“I owe you an apology as well.” With her hands clasped in front of her, Stephanie took a step toward him. “You’re right about the office, Jonas, only I was too much of an idiot to see it.”
He smiled one of those rare, rich smiles of his, a smile that Stephanie was convinced could melt stone. “I’m pleased we cleared away this misunderstanding,” he said, and glanced at his watch, frowning. “Now I really must be going.”
“Thank you for coming.” Knowing that he’d found it important to explain meant a great deal to her.
He walked to the door, then suddenly turned to her. “Do you sail?”
“Sure.” She’d never been on a sailboat in her life. “At least, I think I can, given the chance.”
“How about this weekend?”
“I’d like that very much.”
“I’ll call you later,” he said on his way out the door. Then he muttered something about her not making bankers’ hearts flutter, but doing a hell of a good job of his own.
Stephanie closed the door after him and leaned against it, grinning with a smile that beamed all the way from her heart.
Chapter Eight
A stiff breeze billowed the huge spinnaker, and the thirty-foot sailboat heeled sharply, shaving the water-line with a razor-sharp cut. Stephanie threw back her head and laughed merrily into the wind. The pins holding her hair had long ago been discarded, and her blond tresses now unfurled behind her like a flag, waving in the crisp air. “Oh Jonas, I love this.”
His answering smile was warm. “Somehow I knew you’d be a natural on the water.”
“This is marvelous.” She crossed her arms over her breasts as though to hug the sense of exhilaration she felt.
“You’ve never sailed before?”
“Never.” She noted the way he steered the boat from the helm, his movements confident, sure. “Can I do that?”
“If you’d like.”
Stephanie joined him and sat down at his side. “Okay, tell me what to do.”
“Just head her into the wind.”
“Okay.” She placed both hands on the long narrow handle that controlled the rudder and watched as the boat turned sharply. Almost immediately the sails went slack, but one guiding touch from Jonas and they filled with wind again.
“Hey, this isn’t as easy as it looks,” Stephanie complained, though not strenuously. The day was marvelous. There wasn’t any other way to describe it, but the weather had little to do with Stephanie’s evaluation of this particular Saturday.
Jonas had arrived at her apartment early that morning, bringing freshly squeezed orange juice, croissants still warm from the oven, and two large cups of steaming coffee. Stephanie had always been a morning person, and Jonas apparently was as well.
She had prepared her own surprise by packing them a picnic lunch. Included in her basket were two small loaves of French bread, a bottle of white wine, a variety of cheeses and some fresh strawberries that had cost her more than she cared to think about. But one look at the plump, juicy fruit and Stephanie couldn’t resist them.
The journey into Duluth was pleasant, as Jonas spoke of his family and their home on Lake Superior. His mother lived there now, and Stephanie would be meeting her later that afternoon.
“You’re quiet all of a sudden,” Jonas mentioned as he reached over to correct her steering once again. “Is anything troubling you?”
“How could anything possibly be wrong on a glorious day like this one?”
“You were frowning.”
“I was?” Stephanie glanced out over the choppy water. There wasn’t another boat in sight. It was as though she and Jonas alone faced the mighty power of this astonishing lake. “I was thinking about meeting your mother. I guess I’m nervous.”
“Why should you be?”
“Jonas, look at me. I could be confused with a fugitive from justice in these old jeans; I only wish you’d said something earlier so I could have brought a change of clothes along.”
“Mother won’t care.”
Perhaps not, Stephanie mused, but she certainly did. If she was going to come face-to-face with Jonas’s mother, Stephanie would have preferred to do it when she looked her best. Not now, with her hair in tangles and knots from the wind and her face free of makeup and a pinkish-red from the day in the sun. On the other hand, Stephanie’s musings continued, Mrs. Lockwood would see her at her worst and be pleasantly surprised if she met her later. Her lazy smile grew and grew, and she glanced at Jonas.
His look was thoughtful. “Stephanie, I don’t want you to fret about meeting my family.”
“She must be a marvelous woman.”
“As a matter of fact she is, but you sound as if you know her, and that isn’t possible.”
Stephanie’s gaze momentarily scanned the swirling green water in an effort to avoid meeting his intense gaze. “You’re right, I could pass her on the street and not know who she is, but she’s a special person.” The woman who bore and raised Jonas would have to be.