The Princess and the Pauper Page 9

  Ten years of purgatory.

  April slipped out of her jacket, hanging it in the closet. Peter Hollis had tried to make up with his eldest daughter almost as soon as April had left town. The whole affair had put a strain on her parents’ marriage. But April had been bitter. More bitter toward her father then toward Jesse. She’d refused Peter’s help time and again. Only when he’d practically broken down and begged her to forgive him had her heart melted. And when he’d offered her the job at Hollis’s, assuring her that her business degree was on a par with previous store managers’ education, April had reluctantly accepted.

  Now she was grateful. She loved her job. Flexible hours were a luxury. She could be home when Eden was home. She could drop everything and race to school when her daughter fell in the playground and required fourteen stitches in her leg. She could be everything she’d longed to be for so long.

  Muffled footsteps sounded on the carpet outside. “Your father called,” Jane, her administrative assistant, announced, walking into April’s office with the familiarity of long service. She set down a steaming cup of tea on her desk. “They’re breaking ground tomorrow in Seattle.”

  “Thanks.” April turned around the handle of the cup. “Another Hollis’s,” she mused aloud with a shake of her head. She was somewhat amazed at the success of the stores. Ten years ago they had been one small department store struggling against the larger chains. But even when other businesses were failing right, left and center, somehow Hollis’s had caught fire. Business has boomed. April’s father had bought a place in the city to be closer to his job. Now her parents lived in a high-rise condominium overlooking the Willamette River right in downtown Portland, although Madeline still preferred Rock Springs. April was renting a home in Portland’s West Hills. Rock Springs was just too far to commute from. And she didn’t want to go back there, anyway.

  “He said he’d call later. Your sister called, too.” Jane chuckled. “She said he’s driving her crazy.”

  April smiled. Nicole lived in Seattle and had been taking her turn in dealing with their father. “He should stay in a hotel rather than impose on Nicole and her husband. Dad’s just too ‘thrifty. His word, not mine. I say he’s plain old cheap.”

  “I won’t tell him you said so if I can have Friday off.”

  April smiled as Jane slipped out of sight. “That’s blackmail, you know.”

  “What do you think made this country great?” her administrative assistant’s disembodied voice floated back.

  April stretched her shoulders. She had the strongest desire to shove the mountain of paperwork piled in the center of her desk into the wastebasket. Today she felt like celebrating. It was, after all, St. Patrick’s Day, and she had a date with a friend later. The past was behind her, and it was time to think about the future.

  She was reaching for the phone when the intercom buzzed. “Hey,” Jordan’s voice drawled, “I forgot. Tell the Princess happy birthday for me, okay?”

  Tea sloshed over the edge of April cup, staining the sleeve of her white silk blouse. “Damn,” she whispered, shocked. Princess?

  “What’d I say?” Jordan asked.

  “Nothing. I’m just clumsy. I spilled my tea. I – I’ll tell her.” April hung up in a panic. She was amazed and incensed to find herself perspiring. Good God, if she was going to overreact every time Jordan said something that reminded her of Jesse, she had better make an appointment with a shrink.

  Sighing, April examined the brown stain on her sleeve. She was going to have to change before she met Rob Harding at Jake’s. She grimaced, some of her good mood dissipating in bittersweet nostalgia. She was almost sad that Eden was old enough to want to spend her birthday overnight at a friend’s. It left April with time on her hands and a huge, maternal ache in her heart.

  She might as well drown her sorrows in green beer.

  She worked through lunch and then, late in the afternoon, she strode across the thick carpet of Avant-Garde, Hollis’s women’s clothing department. “I’ve got a party to attend in forty-five minutes,” April explained to Margaret, one of the stores most experienced sales clerks. “I want something to wear today. Preferably something green.”

  Margaret chose a cream-colored satin skirt and an emerald sequined blouse. The straight skirt hit April in the middle of the knee and had a kick-pleat in the back. The green blouse lay softly against her hips. She couldn’t wear a bra because of the dip in the back. Her bare skin seemed to glow softly under the lights, and looked smooth and sensual.

  “Well?” Margaret asked.

  April stared at her reflection. How long had it been since she’d dressed up? She worked in finery; it was her livelihood. Yet she never bothered to drape herself in anything more exotic than clothes she could wear to work.

  “Charge it to my account,” April said, before she could change her mind.

  A half an hour later she was on the main floor, her old blouse and skirt folded carefully into a Hollis’s bag, her feet encased in new platform heels. The girls in jewelry whistled as she walked past, and April grinned, dropping into a dramatic curtsy in front of their counter.

  “You need earrings,” one of them said. “I’ve got just the thing.” She hurriedly brought April a pair of silver chandelier earrings with little green gems woven in. They glimmered richly in her hand and April turned them over with a sense of dread.

  “Bettina,” she read aloud from the black foil tag.

  Bettina Cawthorne made jewelry, and since he’d been hired Jordan had tried to persuade April to carry her designs. April had only resisted because her father might balk at the Cawthorne name; he was still extremely sensitive where Jesse was concerned. And if the tissue of lies – or half truths – about who Jordan was should come undone, she hated to think what her father might do. Only Jordan’s persistence, and the few samples April had seen of Bettina’s beautiful work, had convinced her to give Jesse’s sister a try.

  “Bettina’s one of our newest suppliers,” the salesgirl said proudly. “Isn’t she fantastic? Go ahead. Put them on.”

  April’s hands felt numb. She pushed the gold wire through her ears, then examined the results. A stirring sense of déjà vu left her mouth dry. She hadn’t met Bettina yet. All the jewelry designers who sold through Hollis’s dealt directly with the jewelry department buyer.

  April bought the earrings, walking through the glittering gold, green and silver decorations in a daze. The elevator’s emerald lights winked on and off. She felt completely detached from everything around her as she strode toward it, her mind already thinking about tomorrow’s tasks.

  Ahead of her stood one of Hollis’s security guards; she couldn’t immediately remember his name. Next to him, his back to April, was another man. For a moment she was certain her eyes were playing tricks on her. Thinking of Jordan and Bettina had put her in a highly suggestible state, apparently. Then he turned her way and she knew.

  Dark blond hair, gold eyes, sober expression…

  April stopped dead in her tracks. The man half-turned and her heart somersaulted. Her mouth turned to dust. It couldn’t be, but it was. The man staring at her with undisguised surprise was Jesse Cawthorne himself.

  “Hello, Princess,” he drawled.

  With a sense of horror she realized she’d expected this moment to come someday. Deep down, she’d known. And now everything she’d worked so hard and long for was about to unravel. She didn’t want to see him again. Ever.

  She said something, but wasn’t sure what. He moved toward her and put a hand on her arm. It was all a dream-like blur. Then she heard herself announce shakily, “Five minutes.”

  Five minutes? She turned slowly on her heel, her heart beating in a painful cadence. Five minutes could destroy her.

  The last person in the world Jesse had wanted to see again was April Hollis, though in a sense it was she who had changed his life. He should be grateful, he supposed, that she’d been the catalyst that had made him enlist in the army. Not that he was a ca
reer military man. Hardly. The three years of serving his country – and three years of being responsible only for himself – had given Jesse a new perspective on life.

  Still, he would have avoided Hollis’s altogether if he’d known she was there. Bettina had said she didn’t think April was around. He’d questioned Jordan about April, but his brother had been very tightlipped and cagey about his association with Hollis’s. That had worried Jesse enormously, especially considering the disturbing news he’d just received. But because of Jordan’s job, Jesse had purposely refused much contact with his younger brother – a decision he now regretted – and Bettina’s sketchy information was all he could go by.

  Bettina had dealt directly with Hollis’s accessory buyer and had been to the store only twice. There had apparently been no sign of April either time. From that, Jesse had concluded that April wasn’t involved in the family business at any level that mattered. As far as he was concerned, his sister and brother were lucky to be doing business with Peter Hollis at all. The man was no fan of his.

  Now he’d run smack-dab into April Hollis herself. A much older April Hollis. An incredibly beautiful April Hollis. For the space of one time-shattering moment, he was thrown back to that heady summer. His blood stirred, and he was shocked and infuriated that it took so little to arouse him.

  He turned toward the street exit – then stopped short, realizing that April was not following him. He’d assumed – wrongly, he now realized – that April would want to talk somewhere away from the store.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Emerald sequins shimmering beneath the store’s hundreds of track lights, throwing seductive patterns against her bare back. “I thought we’d go to my office,” she said, not breaking stride.

  Jesse’s gaze lowered to the close-fitting skirt. Fascinating glimpses of the back of her knees and thighs flashed through the kick pleat. Her black hair, fibers, shining and loose, waved against her shoulders. With a painful mental kick, he realized what he must look like to her.

  “Hell,” he muttered furiously, turning to follow her. He didn’t care what she thought.

  The elevator was too small. April scooted to one side, her back against the bar in front of the beveled panels.

  Jesse stood as far to her left as he could. With a whoosh, the doors closed and they were transported smoothly upward. Her perfume, a misty jasmine fragrance, assailed his nostrils.

  At the tenth for the doors opened. Jesse followed April once more, dimly aware of the looks of astonishment tossed his way by store employees.

  April’s office was huge. A floor-to-ceiling window of thick glass offered a captivating birds-eye view of Pioneer Square. The carpet was so luxurious that he almost hesitated to put his feet on it. Her walnut desk curved around her in a U.

  April didn’t sit down. She strode straight to the window, wrapped her arms around her waist, then turned to face him. Her skin was lusciously creamy; her eyes gems sparking with blue-green fire between thick, black lashes. Her mouth was an uncompromising line of some incredible shade of pink. Once or twice Jesse had fantasized about meeting her again, but in his wildest dreams he’d never expected to encounter such a cool professional. And he’d never expected to be so undone.

  She had him at a disadvantage, and it was a distinctly unpleasant experience.

  “I’m all ears,” she invited sardonically. “What did you want to talk about?”

  Fine. He didn’t like wasting time with small talk. “Jordan.”

  That surprised her. “You want to talk to me about your brother? I thought you hadn’t seen each other much.”

  “We haven’t.” Thinking of April and Jordan sharing confidences bothered Jesse. He realized he’d wanted to believe Jordan knew nothing about April.

  “So I’m to be some kind of liaison for a family reunion?”

  “Actually, no.” Her icy demeanor rankled. “Maybe you could just tell me where he is.”

  “He’s probably in his office. Straight down the hall to your right.”

  So Jordan had his own office. What the hell was he doing here? Given Jesse’s own reasons for coming to Hollis’s, Jordan’s position within the company worried him greatly. “Thanks,” he answered coldly, turning abruptly.

  “Wait!”

  He froze in his tracks. He sensed her moving away from the window in the waft of perfume said she was somewhere to his last. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her black platform heels.

  “I can’t let you go without at least satisfying my curiosity.”

  Slowly he turned. She was now right in front of him. Her gaze searched his face, and he caught sight of some emotion – disappointment? – in her luminous eyes.

  “What are you doing now? What kind of life do you lead? Who are you?” she asked.

  “You don’t really want to know.”

  “The hell I don’t.”

  Jesse almost smiled. He should tell her, he supposed, but damn it, she didn’t deserve the truth. “I’m doing nothing. Just bumming around.”

  April held his gaze. His breath caught under her bold scrutiny. She wasn’t quite as tough as she let on, he realized with some satisfaction. There were doubts clouding her eyes and a hint of vulnerability in the trembling severity of her mouth. She was trying very, very hard to hold on to her composure.

  “Jesse,” she said in a voice that ached for understanding.

  “What the –!”

  Jordan’s voice booming out behind him made Jesse react automatically. He whipped around, one hand reaching inside his jacket. He stopped himself in the nick of time, his blood pumping double-time.

  “Jesse?” Jordan asked incredulously. His stunned gaze traveled from the top of his brother’s head to the toes of his boots. “Is it really you?”

  “In the flesh.” Jesse was just as amazed at Jordan. His brother wore a suit! He was the epitome of the professional businessman; Jesse nearly choked on his own laughter. Until he remembered why he’d come to Hollis’s.

  “You’re such a jerk!” Jordan exclaimed. “Avoiding me for months. Bettina said you were busy. Busy doing what? What is going on?”

  Jesse shrugged. “What you see is what you get.”

  “Hah.” Jordan turned to April, as if for support. “What’s he been telling you?” he demanded.

  “Nothing.”

  “The last time we really talked was at the funeral,” Jordan accused Jesse, swinging back to face his brother again. “That was six years ago. I’ll be damned if I let you get out of here without some explanation.”

  “Funeral?” April asked in a small voice.

  “Our mother’s,” Jesse explained tersely.

  “Well, don’t tell me you came to see me because I won’t believe you!” Jordan looked as if he wanted to grab Jesse by the throat.

  “If you’d stop talking, I might be able to explain,” Jesse said dryly.

  Jordan pulled himself up short, clapping his mouth shut on another string of words. Slowly his gaze drifted from Jesse to April, then back again. Jesse saw his eyes widen – with the wrong conclusion. Swiftly, Jesse said, “I did come to see you, Jordan. That’s all. Is there somewhere we could talk, privately?”

  April was instantly in motion. “I’m on my way out of here, anyway. Excuse me.” She tried to squeeze between Jesse and Jordan, and her arms swept across Jesse just before he could step back. Her gaze jumped to his in horror. “Are you carrying a gun?” she asked, her voice taut.

  Cursing himself for his bad judgment, Jesse answered coldly, “Yes.”

  The sound that issued from her throat was a moan of misery. She stumbled past them and out the door.

  Jordan gazed at Jesse in wonder. “I can’t wait to hear this tale. What are you into?”

  “Where’s she going?” Jesse demanded, ignoring him.

  “Give me one good reason why I should tell you.”

  “Because if you don’t, I’ll shoot you,” Jesse answered calmly.

  Jordan laughed. He held up his hands. “
She’s going to Jake’s to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. But, Jesse—” he grabbed his brothers sleeve “– she’s got a date. His name is Rob and he works for a rival store. April trying to lure him to Hollis’s. Somehow I don’t think she’d appreciate you showing up looking like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like that!” Jordan gestured to Jesse’s attire.

  “I’ve always dressed this way.”

  “Yeah, well, it makes you look like a criminal. Or an addict. Or homicidal maniac. What are you, anyway?”

  There was something about Jordan that was irresistible. Even all the years Jesse had stayed away hadn’t made him immune to his brother’s effortless charm. “All of the above,” he answered with a grin, heading out the door.

  “I’m going to want to see you again soon, brother,” Jordan called after him, his voice growing louder by degrees as Jesse disappeared around the corner. “You’d better find me again, or so help me, I’ll put a surveillance team on Bettina’s apartment!”

  “I’ll find you,” Jesse yelled back.

  But first he was going to find April.

  Chapter Seven

  She’d taken the elevator down. He could see the cables moving. Half running, he headed toward the bank of less ostentatious elevators lining the south wall and slammed his palm against the button. He should have told her the truth straight out, he realized now. The impression she’d gained of him must be grand indeed. But explaining why he was dressed the way he was, why he carried a gun, had felt a bit too much like selling out, and he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it.

  He grimaced. That had been a mistake.

  On the main floor he made for the west entrance. He was at the tiered marble steps when a man materialized from behind several racks of womens’ clothing.