Heaving the luggage out of the back of the car, I slammed the trunk shut. After four days in Florida, I was fucking freezing and couldn’t wait to get inside where there might be heat and shelter from the cold wind. It looked like it had snowed some more while we were gone.
“I should warn you that she can be difficult. She’s used to getting her own way and when she doesn’t, she thinks she can negotiate a settlement somewhere in between. I put it down to being in Congress.”
Interesting perspective. I hadn’t noticed our elected lawmakers negotiating or compromising on anything the last several years. But hey, I might be wrong.
I did appreciate a strong-willed woman though, especially since I was dating one. I was anxious to meet Ashlyn’s grandmother and wanted to make a good impression. I’d seen the senator on television several times and she always appeared to be passionately advocating for her constituents and working to make her state a better place. I wasn’t strongly political but that seemed like what we paid our representatives to do.
“I can’t wait to meet your grandmother,” I assured Ashlyn as she unlocked the front door. “I can’t stay long, though. I have to go pick up Sam from George’s place.”
“You’ll give him a kiss and hug from me?”
“George or Sam?” I teased, placing her suitcase and backpack on the floor in the foyer. The whole house was lit up like an airport runway. Clearly the senator wasn’t worried about conserving energy. Perhaps she was afraid to be on her own after dark so she’d turned on all the lights. “I ask because I’m not kissing George. You’ll have to do it yourself.”
Ashlyn didn’t laugh at my joke, however. Her attention was drawn to the far side of the living room and my gaze followed hers. A white-haired woman about Ashlyn’s height was standing there in a lavender jogging suit and big pink fuzzy slippers.
Senator Roslyn Caldwell.
I recognized her from “Meet the Press”. She held out her arms, her smile widening, and Ashlyn flew into them. A loving reunion that I was happy to witness. Moving forward, I held out my hand to greet the older woman as her gaze fell upon me.
She was still smiling but her gaze was appraising, looking me up and down and deciding if she approved of me. I’d had worse from distrustful parents. I could do this and win her over.
“Hi, I’m Kyle Lewis, Ashlyn’s boyfriend. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Senator Caldwell.”
“It’s nice to meet you, young man. I didn’t realize Ashlyn was seeing anyone.”
Clearly, I was a surprise.
“I was going to tell you, Gran, when I visited next month.” Ashlyn reached up and hugged her grandmother again. “Why didn’t you call? I could have had Emmy or Shelby meet you at the airport.”
“I rented a car. I am capable of that despite my advanced age. As for calling, it was a spontaneous decision to come. I didn’t know if I would be able to get away until last night. I flew in this morning. Now where have you been, child? You look tan.”
Advanced age? Roslyn Caldwell radiated energy and vitality. I wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley. From what I’d seen tonight and on television, she might wrestle alligators for relaxation.
Giggling, Ashlyn shook her head and then took my hand, giving me a loving look. Thank goodness, she’d remembered that we were supposed to be in love. “We were in Florida for a tech convention. Kyle was the keynote speaker. I’m surprised you didn’t see it in the news.”
It was clear from the senator’s expression that she’d known who I was before I walked into the house. She must have seen the photos online.
“Actually, I did see it. One of my aides gave me a transcript of the speech but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. I am looking forward to it.”
“I hope you enjoy it.”
She turned her attention back to Ashlyn.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m here unannounced.”
If Ashlyn wasn’t, I was.
“Is everything okay, Gran? Are you sick?”
Roslyn Caldwell snorted. “Sick? Germs are terrified of me. No, I’m not sick. I’m here to help you.”
I had a bad feeling about this. Really bad. My radar was picking up on some bad mojo.
“Help me?” Ashlyn echoed, her brows pinched together. “What do you mean?”
“With my help, we’ll turn that town council around and squash this technical campus idea. Together we can do it.”
This was going to be awkward.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ashlyn
I practically pushed Kyle out of the door, begging him with my eyes not to engage with my grandmother. He’d gone reluctantly. I could see that he wanted to discuss the technical campus and tell her all the wonderful reasons that it should be built, but he didn’t know Roslyn Caldwell. It wasn’t easy to get her to change her mind, but I’d had much more practice at it.
Of course, the open question was…
Did I want her to change her mind?
While the relationship between Kyle and I had changed, my thoughts on the location for the campus hadn’t. I wanted those old homes saved and if my grandmother could make that happen, I wasn’t exactly against that.
I wasn’t against Kyle, either. I’d shown him other options for the location. He’d said they weren’t as good but were they good enough? I didn’t know. I also didn’t want a war between the two people I loved most. That I was sure of.
“You certainly surprised me,” I said after watching the taillights of Kyle’s car disappear into the night. “I didn’t think I’d see you until Easter.”
“You act like you’re not happy to see me. If you’d returned my messages you would have known I was coming.”
Gran had never been one for small talk or inane pleasantries. I’d always admired that about her and even now it made it easier. We weren’t going to pretend or tiptoe around the subject. Straight and to the point. That’s what she’d always say to me when I was growing up.
“I am happy to see you. I’m just not sure I’m as happy about the reason you’re here.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were dating Kyle Lewis?”
Turning from the front window, I padded on sock feet into the kitchen. “I’m going to make some hot chocolate. Do you want some?”
“If whiskey isn’t a choice, then yes. Are you going to answer my question?”
“Yes, but I’m going to get this started first.” I poured milk into a saucepan. “I didn’t tell you I was dating Kyle because I rarely tell you about my dates, Gran.”
“Until you get serious with one,” Gran agreed with a nod. “So you’re not serious about this one?”
“I am,” I admitted, stirring the sugar and cocoa into the milk. “But that’s a recent development and I hadn’t had a chance to tell you yet. Kyle’s amazing. You’re going to love him.”
Because hating him simply wasn’t an option. If anything, Kyle and my grandmother had much in common. Both driven and ambitious but loving with the people around them.
“I’m sure that I will but there is the open question of where the technical campus will be built.”
I poured the hot chocolate into two mugs and handed one to Gran. “Kyle and I have talked this subject to death. He’s researched this back and forth and he assures me that the houses are too old and rundown to be saved. He says that they’re a hazard and that someone could get hurt. He’s having structural engineer see if one or two can be saved and he might restore those and make them part of the campus.”
Gran took a sip of her cocoa and then sat down at the table. “What if the engineers say that none of them can be saved? Or all them?”
Warily, I sat down at the table across from Gran. “I don’t know but at this point it doesn’t matter. The town council has given him and his company preliminary permission to start planning. Of course, they’ll want to approve the final design and such.”
“Of course. But why leave it up to your boyfriend? What if we could change the council’s
mind? What if we could get those homes saved?”
“That’s a lot of what-ifs, Gran.”
“You have to think big. Do you really want to save those homes?”
Yes, but I also didn’t want to throw all my energies into a project that wasn’t going to pan out from the beginning. If the houses were in as bad shape as Kyle believed, I’d be wasting my time.
“I do, but they may not be able to be saved. That’s what he’s waiting on.”
“We could get our own engineers.”
I doubted they’d be any better than Kyle’s. I was sure he’d hired the best.
“Even if they say something different, it would be expensive to restore the homes.”
Gran shrugged. “We could do fundraisers, get a few corporate sponsors. Arborville needs to make an investment of their own, of course. It would be the town that would reap the benefits in more tourists.”
My grandmother had been in Washington DC too long, I think.
“Gran, when you say Arborville what you really mean is the taxpayers. You want the taxpayers to pay to restore the houses. What do they get in return?”
“They would get to brag that they had a restored historic district and it just might bring in money and tourists. But what I meant was that Arborville will take control of the restoration, not necessarily pay for it. Why are you arguing with me about this, Ashlyn Rose? You said this is what you wanted the last time we spoke. Now I’m here to help you.”
“That was before–”
I broke off when I saw the expression on Gran’s face. Sour. She looked…sour.
“You mean before you met Kyle Lewis.”
“No, before I talked with him about this project. I don’t want the taxpayers to be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars and I don’t think you do, either. Or do you?”
“The town will find investors other than Kyle Lewis. I have a few connections that can help.”
There was no doubt in my mind that Gran knew a bunch of wealthy people. She’d be in politics long enough and she’s traveled and hobnobbed with the filthy rich all over the world. But that didn’t mean any of them wanted to invest in a small town in the middle of cows and corn.
“You sound like you have a plan.”
She sat back, a satisfied smile on her face. “I do. Stop worrying about the money. When we’re done here, people will be lined up to pay for the restoration. Maybe even your young man.”
Gran was being incredibly optimistic.
“I doubt that very much.”
“Then someone else will. You seem quite taken with this man, Ashlyn. Your grandfather wanted me to give up the law to stay home and cook and clean, but I couldn’t do it. Are you thinking that you’re going to give up what you believe in because you might be in love? That doesn’t sound like you, and it’s not how I raised you.”
It didn’t sound like me and it certainly wasn’t how I’d been raised.
“I’m just being practical.”
“Practically a doormat,” Gran scoffed, her brows raised. “You’ve just folded your tent and given up. All for a man. A man far different from yourself. I brought you up to respect the past. He doesn’t respect anything but science and technology.”
“That’s not true,” I denied hotly. “You don’t even know Kyle. He’s not like that. He has a great respect for the past.”
“So much respect that he’s going to take a wrecking ball to an entire city block of historic homes? You have a funny way of defining respect, Ashlyn.”
“You’re twisting my words. I’m not your political opponent, I’m your granddaughter. This isn’t about winning.”
“I want you to be happy. Is it so terrible that I have doubts about whether you’d be happy with Kyle Lewis?”
“You’ve never liked any of my boyfriends.”
Not a one, in fact.
“Because your taste in men is questionable. Can you honestly look me in the eye and say that you and Kyle Lewis have a future? That you can make it work?”
I had been thinking that, but clearly Gran thought I was either crazy or dumb. Maybe both.
“I think that I’m a grown woman and can make these decisions for myself.”
“Good,” Gran pronounced with a firm nod. “Then you can decide whether you want to give up the fight for those homes.”
I was smack dab in the middle of a hot mess.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Kyle
When I picked up Sam last night, George had assured me that I just needed a good night’s sleep in my own bed. I’d feel better and this entire situation wouldn’t look like a huge fuckup.
He was a big old liar.
I didn’t feel any better and I’d already had a large coffee and a lemon poppyseed muffin. Normally, that was enough to put me in a great mood.
Sam, on the other hand, was thrilled that I was home and had taken to following me around the house even more than usual, just in case I decided to make a break for Florida again. I’d almost tripped over him several times this morning.
“You lied to me,” I stated to George the minute he showed up at the house. “Are your pants on fire?”
Languidly, he turned to check the back of his jeans as he entered and headed straight for the kitchen. “Don’t think so. What did I lie about? If I did though, I’m sure it was for your own good.”
“You told me it would be better this morning. It’s not.”
George retrieved a soda can from the fridge and popped it open. “I did say that. Is Ashlyn not answering your texts?”
“She’s answered them.”
“Then what’s so terrible? Did she break up with you?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you that you’re a horrible man and she hates you?”
“No.”
“But everything isn’t better? She’s still your girlfriend. That has to count for something. That woman hasn’t talked her out of dating you.”
“That woman is her grandmother. We need to be respectful.”
Flipping open his briefcase, George pulled out a single sheet of paper. “Are you sure we have to be? Because when you read that you might not feel so kindly toward the old battle axe.”
I wasn’t sure what I was looking at and I was so distracted it was difficult to concentrate.
“What am I looking at?”
“That is a copy of a city permit. Senator Caldwell received that last week. Tuesday, to be exact. She’s going to have a demonstration at the location of those old houses on the twenty-first. When you told me she was in town, I called a contact in the mayor’s office this morning. He gave me that.”
Tuesday. She’d had the permit since Tuesday. That was before Ashlyn and I left for Florida.
“She said she just came into town yesterday.”
George shrugged. “She might have. She probably has a huge staff of aides to do admin work like this.”
“So she knew she was going to come to Arborville. It wasn’t as last minute as she made it sound.”
“Yep.” He pulled another piece of paper from his briefcase and held it out. “This is why I’m so late today. You need to see this. I called in a couple of favors to get that.”
“This looks like polling results.”
“It is. That’s the latest poll results between Senator Caldwell and the nominee from the other party. She’s down five points. If you read more closely through that, people said they thought she was out of touch with rural hometown America.”
“Like Arborville,” I finished for him. “You’re saying that she’s doing this to raise her poll numbers? That’s crazy talk, man. She’s here to help her one and only granddaughter.”
“I’m sure she is. But this will help her too, Kyle.”
I couldn’t believe it.
“Some small town gathering about some houses? I doubt it. No one will ever even know.”
George laughed and plopped down on my sofa, Sam jumping up next to him. “I love that you remain above the poli
tical fray but sometimes that makes you incredibly naive, my friend. I didn’t come here without doing my homework. I called a few of the larger hotels in town. They’re completely booked starting the twentieth. By who? Let me tell you before you even ask. The press. National press. She’s using this – and you, by the way – to up her poll numbers. What is more homespun than going after the big, bad millionaire that programs robots taking everyone’s job?”
“I don’t do that,” I said, desperation in my tone. This sounded like a clusterfuck in the making. How could I get it cancelled? “I don’t take people’s jobs. I create jobs.”
“I bet that’s not how she’s going to make it sound. Listen, I’ve already called in our PR firm and they’re on this. But you better be, too. She’s playing to win. Are you?”
Yes. No. Wait. What about Ashlyn?
“Do you think Ashlyn knows?”
“Doubtful. Do you?”
I thought about it for a moment but then shook my head. There was no way she had any clue as to what her beloved grandmother was up to.
“No, no way. I think she thinks that the senator is truly here to help her.”
“And she may be. But she’s also thinking about using this for herself. You? You’re not in the equation, my friend. In fact, you may be in the way. She might be telling Ashlyn right this minute that she could do a hell of a lot better than you.”
This was bad. So very bad.
Frankly, the location for the technical center simply wasn’t this important. I could relocate it if I truly needed to and it was looking like it was becoming more of a distraction.
“Remember when I told you to look again at those other locations?”
“I do.”
“Let’s pick one. Nip all of this in the bud. We can tell the town council today that we’re passing on the first location. It will make Ashlyn happy and she won’t be caught in this tug of war between me and her grandmother.”
“The engineering report should come in soon. You don’t want to wait?”
I shook my head, my mind already thinking about the possibilities of a new location. “There’s no reason to wait. It’s a moot point. I’ll tell Ashlyn after we talk to the town council and get their tentative okay.”
Tease Him (ManTrap Book 2) Page 14