Chapter 14
“How would you like to position your business as unique from the other yard maintenance companies in Spokane?” Nathan sat in Bridgeview Bakery and Bistro and tapped his pen against his spiral bound notebook.
Across the table from him, Dan Ranta took a sip of coffee and leaned back in his chair.
“My dad always did a decent business with the basics. Cutting lawns, trimming hedges, maintaining flowerbeds. My sister gave me the idea that we could do a whole lot more. Not that she’s going to be any help this season, really, what with getting married in July and all.
And then moving to Everett with Logan to go to college for two years.
” The young man grimaced. “I really need her here. She worked with Dad for years while I sold used cars. I didn’t figure I’d ever get a chance to work in the family business.
” Dan gave a sharp laugh. “My old man didn’t have much use for me. ”
Nathan had heard the story of Dave Ranta Senior’s heart attack last fall and the changes it had precipitated.
He pushed the thought of his own father aside.
Whatever there had been of Pops’s business was long gone.
He’d been a pretty good carpenter back when he’d still somehow managed juggling alcohol and power tools.
It was nothing short of a miracle the man had never taken off more than a finger.
“So you want to expand beyond basic yard care. Into what?”
“Well, there seems to be a demand for fewer chemicals. As a man with a baby on the way, I’d really like it if my kid could play on grass that didn’t poison him.
Some of my regulars have asked for the same thing.
Probably supplies would cost more, and some wouldn’t be willing to pay it.
Some of them, of course, want to be rid of every dandelion regardless of the cost to themselves or the environment. ”
Nathan nodded. “I imagine you service a wide spectrum. If you switched the business focus, you would probably see some changes in clientele. Am I right?”
Dan nodded and took a sip of his coffee. “That’s the part I need your help with, I guess. Knowing how to attract the ones with goals similar to mine.”
“I can definitely help. How long would the changeover take, do you think? From the business your dad created to the one you want to establish now?”
The other man’s cell phone buzzed with an incoming call.
He glanced down and picked up the phone.
“It’s Dixie. I need to take this. Hey, babe.
How are you doing?” He listened for a minute then his face blanched.
“No way. It’s early. Where are you? Your mom has the kids in the waiting room?
I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He thumbed off the phone and took a deep gulp of coffee as he pushed back his chair.
“Sorry. Gotta go, man. Dixie’s in labor.
” He slammed a grass-green Ranta Landscaping baseball cap onto his head, dug into his pocket, then frowned.
He patted all his pockets. “Oh, drat. The truck is in the shop.”
Nathan gulped the last of his lukewarm coffee and pushed to his feet. “Which shop? I can give you a ride.” He tucked the steno pad and pen into his briefcase and snapped it shut.
Some of the panic slid off the other man’s face. “Oh, would you mind? That would be great. It’s out on Sprague. Dixie and I dropped the pickup off, and she gave me a ride here. She definitely wasn’t expecting to go into labor today, but her water broke in the middle of Nordstrom.”
Nathan held up one hand. Too much information. “No problem. Let’s go.”
A few minutes later he idled his truck while Dan dashed into the garage.
Through the plate glass window, Nathan watched Dan gesture wildly, shaking his head before stomping back out.
“They just put it on the lift five minutes ago, and their courtesy car is out.” He grappled with his phone but dropped it. “I’m getting a cab.”
Nathan shook his head. “Hop in. Which hospital?”
Dan scooped his device off the concrete. “Really? You sure?”
“No problem. Let’s go.”
The other man jogged around the truck and clambered back in. “Deaconess.”
“Got it.” Nathan put the truck in gear and turned onto the street. “Hate to see you stranded, man. If the shoe were on the other foot, I’d hope someone would take pity on me, as well.”
Dan looked across the cab, a small grin countering the slightly narrowed eyes and raised eyebrows. “Well, thanks. I can’t believe my son is arriving two weeks early, and I can’t believe a total stranger is taking me to the hospital. I was supposed to drive Dixie. Do you think she’s doing okay?”
“I’m sure she is.” Nathan flicked on the turn signal and slowed to take a corner. “And I’m not a total stranger. I grew up here, remember? Plus, I’m staying in Alex Santoro’s basement apartment, and I’ve met your soon-to-be brother-in-law a few times. We’re practically family.”
The other man chuckled as his hands wiped up and down his faded jeans. “Logan’s a good guy. He works with me some, keeps telling me God-stuff. You believe in God?”
The hospital loomed a few blocks away. “Sure do.”
“Right, you’re friends with the Santoros. Religious bunch.”
Not friends with all the Santoros. Jasmine avoided him as much as she possibly could. Which was probably why he couldn’t seem to give up.
“I don’t get all that Jesus stuff. I mean, God.
.. that’s one thing. The universe had to come from somewhere, and I guess God is as good an explanation as any.
But then to say we needed saving from our sin?
And God kind of separating Himself into parts and one part of Him dying for humans? ” Dan shook his head. “Crazy talk.”
Nathan turned into the parking garage. “Does sound pretty strange when you put it that way, but it doesn’t make it less true.
” Now where was a spot big enough for his truck?
Nathan frowned as he circled to the next level.
Why hadn’t he just dropped his passenger off at the front door?
He had no need to park and go in. Ah, there were two vacancies. He spun the wheel.
A car veered in from the other end and zipped into the second spot. Someone was sure in a hurry .
“Linnea and Jasmine!” Relief was evident in Dan’s voice. “How did my sister know?”
Nathan couldn’t answer that, but he also couldn’t deny the way his heart sped at the sight of Jasmine exiting the small car mere inches from his driver’s door.
Jasmine started at the sight of Nathan’s truck. Nathan?
Linnea darted around the backs of both vehicles and grabbed her brother’s arm. “Come on, Dan. Have you heard anything more?” The siblings jogged toward the connecting walkway.
Nathan slid out of his truck, his eyes never leaving hers. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“You and Dan...?”
He grinned, that lopsided grin she’d once loved. “We were having a business meeting when he got the call, and his truck is in the shop. I couldn’t leave the guy stranded.”
“Of course not.” This era’s version of Nathan was an improvement over the old one. Where he’d been selfish, now he was altruistic. Kind, even. Always willing to help. Maybe it was merely his marketing edge, endearing him to clients.
“You?”
Jasmine blinked. Her... what?
Her confusion must have shown, because he waved his hand in a circle. “I told you why I’m here, but why are you?”
“Oh!” She swung her purse to her back. “We’re here to pick up the kids. Dixie’s mom called Linnea. She wants to stay with her daughter while she’s in labor.” She shook her head. “Not sure how I got roped into this. Because Linnea’s my friend, I guess. Those two are more than a handful. ”
He frowned. “I got the impression this was Dan’s first.”
Jasmine laughed. “Yes, but not Dixie’s. She’s basically a serial monogamist. Third kid, third father.”
Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the screen to find a text from her roommate. Where are you?
“Sorry, Linnea needs me.”
Then why did Nathan fall into step beside her as she strode for the walkway? “Tell me about the kids.”
Why would he even care? “Um, Mandy just turned four, and Buddy’s two, I think.”
Nathan quirked an eyebrow at her, not that she was looking. “Buddy? That’s his real name?”
“As far as I know. I haven’t heard anyone say differently, unless it was accompanied by a few nasty adjectives.”
“Aw, poor kid. I know what it’s like to be cursed at with every second breath.”
The hospital doors swooshed open at their approach. Jasmine slid her sunglasses to the top of her head as she looked around. A kiosk pointed the way to Labor and Delivery and she started off toward the elevators. Nathan stuck to her side like glue.
What would it be like if they were married and were here for the arrival of their own little one?
The thought punched her in the gut and nearly doubled her over.
Why couldn’t he have stuck with her back then?
Why did he have to go wild and ruin his prospects then return more devastatingly handsome than ever, apparently trying to win her back despite everything?
She couldn’t condone what she surmised of his intervening years.
Basil had made sure she was informed, but could Basil have lied?
She wouldn’t put it past him. The Nathan she knew now wouldn’t go from woman to woman like a flitting butterfly or buzzing bee.
Could a man change back and forth so often and be trusted?
He’d grown up rough, stabilized while they dated, then gone wild again.
Now he seemed desperate to prove all that was behind him.
More likely this was just another phase he’d soon pass through.
He wouldn’t leave her heart ground into the dirt again. No matter if he wanted to dance in the moonlight and dared to kiss her. No, she was stronger than that. Let him toy with some other woman, not her.
His sleeve brushed against her arm as he reached for the elevator button, and she winced away. Even that small touch, not even skin-on-skin, drove her awareness up ten notches. And then he turned to look at her.
She shouldn’t gaze into his eyes. Danger lurked there, but so did a plea. So did something deeper, something that told her the awareness was mutual. That he wasn’t the Nathan who’d left her long ago.
No. Please, God, no.
The elevator purred to a stop. A bell chimed as the doors slid open, and several people hurried out. She and Nathan stepped in, and he pushed the button for the third floor.
Why was he still here? Could she ask him? But no words came to mind when he trapped her eyes once again. Her skin grew clammy, sucking all the moisture out of her mouth.
“Jasmine.” His hand moved toward her then fell away. “You look gorgeous today.”
She shook her head. Not in an ordinary blue T-shirt and jean shorts. She hadn’t done anything with her hair except braid it back. She and Linnea had planned on kicking back after work, not rushing to Deaconess Hospital.
Nathan’s grin quirked to one side and his gray eyes warmed. “You always do. Trust me. ”
Trust him. No other words could fill her heart with the same amount of panic. She once had trusted him. Believed everything he said. Believed his whispered words of love. Could he possibly be worthy of renewed trust?
The elevator fluttered to a stop. Jasmine could barely get out of the enclosed space quickly enough, but then screaming assaulted her ears from down the wide corridor.
Two-year-old Buddy lay on the faux wood floor in a full-on tantrum while Mandy stood to the side yelling at him to stop. Linnea knelt beside the child, soothing his sweat-soaked curls. Nurses glared from behind the desk, and disapproval oozed from the older couple in the waiting room.
Great. Marco and Daria’s boys didn’t get away with this kind of behavior. Neither did her cousin Francesca’s kids. How did a person get a toddler like that to stop?
While she remained frozen in her tracks, Nathan strode past her and scooped the screaming child in his arms. “Hey, little guy. Enough of that now.”
For a few seconds silence reigned. When Buddy started up again, it was less heartfelt.
Linnea grabbed Mandy by the hand and pulled her toward the elevator. “Thanks. Let’s get out of here.”
By the time the elevator hit Main, Buddy had his arms around Nathan’s neck while his tear-stained face burrowed under his chin. Nothing short of a miracle.
From Nathan’s previous questions, Jasmine was pretty sure Buddy had never laid eyes on him before.
How could he possibly have the magic sauce?
And, against her better judgment, all she could hope was that Nathan would stay right beside the little boy until his stepdad came for him. Whenever that would be.