Free Weekend Agreement by Barbara Wallace

anyway. “Don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t a bad father. Just preoccupied. Caught up with his goals.”
    “And your mother?” He was curious now. Her mother’s farm was the reason she agreed to this farce of a weekend. Surely there was a bond there.
    She drew a circle in the sand, then wiped it away. “My mother, she uh… She left when I was little. Guess the distance got to her.”
    “Oh.”
    “She died in a freeway accident six months later.” Another circle got wiped away. “I’d like to think she was planning to send for Michael and me.”
    “So the farm…?”
    “It’s where she grew up. It’s the only connection I have left.”
    And she wanted it to what? To hold on to the memory?
    To give her context. Her words from his office came back to him. Despite himself, Daniel felt the sadness in her voice getting to him. He had the sudden urge to reassure her, to tell her yes, their mother was planning to send for them, even though common sense told him the words were far from the truth.
    “Do you look like her?” he asked.
    “Her coloring and her eyes. My aunt—the woman who owned the farm—she showed me some pictures.”
    The cormorant that had been struggling in the wind gave up its fight and settled on the water’s surface. Turning away, Daniel stared at the woman beside him. Her cheeks were pink from the wind. Strands blown loose from her ponytail swept across her face. She was beautiful, he had to admit. Her dishevelment only made her more so.
    He tucked a strand behind her ear. “She must have been very beautiful then.”
    Charlotte’s eyes locked with his. Large and green and grateful.
    Suddenly, it was more than empathy stirring in his soul. He let his fingers linger on her skin. She nuzzled her cheek against his hand and he rewarded her by cupping her jaw.
    “I can feel the salt on your skin,” he murmured. The smell of sea air filled his senses. He wanted more than to feel and smell. He wanted to drown in the sensation.
    “I bet you taste like the sea.”
    He moved closer, his mouth dry in anticipation.
    “Daniel!”
    Cole’s voice cut through the wind like a foghorn, killing the moment and shoving them to their separate corners of the sand. A moment later, his blond, overly pleased face appeared from around the curve. “There you are,” he greeted. “Mother sent me to find you. She’s fit to be tied that you’re holding up dinner.”
    With a silent groan, Daniel sat back against the dune. Charlotte looked as flushed and unsettled as he felt inside. If Cole had been but one minute later…
    He would have blown that damn propriety clause clear out of the water.
    Damn. For once in his life, his brother’s timing was actually useful. Saved him from making a very expensive fool out of himself. He pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand for Charlotte.
    It was time to return to clarity.
    …
     
    Dinner was sautéed halibut with risotto and a healthy portion of tension. Vivian, unhappy about having to send Cole after them, was already seated when Charlotte and Daniel entered the dining room.
    “I realize you’re used to having the world wait on you, Daniel,” she said, without glancing up from her wine glass, “but we adhere to a schedule. Now I’m afraid Professor Doherty won’t have the chance to freshen up after being dragged through the sand.”
    “She doesn’t need to freshen up; she’s fine.”
    Charlotte looked to the man holding her chair. Those were the first words he’d spoken since Cole found them. The moment his brother arrived, something in Daniel’s mood shifted. Gone was the gentle, sensuous man who brushed sea salt from her lips. A curtain dropped over his hooded gaze and he was once more the detached and on-guard businessman. Too late though. She’d already glimpsed the vulnerability he was working so hard to keep hidden.
    “I have to agree with Daniel,” Cole said. “I think Professor Doherty looks charming.” He flashed a smile in her direction.