EXCERPT

CHAPTER ONE

January
Portland

To reach this moment Edward Davidson struggled with himself and his wicked ways. He had returned home as a clean-living man who was fully responsible for his actions, but people in Infinity Point still called him Eddy or the Davidson boy. Except for an elite few, everyone continued to speak of him as the wild and no-count Eddy. It was out of respect to his dead minister father that those God-fearing people allowed him to sit among them during worship. Yet, they didn’t permit him to take an active part in the church or the community. The minister replacing his father always looked as if he expected to see horns protruding from his head each time he'd entered the sanctuary.

When everyone began selling out and moving from the dying resort town, he had a vision of what the future would bring. He rallied those staying and made them hang-on and to wait for better days. The day that the mayor walked out on his responsibility, they voted him into the office and wouldn't let him resign. That brought him to Portland and the meeting with Rob Clair to convince him to invest in the resort community.

* * * *

Friday afternoon, Aileen Clair dismissed her first-grade class and rushed from the building with little time to spare before her father's meeting. Arriving at the downtown high-rise, she rushed toward the elevator as a masculine hand shot out to keep the doors parted for her. She saw the raven black of the man's hair, matching the dark eyes regarding her, in the second before she stepped inside greeted with his nod and the question of what floor she needed.

Aileen nodded back at him before looking at the panel. She told him that she needed the same floor as he, and then she studied him with the assumption he was meeting with her father.

The dark suit looked neat on him although out-dated to the styles the male members of her family wore. He was of medium height, but he appeared taller with the proud poise of his well-muscled body. His handsome profile was somber, and he showed an air of isolation in the way that he stood so stiffly.

They stepped out on the twelfth floor. He stopped at the reception desk while she walked down the hall to find her father. She found him as he came from her brother's office.

Greeting her, his face sobered. "I have problems. Can you meet the mayor of Infinity Point when he arrives and begin without me?"

Aileen accepted the information needed for the appointment and studied her father's notes as she walked toward the meeting room.

The mayor's dark eyes widened in surprise when she opened the door and he saw her. He showed his frustration as he rose from the easy chair. She noted his frown while she walked toward him, yet she extended her hand when she reached his side. "Good afternoon, Mayor Davidson. I'm Aileen Clair. My father had an emergency and asked that I meet with you."

* * * *

Edward became more nervous about meeting with Rob Clair as the receptionist showed him into the room designed with the purpose of making people feel relaxed. He walked toward the four easy chairs nestled around a round coffee table and sat. The receptionist brought him the promised drink of water as he opened his briefcase to collect the pictures and documents that he needed for his appointment.

The wait stretching out longer, he glanced at the well-stocked bar then looked away. Edward knew what liquor would do if he even took a sip. He had too much to live for to give it up for a drink. Just then, the door opened saving him from any further urges.

The dainty blonde, who had stared rudely at him earlier, entered instead of a man. He released her hand after her formal greeting and introduction, and sat, instead of calling it off in lack of Rob Clair's interest.

Instantly, she brought up the subject of the meeting, impressing him since he didn't come to make small talk. Then she began to ask blunt questions, bordering on the personal, before she requested to see the pictures.

She asked questions about each piece of real estate for sale and the points of interest, then gave him the chance to show what they had to offer would also benefit them.

As she looked at the photos of the lighthouse now belonging to the town, he explained his predecessor had turned it into a museum. Still an active lighthouse, someone kept watch at the radio navigation beacon.

She asked him what that was, and he told her a ship received a radio beacon and by comparing the two beacons returns they triangulated their position to find out where they were. The town closed the museum but he assured her of its success once vacationers came again. He wanted to open the lighthouse for visitors to live in and run the facility as they did along the Washington coast.

Other than the obvious shops, he showed her pictures of the boats for deep-ocean fishing, the riding stables, and the campgrounds at Truman Reservoir a few miles out of town.

Almost rude in her abruptness, she left the room to report to Rob Clair without ever exhibiting any sign that she had approved or disapproved. Made to feel a failure, the urge to take a drink overwhelmed him more than the first time he saw a bottle after the years of staying dried out. Edward took the first step toward his downfall and stopped.

"You want it. Just one drink," his evil inner voice spoke after years of silence. "You can stop with one."

"No," his denial sounded weak, even to his own ears. "I can live my life without it." He took another step, then stopped himself.

"You're a failure. One drink and it will make you feel like a man again."

"Shut up and leave me alone," he ordered the voice, but he took the last step to stand so close to the bottles that his hands began to shake.

"You know how to shut me up and block me out of your mind. Go ahead, take a drink and I'll shut up."

"God, help me. If I take one drink I'll never stop, but then I'm a failure." Uncapping a bottle, he didn't hear the door opening as he lifted it toward his mouth. The hand on his stopped the bottle from reaching his lips, yet the liquor's overpowering scent made it hard to resist the temptation for just one blessed taste.

Her hand tightened on his as he met the eyes that were regarding him in concern. "If I had known, I wouldn't have left you."

Edward lowered his head to look at the bottle.

"Look at me."

His eyes rose to hers in a look of desperation.

"You aren't a failure." Aileen took the whisky from him and drew him away from the temptation. "Some times my father asks me to attend his meetings when he needs me to sense things."

Edward walked to the table where his briefcase laid. "Forgive me if I seem just a little upset. I have been stared at, asked personal questions about my life, and caught at my worst moment by someone who I wasn't expecting to make me look like a fool." He snapped the briefcase closed with irritated clicks.

The cynicism of his remarks grated on her even if he was partly right in his criticism of her. Aileen moved to stand behind him.

Edward turned, found her blocking his path to the door, and a probing query came into his eyes.

"I'm sorry I stared and my father would have asked questions that I wouldn't dare. Thankfully, I caught you or we wouldn't be having this conversation. Never once did you look foolish. My father really had a problem and didn't pass you off on to me. I gave him my opinion and he’s in his office, preparing the contracts. I'm the one who is at a loss. If I were in my classroom, I would know how to handle my six and seven year olds."

The first time while in her presence a flash of humor uplifted his mouth. His eyes measured her with an amused calculated look. "Are you going to take me to see the principal or is it your father I should worry about?"

"My father will only send you to your room," Aileen teased as she grabbed him by the arm.

His eyes widened in astonishment, but Edward amiably allowed her to drag him toward the door.

"He asked me to arrange your extended stay in one of the accommodations kept for such delays as yours at the hotel across the street."

Again, within the matter of seconds, she had amazed him. "Are you always—you're like a tempest," he commented with good-natured wonder.

"It's a Clair trait, I'm afraid. I did tell you what your fate was with him but I'll feed you first."

In the elevator, this time she was under his observation. His eyes traveled from her face, light blue sweater and skirt, downward to her flat dark blue pumps. She turned to look directly at him, and his eyes darted away before he cast them downwards.

He aroused her curiosity as well as her vanity in wondering if he thought her erotically appealing. Unfortunately, she hadn't known she would find the perfect specimen for her proposition when she dressed that morning or she would have chosen something more attractive.

It would have helped if the man had undressed her with his eyes and betrayed his ardor in his glance. Instead, she sensed his humor in her reaction, and his satisfaction in paybacks.

With an odd twinge of disappointment, she stood in lonely silence beside him as the elevator made its long descent. She was at a loss to know what to say to win his interest in her as a woman instead that of her father's daughter.

Watching her covertly, Edward noticed her glowing, youthful happiness fading and the look of sadness passing over her features. Leaving him with an inexplicable feeling of regret and emptiness, he touched her arm as he asked in a deceptive calm voice, "Did you have plans for the evening and now instead, have to cater to me?"

"No, I had no plans," Aileen replied. "Does my catering to you disrupt your plans for the evening?"

He heard the defiance in her tone as well as subtle challenge. "I don't want you catering to me but I would like you to stay and have dinner with me."

"I want to stay and have dinner with you," she admitted.

At her reply, Edward exhaled a long sigh of contentment. He noticed happiness shining in her eyes when the elevator stopped and the doors separated. Stepping out before him, he saw that even her walk had a sunny cheerfulness. Helping her to slip into her coat warmed him, and he would carry the memory of her smile to brighten up his lonely existence.

In the hotel lobby, Aileen suggested that he get them a table in the restaurant while she made his arrangements. She gave the desk attendant the information for his stay before she instructed them to remove liquor from the accommodation.

Over after-dinner coffee, Edward relaxed and began to reveal signs of his fatigue. She offered to show him to his room, hoping he wasn't too tired to listen to her business proposal and to agree.

* * * *

The instant that Aileen closed the door, leaving him with his thoughts, Edward covered his face with his hands and whispered, "God, what a temptation you sent to me this time."

His agreeing to the proposal to bed her, without wedding her, for the sake of giving her the child that she wanted, without a husband, tormented him. Whether his decision was right or wrong, good or bad, he had agreed.

He wanted to love someone who believed him to be worthy when his past made him unfit to know the love of a good woman. He had made the choice and he would live with it.

Aileen arrived exactly on time at nine o'clock and Edward invited her inside as he glanced at the small bag that she carried. "Now is the moment to change your mind."

She appreciated his giving her an outlet, but determined, she gathered her strength and her nervousness lessened. "I won't change my mind and you're doing me a service."

"If you'd like to go into the bedroom, I'll join you in a minute."

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