Risky Business

it didn’t seem as glamorous as she’d imagined. “It seems rather aimless.”
    “Doesn’t seem. Is.”
    “You don’t appear to be a man who does anything without a purpose.”
    “I’ve had my share of aimless nights,” he murmured. “You come to a point where you realize you don’t want too many more.” That was just it, he realized. It wasn’t the work, the hours spent closeted with law books or in a courtroom. It was the nights without meaning that left him wanting more. He lifted the wine to top off her glass, but his eyes stayed on hers. “I came to that realization very recently.”
    Her blood began to stir. Deliberately, Liz pushed her wineaside and rose to go to the stove. “We all make decisions at certain points in our lives, realign our priorities.”
    “I have the feeling you did that a long time ago.”
    “I did. I’ve never regretted it.”
    That much was true, he thought. She wasn’t a woman for regrets. “You wouldn’t change it, would you?”
    Liz continued to spoon chili into bowls. “Change what?”
    “If you could go back eleven years and take a different path, you wouldn’t do it.”
    She stopped. From across the room he could see the flicker of candlelight in her eyes as she turned to him. More, he could see the strength that softness and shadows couldn’t disguise. “That would mean I’d have to give up Faith. No, I wouldn’t do it.”
    When she set the bowls on the table, Jonas took her hand. “I admire you.”
    Flustered, she stared down at him. “What for?”
    “For being exactly what you are.”

8
    N o smooth phrases, no romantic words could have affected her more deeply. She wasn’t used to flattery, but flattery, Liz was sure, could be brushed easily aside by a woman who understood herself. Sincere and simple approval was a different matter. Perhaps it was the candlelight, the wine, the intimacy of the small kitchen in the empty house, but she felt close to him, comfortable with him. Without being aware of it happening, Liz dropped her guard.
    “I couldn’t be anything else.”
    “Yes, you could. I’m glad you’re not.”
    “What are you?” she wondered as she sat beside him.
    “A thirty-five-year-old lawyer who’s just realizing he’s wasted some time.” He lifted his glass and touched it to hers. “To making the best of whatever there is.”
    Though she wasn’t certain she understood him, Liz drank, then waited for him to eat.
    “You could fuel an engine with this stuff.” Jonas dipped his spoon into the chili again and tasted. Hot spice danced on his tongue. “It’s great.”
    “Not too hot for your Yankee stomach?”
    “My Yankee stomach can handle it. You know, I’m surprised you haven’t opened a restaurant, since you can cook like this.”
    She wouldn’t have been human if the compliment hadn’t pleased her. “I like the water more than I like the kitchen.”
    “I can’t argue with that. So you picked this up in the kitchen when you worked at the hotel?”
    “That’s right. We’d take a meal there. The cook would show me how much of this and how much of that. He was very kind,” Liz remembered. “A lot of people were kind.”
    He wanted to know everything—the small details, the feelings, the memories. Because he did, he knew he had to probe with care. “How long did you work there?”
    “Two years. I lost count of how many beds I made.”
    “Then you started your own business?”
    “Then I started the dive shop.” She took a thin cracker and broke it in two. “It was a gamble, but it was the right one.”
    “How did you handle it?” He waited until she looked over at him. “With your daughter?”
    She withdrew. He could hear it in her voice. “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “I wonder about you.” He kept the tone light, knowing she’d never respond to pressure. “Not many women could have managed all you’ve managed. You were alone, pregnant, making a living.”
    “Does that seem so unusual?” It made her smile to think of it. “There are only so many choices, aren’t there?”
    “A great many people would have made a different one.”
    With a nod, she accepted. “A different one wouldn’t have been right for me.” She sipped her wine as she let her mind drift back. “I was frightened. Quite a bit at first, but less and less as time when on. People were very good to me. It might have been different if I hadn’t been lucky. I went into laborwhen I was cleaning room 328.” Her eyes warmed