For Nick (8 page)

“I spent every summer of my childhood at this home. It’s a great house, you’re going to love it.”

Andie did love it from the moment she laid eyes on it. It was a two-story, bright yellow home with two dormer windows projecting out of the roof and a huge wrap-around porch on top, as well as on the bottom. It was situated on a mountaintop overlooking the lake. From the back door, you could easily follow a path down to the lake. A sea of pine trees surrounded the house, making it only visible once you were upon it. It was gorgeous and she knew it was going to be a wonderful week. The anxious weeks leading up to the wedding had seemed like a bit of a whirlwind, and she was glad the waiting was over. This was just what she needed, a little R and R to refill the oil in her lamp. And although she missed Nick dreadfully, she knew it would only help their relationship. She had to take care of herself too.

Once inside, Andie kicked off her heels. “Did I mention I hate heels? I don’t know who decided they were the height of women’s fashion, but it was probably a man.”

Zach just laughed at her and then introduced her to the housekeeper, Janine. She was an older lady who lived locally and was the caretaker of the home.

“You two get settled. I’ve got lunch all set for you whenever you’re ready,” Janine said as she bustled off.

“Let’s get out of these clothes and get comfortable, shall we?”

Zach carried the luggage upstairs, ushering her to her room. He then excused himself to his own room. She found herself pleased with the sleeping arrangements. Things were looking on the up and up from the get-go. It was very reassuring.

Andie took off her white suit and hung it in the closet reverently, thinking of the kiss they’d shared. She’d never forget this time, even if it wasn’t real. She could easily fall into the fantasy of it all.

She met Zach downstairs, waiting for her at the table. He stood as she entered, dressed as she’d never seen him before. He was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved Henley. He looked just as good, if not better, in casual clothes. For once, she felt on even ground with him in her jeans and t-shirt. They spoke over lunch about Robert and all of the last minute details he’d been rehearsing to Zach before they left. They were all warnings about her,
avoid excessive physical contact or she could claim sexual harassment
,
don’t get too emotionally involved in this, she could take you for everything you own, and don’t kiss her like that again, she might get the wrong idea.
Zach laughed and rolled his eyes while telling her, but she was alarmed at his words.

“Are you worried about these things, Zach?”

He took her hand in his. “No, Andie, I’m not. Robert is overly cautious, but that is what I pay him for.”

After making quick work of their meal, Zach stood and announced, “If you’ll excuse me, I have a stack of paperwork with my name on it awaiting me in the office.”

Andie felt strangely let down and out of sorts. She wandered upstairs to take a rest, feeling too keyed up to sleep, but dozed off as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She awoke about two hours later feeling refreshed, but she still didn’t know what to do with herself. She wasn’t used to having nothing to do. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t shake the images that the word honeymoon evoked.

In reality, this was far from the real thing. She didn’t feel like reading, so she decided to go and seek out Zach, just to see what he was doing. Maybe he was finished with his work by now.

His door was open; still, she stood at the entryway hesitantly.

“Hey,” he said when he noticed her.

“Hey,” she replied.

He had several stacks of paper surrounding him and his phone rang. He answered, but motioned for her to enter and sit down. She listened as he solved the problem the caller presented to him.

“Actually, I’m on my honeymoon right now, so if you could please wait till next week to call…okay…that’s all right…goodbye.”

He sighed as he hung up. “I can’t believe they’re calling me on my honeymoon. What if this was the real thing? They’d all be fired, that’s what!”

“If it was the real thing you probably wouldn’t have answered in the first place.”

Zach’s eyes danced with delight. “I suppose you’re right. You have me there,” he guffawed. “Where’d you go on your honeymoon with your first husband? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“Believe it or not, we went camping. This,” Andie held up her hands, “is a thousand times better, trust me. You?” Andie was sure he’d say a Caribbean cruise or something else equally extravagant.

“African safari. My wife’s idea. I think I still have mosquito bites, and occasionally I randomly hear the sound of an elephant and I’m sure there’s one right behind me.”

Andie laughed at his comical description. Extravagant, yes, but not what she’d expected at all. Then, glancing at his stacks of paperwork, she offered to help him and spent the next hour organizing his files. After all, she was originally going to be his personal assistant. Janine appeared at the door and announced that dinner was ready, giving them odd looks, no doubt wondering why they were in the office working when it was their honeymoon. Once dinner was served, she left to get back to her own home, leaving them alone.

“
Adorable Andie
,” he said as he held out her chair.

He hadn’t wanted to stop working, so she said, “Thank you,
zealous Zach
.”

“Ah, if we are speaking using alliterations, then you asked for this…thanks for your
excellent exertion
of…
effort.
” His eyes twinkled.

She came right back at him with, “I am your…
enthusiastic, eager employee
.” She giggled.

He thought for a moment. “I can see I’m with an…
ornately obsessive opponent
.” He laughed a low, throaty chuckle.

He was fast, the words seemed to pour out of him without much thought. She came right back at him with, “I admit, I love
practicing pontificating prolifically
.” This was followed by laughter that left her unable to talk for a moment.

He waited patiently until she was done, an amused curve to his mouth. “Really
, achingly
adorable Andie
, you must get control of your
loyal love
of
laughter
.”

This time they both laughed until tears spilled down their cheeks.

“I think we’re feeling
purely
and
pathetically punchy
tonight.” Zach barely got the words past his lips.

“I am
stunningly
stupefied
at your
wondrous work with worthy words
.”

“And you, my
wise
witty wife
, are
completely cunningly clever
.”

This set them off again and they laughed until their sides hurt.

“How about a
marvelous movie
to end our
exciting evening
?”

“That would be
absolutely astonishingly amazing
.”

He took her hand and they retired to the living room, still laughing from their fun with words. Andie felt a little amazed at the connection between them. They chose a movie and sat in the dark living room, sitting next to each other, with his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and they watched the movie like that, feeling comfortable and at ease with one another.

“Zach, I think it was
fortuitous
that I married you.”

“Told you it was a great word.”

Andie smiled to herself. It had been a good day and she’d completely forgotten to remind herself that she was only doing this for Nick.

-7-

The next morning at breakfast Zach asked her, “What do you want to do today?”

Andie couldn’t hide her surprise. She figured Zach would be holing himself up in his office again. “I’d love to go down to the beach.”

“Okay. But be prepared, Lake Tahoe is cold.”

He was right. They waded in the water for a while, only going in as far as their knees. A few children joined them, staying close to shore, but watching how far she and Zach dared to go out. Suddenly Zach acted as though an unseen force was pulling him into the water. He fought and struggled, faking terror filled yells till at last the unseen force won and he delved into the water, completely submerging himself. The children stared, open-mouthed, and then giggled mercilessly when he stood up, dripping wet, and said, “Whew, that was close.” Then he repeated the entire incident, this time putting up much more of a fight before falling captive into the water. This time he even had Andie laughing. All of her preconceived notions of him once again went out the window. Zach was nothing but a goofball, a large child in adult skin. There was nothing intimidating about him. He repeated his show several times until he had a little audience of children laughing uproariously at his antics. He seemed to enjoy every minute of it and Andie just shook her head.

She started to shiver, standing in the cold water, and wondered how Zach wasn’t frozen solid. Zach thoughtfully insisted she sit in the sun with a towel draped over her until she warmed up. He was quite gentlemanly and Andie had to admit, she liked it.

They opted to sunbathe for awhile, letting the sun soak into their skin deliciously. Zach covered her back, shoulders, and arms with sunscreen and she in turn rubbed the lotion on his back, shoulders, and arms. It was a blatant excuse to touch him and she took her time about it. Then they lounged on a blanket and ate the picnic lunch Janine had packed for them.

“You sure had those kids entertained. I can tell you like children. Do you want children one day, Zach?”

Zach looked out over the lake pensively, as if his mind was elsewhere. “I did. I lost my wife before it happened for us though. We wasted a year of our lives, not really focusing on the important things. I regret it deeply.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shrugged, but she knew it sincerely bothered him. “Do you like children, Andie?”

“Yes, I do. I taught a Sunday School class of five year olds once. I loved those children. There was one in particular, she was the most adorable little girl, with curly black hair and bright green eyes. When she got excited, she growled when she spoke. It was positively endearing. Once, during an activity, she was chosen to pick the next participant from the class. All the kids raised their hands eagerly and she scanned the room, thinking about her decision very carefully. Suddenly her eyes rested on me and she literally threw herself onto my lap saying with her growl,
I want heeerrrr
!” The growl happened on the word
her
. Zach laughed at her imitation. “I swear I couldn’t have been happier if I’d been elected president. Children have a way of making you feel like the most important person in the world. Sometimes those words echo in my head when I’m feeling down…
I want heeerrr
! It always makes me smile.”

“Sweet story,” Zach told her with a wink.

“True tale,” Andie returned and he guffawed. She was on to him and his bizarre inclination toward alliterations. She wasn’t complaining though, finding Zach to be an interesting companion.

They spent the afternoon sunbathing, talking here and there. It was comfortable and neither felt as if they had to fill the silence with useless chatter.

“Andie?” he asked as they lay in the warm rays of the sun.

“Hmmmm?”

“Are you happy with this arrangement? I lay here wondering if I’ve brought unhappiness into your life for my own selfish reasons. I realize this is an unusual situation.”

Andie’s eyes fluttered open lazily. They were face to face, she lay on her stomach and he lay on his back. The position felt oddly intimate. “I’m happy, Zach. I enjoy your company.” Besides, she was being paid to be here. A lot. But it seemed in bad taste to mention that.

“I enjoy yours too, my twentieth girl. I’m so glad I chose you. I was just thinking how miserable I would be right now if I had chosen badly.”

He held her eyes and she didn’t break the contact. “Just out of curiosity, how exactly did you turn down the other nineteen?”

“It wasn’t easy. You wouldn’t believe what I’d been through that day and how refreshing you were. One girl immediately began to unbutton her blouse. One girl kicked off her shoes with a little too much gusto and nearly hit me in the head with one of them. One girl asked if we could turn off the lights and another hiked up her skirt and sat on the couch waiting for me to join her. Call me naïve, but I wasn’t expecting those reactions.” He chuckled. “It was awful.”

Andie couldn’t help but laugh at his descriptions. “What did you say to them?”

“The truth. I simply explained that I didn’t want any one working for me who would be willing to trade sexual favors for employment benefits and that this was a test. Please know, I do not condone sexual harassment in any form, and would fire any employee that truly resorted to those kind of tactics.”

“I’m surprised Robert let you do it. It has lawsuit written all over it.”

“He was completely against my strategy. What I was allowed to say was strictly scripted and I had to swear not to deviate. I wasn’t allowed to say anything that would’ve been blatant, that way I could technically claim that they’d misconstrued my meaning.”

Andie spluttered, “Shame on you, Zachary Drake.”

“I apologize profusely. I was praying you’d turn me down flat. I liked you immediately.” He paused. “To be honest I wasn’t exactly sure you knew what I meant at first. You seemed innocent, as if I had to spell it out for you. You ignited a spark of hope in me on behalf of all decent women everywhere. All I could think was
I want heeerrr
,” he said with a mischievous smile.

“I like your growl.”

“Thanks. I’ll perfect it as time goes by.”

Andie continued with the conversation at hand, ignoring his sarcasm. “I liked you too. To be honest, I was disappointed when those words left your mouth.”

“When I told Robert about the other girls, he couldn’t stop laughing.”

“Really, IT laughs?”