Gold Fire

by Starr Ambrose

  But Matt hadn’t called to ask her out. He wanted her to come in early for a meeting. She sat at the conference table, unnerved before he even started talking. Any meeting Matt called with just her and David had to be about their future positions with the company. David had to know it, too. He sat across from her, looking too damn smug for comfort.

  “I’ll make this brief,” Matt said from the head of the table. “You both know we’ve been planning some changes in management for the Alpine Sky. Since Buck passed away, I’ve taken a larger role in management, and I will continue to do so. We simply don’t need two managers at your salary levels. One of you will stay on as general manager, while the other will run the new golf course and clubhouse once it’s built. Unfortunately, the new position doesn’t pay as much, but your experience with the company makes either of you the top choice for—” He raised an amused eyebrow at the hand she shot into the air. “You have a question, Zoe?”

  “Yes.” Hell, yes. “I thought we’d shelved the golf course plan for now, but you’re talking about it as if it’s a done deal. Did I miss something? Did Jase change his mind overnight?”

  Matt smiled. “No, he didn’t. But I’m confident in your ability to persuade him to sell, and I want us all to be prepared when it happens.”

  He’d said it without a hint of snarkiness, which was reassuring, but it was still a hell of a lot of confidence. Seriously misplaced, too, if you believed Jase Garrett. She did. “I don’t think he needs the money, Matt. He got all sorts of product endorsement deals after his Olympic wins—not as much as the professional sports stars, maybe, but enough to keep him comfortable.”

  “And those contracts were yanked a year later after it became evident he had no intention of returning to competition. When you’re in violation of contracts, you don’t get to keep the money.”

  She should have thought of that, but hadn’t really considered how much he’d lost when he quit competing. Probably because Jase had led her to believe he had enough money. She should have questioned what he meant by enough. It still didn’t explain why Matt thought the money mattered.

  “Speaking of major sports stars,” Matt went on, “I assume you’re familiar with the name Kyle Russerman?”

  “The pro golfer,” David said. He was nodding and smiling, as if he already knew where this was going. Zoe narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

  “Kyle’s been elusive about putting his name on products, but my mother has had several meetings with him and taken him to see the property. Yesterday she finalized a deal that will make him the official partner in our golf course. That pretty much guarantees its success.”

  “Already?” Zoe stared at him.

  David chuckled to himself. “If anyone could persuade him, it would be Ruth Ann.”

  “True.” Matt nodded. “And it gets better. With the money from the Russerman deal to front us, we will be expanding Alpine Resorts, Inc., with a new resort on the island of Aruba. Buck was always reluctant to expand, but now that he’s gone, my mother and I have decided to take the company in a new direction.”

  Zoe blinked, unable to find words for all the thoughts that popped into her mind. She’d be working in a management position for an international corporation, which put a nice shine on her already polished résumé. Also, Matt was more ambitious than she’d realized, possibly building a huge financial empire. And more willing to take risks with the company.

  He seemed to be waiting for her response. David also watched her expectantly from across the table, clearly unsurprised by the news. The arrogant bastard.

  She cleared her throat. “Um, I assume you’re talking about several years from now . . .”

  “Actually, my mother is flying to Aruba today to arrange financing and look at some promising property. She’s already put the house in B-Pass up for sale, since she would prefer to live in the Caribbean.”

  David seemed strangely unmoved by the news that his meal ticket was leaving the country. “The house will sell quickly,” he assured Matt. He turned a smile on Zoe. “The view from the great room is amazing, and the multihead shower in the master bath feels better than a visit to our spa.”

  She had to give him credit for packing so much information into one sentence. He’d been in Ruth Ann’s house. He’d used her shower. In other words, he’d slept with Ruth Ann. And he wasn’t perturbed about her leaving, which meant he had reason to believe the position of general manager was a lock.

  She wasn’t as surprised by what he’d said as by the fact that he’d said it in front of Matt. Her gaze flew to Ruth Ann’s son. He was checking e-mails on his phone, seemingly unconcerned. Either Ruth Ann used men like candy and sleeping with David meant nothing, or it meant everything and Matt would do whatever she said, in which case Zoe had just been royally screwed over.

  She stood to leave.

  Matt looked up from his phone. “Zoe, please stay a minute. I’d like to go over your next meeting with Jase Garrett.”

  She lowered herself back down, a sick lump congealing in her stomach. This couldn’t be good. David wiggled his fingers at her as he left the room.

  As soon as the door clicked shut, Matt laid his phone on the desk and propped his hip beside it. He contemplated Zoe for several nerve-wracking seconds. “You have the next two days off,” he finally said. “I’d like to see you tomorrow night.”

  His eyes pinned her with a meaningful stare. Her mouth parted with a soft “Oh” as his intention sank in. This had nothing to do with Jase. It had to do with Matt making his bid to force Jase out of the picture.

  She liked that idea. The sooner she got Jase Garrett off her mind, the sooner she could concentrate on the man she’d been waiting for. Except his intense gaze looked a bit heated, and she didn’t want any misunderstandings.

  “I’m not like David.”

  A smile played at the corner of his mouth. “I’m not asking David out.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know what you meant.” The smile was gone. “You’re not offering sex in exchange for a job. Did I get it right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Asking you out has nothing to do with the Alpine Sky, Zoe. This is me and you.” He paused, letting it sink in. “Okay?”

  She breathed out a sigh. “Okay.”

  “So is that a yes?”

  “Yes.”

  His eyes crinkled with pleasure. “Good. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  “Let me give you my address.”

  He held up a hand as she reached for a pen. “Don’t bother, I know where you live.” When she glanced up in surprise he flashed a grin. “Personnel files.”

  She laughed and stood. The meeting hadn’t turned out so badly after all. He wanted to kiss her when she left, she was sure of it, but it didn’t prevent him from keeping his word. Their private life would stay outside the office.

  It was all about professional ethics; Jase Garrett could stand having a lesson.

  • • •

  Jase folded his forearms on the high counter, nice and friendlylike. The lady on the other side looked up from her desk and smiled. “May I help you?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I have some questions about city zoning laws.”

  “Bill!” she yelled, turning slightly toward the adjoining room without taking her eyes off Jase. “Man here to see you!” Smiling sweetly, she said, “Bill’s chairman of the planning board. You’re lucky you caught him here on a Saturday.”

  A middle-aged man appeared, brushing crumbs off his fingers and onto his potbelly. “Bill Rutter,” he said, offering a reasonably clean hand. “What can I do for you?”

  Jase shook the offered hand, surreptitiously wiping a crumb off on the counter. “My name’s Jase Garrett. I own the Rusty Wire Saloon out on Evans Road.”

  Bill’s face lit up. “Sure, I know where that is. Glad to meet you. Boy, you’ve had a lot of action up your way lately.”

  “You mean the fire? Yes, we did, but we’re back in business.”

/>   “Good, good, glad to hear it.” He leaned closer. “I heard it was arson. A woman, yet. That was a surprise, wasn’t it, Lilly?” He looked at the woman behind the desk who’d made no pretense of getting back to work.

  Lilly shook her head sadly. “Not really. It’s a shame, though. Those Larkin girls never did have much use for rules.”

  They’d heard about Zoe? The shock of it was followed by such a strong jolt of anger he had to swallow back a handful of swear words. Zoe hadn’t even been arrested, but this woman had already accepted her guilt. No wonder Zoe was so defensive concerning rumors about her past.

  “You heard wrong,” he said, emphasizing the last word. “Zoe Larkin didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  Bill cocked his head. “You sure? Bernie Kohn at the police station said they brought her in for questioning the very next day. They had a videotape of her setting the fire and everything.”

  Jase ground his teeth. His hands ached to grab Bill by his dirty shirt and yank him against the counter, the better to scream in his face. Maybe break his nose while he was at it. That would feel better than swallowing his anger while keeping his face carefully neutral. “I guess your friend Bernie didn’t know the whole story,” he said. “Zoe had information. I talked to her myself, and, confidentially, what she said should be very useful to the police.” He didn’t hesitate to spin the facts in her favor; if Zoe was right, it took a lot of good deeds to counteract one bad rumor. “And the tape was from my security camera, so I know for sure it didn’t show a darn thing.”

  “Huh,” Bill said, digesting the news with an amazed look. “Funny how stories get twisted around, isn’t it?”

  Yeah, real funny. He hoped Zoe never heard this one. “Glad I could give you the facts. But that’s not what I came in for today. I wanted to ask about the parcel of land I own behind the saloon. It’s that wooded strip you see when you drive into town from the north, fifty acres lying just below and south of the Alpine Sky.”

  “Gotcha!” Bill pointed a finger at him and made a clicking sound. “You’re wondering about getting it rezoned so you can sell, right?”

  He frowned. “Sort of.” More like hoping the city might oppose rezoning it, and oppose the golf course. It would be the easiest way to get Matt Flemming off his back. But he had a bad feeling that Matt was a step ahead of him. “Have you heard something about me selling that land?”

  “Sure. And you don’t have to worry about it at all. We assured the buyer he wouldn’t have any problem getting that land rezoned for a golf course. In fact, we’re more than eager to help facilitate the sale.” He grinned. “A golf course is just what this town needs!”

  Chapter

  Ten

  Jase stared at Bill as questions flooded his mind. So many questions, his mind had gone numb with them. He winced and rubbed a spot in the center of his forehead, giving Bill a cautious look. “Are you saying someone from the Alpine Sky already talked to you about getting my land rezoned?”

  “Talked to the whole planning board except for Barb, who’s out of town. Not an official session, of course. Just an informal meeting to feel us out on the idea. That guy from the resort is pretty sharp.” He swiveled his head. “Wouldn’t you say so, Lilly? Had all his ducks in a row.”

  “Sure did,” Lilly agreed.

  Jase squinted to compensate for the nerve that had started jumping beside his left eye. “Would that be Matt Flemming?”

  “That’s the guy. Had a lawyer with him, too, but Matt seemed to know his stuff.”

  Jase ground his molars. “They asked about rezoning my land?”

  “Just making sure the city wouldn’t have any objections. They were prepared, with all the plans, too. Here, let me show you.” Bill walked to a metal filing cabinet and opened a long, shallow drawer. Jase glimpsed a stack of large maps lying flat in the drawer as Bill pulled one off the top of the pile and brought it to the counter.

  “They left this copy so we could show Barb. Have you seen this yet?”

  “No,” Jase choked out as he stared at the professionally drawn topography map. The Alpine Sky resort and its little village of shops lay at the top. Near the bottom where the Rusty Wire should be, he saw the footprint of a large building with a swimming pool and a parking lot. In between lay a parkland of fairways, water hazards, and sand traps, dotted with small stands of trees. His forest was gone.

  “See, here’s where your saloon used to be,” Bill said, circling the clubhouse with his finger. It might as well have been a knife stabbing Jase in the heart. “This squiggly line here is a road they’ll put in directly from the resort, which will keep extra traffic off Evans Road. And these are the proposed lakes, right along the line of natural drainage for minimum impact on the environment. Impressive, isn’t it?”

  Jase just looked at him. Impressive was certainly an appropriate word for the forethought and planning that had gone into the map. Also presumptuous and arrogant. He could have come up with some more unpleasant words if he took a second.

  “The city doesn’t care if they level a swath of forest?”

  “Well, they didn’t exactly level it,” Bill said with a chuckle. If he didn’t stop using the past tense for Matt Flemming’s rape-and-pillage plan, Jase would rethink that broken nose. “They left a few clumps here and there. But you can’t have a golf course without lots of open land, can you?”

  “No, you can’t.” He watched Bill steadily. This was what he’d come to find out. “And the planning board thinks Barringer’s Pass needs a golf course?”

  “Hell, yes! Excuse me, Lilly, heck yes. It’s been a long time since we’ve had any major construction here, and the town could use the jobs. Builders, landscapers . . . and just think of all those golfers who will probably eat at our restaurants and shop in our stores. It’s a bonanza!”

  Jase’s anger faltered. The jobs saved at the Rusty Wire didn’t compare to the number of jobs that would be added at the golf course. Or the increased business downtown. For the first time, he wondered if he was doing the right thing by opposing the sale.

  “I didn’t know our unemployment rate was that high,” he murmured.

  “Oh, it’s not, but more jobs being available means more people moving here, which means a demand for more rental units, which means . . .” Bill grinned and spread his arms. “More building! It’s a circle of prosperity that could bring a couple thousand people here, easy. Everyone wins.”

  Jase frowned. Not everyone. He wasn’t exactly a tree hugger, but he appreciated Barringer’s Pass for the same reason many tourists did—the quaint little town was surrounded by thousands of acres of wilderness, ideal for skiing, hiking, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, photography, fall color tours . . . he couldn’t name all the reasons people came here to enjoy the natural beauty. Fifty acres of trees wouldn’t change that one way or another. A couple thousand more people would.

  “What about the impact on schools and city services?”

  Bill grinned. “Exactly—more teachers, police, firefighters, the whole deal. The city council will love this idea!”

  The city council was more growth-minded than he’d known. He suddenly regretted keeping his head in the sand for the past nine years. “It’s a small valley, Bill. Where do you plan to put all these people?”

  “Trust me, they’ll fit,” Bill assured him. “We might have to rezone some of the older homes to enlarge the commercial district, but they aren’t helping the tax base as much as shops and restaurants will. Commercial development equals progress. B-Pass will thrive.”

  “B-Pass will be crowded. You know all those movie stars and producers and other celebrities who build their fancy homes around here? They’re looking for peace and quiet. They might just take their money and move to Montana.”

  “They might.” Bill shrugged. “But they’ll sell to people who prefer a thriving city to a wilderness retreat. No loss.”

  Jase frowned. There were two things wrong with that. One, most of Barringer’s Pass figure
d anyone who wanted a thriving city could move to Denver. And two, celebrity sightings were part of the local atmosphere. For years the residents of Barringer’s Pass had enjoyed their private slice of Hollywood, grateful for the money the celebrities pumped into the economy, and tolerant of their occasional excesses. No one wanted to see them leave.

  Except, apparently, the planning board and the city council.

  Jase straightened. “Well, thanks, Bill. That tells me what I needed to know.”

  “No problem. You’re about to help start some very exciting times for our town.”

  Not likely. Not unless Bill found excitement in pissing off the Flemming family, in which case things were going to get downright entertaining. And possibly dangerous.

  • • •

  Zoe knew she should have driven her own car as soon as Cal pulled into the Rusty Wire parking lot. She could have made a sharp U-turn instead of being held hostage in a honky-tonk, and risk running into Jase. “Why are we coming here?” she complained from the backseat.

  “Because Sophie said it was fun.” Maggie’s tone said that was reason enough. “Don’t you want to see what it’s like when you aren’t here on business? Besides, Cal and I have never been here.”

  “I was content to leave it that way,” Cal grumbled. “You know I’m not much for dancing.”

  Maggie patted his shoulder. “Poor baby.” She turned toward Zoe. “Let’s face it, you and I have been snobs for too long. We restrict ourselves to the classy clubs, and bars at the resort, and we never mingle with the hometown crowd.”

  “With good reason,” Zoe reminded her. Restoring their reputation meant only being seen at classier places. It also didn’t hurt that the resort visitors had never heard of the Larkin girls. Deflecting old rumors wore on the nerves.

  Maggie gave her a determined look. “I’m through trying to prove to this town that I’m respectable, and you should be, too. If they can’t see it by now, then forget them.”