The Peace Seekers
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Chapter Three

     Up before anyone else, Cassie shut down the alarm system and set off for a walk in the dim pre-dawn light. On this misty morning she chose the back lane, forsaking the bluff’s difficult descent. Halfway down the lane she paused and bent to pick up a sturdy stick, part of a dead branch that lay to one side of the lane. As she walked she swung the stick in rhythm to her step. The weight in her hand bolstered her courage, something she hadn’t realized was lacking until she picked it up.

            She sensed his approach before she saw him. The hair on her arms rose and she realized someone was coming from beyond the hill.  She heard a peculiar snuffling sound that grew closer as she walked. She knew then why she had picked up the wood.

In the eerie half-light she recognized the man walking over the hill toward her. Her skin tingled with a buzz of excitement and she peered into the mist, wondering why her stomach clamored a warning.

        The sight or smell of her must have excited the dog walking beside him. Before its master could restrain it the animal dashed forward. Its enthusiastic welcome marked it as a friendly puppy, regardless of its large size.

        “Spot!” the man called.

She would have recognized Nate’s gritty voice anywhere. But Spot? Grinning, she bent down to greet the puppy.

“Watch yourself, he jumps.”

His warning came too late. Spot placed his enormous front paws on her shoulders and bathed her chin with a wet tongue. The dog whined grievously when, having received a brief washing, Cassie set his legs on the ground.

“I see you like dogs.”

Still reeling from the brief spell of precognition, she returned Nate’s smile while her stomach fell as if in an elevator. Spot raced toward him and, despite admonitions, muddied Nate’s pants.

“He’s awfully big. What kind is he?”

“He’s a spotted Great Dane.”

“A Great Dane? With spots?” She shook her head in disbelief.

“I’m sorry he jumped on you.” He reached toward her hair. “Hold still. There’s a leaf in your hair that I want to…”

In anticipation of Nate’s touch, Cassie stood quietly and let him lift the piece of debris from her braid. His scent was earthy, smelling of morning dew and dog. When he touched her she was aware for the first time of a remnant of memory, of some far past time, just a flash of recognition. It was as if she had lived her entire lifetime in anticipation of just such a moment.

To find space to breathe, she bent and rubbed the prancing puppy’s head. “Wherever did you find him?”

“He’s the governor’s. When I couldn’t sleep this morning I picked him up for a walk.”

“Of course, you would know the governor.”

“Well, yes. It’s no big thing.” He peered down at her.

She was determined not to be taken in by this friend of Seth Hawthorne’s. He undoubtedly made a living out of charming people, especially female voters. She gave him a neutral smile.

She said, “I need to get my walk in before party preparations move into full swing.”

“I suppose you do. I thought, maybe, running into you this way, we could walk together a while.”

“Uh no, I’m on my way back, you see.” In a nervous gesture, she swept a few straggling wisps of hair off her face.

“Sure. Well, I’ll see you at the party.”

Before she knew it her hand was captured in his warm grasp. She tingled as if an electrical charge had passed between them. Cassie, get that wild imagination under control. Yet she knew something unusual existed between them.

“Dawn’s breaking.” He nodded toward the east.

“My favorite time of day.”

“Why did I already know that?”

“You did?” Their eyes met fully for the first time. The impact hit her with a force that stunned her.

“You prowl around half the night too, don’t you?” he asked.

“Sometimes.” Uneasy with her physical reaction to him, she edged away. This man was a threat to her hard-won independence.

“I saw you on the beach last night.”

The back of her neck tingled. Here was the threat she had sensed last night, the sense of being watched that she felt at the water’s edge. In last night’s careful scan of the beach she missed him.

“I watched you skipping stones.” He waited for an answer. When none came he asked, “Was that you?”

She wanted to know what he had seen. With her agitation she couldn’t sense any of his thoughts. “I was there. Where were you?”

“On a bicycle.”

She’d thought the bicycle had passed around a curve before she left the shelter of the brush. Maybe she had the sequence mixed up or maybe he had turned back to watch her. “I saw a bike but it was too dark to see much else.”

“You surprised me, standing on the shore in the dusk.”

“I’m out most nights. Is that a surprise?” She kicked at a stone with the toe of her walking shoe.

“It was unusual, that’s all, running into you after we’d met on the ferry.”

Something about his flat, inoffensive tone alerted her. He was trying too hard to put her at ease. Her guard came up. “I need to get going. Enjoy your walk.” She wanted to escape his probing eyes and to quiet the fine tremors his presence created in her legs, but she felt as if an invisible cord held them together.

He didn’t move. He stood studying her.

She drew a breath of relief when Spot scampered up, apparently back from a survey of someone’s yard. “You should watch him.” Her anxiety changed into irritability. “You might lose him.” She disliked her blaming tone but had trouble remaining calm around this man.

“The governor wouldn’t like that.” He gave her a generous smile.

“Of course, the governor, I forgot about him for a moment.” In the dawn’s pink light she realized once more that this man was enormously attractive. His sandy hair curled around his face. The stubble of overnight beard gave him a shadowy look. Against its darkness his teeth flashed white in a wide smile.

She met his gaze. He had probably made a list of her physical attributes while she was busy looking him over. What did he think of her? Beautiful, he said yesterday, but then he was trying to pick her up.

He bent over and ruffled Spot’s white ears gently, revealing their pink insides. “Traveling as much as I do, one thing I miss is coming home to a pet.”

Man and dog made an attractive, homey pair, which somehow set her teeth on edge. Primal instinct told her something was out of kilter. Her need to get away grew stronger.

When he straightened he towered over her. “Do you have a pet?”

“No.” She would have been happy to leave it at that but politeness demanded more. “They’re not allowed in my condo building.”

“Where’s home?”

“Downstate.” She nodded and turned away. “Enjoy your walk.”

She set off up the hill once more with a nagging worry over the day’s activities. This weekend she was on a quest with little tolerance for romantic detours. This man, Nate Chambray, with his piercing eyes and persistent questions was a threat to her detachment. She had rejected the idea of romance in her life. The sooner Nate knew that the better.


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