Giant of Mesabi

Her teeth sunk whitely into her lower lip. "I can't, not tonight, Kurt," she murmured.

"Why not?" He tipped his head to the side, trying to read the expression she veiled with her lashes.

Alanna couldn't find the words to tell him she was meeting Rolf or the explanation such an announcement would require. "It's a family thing." She seized on a half-truth since the only reason she was meeting Rolt was because of his insinuations that he knew something about her parents. "If I could, I'd break it, but—"

"That's okay," he interrupted. "We'll celebrate tomorrow night."

"Yes," she agreed, relieved that he didn't press her for a more definite explanation.

"I suppose I'd better get back to work before brother Rolt sends out a search party," Kurt sighed reluctantly.

"He is back, then, from out of town," Alanna commented.

"He got back just before noon, which is part of the reason for my late lunch break." He bent his head and kissed her. "Till tomorrow night."

Alanna waved to him as he reversed his car out of the driveway. Her interest in the garden had vanished, and her spirits were ridiculously low as she turned toward the house. She blamed it on Rolt. Just the mention of his name succeeded in spoiling her pleasure.

As she entered the house, her mother was just going up the stairs. She paused. "Was that Kurt I saw drive in?"

"Yes, it was." Alanna ran a nervous hand through her tawny hair.

"Isn't he working today?" Elinore Powell asked curiously.

"He was on his lunch break."

"Was it important? I mean, he usually doesn't come by during the day," her mother said, explaining her curiosity.

Alanna walked toward the living room. "He had an errand to run and stopped to say hello."

"I see. I'm going upstairs now to lie down for a little while, dear."

"All right, mother," she acknowledged.

As her mother disappeared up the staircase, Alanna suddenly felt slightly sick. Why hadn't she told her mother about the engagement ring? For that matter, why hadn't she mentioned the engagement before now?

It wasn't as if she was afraid her parents wouldn't approve of her choice. They liked Kurt. She had known since Saturday night that he wanted to marry her. Why hadn't she told them, or at least hinted about it? She should be deliriously happy at this moment instead of fighting waves of nausea. Why wasn't she?

It would be all right, she assured herself. Everything would be as it should be just as soon as she had that dreaded meeting with Rolt tonight. She was letting it worry her unnecessarily.

Chapter Five

SLOWING THE CAR, Alanna turned it into the plant entrance which was blocked by steel gates. A security guard stepped forward as she stopped. There were nervous tremors in her hands, and she clutched the steering wheel to hide them.

The guard bent down to peer through the opened car window. "Can I help you, miss?"

"Yes, I'm Miss Powell. Mr. Matthews is expecting me," she answered with a stiff smile.

The man paused to check his clipboard and nodded confirmation. "Mr. Rolt Matthews is expecting you." After clarifying to his own satisfaction which Matthews she was seeing, he signaled a second guard to open the gate and waved Alanna through.

Her face was warm as she drove in. She guessed that there were a great many workers, in high and low positions, who were familiar with the fact that she was dating Kurt steadily. Her appointment to see his brother was something that would not go unnoticed. She wished she had mentioned it to Kurt. She made a promise to herself to do it tomorrow evening before the gossip reached him and made her meeting with Rolt sound like an assignation. Parking her car in the empty space beside the black Mark V, Alanna picked up her bag from the seat and stepped out.

She hesitated outside the car, staring at the building door. Her fears that she was on a fool's errand returned. The impulse was there to leave without seeing Rolt, but she would never be certain whether he knew anything or not if she did.

Her legs felt weak as she walked to the door. Fleetingly she regretted not eating dinner with her parents before coming, but it would have made her late. Considering the state of her nerves, the food would have probably been an uncomfortable ball in her stomach instead of providing her the strength she felt had deserted her at this moment.

Inside the building, her footsteps echoed hollowly in the empty hall leading to Rolt's office. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in a glass partition. The dusty rose of her slightly flared skirt ended at the knees, showing off the shapely curve of her calves. The silk print of the complementing blouse clung to her breasts as it tapered to her slender waist. A scarf of the same dusty rose shade as her skirt was around her throat.

She made an attractive picture, the color setting off the blond of her hair. She wished she hadn't taken such pains with her appearance. She didn't want to appear attractive for Rolt; she would rather have looked like some nonentity. It was too late to think of that now. She walked through his secretary's office to the interconnecting door. Her hand clenched once, nervously, then she knocked.