Chapter 63
CHAPTER 63
OLIVIA
M y inner savage was on the verge of coming out. This woman had had me fooled, obviously in an attempt to worm her way back into Charlie’s life.
I looked Scarlett in the face from across the table, my assessing gaze met with a cool and cunning smile. Yep, she knew exactly what she was doing when she approached me at the conference.
While I was simmering with anger on the surface, deep down I was reeling from finding out that this gorgeous woman was Charlie’s ex. Not only an ex, but the one who had ruined him for so long. This was the calculating witch who had broken his heart and shattered his trust in womankind to the extent that he hadn’t even wanted to work with me until just a couple short months ago.
Now, it seemed she was back. Or trying to be back. Meddling-ass bitch.
Although her motives were an absolute mystery to me, this girl had known she would get to him if she buddied up with me and then she had gotten her big-bucks daddy to plan his fair on their ranch. It bugged me that she was coming after him, especially after how badly things had ended between them.
I didn’t know the whole story just yet, but I knew enough to know that it hadn’t been an amicable parting of ways. Yet, here she was. All this time, she’d been working with a plan and I’d been a few steps behind, but not anymore.
I knew who and what I was dealing with now, and she could forget playing head games with me any longer. I was going to have to keep an eye on Charlie, though. They had a history, which would make it easier for her to mess with his head than mine. While I was convinced he wasn’t the type to betray me with her, I didn’t want him to get hurt again and this woman seemed like the type who set out to cause as much pain and disruption as she could manage.
As I glanced at her father, I wondered if he was in on it, but somehow, I doubted that was true. Charlie had told me once that one of the things that had hurt him the most about her was that she’d always hidden her family from him. After all that time together, he’d never gotten to meet any of them.
No wonder he didn’t know she was the daughter George had been referring to as his marketing rep.
As Jack and George came to join us at the table with their coffees in hand, I tried to remain professional, but I could feel the defensive urges clawing at my throat, desperately trying to rise to the surface.
“Alright, everybody,” Jack said, a worried sheen in his eyes as he looked at Charlie. “Let’s get started. Son, will you kick us off?”
“Sure.” Charlie turned to face his ex and her father, his features impressively impassive and his voice even. “After our meeting last week, we took the liberty of scouting the property for a suitable location for the fair, and we’ve come to the conclusion that the cleared area near the main entrance will be best.”
Scarlett’s red-painted lips curved into an overly friendly smile as she looked back at him, even going so far as to twirl a tendril of her hair around her finger while she held his gaze. “What about the field around the creek? It’s so beautiful out there and?—”
“Our cattle are grazing in that area at the moment,” Charlie said, shutting her down. “It also hasn’t been cleared.”
“It wouldn’t have to be cleared,” she said, her tone as flirty as the way she was looking at him. “People are infatuated with the ranch exactly as it is. The creek is such a special place and it makes for some fantastic photo ops. I think it’ll be perfect.”
“It’s also not an option,” he said bluntly. “You need a huge, cleared space for the Ferris wheel alone. That’s without taking any of the other attractions or vendors into account.”
As they looked at each other, it was clear that there was some kind of silent exchange going on. Or at least something about the creek that made her want to hold the fair there so badly. Unease slithered through me.
When I’d found out who she was, I had known this meeting was going to be a painful one, but I hadn’t been prepared to feel like the third wheel. Yet, that was exactly how I was feeling right now.
“Alright,” she said, feigning amicability. “What about the northern pastures? That area is fabulous for picnics and we could bring in some large blankets for people to sit on after they’ve bought their food from the vendors.”
Okay, so they have some kind of special history at the creek as well as the northern pastures. Got it.
I wasn’t entirely sure why she was insisting on referencing their past in such weird ways, but this was going to be a fair . Not a romantic Valentine’s Day picnic under the stars event for couples.
George and Jack were sipping their coffees, evidently content to let them sort it out. Although Jack didn’t look particularly content. It was more like he was hoping that staying out of it would allow Charlie to get some kind of closure.
Scarlett shot me another cold, calculating smile. “Have you seen the sunset from the northern pastures yet? I suppose not. If you had, you would have included it in your little documentary.”
I held her gaze without wavering. “Our little documentary wasn’t aimed at showing people the beauty of the ranch. It was about allowing the public to see what a hard-working family the Andersons are and what it takes to keep a business like theirs afloat. It was about creating awareness and forging a connection. If they ever want to sell the ranch, however, I’ll make sure to include footage of the sunsets from that pasture.”
Without giving her time to respond, I turned to George, ready to take control of the meeting before we ended up sitting here the entire day indulging Scarlett’s not-so-hidden agenda. Two things had become abundantly clear to me in the time we’d been here so far: she wanted Charlie back and she wanted to hurt me in the process.
I wasn’t about to sit around and let her harbor the illusion that she was going to achieve either of those things.
“Let’s get back to the fair,” I said to George, perfectly fine with presenting my ideas to him and ignoring her as much as possible. “Using the cleared area near the main entrance allows traffic to be funneled directly from the gate to a field we can use for parking. That reduces the amount of people wandering around the residential parts of the property as well as the amount of cars traversing areas not meant to handle so much traffic.”
George glanced at Jack before he nodded. “That seems reasonable. We certainly don’t want the public to show themselves around unattended or for vehicles to damage the property.”
I smiled, but Scarlett clearly hated the idea. “People are going to want to see Anderson Ranch if they’re coming out to a fair being held at it. It’s absurd to keep them corralled at the entrance.”
“They’ll get to see plenty of the property, but I’m sure you can understand that we need to maintain the family’s privacy as well as prevent any unnecessary disruption to the animals.” I turned back to George. “There’s also liability issues to consider if people are going to be wandering around the barns or stables. Kids might end up climbing into enclosures or feeding the animals things that will make them sick.”
“That’s nonsense,” Scarlett argued. “We can manage any potential liability issues by putting conditions on the tickets and we can put up signs asking them not to feed the animals.”
“Right.” I arched both my eyebrows at her. “Because people always do what they’re asked and they never sue if there’s fine print protecting the owners against any possible losses.”
Doing my best not to roll my eyes, I dismissed her from my sight and turned my attention back to her father. “We’ve designated a space for ticketing booths if need be, but we’d like to sell tickets online. If there’s a demand for it, we can look into passes that allow access to different parts of the property. We might just have to hire a few people as guides if we decide to go that route.”
“Let’s see if there’s a demand for it before we start talking about hiring extra hands,” Charlie said, and I knew he hadn’t meant to shut me down, but the smile Scarlett gave him when he said it told me that she thought she had the upper hand.
“Exactly,” she said, leaning forward. “The Andersons trust the members of this community. They don’t need people to feel like criminals who have to be escorted around the property by security guards.”
“I didn’t say we’d need security,” I shot back. “In fact, the exact word I used was ‘ guides, ’ but Charlie is right. We should gauge the demand for something like that before we make the decision. Personally, I think people will just be happy to come out to the ranch, be outside, enjoy the gorgeous scenery, and attend a fair with their families.”
I smiled at Jack, who was still looking a little uncomfortable, but I needed him to know that above all else, I still had the family’s back. After he gave me a curt nod, I continued to address George instead of his brat of a daughter.
“Once people have gained entry to the fair, we’d like to scatter the games and rides around the perimeter of the area with the food stalls in the middle, and?—”
Scarlett sneered at me. “That makes no sense whatsoever. Why don’t you just focus on the marketing aspect and leave the logistics to us?”
“My firm has also been appointed to plan this event. Try to keep up.” I didn’t even look at her as I said it. “We’ve taken the liberty of putting together a complete marketing strategy for you to look over. Once you approve it, we can get started immediately.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Scarlett said, suddenly switching tactics again and going back to smiling sweetly at Charlie. “You and I can take care of all that. There’s no need to involve outsiders.”
Outsiders? Wow . My eyes widened and I glanced at Charlie, who would be making all the final decisions about the fair from the ranch’s side of things. To my surprise, he didn’t immediately disagree with her.
A beat later though, he finally shook his head. “Olivia and Walker Marketing will send their pitch to you. Look it over and if you would like any changes to be made in terms of how your company is represented, let them know.”
He gave her a long look before he continued. “As for the logistics, the area Olivia mentioned has been cleared, it provides easy access to the fair, and there’s more than enough space for everything that will need to be set up.”
Even though he had just taken my side, suspicion and uncertainty pricked at my gut like tiny little pins being jabbed into it. Sure, there had been a lot of tension in this meeting and perhaps I was letting insecurity get the better of me, but I was suddenly wondering if things were actually over between them.
Clearly, she still had feelings for him. It wasn’t impossible that he still harbored some feelings of his own. All I knew was that, as the meeting drew to a close, I was feeling the ick.
It just felt like every time he looked at her, there was a whole conversation happening that nobody else could hear. I thought about my own connection with him and how many times I’d somehow known what he was thinking and had felt like he knew what had been going on in my head—and now, I was suddenly wondering if he had the same thing with her.
Jack looked around the table, accepting the decision his son had just made and then standing up. “Well, I think that’s quite enough for one day. Take a couple days to look over the pitch and get back to us, but we’d like Olivia and her team to get started as soon as possible. In the meantime, we’ll be ready to help with the build-out in the cleared fields next to the main entrance.”
George nodded and stood up too, putting a hand on his daughter’s shoulder as he glanced down at her. “I’ll meet you at the car.”
She didn’t even bother to respond, simply nodding as she kept staring at Charlie from across the table. Jack left the barn with George, both men looking like they couldn’t get out of there fast enough, and I didn’t blame them.
The tension was thick enough to cut with a blunt knife, but I didn’t budge from my position next to Charlie, sending her a tight smile as I folded my arms over my chest. “We’ll talk soon. I’m sure your father will approve our pitch. It’s a good one.”
She rolled her eyes but didn’t look away from him for long. “Aren’t you going to walk me out, Charlie boy? You always used to walk me to my car and kiss me goodbye.”
I blinked hard. Alright, then. It looks like we’re finally dropping all pretenses. Good, that means my gloves can come off as well.
“Well, actually,” I said. “These days, Charlie doesn’t kiss the pigs.”
Scarlett’s mouth dropped open and she twisted in her chair, her gaze searching wildly. I assumed she was looking for her daddy to ask if he’d heard what I’d just called her or to convince Jack to drop me for being mean to her, but they were already at the car.
Scarlett shoved her chair away from the table and shot to her feet, fury bubbling in her eyes as she narrowed them at Charlie. “Are you going to let her speak about me that way?”
“He doesn’t let me do anything,” I said, drawing that furious glare back to myself. The nice girl act was done. I felt threatened and disrespected, and she needed to know I wasn’t going to sit back and watch her trying to steal my man. “I am my own person, with my own career, and my own money . This meeting is over. We’ll email the pitch to you. Goodbye. You are dismissed.”
“Scarlett, honey! Are you coming?” George called from outside.
Seething, her hands rolled into fists at her side, but she turned around and stormed out like the good little lap dog she was. I slumped back in my chair once she was gone, feeling the fight drain out of me and leave nothing but insecurity in its place.
I turned slowly to face Charlie, looking into those gorgeous blues and feeling a distance between us that had never been there before. I hated it, but I couldn’t even bring myself to reach for his hands.
“I have so many questions,” I finally managed, my insides aching as I heard their engine turn over outside.
He let out a long exhale and nodded, turning to face me fully and dropping his elbows to his knees, his hands hanging loosely between them and his eyes on mine. “Ask me anything you’d like. I will tell you everything you want to know.”