Grabbing his phone, he called the number listed on the letterhead and asked for David Coleman. The phone was answered by a woman who sounded much too pert and cheery for his mood.
“Mr. Coleman’s office, may I help you?”
“Is he in? Will he be there for a bit?”
“May I ask who’s calling?”
“My name is Scott Sampson, and I need to see Mr. Coleman on an urgent matter. I’ll be swingin’ by in about fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. Tell him to expect me. I’m sure he’ll make time.”
“Scott Sampson,” she repeated, thinking the man on the phone sounded like someone not to be debated. “Yes, Mr. Sampson, I’ll tell him. We’ll see you shortly.”
Ending the call, Scott raced up the stairs, unlocked his wooden truck, and moving aside his decadent implements, he picked up the box holding the saddlebags and both notes left by Cathy’s mother.
“All right, Coleman, you and me are gonna have a real serious talk.”
When Sally Pearce buzzed David Coleman and told him that a man named Scott Sampson was on his way in to meet with him, David was immediately intrigued. Was Scott coming by to tell him that he and Cathy were now dating, and he thought Scott should know? What else could it be, but then he had an uncomfortable thought.
“Did Scott find out I was behind that trainer leasing his barn?” he muttered. “No, Matt is sworn to secrecy. There’s no way Scott could know. Maybe he saw Marianne and me at Bellisimo last night. Yes, that’s what it will be. The coincidence is too strong. He’s probably on his way to explain.”
Satisfied that’s what the meeting would be about, and glad he’d been able to get Marianne out of the restaurant before she’d realized Cathy’s well-dressed date was Scott Sampson, David focused back on his work, and when Sally knocked on his door and ushered Scott into his office, David rose from his desk and walked around to greet him.
“Scott, what a pleasant surprise, what brings you here? Is that for Cathy, or for her parents,” he joked, eyeing the box Scott was carrying.
“Would you like some coffee, Mr. Sampson?” Sally asked, standing in the doorway.
“No, no thank you,” Scott replied solemnly.
The deep frown on Scott’s face sent a chill through David’s body. Something was wrong, and he wondered if it was about the deal he’d made with the trainer after all. Wordlessly the secretary left, closing the door behind her, and as it clicked shut, Scott sent David a scathing look.
“Please, have a seat,” David said, his smile fading under Scott’s accusatory gaze.
“I won’t be sittin’,” Scott said, continuing to glower at him.
“Okay, I’m sensing something is wrong here,” David said carefully, moving back behind his desk and sitting down. “Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?”
“Are you kiddin’ me?” Scott barked. “First your wife, and now you? I don’t know your angle, but I’ve had enough! It’s gotta stop, it’s gotta stop now, right now, or it’s not gonna end well for any of, most especially Cathy.”
Shocked, and feeling a shard of fear ripple through his heart, David jumped to his feet.
“Scott, take a breath, I honestly don’t know why you’re so angry, but I swear to you, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t take me for a fool,” Scott growled. “I may not be Ivy League, but I’m a whole lot smarter than you and your wife give me credit for.”
“Would you please, please, tell me what you’re talking about,” David said earnestly, trying to stay calm.
Placing the box on David’s desk, Scott reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and retrieved the manila envelope.
“You don’t know what I’m talkin’ about? You didn’t send me this?” Scott demanded, pulling out the letter agreement and throwing it across to him.
“What’s is it?” David asked, picking it up and scanning the cover letter. “You own land off Route Six?”
“You know I do,” Scott declared, “you’re wantin’ to pay me a bunch of money for it, and somehow it’s gonna end up connectin’ back to your daughter. You may not like that we’ve found each other, but dammit, I love that girl, and she loves me. Not you, or your wife, or any of your crazy schemin’ and plottin’ and havin’ us followed around is gonna change that. You keep this up and you’re only gonna alienate Cathy. Don’t you get that?”
Stunned by Scott’s outburst, and trying to wrap his brain around everything he’d just heard, David sat back down and took a breath.
“Okay, let’s get something straight, I have no problem with you seeing my daughter, none.”
Scott, surprised by the statement, didn’t know how to respond, so he stayed quiet, waiting skeptically to hear what else David had to say.
“About this,” David continued, waving the letter. “I don’t handle these types of transactions, and I didn’t even know you own land out there. Clark Bateman has been looking for road frontage land for a development we’re doing. Look, see? It’s signed by him on the very last page.”
“Say what?” Scott muttered, taking the letter back and looking at the signature.
“Please, Scott, sit down and talk to me. Why did you mention my wife? What does she have to do with Coleman Construction wanting to buy your land, and what’s this about someone following you? You’re not making any sense.”
“I’m not makin’ sense cos I added up two and two and got five,” Scott mumbled. “Damn. You really don’t object to Cathy and me bein’ together?”
“Not one bit!”
“In that case, I guess…”
“You guess what?” David pressed, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.
“I guess you’d better take a look at what’s in here,” Scott said gravely, and feeling a bit chagrined, he pushed the box across David’s desk, then dropped down in one of the chairs. “Before you do though, you might wanna prepare yourself, ‘cos I don’t think you’re gonna be very happy.”
Apprehensively David lifted the lid, and seeing only the saddlebags, he pulled them out and laid them on his desk.
“Is this supposed to mean something to me?”
“It will in a minute,” Scott said grimly. “Open them.”
“Open them?”
“Yep, open them.”
Unbuckling the strap, David moved the flap, and reaching inside, he found several wads of cash.
“What the hell…?”
“There are two envelopes in the box,” Scott continued. “One’s a long letter, the other is just a line. Read the letter.”
“Oh, no,” David grimaced, seeing his wife’s familiar handwriting on the two white envelopes.
“What you’re thinkin’ is right on the money,” Scott said, “and I didn’t mean to make a pun, but, hey, it fits.”
David found the letter, and as he began to read, Scott saw the man’s face turn red, and a deep frown cross his brow. Silent seconds ticked by, then dropping the letter on his desk, David stood up, walked across the room, opened a cabinet, and picking up a crystal decanter he poured two shots of whiskey into heavy glass tumblers. Carrying them back, he handed one to Scott, then sat down in the chair next to him.
“Thanks, I could use this,” Scott said gratefully. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
“I can certainly understand why you did,” David muttered. “Other than that, I’m honestly speechless. You said you’re being followed?”
“Not anymore, at least, I don’t think so. Cathy and I were out the other night, and some joker tailed us to and from the restaurant. Whoever your wife hired, he’s not real good at what he does. I spotted him right off, but I didn’t tell Cathy ‘cos I didn’t wanna freak her out, though she might have seen him too, I dunno.”
“I’m…uh…what’s the right word?” David grunted. “Dumbfounded, that’s it, I’m dumbfounded.”
“Kinda how I felt, how I still feel.”
“I don’t blame you,” David said, shaking this head. “By
the way, I saw you last night at Bellisimo. I managed to keep Marianne away, but just barely.”
“Good thing,” Scott said, taking a drink. “She’s so hellbent on makin’ sure we don’t see each other, there’s no tellin’ what she would’ve done.”
“She didn’t recognize you.”
“That makes sense. I’ve never met her. I’ve only seen the back of her head.”
“You two looked very happy,” David murmured, “very happy indeed.”
“We are, we’re a fit,” Scott said softly.
“Cathy is like her mother, stubborn, strong, and determined, and she needs a man who isn’t afraid of standing his ground,” David remarked. “Regardless of what my wife thinks, I believe you’re a man like that, and I believe you’ll be good for her.”
“Thank you, David, I appreciate that. You don’t mind me callin’ you David?”
“Lord, no.”
“So, whatta we gonna do now? How can we spare Cathy a drama?”
“That’s one question,” David sighed. “We might not be able to. The other is, what am I going to do about that money and my wife?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It was Wednesday morning when Scott next heard from David Coleman.
Cathy had stayed the night, and was about to leave when the call came in. The phone was sitting on the kitchen table, and when she saw her father’s name on the screen, she darted her eyes across at Scott in surprise.
“It’s dad,” she exclaimed. “Why is he calling you?”
“I guess I’m about to find out,” Scott replied reaching for the phone.
“Why does he even have your number?”
“Hold on,” he said quickly, having no idea how to answer her. “Hello?”
“Hi, Scott, I’ve been thinking about our problem, and I believe I have a way of helping along Marianne’s acceptance of you.”
“That’s great,” Scott said, feeling Cathy’s eyes on him as he moved around the kitchen.
“It’s going to involve Cathy though, so the three of us need to get together.”
“That sounds fine. I hope the land will work real well for you.”
“Sorry?”
“She’s right here. I’ve been waitin’ to tell her. I didn’t want her to know until we had a deal.”
“Oh, I see,” David muttered. “If you haven’t already told her you came to see me, and that I’m happy about the two of you seeing each other, you need to do that right away.”
“Will do. When would like us to come by?”
“After lunch? Around two-o’clock?”
“Sounds good. If it works for her, we’ll be there, otherwise I’ll call you back.”
Ending the call, Scott turned around and looked sheepishly at Cathy’s frowning face.
“What’s going on? Since when were you and dad such good friends?”
“I should have told you sooner, and honestly, I meant to tell you when you came over last night, but…”
“But you were too busy ripping my clothes off and tying me up?”
“How did you enjoy bein’ in a spreader bar?” he asked, lowering his voice as he moved back to her. “Not bein’ able to squeeze your legs together when you climaxed was intense, huh?”
Her stomach tumbled, and a wash of heat flooded her body as she recalled the salacious events from the night before.
“It was,” she murmured, gazing into his eyes, then she realized she was being distracted, and forced herself back to the present. “Don’t think you can get out this by saying things like that,” she scolded. “What’s up with you and my dad?”
“When I was fallin’ asleep I promised myself I’d tell you over breakfast,” he admitted, “but I changed my mind. I wanted to wait until I had all the news, and that my deal with your dad was done.”
“Deal? What deal?”
“Why don’t we sit down and have another cuppa coffee.”
“No, I don’t need to sit down, I need to know what you and my father have been cooking up. Does he know about us?”
“Yep, and he’s real happy about it.”
“He is? Why didn’t you tell me?” she exclaimed, punching his arm.
“Damn, girl, you’ve got a mean fist!”
“When did you find this out?”
“On Monday, and I didn’t see you on Monday night, so-“
“Monday? You’ve known about this since Monday?” she shrilled.
“Like I said, I-“
“Tell me everything,” she demanded, cutting him off.
“After you left on Monday mornin’, I found a letter from Coleman Construction on my doorstep askin’ if I’d sell them some land. It’s five acres frontin’ Route Six.”
“Really? It must have something to do with the equestrian park.”
“Yep, they want it for a parkin’ lot, so rather than call, I decided to head on down to your dad’s office and talk to him in person, not just about the land, but about us.”
“And he gave us his blessing?”
“He did, but he was worried about your mother. He still is.”
“No kidding!”
“On the phone just now, he told me the changes I wanted in the deal have been made, and he said he thinks he knows how to get your mom on board about you and me. He wants us to go over there this afternoon. I’ll sign the papers at the same time.”
“This is such great news!”
“The money from the sale is gonna finance all the work I wanna do around here, and then some. It’s gonna mean I’ll be finished by the end of summer, maybe sooner.”
“That’s fantastic,” she said excitedly, “but I’m still mad at you for not calling me the minute you left his office on Monday.”
“You’re right,” he said apologetically. “I’m sorry. There was just so much on my mind. Do you forgive me?”
“I don’t know,” she said, pretending to pout.
“I wanna make it up to you. What can I do?” he asked, putting his arms around her. “How’s about I spank you until you realize you should.”
“What kind of an offer is that? I don’t think so,” she said, staring at him wide-eyed, “and I think we should make a promise not to have any secrets.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Of course. Do you want me to keep things from you? Do you want to keep things from me? That doesn’t sound right.”
“Let me ask you. Are there any secrets you’ve been keeping since we started goin’ out?”
Cathy felt her face immediately flush red, and looked up at the ceiling, trying to decide if she should tell him about them being followed that one night.
“I thought as much,” he said knowingly. “We all have little secrets, sometimes big ones. Do you want to tell me what you were thinkin’ about just now?”
“I, uh, I do,” she said, “but it’s…”
“Difficult?”
“Yes, it’s difficult.”
“Secrets usually are.”
“I was being watched and followed. It was only one night, the night you took me to the diner, and it was someone working for my mother, I’m sure of it.”
“That’s somethin’ you should’ve told me about right away. What if it had been a stalker?”
“I knew it wasn’t,” she sighed, “and I didn’t want you to know how crazy mother can be.”
“I guess I should tell you, I knew about it. I saw him too.”
“Then you should’ve told me,” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I though your mother was behind it as well, and I didn’t wanna upset you.”
“Why did you think my mother had anything to do with it? Having us followed is pretty extreme.”
“Let’s just say, she warned me off. She’s not crazy about her beautiful daughter datin’ a cowboy like me. Maybe she was havin’ someone watchin’ you like a bodyguard, makin’ sure you were safe..”
“When you say, warned you off, what exactly happened?”
>
“I’m not ready to tell you about that yet,” he said firmly. “Now what do you think about secrets? If you make a pledge, you’ve gotta keep it. You can’t just do it when it suits you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Quick example, you wanna know why I’m home late one night, and it’s because I’m plannin’ somethin’ special for you. I’ll have to tell you.”
“But, uh, that’s different.”
“How?”
She paused, pondering his words, and slowly nodded her head.
“I see what you mean.”
“I’ll make the promise if you want me to,” he said soberly, “but…”
“I get it,” she sighed. “Let’s promise not to keep important things from each other, serious things.”
“I’ll do that,” he said, thinking about the saddlebags of cash, “but there’s an old sayin’, ignorance is bliss.”
“I suppose,” she agreed.
“Any other confessions?”
“I’ll have to think about it,” she smiled, “but besides all that, you’re still not off the hook.”
“Okay,” he grinned. “Whatta you want from me?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something,” she grinned. “Now I have to go. I’m meeting a client for lunch, but I’ll see you at dad’s office at two.”
“Okay, sugar. I really like him, by the way. He’s a neat guy.”
“Yeah, he is,” she said proudly. “I’m dying to hear what he’s come up with, and I’m glad I put off talking to mom.”
“Things have a habit of workin’ themselves out if you’re patient enough.”
“Very true,” she laughed. “Okay, I’m hitting the road. I want to ride Cinnamon before I have to meet my client for lunch.”
Scott walked her out to her car and kissed her goodbye, then returning to the kitchen, he called David back.
“Hey, sorry about that,” David said. “I should have asked if it was a good time to talk.”
“No problem, but I hate keepin’ secrets from her. It doesn’t fell right. I don’t wanna upset the apple cart, but what her mother tried to do, that’s a big thing to keep quiet. I’m not comfortable doin’ that.”
Her Forbidden Cowboy (Cowboys After Dark Book 12) Page 16