Chapter 9 #2
Sawyer glanced at his watch and feigned surprise at the time. “We’ve got an appointment in town that we’ll be late for if we don’t giddyup. I’ll catch up with Brett this evening.” He stood abruptly. “Tell your dad I dropped by and I’ll call him later.”
Sawyer gently took Gina’s arm and guided her out of her chair. Jill walked them to the door and Sawyer made a beeline for Gina’s BMW.
“What just happened there?” Gina started her car and nosed down the driveway.
“A couple of more minutes in Jill’s presence and I was going to let her have it. She’s getting everything she ever wanted.”
“What is it that she wants? And who’s Brett?”
“It’s a long, ugly story and Brett is Jill’s husband.”
She slid Sawyer a sideways glance. “I’ve got nothing but time.”
“You’re going the wrong way. You were supposed to make a left on Dry Creek Road, not a right.”
Gina sighed. These blasted country roads had her all turned around. She hung a U-turn and headed toward the highway.
“Are they broken up?” Gina assumed if Brett was coming over to spend time with his kids he lived elsewhere.
“Yep.”
“Why?” For a man in the communications business, he was awfully tight-lipped.
“Among other reasons, she cheated on him with Brett’s best friend,” he finally said.
She turned in her seat to face Sawyer. “Seriously?”
“Watch where you’re going.” He nudged his head at the road. “Yeah, seriously. She cheated with Mitch, the guy who’s about to buy her family’s property and turn it into fucking leisure land.”
“How does that get Jill exactly what she wants? And what do you mean by leisure land?”
Sawyer huffed out a breath. “Here’s the Reader’s Digest version because the full version is complicated.
Last summer, Jill and her brother stole their parents’ cattle in a ploy to force them into selling the ranch.
That way Mitch could come in and swoop up the land for a good price and develop it.
In return, Mitch was going to give Jill and her brother, Pete, a cut.
But Jace and Cash got wise to their little conspiracy and busted them before the deal could go through.
If it wasn’t for Randy refusing to press charges against his kids they’d all be in prison now. ”
“Are you saying that without the money from their cattle they would have defaulted on their loan?” Gina had no idea what cattle were worth, but it seemed like there had to be livestock insurance against theft, market fluctuations, disease, or any of the myriad things that could go wrong in the livestock business.
“Yep. Most ranchers don’t have a lot of reserves and can’t afford insurance. We’re living paycheck to paycheck, so to speak.”
“Okay, but if they got their cattle back, why are they being forced to sell now?” It didn’t make sense.
“They didn’t get their cattle back. By the time Jace and Cash figured out what was going on, the Bealses’ cattle were already hamburger meat.
As part of the resolution, Mitch agreed to pay Randy and Marge restitution for the stolen cattle.
But they were already so far in debt that the only way to crawl out is to sell.
Which means Mitch is going to wind up with the property anyway.
And when he’s done developing it, we’ll be living next to a retirement golf-course community with rows of mini-mansions and fake lakes.
It’s not anything my cousins and I want for a neighbor. ”
“Why don’t you guys just buy it?”
He let out a rusty laugh. “You mean with all the millions we’ll make from leasing land to two college grads who want to go into the flower business? We’re having enough trouble holding on to Dry Creek Ranch, let alone buying more land.”
They’d been talking so intently that Gina had lost track of directions. Again. “Did I miss the turnoff for the highway?”
“It’s coming up in about a mile. Did you just get your license or something?”
“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re a moron?”
He laughed. “A time or two, yes. Why don’t you pull over and let me drive?”
“Not in this lifetime, pretty boy.”
“Pretty boy?” He slanted her a glance and quirked a brow. “How is it that you’re able to find your way around Los Angeles but can’t manage a small country lane that only runs in two directions?”
“I manage to get around here just fine without you in the car.”
“You still find me distracting, huh?”
She blew out a loud raspberry. “Still high on yourself, I see.”
“Turn right up here to get on forty-nine.”
“I know where I’m going.” Frankly, she would’ve missed the turn had he not said something. To compensate, she hung the right a little too sharply and her tires squealed.
He exaggerated a grab for the roof handle. “Slow down there, Mario.”
She looked over at the passenger seat where his long, denim-encased legs were splayed wide. The tip of his boots reached the front of the floorboard, even with the chair extended all the way back.
“What do you want at Tess’?” he asked.
“Maybe an ice cream maker, not sure yet.”
“Then why are we going?”
“To get out of the house, mainly. And to spend quality time with you.” She flashed a saccharine smile. “So are Jill and Brett getting a divorce?”
“You sure are interested in people you don’t even know.”
“It’s better than thinking about myself.”
“I thought that was your favorite pastime.”
She reached up, took off the silly straw cowboy hat, and flung it in the back seat. No one would recognize her in the car. And it was hot as Hades today and the hat added ten degrees.
“Well, are they divorcing or not?”
“I think they’re trying to work it out, at least according to Jace. I don’t know Brett all that well, only that he’s a vet, who came back from war in a wheelchair.”
“Oh my God. He can’t walk?”
“He’s a paraplegic.”
She gasped. “That is so sad. And then his wife sleeps with the best friend. Holy crap.”
“Yep. The whole thing was a shit show. After the separation, he moved to Sacramento and enrolled in a vocational training program for disabled vets. Carpentry, I think.”
He cocked his head. “Speaking of cheating spouses, I’m having a friend look at that picture of you and Danny Clay on the beach to see if it was doctored.”
“To see? The picture’s completely one-hundred-percent bogus,” she said, heated, then reminded herself that he was trying to help her.
“But thank you.” Gina was surprised he’d gone to the trouble.
The fact that Sawyer even believed her was a minor miracle.
She suspected no one else would. “Your mom is also having it looked at by an expert she knows.”
“I wouldn’t have expected anything less from her. But I figure it doesn’t hurt to get a second opinion.”
“We were never together on the beach or anywhere else. But there’s no question it’s me in the photo, though there are a few inconsistencies.”
“Like what?”
“Let’s just say some of my anatomy was either augmented or mixed and matched with Dolly Parton’s.”
He boldly gazed at her chest and grinned. “I wasn’t going to mention it. But, yeah, I noticed the disparity. Like a lot.”
“Thanks.” She elbowed him in the shoulder.
He bobbed his head at the road. “You’re about to miss our exit.”
She jammed in front of a pickup towing a horse trailer just in the nick of time to make the turn. It had only been a few days since she’d last been here, but she’d already forgotten where the store was.
Recognizing that she was once again lost, Sawyer guided her to a public parking lot.
They were just about to get out of the car when he remembered her hat and reached into the back seat to get it.
He tucked her hair behind her ears and put the hat on her head, sweeping a few more locks under the rim.
The sensation of his hands brushing against her skin did something odd to her insides.
For a while they both sat there, holding each other’s gaze.
He bent forward, his eyes darkening as he stared at her lips. She moved closer until their mouths were just a whisper away from each other.
And then, just like that, he opened his passenger-side door and the moment was lost.
Neither one said anything as they hiked up the hill to Mill Street. But she thought about what it would’ve been like to feel the pull of Sawyer’s mouth on hers the whole way to the kitchen shop.
Right before they went inside the store, she adjusted her sunglasses and whispered, “Can you tell it’s me?”
“If anyone looks close enough, yeah, probably.” His eyes took a slow stroll over her breasts. “Then again—” She kicked him in the shin before he could say more.
She left him at the door and went in search of the ice cream makers, once again marveling at what a great store it was. Every bit as good as Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table.
On the second floor she found the appliance section and perused the ice cream machines. The store had everything, from the old-fashioned kinds that you cranked by hand to frozen custard machines. There was even a ChefAid one that made gelato, frozen yogurt, and ice cream.
Under different circumstances she would have simply called ChefAid and asked them to send her the machine. It was common practice in her profession. Nothing like a little product placement to move merchandise.
But for now, her show had been canceled. And at the rate things were going she would no longer be affiliated with ChefAid.
She read the features on the various boxes, trying to decide which one to choose. The Cuisinart appeared to have more bells and whistles then the ChefAid. Yet, she still felt loyal to the brand. Misguided, since they obviously had no loyalty to her.
Sawyer came up behind her, his lips grazing her ear, nearly knocking her hat off. “What did you find?” His breath felt warm against her cheek and his front pressed against her back, sending tremors down her spine.
“Uh…which one do you think?” she stammered. It had been a long time since a man had reduced her to a nervous schoolgirl. Even her voice had risen to a high pitch.
I am so not doing this with him.