Chapter 4
Four
On the last Sunday in August, Jack rode the airport escalator and wondered how he would pick out Andrea Walsh from the crowd arriving on the Chicago flight.
As he approached the top, he spotted a gorgeous brunette with long curls walking toward him.
Based on Jamie’s description, Jack realized it was her. Well, that was easier than expected.
When her brown eyes scanned the crowd and connected with his, her stunning smile left him staggered as he was hit with an odd sense of recognition. Had they met before? Not that he could recall.
“Andrea?”
“Hi, Jack.” She shifted her briefcase so she could shake hands with him. “Please call me Andi. Thanks so much for meeting me.”
“No problem.” He took her bag and ushered her down the escalator to retrieve her luggage. “You picked a great day to arrive. Rhode Island at her finest.”
“The view from the air was amazing.”
“I never get tired of it.”
“I’m sorry to drag you away from your family on a day like this,” she said as they arrived at the baggage area.
“I blocked two weeks for your team’s visit, so they understand. They might join us later to go sailing if you’re interested.”
“I’d love to.”
When she glanced up to find him studying her, her cheeks heated with color. “What?”
“I keep feeling like I’ve met you before, but I’m sure I haven’t. You seem so familiar.”
“I think I’d remember you,” she said and then quickly looked away as if embarrassed by her frank reply.
“Hmmm,” he said, flustered. He grabbed her two bags off the carousel and led her to the door.
She put on a pair of Jackie O-style sunglasses and followed him to his car. “Oh, a convertible! Can we take the top down?”
“Sure,” he said, relieved that the awkward moment at the carousel had passed.
She gathered up her long hair into a ponytail for the ride.
“I enjoyed your colleagues,” he said once they were heading south on Interstate 95. He had accompanied her team to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket before sending them on their own to Boston. They were due back in Newport late the next day.
“That’s nice to hear.”
“Your coworker Michael is quite the character,” Jack said, grinning.
“He sure is, but he knows his stuff, so I put up with his eccentricities. I hope he didn’t drive you crazy.”
“Nah, he kept me laughing. They had me out until one in the morning, and then they were up at seven, ready to hit the streets again. I haven’t done anything like that in years, and it’s official: I’m getting far too old for it. I was dead the next day.”
“You have to say no to them. They know better than to ask me, but I’m sure they took full advantage of you.”
He laughed and stole a glance at her. She had her face tipped into the warm sun, and he was struck once again by how stunning she was. Jamie had failed to mention that. Jack wondered if the oversight had been intentional.
“So what’s our plan for today?” she asked.
“I thought we’d drop your bags at the hotel and then run by HBA where I’ve set aside an office for you. After that, I’ll take you to see the site.”
“I appreciate the office space. I hate working in hotel rooms.”
“So do I.” They crested the hill that led to the Jamestown Bridge. “This is where the view gets spectacular.”
Andi took it all in. “I thought Lake Michigan was pretty, but this is something else. Do people live on all the islands?”
“Some of the larger ones are inhabited. We’re heading onto an island up ahead known as Conanicut Island. Locals call it Jamestown.” They crossed the first of two bridges. “Newport is also on an island, called Aquidneck.”
“I saw this one from the air,” she said of the Newport Bridge.
“You’ll have a great view of Newport in a minute. If you look to the right when we get to the top, you might be able to see Block Island on the horizon.”
“Yet another island?”
“Popular spot about twenty miles from here.” A stab of pain cut through him when he thought of being there with the girls.
“I’ve never seen so many boats!”
“The City by the Sea is the sailing capital of the world, and I guess you can see why from up here.” He pointed out the Naval War College on the north side of the bridge, and told her about the navy’s long history in Newport.
“You could be a tour guide. Are you from here?”
He shook his head. “I’m what’s known as a carpetbagger. According the locals, you can’t be ‘from’ Newport unless you’re born inside the city limits. I’m originally from Connecticut.”
“What brought you here?”
“Jamie and I came here when we were in graduate school and fell in love with the place. We both love to sail, so when we started HBA, we decided to locate it here. On a day like this, you can see why.”
“I wouldn’t get anything done if I lived here.”
“We take a lot of half days in the summer,” he said. “Have you lived long in Chicago?”
“All my life except for college in New York. I guess I’m pretty boring, but I love the city. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
After she checked into her downtown Newport hotel, he drove her through the city. She marveled at the rows of colonial homes, cobblestone streets, and gas-powered lantern streetlights. The streets teemed with tourists as they poured in and out of restaurants, shops, and bars.
On the way to the office, he drove past the crowded town beach and merry-go-round. In HBA’s parking lot, he walked around to open her door.
“Another amazing view,” she said when they reached his office. “I have a great view of the lake from my office, but I hardly notice it anymore. You can’t help but notice yours. And I love this building.”
“This was our first collaboration. We’d worked for the same company but not on any projects together. The way this place came together boosted our confidence about going out on our own.”
“Where were you before?”
“We did seven years with Neil Booth in Boston.”
Andi’s eyes widened. “The Neil Booth?”
“The one and only. He’s Jamie’s father.”
“Oh my God, of course! I didn’t make the connection, and Jamie never mentioned it.”
“He doesn’t make a big production about it, so don’t let on I told you,” Jack said, smiling.
She wandered over to look at his framed degrees on the wall. “Well, look at you: Berkeley, Harvard, and a Roman numeral. John Joseph Harrington the third. Very impressive.”
Sadness descended upon him when he remembered Clare teasing him about being a Harvard graduate.
“Yes, terribly impressive,” he forced himself to say, “and that’s the only place in my world you’ll ever see that Roman numeral.
Let me show you to your office. Then we’ll grab some lunch and head out to the site. ”
“Sounds great, John the third,” she teased, smiling at his playful scowl.
After lunch and a tour of the Infinity site, Jack flipped open his cell phone. “Let me check with Jamie about sailing and at home to see who wants to come along.”
“I need to call home, too.”
He pulled into a gourmet deli to pick up the picnic dinner he had ordered.
“Tell him I love him,” Andi was saying when Jack returned to the car.
“Who’s the lucky guy?” Jack asked after she ended the call.
“My son. He’s five and sound asleep at the moment.”
“I love that age,” he said wistfully as he drove to the marina. “They’re still so cute and funny. Teenagers can be anything but cute or funny. Although I’m lucky—mine aren’t as bad as some.”
“I’m sure they aren’t.”
Her cell phone rang as they arrived at the marina.
“Sorry, I have to take this. It’s my deputy director calling from Juneau.” She rolled her eyes. “Lots of issues out there.”
“Take your time. I’ll unload the car and come back for you.”
While Andi took her call, Jack walked down the dock with an armload of bags. He unlocked the large navy blue sailboat he and Jamie had named Blueprint. When he was greeted by a blast of heat from the cabin, he opened the hatches to let in the cool sea breeze.
Glancing up at the parking lot, he saw Andi laughing and talking with animated hands.
God, she’s beautiful. An ache formed in his gut that he was startled to recognize as desire.
It’d been so long, he’d almost forgotten the sensation of wanting a woman.
Acknowledging that he’d been attracted to her from the first moment he saw her, Jack felt as if he was awakening from a long slumber and had to remind himself not to stare as he watched her.
A few minutes later, she strolled down the dock to join him. “I like the name of the boat. Very clever.”
“Thanks. Come aboard. The others will be here soon.” He offered her a hand. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Do you have white wine?”
“Sure do. Everything all right in Juneau?” he asked from the galley as he uncorked the bottle.
“It is now. We’ve had one disaster after another out there, and we’re getting down to the wire with the opening.” She sighed. “Why is it some jobs are so smooth and others are a total mess from the get-go?”
“I wish I knew. We’ve had our share of disaster jobs, but most of the time we can find a way to blame it on someone else.”
She laughed. “I like that strategy. Fortunately, Bill, my deputy, was able to straighten things out. He’s on his way back to Chicago with a new artist commissioned to fill in for the one we all loved until she got pregnant with triplets and had to quit.”
Smiling at her dismay, he handed her a glass of wine.
“He told me the funniest story about an old man and a dog-sled team. One of those ‘you had to be there’ things, but it was comical.”
Jack gestured at the picturesque marina. “I’d say you got the better end of the deal.” The sun was a ball of fire in the late afternoon sky with hours yet to go until sunset.
“No kidding! I didn’t dare tell him where I was when he called.”