Chapter Ten
“Poppy, you’re the best cook in the whole world,” Holly declared after finishing her third fajita.
Maureen was relieved to see her daughter was in a good mood tonight. She hadn’t even seemed upset when Maureen told her Jake was dropping by later. “Yes, Poppy, everything was delicious. Thanks so much.”
“Fresh cilantro makes the difference,” the chef said modestly. “Now, if I can leave cleanup to the rest of you, I promised Harvey I would meet him at eight and I don’t want to be late. He said he has something important to talk about.”
“Ah!” Cathleen raised her eyebrows. “Will you give us three guesses, Poppy?”
Her answer was a flick from one of the ties on Poppy’s bright turquoise apron. “Hush with you!”
Ten minutes later, their grandmother was out the door, minus the apron, with fresh lipstick gleaming on her mouth. Stacking plates into the dishwasher, Maureen consulted Cathleen and Dylan. “Mind if we wait for coffee and dessert until Jake gets here?”
“That might be his truck right now,” Dylan said, glancing out the screened door.
Maureen stepped out to the porch. Sure enough Jake’s Expedition was pulling up next to her car. Behind him, dust from the dry dirt road hung in the air like a low-lying cloud. She ran down the stairs and met him in the yard.
Jake looked extra tall and broad-shouldered in dark jeans and a forest-green corduroy shirt.
“Hi there.” She felt suddenly shy, and to mask that, reached out to adjust the collar of his shirt.
She wondered if Jake would kiss her, but he just smiled. “Pretty dress.”
“Thanks.” She’d wanted to look especially nice today to compensate for what a mess she’d been yesterday.
She glanced back at the house, well aware that this might be their only opportunity to talk privately all night.
“I was thinking, since I lost that last set on Monday, it’s my turn to pay up. How about dinner on Friday?”
Jake seemed a little taken aback, and she immediately felt embarrassed. Why had she blurted out the invitation? They’d barely had time to say hello…
“Um, sure. That sounds great,” he said, his gaze not quite connecting with hers.
Maureen wished she could retract the invitation. But Jake had already moved past her on his way to open the passenger door of his vehicle. Out bounded a dog with a sweet golden face and white muzzle. Immediately Kip rushed from his sleeping spot on the porch to check out the interloper.
As the dogs sniffed one another cautiously, Dylan came out and hollered, “Jake! Get in here! We’re just about to serve coffee.”
A second later Cathleen wrapped her arms around her husband’s waist. “Oh, shut up,” she said. “Can’t you see Jake and Maureen are talking?”
Now Maureen was truly mortified. What Cathleen wasn’t, and could never be, was subtle. And never had her matchmaking efforts been more awkward than now.
But Jake smoothed over the moment with a smile. “Coffee sounds fine.” He held out his arm for Maureen to go ahead.
They ended up gathering in the study, Holly included. Cathleen handed out mugs and set the cookies on a low table in front of the fireplace, where an arrangement of dried flowers had been placed for the summer season.
“Mom?” Holly held out her empty mug as Maureen made the rounds with the coffeepot.
Maureen’s first instinct was to say no, then she thought: was it really worth a fight? She poured the coffee without a word and forced back a smile at the look of glee on her daughter’s face.
She went to Jake last. He was standing by the fireplace, his stance wide and expression tense.
“Coffee?”
“Thanks.”
When Jake’s cup was full, Maureen set the carafe back on the table, then took a seat next to Holly. Her daughter was busy doctoring her coffee with sugar and cream. Maureen tried not to take note of how much of both she was adding to the brew.
“How are things at the ranch?” Maureen asked.
“Busy,” Dylan said. “I don’t mind the outside work, but Max switched all the accounting and payroll to a system I don’t understand. Fortunately Jake’s familiar.”
“I guess that business diploma of mine is coming in handy,” Jake said. “But I like the outdoor work better too.”
“Well, thank you for helping today, Jake. Since we moved back to the ranch Dylan’s been working fourteen, fifteen-hour days.” Cathleen rested a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Wish I could do more to help but I’m only a novice when it comes to running a ranch.”
“I’ll help as much as I can this summer,” Jake said.
“Appreciate that,” Dylan said. “It’s the managerial stuff that’s swamping me. And that kind of help is hard to come by. Not that I’m complaining. At least the ranch is back under our control.”
“I spoke with Harvey yesterday,” Jake said. “He tells me that work on Strongman’s development is slated to begin next month.”
Dylan dropped his head into his hands. “Bad enough he cleared all that land on the Thunder Bar M. Now we’re going to see our neighboring land cleared and developed too. When those cute little vacation villas start going up, my father will be rolling in his grave.”
Cathleen groaned. “How is he getting approval for all this?”
“Word is he has an important friend on town council,” Jake said.
Holly nodded. “Beth Gibson. I’m sure she voted in favor.”
“What?” Maureen drew back in her seat to eye her daughter, surprised that Holly even knew Beth was on council, let alone how she might stand on any one particular issue. Holly had studied local government last year at school. Clearly she’d put what she’d learned to use.
“Why are you so sure Beth will support Max’s plan?” Jake asked.
“Well, she’s his girlfriend, isn’t she?” Holly colored slightly. “I mean, it’s kind of obvious.”
“Are you talking about an affair?” Jake sounded as stunned as Maureen felt. “Beth’s been married a long time. Her husband works for the Forest Service. They have two grown sons…”
All of which meant nothing, Maureen realized. “What makes you say something’s going on with Max and Beth?”
Her daughter squirmed against the back of the sofa. “I just noticed them together, that’s all. I saw him kiss her. And she kissed him back.”
Significant glances were exchanged among the adults. “Where did you see this?” Maureen persisted.
“At Loula’s Café the other day…and then I kind of followed them back to Max’s house.
” She glanced defiantly at Maureen. “You know I want to work for the FBI one day. I need to develop my skills somehow. So I thought I’d start by finding out who Max’s closest friends were.
I figured maybe they might know more about what happened the night Joe Beckett was killed. ”
This explained why her daughter had missed that afternoon class yesterday. Maureen was partly impressed, partly worried. “You need to be careful. Max is a dangerous man.”
“I am careful,” Holly insisted. “And I have pictures if you don’t believe me.”
“You do?” Maureen was stunned.
“Hang on a minute.” Holly disappeared up the stairs and then came back with her phone.
“The pictures would have been more clear if I used my digital camera…but that would have been too obvious.” She held out her phone so Maureen and the others could see a darkish photo of Beth and Max having lunch in the café, another of them driving together, and another of them pressed together in an upper window of Max’s house.
“They’re in Max’s bedroom,” Dylan confirmed.
Cathleen looked disgusted. “What a slime ball.”
“What the hell is Beth thinking?” Dylan asked. “Didn’t she see how badly Max treated my mother? Why is she risking her reputation and her marriage getting involved with him and his schemes?”
“A lot of money is at stake,” Jake said calmly. “At least this explains how Max got his approvals from town council.”
*
It was a stretch to say Jake was dreading his dinner date with Maureen on Friday, but not much. He’d felt awkward at the family gathering at the B and B the other night. It was clear that Cathleen now viewed him and Maureen as a couple. And possibly Maureen felt the same way.
How had a few tennis games and some casual dinners added up to so much, so fast?
Plus, he felt kind of guilty that Dylan was so swamped at the ranch. Most summers he helped out at the Thunder Bar M quite a bit but this year he’d been too busy with the upgrades at Grizzly Peaks.
He didn’t like the feeling that he was letting everyone down. But he also felt like he was being trapped into commitments and obligations that didn’t fit with the way he liked to live his life.
So call and cancel. She’ll get the picture.
But he couldn’t sink quite that low. Better he went out with her tonight and kept the mood light and friendly. That way she’d know where he stood without the need for a painful conversation.
After taking Lewis for a walk—during which Jake saw exactly zero posters advertising a missing dog—and settling him with some treats and a bowl of water, Jake made his way to the B and B.
Maureen was sitting in one of the willow chairs on the front veranda of the B and B and, despite himself, Jake felt a surge of admiration.
She looked so pretty, so poised, so collected.
The opposite of the heartbroken woman who’d sobbed in his arms a few days ago.
She rose and strode forward to meet him.
She was wearing white pants that emphasized her long legs and a scoop-necked pink sweater that allowed a tantalizing peek at her generous cleavage.
More than her great figure, he admired the confidence of her stride, her lack of self-consciousness as she pushed back her thick blond hair to give him a smile.
Cool and friendly, he reminded himself, as he opened the passenger door for her. What had happened to all the oxygen in the air? There had been plenty just five minutes ago.