Chapter 8 Tate
tate
I tried to get back to Amber, but there were far too many fires to put out.
It was the end of the night and well after midnight, but I always made sure to listen to my employees when they had concerns. I knew far too well how it felt not to be heard. Between my father’s my-way-or-the-highway mentality and working shit jobs all my life, I refused to be that kind of man.
“Tate, are you listening to me?”
I tore my eyes off Amber and back down to Valerie. “Yes, I am. I’ll definitely take it under advisement about the game tents for the winter showcase. You have great ideas about reinforcing the tents against the weather.”
She practically preened. “I know. We just can’t have another mess like the one with the tent today.”
“You’re right.” I patted her arm. “I’ll make sure Molly orders the extra stakes and more durable poles.”
“I just want to make sure everything is perfect for you, Tate.”
“I know you do. And I’m so glad I have people like you on my team.” Even if she came up with all the ideas and didn’t want to actually do the work. “Excuse me, I want to go talk to Molly for a second.”
“Don’t you mean, Amber?”
Something twinged between my shoulders at the way she said Amber’s name. “Amber is...” She wasn’t exactly a friend. We’d known one another most of our lives, but didn’t overlap a helluva lot. I wasn’t quite sure why after that damn kiss. “An old friend.”
“I bet.”
I arched a brow at her. “Problem?”
“No. Sorry. Of course not. I just noticed is all.” She pulled at the Daphne-like scarf at her neck to make way for her cleavage. “She’s not one of us, Tate.”
“One of us?”
“A regular person. She’s rich and famous.”
I waited a beat to see if she’d come on back down to earth. When she didn’t, I just shook my head. “She’s Amber Dalton from Haven. Period.”
“Not anymore. She hasn’t been back here in a long time.”
“Funny, I seem to remember you left for a few years to go to college.”
“That’s different.”
“Is it?” I walked away from her before I said something I couldn’t take back.
A fair number of us left Haven at least for a little while.
Amber was still just Amber as far as I was concerned.
Maybe some of her confidence might be different from the shy girl I remembered, but we all had to grow up sometime.
She and Molly had their heads together when I caught up with them.
“So, it’s a little artist village?”
“Hopefully not so little in a few years,” I said in way of greeting.
Molly grinned up at me. “I was just telling Amber about your plans for Haven Winter Wonderland.”
I automatically looked for pockets to hide my hands, but only found my very tight costume. I linked my hands in front of myself instead. “I’d like to make it for all the major holidays, but Christmas is definitely my focus.”
One side of Amber’s mouth tipped up. “Halloween seemed to go over well, too.”
“That it did. Almost didn’t happen, but Molly and the rest of my team are rockstars.”
“Everyone seems really amazing.” Her eyes drifted to one side of me, but bounced right back. “Pretty sure this was a raging success for your first outing.”
“Yeah, we’re going to leave it open for Halloween weekend as well, then tear it all down to get us ready for Christmas shopping.”
“How’s your marketing budget?”
“Generous.”
“Good. It should bring in people and the word of mouth from this alone should have nearby towns creeping in to check it out.”
“I’ve reached out to the Brothers Three Orchard to see if they were interested in a stall for their hard cider. The Hot Cocoa Bus is coming in for the first of December from nearby Crescent Cove.”
Molly’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
I nodded. “Just got the email from Justin Manning tonight actually. Should be a good bit of word of mouth from them as well. They’re going to bring a load of Christmas trees in with the hot chocolate mobile unit as an event.”
“Tate Reynolds, entrepreneur.” Amber crossed her ridiculous legs and I tried valiantly to ignore them. Her lips twitched as she lowered her gaze before lifting to meet mine again.
Molly looked from me to Amber and back with a smile. “Why don’t I leave you two alone.”
“No, you don’t need to—”
Molly held a hand up. “I’ve monopolized her enough. Was nice getting to know you.”
Amber grinned up at her. “Thanks for filling me in on what I’ve missed.”
I sat across from her on one of the bales, but the stupid thing couldn’t take my weight and I slid off the back when it crumbled.
She jumped up with a laugh. “Tate.” She snickered, then held her hand out. “Need help.”
Dignity scattered with the hay as I struggled to get up. “I’m good.”
She peered down at me. “You sure? I’m stronger than I look.”
I held a hand up, but instead of letting her take some of my weight, I toppled her into my lap.
Her laughter zipped through me with a cinnamon scented chaser. I quickly banded my arm around her ass so her skirt wouldn’t fly up. But an armful of Amber was no hardship. The dark hair of her wig fell forward and curtained around our faces.
“This was not the help I was talking about,” she said a few millimeters from my mouth.
“Well, it’s not helping one part of me for sure.”
She snickered as her fingers dug into my shoulders. “You are...much bigger than I remember.”
“Coach isn’t around to tell me to stop eating pizza.”
She poked my abs. “Where are you putting it?”
“Into the gym at my house.”
“It’s working.”
“I want to kiss you again.”
She brushed her nose against mine. “Probably a bad idea. We need to get up. This is probably already on the internet.”
I frowned. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think—”
She sighed. “Talk about a buzzkill.”
“At least you’re still in costume.” I rolled up to a seated position with her in my arms.
She got her feet under her and used my shoulders to stand. When she looked up, her face morphed from the soft smile and teasing to an unreadable mask. She turned her face so her hair covered most of her features.
I followed her gaze to find Valerie staring daggers at us and one of the theater kids had their phone up recording. “Hey. None of that here, man.”
“The view count is off the charts man.”
“I gotta go,” Amber said on a low voice.
“Wait—”
“It’s okay. I got a little bit of time to just be Amber. Thanks, Tate.” She quickly headed to the hidden path between our properties.
I collapsed back against what was left of the hay bale and stared up at the sky for a second to cool the anger simmering in my chest. She didn’t deserve that. I couldn’t control people, but she should have been safe with me. Until I thought I was being playful.
“You good down there?” Molly asked.
“No.”
She crouched down near me. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“You keep asking questions I don’t have a good answer for.”
“C’mon. Let’s finish cleaning up. My bed was calling me two hours ago.”
I sighed and managed to get to my feet this time. Most of the crew had thinned out thankfully. I was such an asshole. What the hell had I been thinking with that stunt?
Even just in front of my people was bad enough. I wasn’t thinking with my brain that was for damn sure. It had been a damn long time since I’d felt something like that with a woman.
Dating certainly hadn’t been difficult since my lottery win. However, figuring out motive was a whole different thing. Annoyed at myself, I chased off the last of my employees with to-go containers. I still had way too much food going into my fridge.
I didn’t get a chance to eat much. I took a quick shower and made a plate and fell asleep in front of the television with the scent of cinnamon and spice following me into dreams.
I woke around dawn to find my cat checking out the scraps of last night’s food.
I reached over and scooped the inquisitive calico out of trouble.
“No rumbly bellies for you later, Velma.” I settled her on my chest. She gave a yowl, then curled under my ancient cardigan and settled on my shoulder where she liked to be then turned around and poked her head out to bump against my neck.
“I met your namesake last night. She rocked my world.” I scratched the top of her head until she purred.
I switched off the blue lit TV that had gone into screen saver mode and shifted on my recliner.
Making out with Amber Dalton had not been on my bingo card, that was for sure.
We’d run in separate circles in high school.
She’d been a year behind me, but Haven High was small enough that it didn’t matter all that much.
But where I’d been enmeshed in sports, she’d been holed up in the music room most of the time.
But we’d had a few things in common. Our love for movies and books.
While I’d hidden my reading from everyone, including my father, I’d been at all the movie in the park events.
I’d also gone to the small theater in a nearby town for every major movie release with my friends.
They were more interested in making out in the dark, but I’d been locked in on everything from superhero movies, to romance, to historical adventure.
I’d always been drawn to figuring out people and why they did what they did.
Probably why I’d decided to make the Winter Wonderland. I clicked down my recliner and rose to get my day going. My back twinged from all the work yesterday and sleeping in my chair instead of my insanely expensive bed in my room.
Velma stayed curled in her spot on my shoulder as I made coffee, then slunk out when I opened her cupboard. She hopped down on the kitchen island as I readied her dish with her favorite wet food. I set her bowl in front of her and absently stroked a hand down her fur.
I took my coffee to the back of the house I’d added on to the ranch.
It had been sorely in need of updates, but I couldn’t quite rip it down.
My mother had taken a lot of pride in this house.
Even shabby, it had been a clean home with little touches of her love.
The quilt she’d hand sewn now hung on a simple blanket hanger with a few other pieces I’d scavenged around the house.
I may have wanted to upgrade, but I didn’t forget my roots.
I’d added a wing to the ranch with a few extra rooms. It was too weird to sleep in my parents room, so I’d created a new primary bedroom suite large enough for a big guy like me.
Maybe part of me hoped that I’d have a place for a family someday, but for now I had an office space, gym, library, and a few extra bedrooms that largely sat unused.
I padded into my room, Velma following after she’d filled her belly.
I tossed my cardigan on the bed, and she jumped up to curl into the warm fabric. I hadn’t bothered with anything other than my sweater and sleep pants after my shower the night before so it was quick work to dress for the day.
After brushing my teeth and a failed attempt at taming down my hair, I shoved a ball cap on my head in disgust.
I really needed to get a haircut sometime today.
I gave Velma a good head scratch before I left out the back French doors of my bedroom to my backyard.
Living and working in the same area didn’t help my workaholic ways, but I didn’t mind the quick commute.
Conscious that I needed some security, I’d built a wrought iron fence around my personal property.
I’d learned the hard way that having money made me a target for more unsavory types.
Two break-ins had reminded me while Haven was a safe town, my life had changed in more than one way.
I tapped my phone on the gate lock and it opened.
Without me, people needed approval from a security app I’d had made for me.
Sounds of machines and trucks had me quickening my pace toward what used to be my family farm and into the future Wonderland. The cement truck had arrived to pour landing pads for the new sheds coming in a few days.
Molly waved at me. “Morning.”
“You’ve been busy. Why didn’t you call me?”
She shrugged. “Figured you needed to sleep in after all the work we did to get ready for the parade.”
“You did just as much work.”
“Yes, but I require less sleep than you, boss.”
“Shut up with the boss.”
Molly grinned. “So, you and Amber, huh?”
“We are definitely not talking about that.”
She snickered. “You two were looking mighty comfortable around each other. I didn’t realize you knew her that well.”
“I don’t. It was...a surprise.” I walked with her toward the back pasture. We’d left the maze up for the following weekend, but then that would come down and we’d ramp up the wow factor with the holiday lights I’d designed with a local artist.
I’d had the front pasture graded for the sheds, but kept the different elevations to make the village more interesting.
Once the pads were poured, we could finish the path.
The design had been created to spread them out so there would be a natural walking path between the small shops.
I’d planted juvenile trees that would grow with time and hopefully create something people would come back to see year after year.
“It’s really coming together.”
“You’re changing the topic,” Molly said with far too much glee in her voice.
“Yeah, well there’s nothing else to say about Amber. She’s my neighbor.”
“Who had beard burn on her face and neck.”
I huffed out a breath. “Can we not?”
My best friend gave a little shrug. “For now.”
I jumped in to help with the frames to be poured. That, at least, I could handle. I knew my way around a nail gun and shovel.
I needed to make Haven Winter Wonderland a success. I’d sunk a huge chunk of my money into this.
It couldn’t fail.