Chapter Five
“I ’m impressed. Punctual and you pack light.” Cade could have added that she was also a female who didn’t have a problem with getting up before the sun. But he didn’t want to push his luck. So far, things had been ‘pleasant.’ But there was no guarantee that would last. Tori Parker stepped forward with her small suitcase in hand as he opened the back door of his truck. He moved to take the case from her but she sidestepped and lifted the case on her own and placed it inside. She did allow him to close the door as she stepped back.
Small victory. He went for double or nothing. Cade did a quick move and managed to reach around her, and his hand met hers on the door handle of the front passenger-side door. “I believe I got here first.” He added a smile as she slowly released her hand with reluctance from the top of his. She stepped onto the running board and then up into the passenger’s seat. He shut the door.
What is her problem? She’s like a prickly pear cactus that fairly shouts: don’t get too close. Cade climbed in and noted the way her gaze was taking in the interior of his truck.
“Sorry if the truck isn’t your preference. I like to be prepared when traveling some of the mountain roads where we’re headed. My Boy Scout upbringing I guess.” That bit of humor fell flat as that blue gaze stayed steady on him for a moment or two.
“A Boy Scout,” she finally responded. “Who would have guessed.”
“Indeed. Well, daylight is burning. Let’s get this excursion underway.” The engine purred to life and they headed out of town.
The silence in the cab was notable. If she wanted silence then she could have it, was his plan. After a good twenty minutes of it, he was the one to wave the white flag.
“Only four hours and twenty minutes to go. Time flies.”
“When you aren’t having fun,” she responded. Not what he would have expected…exactly. “One would think given all the gauges and gadgets that this truck is decked out with, you’d have a button to move us to warp speed.”
He had to grin. Did she have a sense of humor locked inside that cool exterior? Granted that she wasn’t bad on the eyes. If one liked reddish-gold hair that seemed to be worn in a perpetual ponytail at the back of her head, allowing a good length to hang over her shoulder. The side view highlighted the straight set of the jawline—more like the stubborn line of her jaw, he amended in his mind. A nose that might be described as pert…a bewitching upturn at the end which made him think of a witch from a television show on late-night fare.
The one item that caught attention most often, he would wager, were those eyes. Dark eyelashes framed them, and they only heightened the incredible azure blueness…the color of a lake he once backpacked to in the high country. That memory had popped into his brain the first time she’d faced him down on his property…right before he’d ordered her back into her car and off his land. Not the best of first meetings, he had to admit. The fact that she fitted into the prerequisite jeans quite nicely hadn’t gone unnoticed. The oversized sweatshirts and blouses with jackets in the office were okay but he had to wonder why she might not step up her look once in a while. Of course, it was no concern to him.
“Warp speed? I can imagine that there might be some member of the city council in Destiny’s River who could find reason to impound my truck next if I tried that.”
“I had no idea you still harbored bad feelings about your truck being towed…even as it was an obvious violation of the law.”
“No bad feelings here, Miz Mayor,” he drawled. “I have always been a law-abiding citizen. I just never figured you for one who followed space movies.”
“And why should you? We’re virtual strangers. Even though you did express personal opinions when you ran against me for mayor.”
“I believe that we kept our political differences to the issues.”
“For the most part. But you did keep alluding to my not being a part of your community and such. Which is ridiculous since my brother has been the duly elected sheriff here for two terms now. And I have been in the community for over a decade…most of it as a business owner. One can be a good citizen and supporter of the place where they have roots. Mine might not be quite as deep as your family’s, but then my ancestors weren’t here to form the first community. Even so we can still be invested in it.”
“That you can. That is a fair statement. Your brother has been a fine sheriff and done a good number of positive things for the town and county. I agree I don’t know that much about your little inn, but it seems to be a popular place and well thought of among others in the community.”
“Exactly why did you agree to this excursion , as you call it?” She now gave him her full-force gaze that had a way of pinning you to the topic at hand whether you wanted to be there or not.
“I believe it was Maggie who gave it that name first.”
“Don’t be obtuse. You know what I mean. You complain about how busy you are, yet here you are…going to someplace I am certain you would not have on your radar ever and with me along…a thorn in your side. Did that clarify the question for you?”
“I remember that one of those campaign slogans of yours said something along the lines…plain talk and determination…and that does seem to sum you up. So why not see if that is really your stance or is this just some political grandstanding on your part? Others have tried to gain control of our land in one way or another, but this is certainly a different angle.”
“I can assure you that this is no political angle, as you put it. And you would realize the positives involved here if your hat wasn’t so tight on that big head of yours.” She turned her attention to the window beside her, arms crossed in front of her, and a very determined set to the jaw visible.
Silence again. He would have come right back with a smart reply…usually. But he had an idea that would get him nowhere. And he needed to get through this little exercise in patience and then get back to the committee and tell them no way, no how, and discussion was closed for good. Then he and Miss Lady Mayor could go their separate ways.
But in the meantime, they needed to get along. What was her story anyway? Her brother was a nice enough guy. Reasonable and dedicated to the community. Caleb had tried to pull bits and pieces from his memory of the campaign materials, but that had been a while back. Maybe he would do his own brand of fact-finding this trip also. What made this obstinate woman tick?
“Okay. I think we need to bury the hatchet.”
She turned and looked at him once again, a fine eyebrow raised in silent question.
“Bury the hatchet, you say? Bury it where?”
“You do have a sense of humor—I will give you that,” he responded. “We agree to disagree…in an amicable way as we both keep our minds open over the next couple of days. Then we can have a calm discussion after all the facts are in. That’s agreeable, isn’t it?”
“We’ll hold judgment on the ‘calm’ part of that statement for now. But, yes, after all, we all want what is best for the people of Destiny’s River— all of them .” She sent that point his way and he would allow her to have the last word. This time. Little did he know that their peace accord would soon be put to the test in more ways than one.
*
“We’re glad that you folks will be staying with us,” the courteous manager greeted them once they arrived at their destination. “Glad to have you visit our springs and if you have any questions we can answer about our project here, we will be glad to do so.” Then he added, “There is just a minor change we have had to make in your earlier reservations. We had a bit of unexpected weather come in early yesterday…luckily it swept through and has given us better weather now. But it did do some damage to the units we had earlier placed you in. And it is really for the better. We have you in our Grandview Cabin. It’s an upgrade at no extra charge to you of course.”
“Didn’t we have two rooms before?” Tori chimed up when warning bells sounded in her brain.
“Yes, ma’am, and this cabin is one of our family cabins with two sleeping areas. It has a much nicer view of the mountains and it’s closer to the hot springs area.”
Tori caught the hint of amusement in Cade’s face before he took the keys and turned to the bags. He picked up both before she’d realized. She went to take hers and was met with a shake of his head. “You take a key and lead the way.” He nodded at one of the keys in his hand closest to her. She decided not to argue and headed in the direction the desk clerk indicated.
A few minutes later, they stood at the bottom of five steps that led upward to a porch surrounding a structure consisting of huge brown logs.
“An old log cabin.” The male tones were flat.
“A rustic, picturesque log cabin.” She corrected his depiction.
“Picturesque?” His gaze upon her was skeptical. “That would be an exaggeration in anyone’s book.”
“Well, we aren’t writing a book, nor are we here for the accommodations,” she informed him. “We are here for the hot springs and time is wasting.” Tori took determined steps upward. The porch was wide and to its credit there were two cane-back rockers and a porch swing. “Very inviting,” she pointed out as she fit the key into the lock and the door creaked open on its hinges.
She looked at Cade who had joined her much slower on the porch.
“Ladies first,” he said, waiting for her to step inside.
“Fine.”
Once inside, he stepped around her and went in search of the two rooms. She remained in the center of the living room/kitchen area that formed a fair-sized main room. The furnishings matched the rest of the cabin: log-hewn walls, open crossbeams overhead, a wagon-wheel hanging light fixture with milk stone lanterns, wooden flooring with large throw rugs in Native American weave forming an oasis for the deep-seated cushioned couch and two overstuffed chairs with end tables and lamps in a horseshoe arrangement framing the stone fireplace that filled the wall floor to ceiling.
“Small issue, Miss Mayor,” he announced, coming back into the living room.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“There are two sleeping areas.”
“Yes, I believe I have heard that before. What’s the problem?”
“Follow me.” He turned and she was left to do just that.
She assumed the room was the master bedroom. The four-poster bed, king-sized, was covered with a brilliantly colored, star-pattern quilted center. The frame was tall, and she was glad to see that a small step stool was beside the bed. There was a smaller fireplace in the corner of the room with another deep-seated chair, and a larger matching footstool in front of it.
“Very nice,” she commented.
“Glad you think so,” he said and his tone alerted her brain. “So where is the other bedroom?”
She headed toward the single door in the far wall. But he stopped her.
“That’s not it. That is the bathroom.” He walked over and flipped on a small lamp that illuminated an alcove…with a bunk bed tucked away in the corner. “This is the second bed area. Care to flip a coin?”
“I would say you’ve got to be kidding, but I’m afraid to hear the verification that you aren’t.”
“Nail on the head,” he responded. “This could handle a family of four…if two of the party were midgets and, gauging from the size of the bunks, young children.”
“And the desk clerk already verified this is the best they have now. So, I guess you’ll have to check out the sofa and see if you can make do with that.”
“ I’ll have to make do with the sofa? No discussion. You just decided.”
Was he serious? He certainly looked serious. “Okay, here.” She rummaged in her bag and came up with a quarter. “We’ll flip for the big bed. Loser takes the bunks or the couch. And I’ll even let you flip the coin and call it first. Heads or tails?”
“You’re serious? You willing to gamble and lose the bed? Just forget it. I’ll take the couch.”
“Are you afraid to gamble? Thought you rodeo cowboys gambled every time you got on a wild animal. Or is that just television?”
He took the coin from her outstretched palm. “Okay. We’ll toss for it. I call tails.”
She smiled. “Appropriate in a variety of ways. I get heads—toss it.”
And he did. And he lost.
“And that is that,” she said. And while it was very difficult to not rub salt in the cowboy’s possibly wounded pride, there were more important tasks ahead. They were here to win him over on the question of the springs. “I’ll change into my other shoes and be ready to take a tour of the facilities in five minutes. You’ll be ready?” She began to unpack her bag.
His reply was to grab his bag from the floor and retrace his steps into the living room. The door shut behind him with a little more decisiveness than expected. Which only made her smile more. The full-of-himself cowboy might learn a little attitude adjustment along with the facts on this trip.
He was waiting on the front porch of the cabin when she next saw him. He glanced at his watch. “Two minutes to spare.”
“I am a strong believer in punctuality. It was ingrained in me from an early age.”
“An early age?” He cast out the question. Perhaps fishing.
Tori smiled and headed down the steps to the path. “Can’t waste the daylight. We’ll begin with the lower pools and work our way to the top. Sound like a plan?”
He had to move it a bit to catch up with her determined steps. “Asking for my input?”
“Of course,” she replied, not breaking stride. “You’re a no-nonsense type of businessman…or so I’ve been led to believe. So wasting time would not be something you would want to do…correct? But if I’m going too fast for you, I can slow down.”
“No need to slow down on my account. That’s fine in business. In other areas I prefer to take things nice and slow, but that’s other things.”
Was that a pesky stone in the path that tripped her up? His hand shot out quick enough to lend a steadying grip on her elbow. She righted herself from the stumble and continued her stride. His hand went back to minding its own business. “Thanks, but I’ve got this.”
“As always, it seems.” The words were lowered, and she didn’t have full control of her breathing at the moment to respond, so she let it slide. He could think whatever he liked. It was a stone in her path that made her unsteady, not anything he said or the ridiculous reaction it conjured up in her brain to whatever innuendo he might have alluded to. Get a grip. You don’t even like the arrogant rancher. You are not some groupie.
“Here we are,” she said, glad of another focus for her mind. The map in her hand corresponded to the information on the sign posted at the first hot springs. “You can read the information for yourself. This is a small pool set aside for smaller groups…individuals and couples…even parent and child as seems to be the case that we can see.”
It was evident that a mother was trying to get a second, mostly reluctant little boy into the pool but he was having none of it. The other child was watching from a submerged seat against the far wall. Mom was pleading, then resorting to a more parental tone of authority, and ultimately attempting to bribe the child, who looked to be about seven in age, with promises of his favorite dessert and of watching a television show before bedtime. He was staunch in his refusal.
“Okay, which one of you youngsters is the best cannon-baller?” The question surprised all of them into silence, including Tori. All eyes were on Cade. “It takes a lot of practice to get it right. I bet it’s you?” And he pointed at the younger child sitting quietly, eyes round with surprise. He shook his head quickly enough. “What’s that?”
“You two don’t know what a cannon ball is?”
The older boy spoke up. “I do!”
“Well, I doubt that since most cannon-ballers…really good ones…are always in the water working on bigger splashes. You don’t even get into the water as far as I can tell. So, you can’t be very good at it.”
“I am, too. Watch me.” And the child took his stance on the edge of the pool and did his tuck and hold in midair, and a splash erupted when he hit the water. The boy came up and quickly looked with triumph at Cade. “See?”
Cade made a show of serious consideration. “I don’t know about that. It was a weak splash. You sure you’ve been practicing? I bet your mom and brother there might like to see how much better you can do…if you really want to be the best.”
The boy was already climbing out and taking his stance again. “I’ll show them.”
“Then we’ll leave you to it to get some practice. Practice will make you the best at whatever you do. Keep at it.”
He met the grateful smile of the mother with one of his own and a knowing wink as the boy made good on another jump.
As they walked away, the sounds of more splashes could be heard.
“Who knew you had some child psychology mixed in with your knowledge of cattle? Very surprising. Unless you have a child or two I haven’t heard about?” She ventured a glance in his direction as they walked toward the next pool.
“Not much psychology needed. I just had grandparents who knew how to raise kids. I learned by their example. And no to your other question…I have no kids.”
“By design…you don’t want any?”
“That’s a personal question, isn’t it, Mayor? Do I get to ask the same of you?”
“Pardon me. I overstepped.”
“Ah…got personal for you. Well, I can share quite frankly that it isn’t by design as you call it. I want kids…someday. If and when the right person comes along. So far, that has not happened.”
“I see.”
“Somehow, I doubt that you do see…but then we aren’t destined to be buddies, so such sharing isn’t really required. And that’s more to your liking.”
Tori stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. And maybe that wasn’t the best of moves on her part. Much too close…and too…personal. And in an instant, she knew that he had been baiting her. It was a game to him.
“You are correct…no to the buddy idea. But there is fair play. You answered so I’ll give you one back. I may not have the experience of observing great parenting, but I’ve seen enough bad parenting skills to know what not to do. Enjoy the compliment I gave you. Odds are there won’t be that many of them.”