At this, Lily let out a loud laugh. “Moving to Vermont? Are you serious? I don’t want to be here right now, never mind live here.” She brushed her hair out of her face with a shaky finger.
“What’s wrong with Vermont?” Rick asked. It was the perfect place as far as he was concerned.
“Umm, everything.” Lily stretched her magnificent legs out to the side of the table and peered down at her boots. Cringing, she knocked her heels together letting caked mud drop to the floor. “Vermont is no California.”
California, of course. That explained the tan and the fashion. And the disgust for mud.
“Vermont has a lot to offer.” Why did he feel the need to defend his fair state? Why did he want this woman to like Vermont?
“I’m sure, but I’m… high maintenance. Don’t have any real love for flannel or fleece. And don’t get me started about the woods.” She peeled off her coat revealing a fluffy brown sweater that ruffled at the collar and the wrists. Rick had never seen a sweater that fancy.
“The woods are the best part of Vermont,” he said.
“The woods are Hell.”
“I’ll bet I could change your mind about that.” Had he stepped out of his body? Who was this guy, talking to this woman, and actually picturing himself leading her on a hike in the thawing woods?
Lily regarded him for a silent moment, and for once, he didn’t like the quiet. What was she thinking? Probably that I’m the exact opposite of every guy she knows in California.
“No. I’m certain the woods and I don’t mix. Anyway, I’m here about the property, not to discuss the nonexistent finer points of this forgotten realm known as Vermont.” She brushed at her hair again, and the trembling in her hand was still there. Why was she so nervous? “I have a proposition for you.”
“Yes, I’ll buy the land from you.” He’d wanted to do that before Gail had constructed her fortress on the property, but he hadn’t had the money then. He had it now thanks to her letting him lease her maple trees and his barn-building business.
“Oh, umm, no. I don’t want to sell the property to you,” Lily said. “I want to sell it to another buyer and buy yours.”
A horrible ringing grew in volume in Rick’s ears. “What?”
“Your land. I want it. Well, actually, I don’t want it personally.” She dug around in her shoulder bag and produced a business card. “I work for Utopia Resorts. You’ve heard of us, right?”
Rick stared at the card on the table and shook his head.
“Utopia Resorts. You know, ‘Escape Everything,’ as our commercials say.” Lily waved her hands as if she were convinced it would only take Rick a moment to say, “Oh, yeah. That Utopia Resorts.”
He didn’t travel. How would he know about some resort?
“Okay.” Lily huffed out a breath. “What are you, a hermit or something?”
“Sort of. Yeah.”
“How… not interesting.” Lily extracted another set of documents from the envelope and a pen. “Anyway. We want to take my grandmother’s property and your adjoining land to create a rustic resort. My grandmother’s property is not large enough by itself, but with yours it’ll be the perfect size. I’m aware of the deal you had with my grandmother. With your consent to sell her land to Utopia, I can offer you generous compensation for yours. After a couple sound investments, you’d be set for life off this deal. You wouldn’t need to run this little syrup and store business anymore.”
Little syrup and store business? The blood was roaring in Rick’s veins. Had he known this vision of loveliness was the Grim Reaper and Miss No Manners all rolled into one, he never would have let her into his store or onto his land. He certainly wouldn’t have allowed himself to picture tasting those lips of hers.
The syrup business is mine. Mine. The word kept cycling around his mind, faster and faster until he could hear it in his breathing, in his pulse.
“Calm down.” Rick clamped his hand on the edge of the table.
“I am calm,” Lily said.
“Wasn’t talking to you.” He awkwardly got to his feet and limped away toward the bookshelves. He opened the kitchen door and let Poe scamper out.
Eat the bad lady, Poe. Go ahead.
“Look, Mr. Stannard, Utopia Resorts brings a great deal of jobs to an area. You’d be doing the state of Vermont a huge favor by accepting my offer.”
Lily tracked Poe’s every movement. Again, she appeared ready to flee from the store if necessary. Good. Flee. Flee now.
“Miss Hinsdale, I’m afraid I can’t help you.” He ran a hand over his face. “This area is not right for one of your resorts. Think of all the trees you’ll have to clear in order to build. The woods won’t be the woods anymore.” He had shambled back to the table. He noticed the faint smile on Lily’s face as if destroying the woods had been a pleasant notion to her.
“C’mon now,” she said. “You can’t honestly say you enjoy living in the middle of nowhere, next to no one.”
“I do enjoy it, and I plan on enjoying it until I croak running my ‘little syrup and store business,’ if you don’t mind. Find another spot. In fact, find another state. What’s the matter? Is your precious California running out of space?”
Lily stood and slid her arms into the sleeves of her coat. “I can see you’re a little upset, Mr. Stannard. Perhaps I’ll leave these documents with you to look over either alone or with your lawyer.” She paused in buttoning her coat. “You do have a lawyer, don’t you?”
Rick grunted in response as Poe circled around Lily like a fur-covered shark.
“Think about what a wonderful opportunity this is for you and… do you have a family?”
“Of course I have a family.” He knew she meant a wife and kids, but Aunt Joy and his cousins depended on this place as much as he did, and they were his family, dammit.
“Well, accepting our offer could mean a whole new life for all of you. A better life.” She coiled her scarf around her neck, and Rick recalled the steps involved in tying a noose knot.
“We like our old life and if you leave those papers, they’re going to end up in my fireplace tonight.”
“Don’t be like that, Mr. Stannard.” She walked over to him, her gaze still targeting Poe. She pointed to the used books. “These could all be brand new books in a brand new house in a brand new location.”
“I don’t like brand new. I like broken in and comfortable.”
“That’s what people who don’t know any better say.” Lily hoisted her purse to her shoulder and headed for the door. “I’ll be back tomorrow.” She opened the door and left.
Rick stood like a statue for a good five minutes before Poe pushed her nose into his knees. He lowered into the chair beside him. Poe put her head in his lap, but for once, the coyote’s presence offered him no comfort.
“I should have known when she didn’t like you that she was trouble.” Everyone loved Poe.
Rick stared at the envelope Lily had left on the table. “Why wait?” he said to Poe. He got up from the chair, his head aching more than his ankle at this point, and picked up the cane. “If Miss California thinks she can waltz into my store and bust my balls, she’s mistaken. It’ll take something bigger and badder than her to push us out.”
Poe barked her agreement and followed Rick into the kitchen. He rustled up a match and lit one edge of the envelope. It didn’t take long for the documents to be reduced to a pile of smoldering ash in the sink.
“We’re not going anywhere, Poe.”
Chapter Five
Lily sat on the couch in her grandmother’s great room, sipping coffee. Plain, regular coffee. She’d driven thirty minutes after her encounter with the neighbor only to find not a single café in the area. The best she could do was a small convenience store/gas station pit that sold coffee. Grounds. In a can. She had to actually brew it herself back at the cabin. The muddy results were barely consumable. She missed Tam, her assistant, bringing her a nonfat Supreme Choco Meltie like she did every morning at
work.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” she said to the sketchpad in her lap. At least the complete lack of commerce and entertainment had allowed her to organize the ideas she had dumped out when Rita had put her on the spot back at Utopia. And fortunately, the designs weren’t total shit. She had filled seven pages in her pad with exterior and interior layouts, landscaping plans, and a few promotional ideas.
She opened the design program on her laptop. Lily spent another two hours working on more detailed plans and emailed what she had accomplished to Drew. He would love them. The question was, would that neighbor muck up the works with his refusal to sell his property? Her grandmother’s property alone wasn’t large enough for a Utopia Resort.
Lily hadn’t expected Rick Stannard. She’d gotten up that morning thinking she’d head next door—once she found where next door was—and meet this simple, backwoods guy. She’d dazzle him with her dollar signs and talk of a better life. He’d snatch up the chance to be able to afford a real haircut, clothes that didn’t involve suspenders, and dental work to fix undoubtedly crooked or missing teeth.
Rick, however, had lovely, dark golden hair—lots of it—cut into a floppy, haphazard style. His hint of beard and mustache framed a set of lips Lily had inspected a little too closely. His jeans and sweatshirt were clean and covered a well-built body with what she was sure her grandmother would have labeled “a spectacular ass.” As soon as he’d opened the door she’d noted a body several inches taller than hers. She hadn’t felt the need to slouch in his presence. Even with the slight heels on her boots—her almost ruined by mud boots—she still had to look up to see Rick’s face.
A nice surprise.
His eyes were a pale blue that reminded Lily of a hazy California morning. They were full of more intelligence than she had thought possible for someone who considered it a good idea to live this far out in the woods. With a coyote, no less. She was certain that animal would rip her to bits if given the chance. Did Rick let that thing into his house? How did he sleep at night?
Shaking her head, she closed her design program and opened her email. She clicked on one from Grandma Gail dated just two weeks ago.
Hey, Clone. Meet for lunch on Wednesday?
Lily sniffed and looked out the window. She’d attended her grandmother’s funeral on Wednesday instead.
How could you be gone, Grandma Gail?
Gail Hinsdale was the liveliest person Lily had ever known. She always referred to Lily as “The Clone.” They had the same blue-green eyes, shoulder-length, strawberry-blond curls, tall, lanky build. Grandma Gail was the only person to truly understand the downsides to being a human telephone pole.
Recently retired from her legendary talk show host career, Gail had met every star from Harrison Ford to Will Smith. She knew positively everyone in Hollywood, no exceptions. No one ever refused an interview. Gail had launched many acting careers in her time and was famed for her ability to bring the stars “into your living room.”
A world without Gail Hinsdale was a world off its axis.
Lily wiped at the tear slowly cutting a path down her cheek. This was not the time to fall to pieces. She’d kept it together through the funeral, through her father tossing the Vermont property at her, through Rita and the “let’s build a Utopia Resort in the wild” campaign, and even through the constant presence of Drew, who would apparently use Lily’s grieving as a way to rekindle their personal relationship.
She regretted getting involved with her boss on a personal level, and it wasn’t easy trying to undo that. The man was always right there, working on something with her, and lately, making more outward advances—advances Lily worried others in the office were noticing. It was one thing to fool around after hours, scratch an itch, and all that, but trying to hold her hand or kiss her in the middle of a meeting was not acceptable.
Drew was a successful businessman, a fair boss, and a fabulous dancer. He lived in an enormous house right on the water a few streets away from Gems Utopia where Lily had a penthouse. He drove a car almost as nice as hers.
Almost.
He also understood how ridiculously focused she was on her job, her designs, her new ideas. She wasn’t sure another man would tolerate the way she obsessed over a design until perfection was achieved. Drew fed that obsession, encouraged it, demanded it.
And yet, he wasn’t The One. It was why she hadn’t called him the other night to say they could give it a try.
Lily wanted her own Tom Hanks like in You’ve Got Mail. That movie was one of her favorites. One of Grandma Gail’s favorites too. They’d watched it a million times together, and Grandma Gail said she’d had a Tom Hanks in Lily’s grandfather, who had died years ago. Lily didn’t think she’d ever find one. Not with Drew on her ass around the clock.
He insisted upon escorting her to every Utopia event, mainly the resort chain’s killer galas—one of which Lily was missing by going on this trek to Vermont. Every month the company threw enormous bashes meant to make the guests feel like celebrities. This month Gems Utopia was the host. Made of a layer of thick Plexiglass pressed over zillions of sparkling, but fake gemstones, the entire lobby floor of this resort glittered like a fine jewelry store case. During the day, when the sun dripped in from enormous skylights overhead, the floor was dazzling. The effect was one Lily had worked long hours to design.
The elevators were painted white with gold trim made to look like giant gift boxes, and the railing on the main staircase resembled a string of pearls. Each floor was named after a gemstone. Ruby, sapphire, emerald, amethyst, onyx, and opal. A diamond ring-shaped pool glittered on the first floor along with a restaurant named Ruby’s and a theater called The Velvet Box.
Lily tried not to imagine which famous person she would have been eating with if she had been able to go to the gala. It would have been easier to list who she wouldn’t have eaten with.
Is it petty to lament missing a party after losing Grandma Gail?
Lily shook her head. Grandma Gail, wherever she was now, was probably pretty pissed about missing the party too. They’d always had a ball at the Utopia galas, trying to out-dress, out-eat, and out-dance each other. Lily had bought a killer dress for this party too. An electric blue number with rhinestone shoulder straps and a high, empire waist. She would have turned heads in that thing.
Maybe even a head worth turning this time.
A dress of that caliber would be useless in Vermont, so Lily had left it—reluctantly—in her bedroom closet at home. Maybe she’d debut it at next month’s bash. Good thing another gala was always around the corner. Merry-making was important.
Noise was important.
Quiet, on the other hand, was deafening and, damn, these woods were quiet.
Lily closed her laptop and brought her coffee mug to the kitchen. She dumped the remaining sludge into the sink, deposited the mug into the dishwasher, and did a double take at the kitchen window.
In the circle of light from the telephone pole near the driveway, an enormous moose stood stoically right next to the Jeep. His head supported a massive set of antlers and the underside of his hide was matted with mud. He angled his head as if listening to something then swung to face Lily watching from the window. The moose let out a low grunt, and a female joined him.
Lily gripped the granite countertop while she held her breath. Did moose charge houses? Could they see her? Smell her? How many teeth did moose have? Those hooves appeared capable of crushing bones.
With another grunt, the male moose turned around and headed into the woods. The female followed and within moments, Lily could see no trace of them. The only evidence of their existence was a set of tracks in the muddy, snow-patched driveway and the thudding heartbeat of one petrified human.
“Calm down,” Lily told herself and thought of Rick telling himself the same thing after she’d made her proposition. He’d looked as if he were going to explode. His fists had curled tightly by his sides. Despite his injured ankle, he had managed to
put a little stomp into his walk as he left her at the table, giving her a view of said spectacular ass. Then he’d gotten downright nasty with his threat to burn the sale documents.
“Immature.”
Her cell phone rang and she jumped out of her skin. The sound was so loud in the quiet of the cabin, and her mind was still on mammoth beasts outside and attractive, though stubborn, neighbors.
After stopping to turn on the TV in the living room for some background noise, Lily retrieved her phone and said, “Hi, Drew.”
“Hi. How’s it going, honey?”
“Aside from the moose stalking me outside the house you mean?” She sat on the couch and stretched her neck down and back, left to right, trying to relieve the tightened muscles. She needed a massage. Maybe she’d have Tam schedule one for when she got back to California. Hopefully that would be soon.
“Poor baby,” Drew said. “I wish Rita would have let me come with you.”
The words “me too” would have said what Lily had decided about Drew last night, but she couldn’t get them to come out of her mouth. Instead she said, “Did you get my designs?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m calling,” he said. “They’re fantastic as always. You’re absolutely brilliant. Did you meet with the neighbor?”
“Yes,” Lily said, “and that did not go as brilliantly.”
“What happened?”
“He doesn’t want to sell. Mr. Stannard seemed offended that I asked. Even if he agrees to let me sell my grandmother’s land, it’s not big enough for a resort.” Lily grabbed the remote control and scanned through the TV menu. She found Dirty Dancing and selected it. She’d crave a Utopia Resorts gala even more after watching Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey dance, but oh well. She’d be home for the next gala.
“He’s easily taken care of,” Drew said. “Everyone has a price and we can afford to pay a high one. We went in with a low offer, but you have leeway to add to that. Work your magic, Lily.”
“I don’t know if my magic is going to work on him,” she said as Patrick taught Jennifer the cha-cha.
More Than Pancakes (The Maple Leaf Series Book 1) Page 4