Conflicts of the Heart (6 page)

She sat in utter disbelief. This little tale of woe got better by the minute.

Dana shuffled through the papers again, as if double-checking her findings were actually true. Salty tears streaked her cheeks. “After all we’d been through, how could he have cheated us like this? I suspected Joel had camouflaged his earnings the year we separated, but not to this extent.”

To comfort Dana, Teal reached over and patted her arm. “Maybe I should leave you alone.”

“No. Don't go. We’re going to celebrate.”

“You don't seem to be in the mood to celebrate anything right now.” She got up and walked to the door, turned to Dana who remained on the floor still teary eyed. “I'll call you tomorrow with directions to the park.”

Dana nodded. “I wish you wouldn't leave.”

“Too much wine.
I have a lot to do to get ready for the picnic.” She had to get out before she blew it. For a few moments tonight she’d felt she and Dana were on equal footing. Now Dana had a chance to stick it to Joel, be back on top financially, and leave her in the dust again. The future administrator of Templeton. Oh, God. That was just too much to swallow.

In the living room, she stopped, picked up a cracker and a piece of cheese, and stuffed it into her mouth. “Bitch,” she mumbled.

Now she had to start thinking rationally. What could she do to help things along? Those receipts were something Joel should know about. Maybe she needed to pay him a little visit.

For old time’s sake.

Four

At three o'clock Sunday afternoon, Dana drove up to the weather-stained wooden ticket booth at Woodward Park. A wisp of a breeze took the edge off the high temperature. It was a perfect day for a picnic.

A new zest for life surged through Dana. She opened up to Gil and explained her situation. He told her about an attorney he knew from San Jose who specialized in divorce cases. He could help appeal her divorce settlement and possibly file charges against Joel for tax evasion.

Teal waved frantically from the gate and yelled, “Follow me.”

She decided to have fun at her first social gathering in four months. Teal volunteered to show her around and introduce her to the union reps from the area. Teal and Patrick were the
only reps she knew at this shindig. She hadn’t met any of the other local human resources directors yet either. She wondered how many participated in this kind of affair.

Teal led the way down a winding one way street, past raised knolls with sheltered picnic areas. The overhanging oak and ash trees provided a shady haven for bikers and joggers exercising their way through this oasis bordering the barren foothills of North Ashton.

Teal motioned Dana into the space next to her and jumped out of her car. She wore flaming red hot pants and a white blouse knotted under her large breasts, exposing a pencil thin midriff. Her hair hung loose and curly on her shoulders. Dana still couldn’t believe that this was the same mousy girl that she had gone to school with.

She emerged from her car. Teal raced toward her. “I'm so glad you came. We're going to have a ball. Dana locked her car
.

“You should have brought Michael with you. It’s a family thing, you know.”

“He's at the day care center. He wouldn't do well in a large group like this.”

An expression of sympathy crossed Teal's face. That was the last thing Dana wanted now. She looped her arm through Teal's. “Show me the way.”

Seventy-five to a hundred people hovered around the canopied tables. Lazy jazz from a trio provided perfect background music for the milling crowd and the tantalizing aroma of grilled chicken and burgers added to the festivities. Young girls played lawn dice. A group of boys that were Michael's age played with a beach ball a few hundred yards out on the manicured lawns. Sadness swept through her when she pictured Michael being normal and playing games with the rest of the children.

She and Teal continued to climb the grassy knoll. Drawing closer to the crowd of strangers, Dana felt a twinge of nervousness at meeting all these new people. She never did fancy being
the stranger in a big crowd, and to top it off, most of these were the folks on the other side of the fence. She did meet the director from the county hospital and one from the Catholic hospital also. They had reps from other unions. She couldn’t tell how many other union reps were here. Everyone had been encouraged to bring their families and friends. It was a rare and new experience to watch peers and adversaries play, eat, and drink at the same watering hole.

Teal opened with a round of introductions. Dana shook wet hands, dry hands, black hands, brown hands. Their faces blended, and her small talk sounded mundane by the time Teal worked her through
the crowd. Exhausted, she sat on the edge of a vacant picnic table and let out a long, slow breath.

At the far side near the barbeque, a man with his back to them, wearing a tight fitting yellow, short-sleeved shirt, jeans and a worn pair of Birkenstock turned to face Dana. Patrick wore his hair in a shaggier style than she'd seen on him before. She caught her breath.

“You finally made it.”

“I've been here a while already.” She gestured.
“Met almost everyone.”

“I know.” He grinned and held up a can of soda. “Want one?”

“Thanks.” Her perception of him as a union rep faded into the background. They were on equal turf as man and woman. He left a powerful imprint on her mind. His magnetism overpowered her. She had to admit she now saw him as a damn sexy man.

“Be right back.” He gave Teal a quick hug and left her, shouting over his shoulder, “
Ya look great.”

As Patrick walked away, Dana felt an inexplicable emptiness. She wanted to spend time with him today, get to know him better and develop a solid working friendship. After all, that's why they started these picnics in the first place. She slid off the table and excused herself from the
men who were spending more time competing with each other than talking to her. Patrick said he’d be right back but had disappeared into the crowd. She dismissed her dissatisfaction.

Teal emerged from the crowd. “Want to take a walk over to the lake and feed the geese?”

“Sure.” Dana couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice. Moments later, they sat on the cool grass under a fruiting Japanese plum tree sipping sodas and watching gaggles of geese and ducks parading before the picnickers, searching for food. A few swimming ducks ignoring the crowd rippled the lake's mirror finish.

Dana felt a sharp stab when she saw Patrick just feet away at the lake's edge, standing next to a blue-eyed blonde-haired woman, at least ten years younger than she was, feeding a mother duck and her chicks. No wonder he dashed off. Why should she care anyway?

Brad, a man that Dana had met earlier, yelled from several yards away, “Teal, come over here.”

“Oh, Dana,” Teal whispered. “I've been after that man for a month now.”

“So go to him. I can take care of myself.”

She patted Dana on the arm. “Sure you don't mind?”

Dana nodded. She watched her friend greet Brad with a hug and felt even more alone.

She turned and saw Patrick heading her way. Their eyes met. She blinked, embarrassed about thoughts of him as anything but another union rep.

A soft breeze ruffled her skirt when she stood up to pick a plum. “Better not eat that,” he warned. “You'll get sick.”

“Why?”

“Not ripe yet. So what do you think of fraternizing with the enemies?”

“We're not enemies. We're opponents.
Players on different teams. We all want the same thing.”

“Hey, I was just kidding.”

She knew differently. A union rep never thought of management as an ally. So why ogle his enemy?

“Let's save this conversation for work
.” Patrick took her hand and squeezed gently.

A flush of embarrassment crept through her. “Let's walk.”

She felt his warmth flow through her. The realization of how much she missed a man's strength and heat surprised her. Self-conscious, she pulled her hand free.

“So, are you settling in?”

Grateful she freed her hand, she hoped for a calmer heartbeat. “Yes, thank you.”

“Too bad you had to walk into Templeton at the start of negotiations.”

“That's why they hired me.” She smiled at him confidently. “You must be good.”

“I am good!”

“I'm easy.”

She laughed. “That's not what I've heard.”

“Hearsay. It all depends on how fair you are across the table.”

“I can be as fair as my bosses permit.” “We're talking work again.
”

“You started it.” She enjoyed their sparring until Teal called out to them.

“You two are teamed in the gunnysack race. Better get over to the starting line.”

Patrick appeared surprised. He shrugged. “Guess we're hooked for now.”

“Teal must have arranged this,” Dana grumbled. “Sounds like something Teal would do, doesn't it?”
What is Teal's agenda
?

On the way out to the grassy field where others were climbing into their gunnysacks, Dana's throat constricted. She had to lock her leg flush against Patrick's. They’d h
old each other around their waists and, for five minutes, act like kangaroos jumping across the Australian Outback.

“Teal,” Dana rushed up to her in desperation. “I can't do this.”

“Why not? It's just a dumb race. Don't be a party pooper.”

Dana leaned close to her and whispered. “What about the woman he was with down by the lake? Get her.”

“Oh God, he can't stand her. She's an airhead. Comes to the happy hours and hangs all over him.”

Patrick beckoned her with his free hand. “Come on. Let’s do this.” He already had his left leg planted into the gunnysack.

“Go.” Teal slapped Dana on the buttocks.

“Oh, all right. I'll get you for this.”

“Sure you will.” Teal sauntered off, chuckling in a “gotcha” sort of way.

Dana’s heart raced as she approached Patrick
. I’m not fourteen. I can do this.

He grabbed for her hand and pulled her next to him, lifted her side of the sack and held it open until she slid her leg in next to his. She took hold of the sack with her left hand, and before she knew it, he had her pressed to his hip. A warm tingling sensation started in her toes, shimmied up her leg and then went through her thigh and moved into the center of her belly. She stiffened.

“Relax,” he ordered. “I'm not going to hurt you. You're as stiff as a frozen slab of meat.”

Picturing herself as a side of beef hanging from a hook started her laughing.

“On your mark,” Teal shouted from the top of a wooden box. “Get set…go!”

Dana grabbed Patrick around the waist and squeezed
hard, bracing herself against the rocking and clumsy run he’d led her into.

The people on the sidelines were laughing at the team bumping into them. After a firm nudge from Patrick's elbow, the other team fell to the ground, clearing a path for Patrick and her. She concentrated on her leg locked against his. It’d been a long time since she experienced anything close to this intensity with a man. Everything around her became a blur.

Patrick gazed down into her eyes, immediately she sensed the mutual sensual attraction. Her breath caught in her throat while explosive currents raced through her body.

A few yards from the finish line, out of breath, she tripped and the two of them tumbled to the ground, laughing.

Patrick lay on top of her with one arm under her back and the other under her head. Their laughter stopped. Their eyes met for one brief second. He didn't have to say what he was thinking. She moved her leg, yielded to him and melted into his arms. The entire length of his long, rugged body molded against hers. His hot breath seared her neck. It had seemed a lifetime since she felt so safe in a man’s arms. She scarcely heard the laughter and catcalls of the watching crowd.

* * *

Monday morning, surrounded by three corrals of horses, Patrick, in a soiled cowboy hat, worn plaid shirt, and jeans, drew in the comforting smells of early morning farm air. After living in New York for so many years, he still marveled at the open spaces of the Central Valley. He’d miss his new home and his horse.

The snap of gravel crunched beneath his quick step on the way to the barn where Yin and Yang, his and Ken
Burrack's pair of Arabians, awaited their sugar lumps and morning workout.

Patrick and Ken had invested in these horses for pleasure and
business. They rode most mornings before work and two weekends a month, and weather permitting, they competed in long distance racing.