Branded in Oasis

by Clay, Verna

  Skye reached for a napkin on the table and blotted her eyes. Shiloh was perceptive and she didn't want to give away her knowledge of the owner by her expression. She said, "I think a trip to town is a marvelous idea. And Dottie told me the other day that she got some new baby clothes in her store. Now that we know the baby's a girl, I can't wait to buy clothes. We can pick them out together."

  Shiloh clapped her hands. "Oh, what a lovely day we'll have. And we can eat lunch at Desert Princess Diner."

  By the time Skye and Shiloh reached the diner, they had visited just about every shop in town and purchased baby toys, disposable diapers, and tiny dresses and sleepwear for the coming addition to the Blackwell family.

  Inside the diner, Pilar waved happily and smoothed a hand down her own baby bump. The women were due within one month of each other.

  Skye ordered a fish taco and fries and covered them both with mustard. Pregnancy had changed her eating habits. She was munching on a fry when the door opened and Gramps entered with Princess. She grinned and waved them over.

  Princess said, "There's my girl. This is perfect timing."

  Both Skye and Shiloh insisted they join them in their booth and soon their lively conversation and laughter blended with that of the other patrons in the diner. Pilar took a break and pulled up a chair to sit with them.

  Skye glanced between her two grannies, Gramps and Pilar, and marveled that of all the places in the world, she had finally found her happiness in the desert town of Oasis.

  Epilogue

  Kade twisted the wrench to loosen another bolt on the vintage Harley Davidson Shovelhead he was customizing and heard a vehicle pull to the front of his garage. He stepped outside on a beautiful October afternoon just as two women exited a BMW. They were young and pretty and obviously pissed that they were having car trouble. The driver tossed back her shoulder length blonde hair with one hand and asked, "Are you the mechanic?"

  "One of them."

  "Well this stupid car is making a noise and we saw the exit for Oasis and decided not to chance it to Phoenix. I can't believe my new beamer is having issues."

  "I'd be happy to take a look at it. But I need to pull it into the bay."

  The woman stepped closer and handed him her keys.

  Kade motioned toward town. "That diner is good. You can hang out there if you want while I look for the problem."

  The blonde studied his face and smiled. "Maybe my friend and I should stick around after you fix my car. You could show us all the happening places in Oasis," she smirked.

  Kade lifted his left hand with his wedding ring. "Can my wife join us?"

  The woman smiled. "Okay, I get it. You're one of those happily married men who would never cheat on his wife."

  "You got it."

  The gal turned to her friend who was still beside the car. "Looks like we're eating at…" She glanced back at the diner and smirked again, "Desert Princess Diner. Come on Brittany."

  Brittany shrugged and reached inside the beamer to retrieve a magazine.

  Kade watched the women walk toward the restaurant and shook his head. Spoiled rich girls.

  He pulled the car into the bay and it only took a minute to discover it needed power steering fluid. He checked all the fluids and then backed the car outside again as Tommy returned from lunch. Tommy whistled. "Damn, did I miss all the fun of working on that car?"

  "Yep. But it was only low on fluids. I'm not even going to charge the owner."

  Now that Tommy was back, Kade retrieved his lunch from the fridge and settled into his office chair. He made a quick call to check on Skye. She was due to have their baby any day and he called two or three times a day. He could hear the smile in her voice when she answered, "Hi, Kade. And no, it's not baby time yet."

  He grinned into the phone. "I'm not going to quit calling."

  "And I'd be upset if you did. It's just so cute the way you hover over me."

  "Skye?"

  "Yes."

  "I love you."

  "Now, Kade, you know how emotional I've been throughout this pregnancy. Do you want me to start crying?"

  "Only if I can come home and comfort you."

  "Now I am going to cry."

  Hoping to prevent that, he said, "Wait! Don't! Tell me about Max IV."

  He heard Skye sniff and then she said, "He's beautiful! Pilar brought him over this morning and Willie came, too. He's so proud of his baby brother."

  For several minutes they talked about the newest and tiniest resident of Oasis and then Skye said, "Guess who called me before you did?"

  "Please don't say a modeling agent."

  "No. I think they finally believe you're not interested in being branded the supermodel from Oasis. But this call was very surprising." She was silent.

  Kade said, "Skye, the suspense is killing me. Who called?"

  He could hear another smile in her voice when she replied, "Remember those photos I took of Dickey and the Hell's Angels?"

  "Yeeaahh."

  "Tyron just called. He's been shopping the pictures and Newsweek wants to use a few in a piece titled Hell's Angels: Women behind the Men. They're also going to interview Dickey and Viola. Looks like the couple are about to have their fifteen minutes of fame and make some money, too."

  Kade laughed loudly.

  Skye said, "I knew that would make your day. Sure made mine. What do you want for dinner?"

  After his phone call, he ate his sandwich, leaned back in his chair, and gazed through his window at his garage.

  Skye's wealth had been the one sticking point in their marriage, but they'd finally moved past that.

  After Shiloh's surgery, she'd wanted to pay the balance owing and he'd refused her money, telling her that he was going to sell some of his bikes. But then she'd gone ahead and paid it anyway and he'd been furious until she'd placed her hands on her hips and proclaimed, "Family takes care of family, and if I'm not mistaken, when I married you, Shiloh became my family, too. Besides, if the tables were reversed, you'd do the same for me. So you can have a temper tantrum, but what's done is done."

  After that, she'd stalked out of the room and refused to talk to him. When he'd reflected on her words, he'd known she was right.

  However, their next money issue had been his garage. For a long time, he'd wanted to expand and hire Tommy fulltime to work on cars so he could free up his own time to devote to customizing bikes. When he'd talked to Skye about getting a loan against the business, she'd said simply, "Since I know you won't take my money because you're stubborn, why don't you take out a loan from my trust fund."

  Again, he'd refused, but one day he'd come home to find his wife in tears. She'd refused to tell him what was wrong and he'd been crazy with worry. He'd begged her to tell him, and when she'd said, "You're what's wrong," he'd been thunderstruck. She'd then sobbed about how heartbroken she was that he wouldn't accept the help she so desperately wanted to give. Kade had felt terrible about making Skye so unhappy and reluctantly accepted the loan, making her include repayment of the amount she'd spent on his designer clothing in Phoenix. Her eyes had widened when she realized he knew her secret. He'd said, "When I told Phillip Viceroy I wasn't going to pursue a career in modeling, I asked him if agents typically purchase expensive clothing for potential models and he said it wasn't likely. It only took a second for me to put two and two together and I wanted to strangle you…but not as much as I wanted to find you and tell you how much I loved you. So, love, if you add in repayment for the clothing, I'll accept the loan."

  Now, surveying his remodeled garage with the added bay, he couldn't believe his reluctance. The arrangement had worked out well and he hadn't missed any payments. His wife was happy, and he was happy that she was happy. They made a decent living from his income and he'd come to terms with something that wasn't going to change—he was married to a very wealthy woman.

  Kade glanced at the clock and realized his lunch break was over. He stood and stretched and went back to work on the Harley.
A few minutes later he saw blondie and her friend returning from the diner. Kade motioned to Tommy that he would take care of the customer and stepped outside. Immediately, he noticed something different in the women's expressions. They seemed excited. And then he saw the magazine that was opened to a particular page in Vogue. He silently groaned.

  Blondie lifted the magazine from her friend's hands and thrust it toward him. "My god, this is you, isn't it?"

  Nonchalantly he glanced at the picture of himself modeling Livingston's Roman influenced outfit in front of the Barbegal Aqueduct and shook his head. "Nope, not me."

  The women looked disappointed. "Well, you have a twin brother then, because this guy looks exactly like you."

  "Sorry to disappoint you. But really, me, wearing that?"

  Blondie surveyed him starting at his cowboy boots and working upward over his greasy coveralls and name tag printed with "Kade's Garage." When she reached his face, she said, "Hell, I'll take you over him any day."

  Brittany said, "Well, it just goes to show that you're model material. You should think about putting a portfolio together."

  Kade stifled a smile. "Not gonna happen—ever."

  Blondie shrugged and reached into her purse. "Well, how much do I owe for the repair?"

  "It was just low power steering fluid. No charge."

  "Really?"

  "Really. The keys are in the car. You're all set to go."

  Blondie riffled through her purse and pulled out a business card. With a flirty look, she said, "If you and the little woman ever break up, you can reach me through this company. My daddy owns seven car dealerships throughout the state."

  When Kade didn't reach for the card, she frowned and walked over to a bench, placing it on the seat. She and her friend then climbed into the beamer and she rolled down the window as she backed out. "You really should think about modeling."

  The tires of the beamer squealed as blondie punched the pedal and sped toward the highway. Kade shook his head, walked to the bench, picked up the card, and without even glancing at it, tore it in pieces and tossed it in the trash.

  Read more about Oasis and its residents in book III

  CRASHED IN OASIS

  Author's Note

  Kade and Skylar's romance has been so much fun to write, but now it's time to move on to the next story in the series. Throughout books one and two, I wrote a setup for the third book having to do with the mystery of the missing gold bars. But mainly it's a story about the romance between Dottie Arnez and Collin Banks. Dottie is a descendent of original settlers of the town and has lived there most of her life. For a few years she lived in San Diego with her husband and daughter, but after her husband died in a fall while working at a construction site, she returned to Oasis with Lucy, her five year old, and helped her father in the family business, a dime store he'd named after her when she was a child: Dottie's Dime Store.

  Now seventeen years later, she is still in Oasis. Her father died about ten years back and left the store to her. It's provided a decent living for her and her daughter, and she's very thankful for that, but with Lucy away at college, she often fantasizes a life of excitement. Running a dime store is about the furthest from adventure and excitement one could possibly get.

  Little does Dottie realize how exciting her life is about to become!

  For readers who have not read Stranded in Oasis, I have included an excerpt. Also, there is an excerpt of Dream Kisses (Romance on the Ranch Series). Sage Tanner and Sarah Carter's story was briefly referenced in the story you just read.

  Stranded In Oasis (Excerpt) Oasis, Arizona Series #1

  One: Reassignment

  Veering off the U.S. 93 onto the off-ramp, Maximilian Rutherford III, ground his teeth and slammed his three quarters-of-a-million dollar RV to a halt at a stop sign with graffiti declaring, "hot as hell," and then turned onto a narrow, two lane road with dips that even an outrageously expensive RV couldn't disguise.

  The next sign he passed said, "Oasis 12 miles." Staring at distant bluffs encasing flat desert of scrub brush, a scattering of mesquite and juniper trees, and plenty of cacti, he once again spewed a string of profanities at his grandfather.

  Up until a week ago he'd considered his relationship with his paternal grandfather, Maximilian Rutherford I—someone he mostly saw only during management meetings because of their busy lifestyles—to be satisfactory.

  He'd always called his grandfather by his shortened first name—Max. The old gentleman had never been "Grandpa" or "Gramps" to any of his grandchildren, but that was to be expected from one who ran the multi-faceted, multi-billion dollar Rutherford Acquisitions empire. There simply was no time for family get-togethers when you were globetrotting and looking for your next company to buy, overhaul, and sell to the highest bidder.

  Max III, who was supposed to be a chip off the old "grandfather block," scanned the terrain before him. Being the second of June, the weather wasn't outrageously hot…yet. He hated hot weather. Grinding his jaw again, he replayed the unfortunate circumstances that had landed him in the pits of hell in the Arizona desert. Oasis, my ass.

  Ten days ago he had been happily—well, maybe not happily, but studiously—performing his job as the interim CEO of their latest acquisition, a company that developed and manufactured computer chips. His job duties with Rutherford Acquisitions involved taking charge and reorganizing the acquired company for the purpose of making it attractive to buyers. It usually took one to two years before the failing corporation made enough of a turnaround to sell for a profit, and that was one reason his grandfather's latest order was so confusing.

  He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. Damn the old man! Max had flown all night from the West Coast to the East Coast and the headquarters of his grandfather's vast empire in Manhattan after he'd been summoned. His grandfather's call had come during the first meeting of a week of meetings that had been scheduled with IT moguls—men who were keys to launching this latest acquisition back into the marketplace. It had taken Max weeks to set the meetings up and when he'd tried to explain that to his grandfather, the old man had just blown it off and insisted he reschedule because his presence was mandatory in New York.

  The minute Max had entered the office of Maximilian Rutherford I, he'd known his grandfather was up to something. Respectfully, he'd greeted his elder, accepted a shot of bourbon, and declined a cigar. While the old guy puffed away and talked about his latest success in the stock market, Max waited to hear what his gut feeling told him he wasn't going to like.

  He didn’t have to wait long.

  Max, Sr. set his cigar in his crystal ashtray, sipped his bourbon, casually leaned back, and said, "I'm reassigning you."

  Frowning, Max had leaned forward. "But sir, I'm about to close a deal that will skyrocket the value of the company in California."

  The old man made a dismissive motion with his hand. "Your stepbrother can handle it. I've already reassigned him to the project."

  Max shot halfway out of his seat. "What! Without even consulting me!"

  Unfazed by his grandson's shout, Max, Sr. said in his most commanding voice, "Sit down, Max."

  Max could feel his blood pressure rising as he sat back in his chair.

  Max, Sr. stood and walked to the bank of windows overlooking Manhattan sixty-three stories below. Without explanation, he said, "As tough and mean as I am, I'll not live forever. I've been reviewing my will with my attorney and before I make final decisions as to the disposition of my company and assets after my demise, I need to know the tenacity of my heirs."

  Those words gave Max pause. Was the old man dying of some disease?

  Max, Sr. turned from the windows and answered his grandson's unspoken question. "No. I don't have any dreaded ailment as far as I know. But I do have a driving ambition to know what my heirs are made of. My only child, God rest his soul, wasn't cut from the same cloth as you or I. He was a tree hugger who would have driven this company into bankruptcy had he lived and inherited my
estate. He wanted to support every whiney cause that crossed his desk."

  Max, Sr. seemed lost in his memories and Max's wrath softened. The old man continued, "It was one of those causes that took his life. He drowned fording a river in the Amazon while heading up an expedition to save some rare bird." He shook his head.

  Max had heard the story a million times, but he didn't interrupt his grandfather. As much as the old man bitched about his son's "do-gooder" ways, it was obvious he'd loved his boy. Max waited for his own fate to be revealed. He wasn't like his father. He was tough as nails, so the reason for being pulled from his latest assignment, when he was so close to success, irked and puzzled him.

  Max, Sr. turned back to the bank of windows. After a moment of silence, he said, "Don't take your next assignment lightly. It will determine whether I hand the reins of my company over to you after I'm gone, or give it to your step-brother, Bertram."

  At the mention of Bertram, Max's anger renewed itself. Two years older than Max, the man was an ass-and-a-half. Bertie could play the part of a loving grandson when in the presence of Max, Sr., but he was a thorn to Max. Max rued the day his mother had remarried to an oil magnate four years after Max II died. Bertie's father had later lost his wealth due to wrong decisions and died of a heart attack when Max was twenty.

  Max, Sr. spoke again and his words sent an arrow of foreboding down Max's spine. "I'm sending you to Arizona for six months."

  "What the hell is in Arizona?"

  Max, Sr. turned from the window and studied his grandson. Quietly, he said, "The keys to your fate, boy."

  Max squinted and waited. He supposed he could deal with six months in Phoenix. He wondered what acquisition his grandfather had purchased there.