Heart of Stone

“It smells good,” he said, no disdain for her honesty in his eyes or his words. “Maybe I should invest in shampoo stock.”

Tara pulled away, dishes clattering in her hands. “Is that how it is with you? Is everything about money?”

“Yes,” he said, unabashed and unashamed. “Isn’t that how it is with everyone? Isn’t everything always about money?”

“You are different from your brothers,” she said, frustration and anger making her see red. His words sounded so much like Chad, it hurt to think about it. Or the fact that she’d once felt the same way.

Stone took the dishes away again, this time setting them down on a nearby side table. “And you’re completely different from your sister.”

“Touché,” she replied, feeling the sting of his remark just as much as she’d felt the heat of his touch.

“I didn’t mean—”

“I know exactly what you meant,” she said, moving around the table to get away from him. Stone made her too jittery, too aware of her own shortcomings.

But there he was, right beside her before she could rush out of the room, his hand bracing against the door facing, blocking her way.

“Could you please be a gentleman and let me by?” Tara asked, defiance in each word.

“Could you please not be in such a hurry to get away?” he countered, a daring quality in the question.

“I’m not in a hurry,” Tara replied, lifting her gaze to meet his compelling eyes. “I just think we got off to a very bad start, you and me.” Then she held her gaze and leaned close. “And we both know that you don’t visit very often around these parts. We probably won’t see each other much, in spite of the fact that my sister just married your brother, so what’s the point?”

He let that soak in while he took his time searching her face. Tara dropped her eyes, wishing she hadn’t said that, but when she looked back up, his expression had turned grim, as if he understood exactly what she was trying to say to him, exactly what she meant.

“Well, I did try to warn you,” he said, dropping his hand away as he stepped back.

Then he picked up his coat, turned and walked out into the night.

Chapter Two

S he refused to be nervous.

Finally, Tara thought as she paced the confines of the elegant lawyer’s office located in what used to be a Savannah town house, she was going to meet the buyer who’d been playing cat and mouse with her over the land Chad had left her. Finally, she was going to get the price she had named, the only price she would accept for the seventy-five acres of land that was now a prime piece of real estate.

And finally, she was going to get the face-to-face meeting she had requested with the buyer as part of the stipulation for the sale. Tara had to be sure that she was doing the right thing by selling off the land that rightfully belonged to her children. She had to see this mystery man in person, to look him in the eye, to know that she wasn’t selling out.

Whoever he was, he wanted this land badly. They’d been negotiating since the day she’d grudgingly decided to put the land on the market. Tara knew the buyer, who was hiding behind some massive corporate logo, wanted the land for the least amount of money possible, but she also knew what the land was worth. Situated between the Savannah River and a small inland bay, this parcel was well suited to an upscale subdivision and shopping center. If developed, it had the potential to generate millions of dollars, which was why she had wrestled with letting it go.

But Tara didn’t have near the kind of capital to develop the land. That would take a lot of money, and right now she didn’t have it, and she was too in debt to borrow more. What little bit she had received from Chad’s life insurance was almost entirely gone. No, what she wanted, what she needed now, was enough money to get her out of debt and set up college funds for her girls.

“That’s all I ask, Lord,” she said, still unfamiliar with trying to pray even though she’d been doing a lot of that lately, thanks to Rock and Ana. “I only ask that my children be taken care of. I can handle the rest.”

The same way she’d been handling things since Chad had died.

The door of the office opened, causing Tara to whirl around. A petite, redheaded secretary in a striped suit came strutting into the room, her smile practiced and calm. “They’re on their way,” the woman said. “Would you like anything to drink? Some coffee maybe?”

“No, I’m fine,” Tara replied, trying to muster her own smile. Her nerves felt like ship rigging pulled too tight, but she refused to let that show.

The redhead straightened a few files, then smiled again. “Let me know if you need anything, Mrs. Parnell. My name is Brandy.”

“Thanks, Brandy.” Tara watched the woman leave, then sank down into a staid burgundy leather armchair, her gaze moving over the busy Savannah street just outside the tall window. Tourists mingled with businesspeople in the tree-shaded square across the cobblestone street, making Tara think she did need something after all.

What she needed was a long vacation from all the worry and stress of juggling the many financial problems Chad had left her with. What she needed was some way of lifting this tremendous guilt off her shoulders. At least her parents were staying with her and the girls for a while, now that the wedding was over and she had brought her family back to their house in Savannah. Her mom and dad loved the girls and wanted to spend time with them before school started in a few weeks. But in spite of having her folks close, Tara still felt so alone.

“Turn to God,” Rock had told her after she’d blurted out the truth to him just last week. “Turn to the Lord, Tara. Give some of it over to Him. I’m telling you, it will help you get through this.”

Dear Rock. He couldn’t even tell Ana about Tara’s troubles, since she’d told them to him as her minister. He had to keep that information confidential. Tara had needlessly begged him to do so, but he had assured he wouldn’t break her confidence. He’d also urged her to talk to her sister. But Tara didn’t want to worry Ana with her problems, not now when Ana had at last found happiness with Rock. Not now, when Ana had just opened her new tea room to an immediate success. Thank goodness that investment was solid, at least. Tara had managed to loan Ana that little bit of money just before Chad’s death, just before the dam had burst on her finances. She didn’t want Ana worrying about paying her back right now.

She’d do all the worrying. Turn to God.

“I’m trying, Rock,” she whispered now, her fear so close she could almost taste it. This fear was born of hurt and pain, after finding out her husband had pretty much left her with nothing. It was a feeling of being helpless, of knowing she’d let Chad struggle with the finances all those years while she kept on pretending things were all right between them. She’d busied herself with work and redecorating, endless shopping, with keeping the girls active, with social responsibilities, just to hide her pain. When one charge card ran out, Chad had simply handed her another one. She never questioned him. He’d fixed it. He’d taken care of things.

Well, you didn’t do that, did you, Chad? You didn’t really take care of anything. And neither did I. And now, her children would have to pay for their parents’ mistakes.

Now, Tara was left to deal with the debt collectors. And the shame. Lowering her head into her hands, she said out loud, “Oh, Chad, where did we go wrong?”

“You went wrong by trusting your husband in the first place.”

Tara lifted her head, the familiarity of that voice causing the nerves she’d kept at bay to go into a spinning whirl of emotion. “You,” she said as she sat there, unable to push out of the chair. “You,” she repeated, realization dawning on her like a stormy sunrise.

“Me.”

Stone Dempsey walked into the room and threw his briefcase on the mahogany table with the smug air of someone who’d just won the lottery. He was followed by Brandy and an entourage of lawyers and accountants, which only made Tara sickeningly aware of how she must look, slumped in the chair in utter defeat.

Well, she wasn’t defeated yet. She had something Stone Dempsey wanted. And now that she knew who was behind the bid to buy her precious land, she wouldn’t sell it so easily. Not until she was sure she was doing the right thing for her girls.

Rising up, she adjusted her white linen suit and looked across the conference table at him. “You could have told me yesterday at the wedding. You could have given me that small courtesy.”

He calmly placed both hands on the table, then stared across at her, making her heart skip. “What, and spoil the happy occasion? I didn’t want to do that.” His harsh, unyielding gaze moved over her face, then he added, “And besides, as you so graciously pointed out, I probably won’t stick around long enough to worry you. So what’s the point?”

Anger made her look him straight in the eye. “The point is—Mr. Dempsey—that for months now I’ve been trying to sell my land, and for months now someone, somewhere has managed to squelch every other offer that’s been made. That same someone, who refused to be identified, I might add, doesn’t want to give me a fair amount for my land, but he sure doesn’t want anyone else to get it, either.” Taking a calming breath, she leaned across the table, the fire inside her belly giving her the much needed fuel to tell him exactly what she thought of his underhanded tactics. “The point is—you’ve been evasive and elusive, teasing me with promises all this time so I wouldn’t sell the land to someone else, but never really giving me a firm answer regarding my asking price. I don’t appreciate it, but there it is.” Lifting away, she stood back, her eyes locking with his. “And I don’t think I like you, but here you stand.” She shot him a look she hoped showed her disdain. “Maybe your family was right about you, after all.”

Tara realized her mistake the minute the words shot out of her mouth. Stone didn’t move a muscle, but she saw the twitching in his jaw, saw the flicker of acknowledged pain in the shattered reflection of his eyes before they became as glassy as a broken mirror.

She wished she hadn’t mentioned his family.

“Leave us, please,” he said with a wave of his hand to the stunned group still gathered at the open double doors.

An older, white-haired man wearing a dark suit spoke up. Tara recognized him as the man she’d been doing business with up to now, the go-between, Griffin Smith. “Stone, I don’t think—”

“I said leave me alone with Mrs. Parnell, Griffin,” Stone replied, his firm, soft-spoken tone leaving no room for arguments.

The room cleared quickly. Brandy gave them a wide-eyed look, then discreetly closed the door.

And then they were left, staring across the table at each other.

Refusing to be intimidated by a man who had deliberately tricked her, Tara once again put her hands down on the cool smooth-surfaced table, then stared across at him, wary, half expecting him to lunge at her.