Free A Daring Vow (Vows) by Sherryl Woods Page B

did he end up back here?”
    Elsie hesitated, then shook her head. “I can’t say I know the whole story. Besides, that’s something you’d best be asking him,” she said.
    It was a surprising display of discretion for a woman who loved to gossip. First Darlene, now Elsie. It appeared to Zelda if she stuck around Port William long enough this time, the whole blasted town would reform.
    “I can’t ask my boss something like that,” she said piously. “It’s too personal.”
    Elsie winked. “I know. If you were just asking because he’s your boss, I’d tell you what I do know. But you’re looking for more than the bare facts, and that’s something you ought to hear from him.”
    “Why does everybody act so mysterious about this?” she snapped impatiently. “It’s not like I’m some scandalmonger from a tabloid. Taylor and I were close once.”
    “A lot of water’s gone under the bridge since then, for both of you. Seems to me if you expect to be close again, you’d best open up those lines of communication.”
    Zelda scowled at her, then grinned at the common sense suggestion. Whatever else her flaws might be, Elsie Whittingham had always had good solid advice for a lonely girl who hadn’t always trusted her own mother’s slurred words of wisdom. “Okay, okay, you’ve made your point.”
    “Can I offer one more word of advice?”
    “You’re asking?” she said incredulously. “Would a
no
stop you?”
    Elsie chuckled. “Not likely. Don’t go stirring things up unless you’ve got a good reason for doing it. Taylor’s had a rough time of it. He doesn’t need someone else to come along and hurt him.”
    “What makes you think I could do anything to hurt Taylor?”
    “Because, honey, you always could, and some things just flat-out never change.”
    All night long Elsie’s warning seemed to reverberate in Zelda’s head. Was it possible that Taylor did hold some deeply buried feelings for her, even after all this time? It would explain that unguarded expression she’d caught on his face, the hunger in that kiss.
    If so, then, what right did she have stirring things up? Was she still hoping for revenge? Or were there feelings of her own, feelings that went beyond resentment, that she hadn’t yet grappled with, that maybe she didn’t want to face at all? Common sense told her to proceed with caution.
    Of course, according to legend in Port William, anyway, common sense wasn’t something Zelda Lane had ever given a hang about. Since she’d already been tarred with that particular brush, she couldn’t see much reason to prove them wrong now.
    * * *
    The next day when Zelda placed a stack of letters on Taylor’s desk, instead of beating a rapid retreat, she lingered. Seeing the tense set of his shoulders, she longed to stand behind him and massage away the ache. Given his overall attitude toward her, though, he’d probably charge her with assault. Maybe even attempted murder, if her fingers happened to skim his neck.
    “I was surprised to find you living in Port William after all this time,” she confessed in what she hoped was a casual tone.
    He barely glanced at her. “Why? It’s home.”
    Though his response was hardly an invitation for an intimate t;afete-;aga-t;afete, she sat down anyway. “But you were always so determined to live in Charleston or Columbia, and run for office.”
    He straightened and regarded her evenly. “I did live in Charleston, and I did run.”
    “You did?” she said, unable to hide her astonishment. If Taylor had run for office, why wasn’t he in the capital now? He wasn’t the kind of man who would even enter a race, unless he’d been virtually assured of winning.
    “What happened?” she asked finally, since he didn’t seem inclined to enlighten her on his own.
    A dark look crossed his face. He drummed his fingers on his desk, then shoved them through his hair. The nervous ritual was familiar, but in the past she’d only seen him act that way around