Bashful Banker (River's End Ranch Book 30)

by Cindy Caldwell

  His cheeks heated and he nodded as Mrs. Weston turned to head toward the main house. Likely to break the news about the Halloween shindig, if he knew her.

  As he turned to head back in to his breakfast—and Olivia—he realized it would be a bit of a challenge, keeping this latest development from her. He wasn’t even sure where the documents were, and she’d be going through everything with him.

  As he passed Jaclyn, she smiled and nodded, then turned and looked straight at Olivia.

  He’d been so focused on the matter at hand that he hadn’t noticed that she was actually very pretty—lovely, even. Her shiny, jet black hair was in a ponytail and it set off her ivory skin and blue, blue eyes. Almost as blue as the Westons, he noticed as he sat down.

  Great. He shouldn’t even be thinking about things like that. Hopefully, they could give Jaclyn—and maybe Joshua, too, from the way he stared at Fred and scribbled on a notepad—a wide berth. He had no time for any silly business. The clock was ticking and Halloween was right around the corner. They had tons of work to do and no time to mess around.

  The Westons were his biggest clients—and beyond that, friends. Lifelong friends. He would do whatever it took to make their dream a reality, and he felt a tug in his belly as he sat down, knowing he couldn’t share the biggest part with Olivia, who had so kindly offered to help him.

  “I hope your spicy sausage omelet with carmelized onions and cotija cheese isn’t cold.”

  “Mm, smells great,” he said as he placed his napkin back on his lap and reached for his fork.

  “What was that all about?” she asked as she cut into her omelet and sighed.

  “Nothing. Nothing at all,” he said as their eyes met, and then he quickly looked away.

  Chapter 7

  Fred paid the check and waved at Joni and Kelsi on their way out the door. Olivia smiled and nodded at them, and noticed that Jaclyn was staring at her. The other man she’d seen across the cafe had gone, and Olivia returned her smile as they passed by.

  “I live over by the RV park and I make a mean snickerdoodle. Please come visit me sometime,” she said as they walked by the counter.

  “Oh, thank you. I think I’ll be pretty busy while I’m here, but I appreciate the offer.”

  Simon turned and looked at her, smiling. “Either you go to her or she’ll come to you,” he said before he turned around and held up his mug for more coffee.

  Jaclyn smiled broadly even as she nudged Simon in the ribs with her elbow. “I’ll see you again soon,” she said as Fred and Olivia made their way out of the cafe.

  “What was that all about?” she asked Fred as they walked over toward the main house. She had to take two steps for every one of his to keep up with him.

  “What?” he asked as they neared the big log building up ahead.

  She followed him into the building and down a corridor, past what looked like a restaurant. He finally stopped in an office and stopped quickly.

  She ran right into him as she said, “That Jaclyn woman, and Simon. And that other guy. Why would she want me to come and meet her? Go to her house?”

  Regaining her balance as he held onto her arm, she looked up and into the face of a nice-looking young woman who looked vaguely like Kelsi at the diner, but with much shorter hair that was darker. Not blonde.

  “Hello, Fred,” she said as she stood from her desk and peered around him at Olivia.

  “Hello, Dani,” he said slowly as he pulled Olivia out to the center of the room.

  She held out her hand and smiled at the woman, not before noticing that Fred’s cheeks were turning red and Dani was looking everywhere but at Fred. This must be the person he’d referred to earlier when—well, his cheeks had reddened then, too.

  “Hi, I’m Olivia Hamilton. I’m here to help with the audit,” she said with the brightest smile she could muster, hoping that she could mitigate the discomfort radiating in the room. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but as she shook Dani’s hand, she noticed the wedding ring on her finger. So they weren’t dating, unless Fred was married and hadn’t mentioned it. Or told his mother.

  “So nice to meet you,” Dani said, her smile washing away the remainder of the awkwardness she’d felt when she walked in. She came around her desk and shook Fred’s hand as well.

  “Same to you,” Olivia said, and she waited for Fred to say something. Anything.

  “Yes, this is Olivia from the firm in New York I mentioned. She’ll be helping with the audit,” he said before falling silent again.

  Dani waited a moment and looked at Olivia. Olivia wasn’t sure what to say, so she looked from Fred to Dani and cleared her throat.

  “Well, let me show you to Erica’s desk,” Dani said as she crossed the small room and pulled out a chair behind a smaller desk stacked with what to Olivia’s expert eye looked like inventory ledgers.

  “Thanks.” Olivia sat behind the desk and looked at Fred. “We haven’t had a chance to talk too much about what we need from here.”

  “No, we haven’t, but as I mentioned we’re doing a standard asset/liability audit. We don’t need to go into current day-to-day operations.”

  “That’s good,” Wade Weston said as he shook Fred’s hand and leaned against the door frame, folding his arms. “We’re deep in getting the floral shop going and finishing off some other major projects. Don’t really have time to help much, but our doors—or file cabinets—remain at your service,” he said with a smile.

  “Thanks, Wade,” Fred said as he leaned against one of said cabinets. “It’s really just for a baseline. It’ll take a while to finish. You know, valuations and all.”

  Wade cocked his head at Fred and smiled at Olivia. “No, actually, I’m more of an operations kind of guy. Better you than me, my friend,” he said. “Hi, I’m Wade, the general manager here. At your service, to the best of my ability.” He crossed the office and shook Olivia’s hand.

  “Thank you, and it’s nice to meet you,” she said as she stood. “You have a lovely set-up here. Just beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” Wade said. He headed for the door. “We’re really proud of it and hope someday to actually own it.”

  “Oh?” Olivia said, trying her best to keep a straight face as Fred looked away. She’d never been that great at keeping secrets—her sister Opal was usually the happy beneficiary of this inability—and she hoped she was doing Fred and the Westons justice.

  “Yes,” Dani said. “Our parents have had one foot in retirement for years, and they seem happy, and we are all a hundred percent invested here. We figure if we can take over, officially, they’ll have one less thing to worry about.”

  Fred laughed. “Maybe they like having one more thing to worry about,” he said as he glanced at Olivia.

  Good answer, she thought, hoping she’d be able to think that quickly on her feet in the future.

  Wade shrugged. “It’ll happen when it happens. Meantime, we all love our jobs and just go about our business.”

  “Yeah,” Dani said. “In between searches and rescues and weddings, that is.”

  “You’re just special, that’s all,” Wade said over his shoulder as he headed toward the door. “Seriously, Fred, let me know what you need and I’ll make it happen.”

  “Me, too,” Dani said. “At the moment, though, I need to head to a training. I’m pretty sure that all you need would either be in Erica’s desk or in those file cabinets over there, and here are the keys.”

  She dropped the keys in Fred’s hand and then scrubbed on a post-it note. She stuck the note on the lamp on Erica’s desk.

  “That’s my cell number. Call if you need anything or get lost. I’m sure I’ll see you again. Probably more than you want to,” she said as she shrugged on her jacket and reached for her radio.

  “Thanks, Dani. I’ll make sure we don’t take anything to the bank that you’ll need for operations.”

  “Thanks. Appreciate it, but we’re working together. We can do it.”

  She punc
hed Fred in the shoulder on the way out and the exchanged a smile. Whatever had been hovering over the room when they’d arrived was gone now, but she was still curious about what it was.

  “So, what’s the plan?” she asked when they were alone in the office. “Am I working here?”

  “Just for today, I think.”

  He reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out an envelope. Smoothing the stack of papers open on the desk, he pointed to the top section of the first page.

  “While you were traveling, I went ahead and did a bit of a document inventory. This is a list of the things I think we’ll need that wouldn’t be at the bank, but here at the ranch. Like Dani said, likely in those file cabinets.”

  He jingled the key chain for a second before he dropped them on the desk. Opening the storage closet behind the desk, he pulled out a stack of banker’s boxes.

  “You can identify the ones we need and put them in here. You’ll know what can stay here, that they might need, won’t you?”

  She squinted at the papers and ran her finger down the list.

  “Sure. No problem. But it might take me the better part of the day.”

  “That’s what I figured,” he said. “If it’s all right with you and you’re comfortable, I’ll head back to the bank and get a head start there.”

  She glanced around the room. It wouldn’t be the first time she was left alone at a client’s office, and she had no problem with it as long as someone pointed out where food and the nearest restroom were.

  “Sure. No problem.”

  “Great. Thanks for pitching in. I’ll mention to Bernie that you’re here and I’m sure she’ll come and introduce herself.”

  “Too late. I think you just introduced me,” said a woman in the doorway with a big smile. “Hi, I’m Bernie. You must be Olivia. Dani mentioned you were here on her way out. I work with Wade—and, well, Dani, too. Nice to meet you.”

  They shook hands and Olivia knew she’d be fine here. Everybody was so nice, and she really would just be gathering files anyway.

  “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

  “Great. Thanks, Bernie. Would you be willing to show Olivia around a bit? Bathroom, maybe the saloon so she could get coffee or stretch her legs if she wants to?”

  “Of course. Sadie’s got pumpkin spice everything, and it’s to die for,” she said with a wink at Olivia.

  “My favorite, always. I love this time of year,” Olivia said with a grin, looking forward to—well, all things pumpkin. She might need a pumpkin spice latte sooner rather than later.

  She hid her smile behind her hand as Fred shuddered and backed toward the door. “Ugh. No, thanks. Better you than me,” he said as continued stepping out of the room.

  The girls laughed.

  “What, you don’t like pumpkin? Blasphemy,” Bernie said.

  “No, and I don’t like Halloween, either,” he said as he turned. “But it comes every year, so I guess I have no choice. I’ll be back this evening to pick you up, Olivia. You have my cell number, right?”

  She reached for her cell phone and scrolled through the contacts to confirm. “I sure do.”

  “Great. See you guys later, and thanks to both of you.”

  “You’re welcome,” they chimed in together.

  “Bathroom’s right there,” Bernie said, pointing to a sign that said “Ladies.” “I’ll be back after a bit and we can sneak over for a pumpkin spice latte.”

  Olivia plopped down in the chair after Bernie left and looked around again. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten so lucky to have been dropped into such a lovely place with such nice people. She took a deep breath of the mountain air, thanked her lucky stars and got to work.

  Chapter 8

  “Shouldn’t you be thinking about fetching that young lady from the ranch?”

  Fred closed his eyes at Mrs. Green’s voice. He was so intent on his work that he’d completely lost track of time.

  “That’s right, son,” his mother said as she smiled at Mrs. Green and swept into the room. Her black hair piled high on her head and diamond earrings flashing—she’s always been a pretty snappy dresser—she sat in the chair on the opposite side of his desk. She set down a chocolate chip cookie.

  “Mrs. Green said you didn’t eat any lunch. I’ve been busy myself, but thought I should bring you something.”

  “Good night, both of you. See you tomorrow,” their secretary said. They both nodded at Mrs. Green and she closed the door.

  “You don’t have to treat me like you’re my mother. I’ll eat if I’m hungry.”

  He looked up as his mother stared at him, her lipsticked mouth open. “I am your mother.”

  “You know what I mean,” he said with a smile. “But anyway, thanks for the reminder. I’m anxious for you to meet Olivia.”

  “Well, that won’t be tonight. I have tickets to the community theater production and dinner beforehand. There’s plenty to eat in the refrigerator, or you two can go out. Maybe I can meet her in the morning.”

  “Sure,” he said. “I’d better go pick her up. Thanks for the lasagna last night.”

  “There are leftovers, I’m sure, if you want that but I’d suggest you cook for her.”

  He looked up from his briefcase. “Why?”

  “Cooking is fun. And romantic,” she said as she got up and pushed the chair closer to the desk, arranging the matching one beside it.

  “Romantic is not relevant in this case, Mom. Don’t start.”

  “You can’t still be holding a torch for Dani, son. She’s married.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and sat back down. “I’m not. I saw her today. Everything was fine.”

  “Hm,” she said, as if she didn’t believe him. “All right, but is this Olivia a prospect?”

  “Mom, please. She’s a colleague. A co-worker. And she lives in New York.”

  “I know you’ve heard this story a million times, but when your father and I met in college, we were from different parts of the country. True love has a way of re-arranging geography,” she said with a smile as she opened the door. “Go ahead, do your work, but you just never know.”

  She blew him a kiss and left, and he swept the thought out of his mind. He’d just met Olivia, and she’d already made fun of him for his bow ties so he didn’t hold up much hope that anything might happen there. Besides, they had a job to do and Mrs. Weston had added a whole new layer.

  He glanced at the calendar and realized that there wouldn’t be much time for socializing anyway if they were going to meet their deadline.

  As he drove out to the ranch, he mulled over the issue of the property. He’d spent the day looking for the maps and information Mrs. Weston said was there, and he hadn’t found it. Maybe it was in the office at the ranch, in the file cabinets Olivia had been through. He’d make a point of going through them when she wasn’t around. He didn’t want to lie to her—honestly and loyalty were the cornerstones of his family business and his personal values, even if she was virtually a stranger—so he’d do what he could to avoid that. Actually, it was part of the information they needed and he could just ask her.

  He pulled up to the main house of the ranch just as the sun fell behind the crest of the nearest mountain to the west. He hopped out of his car and had his hand on the door latch when it opened outward, and he almost ran straight into Joshua. He hadn’t seen him for a few weeks and they shook hands.

  “How are you doing, Fred?” Joshua asked. “Nice to see you.”

  Fred shoved his hands in his pockets and thought about Joshua and Allison. They seemed very happy and Fred was happy for them. He knew there’s been some things going on that he didn’t now about, but now wasn’t really the time to ask. He and Olivia had work to do.

  “I’m doing great. On a really big project, he said. Don’t mean to seem rude, but I’ve got to pick someone up.”

  Joshua didn’t move away from in front of the door, as Fred hoped he would.

  �
��That someone you were with in the cafe this morning?”

  “Well, yeah. She’s a consultant from out of state. And since she’s from out of state, time is money. Gotta go, Josh.”

  They exchanged smiles and as Fred passed through the door, he thought he heard Josh say, “She’s more than that, Fred. Much more.”

  He shook his head and assumed he’d heard him wrong. He strode into Dani’s office, where Olivia sipped the last of her pumpkin spice latte—he could actually smell it from across the room—and gave him a big smile.

  “I did it,” she said, gesturing at the stacks of bankers’ boxes lined up by the door. “I don’t think I took a single thing that they’ll need, even. Dani popped back in and even thanked me for giving them more room.”

  “I bet she did,” Fred said as he picked up three of the boxes and took them out to the car.

  Olivia gathered her things as Fred picked up the final three boxes. She followed him out the car and he opened the door for him.

  As he got in beside her, he asked, “Did you have a nice day? Beyond all of the gathering of documents?”

  Her eyes lit up as she began to tell him about her day. He stopped listening for a second at “pumpkin spice latte” but came back around when she mentioned Mrs. Weston and Lily.

  “There was quite a bit of commotion when Mrs. Weston came in and she and Lily and Bernie started planning the Halloween party. Even Wade seemed vaguely interested. There’s going to be a pumpkin-carving contest, a big spread of cookies, a pumpkin spice cake and, of course, pumpkin spice lattes,” she said, her cheeks flushing with excitement.

  He smiled at her enthusiasm, although he couldn’t muster up enough interest to echo it. He’d always hated Halloween—had never even dressed up as a kid. Instead, he’d stayed home with his mom and given out candy that she’d made. That way, he didn’t have to dress up but got to look at everyone else’s silly costumes. It suited him better, and he was positive that this year would be the same.