Claire left, and Mack refilled Austin’s glass. Connor had to head back into the kitchen, but it wasn’t long before he came back with a plate loaded with way too much food.
“Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and those lemony greens I know you like,” he announced.
“You don’t have to do this,” Austin said.
“Women may love your independent broody thing, but someone’s got to make sure you eat. Plus you need something to soak up the booze Mack is plying you with.”
“She sure is a good friend,” Austin said with a grin.
Connor paused for a moment, and Austin thought he was going to go back to the kitchen. But Connor leaned his elbows on the bar and sighed. “You shouldn’t feel bad. If you do—you shouldn’t. If you hate her, that’s fine. But you don’t have to, you know?”
“I’m not sure what the other options are. It’s not like I could ever actually date her at this point.”
“Neutral indifference? Fond memory? Thing of the past you never dwell on again?”
Austin laughed. “You’re good at this.”
“Dude. We all have skeletons. Not all of them are quite as, uh, high profile as yours. But don’t you remember that snowboarder with the pigtails who kept hanging around the bar that time?”
“Of course. Everyone else knew that was a no-fly zone. But no, you were the one who had to go for it.” Austin rolled his eyes.
“How was I supposed to know she’d never want to leave?”
“Is this supposed to be some kind of helpful analogy?”
“I’m just saying. We all do things that aren’t the world’s best ideas. We all get involved with people before we fully know them. Sometimes it’s for the better, sometimes it’s not. And yet, miraculously, the world goes on.”
He patted Austin on the shoulder and went back to work. Austin nodded, thanking him for the food, the advice, the company. But secretly, his insides wrenched at what Connor said.
He knew what his friend meant. This was one blip. It didn’t have to define him or change his life forever.
But what if he didn’t want the world to go on as usual? What if he’d liked the way things had started to change when Sam came into his life? He thought about Amelia, her eyes rimmed with red as she confessed her fears to Austin—that she wouldn’t be good enough for him. That she’d try her best and still fall short.
Did he expect too much? Was he so rooted to one way of doing things, he couldn’t imagine trying anything else?
Of course he knew plans changed. The very fact that he was in Gold Mountain and not a pro skier in Colorado was proof. And yet how much more strongly did he cling to his home, his life, as a result? How much harder had that made it for him to embrace anything unexpected, where he couldn’t plan the outcome? Where he had no idea what came next.
“Hey, Mack,” he called, and she left a group of customers and came over to him.
“Another one?” she asked, but Austin said no. He needed to keep his head screwed on now.
“Do you guys have a fax machine here?”
“There’s one in the office. Why?”
“Can you give me the number? I might want to use it.”
“Sure,” she said and wrote it down. “What do you need it for?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I have no fucking clue what I’m doing.” He paused. “But I think for once in my life, that may be a good thing.”
He hopped off the bar stool and pulled out his cell phone—he’d actually brought it tonight. Mack was looking at him like he was crazy, and he probably was. But that didn’t bother him. In fact, he felt better than he had ever since he and Sam came back from the snowmobile ride and he’d found himself doing exactly what Claire accused him of—picking a fight just to push Sam away.
Better, maybe, than he’d felt even before that. Ever since he got the first letter from Kane Enterprises on that heavy, embossed stationery. Who cared what anyone thought? Who cared what he’d said he had planned?
Before he could change his mind, he opened up his recent calls and dialed the first number that came up.
Chapter Nineteen
When Sam returned to her room at the Cascade and pulled out her phone, she felt different. The messages from work didn’t bother her anymore. Nothing had come crashing down in her absence. Her dad liked to say that his job as the head of the company was to steer the ship, not to rig the sails and test the wind and check the course, and, and, and. But there was so much scrutiny when Sam had taken over that she hadn’t felt she could plant her feet and let the ship go. She wondered, though, if she finally understood what he’d meant.
The company worked best without her overseeing every step—but there were some responsibilities that were hers and hers alone. She hadn’t gotten Austin to sign, but she was done delaying the rest of the deal.
She called the Hendersons, catching them right before they left the office for the evening. When she told them she was ready with the final offer they’d been waiting for, Arthur Henderson expressed how glad he was to settle the deal.
“I appreciate your patience as we ironed out the last details,” she said diplomatically.
I appreciate your patience while I was busy getting distracted by the hottest thing on two legs. That won’t be a problem anymore.
But she certainly couldn’t give any sign of what had caused the delay while she was up in Gold Mountain. She had to get her focus back. Business was her world, her life. Look at what happened when she tried to do anything else.
The Hendersons were ready to see her right away. She could practically see their itching fingers, pens in hands, so eager for her check that they couldn’t sit still.
She packed and left the hotel quickly. She’d drive to the offices and be back in Seattle by nightfall. Sleep in her own bed with the view of the city calling her home. There was nothing for her here, no reason to stay anymore.
In the car she checked her phone, but there were no missed calls from Austin. She wondered why she even bothered looking.
She was going to have to forge ahead without him.
It went faster than she’d expected. The handshakes, the scratch of the pen across dotted lines. Sam’s heart pounded, but her voice was calm, projecting the assurance everyone had come to expect from Kane Enterprises. When they finished, Arthur offered her a drink to celebrate, but Sam shook her head. She had to get on the road.
“To the future,” he said as he walked her to her car.
“Yes, the future.” Her mind was in a fog. “And to Gold Mountain.”
Arthur beamed. Of course he was thrilled—he had millions coming his way. Did he care about the prospects for the ski place? Or did he just want to pay off his debts and retire someplace warm?
She drove away with none of the fanfare she’d imagined during those long days and nights at the office, on the phone, scheduling conference calls, driving to and from the Hendersons’ office to figure out one last detail and make sure everything was going to work. She’d finalized the biggest part of the development and the one on which everything hinged. Yet she wasn’t feeling celebratory today.
The sky was beginning to darken in that slow way the mountains had of sucking up all the light. The roads were windy and still. Sam gripped the steering wheel, the relaxation of the massage a distant memory. She didn’t realize how tightly she’d been carrying herself until the phone rang and she jumped.
It was Steven.
She knew she should have called him ages ago to explain what was happening, but she hadn’t been able to bear it. He’d be upset she hadn’t even tried to get the land from Austin, and worried about what the board was going to do as a result. She hated putting him in that position.
But she was done avoiding her messes. She picked up the phone.
“Congratulations!” Steven cried before Sam could say hello.
“Wait. You already heard?” The Hendersons were supposed to wait for Sam’s lawyers to get in touch—they’d have no reason to
preemptively announce the sale. If they had someone on the board they’d been negotiating with other than Sam, she was going to be pissed.
“I just got the fax a few minutes ago,” Steven said, oblivious to her concern. “I don’t know what you said to convince him, but you were right. The Kane personal touch really does go a long way.”
“But I have the papers here,” she said, looking over at the folder in the seat next to her. “I said they didn’t have to do anything, I’d get it to the lawyers myself.”
“They?” Steven asked, confused. “Is Mr. Reede married and we didn’t know it?”
Sam choked at the words “Reede” and “married” snuggled up to each other in the same sentence. But instead of driving off the road, she asked, calmly, what the hell Steven was talking about.
“The fax I just got from Mr. Reede agreeing to sell the acres we’ve asked for.” He paused. “What are you talking about?”
“I just met with the Hendersons. I brought an updated blueprint, and they signed everything I asked for. Wait a second.” What Steven was saying finally caught up to her. “You’re telling me Austin signed?”
There was a long pause before Steven dared to say to his boss, “You’re telling me you didn’t know?”
“Steven, this can’t happen,” she said. “Tell him not to. Or—no, don’t say anything.” She tried to think quickly. “Tear up the fax. Don’t let anyone countersign—at least not until I get there. Okay?”
“Okay,” he said warily. “But—you just said the Hendersons signed.”
“I know.”
“So the Hendersons signed before you knew for sure that Mr. Reede was going to comply?”
“Don’t ask me what happened up here.”
He ignored her laugh. “Listen, Samantha, you need to use this to your advantage. Whatever happened doesn’t matter. You got Mr. Reede to sign, and the Hendersons, and now everything is moving forward as planned.”
He was right, technically. So why did she feel so bad?
“Honestly, I’ve been worried,” Steven went on. “It’s been a mess. I didn’t hear back from you, and I tried, but I ran out of ways to stall. I’m so sorry, I should have intervened sooner. When they knew I didn’t have any updates—”
“I’m not mad at you, Steven,” Sam interrupted. “I put you in an impossible position, and I apologize for not being more available when I should have been. Just tell me what happened when I was away. I promise it won’t lead to any problems for you.”
“The board called a meeting. For tonight, when they figured you’d still be out of town.”
“They’re kicking me out,” Sam said flatly.
“If I can get them this new information, I can buy you time to bring them back on your side.”
“Don’t worry about the meeting. Let me handle it.”
“But—”
“You’ve done enough already. I think I know exactly who to call. Do you have any guesses about who’s been agitating the most?”
“Jim was in here asking when you were coming back, who you were talking to, why it was taking so long—that sort of thing.”
“That’s what I expected. Trust me, I can make this work.”
“You got Mr. Reede to cave,” Steven said with obvious pride. “I’m pretty sure you can do anything.”
His praise made tears smart behind her eyes. She got off the phone before she officially started to bawl.
But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. Steven was right—she had to move fast.
“Jim Rutherford,” he said after the first ring, as though he didn’t have caller ID and couldn’t see exactly who was calling.
But fine, she’d play along. “Jim, it’s Samantha,” she said.
“Samantha, hi. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I hear it’s been an exciting time at the office without me. I thought you might be interested to know, however, that I finished the signing. It’s done.”
“Fantastic!” he said, and she wondered if he was genuinely excited or faking it to cover his ass.
“I’m about to send a memo to the rest of the office announcing the completion,” she went on. “But I wanted to call you first.”
“Does Steven know? Are you on your way back?” He paused. “Why are you telling me this, exactly?”
It was true, Sam should have had Steven set up a meeting to let the team know it was done and plan what came next. But she had her reasons.
“I know the board has been agitated,” she said. “Some people have questioned my decisions, both publicly and privately. I’m not going to call out anyone directly. There will be no repercussions for anything that’s been said or acted upon until now. Consider it a transitionary grace period, in light of personal and professional upheavals.
“But I want you to know unequivocally that from here on out, there will be no more agitating behind my back. If there’s a problem, you raise it through the proper channels. If we disagree, we’ll work it out according to the company bylaws. I respect you, Jim, but now’s the time to accept that this deal is moving forward, and I will not be sidelined by my own board.
“And there’s something else,” she added, before he could start to protest or get into a debate she wasn’t going to have. “In addition to calling to let you know the deal went through, I also wanted to apologize.”
There was a beat of silence before Jim said, “What?”
“I’m sorry for the way I treated you on the phone the other day. I shouldn’t have called so abruptly. There was no need for me to be rude.”
She let her words sink in. It was probably the first time he’d ever heard her say anything like that—the first time anyone in the entire company had heard such a thing. Samantha Kane, the wolf, the bitch, saying she was sorry.
When Jim spoke, he sounded subdued. “I really appreciate that, Samantha, and I’m sorry, too, for the way I behaved. But I understand where you were coming from. It was done, and you had to make that clear.” He paused. “I think you should know, though. I had nothing to do with trying to kick you out.”
“Oh?” she said in surprise.
“Come on, Samantha. We may have our differences, but I know solid work when I see it. It’s Greg and his minions who saw your father’s death as a chance to get themselves a larger piece of the pie. But you’re respected around here, and you will be even more so once this news breaks. Greg and his crew will back down. This was a big deal we just signed. A huge deal. And you brought it through.”
Sam hoped it was true. She hoped what she’d done would be enough to hold her own and get the development Gold Mountain should have.
“Don’t be nervous,” Jim said.
She smiled to herself. “Would you be surprised to know that it happens sometimes?”
“But it’s all working out as we’ve planned.”
“It’s working out how I want it to,” Sam said, wondering if Jim picked up on the distinction.
“Now that sounds more like the Kane I’m used to,” he said.
“I’ve got to go.” She checked her GPS for the turn.
“Are you finally coming back to Seattle? I can’t believe you spent so long trapped up there.”
“I’m on my way,” she said. “I’ll get there eventually.”
“No one’s going to show up at Greg’s meeting tonight. I’ll make sure of it. And once word spreads that the deal is going through, his backers will peter out anyway.”
“Thanks, Jim,” Sam said and hoped he was right. She might still have some unhappy employees once they saw exactly what she’d signed. But she’d deal with it later. Right now, there was one more thing she had to do.
When she got to the split for the highway that would shoot her straight down to Seattle, she turned left, away from the lights, and climbed up, up, and into the mountains again.
Chapter Twenty
It was late by the time Sam pulled into his driveway. His house was dark, smoke curling out of the chimney. She pictured him inside, s
itting with Chloe, finishing a beer—having a perfectly fine time without her.
Maybe she shouldn’t have come. There was nothing they had to cover that couldn’t be done over email, handled by Steven and other intermediaries. They were over—he’d made that clear.
But there were some things, she’d realized, that were more important than her company, the development, her father’s plans, her need to return from Gold Mountain with Austin Reede’s signature to prove she’d done it, she was the boss, the one who got what she demanded every time.
Austin was more important than that. And his land, his home, his happiness. His life. She was here to keep him from making a huge mistake.
She was also here to offer him a proposal she hoped he’d at least consider—even if it meant helping her, and the Kanes.
He looked completely surprised when he answered the door. His hair was disheveled, like he might have fallen asleep on the couch. Sam had to force herself not to stare at how good he looked sleepy and undone.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
“Sam.” He hesitated, running a hand through his hair. “I gave you what you wanted. Maybe we should leave it at that.”
He sounded so sad, Sam’s heart broke all over again. Yes, he’d given her what she hadn’t had the courage to ask for directly, in person, the way she’d originally planned. But even though she’d technically won, she felt like she’d lost everything.
“I can’t,” she said. “I know it’d be easier if I went back to Seattle and we never spoke again, but I can’t let this go.”
She stepped inside. The lights were dim, the fire flickering low in the fireplace. Chloe, curled in front of the warmth, glanced up, realized it was Sam, and tucked her head back down. The sight of her, peaceful and trusting, tugged at Sam’s heart. Chloe didn’t think of her as an interloper. She thought Sam belonged.
But Sam knew she didn’t. Her cream blouse and black slacks had been appropriate for the meeting with the Hendersons but now screamed outsider in Austin’s cozy home. She knew he saw it, too. How had she ever thought she could get away with not being Samantha E. Kane for even half a second, no matter how far she was from the skyscraper that bore her family’s name?
Make Me Stay (Men of Gold Mountain) Page 17