But that wouldn’t help Sophie. Solutions would. “Did he draw up plans for the grounds?”
“Not formal blueprints, but I sketched out what I wanted, then he helped me refine the plant selections.”
“Where are the drawings?”
“Cade, no. You’ve done enough. And you have a book to work on.”
“It’s waited this long. Let me see the plans.”
“I can’t do all of it now, I only have half the money left and no more coming in. I can’t get another cent from the bank, and my savings have already been used.”
“What about your friend who went in on the place with you?”
“No. I will not ask Maura for anything else.”
“Would you let me give you money?” Though he already knew the answer.
“Absolutely not.” She looked appalled.
“Sophie, I make good money. I don’t spend much of it.”
“No, Cade.”
“What about a loan?”
“No!”
She was so agitated that he abandoned that line of discussion—for now, at least. “Okay, okay. We’ll make it work with what you have. I’ll talk to Armando after I’ve studied the drawings.”
“I’ll talk to Armando.”
“Chill, Queenie. I’m not taking over your job, but it’s not like you don’t have plenty to do already.”
“Cade, I can handle it myself. And you have to let me pay you.”
“Oh, sure. You won’t accept my money when you need it, and yet now you expect me to put my hand out. Not happening, honey.” He decided the mood needed lightening, so he waggled his brows. “Though there are ways other than money to repay someone.”
She gasped. “I would never—”
He grinned and picked her up. “You are so easy to rile, Miss Sophie.”
“Put me down, you—you idiot.” But she relaxed a bit. “Cade, seriously. You can’t just swoop in like some white knight.”
“Oh, man, if only it weren’t the middle of the night, I’d call my family and have you repeat that. They’d never believe it.”
“Well, they should. You’re a good man, Cade MacAllister. They have no right to talk badly about you.”
His family did no such thing, and she was getting wound up over nothing, but it was better than the look of defeat she’d worn. “Looks like I got my own defender. Go get ’em, Queenie.”
“You mix me up.” She turned to head downstairs, but her cheeks were pink.
Ditto, sweetheart. But Cade said nothing as he followed her.
In the downstairs room tucked behind the library—the one she said would be her office—Sophie went unerringly to her perfectly organized, color-coded files and retrieved the one containing her landscaping information. Cade realized he was looking at a hint of the professional who’d risen so high in the hotel chain before she’d decided to leave it.
He’d gotten used to Sophie in jeans and T-shirts, her hair yanked back in a ponytail, and had forgotten that she’d had another life, a very different one, before this. And he wondered suddenly what had prompted the change of direction.
She was exhausted tonight, however, and discouraged. He would focus on fixing both of those instead of asking questions about her past.
“You need sleep, Sophie. This can wait until morning.”
“But…”
“I promise I won’t talk to Armando without you. We’ll go over this first thing tomorrow, then we’ll call him in on it.”
Resolutely she dragged herself up to stand tall and straight. “We can look over them now.”
“Come on, honey. You’re dead on your feet. Let me take you to bed.” He slipped his arm around her waist and led her from the room.
As they reached the staircase, she stiffened. “Cade, I can’t…” Her eyes locked on his.
He mentally completed her sentence. She would go to bed, but he wasn’t invited.
“So our fling lasted one night, that it?”
“I don’t…” She bit her lip. “I wish…”
He cradled her cheek. “We’re not done with each other, not by a long shot, but we can discuss that later. Tonight you just go to bed and rest easy.” He leaned in and kissed her gently. When her lips softened and she responded, he smiled inside. No, we are definitely not through. But he ruthlessly restrained himself and ended the kiss. “Good night, Sophie. I’ll go around and lock up.”
Her eyes were huge and luminous and confused. “Good night.”
He was nearly out of earshot when he heard her. “Thank you, Cade. The photographs are incredible. And you can take the plans with you if you want to. To save time tomorrow, that is.”
“I will. See you in the morning, sweetheart.” He smiled to himself. Nope, not nearly done.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RELUCTANTLY CADE HAD returned to Jenna’s for what was left of the night. When dawn broke, however, he was up making coffee and whistling.
“Well, Tweety Bird, what’s gotten into you this morning?” Jenna asked. “Here, let me feel if you’re feverish.”
“Smart aleck.” He dodged the hand she’d pressed to his forehead and handed her a cup. “I need your help, Jen.”
“Always a catch.” Her eyes studied him over the rim. “You okay? Anything wrong?”
“It’s not for me. For Sophie.”
“Has something happened?”
He explained the situation. “I need more workers, but Sophie can’t really afford to pay for more, and she won’t let me give her any money. I’m going to call Jesse and Vince to help.”
“We’ll all pitch in. You know Delilah and Chloe will want to help, too. How soon?”
“Very. The opening is supposed to be in less than three weeks. I also need to figure out how far I can make her money stretch for the materials. I’d buy the rest myself, but her pride is an issue. It’s going to be a challenge to have all of us there working without making her feel like a charity case.”
“Wow. Who are you and what have you done with my brother? You are being way too sensitive.”
“Can it, brat.” He ruffled her hair as he had when she was little. “Sophie’s never had family like we do. It’s not going to be easy to get her to accept the help.”
“And you think you’re up to the task, Mr. Diplomacy?”
He grinned. “I have my charms. She called me her white knight.”
Jenna’s jaw dropped comically. “Okay, first of all, she has to be talking about someone else.” Her eyes narrowed. “And second, don’t you dare break her heart, Cade. Sophie’s not a love ’em and leave ’em woman.”
“I know that.”
“So what are you doing with her?”
“None of your business.”
She laid a hand on his arm. “It’s not just her I’m worrying about. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”
“I’m not going to get hurt, and I’ll do my damnedest to protect her, too. But I can’t just walk away from her, Jenna. She’s lost too much already. I won’t stand by when there’s something I can do.”
Jenna smiled and kissed his cheek. “You are a white knight, aren’t you?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, but if she wants to think that, I’m not telling her otherwise.”
“Okay, so give me details. I’d love to help.”
WHEN SOPHIE AWOKE, SHE realized that for the first time in weeks, she felt hopeful.
Because of Cade.
Which was wrong in so many ways she couldn’t begin to name them. She was an independent woman who did not need a man to charge in and fix things for her. She wouldn’t stand for that, nor would she abdicate control of any aspect of her hotel to another.
He wouldn’t let her pay for the artwork. He wanted to give her money. Somehow she had to even things up or—
Jenna’s not the only one in the family who cares about lending a helping hand to a friend.
Were they friends, she and this enigmatic man who insisted that he didn’t like people but had thrown himself into the middle of her mess? Who gave her exquisite art to make her hotel a showplace? Who worked as hard as any laborer but wouldn’t accept a cent?
There are ways other than money to repay someone. She smiled, remembering. Her libido would like that form of repayment just fine, despite her mind being aghast at the very concept. He was only teasing, though—his mischief was an element of him that had surprised her, but it was also one of the most endearing. He wasn’t serious about that trade-off because he was at heart a very good man.
As well as an amazing lover. In another set of circumstances, she’d be more than happy to make love with him until they both burned out.
But everything now was complicated. And she’d learned the hard way about falling into ill-advised affairs.
She had to refocus on the hotel and getting back on track. She was less than three weeks away from opening. By this point in her schedule, she’d planned to be training the staff, but she was still short on housekeeping staff and grounds crew, though she hoped to convince Armando to come on board.
If she was going to make it, she needed Cade’s help. But his work called, too. How did she even the scales and not take worse advantage of him than she felt she already had? Free nights at the hotel when he visited town? No, he’d stay with Jenna. She puzzled over what on earth she could do as she went down the stairs.
And found him already in her kitchen.
“Hey,” he greeted her. “You look better. Still need to catch up on your rest, though.” He moved around the island toward her.
“That’s not on the schedule until next year—mmph!” He suddenly pulled her into his arms, his mouth pressed to hers in a kiss so blatantly hungry that the hands she tried to shove against his arms instead curled and dug in.
He lifted his head a few inches. “That’s just in case you were still thinking we were done with each other.” Navy blue eyes glowed with a heat that roared through her body.
“Cade—” Another kiss, this one even more carnal.
Sophie closed her eyes and savored. Her hands wound up in his hair, and she pressed more closely against him.
He gave a low hum of approval as his arms tightened around her.
She wanted to think she’d have drawn back first, given just a few more seconds, but she wasn’t sure.
He broke away and rested his forehead against hers. “Don’t want to crowd you, Queenie, but you need to accept that I’m not going anywhere just yet.”
But you will.
She didn’t say the words, though. She was a big girl, and facts were facts—there was something between them, and all she could do was keep herself ready for the day when it would be over. She’d survived worse than Cade MacAllister storming into her life and leaving just as suddenly. She did better alone, anyway.
“Okay.” She didn’t look away. Couldn’t.
“I don’t know where this ride is taking us, and I’m sure if we were both smart, we’d run in the opposite direction—fast.” His gaze grew serious. “I don’t want to run, Sophie. You?”
She should. Oh, she should. But even knowing the loss that was waiting for her, she couldn’t find it in herself to give up this most inconvenient surprise encased in the gorgeous, intriguing man before her. “I’m not running.”
“That’s my Queenie.”
At last Sophie smiled, too. Her life was a mess and she had a host of reasons to worry—but right at this moment, the sun was shining, and a beautiful man wanted to make love to her and to stand by her.
So Sophie tossed caution to the winds and settled into his arms willingly, luxuriating in his embrace.
He was bending to kiss her again when they heard Armando and his men arrive.
“Thanks a lot, man,” Cade grumbled, making her smile. He took her hand and led her outside, grabbing the landscaping plans as they left. “Come on, Queenie. Let’s get this show on the road.”
AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER, Cade disconnected after talking to his, well, sort of brother-in-law. Vince Coronado was married to the sister of Diego’s wife, Caroline, so that made them some kind of family. Though he was a cop by trade, Vince had been renovating his Travis Heights house himself when he’d met Chloe, who had redone hers in Rosedale, north of downtown. When they’d married, they’d finished Vince’s house together, then bought another one in which they and their children now lived. Vince knew every supplier in Austin and had a contact at a wholesale nursery who’d agreed to sell materials to Sophie at cost because of Vince’s long-standing relationship with them.
He walked outside to find her carrying a slate stepping stone that was far too heavy for her slender frame. “Hey—give me that.” He took it from her, and she frowned. “Don’t bark at me, Queenie. You’re strong, but there’s no reason to be stupid.”
She was firing up to argue, he could see. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Girl power and all that. Blah blah. I outweigh you probably by a hundred pounds, so deal with it. Anyway, we don’t have time to argue. I found you a contact at a wholesale nursery and the guy’s waiting for us.”
The fire in her eyes morphed to joy. “Really? How?”
“Family. Told you.” He grinned as he handed off the stone to one of the workers. “Vince hooked us up. Clock’s ticking. Ready?”
“Now?”
“Grab your purse, Queenie. Let’s roll.”
Sophie was no slacker. She charged inside and emerged within minutes. “We’ll take my truck.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He considered telling her then that he and Jenna had assembled the troops, and tomorrow the entire MacAllister clan would swarm down upon her, along with some of Vince and Delilah’s police department friends. Then rejected the idea.
He wasn’t a coward, really, to enjoy her excitement for a little bit first, right? “Afterward, let’s go see Skee…uh, Finn. Want to? He’s about ready to be sprung.”
One eyebrow arched. “I wish I could believe you called him Finn because you agree with the name.” She smiled. “But I’m beginning to know you. So what do you have up your sleeve?”
“Me?” He put on his most innocent look. “Not a thing. Turn here.”
She dragged her gaze back to the road and was distracted when the nursery came into view. “This place has everything!” she said as they walked down the aisles of plants. Her delight warmed him, but he didn’t kid himself she’d forgotten her suspicions that he was hiding something.
But hey, that was for later. Right now, they had plants to choose.
“DID YOU SEE THOSE Turk’s Caps? Won’t they be beautiful just past the pergola?” Sophie couldn’t help herself. She was nearly bouncing as she drove away from the nursery. The entire bed of her pickup was full, and a truck would be delivering the rest.
“Gonna look great,” Cade agreed. “Let’s grab lunch before we go to the vet’s. You didn’t eat breakfast.”
She almost pouted. “I want to plant, not eat.”
“You’ll plant yourself flat on your face if you don’t get some food in you, Mother Nature.”
Oh, she was in too fabulous a mood to even argue. Besides, she had turned into an actual handy person, hadn’t she? For so many years her life had been conducted in offices and hotels and airplanes. She wore suits and heels, not blue jeans and increasingly ratty running shoes. And now look at her. “You can’t insult me.” She tossed her ponytail and sniffed.
Cade tugged at her hair. “Wanna bet?”
She laughed then suddenly sobered. “Thank you. Seriously. Without you, I’d
never have been able to get all of this. I’d have had to cut way back, and the landscaping would show it.”
He shrugged. “I just made some calls.”
He’d done more than that, though, starting from the first day when he’d tried to take her wheelbarrow off her hands. “You’ve been amazing, Cade. I don’t know how, but I’ll make it up to you....”
He rolled his eyes. “This is not where we go back over old ground, right? You are not still trying to figure out how to pay me back?”
“I will pay you back, count on it.”
Cade sighed then cocked his head as if an idea had struck him. “Okay, if you insist, here’s how you can do it.”
“All right.” She turned into a restaurant and parked under some trees so the plants wouldn’t suffer while they were inside eating.
He looked straight at her. “You don’t complain about what I’m about to tell you next.”
“But—”
“You wanted to repay me, Queenie. These are my terms. Take it or leave it.”
What was he up to now? Because he was definitely up to something. “Cade, I can’t just—”
“Queenie…”
“All right, all right. I won’t complain, but that doesn’t mean I agree to accept whatever it is.”
“Big surprise.”
“You can’t expect me to give you a blanket acceptance, not when I know only too well how high-handed you are. So tell me, what have you done?”
“Tomorrow my family is showing up to help.”
“What? What do you mean, your family?”
“I mean, every last one of them—my dad and mom, my brothers, their wives, their kids, Jenna…and whoever else any of them decide to dig up.”
She couldn’t breathe. She knew her mouth was gaping, but she couldn’t seem to change that. “You—you’re kidding.” She looked at him, thought about Jenna. “You’re not kidding. Oh, my God.” She jerked open her door and walked away, head spinning.
A Texas Chance Page 15