Love's Paradise Page 5

“I have listened to you. You made your point. Now it’s your turn to listen to me. I’m not stopping this project for you or anyone else.”

  “You have no idea what you’re about to do,” she yelled.

  “I’m about to get these men back to work,” he replied.

  “You’re destroying history,” she snapped.

  “I’m building a resort,” Jordan snapped back. The engine was still on and he impatiently waved to the man sitting in the cab of the machine. He shut the engine off.

  “You’re destroying history,” she yelled again then lowered her voice as the engine subsided. By the time the machine’s engine was completely silent, Jordan and Sheri were breathing hard as they glared at each other. Sheri looked down at his arm still around her. He was holding her close, too close, flush to his body. She looked back up at him. Her eyes were fiery. The corner of his lips twitched slightly. He released her slowly. Neither of them moved as they stared at each other face-to-face. He could swear he even heard her heart beating.

  “Perhaps we should take this discussion into the office for a bit more privacy.”

  Sheri looked around at the small gathering that had been enjoying her tirade and the dramatic rescue. Some had even begun applauding. This wasn’t what she intended. She was a professional, but his stubbornness made her so angry. She nodded curtly then followed him down the path to the trailer where she had waited earlier. “Sheri, I’ll wait for you at the front gate, okay?” Genie said, standing with her boyfriend.

  Sheri nodded as Jordan held the door for her. As soon as she passed him in the doorway she smelled the light woodsy scent of his cologne. It made her insides tingle, but she took a deep breath and calmed down. She started restating her case immediately. “First of all there’s nothing arbitrary about my request. In my opinion…”

  “You’re different…” he said, smiling.

  “What?”

  “…than before when we met—you’re different.”

  She smirked and shook her head. He did remember her. “No, I’m not different. I’m the same women you met and walked away from a few months ago.”

  “No, I’d remember that. You walked away from me.”

  “Then perhaps you didn’t give yourself a chance to get to know me before forming an opinion about me.”

  “Perhaps I didn’t. My bad.”

  “Getting back to our discussion…”

  “And if in the end you find that it is just wood, what then?” he asked. “You would have cost this project hundreds of thousands of dollars in down-time and man-hours and delayed a project your board of supervisors agreed to back, then what?” She didn’t respond. He nodded. “I didn’t think so.” He turned and walked over to his desk.

  “I’m not on the board of supervisors, so I don’t know what deals you made with them.”

  He whipped around and removed his sunglasses having felt the sting of her words hit too close to home. “I’m not in the habit of making deals with them or anyone else. I’m here to work and right now you’re holding me up. So, unless you have a court order or a cease-and-desist letter, you’re trespassing on private property. I’m gonna have to ask you to leave now.” He walked back over to the door.

  “You have no right to—”

  “On the contrary, Ms. Summers, I have every right,” he interrupted, clearly reaching his limit with the conversation.

  “To destroy history,” she challenged.

  “To protect my property,” he countered, “and right now this discussion is over.”

  “You can’t do that,” Sheri complained.

  “You’d be surprised what I can do.”

  That, and the seductive crooked smile on his face, silenced her. Jordan walked over to his front door again. “But for decency’s sake, I’ll make sure to inform you when or if we pull anything out of the hole that looks like it’s worth anything.”

  “Are you joking? No, absolutely not. That’s not good enough. You’re not a trained archaeologist. You have no idea what’s of value and what’s not. That’s totally unacceptable.”

  “Right now that’s all you’ve got. Take it or leave it.”

  She took a deep breath and glared at him. “I guess I don’t have much choice at the moment, do I?”

  “There’s always a choice.”

  “I want to be kept abreast of everything. If it comes out of that hole I want to know about it.”

  He nodded curtly then opened the trailer door, seeing Cleveland and Tamika standing outside talking. “Cleveland, please escort Ms. Summers and her associate to their car.”

  Sheri fumed as Cleveland stepped forward. She began walking then stopped as she passed Jordan in the doorway. She gazed up into his cold dark eyes. Her heart beat wildly and her stomach quivered. She was livid, but apparently he couldn’t care less. “This isn’t over,” she assured him quietly.

  He looked at her card and then smiled cockily as he saw the anger blaze in her eyes. He could plainly see she was furious, so he intentionally provoked her one last time. “I’d be greatly disappointed if it were.”

  She smiled tightly and then walked away.

  Tamika walked toward Jordan. “Wow, what was all that?”

  “A whole lot of interesting,” he said admiringly.

  Sheri was beyond furious by the time they reached the outside gate. He had challenged her and basically refused to budge. Her heart was thundering and it felt like every nerve in her body was on fire. She’d never been so infuriated in her life. And that was a major accomplishment considering who her former stepfather and her brothers were.

  But his attitude was ten times worse. He was insulting and patronizing. And if he thought he’d won this war, he had another think coming. That was only the first battle and there was no way she was going to give up. When she said it wasn’t over, she meant just that. “I can’t believe the unmitigated gall of that man. He’s a self-centered, closed-minded, egotistical jerk and he had the nerve to question my credentials. Who does he think he is?”

  “Jordan Hamilton,” Cleveland said. Both Sheri and Genie turned to look at him. He shrugged, having stated the obvious. “Ladies, have a good day,” he said, as they exited the gate and continued to the Jeep.

  Chapter 4

  Jordan stood on the deck outside the trailer watching the fire-breathing Sheri storm away as he shook his head in exasperation. The whole situation would’ve been comical if it wasn’t so ludicrous. Imagine, a woman coming out to his site to rage about a hole in the ground. He shook his head again. He’d certainly had his fill of drama for one day. He walked out onto the deck then went down the steps to watch her walk away. Cleveland led the two women down the muddy path. When they reached the asphalt she turned around. They stared at each other a moment across the short distance. Neither gestured or said anything, but each knew exactly what the other was thinking. She had thrown down the proverbial gauntlet and he had eagerly picked it up. He smiled knowingly, realizing he meant exactly what he said—he would be disappointed if this was over.

  He liked her fire. And he liked the passion he saw in her eyes. Just watching her now sent a slow burn down the center of his body. Maybe Ian was right, maybe he had been out of circulation too long. Either way she was working his body like a full-time job and then some. His mouth dried and he licked his lips. Her reaction was instant.

  He chuckled to himself. There was something about the fire in her eyes that intrigued him. He liked it. He also liked the way his body had burned when he held her. She was certainly brazen to come out here like that. Most women he’d known would have never jeopardized a pair of heels for any cause. They’d back away from confrontation, but she stood right up to him. No woman had ever spoken to him like that. They usually did whatever he wanted, no matter what it was. But somehow he knew she’d be different and he liked the challenge before they even began.

  Cleveland stepped up, said something to her and then led them back onto the walkway then around the office trailers toward the front gate. Wh
en they rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, Jordan shook his head again. Long shapely legs planted in high stiletto heels covered in red clay and sand. It had to take some kind of dedication to make a woman stand in the middle of a construction site dressed like that.

  He knew the type, a woman on a mission, fanatical, obsessive and self-righteous in her beliefs for a cause. She reminded him of someone he once knew. And apparently Sheri Summers’s cause had something to do with a hole in the ground. He’d give her three days. By the weekend she would have certainly given up. But he momentarily reconsidered. That kind of passion wasn’t easily discouraged. He knew she’d be back.

  He walked back up to the secondary site and looked down into the hole. The machine across from him roared to life again and took his attention away from his wandering thoughts. He waved for the man in the backhoe to cut the engine again. He walked over to the pile of wooden planks then turned to the machine operator. “Did anything else come out of that hole?” he asked.

  “Nah, it’s just a bunch of old wood and some trash,” he said. “Empty soda bottles, cans, vines, tumbled limbs and a ton of crushed-up wood, you know, the usual stuff,” he called down. “I don’t get why all the drama over what was probably an old forgotten trash dump?”

  Jordan shook his head. It didn’t make any sense. “Do me a favor, Leroy. Drain the rest of the hole. I want to see what’s really down there. And make sure everything pulled out of there goes to the office, no matter how insignificant it appears.”

  Leroy looked at the pile of trash. “I found a glass bottle floating in there. It was old, like one of those old-fashioned medicine bottles. I pulled it out and tossed it on the side. It’s gone now. One of the workers might have grabbed it.”

  “Who?” Jordan said, immediately finding that unacceptable.

  “One of the new guys,” Leroy said. “He mentioned he wanted a glass bottle to give to his girlfriend.”

  “Find out who it was and make sure whatever was found is in the trailer by the end of the week.”

  Leroy nodded, hopped down and headed to the pump generator to begin draining the remainder of the water. Jordan watched the draining for a few moments. “What’s that?”

  Leroy squinted. “I don’t know. Looks like bucket.”

  Jordan leaned down to pull it out, but it didn’t budge. “Hold on, let me use the backhoe,” Leroy said. He climbed up, turned the machine on and easily dug out the bucket and surrounding dirt. He unloaded it beside the other debris.

  As soon as Leroy dropped the shovel there was a loud crack and the machine stalled and began smoking.

  “Hold it, hold it. Cut it off.” The engine sputtered then slowly died. “What was that?”

  “I don’t know. It did that earlier, too. Whatever it is down there just cracked the arm again. I used the last replacement part. It’ll probably take a few days to get another one here and all the larger machines are already off-site.”

  Jordan walked over, picked it up, cleaned it off and looked at it. It wasn’t a bucket. It was a bell. He turned it over several times and tried unsuccessfully to scrape away some of the caked-on mud. “Okay, get Tamika to order the part. And better get a spare. We’ll hold up digging around this area until the replacement part is in.”

  Leroy nodded. “All right.”

  Jordan turned and headed back to the trailer. As soon he sat down at his desk the phone rang. He pulled it out and, seeing the caller ID, answered. “Hi, bro, what’s up?”

  “Wow, you answered, I’m surprised. I’ve been calling you all day. I assumed your phone was sitting at the bottom of a cement mixer,” his brother said in his usual sarcastic manner.

  Jordan chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I meant to call you back earlier. So what’s up?” Jordan asked.

  “Nothing much, how’s everything there?” Darius said.

  Jordan looked around the office thinking about Sheri. A slow easy smile tipped his full lips. He picked up and toyed with the business card her assistant had given him. “Not bad at all.”

  “Good, listen, what are your plans this evening?”

  “I’m just headed home, why?”

  “Good, I need a favor.”

  “Sure, what kind of favor?” Jordan asked as he typed in a web address, pressed the enter key and waited a second as the Crescent Island Museum website came up.

  “I need you to pick something up for me. It’s on the way.”

  “Okay, what and where?” Jordan said.

  “It’s right there on Crescent Island.”

  “Here?”

  “Yes, it’s at Gates Manor, Louise Gates’s home. She called me earlier this afternoon. She has some paperwork for me.”

  Jordan stopped pressing keys and just sat there. “You’re kidding, right? Louise Gates has something for you.”

  Darius started chuckling.

  “You know what she’s like. She’s a self-professed matchmaker,” Jordan said. “She was practically taking notes at Dillon’s fourth birthday party last year.”

  “Actually, she was taking notes,” Darius corrected him, still chuckling.

  “This isn’t funny,” Jordan declared. “I thought Aunt Ellen was bad, she’s nothing compared to Mamma Lou. The people on this island adore her. You should hear them. They think she’s magical with her matchmaking.” Darius continued laughing. “And it’s not funny.”

  “Come on, man, since when are you afraid of an eighty-year-old woman? You can handle her.”

  “That’s not the point. Why put myself on her radar?”

  “Truthfully, bro, you and I already are.”

  “Yeah, I know. So why tempt fate? I gotta steer clear.”

  “Can’t do that,” Darius said. “I need that paperwork tonight.”

  “She can email or fax it to you.”

  “I need the originals.”

  “Fine, she can send it overnight express. They’ll get to the office first thing in the morning. Better yet, I’ll pay for a door-to-door courier.”

  “Nope, I need them tonight.”

  Jordan sighed deeply. “Come on man, you’re killing me.”

  “I wouldn’t ask if they weren’t important.”

  “All right, I’ll do it. But you owe me big-time for this one.”

  “I know. I’ll see you later.”

  Jordan closed his cell phone and sat back in his chair. He shook his head. The thought of being anywhere near Louise Gates made him nervous. He had no idea how his brother Julian did it. But now he supposed Julian had nothing to fear, being married to Dena. It wasn’t until after the wedding that they found out Louise Gates had played matchmaker all along. But to her credit she’d certainly gotten it right. He’d never seen his brother so happy. Still he had no intention of being her next target. Fine, he’d go and pick up the paperwork for his brother. But as far as getting caught up in Mamma Lou’s matchmaking schemes, he would definitely steer clear.

  Chapter 5

  Genie didn’t start the engine right away. They just sat there in the car, staring out the front windshield mostly in shock. “Wow, that was really intense,” she said breathlessly.

  “Yeah, it was too intense,” Sheri replied. Her heart was still beating like crazy. “I can’t believe I got so angry and he actually had security escort us out.”

  “What a rush,” Genie added excitedly, putting her key in the ignition without turning it. “I thought stuff like that only happened in the movies. Being an archaeologist really is exciting.”

  Sheri took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Okay, this obviously didn’t go as expected. Still, nothing’s really changed,” she said confidently. “I’m going to do exactly what we intended to do. I’m going to stop them from destroying that site. Granted, it isn’t going to be easy and it certainly doesn’t look like Jordan Hamilton is going to listen to reason.”

  “Yeah, you got that right,” Genie said. “But bottom line, he was right, it’s private property and he can do whatever he wants on his property. W
e can’t actually force him to comply.”

  “I’ll call the Smithsonian and let them know what’s going on,” Sheri said. “Their lawyers should be able to do something about this, but it’s going to take time.”

  “But what if we don’t have time?” Genie said impatiently.

  “The museum will be fine. Don’t worry,” Sheri said, as the wheels turned in her head.

  “I don’t know about that. I’ve heard that situations like this get bogged down in bureaucratic red tape and then nothing gets done. Money changes hands and eventually everything just gets swept under the rug and buried. What we need is to act fast, right now, immediately,” she said excitedly.

  “Genie, calm down. There’s a way to handle this. We have to follow the proper procedures.”

  “Okay, okay, I get it. So short of kidnapping Hamilton and holding him ransom to get what we want, what do we do in the meantime? Please don’t tell me we just get to sit around and do nothing?”

  “No, we do our work and we follow the rules and gather as much information on the Crescent ship as we can. If the Smithsonian lawyers are going to do battle with Jordan Hamilton and his high-priced attorneys, we need our side to be as prepared as possible. Nobody knows this island’s history better than I do.”

  “Okay, that sounds good.” Genie put the Jeep in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. They drove in silence for a while, each reflecting on what had just happened at the site. Genie started talking about everything that happened. She was getting more and more excited.

  Sheri gazed out the window, seeing the sights of Crescent Island pass by. It was peaceful and tranquil outside, but there was still an unsettling feeling. Gone was her usual excitement and energy. The island seemed to have slowed to a sigh as the last signs of summer clung to the trees and the quiet of fall’s approach hovered all around. This was her favorite time of year. The weather wasn’t cold yet, but there was a bit of a nip in the air. That’s exactly how she liked it. It was as if the whole island was preparing for the next season.