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  She closed her eyes; she needed to tighten her resolve to not find him so attractive.

  *****

  It wasn't working for her. They had been browbeaten by Tara to hike to the top of the peak on Sunday morning with her new crush, Gersham, and his church group. Brandon had wanted to go because he had never been to the top of the Blue Mountains, and she had gone along because Brandon was going.

  The weekend was going well so far; her grandparents seemed to like him very much. That was no surprise to her; Brandon was an easy guy to like.

  She should know her head was higher up in the clouds than it should be. It was four-thirty in the morning and as they climbed along the trail she found herself daydreaming. She imagined that Brandon wasn't married, that he was just a jaded engineer who was tired from his job and was looking for some relaxation in the Blue Mountains, and she had just visited her grandparents and met him in the lounge area of the main cabin.

  He turned and looked at her and smiled and instantly. He knew that she was the one for him... She was rudely jerked out of her reverie when one of the guys from the church crew shouted to somebody in the back.

  "Watch your step!"

  She needed to do the same. She needed to watch her step with Brandon too; no woman in her right mind should be having daydreams about a man whose future was so fluid. It was like hanging a sign around your neck and declaring, Here I am, hurt me.

  She looked down at the trail and tried hard to concentrate. Was she coveting Brandon?

  She didn't think so; it wasn't as if Ashley and he were together. They didn't live together anymore. They were as good as broken up. Well, not really broken up; as Tenaj would say, "A married man is still married until that ink on the divorce paper is dry, Missy." She could even hear Tenaj's voice in its snarky clarity as she walked up hill.

  She forced herself not to sigh. She was doing too much of that lately. Why, oh why did she have to fall in love with a married man? She wasn't the type to even consider getting involved in these kinds of situations or think that she would be caught up in one. She remembered how she had blamed Heather for years for dating her father before he was free of her mother. She had looked down her nose at Heather for quite a while.

  She had even called her desperate, but here she was in the same situation. There was no excuse under the sun for having this type of feeling. If only her heart could just cooperate.

  They reached the peak a little before the sunrise. It was bitterly cold.

  Brandon stood beside her, rubbing his hands. "As difficult as it was getting up here, I would do it again. My feet are going to protest tomorrow."

  "Mine too," Nadine said, her lips trembling. "We used to do this a lot when I was younger but living in Kingston has softened me somewhat."

  There were only a few of the guys from the group who had also reached the peak, but they were some distance from them.

  Brandon turned to her. She could feel his eyes on her face. It was foggy, and the visibility was not all that great. He took her gloved hands in his and then bent his head and kissed her on the lips.

  What she had assumed was supposed to be a light kiss deepened into something more when she opened her lips in a gasp. Brandon drew her closer and kissed them apart. From that first instant of contact, Nadine was electrified. Lightning heat sizzled through her.

  Her hands came up to clutch at his broad shoulders, and she clung to him. He drew her even closer to him and she surrendered with enthusiasm. As she strained up to him in a fever of desire, with a driven groan, Brandon dragged his mouth from hers and stared down at her with stunned intensity.

  The noise from the rest of the hikers made them draw apart and Nadine wrapped her hands around herself as her body hummed with a low intensity of awareness. She felt sensitive everywhere. She wasn't even feeling cold anymore, even though she could see her breath on the air.

  When the sun came up, slowly cracking the skies in a pink and orange glow, she looked across at Brandon and realized that he was looking at her too.

  "Good morning," he said to her softly.

  Nadine laughed. Her breath formed a white smoke in the air. After such an earth-shattering kiss, ‘good morning’ was the last thing she was expecting.

  "Good morning," she smiled. "As Gramps would say, we are flirting with trouble, you know that?"

  Brandon nodded. "I know that. I know that better than anybody else."

  "Hey, let me take a picture of you guys," Tara said, walking up to them. "You look good together right here."

  Brandon handed Tara his camera and he pulled Nadine closer to him as they posed in the new morning on top of the mountain peak.

  Chapter Ten

  They drove back to Kingston in relative silence after the weekend. Brandon closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat while Nadine drove through the hills.

  "Are you sleeping?" she asked softly.

  "No." Brandon cracked his eyes open a bit.

  "Good, so I can turn on the radio." She did but most of the radio stations were not clear. She pushed in a CD instead. And a Gramps Langley song came on: "It’s Torture To Love You."

  Nadine started singing along, It's torture to see you everyday, knowing that you will never come my way ...

  Brandon sat up straighter, more alert, and looked at her.

  Nadine glanced at him. "I am going to be doing a cover of it for the Lovers’ Rock album the studio is producing. The children and grandchildren of the reggae greats are covering their parents’ songs. I chose this one from Gramps and I hadn't even met you yet. Weird, huh?"

  Brandon groaned. "Nadine..."

  "I know, I know..." Nadine nodded. "You are married; what did I expect? But you kissed me. Well, I participated and I am not going to play coy or beat around the bush. I liked it. I want more than stolen kisses from a married guy but I am finding it difficult to shake you from my mind. Maybe it's a fluke...maybe I don't really like you...maybe I am talking too much."

  "Pull over," Brandon said to her softly.

  She was getting agitated and she felt like crying so she pulled over on the side of the road and put her head on the steering wheel. "I am stupid."

  Brandon cleared his throat and Nadine lifted her head and slowly looked at him.

  "No, you are not. I am sorry," Brandon said.

  "For what?" Nadine whispered. "It's not your fault that I am acting on the edge of crazy."

  Brandon released his seat belt and leaned toward her, wiping a stray tear that had slid down her cheek. "I like you too, Nadine. It's not one-sided. I have been suppressing it. This morning, I shouldn't have kissed you. Nothing in my life is resolved. Kissing you added complication that we don't need."

  Nadine turned her cheek into his hand. "I go away in one week, next week Monday."

  She raised her head and took a deep breath. "I am going to try and forget you then, I swear. I know I can do it." She laughed. "Maybe I'll find a cute European guy who will make it easier for me to forget."

  Brandon frowned. "I don't think I like the sound of that."

  "Well, too bad, Mister," Nadine said determinedly. "I am Nadine Langley. I am a gorgeous and talented woman, and I can find myself my own single guy."

  Brandon looked at her worriedly. "I hate the idea of you finding a guy."

  "Why?" Nadine looked at him hopefully. "You feel jealous?"

  "Like crazy," Brandon said, inhaling roughly when he realized what he admitted.

  He kept glancing at her all the way to Kingston. It was amazing how jealous he felt at just the thought of her being with somebody else. It made him uneasy. It felt worse than having caught Ashley cheating, and that was saying a lot because that night he had felt gutted.

  He pondered that for a while. When had he gotten over seeing Ashley with Regina? He didn't feel as thunderously angry when he thought about it. He didn't feel anything at all. Especially not for Ashley. What he felt now was a feeling of passivity. Maybe he should get the divorce ball rolling.

  ****
*

  Monday morning Brandon got up with aching limbs. It was a wakeup call for him; he hadn't been exercising for months. He always took his slim frame for granted but obviously the Blue Mountain experience was showing him up.

  He contemplated pulling on his sweats and walking up and down the Smoky Vale hills several times. He could put in a half an hour and then come back home to get ready for work. When he drove down to the foot of the hill he saw groups of people doing the same thing.

  He was pleasantly surprised to find that most walkers were very pleasant. He said good morning several times to sweaty-faced persons in sleeveless shirts, while he shivered in his sweatshirt, pushing his hands in his pocket for warmth.

  "Brandon Blake!" He spun around and he saw a short portly man holding a dumbbell heading toward him with a smile on his bearded face.

  "Pastor Wiggan!" Brandon beamed. "I didn't know you lived up here."

  "Yes, I do now," Pastor Wiggan said, drawing level with him. "I didn't know you lived up here either. Small world, eh? Walking alone without Ashley. Too early for her, huh?"

  Brandon grimaced and didn't answer. "You know, I was thinking of you the other day, how you told me not to marry Ashley. That was pretty prophetic. Ashley and I are on the outs. She still lives in Norbrook. I am just crashing here for the time being."

  "Oh," Pastor Wiggan nodded. "That was eight or so years ago, wasn't it? I have since repented of saying that. I always felt a little bad about pulling you aside and telling you that you should reconsider. Your marriage, I thought, lasted much longer than some of the more compatible couples I have counseled. Is there any hope of reconciliation?"

  "I don't think so." Brandon sighed. "I am tired of working on it and now when Ashley claims that she wants to, my enthusiasm is gone."

  "That's too bad," Pastor Wiggan said, breathing heavily as they picked up speed walking down the hill. "Have you prayed about it?"

  "Every night," Brandon said, "but I think I am hampered by the fact that I have feelings for someone else. I really don't want to work on my half-dead marriage anymore. I am ready to move on."

  "Good Lord," Pastor Wiggan whispered. "We had a marriage conference the other day, where psychiatrists and counselors come together and talk about their profession, and you know what they found? When either party in a marriage forms new emotional attachments with others, the marriage is as good as dead."

  Brandon snorted. "Through the years my marriage has teetered on the brink of collapse. I stayed because of the kids, but when I caught Ashley cheating I think that was a wakeup call."

  "She cheated?" the pastor panted, slowing down as they came to the bottom of the hill.

  "Yes, and that was just icing on the cake," Brandon scowled. "We have been having problems for years; if I say left, Ashley says right."

  Pastor Wiggan was silent when they walked back up the hill. When they neared the middle he panted, "Brandon, you know the Bible says it is only through the hardness of our hearts why we get divorced."

  Brandon stopped beside him. "I hear you."

  "Give your marriage a working chance, Brandon," Pastor Wiggan said, wheezing. "Put aside the new relationship for now and give your marriage a chance—I am so out of shape it is not funny."

  Brandon glanced at his watch. "I have to leave now. I have to go to Norbrook to get the kids ready."

  "You have to do that?" Pastor Wiggan asked, frowning. "Isn't Ashley there?"

  "It's my job to do it." Brandon waved to him and prepared to run up the hill. "I am quite happy to do it, actually."

  "Remember what I said," Pastor Wiggan called after him. "Give your marriage a chance."

  *****

  "Brandon, we need to talk about Christmas," Ashley greeted him at the door. "The kids’ vacation will begin Wednesday. Alisha has a part in some Christmas play today-- did you know about that?—and Ariel is supposed to be an angel at her school. I can't deal with this! I have a store to run. This is my busiest period."

  "Good morning to you too," Brandon said, glancing at her. She was dressed to the nines in an all-red suit and her signature killer heels. "I have never seen you up this early, and yes I knew about the play; it's up on the activity board."

  Ashley snorted. "I don't have time for activity boards. I have a buyer at seven. Some important millionaire guy with his mistress. I have to be the one who personally meets them. I want to know if these people sleep. Seven in the morning is an unholy time to shop but then again, the girl is his mistress, so they probably have to sneak around."

  She headed to the kitchen.

  "So how was your weekend with the kids and your mom?"

  "Horrible," Ashley threw over her shoulders. "So horrible my mother actually accused me of not being a good mother. Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black? She was never there for me in my childhood, so of course we argued about that, and then Ariel was acting like a brat. She wouldn't keep still, bawling and moping around the place. When I told her to stop it she cried like a banshee, like I was abusing her or something. Last night she didn't sleep. I tried calling you yesterday; where were you?"

  "The Blue Mountains," Brandon grinned. "I had a peaceful time."

  "My kids, my own kids are a nightmare with me," Ashley said raggedly, putting the kettle on. "Why? It's as if the little monsters want to show me up."

  "Where are they?" Brandon asked. "You didn't just leave them to get ready, did you?"

  "Yes," Ashley gritted out. "Alisha is seven. She is not a baby any more. She should be able to see to her and Ariel. Those children are too dependent. You are hampering their development with your constant helpfulness."

  Brandon stared at her, speechless. He didn't know what to say. Did it even make sense to argue that children need a helpful and guiding hand when they were at the girls’ ages? He spun around and left her.

  "Since you are here, I guess I can leave them into your capable hands." Ashley shouted at his retreating back. "And I can't make it to the play. I already told Alisha. I know you'll be going so please take pictures or a video or something."

  When Brandon went to the children's room they were fast asleep, as he knew they would be. Ashley probably just came to the door and woke them up, not waiting to see if they were up.

  *****

  "Mom, I am swamped." Brandon was at his desk, trying to leave the office by one. He was clearing out his desk. Today was technically his last day at work. Alisha had a play, and Ariel had a play an hour after that. He had to be calling in the family for backup.

  "I can't make it, Brandon," his mother said like she was rushing. "Your father and I are helping out at the main bakery today. We promised Latoya."

  "Okay," he said and hung up. He could go to Alisha's play and then take the back roads to reach Ariel's school in time for her play.

  She was going to be an angel with one line. She had been practicing all morning: "Peace on earth and goodwill to men." If he didn't make it he would be in serious trouble.

  He was on his way out of the office when Nadine called.

  "Hey," she said sweetly. "I am free for the afternoon; want to come see my studio and meet Gramps Langley?"

  "Ah Nadine," Brandon said, "I wish I could but I have two school plays to go to."

  "Oh," Nadine said, "I haven't been to a school play since I was in school." She chuckled. "You and Ashley splitting time?"

  "No. Actually, Ashley is not coming," Brandon said, grabbing his car keys. "You want to come? We could all go up to your studio after."

  "Sure," Nadine said, "it should be fun. I get to meet your girls."

  "You are crazy...mad...mentally unhinged," Tenaj said when Nadine hung up the phone.

  "Thanks," Nadine said, grabbing her handbag.

  "Not a compliment," Tenaj said disapprovingly. "Just a few days ago you said you were going to stop seeing Brandon Blake; today you are going to his kid’s play."

  "I know," Nadine said. "I just like him, okay?"

  Tenaj snorted. "This looks more
than like to me, young one."

  "You are just three years older than me," Nadine laughed. "Do you think that this outfit is appropriate for a school play?"

  "No," Tenaj said, shaking her head vigorously. "Khaki three-quarter pants and red shirt, not appropriate, especially when the school play involves Ashley Blake’s children."

  "For heaven's sake." Nadine walked to the office door. "Brandon said he'd come back here with me. When he does, can you play nice?"

  Tenaj beamed. "I can play nice."

  "Don't lecture him on the sanctity of marriage or anything like that," Nadine said anxiously. "He's just a friend. Please remember."

  Tenaj nodded. "Just a friend that you spent a weekend with in the Blue Mountains and carry to your studio and meet his kids. Yes, I understand."

  "That's what friends do." Nadine rolled her eyes. "Be nice when I get back here."

  *****

  Nadine found St. Michael's Prep School for girls quite easily; that was where Brandon said she should meet him first. The car park was crowded but she found a parking space and then rushed to the entrance of the auditorium. She looked around for Brandon. He was sitting near a window seat; he waved her over when he spotted her.

  She sat beside him. "Hey. Did I miss anything?"

  Brandon squeezed her hand and she felt the familiar tingle when he was near.

  "No," he whispered. "My girl is the lead singer in a song for the musical. There's her name." He pointed to the Alisha Blake that was printed on the program with pride. "This play should last for just a half hour; all else being equal, I can then rush over to Ariel's play."

  Nadine smiled at him. "You are such a good dad." And a handsome man. He was in a white shirt, the two top buttons undone. His face was cleanly shaven and he smelled good. A few of the mothers in the audience were checking him out. One in particular kept craning her head in his direction. When she saw Nadine her mouth turned down in a disappointed moue. Of course, Brandon saw none of this; he was probably unaware of the kind of stir his presence caused. He was sitting in the auditorium along with just a handful of men, and he was by far the most handsome guy there. The single mothers and maybe some of the married mothers must be having a field day checking him out.