CHAPTER 22
Victoria
I sit down and drop my head, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes to stop the tears. I sit like that for a long while, pulling myself together, trying to breathe, dividing my own loss and sadness from the present.
I don’t know how much time goes by when I feel a gentle tug on my sleeve.
I look up to see Jasmine. She’s reaching for my hand. “Hi, Victoria.”
I sit up, a bolt of fear going through me. I see Summer standing behind Cal’s niece, and I ask her the question I’m not sure I want the answer to: “Is Evander all right?”
“We’re going to get ice cream!” Jasmine’s face lights up with a huge smile. “Uncle Evander’s waking up, and he’s going to be fine. Nurse Phoebe just said so! But he’s going to be very froggy because of Anastasia.”
“She means groggy from anesthesia.” Summer rests her hands on Jasmine’s shoulders and looks down at me. “Whad’ya say we ditch the sausage fest?” She announces this like she’s speaking to an auditorium full of people.
I laugh, and it feels good to laugh.
I’m in awe of Summer. Everything about her is loud, full of self-assuredness, and without a trace of pretense.
She reminds me of the character in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but without the mohawk or the actual dragon tattoo, at least not that I’ve seen.
She’s strikingly beautiful, even with the ponytail, dusty work boots, tattered jeans, and a man’s plaid shirt.
“Isn’t Nurse Phoebe pretty?” Jasmine asks.
“She sure is.”
From what I’ve been able to gather from snippets of waiting room conversation, Phoebe lives on the ranch next to Yosemite, which I know could mean a drive of ten minutes or two days, depending on where exactly the ranches meet.
And when I got a quick look at her with Evander, I detected more than neighborly concern on her freckled face.
I can’t help but wonder if the two of them have a past. Or maybe it’s a story that hasn’t yet been written. But to my eyes, it looks like far more than a nurse-to-patient relationship.
I rise from my spot on the bench. “I’ll go with you, but I don’t eat sugar,” I tell Jasmine.
“Okay, Victoria!”
That’s not entirely true. I eat sugar when I’m really stressed, and it’s almost always in the form of ice cream.
This sad fact is my go-to-the-grave secret.
Only Millicent knows of my weakness. And right now, I’m such an emotional mess that I could go for one of those nine-scoop sundaes some restaurants will give you for free if you can eat it all.
The I-don’t-eat-sugar announcement was more for me than anyone else.
“What do you mean you don’t eat sugar? Like Cal?
” Summer walks by my side while we both keep an eye on Jasmine, who’s running ahead toward the cafeteria.
“Because that bastard hasn’t eaten sugar in three years.
Declan and I are determined to stuff a Pop-Tart in his mouth while he sleeps, but we know that’d be a death sentence.
Cal would snap our necks like toothpicks before he even opens his eyes, and that’s not a joke.
” She scratches the side of her face while she thinks.
“I guess we’ve got some details to work out. Anyway, I’m glad you can join us.”
The cafeteria is tiny. Summer greets the cafeteria lady, and they exchange gossip for a moment. Then, Summer orders ice cream and Cokes for the three of us. Despite my protest, she insists on paying.
I don’t remember when I last had a Coke. I can taste it already, ice cold and syrupy sweet. I bet it would really hit the spot. But all that sugar will go straight to the endocrine system. I will respectfully pass.
We take a seat at the center table. Jasmine immediately digs into her scoop of vanilla ice cream while I sit transfixed by the large paper cup in front of me. It must be a quart, filled with ice, a long straw bobbing from the top. It’s calling to me, louder than my scoop of vanilla ice cream.
“Pssst.” Summer wiggles an eyebrow. “Check it out.” She gulps down at least a third of her soda, then dumps her ice cream in the cup.
I stare in disbelief, which was obviously the reaction she hoped for.
“Go on. You know you want it.” She leans in and whispers, “I swear I won’t report you to the sweets police.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “You are a very bad influence.”
“Not the first time someone’s told me that. Won’t be the last.”
I sit in silence while my two companions slurp and scoop to their heart’s content. I stare at the fizzy dark liquid in front of me and think it through.
If I did drink it, it wouldn’t be like I’m giving in to just some random Coke. I’m here on business, which would make this a business Coke. And a business ice cream. And anyway, I’m here to learn how life is lived on the ranch, and hospital visits are part of ranch life, so…
I put the straw in my mouth and suck. The icy fizz hits the back of my throat, and my eyes bug out. Oh, sweet sucrose! It’s even better than I remember. I finish about half of it without coming up for air. Then I belch quietly.
“You were very thirsty,” Jasmine says.
“I was.”
“You burped.”
“I did. Pardon me.”
Jasmine giggles and goes back to her ice cream.
“When’s the last time you let yourself drink a Coke?” Summer asks.
“Eighth grade, at the movies. I had popcorn too.”
“You’re wilder than you let on.”
I laugh, but the memory of that innocent afternoon hits me like a physical blow.
It’s an event I’ve suppressed, yet here it is, every painful detail now fresh in my mind.
I didn’t have a care in the world as I returned from that matinee, only to find my father waiting for me at the front door, his face red, my report card clutched in his fist.
I’d done it. The unforgiveable. Nigel Backlund’s daughter got a B in French. His punishment was months of nothing—no conversation, no companionship, no shared meals.
From then on out, it was all A’s for me.
I keep sipping the Coke, but I slide the ice cream across the table to Summer. Jasmine has finished hers and asks to see my ring. I take it off and let her play with it.
“So, are you Cal’s new girlfriend or just a corporate hack?”
The Coke almost shoots from my nose. Summer gave me no warning. I cough a few times. “Right. Well, since I’m here on behalf of my corporation and I’ve known Cal all of two days, my answer is corporate hack. Why? Does Cal have a revolving door of women in his life?”
Oof. That came out sharper than I intended, and anyway, of course he does.
Cal’s hotter than a supernova. That kiss left me forgetting my own name.
His house looks like something out of Architectural Digest. And that image of him rising from the hot tub like some sort of aquatic god, water cascading down the center of his muscular chest, skipping over his cut abs, dripping off the edge of that thick and long…
I suck on that straw until I see stars.
Cal could have anyone he wants and surely does.
“Not that his love life is any of my business,” I add.
Summer giggles. “So that’s the thing. I’ve never seen him with a woman.
I mean, let’s face it, none of the MacLaine brothers are exactly monks…
” Summer checks Jasmine is occupied with my ring and not interested in our conversation.
“Anyway, Cal’s had relationships but nobody serious for the last few years, and for sure no one he’s let stay in his house.
He’s all about protecting the MacLaines and serving as guardian to a modernized Yosemite Ranch.
He’s got this weird thing, too. He refuses to let outsiders in. ”
I think about that for a moment. “He let you in.”
Summer points at her chest. “Me? I’m on the payroll. They’ll never let me get away.” She smiles. “They know they can’t survive without me.”
I don’t doubt it. She may be half their size, but the brothers treat her with respect, at least when they’re not teasing her. It’s almost like she’s one of them.
“Cal didn’t invite me to stay at his place, Summer.”
She frowns. “I’m not following.”
“I showed up at the ranch unannounced, and it was Mr. MacLaine’s idea that I stay with Cal.”
Summer’s eyes grow wide. “Hello? Jamie told you to move in with Cal?”
I wave her off. “No. Nobody’s moving in anywhere. I’m here for a week to put together a deal to purchase Sulfur Springs.”
“Good luck with that,” Summer says, chuckling.
“Do you have any other jewelry?” Jasmine returns my ring. “My mom had jewelry, but my dad says I’m not old enough to wear it yet.”
Summer throws me a look. I understand not to ask Jasmine about her mother.
“You know, your dad’s keeping it for you in a safe, until you’re all grown up, just like your mommy would have wanted,” Summer says. “Right now, your job is to have as much fun being a kid as you possibly can. Right?”
Jasmine nods and lets the subject drop.
“We better head back.” Summer stands and throws away our trash. “The guys are probably still freaking out about Evander.”
“Wait. I thought the surgery went well!”
“Oh, it did. And anyway, they’ve seen worse. Declan’s been shot three times.”
“So why would they—?”
“Oh!” Summer shrugs. “Turns out Evander was supposed to go to San Francisco to negotiate something for the ranch, since he’s the lawyer and contracts guy. But now that he’ll be laid up for a long while, they’re worried they have to postpone it.”
“Huh.”
We walk back toward the waiting room. On our way, I try to figure out what’s bothering me—or bothering me the most. I feel like I owe the MacLaines something.
A thank you? An apology? If I’m being honest with myself, I’m really starting to question what’s so urgent about the Sulfur Springs deal, and if there might be a better approach to doing business here.
At the very least, I can offer my help. It will be refused, no doubt, but if I’m already here, I may as well give it a shot.
We round the corner to find Jamie in deep conversation with his sons. Phyllis waves at me.
Jamie turns, smiles, and approaches. “Victoria!” He gives me a hug. “So glad you’re here. I have a favor to ask.”
“Oh?” This is not what I expected. Not at all. “I was just about to ask if there’s anything I can do to help.”