“I’m not worried about Marlene.” She paused. “Okay, I am worried about Marlene. But I’m more worried about Lassiter Media at the moment.”
“I can help you with that,” said Evan.
“I don’t need your help.”
“I’m the guy who set up the acquisitions in Britain and Australia. I know all the players.”
“My problem isn’t with Britain and Australia. It’s with Noah, and the last thing I need is some man riding to my rescue. That’ll only compound the problem.” She came to her feet.
“So, what’s your next move?” Evan asked.
“Are you kidding me?” She looked at Deke. “Is he kidding me? What part of none of your business don’t you understand?”
Instead of answering, Deke took Tiffany’s hand. “We should go to bed. These two need to talk.”
Tiffany snapped her hand back. “Nice try.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.” But his smirk said otherwise.
“Yeah, you did. But you’re right. Angie, you guys need to talk. I wasn’t in favor of this ruse, but now that it’s gotten away from you, you better come up with an exit strategy.”
“Maybe we can stay engaged for a while after Matt and Kayla’s wedding,” Evan offered.
“And draw this out?” Angie blinked at him in obvious dismay.
“That’s our cue,” said Deke, rising and drawing Tiffany to her feet.
“It would give people time to get used to our breakup,” said Evan.
As Deke and Tiffany headed for the grand staircase, Evan moved to an armchair closer to Angie.
She was twisting the engagement ring around on her finger. “I can’t believe we got ourselves in this deep.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he said. “And it worked. We got Conrad’s mansion for Matt and Kayla.”
“That’s true. I am glad about that. But talk about unexpected consequences.” She flopped back in the big chair.
“No good deed goes unpunished?”
“Something like that. And now I can’t shake this nagging fear that we’ll tell one or two more lies and accidentally end up married.”
Evan chuckled at the joke, but something inside him warmed to the idea. Oh, he knew it was impossible, but as he gaze flicked to the wedding gowns pictured in the magazines left open on the coffee table, he acknowledged there was something compelling about Angie as a real bride, his bride.
“I’ve been thinking about the affiliates’ top shows,” Evan said, changing the topic. “The Griffin Project and Cold Lane Park would both be good choices for remakes.”
“Traditional cop shows?” she asked, frowning.
“Tried and true. They’re incredibly popular.”
She seemed to forget to tell him to back off. “I was thinking something more cutting-edge, maybe super heroes or criminal procedural.”
“Alley Walker?” he asked. “It’s doing okay in Australia, but viewership has leveled off.”
“We could use a younger hero, introduce a love interest. It’s got that nice, edgy, paranormal aspect to it. And the leather outfit could reel in the teenage girls.”
“If you had exactly the right actor,” he mused.
“Eighteen to twenty-five demographic,” said Angie. “That’s where we need to focus.”
Evan didn’t disagree, but it was a tough audience to gauge. “What do you think of Max Truger?”
The question obviously took her by surprise. “In what way?”
“Is he doing a good job?”
“I guess.” She sat forward and began stacking the bridal magazines.
“I was thinking he was young, and if that’s where you want to focus, he might make a good VP.”
Angie glanced up. “Are you telling me how to reorganize Lassiter Media?”
“I’m saying I buy into your vision of reaching a younger demographic.”
She smacked the stack of magazines with energy and purpose. “And now you feel compelled to instruct me on how to do that?”
“Why are you so touchy? You’re reacting emotionally to a perfectly logical suggestion.”
“Because I’m a woman?”
Evan clamped his jaw and counted to five. “I’m not Noah.”
“You sure sound like Noah.”
“Well, I hope you don’t sound like this when you’re talking to him.”
She rose up, her eyes darkening to burnt chocolate, and he immediately regretted the outburst. He didn’t think she was a hysterical woman. He knew her to be cool, controlled and intelligent.
He stood with her. “I’m sorry. We’ve both had a long day. I know you’re good at your job.”
To his surprise, her features smoothed out, eyes cooling to their normal bronze. At first he was relieved. But then he realized it meant she’d withdrawn. He couldn’t help but miss the emotion.
“You’re right,” she told him in a crisp tone. “This isn’t a good time to discuss anything. Not that there’ll ever be a good time for you and me to discuss anything about Lassiter Media. I’ve done all I can here in Cheyenne. We’ll fly back to L.A. in the morning and get this wedding over with. After that, I can turn all of my attention to Lassiter.”
He didn’t like the single-minded determination in her eyes. “That’s not what your father wanted, Angie.”
“Are you trying to pick another fight?”
“I thought you were getting that now. He was truly worried about you. You should take another day, stay in Cheyenne and do something fun. Ride a horse or walk in the woods. Don’t even go into the office.”
She gave her hair a little toss. “I have too much work to do in L.A.”
“That there is exactly why he was so worried. There will always be more work that needs doing. It’s not a goal line, Angie. It’s a treadmill. And you have to be really careful about letting the speed go up.”
“There was and is absolutely nothing for my father or anyone else to worry about. I love my job, and I have it all under control.”
She started to move, but he reached out to her, his hand landing on her elbow.
“This isn’t about you controlling Lassiter Media. It’s about Lassiter Media controlling you.”
“Let go of me, Evan.”
He searched her remote expression. “I need you to think about that.”
“You lost the right to need anything from me a long time ago.” She shook him off and turned on her heel.
As he watched her walk away, he couldn’t help thinking he still needed a lot of things from her. Lovemaking was only the first on the list.
* * *
Thunder woke Angelica from a fitful sleep. Rain clattered on the roof above her, spraying in through the open window. She pulled back her covers and got up, crossing the room. As she wrestled the window closed, cold rain dampened her tank top and the soft pair of shorts she wore as pajamas.
Lightning flashed above the hills, illuminating both the sky and the ranch yard. She knew her cousin Chance and all the hands would be up and outside working, checking on the animals, securing anything that might blow away. The power could easily go out, but the ranch had emergency generators. When the weather turned nasty, the ranchers were in better shape than most people in town.
She shook rain droplets from her fingers, catching a glimpse of Evan’s ring. She’d meant to take it off before bed, but somehow she’d forgotten. She touched it now as the lightning flashed off the diamond and thunder shook the big house.
She was angry with Evan for trying to interfere in Lassiter Media. Worse, his suggestions showed a complete lack of trust in her judgment. Didn’t he remember that she’d all but run the company while her father was still alive?
During her conversation with Noah today, she’d realized the senior executives didn’t have faith in her abilities. They were fine when they assumed J.D. was behind the scenes, vetting her decisions and actions. But now that she was on her own, they were questioning her.
A soft knock sounded on her door.
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“Angie?” It was Tiffany’s voice.
“Come on in,” Angelica called.
The door cracked open. “Did the storm wake you too?”
“It did.”
Tiffany moved through the doorway, her worried expression highlighted as another streak of lightning flashed through the sky.
“Are we in danger?” she asked.
“We’re fine.” Angelica flicked on a small lamp. “It’s a powerful storm. But we get those every once in a while. Biggest problem is that it scares the cattle and blows everything all over the yard. But Chance and the hands will take care of that.”
“That’s a lot of rain.” Tiffany sat down on the end of the bed, curling her bare feet beneath her. Like Angelica, she’d substituted casual clothes for pajamas, wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a cropped T-shirt.
“Something’s sure to flood. Probably the ponds in the lower field. Hopefully, it won’t be too hard on Marlene’s vegetable garden.” Angelica returned to the bed, popping her pillow against the white wooden headboard to lean back.
“How’d it go with Evan after we left?”
“Predictable,” said Angelica. “He thinks he’s right, and I think he’s wrong.”
“Did you talk about your fake engagement?”
Angelica shook her head. “Mostly about Lassiter Media and what he thinks I should do there. He just can’t help poking his nose into it. I don’t need his advice. He needs to back off and let me work.”
“I think he’s trying to help.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“Yours, absolutely. I’m just wondering why else he’d do it.”
“It’s a compulsion. Do you know how many times I wanted to call him up over the past six months and tell him he was crazy?” Angelica couldn’t seem to stop herself from smiling at the memory. “I still had spies, you know. My dad might have taken me out of the CEO chair, but many people were loyal. They told me what Evan was doing with the British network purchase, then the Australian one. He spent a whole lot of corporate money in a very short time.”
Lighting flashed and thunder boomed all around the house as the storm increased in intensity. Footsteps sounded on the stairs and on the floor below, and muffled voices sounded in the foyer. It would be all hands on deck outside.
It was coming up on 3:00 a.m. In another hour or so, Marlene would get up and start cooking in the kitchen; she’d be ready with food for anyone who needed sustenance. Angelica would go down to help. In addition to their efforts in the main house, the cook shack would already be humming with activity. Cowboys needed plenty of coffee, eggs, sausage and biscuits to keep them going in this.
“Was he wrong?” Tiffany asked.
“Hmmm?”
“Was Evan wrong to buy the networks?”
“I thought so then. And I’m still worried. But right or wrong, it is what it is. We now own those affiliates, and we need to do the best we can within that reality.”
“Do you think he had a long-term vision?”
“What I think is that he’s an empire builder. Even Lassiter Media wasn’t big enough for him. He had to try to increase the size.”
“I think he likes you.”
The unexpected comment threw Angelica. “What?”
“I was watching him watch you tonight. I think he’s still attracted to you.”
“Physically maybe.” Physically, Angelica still had it bad for Evan.
“Did he kiss you again?”
Angelica debated how much to tell Tiffany.
“Angie?”
“He kissed me again.” She tippy-toed up to the truth.
“When? Where?”
“On the patio. Last night.”
“Did you like it?”
Angelica hung her head and gave a sigh of defeat. “I always like it.”
“How many times has it happened now?”
“Twice. Well, three times. Four if you count the one at the fitting.”
Tiffany leaned in. “Big kisses? Small kisses? Give me some context here.”
Angelica looked up. She realized she didn’t want to lie or hold back. “Big kisses. Lots of them. So many that I lost count.”
Tiffany’s brows shot up.
“Especially last night. A dozen, a hundred, I don’t know.”
Tiffany’s voice rose. “A hundred?”
“Shhh.”
“I don’t think they can hear me over the thunder. A hundred?”
“We had sex.” It felt good to blurt it out.
Tiffany blinked. “You don’t mean last night.”
“I do.”
Tiffany opened her mouth, then she closed it again. Thunder rumbled ominously.
“I know. I know.” Angelica waved away the inevitable criticism. “It was a colossally stupid thing to do.”
“I’m stunned.”
“So was I.”
“You...like...I mean...how...?”
“I’m weak,” Angelica confessed. “He’s a good-looking, sexy guy. And it’s been a very long time since anyone held me close. And it was so easy, so familiar, so...unbelievably good.” She fisted her hands around her quilt and squeezed in frustration.
“Uh oh.”
“You have a gift for understatement.”
“So, now what?”
“Now, nothing. We agreed to forget it ever happened.”
“And how’s that working for you?”
“Not well,” Angelica admitted. “I didn’t fall in love with him because he was a jerk. He’s a good guy. We might not have been able to survive everything that came at us. But they were extraordinary circumstances. And, truth is, I don’t know that he did all that much wrong.”
Tiffany stretched out on her stomach on the far side of the bed, propping her elbows on the mattress and her chin on her hands. “You ever think about trying this reconciliation for real?”
“No. No. Not at all. Too much has happened, Tiff. When push came to shove, I—” Angelica swallowed, suddenly afraid she might cry. “I let him down.” She drew a shaky breath. “He won’t forgive me. He can’t forgive me.”
“Maybe you should—”
“No!” Angelica gave an adamant shake of her head. “I missed my chance with Evan. I’ve got Lassiter Media to think about now. It’s going to take all of my focus. I’m not going to delude myself into dreaming about anything else.”
“I suppose.” Tiffany’s agreement seemed reluctant.
There was a banging on the door.
“Angelica?” This time, it was Deke.
“Come in,” she called.
Deke swung the door wide. “I just talked to Evan. He said to tell you they’re sandbagging Williams Creek.”
Angelica rolled off the bed and came to her feet. “Are they worried about the road?”
Deke nodded.
“It hasn’t flooded there in years.” While she talked, she pulled open a drawer and threw a sweatshirt on.
“It’s risen two feet at Norman Crossing.”
“What do we do?” asked Tiffany from behind her.
Angelica tossed her a warm shirt. “We can go help sandbag. Last time this happened, the only way we could get to town for over a week was by off-road, four-wheel drive.”
* * *
Evan couldn’t help but be impressed by the way the Cheyenne ranchers pulled together in a time of crisis. There were at least fifty people out in the pouring rain, and they’d been working at it for hours. Men, women and teenagers lined the creek bank, filling bags from the back of a pickup then moving them in human chains to the low section of the road where it paralleled the creek.
Evan was working with Deke and Chance at the leading edge of the barrier, stacking the largest sandbags in a base layer, while Angie worked in a small group farther upstream, finishing off the top layer. Even from here, she looked exhausted. Her raincoat was plastered to her body. The hood had long since fallen down, and her hair was dark and stringy, making her face look pale.
He longed to go to her, pull her into her arms and escort her someplace warm and dry. But he knew she wouldn’t stop working. Many of the women had already taken breaks, including Tiffany, who’d all but fallen over before one of the ranchers had dragged her off to sit on the hillside and drink a cup of coffee. But Angie hadn’t slowed down. She’d been plugging away, sandbag after sandbag.
Refocusing, he went back to work, building the foundational layer, making sure it was solid.
When he looked up again, Angie was farther upstream. She seemed to be on her own, doing a final check of the barrier’s integrity. The others were making their way back.
Evan was reminded that the woman he’d first met at a social event, then came to know in the boardroom and escorted to L.A.’s hotspots, had also spent a good deal of her life on a working ranch. She was used to physical work, and would step in and help out wherever she was needed. He stopped feeling sorry for her, and started being impressed.
Chance suddenly grasped Evan’s arm, squeezing it tight. “Do you hear that?” he called out, drawing Deke’s attention as well.
Evan listened. His heart sank. A low, ominous rumble was coming from upstream.
“Get back! Quick!” Chance shouted to everyone, urging people to run. “Across the road! Up the bank! Everybody move, now!”
Deke echoed the call, as did Evan, rushing along the creek, ordering everyone back from the bank. The sound was growing louder, and Evan could see a roiling flood of water and debris barreling down on them.
“Angie!” he cried out.
She was the farthest away, cut off from safety by the curve of the creek and a grove of trees. She was running toward him, and he broke into a faster sprint along the rocky bank.
“Go,” she cried out to him, motioning for him to get to safety. “I’m coming.”
But she wasn’t fast enough. He could see the water rushing up behind her.
“Run,” he cried out to her, pumping up his own speed.
Then she tripped. She went down on the rocks, and his heart stopped in his chest. While she lay motionless, everything inside him screamed in agony.
“Angie!”
Eight
Evan had thirty feet to go to get to her, then twenty, then ten.
She sat up and rose unsteadily to her feet.
Reunited with the Lassiter Bride Page 12