Chapter 14
Eli
I met Ava and Nina at the door with my biggest smile, even if it was ninety percent fake. Heaven help me, she wore those cut-offs again.
“Morning, ladies.” This couldn’t be it. Their last day. The last time I’d see them.
Ava’s eyes traveled from my mouth to the cup I offered her. Coffee with a splash of milk, the way she liked it. “Is this for me?”
“Mhmm.” I wasn’t above bribery. Our fingers brushed when she took the cup, and I should’ve been ashamed at how my blood raced.
She stared at her coffee with odd intensity, still no smile. Nina, on the other hand, had a full-on scowl. “Rough morning?” I asked.
“She’s mad,” Ava explained, “because I made her walk.”
“I know what she needs.” I waved them into the kitchen with me and grabbed a banana off the counter, but Nina stomped straight past and climbed under the table. “Or not.” Maybe she didn’t like the stickers?
“Don’t read too much into it.” Ava inhaled the steam from her coffee like a Folgers commercial, then tipped her cup in a slow, glamorous sip. “Mmm. I needed this.”
I reclaimed my mug from the counter and took a plain ol’ boring sip. “Did you get your stuff packed?”
“I did.” She fought a yawn. “I even had time to throw together a business plan.”
“Wow. When did you sleep?”
Her shoulders lifted, then dropped.
“Did you sleep?” I wondered if my fake smile looked as bad as the one she shot me.
“Terry wants something today that shows I can take on the ranch without going bankrupt.” She cupped both her hands around her mug. “It’s almost there. I just need to research a few costs.”
“Ava!”
“What?”
I tried not to notice how bloodshot her eyes looked. Women didn’t like it when you pointed out that stuff. “If I’d known you had things to do, I wouldn’t have made you work on our crap.”
“You didn’t make me do anything.”
I ran a hand over my hat. This was all wrong. “And today you’re gonna move all your stuff?” The grouchy gremlin under the kitchen table would make her day extra hard. “I wish you’d said something. How can you think that late at night, anyway?”
“I have a degree in agricultural management,” she said, taking another commercial-worthy sip. “So, throwing together a proposal is basically muscle memory.”
Well, shit.
I finally brought Dad a manager, and we couldn’t keep her.
She knocked back the rest of her coffee and put her empty cup on the counter. “Should we finish the binders?”
“No, I’ll do it. Go get the costs for your plan. Or take a nap, or something.”
She frowned. “It will go faster if we do it together.”
I didn’t want fast, I wanted to savor her. Soon she’d be gone, and then what would I look forward to when I woke up in this dry, dusty hell? “The hard part’s done. I think I can handle punching a few holes.”
“Okay, fine.” She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, and it came out shining. “Lucky for you, we’re almost out of your hair.”
What if I wanted her in my hair? Her fingers, her face. I cleared my throat. “Did you see my note?”
Instead of an answer, she pulled her buzzing phone out of her shorts pocket and glanced at the screen. “Oh. Sorry, I–I need to take this.” Then she moved to the window, giving me her back. “Hello, this is Ava Garcia.”
I studied Nina, still under the table, and wondered if there was room for two under there.
“Yes, absolutely! I’m still interested,” Ava said into the phone. “Tomorrow?” She turned to me and mouthed a silent question. I nodded even though I had no idea what she was asking.
“Yes, nine is great! Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” After ending the call, I got to see an Ava-exclusive victory dance. A kind of raise-the-roof, hips-don’t-lie number. “I have an interview!”
Energy radiated off her like a bug zapper, and I leaned in. “Yeah? Where at?”
“Rock ’N Roll Landscaping.”
“Well, you’re gonna cause a lot of trouble forking dirt in those shorts.”
She straightened, dropping her arms. “It’s for an office position.” I must’ve made a face, ‘cause then she said, “What’s that look for?”
“Nothing. It’s just … You were ready to stab me over paperwork yesterday.”
Ava landed her hands on her perfectly proportioned hips. “First of all, that box was a nightmare! I mean, why would you keep your paperwork that way?”
Dang it, she would’ve made a perfect manager. And not because of her killer legs. “I dunno. I think Dad wants me to suffer. What’s the second thing?”
She raised a dark eyebrow at me.
“You said, first of all …” I made my voice high and stuck my hands on my hips.
She chuckled, and I finally earned one of those bright, heart-stopping smiles. “‘A’ for effort,” she said, then sighed. “It’s a job. With benefits and flexibility. I need both to get Hidden Meadows up and running again.”
Benefits? Maybe that’s why we weren’t getting any hits on the job listing? Were we supposed to offer that kind of stuff? “Then, congratulations.”
“I don’t have the job yet.”
“You will.”
“I hope so.” She tucked loose hair behind her ears. “Thank you for agreeing to watch Nina. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay you back for all your help. Truly.”
“You could take me to dinner.”
She opened her mouth, but hesitated. “I’ll be busy for a while.”
“So? Make it a quickie.” Her face fell before I realized my mistake. “N-no. I meant, like, takeout.”
“Is that what you want?”
Shit. Why did I have to get so tongue-tied around her? I fixed my hat, fingering through the hair under it. “I’d rather have a full sit-down dinner. With dessert.”
She studied me, chewing that darn lip again. “Maybe we can take a rain check?”
“Sure. Name the time. I’m all yours.”
Then, the craziest thing happened. Her eyes dipped to my mouth.
What did I want? I was leaving soon anyway.
Was it worth starting something, just to pass the time?
Would Ava go for that? She seemed more like a serious-inquiries-only kind of woman.
Except, she was studying my lips like the dessert menu.
Then, in the next breath, she bolted into motion, hauling a whining Nina out from the table and vacating the kitchen.
I trailed behind. “I’ll help you get your stuff to the new place.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? No argument?”
“Why bother? You’ll just do it anyway.”
I smiled at her back as she rushed down the porch steps, leaving behind the sweet, fruity smell of her shampoo.
Yes. I definitely wanted to start something.
With a pep in my step, I went to find Dad. He was down in the den, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a stack of foam squares, piecing interlocking edges into a triangular tunnel.
I frowned. “Whatcha doing?”
“Making a fort for the kid.”
“With my gym mats?”
“They were just sitting in the mudroom. You got a problem with it?”
“No, it’s cool.” I wasn’t using them anyway. “But the, uh–the girls are moving into an apartment today.”
“Oh.” He paused, staring at the half-attached foam.
I should’ve been used to seeing his disappointment by now. “Ava has a job interview tomorrow. She asked if I could watch Nina.”
“Oh, yeah?” Dad sized me up over his glasses. Did he think I couldn’t do it? “I’ll finish this, then,” he said, returning to his masterpiece. A body snatcher. It had to be. He looked the same, sounded the same, but his behavior?
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I ignored it. “Hey, do you need me for anything?”
“Nope.”
“Fine. I’m gonna finish the paperwork stuff, then help Ava move into her new place.”
“Okay.”
“Luke’s down at the stable.”
“Great.” Was this a test? Him just waiting to catch my mistake. Screw something up?
Whatever. I rocked on my heels and made for the stairs, but then I remembered something. “Oh. There was a late-notice letter at the bottom of the paperwork box.”
“Stick it on my bed,” he said. No explanation.
I crossed my arms. “Why aren’t you paying your business taxes?”
“We aren’t making that much. I doubt they’ll notice.”
“They sent you a letter. That means they noticed. Can’t they shut you down, or take the house, or something?”
“They won’t.”
“Dad.”
Finally, my old man graced me with his attention. “Why are you so worried? Do you want this place?”
“No. But I don’t want you losing your house. Do you need money?”
“No.”
“I can help you out. I’m not a total deadbeat.” My phone buzzed again.
“I don’t think you’re a deadbeat, son. And I don’t need your money. It was an oversight. Put the letter on my bed. I’ll take care of it.” The letter was a third notice, which meant he’d gotten two others. Before he filled that damn box. How many more came in after that?
He grabbed another mat square and started attaching it. “Oh. Henry called this morning.”
“Henry?”
“Misty’s owner.”
Right. One of the boarders that, as Ava pointed out, never came by.
“They want to end the contract and move her somewhere else.”
“What? Why?”
Dad leaned back to admire his work. “Said it was out of their way, no good place to exercise her.”
I threw my arm at the glass doors, to the huge horse ring I could see from where I was standing. “No place to train her? What the hell is that?”
“I’m disappointed, too. But it’s no good arguing if we don’t have what they want.”
“What do they want? A grassy meadow? Good luck finding that in Arizona!” No place to train, my ass. A weird pressure pushed at me from the inside out. Something unfamiliar and uncomfortable. “So, what does that mean?”
“Welp,” Dad pushed himself up off the floor. “We should find another boarder.”
“Shit.” I ran a hand down my face. “Hey, how many boarders would it take to cover health insurance for a ranch manager?” Dad stared at me thoughtfully. It made my skin itch. “Don’t read into it. I just wanna hire someone before I fry to a crisp.”
“You know, all the paperwork you sorted would help you figure that out.”
My phone went off again. I pulled it out and saw I’d missed six calls from Ryan. “Fine,” I told Dad. “I’ll look later. I gotta take this.” Sweat dripped down my back the second I exited through the glass doors and stepped into the summer heat. A daily reminder of where I’d landed.
With a swipe, I answered Ryan’s call. “Hey man, what’s up?”
“My disco stick.”