“Did he mention a reason for the inspection?” Jake, who’d jotted notes all while Aaron talked, wiped again at his brow.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Aaron asked.
Jake’s face, already pasty to begin with, turned stark white, and his right hand shook. “Quit asking,” he grumbled, proving to Aaron that whatever ailment the man wanted to hide was seriously kicking him in the butt.
So much for being a Good Samaritan, he thought. If Jake preferred to suffer, let him. “He mentioned his office receiving a phone call,” Aaron said, addressing Jake’s question about the inspector’s visit.
“Did you place that phone call?”
Aaron chuckled, which wasn’t the reaction Jake expected, given the height at which his eyebrows jumped. “What would I have to gain by calling the insurance company?”
“Making life difficult for me?”
“If the shoe fits, I guess.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning I’m not you, and orchestrating problems for people who irk me isn’t my style.” Aaron hadn’t intended to speak sharply, but his temper, so easily riled at times, got the better of him. “Think about it, Jake. I’d be an idiot to bite the hand that feeds me.”
“So this is about the money.” He shook his head in disgust. “I knew that’s why you came back.”
“Hell, yes, it’s about the money.” Aaron’s fingers gripped the chair’s armrest and squeezed. “How else do you think I fund the foundation?”
“You expect me to believe you’re using the money from the family trust exclusively for good works?”
“I’ll have a copy of the foundation’s financial statement e-mailed to you today. It lists the different sources of income, all contributions and where they come from. Since you know exactly how much the trust pays me, you’ll be able to verify that every dime goes into the foundation.”
At first, Aaron thought Jake was taken aback by his outburst. He quickly realized his former brother-in-law was in severe discomfort, and his anger cooled.
“Hey.” He started to rise. “Maybe you should lie down for a while.”
Jake held up a restraining hand. “I’m fine.”
“How many times you going to say that?”
His question earned him a scowl.
Maybe because Jake was in such bad shape Aaron cut him some slack and said in a calmer voice, “I didn’t call the insurance company, and I only agreed to take the inspector around because he insisted. I didn’t say anything to him that would reflect badly on the ranch, you or the family members. I wouldn’t. Hailey cared too much about you and this place for me to sabotage it.”
Jake appeared to have gained back some of his strength during Aaron’s short speech. “I don’t trust you.”
“I appreciate the honesty.” Aaron smiled. He pushed out of his chair and made for the door. “And just so you know, the feeling’s mutual.”
“Come back here,” Jake demanded. “I’m not through talking to you.”
Aaron swung around, his hand resting on the doorknob. “Why don’t you admit what’s really bothering you?”
Jake wobbled to his feet and braced his hands on his desk. Anger burned in his eyes, along with something else. Guilt possibly?
“You took Hailey away from me. I didn’t see her once the last six months of her life.”
“And that’s my fault?”
“Yes.” Jake’s breathing had become labored.
Good. Aaron hoped he was hurting bad. “She called, wanting to come home. You told her not to bring me. What the hell kind of brother says that to his sister?”
“One trying to protect her from making the biggest mistake of her life.”
“Marrying Hailey wasn’t a mistake.” All the anger he’d worked so hard to control erupted in a rush. One second more of this and he’d tear into Jake, sick or not. Yanking the door open, he said, “I didn’t take Hailey away from here or stop her from coming back. The only person to blame for that is you.”
Jake’s retort, if he even made one, was muffled by the abruptly closed door and the pounding of Aaron’s boots across the floor.
“WHAT THE HECK was that all about?” Millie asked, watching Aaron stride across the lobby and out the door.
“Not sure exactly,” Natalie mumbled. She also watched Aaron but more discreetly. “Something to do with the insurance inspector.”
“Yeah, right.” Millie snorted. “And just yesterday I had a customer bring an undiscovered Picasso into the store.”
Natalie gave Jake’s aunt a weak smile, her only comment on the situation. The last part of the exchange between him and Aaron had been loud and heated. Everyone within earshot knew it was about Hailey.
“Okay. Let me rephrase that.” Millie leaned her elbows on the reception counter and said with exaggerated excitement, “Wow, wasn’t that something?”
“You’re terrible.” Natalie laughed and got out of her chair. She hadn’t moved during the entire argument, feeling guilty and thinking she’d somehow contributed by more or less snubbing Aaron.
“When you get to be my age, you don’t have to act appropriately anymore.” Millie’s grin was absolutely inappropriate for the circumstances and impossible to resist.
The door to Alice’s office opened slowly, and she peeked out.
“All clear,” Millie said in her booming voice. “You don’t have to hide anymore.”
Alice made a face as if insulted. Throwing back her head, she walked briskly toward them. “I thought you were at the store today, Millie.”
“Deana’s there. I came to watch the fireworks.”
Natalie averted her gaze so no one saw her smirk. Only Jake’s aunt could get away with such outrageous behavior.
“Seriously,” Alice asked.
“No.” Millie chuckled. “I’m meeting the Brubaker bride and her mother in fifteen minutes. They’re changing the reception menu again.”
“Do you think someone should check on him?” Alice whispered, staring at Jake’s closed office door. “He did have outpatient surgery this morning.” If she knew the nature of his procedure, she wasn’t telling.
“Maybe.” Natalie suffered a second twinge of guilt. Jake had looked terrible when he came in a short while ago. She stared imploringly at Millie.
“Hey, leave me out of this.”
“You’re his aunt,” Alice argued.
“You’re his assistant.”
Both women turned to Natalie.
“No!” she protested in a loud whisper.
“You’ve known him longer than me,” Alice said.
“Millie’s known him his whole life.”
“I’m a spectator, not a participant.” Her wide grin had lost none of its impishness. “And he likes you better than either us.”
Alice’s I’ve-just-been-insulted face reappeared.
“What’s wrong with my darling nephew anyway?” Millie asked.
Natalie shook her head. “Some kind of medical procedure.”
“Spill,” Millie demanded of Alice.
“I don’t know. Carolina wouldn’t say when I spoke to her earlier.”
“I’ll hit her up later. She can’t keep a secret if her life depended on it.”
Alice frowned. “I get the feeling Jake doesn’t want anyone to know about it.”
“When did that ever matter?” Millie pointed at Jake’s door. “Go,” she told Natalie. “See what you can find out.”
Having seven bosses had its disadvantages.
“I’ll check on him,” she said firmly, “but that’s all. Whatever procedure he had done this morning really isn’t our concern.”
“Killjoy,” Millie called after her retreating back.
Natalie knocked softly on Jake’s office door.
“Come in.”
He sat at his desk, his shoulders stooped, his hair a bit rumpled, as if he’d been holding his head. Ever since Aaron’s arrival at the ranch, Jake’s well-groomed appearance had gone to the dogs.
“No, thanks.” He didn’t glance up or acknowledge her in any way.
“Sure?”
“You’ve done your job, you’ve checked on me. I’m all right.” His tone wasn’t angry as much as weary. “Now, leave me alone if you don’t mind.”
Natalie ducked out and shut the door, feeling guiltier than before. He must know people were talking about him. She was also concerned. Jake might not be the easiest person to get along with at times, but he’d always been good to her and her family.
“Well?” Millie demanded. She and Alice hadn’t moved from their respective spots.
“He says he’s okay.”
Alice’s hopeful expression fell. “I think he’s lying.”
“Of course he’s lying.” Millie dismissed Alice’s worry with an airy wave. “He’s Jake. Prideful, arrogant and stubborn.” Her voiced warmed. “Gotta love him.”
Alice fidgeted, wringing her hands like a distraught mother. “I don’t know what to do. We have all these last-minute details to take care of before the opening-day celebration. Should I go in there or leave him alone?”
Jake’s office door unexpectedly opened. With a cursory nod toward the three women, he walked by, slow yet erect, and exited through the front door.
“Great,” Alice wailed and dashed to the window. “Where’s he going?”
Millie resumed resting her elbows on the counter. “If I were you, I’d quit panicking about those last-minute things. He isn’t coming back.”
With a frustrated groan, Alice dropped the curtain, spun on her heels and retreated to her office.
“What got into her?” Millie muttered.
“This has been the craziest day.” Natalie pushed her hair out of her face and sighed. With all the various disruptions of the last few hours, she’d almost forgotten about the letter from Drew’s attorney and that not one person had returned the phone calls she’d placed during lunch.
“I’ll say.” Millie also sighed, but hers was pleasurable rather than woeful, and her eyes danced with delight. “Am I the only one who thinks opening-day celebration this year is going to be the best ever?”
Chapter Seven
Each time the lobby door opened to let people in or out, the smell of simmering chili wafted inside. After three hours, Natalie was ravenous, and she didn’t even like chili all that much.
When her replacement arrived at three-thirty, Natalie loaded Shiloh in her stroller and headed outside. Because of the informality of the day, Jake had allowed Natalie to keep her daughter with her, for which she was appreciative. Leaving Shiloh in someone else’s care while she went to work was hard.
Yesterday, the family-trust attorney finally returned her phone calls and gave her the name of another attorney specializing in child-custody matters. She had an appointment on Wednesday next week. The attorney strongly urged Natalie to wait before agreeing to Drew’s request until she was fully informed of all the ramifications.
Natalie stopped for a moment to get her bearings. Opening-day celebration was still going strong and by the looks of things, promised to continue long past dinner. Jake was sure to be pleased. The good news might lift him out of his sour mood.
At the foot of the stone walkway, Natalie veered left to the area designated for the chili cook-off. It was a little strange seeing the ranch overrun with people after almost seven weeks of solitude. Over two hundred people were on the grounds and probably a hundred more had come and gone throughout the afternoon.
Dinner would be served following the horseshoe tournament. After that was the awards ceremony. Natalie’s mother usually handed out the plaques to the various winners. This year, Natalie would do it while her mother sat in the audience with Shiloh.
Folding tables had been set up for the cook-off contestants with two entries per table. The ranch had also provided single-burner butane cookstoves. Everything else, from kettles to ingredients, was left up to the contestants.
Natalie had no idea where or how Aaron had acquired everything he’d needed to make his chili but there he was, at the second to the last table, stirring a huge pot and chatting companionably with his tablemate.
She didn’t immediately hurry over, though she longed to do just that. Except for a periodic glimpse of him in the distance, she hadn’t seen Aaron since the other day when he left Jake’s office. Stormed from Jake’s office, she corrected herself.
Not talking to Aaron proved more difficult than she’d imagined. It wasn’t just that she liked him, which she definitely did. More than she should. Her heart also went out to him. Coming to Bear Creek Ranch couldn’t be easy for him, and except for Millie, the Tucker family was doing their best to throw barriers in his path every step of the way.
If they’d only stop and get to know him a little, they’d see he wasn’t such a bad guy. And though her father hadn’t come right out and said it, Natalie was sure he liked and respected Aaron, too. For his horsemanship abilities and his ease with people. The guests, her father recently commented, would love him.
She stopped and checked on Shiloh—who preferred sucking on her balled fist to watching the goings-on—before joining the group in front of the first table.
Their celebrity judge, Dan “Quick Draw” McGraw, was a popular afternoon DJ from Payson’s largest radio station. He laughed heartily as he interviewed the contestants. Shadowing him were a pair of techies who lugged equipment and handed Quick Draw the microphone at the appropriate time.
One contestant fidgeted during the entire interview and accidentally spilled her chili sample on Quick Draw’s arm. He used the incident to make several jokes to the on-air and live audiences. The red-faced contestant giggled right along with everybody else.
Like spectators in a golf tournament, the crowd moved from table to table. Natalie tagged along. She was curious to see how Aaron fared and by blending in with the crowd, no one would think twice.
No one being Jake.
Quick Draw did a double take when he approached Aaron’s table and made a show of reading the name tag and entry number pinned to his shirt pocket.
“Aaron Reyes? As in three-time national bronc-riding champion?”
Aaron’s tablemate’s jaw dropped open. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“It’s been a couple of years,” he said, stirring his chili.
“Nice to meet you, sir.” Quick Draw stuck out his hand, which Aaron shook. “Mind if I ask what brings you to these parts?” With his other hand, he motioned for the techie holding the microphone.
“My mother’s chili recipe.”
Quick Draw looked unsure for a moment, then broke into a hearty belly laugh. “That good, huh?”
“You tell me.” Aaron ladled a portion into a paper bowl and gave it to Quick Draw.
“Going to the Payson Rodeo week after next?” he asked.
“I was thinking of stopping by. Checking on a few old friends.”
The rodeo was a huge annual event that drew thousands of people, both tourists and participants, to town. Natalie had two dozen cabins reserved already for that week and expected to be booked solid.
Quick Draw sampled Aaron’s chili, and his face lit up. “Not bad.” He waved the techie with the microphone closer. “What’s your secret ingredient?”
“Don’t have one.”
“No?” Quick Draw’s gesture encompassed the entire area. “Everyone else here does.”
“It’s not what goes into the chili as much as the preparation involved. The trick is adding the right ingredients in the right amounts at the right time.” Aaron’s voice deepened, and for the first time, Natalie detected a slight accent. “Don’t hurry. Cooking is a slow, intricate process and should be executed with care and finesse.”
She hadn’t thought he noticed her among the crowd, but when his gaze sought hers and lingered, she realized he’d been aware of her from the beginning, and a jolt
went through her.
“You almost sound like you’re seducing a woman,” Quick Draw said, taking another bite of chili, “and not cooking.”
“The two aren’t all that different.”
Natalie was affected by his voice and his eyes, which were not just looking at her but inside her to that part she revealed to only a few. They might have been sharing a candlelight dinner in a quiet restaurant, both of them wondering if the evening was going to end with a kiss on her doorstep.
Thank goodness Natalie had the stroller to hang on to, because her knees went weak. Even Drew, the first and only man she’d ever slept with, hadn’t evoked such a response in her.
“Well,” Quick Draw bellowed. “I don’t know if you’ve made the best chili here, but you sure as hell gave the best description of your cooking process.” He looked over his shoulder at the crowd. “What do you think, ladies?”
He was answered by applause and cheers.
Aaron’s attention returned to the DJ. Except for Natalie’s buttery knees and burning cheeks, the entire exchange might not have happened.
She lowered her head so no one would notice her acute embarrassment. What was wrong with her? Not once but twice now she’d assumed Aaron was coming on to her when he was just being…Aaron. Naturally friendly. Naturally sexy. Naturally flirtatious in that slow, easy way of his.
She needed to quit letting her desire for him cloud her judgment.
Desire! Had she really just thought that?
Yes, and it was true. She did desire Aaron. And not in a schoolgirl-crush way either but like a woman who’s finally met the man she’s been waiting for her whole life.
She decided to leave and find her mother and the plaques, but with so many people behind her, she couldn’t back up the stroller and get away. Trapped, she was forced to watch Quick Draw finish his interview with Aaron.
“Well, this has been a real pleasure, sir. Good luck with the cook-off.”
“Thank you. I’ll be sure and let my mother know what you think of her recipe.”
Aaron had handled himself well during the interview, conversing comfortably with the DJ as if they were old friends. Natalie supposed he was no stranger to the media. And he had cohosted that cable rodeo show.
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