Chapter Eight
WEDNESDAY USHERED IN a torrential storm, but it wasn’t a weather pattern. Eli dragged his heavy limbs through the darkened clinic, squeezing his temples, hopeful the pressure added would ease the pounding downpour between his ears. No such luck. Three rounds of drinks. Not Eli’s best decision. “Hey, office manager. Where are you?”
The news about the Pendletons and the mortgage had dampened the Calvary brothers’ usual revelry. Like a car barreling downhill without brakes, Eli’s confession, late as it was, had wrecked the flow of fellowship. Things continued to skid southward as his mind wandered to the friendly, resourceful, and generally delightful employee he never should’ve hired. A newcomer with no job, no vehicle, and no money. His family needed his full attention. Amarie’s situation added more weight to an already-unstable load. Best to part ways before more of her problems required a solution on his part.
Eli had made arrangements for a car tow. A parting gift that meant no hard feelings. Or tears. The darn woman should’ve asked for help. Kanaan had agreed to meet him at Hailey’s field, hitch Amarie’s Prince on the back of his flatbed, and get it over to the repair shop for a diagnostic. Eli muttered under his breath. Naming a car, an absolutely unnecessary practice, yet very much an Amarie-ism. She had a lot of those, he realized. Purple dazzler. Random-idea generator. Biscuit temptress. Where was she, anyway?
“Amarie?” Maybe calling her by name would facilitate an actual reply. As a trained soldier, a skilled vet raised to follow in his father’s mighty footsteps, he could manage a rural practice without a social butterfly intermediary for his customers. But right now, he struggled to keep his sandpapered eyelids from scraping his corneas.
Hiccup, seeing Eli’s need, trotted ahead of him through the grooming center breezeway into the kitchen. Under normal circumstances, his pooch preferred a romp through the switchgrass before the start of a workday, so Eli appreciated the seeing eye dog assist.
“Momma? Amarie? Where’s everybody?” He smelled the soothing aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Another scent, potent and dark, caught in his nostrils, burning through his haze.
“Good morning, Eli.”
Not the voice he ever wanted to hear inside the Calvary home. Internally, his temperature shot from ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit to nuclear. Lourdes Pendleton. He should’ve suspected. Even in high school, if she perceived a weakness, she’d scurry from the shadows to gnaw a chunk of flesh in a sneak attack. If blood could boil, his would crack the ground beneath his feet. In tune with his abrupt change in mood, Hiccup released a whine, then danced backward, his bulk colliding with Eli’s shins.
“Shh. Easy, boy.” He scratched the dog’s head until he calmed. He grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filled it with water from the tap, then added it to Hiccup’s bowl. He ignored his unwanted guest. While Hiccup hydrated, something Eli needed to do, he scooped one cup of dry dog food into a bowl.
“Who let you in, Lourdes?” All symptoms from last night’s excess burned away. He stood, facing the enemy, ready to protect and defend. She rose from the kitchen table, slithering closer on sky-high nude heels, her body undulating beneath a tailored cream suit.
“This is Service, Eli. Doors are always open, remember?”
“To friends,” he replied, sliding breakfast over to Hiccup’s aluminum dish.
“Tsk, tsk.” She laughed, the sound more calculated than coy. “Careful. I’m here to help,” she said with a sweep of a checkbook in front of his face. Taunting. Coiling. Searching for an opening in his armor in which to strike.
“You must take me for an April fool.”
“I could make your money problems go poof.” She puckered red-painted lips, blowing him an air kiss.
Yeah, right. Tangling with her would saddle him with a crap ton of bad baggage.
“Not interested.”
“Imagine you and me together, opening a star-rated four seasons resort,” she drummed polished talons on the kitchen table at her back, “right here. A dream come true for some very influential people in this town.”
He came to stand in front of her and leaned in close. “Not my dream.”
She sighed in mock frustration. Eli wasn’t fooled by her ruse. “Same old Calvary tunnel vision. Broaden your thinking. My daddy has his eyes on this property.” She stroked her checkbook down his chest, pressed the sharp point of the plastic into his ridged muscle. “And like me, he gets what he wants.”
He pushed her hand away. “Then why are you here?”
“Because optics have an impact around here,” she drawled. “This is business for Daddy. Personal for me.”
So, the Pendletons wanted him to make them look good for trying to rob his family of their land? The more his life changed, the more some things remained unchanged.
“I’m proposing you sell me this house, the cabins, the land for, let’s say”—she angled her chin as if searching the ceiling for a number—“eighteen thousand today. An additional twenty when you deliver the keys to me, in person. Play nice and I’ll even convince Daddy to keep one of the cabins for Leah to visit in the offseason.”
“You. Your daddy. Your checkbook. Are not welcome here. Not when my father was alive. And for damn sure, not now.”
Leaning against the table at her back, she relaxed her slight weight in her palms, crossed her ankles. “Aw, you’re so handsome when you’re mad. Always have been, but you’re powerless against the inevitable. Why just this morning I overheard Daddy fielding bids to tear down this.” She grinned smug superiority as she looked down her nose at the scarred floors carved with fond childhood memories, the faded picture of a gap-toothed Tobias riding his father’s shoulders.
“Answer’s no.” What in green hell delayed the woman who’d promised promptness? “We’ve got work to do. Amarie,” Eli bellowed, “get in here.”
“Hold your mule,” she yelled. Footsteps sounded above his head. A door opened. Closed. Opened again. Like a genie from a decorative bottle, Amarie appeared on the landing.
“I was in the shower, Mr. Grumpy Pants. I had just started the mail prep when you roared again.”
She trounced down the back steps, buttoning up a vibrant lavender-and-purple half top with a flash of midriff showing. He allowed his gaze to travel up to her ample chest, plum-glossed lips, and matching eye color. When the smoke cleared in his brain, Eli licked his lips.
Wait, why was she upstairs? Never mind, that mystery would unravel after the Lady Pendleton hoofed it out the door. And that’s when a plan materialized. The Pendletons thought him out of options, but he smiled up at Amarie, the unknown unknown, his secret weapon of ideas. His new mysterious investment partner, at least for the next five minutes, with no known connections in Service except for what he created.
“There you are, partner,” he beamed.
The crazy woman actually spun around and looked behind her before stuffing a fistful of crumpled envelopes, probably more bills, into a purse slung over one shoulder before crossing arms beneath her attention-grabbing chest. Which only pushed the plush pillows higher in his line of sight. Like a puppy unleashed, his libido shot out the gate, running full steam into the danger zone.
“Who, me?”
“Yeah, you.” He bounded up the remaining steps to escort her down. “Meet Lourdes Pendleton. Her family owns and operates the local bank. Now that you’ve arrived from Washington, D.C., I can formally announce your recent partnership with Calvary Veterinary Clinic.”
“Hello, Lourdes. A pleasure to meet you.” She smiled.
Money exempted the Pendletons from common courtesies, so Lourdes raised her sharp chin, ignoring Amarie’s greeting.
Amarie looked up at him, brows drawn. “Is partnership a metaphor for full time? I’m confused.”
Good for her, refusing to stoop to Lourdes’s level. Taking her hand, he pulled until she stood beside him. Her hair smelled of apples in summer rain, juicy and sweet on the tongue. His mouth watered and a few things tightened, making him hate this predicament even more. “Quit joking. Lourdes might get the wrong idea.”
“Her? I’ve been elevated to partner overnight.”
He gave her shoulders a little shake. “Exactly. Why do you smell like a fruit salad?”
She looked at him, smirking. “Stop sniffing and explain. Slowly, please. I’m pre–caffeine infusion.”
Hiccup ambled closer, rubbing his dark nose along her capris. With her eyes staying on Eli, she rubbed the dog’s golden coat, ruffling his ears till he flopped, a happy puddle of playful puppy at her feet. Attention hog.
“Yes, help me to understand, too,” Lourdes added.
Eli cleared his throat, announcing too loud, “Lourdes and her family want to buy Calvary land. I stated clearly that it’s not for sale as we, that includes you, are partnering in a new lucrative venture.”
“Oh, I see.” Amarie nodded. “You need me now. I think I’m going to grab some coffee, then we can negotiate my terms and benefits.” She shifted her weight, as if to walk away.
“No ma’am. You stay put.” Amarie’s toes peaked at him… again. She had a checkerboard pattern, lavender crisscross lines through the solid purple of yesterday. When did she find the time?
“Please stop this community theater,” Lourdes snapped, crossing her arms. “Really, Eli? I know she’s just some vagrant you hired off the streets.”
Amarie stiffened. He paused, having never seen this blank chill on her face. Concern shifted from him to her. “Hey, you okay?”
“Fine,” she gritted out.
She was so in canine attack mode. Lourdes had triggered Amarie’s beast. Eli found himself intrigued.
“I am not a trespasser to be overlooked or underestimated, Miss Pendleton,” she rasped, spine rigid, tone clipped. “As Eli told you, I’m his full-time partner in Calvary Veterinary Clinic, effective immediately. We are working together to restructure the practice with the bachelor auction being the first of several planned community outreach initiatives to increase brand awareness and revenue.”
“Now wait a minute,” Eli started. “The auction—”
“Did I mention you can’t afford my closing fee without the estimated revenue stream?” she whispered. “Perhaps I’ll take my coffee in the clinic and leave you here… with the she-devil.”
He couldn’t have that, so Eli wrapped his arm around Amarie’s shoulders and hauled her closer. Well, hell. She’d come to his rescue, transitioned to a full-time employee, and hog-tied him to the bachelor auction. He held her in front of him like a shield.
“We’ll discuss fees later,” he whispered. “Focus on the problem in the room.”
“Your problem, so why am I the one in striking distance?”
“Handled her better than I did. I got your back.” A very nice backside, too. Amarie’s soft curves against his body felt natural. Like a warm blanket he’d curled up with for his whole life. Which was crazy thinking in the current heat wave. Nevertheless, he didn’t let go. All else faded away as his senses savored Amarie’s scent. If happiness had a fragrance, it would be hers, warm, soft, and sweet.
A harsh scoff intruded on Eli’s very pleasant daydream.
“Helluva tale.” Lourdes’s narrowed blue eyes flashed in warning. “But I’ll be watching and waiting. Eli, my offer leaves when I do.”
“Oh,” Amarie reared back, “that sounds so Gangs of New York. Bye-bye now.”
Eli couldn’t help but chuckle at Amarie’s bite.
“Whatever, you—you fake. I don’t believe any of this, not one bit. Nobody at the Black Bear said anything about you having an investor. It doesn’t matter. In fact, I’m going to make sure this bachelor auction of yours fails. You’ll beg for me before this is over, Eli. Mark my words. Beg for my help to save this itty-bitty practice, Eli.” Lourdes pointed a finger at his head, like a sniper rifle.
He bristled. “That sounds like a threat.”
“Oh, you can bet your sweet patootie it is, Eli Calvary.”
But, with Amarie’s body pressed against his, Eli’s outrage dimmed as he struggled to remember why he’d been hunting for her in the first place. Oh yeah, her vehicle needed servicing. The longer he held her, the more his body remembered the length of time between his last horizontal tune-up.
“That’s ‘honey dumpling.’” Amarie spun to face him, grinning.
Eli took her by the hand, leading her past Lourdes. “You heard my partner. Now see yourself out.”
Lourdes kept spewing hate and discontent as her heels ricocheted with each strike, crack, crack out the door onto the front porch, going, going, gone.
“She’s really angry.”
“You going to offer her a biscuit?” Eli, both relieved and bereft at the distance between them, busied his hands with the coffee maker.
Amarie laughed. “Nope. I don’t like her.”
“Smart woman,” he said, pouring two cups of joe into oversized mugs. He took a gulp, balked at the scalding heat, and then exhaled. He’d fended off the first of the pack circling the Calvary legacy.
“I’d like to believe so and,” she paused, “that’s why I need you to clarify what was real in that grand performance and what wasn’t.” She shrugged, that confident bravado she’d displayed for Lourdes wilting. “Just to be clear on what I heard. I’m now a full-time Calvary employee, with benefits to include meals. That’s real.” She ticked off on one finger. “And I have complete autonomy of administrative duties. Real.” She raised another finger. “And,” trigger finger three, “you will commit to behaving to the best of your abilities for the bachelor auction of which all photographic likenesses are up for grabs for promotional purposes. Real. But I’m a fake partner with money to invest in the clinic because the Pendletons want to buy you out, but you’re not for sale?”
“You’re rambling.” He handed her a cup of coffee. “Drink up.”
“True.” She took a cautious sip. “But am I accurate?” She blew on the steamy liquid in the cup.
“Yes. They need to believe I have options other than their offer. Now let’s go.” He snagged the mug from her hand. “Time’s a-wasting.” Eli tilted both containers; chocolate adrenaline flowed down the drain with a gurgle.
“Hey, I wasn’t done.”
“Take quicker showers.” He took her hand in his and headed back through the clinic.
“Are we off to the farm?” Amarie asked, with Hiccup on her heels. “I have my Crocs in my purse.”
“First, we take care of your car.”
“Seriously?” Her voice squeaked. But her wide-open expression registered shock. “But I didn’t ask for your help. And what about breakfast?” she asked, gazing at the kitchen with longing.
“’Course I’m serious. Food can wait. What’s in the mail?”
“Give me a sec,” she said, pulling an open letter from the sequined bag hanging at her hip. “Oh, I have an incoming text message.” She held the mail and her phone in one hand, reading both.
“Put something down before you fall.”
“Eli, I’m old enough to walk and chew gum. And furthermore—”
She began to stammer, then she tripped. Eli stopped, gripping her elbow to steady her.
“What’s wrong?”
Amarie wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I don’t think you have to worry about Lourdes.”
She handed the mail to him. There it was in bright red print. The ceiling fan overhead spun; childhood memories flashed in his head, faster, faster, then disappeared one after the other, being erased, resetting the Polaroid for the next family. The blades slowed, each whirl slicing the air, a propeller headed for his jugular in slow motion. Around his neck, the shirt collar shrank, abrading his skin. Even as he stood frozen, he felt the sucking pull of quicksand beneath his feet. The notice of default shook in Eli’s big grip.
The biggest mountain range, daunting and intimating, suddenly surrounded him. Hiccup’s bark sounded at first like a bullet train roaring between his ears, then he heard nothing, not even his own breath leaving his body. His saving grace: Amarie’s hand in his, her reassuring squeeze to his trembling fingers.
“Ah… God.” Eli rubbed his brow. “I-I thought I had more time.”
Amarie brushed his side and Eli stitched himself to this stranger who’d entered his life, leaning on her strength to keep him on his feet. He looked at her. Her eyes dimmed in a defeat he felt on a visceral level.
“Hey, this doesn’t change anything, Eli,” Amarie soothed. You’ll do the auction. I’ll design our social media campaign. We’re partners. Sink or swim, we do this together, right?”
Eli was where he never wanted to be again: his family’s future teetering on a needlepoint of uncertainty and imminent collapse, while he was at the mercy of a purple-sparkle fake business partner with secrets he hadn’t begun to sniff out. Heaven help him, he was in a tail of a mess.