was stay calm for the next five minutes.

  "I won't keep you," she said tersely, glad anger had urged her towards a Kelly green jumpsuit with an indigo blue sash. She stuck her chin out and the sunlight glinted off the saucer like blue and green earrings she wore. "If you open the garage door, I'll get Arthur and be on my way."

  "Come in for a minute." Karl's expression gave nothing away as he held the door wide.

  Jessica thought she glimpsed a quirk at the corner of his mouth but she was too angry to look again.

  It was the first time she'd entered his house through the magnificent oak double doors. He led her past a blur of rooms, a curving staircase, into the family area she'd seen before.

  The remains of his breakfast were on the dinette table and he sat down as if she had all day to spare. "Would you like some coffee while I finish eating and then we can talk?"

  "No thank you," Jessica stood stiffly by the table. A quick look took in the glass of juice, the bowl of bran cereal. Feet slightly apart she glared at Karl Wagner. "I don't have all day so if you don't mind...."

  "Arthur's what I want to talk to you about." Sounding the soul of reason he poured a mug of coffee and placed it in front of her. "I'm not giving him up."

  "Wha.....?" Jessica sank into the chair she'd been offered earlier.

  "Yes."

  "Last night, last night....." Jessica spluttered.

  "I didn't say I was giving him away. You did."

  "But I've taken a day off. I've called the humane society...." Words failed Jessica. She'd done it again. Jumped to conclusions. Staring at him miserably, the thought crossed her mind the man was an inconsiderate boor. He could have called her back last night.

  And you would have listened?

  He didn't even try.

  Hah!

  "Cream? Sugar?" She helped herself to a spoonful of sugar with a hand that shook, lifted the mug of coffee to her lips and then set it down with a bang. She didn't want any of his coffee.

  "What did you mean when you said last night that you wouldn't put up with any more of this?" A glacier was warmer than Jessica's tone. Her drop-dead look told its own story. She'd been saving that personal day off to spend with David at mid-term.

  "Just that. If you hadn't flown off the handle of your little broomstick and let me finish," the now plainly visible quirk sent Jessica's blood pressure sky high, "I would have explained that what I meant when I said I won't put up with this kind of thing was, he has to be trained not to dig holes."

  "Oh." Jessica glared at him.

  "When did you do this?" Her hand was impr
isoned in his before she realized what he was doing.

  "Do what?" Little tunnels of warmth pierced her anger. Jessica refused to acknowledge them.

  "Get yourself a new set of nails."

  "Oh, that." Jessica tried for cool, unwilling to admit the tunnels had fused into one great mass of warmth. There was no denying she was tingling from head to toe.

  "Yes, that."

  Jessica cleared her throat as his eyes fixed on her face. The artificial, peach colored nails weren't long or fancy, but they served their purpose. "Yesterday, in my lunch hour. It helped me stop biting them."

  His thumb had found the ball of her hand again. Any more of that and she would be reduced to the level of a harem slave. Eager, weak, willing.

  Snatching her hand back Jessica covered confusion with coldness. "If you're sure you want to keep Arthur, I might as well go in to work. Do you mind if I see him first?"

  Karl nodded in the direction of the patio door, "Go ahead."

  The reunion was brief. Jessica only had eyes for the yard. For the first time since yesterday she acknowledged Karl's right to be furious. Arthur was a big dog and he'd dug big holes. Moon craters was an apt term. What little lawn was left was covered with overturned clods and dirt. Jessica's heart sank. It looked awful.

  Fixing a stern eye on Arthur she lifted a finger and pointed to the holes, "Who did this?" she asked in the sternest voice she could muster, "Bad dog! You are NOT to dig any more holes." Jessica went over to one of the holes to make her point clear, "NO MORE HOLES."

  Arthur cowered, trying to shrink to half his size.

  Jessica hardened her heart. For his own sake she had to get her point across. Picking up his nylon bone and a bright rubber ball Molly had mentioned buying him, she reiterated, "If you want to play, you play with these things. Digging holes is BAD. NO MORE HOLES."

  Arthur gave a small wuff. Jessica could almost swear he was laughing at her.

  "You would certainly make a good trainer."

  Karl was on the redwood deck looking down at her. Smiling indulgently. As if he liked what he saw. As if it mattered. Dropping the bone and the ball, Jessica climbed the five wooden steps to the deck. It was time to leave.