Cassie stood, wishing for a second that she was as tall and imposing as her brothers and father. At least in her heels she neared five seven.
“I know I screwed up, Dad. I should have kept my guard up. Protected myself.”
“Cassie, you’ve always had some crazy guardian angel watching out for you. Skating out of whatever scrapes you stumbled into. Apparently, that’s not the case anymore. You can’t have the Chapman money to keep you safe, either.”
Panic crawled up her throat. “What am I going to do?”
Bill’s face brightened and she pulled back, wary. Uh oh.
“What are you going to do?” he asked. “I’ll tell you what you’re going to do.”
Cassie swallowed. “What?” she asked in a soft voice.
Bill smiled but the expression didn’t have a touch of warmth to it. “You’re going to Cypress.”
She clutched the edge of the desk as a flash of emotion washed over her. Cypress Corners. That wild place in Central Florida where both her brothers had found themselves. One of Chapman Financial’s most successful investments and the bane of Bill’s existence. That was reason enough to go down there but the big draw for her was seeing her brothers. It was as if the sun broke through the clouds.
“I can go stay with Rick and Harmony,” she said. “Jake and Claire just got married, so they’ll want their alone time.”
Bill’s mouth thinned. Her brothers had little contact with their father, and that included Rick and Harmony’s adorable little boy, Nick.
“You can work out the details when you get down there,” he grumbled.
She sat back down, relief flooding her. “Cypress Corners. It should be nice and warm down there this time of year. I’ll hang out by the lake. Maybe head out to the coast for a few days. It’s as good a place as any to regroup.”
“Oh, you’ll regroup all right.”
She stared at her father, the bright, sunlit picture in her mind dimming a little bit. “What do you mean?”
Bill crossed his arms. “You, Cassandra Chapman, are going to get a job.”
Her breath froze in her lungs.
A job? Crap.
***
Cypress Corners, Florida
Tyler Walsh stretched out on his belly, peering under the climbing structure of the newest section of the adventure trails. It was dark under there despite the bright April sun glaring down. The beam of his flashlight showed the red reflected eye-shine, though. It was a gator, all right. And precisely where he shouldn’t be at the moment.
“It’s a gator, right?” Jake Chapman, the Recreation Director of Cypress, asked.
The animal turned slightly and fixed its gaze on Ty. “Yep.” He showed the light on its snout. Six inches. That meant the gator should measure about six feet long, tip to tail. “A six-footer.”
Jake blew out a breath of obvious relief. Ty pulled back and grabbed his snare from where it rested on the ground beside him. Nuisance gators didn’t fare well in residential areas, but this one could be relocated right here on property, thanks to the acreage. And with seventy-five percent of Cypress Corners’ ten thousand acres devoted to wildlife, finding this guy a new home shouldn’t be difficult.
Careful application of snare and pole secured the animal and kept both Ty and Jake safe. Jake helped him lift the secured gator into the bed of Ty’s Ford F-150.
“Thanks, man,” Jake said. “I’d hate to close this segment of the course.”
Ty patted the gator’s back, and then took off his gloves. “No problem. This guy will do well over on the east side of the property.”
Jake nodded and peered into the truck bed. “Jeez, you’re like the alligator whisperer.”
Ty followed his gaze, and saw that the animal had closed its eyes. “They’re pretty docile. For the most part.”
“Yeah.” Jake chuckled. “For the most part, I’m happy to keep away from them.”
Ty smiled at his friend. “Just give me a call anytime, Jake. It’s what I’m here for. And let me know when this part of the course is opened. I want to give it a go.”
Jake gave him a grin and a two-fingered salute. “Will do.”
Ty got into his truck and made his way toward the east side of Cypress Corners. The property encompassed ten thousand acres of some of the prettiest land in the region. It was unusual that more than half the land was set aside as a sanctuary for native plants and animals, but it made his work a welcome challenge. The rest of it was dedicated to expensive homes, retail stores, and recreational facilities, and he could appreciate the money that generated for the developers and investors. There were times he wished he had a stake in the place, but he had enough on his plate without thinking about building his portfolio.
He stopped his truck among the thick brush ringing one of the many ponds that dotted the wildest part of Cypress and set the brake. The gator wouldn’t be difficult to release. Not once he lowered the lift gate and loosened the bonds holding him. With very little encouragement, the animal took the freedom Ty offered and was soon splashing his way into the deep end of the pond.
After watching for a couple of minutes to make sure the gator safely settled in, he got back in the truck and entered the info on his tablet. He had to report the gator and its new location to his boss at the Cypress Corners Institute. He still had to head into town, though. Although the director didn’t ask him to, Ty had gotten into the habit of checking in face-to-face before the weekend.
The ride to the Institute, situated in the heart of the town center, wasn’t a long one. As he made his way, the scene around him gradually shifted from wild to tame to manicured. The town center itself was very picturesque. Though less than fifteen years old it had the look and feel of an historic downtown in New England. It was pretty, but Ty liked the wild parts of Cypress as much as he did the civilized ones.
He parked the truck in the crushed-shell lined lot set beside the Sales Center and stepped out.
“Hi, Ty,” a woman called.
He raised a hand to wave at Tammy from the Sales Center.
She stepped off the porch as he approached. “I hear you wrestled that gator into submission.”
Ty deflected the woman’s obvious overture. Tammy had been flirting hard and steady since he’d started working at the Institute four months ago. He’d tried really hard to keep things friendly without encouraging anything more. He didn’t need the entanglement and one look at her told him she was all about tying a guy in knots.
“No wrestling needed,” he said. “Or submission.”
She gave a throaty laugh and tilted her head to the side, letting her shining dark hair fall over her shoulder.
He couldn’t help giving her a quick up-and-down, though. She was a beautiful woman, if way too polished for his tastes. Still, he figured it didn’t hurt to look as he noticed a couple more of her shirt buttons were undone than probably should be.
“Yeah, Jake said you’re magic with animals,” she said.
Ty brought his gaze back to her flawlessly made up face. “I don’t know about magic, Tammy. You just have to know how to handle them.”
Her brows arched and he laughed off the innuendo before she made it.
“I have to go check in at the Institute,” he said.
His friend Rick Chapman, Jake’s brother, stepped out of the Sales Center just then.
“Ty. Just the guy I want to see.”
“Yeah? What’s up?”
Rick stepped down and approached. “I need you to do me a favor, man. Our sister is landing at OIA in about an hour and we have this thing at the school with Nick. Pre-K parents’ night, if you can believe it.”
Nick was Rick’s little boy, and a cooler kid Ty had never met. As for the sister? He’d only heard about her and not all that much.
“You need me to pick her up?”
“Could you? Jake’s tied up with some test run on part of one of his courses.”
Ty smiled. “Yeah. Seems an alligator put a crimp in his time frame.”
Rick laughed, and then took out his phone and ran his thumb over the screen. “Here. I’ll text you her flight info. I’m going to send her your info, too. Just drop her at my house when you get back?”
“Sure thing.”
Rick thanked him again as he turned back into the Sales Center. Ty glanced at his phone and read the info Rick sent him. She was due in at five-ten at Orlando International Airport. That wasn’t too bad. He’d be able to get her and bring her over to Rick’s and get back home by seven the latest.
Pulling up the director’s info, he tapped the screen and got the man on the line. He verbally checked in, and then wished the guy a nice weekend and thanked him for the return of the sentiment. Smiling though the director couldn’t see it, he ended the quick call and pocketed his phone.
“So what are you up to this weekend?”
He’d forgotten Tammy was standing there. “Family stuff.”
Tammy wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. Family. I’m so glad mine lives up north.”
Ty just nodded. He couldn’t imagine living that far away from his family. He had so little of it left. “Have a good weekend.”
He got back into his truck and headed out toward the airport. OIA was just about the closest thing to Cypress, sitting about a half hour or so to the northwest of the property. On a good day, that was. On a Friday afternoon, traffic heading into the airport could be heavy. Today wasn’t proving to be the exception.
He pulled into the cell phone lot, glanced down at his phone, and saw he had a message from a number he didn’t recognize.
“Must be her.”
He swiped at the screen and read that she was waiting at baggage claim. He headed out toward arrivals and drove slowly up the ramp. He didn’t know near which door she’d be, so he kept his eyes peeled as he made his slow approach with what felt like everyone else in Orlando. The usual suspects littered the sidewalks, luggage set nearby. Families and business travelers and snowbirds wanting to visit Florida just once more before it got too hot for them. A luggage trolley jammed full of bags and suitcases caught his eye. Then the woman standing beside it did, too.
Whoa. She wore a tight purple T-shirt with some writing on it and a short brown leather jacket. Her skirt showed off an hourglass body and long legs that ended where tan high-heeled sandals wrapped her feet. Long, dark hair was held back from her face by oversized sunglasses and, as he pulled alongside of her, he caught the family resemblance. She had Rick’s dark hair and Jake’s blue eyes, but she was all woman. And a beautiful one at that.
Lowering the passenger-side window, he leaned toward her. “Are you Rick’s sister?”
She stared at him, her rosebud mouth dropping open. “Y-yes.”
He grinned at her. “Well, I’m your ride.”
Chapter 2
Cassie stared at the gorgeous guy who’d just pulled up to the curb in his big silver truck. When Rick had texted that he couldn’t pick her up, she’d been disappointed. Not now, though. The handsome face that smiled at her from the driver’s seat made her belly heat.
He got out of the truck and walked around to the curb. He was tall. And broad, judging by the flannel shirt he wore open over his snug T-shirt. And his khakis looked worn and broken in and hung just right off his narrow hips.
“Ty Walsh.” He stuck out his hand and she took it.
“Cassie Chapman.”
His hand was a little calloused and his grip was firm. “Sorry your family couldn’t get you.”
“Yeah.” Her eyes flicked over him. “Sorry.”
What was wrong with her? She’d just spent the past six months with pretty, shiny guys all over Europe, for God’s sake. This guy was hot, though. Even if he wasn’t her type. Shaggy sun-streaked hair, a dusting of stubble along his jaw. Big hazel eyes. And God, he had dimples.
“Jeez, is all this yours?” he asked.
She blinked, and then focused on the luggage cart. “Yes.”
He whistled, and then smiled at her. “I take it you’re going to be staying a while.”
It wasn’t all that many bags. So she’d brought some of her favorite things with her. She’d only packed the essentials, really. But the reality of having everything she cared for stashed and hauled down here to Florida with her? It sucked.
“I’ve been exiled.”
He gave a short laugh, a rumble really, and she felt it tickle over her. She grabbed up her big Jimmy Choo hobo bag and slung it over her shoulder. Ty seemed to have everything in hand, so she just crossed her arms and let him do his thing. She had to admit she liked watching him make quick work of her admittedly large collection of bags.
“I think that’s it.” He slammed the tailgate up and faced her, running his fingers through that thick, messy hair of his. “Ready?”
She licked her lips and nodded. “Yes.”
He opened her door and she climbed in. A rough-around-the-edges gentleman. Hmm. The leather seat was soft against the backs of her thighs as she settled into it. She placed her bag at her feet and buckled herself in as he rounded the front. He slid into the driver seat, buckled, and then shifted to pull them away from the airport.
“So, Ty, is it?” she said.
“Thomas Tyler Walsh the third, actually. But I’ve been Ty for as long as I can remember.”
She just nodded. He was a “the third?” All the other “thirds” she had ever known were spoiled prep-school pretty boys. This “third?” He didn’t look spoiled and he wasn’t a pretty boy.
It was very close in the truck’s cab and she could smell him. He smelled like the outdoors. Fresh and hot. He had some mud caked on his work boots and a quick glance behind his seat showed her a plastic file tote filled with files and folders.
He caught her gaze and shrugged. “This truck is my office.”
“What do you do?” she had to know.
“I work for the Cypress Institute.”
She brightened. “Oh, like Harmony?”
He threw a smile at her and she sucked in a breath. That smile was potent.
“Sort of,” he said. “Her thing is plants, though. I handle animals.”
She watched his strong hands as he easily maneuvered through the traffic threatening to clog the exit ramp. His sleeves were rolled up and his arms looked tanned and strong.
“You handle animals.”
She had no idea what that could mean.
“I’m the Wildlife Technician on property.”
“Nope,” she said with a smile. “Still no clue.”
He laughed again. “I make sure their habitats are preserved. Secure. That they’re safe. And that they don’t bother the residents and visitors too much.”
A trickle of unease flowed over her. “Just what kind of animals?”
“Alligators, mostly. Some raccoons awake when they shouldn’t be. That type of thing.”
She sensed something more to his story. Something he was keeping back. “Is that all?”
“All right, you’ve got me.” His dimples made a reappearance. “Snakes and wild boar, too.”
She shivered. “Yikes. Just what is this place?”
He glanced over at her, one golden brow arched. “You’ve never been to Cypress?”
She shook her head and played with the flap on her jacket pocket. “I’ve been out of the country.”
“Yeah. Jake told me you were a globe-trotter.”
She just shrugged. She could only imagine what else her brother had told this guy. Did Jake know about the pictures? Rick had to. Their father had contacted her big brother when everything hit the fan last week. Cold settled in the pit of her stomach.
“No trotting for me now, though.” She took a breath and straightened her shoulders. “I’m stuck here in the wilds of Florida for the foreseeable future.”
“Ah, it’s not so bad.”
She eyed his lean, muscled body as he turned the wheel. Nope. Not so bad. She fiddled with the air vents and held her hair up off the back of her neck. It was getting hot in here.
“How long have you been in Cypress?” she asked him.
“Going on four months. It’s a great opportunity for me. I live right on the property, too.”
“I guess I’ll see you around the place, then.”
His gaze ran over her bare legs and she felt goose bumps break out all over her body. “Sure.”
They spoke a little about the weather and not much else until he straightened a bit in his seat.
“Here we are.”
She looked to the left as Ty steered the truck into the entrance of Cypress Corners. A long drive bracketed by white ranch fencing and tall leafy trees led them toward what must be the center of town. It didn’t look anything like she’d imagined. Not the rough land Ty had described and not even like the few-and-far-between houses she’d seen as they’d driven out of St. Cloud through ranch and farmland. No, this place was quaint and pretty. Like a picture postcard of some small town she’d never visited and only read about.
“This is pretty,” she said.
“It is.” He slowed as they passed a coffee shop, and then pulled to a stop on the corner. “The Clubhouse is straight ahead. That’s the fancy restaurant on property. They have a tavern tucked in there, too. Great burgers.”
She just stared at the elegant façade of the Clubhouse. She’d heard her father talk about Cypress and, by the scenic golf course she could see beyond the Clubhouse, this was a very successful project indeed. It was a little weird that it had a folksy town center, though.
“The Sales Center is just behind us, to the left.”
“Rick’s domain?” she asked.
Ty nodded. “I’m sure he’ll show you around. Take you on one of the property tours.”
Yeah, her brother could drive her around but she might like this hot wild animal tamer to do it instead.
“Um, do you give those?” She swallowed. “Tours, I mean?”
He chuckled. “Not the ones for prospective residents, I don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“I lead eco-tours. Into the wild, so to speak. Tamed adventure, believe me. But adventure, just the same.”
Cypress Corners Boxed Set (Books 1-3) Page 35