Chapter 6
Standing next to Alex at the enormous island in the Villa”s jaw-dropping kitchen, Becca showed him the rudimentary sketch of the pavilion she sought permission for, saying, ”It”s very basic. Power and water will require digging, but it shouldn”t be a problem. Sammy thinks a couple of footers and a bit of framing should do it. He suggested a cupola arrangement on the roof for the heat to escape.”
”I like it,”the big man murmured, intently studying the sketch. Have you considered putting solar panels up top?”
”Oh, wow. No, I hadn”t. That”s a good idea. Could we power the big fans with that?”
”I”ll ask Calder. He”ll know. But even if the fans require hard-wiring, the solar can handle sconce lighting.”
”So, you”re okay with this? I can move ahead?”
”It”s fine with me,”he replied. ”But you need Stephanie”s,Ben”s, and maybe Jamie”s approval, too.”
”He”s on board,”she muttered.
”Who is? Ben or Jamie?”
”Dr. Hunter. I, um, ran it past him.”She pursed her lips and pushed hair behind an ear.
”I see,”Alex murmured in an amused tone. ”Who drew first blood?”he teased.
Becca stiffened and thought, See? Even the big boss noticed their ongoing hostility.
Opening her mouth to answer with a benign reply, she blurted out, ”He got a golden-haired cat. He named her Cat. Something so wrong with him.”
”Wait, what?”Alex snickered. ”Jamie has a cat named Cat? When the hell did this happen?”
”It seems recent,”she mumbled. ”And Kori hasn”t said anything about a new cat.”Shrugging, she explained, ”My kid is all up in the grumpy doctor”s business 24/7. She”d be vocal about a new cat considering Pywakett and her status as reigning feline.”
Alex Marquez”s way of looking at you gave Becca the willies. It was as if he knew shit or had a broader understanding of things. He eyed her momentarily and then said, ”Your daughter is an excellent judge of character.”
His narrowed eyes made her gulp.
”We all have a story, Becca. Bendover is full of stories. It”s true—Jamie hasn”t made it easy to get to know him, but Kori managed to sneak past the man”s outer defenses. If she thinks he”s okay, it”s a solid endorsement.”
What was he trying to say? That she should cut the grumpy asshole a break because her kid gave the guy a thumbs up?
”Who”s okay?”A light-hearted female voice asked.
Becca turned her head in time to see Meghan approach. As usual, the vivacious, auburn-haired wife of the grinning man hurrying to greet her was impeccably dressed and absolutely gorgeous.
”Jamie”s okay,”Alex answered with a chuckle. He kissed his wife”s cheek, smiled into her upturned face, and, without any shame whatsoever, grabbed Meghan”s butt.
Patting her husband”s chest, Red playfully chided him. ”Poor Jamie. People misunderstand him.”
Alex looked straight at Becca and smirked. ”See?”
”What”s he done?”Meghan asked after extricating herself from Alex”s embrace. ”And fair warning—unless you say he”s adding an elephant or a giraffe to our growing menagerie, I”m probably on his side.”
”Becca just informed me that our resident veterinarian has gotten himself a cat. A blonde cat, right, Becca?”
She nodded her confirmation. ”Named her Cat. Cat Nebatar.”
”Oh, fuck,”Alex hooted—laughter boomed from the big man. ”You didn”t tell me she had a last name! Nebatar! Bwah! Get it, hon? Cat Nebatar.”
Meghan”s reaction was a tremendous smile. ”Oh! How lovely. I”ll run by the mercantile to pick up kitten goodies.”
How the hell did a discussion about her pavilion idea turn into a meeting of the James Hunter fan club?
Pivoting away from the uncomfortable subject, she brought up the archery clinic.
”Meghan. I”m glad I ran into you. I have questions about an archery clinic Kori and her friend want to take.”
”Archery?”Alex drawled. ”Wouldn”t archery fall in the category you ladies call bougie?”
Feigning outrage, Meghan reacted with a frown at her husband”s snark. ”For your information, Major,”she said in a starchy voice that appeared to make Alex”s grin even broader, ”archery is as old as mankind, so you cannot argue that it”s anything except an obnoxious pursuit favored by the world”s nobility.”
Becca bit back a snort of amusement as Meghan politely but directly schooled her grinning husband. Her mannerisms and tone all but screamed, ”Don”t fuck with me—I”m a teacher.”
”Furthermore,”Red sweetly continued, ”let me disavow you of whatever Robin Hood fantasies you have running in your head and point out the sport is not solely for men. I think it”s time you watched the movie Brave. Maybe with Bella and Molly.”
Alex”s facial expression was hilarious. Invoking Bella Mia Jensen and her wingman, Molly D’Alessandro, got his attention. The two little girls and their BFF, Matty James Bishop, represented Junior Justice. They weren”t here for a lot of the stupid shit that weighed down previous generations and, thus far, had not shied away from setting the grown-ups right if need be.
”Girls and archery are natural friends. One day, Stevie will want to give it a go. Bougie? I think not. Fierce? Yes.”Meghan arched a perfectly shaped brow. ”Care to comment?”
”Fuck no,”Alex snickered. ”I know when to keep my male stupidity to myself.”
Meghan looked at Becca and slyly winked. Dropping to a full, meet-the-Queen curtsey, she smiled as she straightened and said, ”That”s how we do.”
A short honk of amusement shot from Becca”s throat. She and the Queen Mother of Justice fist-bumped.
Seeing the powerful, charismatic man put in his place so neatly gave Becca hope that maybe not all male-female partnerships were uneven—always tilted unfairly in one direction.
Beaming, Alex looked at Becca. ”Berated like a naughty schoolboy—damn. She”s good.”
Up close, their couple”s dynamic was hella fascinating. She wondered how they did it—how they made it work when Alex was such a textbook dominant and Meghan the opposite of what one imagined a traditional, submissive wife would be.
She was fascinated.
Noticing the sketch Becca gave Alex, Meghan asked what she was looking at.
”Becca recommends we put a fairly significantly sized pavilion down in the barn complex. A place for the humans to get out of the sun and relax.”
“Brilliant,” Meghan murmured.
”We should show as much care and concern for the rancheros and day workers as we do the animals. With so much going on, we”re busy every single day, and weekends are extra busy. In the summer, we battle the heat. Some days, my people are wiped out by it. I see them taking breaks in the shade of the trees. I mean, that”s insane, right? A pavilion, picnic tables, and ceiling fans aren”t too much to ask.”
”You do not have to sell me,”Meghan chuckled.”Adding a filtration system for the drinkable water was worth every cent of the cost if it meant healthy, happy people. I”m always here to improve the work conditions. Are Ben and Stephanie on board?”
”I came here first,”Becca explained. With Alex”s approval in my hip pocket, next, I”ll talk to Ben. I”m saving Stephanie for last—I don”t want to intrude on her maternity leave. I remember what those first weeks with a newborn are like.”
Meghan nodded. ”Smart.” Then she looked at Alex. ”If you two are finished, may I steal Becca? I”ve got an archery presentation in my office.”
”Have at it, ladies,”the big man boomed in his larger-than-life voice. ”While the twins nap, I”m gonna head out to the pool for a workout.”
He put a hand on Meghan”s arm, pulled her close, and whispered in her ear before loudly kissing her cheek. ”Mwah.”
Unless Becca hallucinated, Red”s face flamed with a color similar to her hair. What devilish thing had her husband whispered?
A jolt of emotional electricity tingled along her spine when, for perhaps the first time, a sense of longing invaded her being. What was it like to be someone”s central focus—to be seen and heard?
Becca had no idea. Even when she was young and foolish and thought herself in love with Darryl Tate, she knew he was incapable of the things she now saw every day in the behavior of all the men of Justice.
It was fucking inconceivable that any of the Justice men—no matter who—were capable of treating their women in such a cavalier and selfish fashion as Darryl had.
Her inadvertent sigh filled the air.
Meghan studied Becca with a quizzical look. After a short pause, she gestured to the back of the kitchen.
”Come on. My office is tucked behind the pantry.”
Whoever made Red”s clothes was a genius. The lady”s style was distinctively 1950s. Today, she wore a plain white knee-length fit-and-flare summery dress with a sweetheart neckline. It was fantastic. Becca wished she had Meghan”s sense of style.
As she led the way, Meghan chattered about this and that—pointing out a little clay pot holding a shamrock plant.
Once they passed into the office through the tight doorway, Becca was stunned by the small space.
”Pardon the clutter.” The mockery in Meghan”s voice and her funny smirk made Becca look at the space differently.
Waving her hand, she added, ”I was a gym teacher and, as such, was on the bottom rung of the office ladder. We were lucky to get a closet. This is familiar. My executive office at the Double M is mostly for appearances and ceremonial occasions. The work happens here.”
Flipping through a stack of presentation boards leaning against an overflowing bookcase, Meghan found what she was looking for and pulled out a large display board.
”We got lucky with the instructors. Husband and wife—she”s an Olympic-level recurve archer.”Chuckling, Meghan drawled, ”I had no idea what recurve was and had to look it up.”
Becca studied the informative display. ”So it”s a real clinic—not just a bow and arrow free for all?”
”Kori”s age group will receive real training. If she and her friend are interested, I”ll waive the fee and make sure they get the Cadillac experience.”
”Oh god, Meghan. I”m not asking for special treatment. I”m a mom looking for reassurance, not quibbling about fifteen dollars.”
”Kori is what the other teachers at my school called a runway model. She”ll try on anything—give it all her attention, and then move on to the next experience.”Putting a hand on Becca”s arm, she reassuringly added, ”She”s conquering her fears now, and that”s a good thing.”
”You think?”
”Yeah. I admire her determination to live fearlessly. It is a theme among the young these days. They don”t want all the awful events in the world to determine their lives or who they are.”
”I”ve never looked at it like that,”Becca admitted. ”I”m a single mom spinning her wheels while her kid tries on experiences with the enthusiasm of a footwear diva left alone in a shoe store. Now I realize maybe I should shut up, stop bitchin”, and sign the permission slips.”
Meghan smiled.”It”snot that she doesn”t stick with anything or lacks follow through. A runway model wants to try everything all the time. That”s our Kori.”
”What”s next?”Becca satirically scoffed. ”Metal working? Hang gliding?”
”Strap in tight, Mom. A teenage hurricane is coming straight at you.”
Her silly side activated. Talking to Meghan always felt safe—she could loosen up and not try so hard to be straight-laced and severe. Smirking ever so slightly, Becca shivered and drawled, ”I”m scared.”
”You should be! Teenagers are here to test everyone”s patience and sanity. You met my big brother, Deval, at Sophie”s wedding. As a teenager, he drove my parents up the wall. Why are boys so dare-devilish? What is that about?”
Meghan sighed. Her long auburn curls bounced when she shook her head.
”Ma says Dev gave her grey hair with his antics. The idiot jumped off a neighbor”s garage roof into their backyard pool. Damn lucky he didn”t get killed. Does he tell the story now with a big, shit-eating grin? Yes. I keep telling him, wait till your kids start pulling those stunts—then we”ll see how smug you are.”
Becca made a goofy face. Deval O”Brien was a huge, brawny, lumberjack-looking guy with a booming laugh. She pictured a younger, cockier Dev leaping from a roof into a pool. Good lord! What a sight that must have been.
”Nobody tells you that one day your sweet, lovable kiddo will morph into a forty-year-old smarty pants. She tried to Carl Jung me!”Becca laughed.
”Holy moly, seriously? About what if you don”t mind my asking?”
In a dry tone and using air quotes, Becca replied, ”She needs some alone time. Apparently, I”m all up in her grill 24/7.”
Meghan sniggered. ”I shouldn”t laugh, but that is funny.”
”She thinks I should get out more.”
”Wait,”Meghan exclaimed. ”Are we talking dating?”
”Not entirely, but yes. My daughter thinks I need a social life, and before you ask, she ties her father”s douchebag behavior to my lack of male companionship.”
”Ouch.”
With a half shrug, Becca sighed. ”Right? I mean, she”s not wrong.”
Meghan was silent for a moment. Then she spoke words that opened Becca”s eyes.
”Your daughter wants you to be fearless. She”s looking to you, Becca. Kori knows her father is an asshole. And she knows what he did left damage. If there is ever a time to set an example, this is it. Did your ex damage you forever? Did he win?”
Becca bristled at the very idea that Darryl Tate held the high ground. Not on her watch. Fuck that.
”Kori knows you”re wounded, but she”s also seen you rise above an awful lot of shit—the kind of shit that destroys people. You guys have an awesome life now, and your future looks bright. The next logical step is getting a personal life. She”s prodding, and for good reason. How you respond matters.”
”Wow. You”re good.”
”So they say,”the auburn-haired beauty drawled. ”Now, what are we going to do about finding you a social life?”
”Well, I”ve made a date this Thursday with the mom of Kori”s new friend. She”s single, too. We”re meeting for dinner at a new restaurant out in Dare Gulch.”
”Sounds like a start!”
They high-fived and shared a laugh. The girl talk with Meghan was exactly what she needed.
Onward!