cursing me. Come on, sweetheart; let her live her life the way she wants."

"Even if she's miserable?"

"Yes."

"Oh, Chuck, why do you have to be such a guy!"

"What? What, may I ask, is wrong with being a guy?"

"You just don't understand women."

"Probably. Especially at the moment. I haven't a clue what you're upset about."

"I'm upset because you have the opportunity to get two people who love each othertogether. That's not matchmaking. They've made the connection. They're obviouslyinvolved with each other. At least give Dean the information, okay? Then whateverhe does about it will be up to him."

After a moment of silence Chuck grudgingly replied, "I'll think about it."

"You do that and I'll be eternally grateful-and I will express my gratitude in a number of creative ways."

Eighteen.

Candace stepped to Dean's door a few days later and said, "There's a Mr. Chuck Patterson on line two. Shall I get his number and have you call him back?"

Without answering her question, Dean grabbed the phone. "Chuck! Good to hear fromyou. Hold on a minute, will you?" He raised his voice slightly and said, "Candace, please close the door and hold my calls."

He uncovered the mouthpiece of the phone and asked, "Have you heard from her?"

There was a pause and then Dean heard Chuck's laugh. "You've got it bad, my

friend. I called to see if you wanted to go to the Cubs game tomorrow afternoon. Mytreat."

"Oh. Let me check my schedule." He looked at his calendar. He had two appointmentsthat morning but none in the afternoon. "Sounds good. Where should I meet you?"

"I'll pick you up in front of your building," Chuck replied and named a time.

"Okay. Is she all right?" Dean asked.

"She's fine, Dean. She's visiting her mother. We can talk more tomorrow."

"See you then," Dean said and hung up the phone.

She was in Phoenix? Just like that, she quits her job, walks out on him without aword and goes to see her mother?

It would seem so.

Dean and Chuck arrived at the game early. They'd talked about everything under thesun on the ride to the stadium...everything but Jodie's sudden departure.At any other time Dean would have enjoyed Chuck's company, but knowing that he waswithholding information about Jodie made Dean want to throttle him.At long last Chuck brought up the subject by throwing Dean a curveball. "So what'sgoing on between you and Jodie anyway?""Uh, well, I mean, we've known each other quite a while. She was my secretary forseveral years.""I understand that and that's not what I'm talking about. Most men don't respondto a former secretary leaving as you have."

Dean nodded. Chuck wasn't going to accept any vague remarks. If he wanted to knowwhat was going on with Jodie, he'd have to bare his soul. Since he was a veryprivate man, he found the idea excruciatingly painful...almost as painful as missingJodie.

"I finally faced the fact that I'm in love with her, that I've probably been inlove with her for years and was too dumb to recognize it. I've done some reallystupid things in my life, but letting her slip away from me like this has to be thebiggest mistake I've ever made."

The sentence hung in the air and seemed to expand on the breeze. There. He'd saidit. Too bad he hadn't realized that what he felt for her was love until after shewas gone.

"That right?" Chuck asked with a smile."Yeah.""So her leaving like that has been tough on you.""You could say that." What an understatement that was."What did she say when you told her?""What? That I love her?""I believe that's the topic of this conversation, yes.""I never told her," Dean mumbled."Sorry, I didn't catch that."Dean cleared his throat. "I said that I never told her, fool that I am, because I didn't realize it until very recently.""I see.""So how is she? Have you talked with her? Do you know when she plans to come back?""I haven't talked with her, but Lynette said she seems to be doing okay. Jodie told her that she might look for a job in Phoenix.""What! You're kidding, right?""Nope. That's what Lynette reported to me."

The crowd roared its approval about something. Chuck and Dean hadn't been payingattention when the game started, and the Cubs were up to bat.

"Looks like a single," Chuck commented.

"Yeah."

"I don't know if you want to hear any suggestions from me," Chuck said briskly,"but here's one anyway-go to Arizona and tell her how you feel. I'm sure the newswould have more impact with her if you're there in person."

"I could do that."

"Good. Now, then. Let's watch the game, okay?"

Jodie had been at her mother's for two weeks and was getting restless. She missedwork. She'd been tempted to call Frank to see how things were going until sheremembered that she no longer had a job.

She'd set up a couple of job interviews for the following week, but in themeantime there was nothing much for her to do. The house was spotless and her mom'sgarden had already been weeded within an inch of its life.

This morning she decided to enjoy the early-morning coolness outdoors before thesun got too hot.

She loved her mom's backyard. It was very private, with a six-foot wallsurrounding it. Inside the wall her mom had planted all kinds of colorful floweringplants, which reminded Jodie of the lush foliage in Hawaii.

Jodie put on a two-piece bathing suit and, once outside, stretched out on one ofthe lounge chairs and removed the top to her swimsuit. A small hand towel coveredher breasts, leaving her shoulders bare. Next she picked up the book she hadstarted the night before and began to read.

Sometime later the doorbell startled her awake, and she realized that she'd dozedoff. She considered getting up and answering the door, but she was too relaxed tomove. Besides, all of her mom's friends knew that she worked mornings. It wasprobably some kind of salesman.

She decided to ignore the door and let her eyes close, basking in the quiet andserenity. She'd had trouble sleeping since she'd been there, and from herreflection in the mirror each morning she knew the lack of sleep had taken its tollon her.

"Ah, there you are."

Jodie's immediate reaction to the sound of a very familiar voice was to screaminvoluntarily and jerk upright.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," Dean said. "When no one answered the door, Idecided to check back here." He looked around. "The garden is beautiful by theway."

When she could speak, she said, "What are you doing here!" Without waiting for ananswer, she grabbed a large towel and wrapped it around her.

"Mind if I sit down?" he asked, his voice bland.

She stared at him as though he were an apparition. Finally she nodded.

Once he sat down, he took his time looking her over, from her ponytail to herfreshly painted toenails.

"You're looking rested," he said, which she knew to be a lie. He wore a golf shirtand slacks, the shirt clinging to his wide chest and his pants outlining hismassive thighs.

"Did you ever play football?" she blurted out. How did that manage to pop out ofher mouth? She was losing it.

The look on his face was indescribable. He finally answered, "Yes, in high schooland college. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," she replied faintly. "If you'll excuse me, I'll, uh, go get ussomething to drink." She didn't give him time to respond before she fled the patio,ignoring the kitchen and racing down the hallway to her room.

She quickly put on some clothes.

Dean Logan was there? In Phoenix? This couldn't be happening. What was she goingto have to do, find some deserted island somewhere to make certain she didn't seehim?

She hurried into the kitchen, removed a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge andset it on a tray. She added two glasses filled with ice and returned outside.

Dean watched her walk toward him without expression. She placed the tray on thetable between them and poured the juice. Once seated, she glanced quickly at him,then away.

She took a swallow of lemonade to aid her dry mouth. "You haven't answered myquestion. What are you doing here?"

He leaned back in his chair and looked around the garden. "The same thing you are.Enjoying the sun."

"How did you know where I was?"

He lifted his brow. "Was it supposed to be a secret?"

She shrugged. Lynette probably told him. Jodie hadn't told her not to mention herwhereabouts to him for the simple reason that she hadn't expected him to comelooking for her.

When she didn't comment, he said, "I decided that I work much too hard. I workridiculously long hours and have a slave driver for a boss." He paused and dranksome lemonade. "I decided to follow your example. I quit my job and came toArizona."

"What do you mean you quit your job? That's impossible."

"Actually it isn't, because I did it. Others can manage the place as well as Ican. I've trained them well."

"You could barely get through a week away from the office when we were in Hawaiithe first time. The only way you managed was to call the office several times aday."

"Once I realized that I am, in fact, a workaholic, I decided it was time to changemy lifestyle."

"So you came to Phoenix? This isn't the best time of year to visit, unless you'relooking for sunstroke. I never stay out later than ten o'clock for that reason."

What was the matter with her? She was babbling. The last thing she would haveexpected was for him to come there.

He sipped from his glass, looking totally relaxed. "Actually Chuck happened tomention that you were visiting your mother while we were at a Cubs game together."He gave her a steady look. "You left without telling me you were leaving, and Ithought I'd find out what I had done to offend you."

This was exactly why she'd left Chicago-to avoid explaining why she couldn't dealwith their relationship. "You didn't do a thing, Dean," she finally said.

As though she hadn't spoken, he said, "I've been thinking about our last nighttogether. You gave no hint that you intended to walk away from your career andleave town. May I ask why?"