Call It Destiny

Jayne Ann Krentz

Call it Destiny

 

Published August 1984

ISBN 0-373-25.121-1

Copyright ©1984 by Jayne Krentz Inc. All rights reserved. Philippine copyright 1984. Australian copyright 1984. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
 

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

The Harlequin trademarks, consisting of the words, TEMPTATION, HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION, HARLEQUIN TEMPTATIONS, and the portrayal of a Harlequin, are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited; the portrayal of a Harlequin is registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in the Canada Trade Marks Office.
 

Printed in Canada

1

It would be an honest
sort of marriage; a marriage based on shared goals and shared business interests; a marriage with the potential for friendship between the two parties involved; a comfortable marriage that would please the relatives.
 

It was going to be a marriage of convenience.

„I’ve brought along a draft of the prenuptial agreement. Take your time looking it over and after you’ve signed it, I’ll hand it over to the attorney. She’ll make certain we both have valid copies.“ Heather Strand sipped her perfectly chilled Napa Valley Chardonnay and smiled pleasantly across the gleaming white linen tablecloth at the man sitting opposite her. A hovering waiter, sensing that his presence was not needed at the moment, discreetly disappeared in the direction of the kitchen.

A part of Heather’s lively brain absently noted and approved the waiter’s discretion. She appreciated well-trained staff. „If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to go over the details with you,“ Heather continued when her dinner partner said nothing. Jake Cavender seemed momentarily more interested in his scallop soufflé than in the business of their marriage.

„I’m certain you’ll have everything in order,“ he murmured. „You seem to be a very well-organized woman.“

Heather inclined her sleek head with its bronzed brown hair that curved with elegant neatness behind her ears. The heavy mass was well styled, cut with blunt precision to fall just even with the line of her jaw.

„I try,“ she responded dryly, not quite certain how to take Cavender’s comments. She didn’t know him all that well yet, and there were occasions when she couldn’t be certain that he wasn’t subtly mocking her.
 

„I understand from your father that you didn’t always.“

„Try to be organized?“ Heather shrugged faintly. The movement caused the fabric of her narrow, raspberry-colored chemise to shift silkily. „No, I suppose I didn’t. It annoyed my father when I approached everything in an off-the-wall style,“ she confided cheerfully.
 

„And annoying your father was a prime consideration?“ Jake poured himself a little more of the Chardon-nay, his cool gray eyes examining her composed face.

„As I’m sure you know by now, my father and I did not get along well when I was in my teens. My mother’s theory is that my father and I were a little too much alike temperamentally. I’m afraid it was a classic case of youthful rebellion.“

„Bordering on outright warfare, according to your younger sisters.“
 

Heather’s eyes narrowed. This man’s easy familiarity with her family was disconcerting at times. There were moments when she thought he knew her relatives better than she did. But then she’d been living in California for the past several years with only occasional trips back to Tucson.
 

„Don’t be concerned with my colorful past,“ Heather advised politely. „I assure you I’ve outgrown it.“
 

„Have you?“

Heather shot him a chilled glance. „Believe me, in my wild impetuous youth I would not have dreamed of getting involved in a business marriage!“
 

Cavender smiled at her. Heather was getting accustomed to that smile with its faint twist of amused speculation. She didn’t quite understand it yet, but she was getting used to it. „Why have you come back to Tucson, Heather?“

„You know the answer to that.“ Heather smiled briefly at the waiter as he appeared to remove the soufflé dishes. When the young man disappeared she met Jake Cavender’s eyes. „My father is retiring and I’m prepared to step into his shoes.“
 

„You had an excellent career in the hotel business already carved out for yourself in San Francisco. What can your father’s hotel here in Tucson offer that can compete with what you had established in California?“

„A chance to be in total control; make my own decisions without having to get them approved; implement some of my own ideas. San Francisco and San Diego were excellent training grounds, Jake. I learned a great deal. I’m ready now to assume the responsibilities of running Hacienda Strand.“

„You could have returned to Tucson a few years ago and learned everything you needed to know by working at your father’s side.“

„My father and I could never have worked side by side, especially not when I was younger.“ Heather’s mouth curved ruefully. „It was unfortunate for him that I was the only one in the family who really had an interest in the hotel business. Neither of my sisters
wanted any part of running the Hacienda, so dad was stuck trying to groom me. But we seemed to clash on almost everything. Even now I doubt a partnership would work. He knows that or else he wouldn’t have made it clear that he intends to stay out of the business entirely now.“
 

Heather looked approvingly down at the delicate veal-and-mushroom dish being placed in front of her. Cavender had ordered the lamb, and from the deferential manner in which the entree was placed in front of him, she knew the waiter recognized him. Heather understood perfectly, of course. For the past two years Jake Cavender had been Paul Strand’s right-hand man. Cavender was, according to Heather’s father, a genius
with numbers. The Hacienda Strand had never been in better shape financially, and Paul was quick to credit Cavender for the sound financial strength of the resort.
 

And since everyone in the hotel-and-restaurant business in Tucson knew and respected Paul Strand, it followed that Strand’s right-hand man was also recognized when he chose to dine out. It wasn’t at all odd, Heather reflected in silent amusement, that no one recognized her. She had changed since she had left Tucson.
 

„You must know that your parents are delighted you’ve decided to return,“ Jake remarked casually. „They’re proud of what you’ve accomplished in California, naturally, but they’ve been hoping for a long time that you’d make the decision to come back to the Hacienda.“
 

„I could never have returned unless I had managed to achieve something for myself in California.“ Heather smiled, her hazel eyes deliberately bland and unreadable. „I left Tucson under something resembling a
>
cloud.“
 

„I’ve heard the story,“ Jake remarked sardonically. „You were last seen heading west on the back of a black Yamaha motorcycle. I believe your sister Liz said you had vowed to marry the guy who was driving the bike before you reached California.“

Heather felt a distasteful chill. Jake Cavender, it seemed, had indeed been adopted into the family circle. „Rick and I planned to detour through Nevada for a quick ceremony before we headed on to California,“ she explained crisply. Not that it was any of Jake’s business. It was just that he appeared to know so much already it didn’t seem to matter if he knew some of the rest.
 

„Rick?“

„That was the name of the guy driving the Yamaha.“ Heather re
garded her companion. „Didn’t Liz tell you that little detail? His full name was Rick Monroe and he was every adolescent’s fantasy of a cool, handsome, reckless boyfriend. I was eighteen at the time and he was twenty-four. And he looked terrific in biker leather,“ Heather concluded with a quick grin.
 

„A real leader of the pack, hmm?“ Cavender didn’t appear either amused or indulgent. Instead there was a faint shadow of disgust in his gray gaze.

That shadow was enough to ignite some of the old spirit of rebellion in Heather, much to her surprise. She had assumed that element of her nature was well and truly buried in her past. Why did this man have the power to stir the ashes? Her berry-tinted nails drummed restlessly on the white tablecloth. When Jake’s eyes dropped to her hand she ceased the action abruptly and quickly regained her aloof poise.
 

„No, Rick was not a ‘leader of the pack.’ He was a loner. Much like me, I thought at the time.“

„You were hardly a loner,“ Jake said. „You had the full protection and support of a loving family. Two sisters, your mother and father and several aunts and uncles and cousins. No, you didn’t qualify as a loner at eighteen, Heather.“
 

Heather blinked uneasily, her long lashes sweeping down to hide the annoyed reaction that surely would be reflected in her eyes. Jake Cavender could be a trifle blunt at times. Magnanimously she assumed it was one of the reasons he had been so useful to her father and would continue to be useful to her. A good executive did not want to surround herself with yes-men. On the other hand, there was such a thing as tact, especially in a man who has just agreed to marriage.
 

„Whatever happened when I was eighteen really doesn’t concern you, does it?“ She put him in his place with a quelling little smile and delicately took a bite of the minted artichoke hearts that accompanied her veal.
 

„I beg your pardon,“ he said quietly. „Did I stray over the line?“

„Yes. Do you make a habit of doing it?“

Jake considered the question and then nodded his head once. „I’m afraid so. I’m not particularly good at handling people.“

„You’re in a strange line of work for someone who isn’t good at dealing with people.“

„Hotel work? It is a little off base, isn’t it? But it’s worked out very well for me. Your father always took the role of jovial host with the guests and mediated with the members of the staff when it was necessary. I dealt with the business side of things. The financial facts and figures.“

„It seems to have been a highly workable arrangement,“ Heather said bracingly. „I assume the same arrangement will work between us.“

„I’m sure it will,“ Jake retorted smoothly.

„You have no objections to the prenuptial agreement?“ Heather experienced a sudden need to pin him down. There was an elusive quality to this relationship and, being fashioned of talented executive material, she wanted to define and control it. Instinct.

„I think it’s unnecessary, but if you feel more comfortable having such a contract between us, then I’m perfectly willing to sign. Did you have a contract with your young punk?“

Heather’s eyes chilled. „As it happens, Rick and I were never married. And if you don’t mind, Jake, I prefer not to discuss that situation. It’s in the past. If the actions of my youth offend you, I suggest you reconsider my offer of marriage.“

„Your family would be crushed if I did that,“ he said with one of his quick unreadable smiles.

„Yes,“ she agreed. „My family would be devastated. You’ve certainly made an impression on my parents and both my sisters, as well as all the other assorted relatives. In two years you’ve practically become a member of the family, haven’t you?“