“You can’t do that. The deadline’s passed.”
“There’s nothing in the policy that says all six hundred have to be present at the deadline.”
“That’s the whole point.”
“Maybe,” she allowed. “Maybe not. But if you don’t approve the referendum, I’ll have to meet you in court so we can let a judge decide.”
“Fightin’ words, Ms. Carroll.”
“You have paint on your jacket, Mr. Mayor.”
He followed her gaze to the finger-shaped smears of peach where she’d gripped his sleeves. He blew out a heavy sigh.
“You’re a regular walking disaster.”
She stifled a smile. “I’ll pay for the dry-cleaning.”
He shrugged. “Sadly, the jacket barely registers on my radar today. There’s also a problem with your property survey on file at the Lands Office.”
The sudden change in topic took her by surprise.
“What problem?” She scrambled to figure out his new angle.
“Mountain Railway’s lawyers did some research—”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” she interrupted. “You are not going to mess around with my land—”
“I’m not messing around—”
“I don’t care who you are, Seth Jacobs.” She closed the space between them, tapping her index finger against his chest. “I will not be—”
“You own more land than you thought,” Seth all but shouted over her, grasping her paint-smeared hand and dragging it away from him.
“Huh?”
“The mistake is bad for me. I’m not here to cheat. Not that you don’t deserve someone who plays dirty.”
While he spoke, Seth suspiciously checked his shirtfront. “There was a mistake made in the survey record back in 1893. It turns out your land goes across the rail right-of-way. That being the case, we’ll be asking you for an easement.” He stopped talking.
The breeze gusted up from the lake, while songbirds darted from tree to tree.
“Are you saying I own more land?” She struggled to wrap her head around the news.
“Yes. The Lands Office will redraft your plan to match the one on the official file,” Seth said.
“So the train would come across my land?”
“If you grant an easement,” he confirmed.
“I don’t see that happening.”
“Neither do I,” he admitted. “So I’ll expropriate your land.”
“You can’t do that.” If it was her land, she should have a say.
“Yes,” he told her firmly, “I can.”
She believed him. “I’ll fight you.”
Their relationship was about to get more adversarial than ever.
“You can’t fight me on this one. And a petition won’t help.”
“Do you enjoy being the bad guy?” asked Darby.
“I’ve never been the bad guy. And I’m the good guy now. It’s what the people want, Darby. Accept it and move on.”
“A referendum will tell you what the people want.”
He shook his head and drew away, looking every inch in control. “The election already told me that.”
* * *
“What happens if they succeed?” Travis asked Seth from the passenger seat of the mayor’s official car.
“Succeed at what?” Seth asked, needing Travis to narrow the question down. Darby Carroll was uppermost on his mind, but as mayor, he was battling problems on a whole lot of fronts right now.
The two men were driving along the River Road on the way to a Rodeo Association dinner. Seth was at the wheel of his official vehicle, working hard at avoiding potholes.
“Succeed in getting the railway referendum.”
“They didn’t get enough signatures.”
“It might not matter,” said Travis. “Abigail read the bylaw, and Darby isn’t wrong. There’s nothing specifically stopping her from submitting additional signatures after the petition is filed.”
“It’s going in front of Judge Hawthorn.”
“So?”
“So, he grew up in the Valley. Half his family is still in ranching.”
Travis frowned. “You’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”
“I’m saying Judge Hawthorn will give us a straight-up reading of the bylaw and the intent of the bylaw. He’s not going to go looking for esoteric little loopholes to derail progress.”
“He’s honor bound to follow the law.”
Seth splashed the car through a puddle, knowing he’d have to get it washed yet again. “Exactly. I’m counting on that.”
Red and yellow leaves fluttered in bursts from the woods, ticking their way across the windshield. Seth rounded a corner and came to a rolling field where cattle dotted the golden wheatgrass. Snow was gathering on the high, distant peaks, and a chill blew down from the mountains.
He angled the car into the gravel parking lot of the association’s clubhouse, sliding it between a powder-blue pickup and a steel-gray SUV.
“Anything I can do to help?” Travis asked as they exited the car.
“I’m the one who ran for office,” Seth responded, knowing, for better or worse, he was getting what he’d signed up for, and it was his responsibility to deal with the problems.
“If you’ll recall, I tried to talk you out of it.”
“I recall,” Seth admitted.
He and his younger brother had had many lively arguments about his plan to become mayor.
“Are you saying I was right?” Travis pressed.
“I’m saying we’ve hit a snag.” A very beautiful, very compelling, very sexy little snag.
“What’s up with that expression?” Travis asked.
“What expression?” Seth focused on schooling his features.
“You looked kind of sappy there for a minute.”
“I’m not sappy. I’m nervous. I have to give a speech now.”
Travis scoffed out a laugh. “Liar. You’ve never been afraid of a podium before.”
“It’s been a tough week.” With no interest in explaining further, Seth left Travis behind and strode into the crowded room.
There, he immediately spotted Darby.
There were a couple hundred people in the clubhouse, but his attention seemed to zero in on her like a heat-seeking missile. He hadn’t expected her to be here.
Bad enough she was haunting his dreams. Did she also have to stalk his reality? The rodeo people were hardly her usual crowd. They were the ranchers, the hard-liners, the ones who were most angry at her stance on the railroad. She’d never get their support on a referendum or anything else.
But there she was, standing boldly in the lion’s den. She wore a short, steel-gray skirt and a soft, gray, sparkly sweater, with black tights and black ankle boots that had a distinctly Western flair. Her wavy, auburn hair, which cascaded past her shoulders, was tucked behind her ears to show off a pair of dangling black earrings.
“Looking sappy again,” joked Travis from behind him.
Ignoring his brother, Seth kept walking, moving closer to her.
As he made his way across the room, she was approached by Joe Harry. Joe was a big, ambling cowboy who’d barely made it through high school. He could work all day and party all night, but he wasn’t the sharpest nail in the toolbox, and social niceties had never been his strong suit.
He was clearly agitated, towering above Darby, face contorted, gesticulating as he spoke. Her expression became pinched under the onslaught, and Seth quickened his pace.
“…don’t know where the hell you get off,” Joe was saying, “messing around with the things in this Valley. My family has lived here for a hundred years.”
“As has mine,” she returned. “My aunt—”
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“But not you, missy.” Joe waggled a finger in her face. “You’re as new and—”
“Hello, Joe.” Seth clapped the man firmly on the shoulder and held out his hand to shake. “I hear you gave Reed Terrell a run for his money in steer wrestling this year.”
The interruption seemed to rattle Joe. It took a moment, but then he put out his hand to shake Seth’s.
“Came second in overall points,” he confirmed.
“Way to go,” Seth said heartily. “That’s impressive.”
He gave Darby a fleeting glance. “Sorry to interrupt here, but I need to have a word with Darby.”
Joe frowned. “I was in the middle—”
“Don’t you worry about it,” Seth said, leaning in and lowering his voice to an overtly conspiratorial level. “I’ve got this one covered.”
“I’ve got some things to say to that woman.”
“I understand your perspective.” Seth nodded, his expression showing Joe he was taking this seriously. “And I do agree with you. My office is working on it.”
Joe gave Darby a disparaging look. “It ain’t right. She ain’t right.”
“I’m working to make it right,” said Seth. “Why don’t you go on over to the bar.” Seth fished into his pocket for the free drink tickets that had come with his invitation for the dinner. He handed Joe a red one. “Have a beer on me.”
“That’s kind of you, Mayor.”
“Enjoy the evening.” Seth turned from Joe to find Darby walking away.
“Hey.” He stepped fast to catch up with her, touching her arm.
“What the hell was that all about?” She shook off his hand.
Seth was taken aback by her tone. “Joe was obviously bothering you.”
“So you thought you’d rescue me?”
Seth’s brain scrambled to make sense of her words. He hadn’t expected outright gratitude, but he had done her a favor here.
“You’d rather I hadn’t?” he asked.
“One kiss does not make me yours to rescue. And I’d rather you gave me a little credit. I can handle a guy like Joe Harry.”
“I didn’t rescue you because I kissed you.”
“You don’t get to rescue me for any reason at all.”
“What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“The usual.”
She’d lost him. “What usual?”
“We’re adversaries.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m not a gentleman.”
“Forgive me if I doubt that declaration,” she barely muttered. “Given your past behavior.”
He didn’t need to be a genius to guess what she meant. He moved in to keep his voice low. “You wanted that kiss as much as I did.”
“I wasn’t talking about the kiss. Besides, I was faking that.”
Seth drew in a frustrated breath, telling himself to regroup. If she was faking it, that was an award-worthy performance. But now was definitely not the time to dwell on the sincerity of her kisses.
“I was trying to stop Joe from making a scene,” he told her instead.
“I had it under control.”
“You think?”
“I think.”
“And what would you have done if he’d gotten out of hand?”
“Elbow him in the solar plexus. Break his nose with the heel of my hand. Knee him in the groin.”
Seth couldn’t help but wince at the last threat.
“Same things I’ll do to you if you get out of hand.”
“Then I’ll be very careful not to get out of hand.”
“Really?” She blinked at him. “When were you planning to start?”
Seth wished Darby would stop making him smile at such inappropriate times. The woman was threatening to emasculate him, but he couldn’t help appreciating her quick retorts.
“You’ve taken self-defense classes?” he asked, trying to keep his amusement under wraps.
“I have.”
“Where?” He wondered if they were offered locally. He hadn’t heard about them.
“The United States Military.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. I’m a soldier. I remain a captain in the army reserve.”
“A captain?”
That explained why she struck him as being so fit, so alert, so incredibly healthy. He couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Yes,” she answered.
“Were you overseas?”
She nodded. “I was.”
“Where?”
“Don’t you have to give a speech?”
“You’ve got me curious.” What else didn’t he know about her?
“Well, you’re going to have to stay curious.”
“I guess you could also shoot me?” he ventured with a grin.
“And I know how to lob a grenade.” This time, it was Darby who was obviously fighting a grin.
“You don’t have any of them on you, though. Grenades, I mean.”
“Not tonight.”
“Good to hear.” Seth fought a strange feeling of warmth growing inside him.
He knew they were adversaries. He knew he shouldn’t be attracted to her, and he sure shouldn’t be flirting with her. Not that talking about grenades would normally be considered flirting. But some kind of energy sparked between them every time they had a conversation. And that spark made him want to keep the conversation going, to get her alone, to take her in his arms and kiss her all over again.
He knew his reaction was reckless and unprofessional, but it was also impossible to fight.
Four
Despite her own best intentions, Darby found herself engaging with Seth’s speech. On stage in front of the Rodeo Association, he was keeping the two-hundred-odd members of the audience entertained and laughing with his anecdotes of previous rodeos. She hated to admit it, but she could definitely see how he’d been elected. He had an almost electric presence in front of a crowd, while keeping his stories down to earth in a way that obviously spoke to the cowboys in the audience.
The crowd was friendly to the railway, and when he closed with a plug for it, they erupted in enthusiastic applause.
With dinner over, she said goodbye to the other occupants at her table. They’d been polite but cool throughout the evening. There was no need for her to guess they were on Seth’s side of the railway debate. Most people in Lyndon now knew who she was and what she was trying to accomplish.
When she turned from the table, she nearly walked into Seth.
“Heading home?” he asked, without backing off an inch.
“No. I’m going to stay and mingle,” she responded. “Chat with the citizens.”
Other people were rising from their chairs in the big hall, too, moving around to visit with each other. Darby’s back was flush against her table, but a steady stream of guests passed behind Seth.
“You sure that’s such a good idea?” he asked in the rising din of conversation.
“It’s why I’m here.”
His tone was serious. “The cowboys have been taking advantage of the bar, and you know you’re a lightning rod.”
She settled her small bag firmly on her shoulder, squaring them both to show she meant business. “I told you earlier. I can take care of myself.”
“Fair enough. I’m just worried about the other guys.”
“You’re worried about your precious railroad.”
“I don’t want another Joe Harry incident.”
“I’ll avoid him.”
“There are too many like Joe Harry for you to avoid them all. Why not wait until the judge rules on the referendum? You don’t even know yet if we’ll have one.”
“Oh, you’d love a head start.�
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“If he doesn’t rule in your favor, all of this, the stress, the risk—it will have been a waste of time.”
“I’m not feeling any stress.”
“Well, I sure am. Part of the mayor’s job is to keep the peace.”
“Don’t worry about me, Seth.”
“I do worry about you. And not just that you might get a referendum.”
“I will get a referendum,” she corrected him. “I’m an unstoppable force.”
“And I’m an immovable object.”
“Get out of my way.”
He took a step to one side. “I mean that metaphorically.”
She flexed a satisfied grin. “Oh, how I wish everything in life was that easy.”
“You’re free to move about the reception.”
“I was never asking your permission.” She brushed past him.
She angled toward the patio, where the doors had been thrown wide to let in the fresh air.
It was easy to find people with an opinion on the railway. Most of them disagreed with her, some quite vehemently. But she told them all about the potential referendum, anyway, that the judge would rule in the next few days, and she invited them to review all the facts on her website.
Suddenly, a beefy, powerful arm slipped around her neck, trapping her. She automatically threw an elbow backward, connecting with his ribs. The man grunted in pain, but his grip only tightened and he dragged her backward and off balance.
“Joe!” she heard Seth shout, and there was a sound of boots hitting the floor at a run.
Darby elbowed her captor again, earning another grunt along with a shot of pain running up her arm. Joe lifted her all the way off the floor, and she was struggling to breathe. She kicked backward, but her heels skidded against the side of his legs. Without a visual, it was hard to land a direct hit.
Then Seth was there, wrenching Joe’s arm. Seth’s brother, Travis, grabbed Joe from the other side.
“Let her go!” Seth demanded, sheer violence in his tone as he yanked on the big man’s arm. “Right now, Joe. Right now.”
The pressure eased on Darby’s neck, telling her Seth was succeeding. But Joe didn’t let her go completely, and she was still pressed against his body.
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