Chapter 12
Clay tossed his phone to the side with a soft snarl.
“Problem?” Cruz asked.
“She hasn’t read my email yet, or sent a text,” Clay said. “I’m hoping she’s okay, and not upset.”
“Why would she be upset?” Cruz asked.
“I don’t know. Something could have confused her. Things confuse a lot of people.”
“Call her.”
“No, I think a text is better.”
“Did you send her one?”
“No, I figured she’d reach out after she read my email.”
“That you say hasn’t been read yet.”
“Exactly.”
“Maybe it went to spam.”
“Why would it go to spam?”
“You ever emailed her before?”
“No.”
Cruz raised an eyebrow in Clay’s direction, but said no more.
“Maybe I’ll send her a text.”
“Good idea,” Cruz said, still studying the information on his laptop. It amazed him sometimes how his cousins ever managed to get anything done.
Clay picked up his phone and fiddled with it a little before shaking his head. “No. I’m not going to text her. The email is there. She’ll see it.”
“Your choice,” Cruz said.
“I don’t want to blow up her phone. I was just keeping a promise.”
“Sounds good.”
“She’ll see it eventually.”
“Clay! I’m trying to study here!”
Clay looked over at Cruz propped up against one end of the love seat as he stretched out across it with his laptop, his notebook, and two text books laid out around him. “Oh, sorry. I’ll go in my bedroom. But you did see Sebastian today didn’t you?”
“You don’t have to go in your bedroom. Just stop talking to me. And yes, I actually went by the athlete’s dorm between classes. He was there, snoring. Said it didn’t matter if he skipped classes as long as he makes practice.”
“He’s going to regret it one day.”
“Probably,” Cruz said, already paying attention to his laptop again.
“I have some calls to make. Go ahead and get your studying done.” Still clutching his phone, Clay went to his bedroom and closed the door.
He took his wallet out of his pocket and removed a folded sheet of paper with hand-written information on it.
He opened it up, spread it flat on the bed beside him, and started making calls.
As he waited for someone to answer, he opened the drawer in the nightstand beside his bed and dug around for something to write with, and naturally, that exact moment is the moment his call was answered.
“Hello?”
“Hello, sorry to disturb you. My name is Clay Vega and I was given your information by Mr. Robert Bigsby.”
“Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. How is Robert doing?”
“He’s doing real well. Partially retired, and moving to full retirement any day now.”
“Still at it. I should have known he’d be working with his horses ‘til the good Lord calls him home.”
“Yes, sir, without a doubt. And speaking of horses, the reason he gave me your number and name is that I’m trying to track down a horse that I’m interested in purchasing.”
“Oh, yeah? And which horse would that be?”
“Hephaestus.”
“Old Festus! Haven’t thought about him in a few years either. He was a magnificent animal.”
“Is he gone? Has he passed?” Clay asked, sitting up straight in bed, a look of worry on his face.
“I’m not sure. When my wife passed away I sold him to some people across town. City folk, you know. Not really sure what to do with a horse other than look at them, but his wife insisted she wanted to be able to watch him in the pasture as she drank her coffee. Good folks.”
“Do you know if they still have him?”
“I don’t know for sure. I don’t get out much myself anymore and they’re not on a main road where I’d see Festus if I passed there anyway.”
“I don’t suppose you know their number or their name so I could find out?”
“Why are you so interested in buying an old horse?”
“I’m going to propose to my girlfriend. She’s not much on sparkly things, but you should see the look she gets in her eyes when she talks about him. So, I thought if I can find him I’d bring him home and he’d be her engagement present instead of a ring.”
“Was she one of the kids that used to be around the stables all the time?”
“Were you there when he got out and ran down the road to the tree farm?”
“Yes! I was as a matter of fact. My wife was a nervous wreck because nobody could catch him. He just kept going further and further away every time somebody got close.”
“The little girl that eventually caught him and calmed him down. She’s my girlfriend and still talks about him. She calls him her heart horse.”
“I remember her. She worked at the stables after that, didn’t she?”
“She did. And still does.”
“I tell you what. I don’t have the number at my fingertips, but give me yours and let me see what I can find out for you.”
“I’d really appreciate that.”
“If he’s still breathing and we can get him back to you, I’m sure he will, too. He loved that little girl. If my wife hadn’t been so attached, I’d have given him to her back then. Give me a couple of days and you’ll hear from me.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Let me see what I can find out first.”
~~~
Harper sat back and gently pushed the now empty dessert plate a few inches away from her. “That was my second Napoleon. And I ate three Crème Br?lée. I ate too much.”
“In your defense, the Crème Br?lée is a very small portion. And how does anyone eat here and not eat too much?”
“I’m not the one with that answer,” she said.
“You ready for the piano bar?” Joel asked.
Harper looked at Joel with a soft whimper. “I’m so tired.”
“I know. The piano bar was just a tease anyway. I know you need to get some rest.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Joel smiled at her. “What time am I picking you up for the trade show tomorrow? I was thinking about 7:15. It gives us time to grab a bite here before driving over.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can catch a ride share or something.”
“I’ve told you I’m not going to be the one calling your dad to report you missing because I didn’t pick you up and escort you around. And by the way, I already shot him a text to let him know I met you at the airport and drove you to the hotel.”
“Thank you for letting him know. I’m sure he has no doubt where I am, though,” she said, as she reached for her purse and started digging for her phone.
Joel watched as a crease formed between her brows. “Something missing?”
“No, I must have dropped it into my carry on.”
“Dropped what into your carry on?” Joel asked.
“My phone.”
“I’m sure you did. You had it when you got out of the car.”
“That’s probably what I did, then.”
“You have your key card?”
“Yes, I do. And Henry was going to leave the spare at the front desk. I’ll pick it up on the way to my room,” she said with a yawn.
“We better pick it up. You never know who might drop by unexpectedly with that extra card if you don’t have in your possession. Unless of course, you’d like a visitor.”
“That wouldn’t be wise. I’m the type to shoot and ask questions later.”
“Self-defense kind of woman,” he said with a chuckle.
Harper didn’t laugh. Instead she just watched him expressionlessly.
“Let’s get you up and to bed. You’re so tired I’m surprised your eyes are open,” he said.
“Yes, that’s the problem,” Harper said, putting her purse over her shoulder and standing as Joel eased her chair away from the table. “And thank you for dinner. I could have just as easily put it on my room tab.”
“I’m glad to feed you. It’s the least I can do.”
She shot him a bit of side-eye. “For what?”
“A pretty woman on my arm, and in my booth… you have any idea how many people will stop to talk just because you’re standing there?”
Harper laughed as they walked toward the exit of the hotel’s restaurant and then stepped into the lobby.
“I don’t plan to be standing in your booth all day.
I’ve got presentations I want to attend, products I want to learn about and people I want to introduce myself to if I think they might have anything that would increase the profitability of our farm. ”
“I don’t doubt it for a second. And when I’m free, I’ll track you down and introduce you to everybody I know as well.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
“If I’m not standing right here, I might already be seated,” Harper said.
“I will find you, have no doubt.”
Joel watched as Harper went over to the front desk, got her extra key card, then went to the elevators and gave him a wave before the doors closed and she went upstairs to her suite.
He smiled and shook his head as he thought about the beautiful, very enticing daughter of one of his most interesting customers.
He’d had no idea Travis had been keeping Harper at home.
If he had, he’d have made arrangements to go spend time with the Vitrano family long before now.
Harper was the kind of girl a man could build a future with.
He looked over at the elevator again and smiled to himself as he walked out of the hotel and to his car.
Before she left here to go home, she’d know she was meant to be his, if he had his way about it. And he most usually got his way.
~~~