by Kate Pearce
Julia fought the urge to gawk as Melanie’s hand crept to her throat.
“That . . . didn’t weigh on my hiring decision, I—”
“I believe it did,” Mr. Bashear said gently. “I abhor nepotism. I wouldn’t even take my son into this firm until he’d done ten years with a competitor.”
He looked over at Julia. “Thank you for your time, Julia, and please thank your team.”
“I will, Mr. Bashear.” Julia smiled.
Even as she left the room, she wished she could be a fly on the wall. Would Melanie and Blaine manage to keep their jobs, or would Mr. B fire them both? He was quite a stickler for the rules. Whatever happened next, she wouldn’t be working with either of them again, which was the best news ever.
In the outer office, Miley came bouncing up to her, braids flying in every direction.
“Hey! We did it! We crushed it!”
Julia accepted the high five and finally smiled. “You were all awesome.”
“And we made Blaine look like the dick he is!”
“Apparently,” Julia said, lowering her voice, as she was being indiscreet, but she thought Miley deserved to hear this, “Blaine is Melanie’s nephew.”
“Get out!” Miley gasped. “No!”
“Yup, but keep it to yourself, okay?” Julia added. “It didn’t go down well with Mr. Bashear, I can tell you that.”
Miley was still staring at her, totally speechless for once, and Julia took advantage by pulling her friend into an awkward hug.
“Thank you for all you’ve done to keep my spirits up during this terrible time.”
“Right back at you.” Miley was grinning like a fool. “We have to go out and celebrate!”
“Let’s wait to see what happens to Melanie and Blaine first. But if they are fired, drinks tonight are on me!” Julia promised.
She went back to her office and for once closed the door. She needed time alone to decompress, consider her future, and most importantly do her own little victory dance to celebrate the comeuppance of the obnoxious Blaine.
When she sat down at her desk, she noticed Miley had left a note concerning Mr. Evans’s ranch in Bridgeport. Apparently, before they made an offer, the potential buyer wanted her to sound out the town council informally about the chances of them getting a permit to build the guest cabins on the ranch land. Mr. Evans and his family had requested she be the one to handle the matter because of her connection with the town.
Julia checked her calendar. Mr. Bashear was leaving for the East Coast early tomorrow morning, which meant that if he had settled matters with all concerned, she could leave for Morgan Valley and squeeze in a visit to Bridgeport on her way home. The information she’d received from Brooksmiths, the historically sympathetic building company, might go a long way to assuaging Mr. Evans and his family’s concerns about selling. And, if he really didn’t want to sell to anyone other than a single buyer, or sell at all, she would not try to change his mind.
The thought of someone trying to pressure her own father into making that kind of decision made her furious. If the buyers were skeptical, she could always say that despite her best efforts, the council was not willing to allow such a development on the edge of their town. They wouldn’t be the first community to make the decision to protect their heritage.
She shut her laptop and checked the time. In just over twenty-four hours she would be home with exciting news about her job and the financial ability to keep her father at the ranch for as long as he wanted. She’d also get to see Kaiden Miller, but what might happen with him was a total unknown. She couldn’t stop hoping that there was some way to fix things between them. Three weeks without any communication had been horrible, and she missed him, it was as simple and complicated as that.
Her cell pinged and she checked her messages. Mr. Bashear wanted her to have dinner with him. She accepted the invitation and got back to work. With Blaine hopefully on the way out, she had a lot to clean up.
* * *
Julia parked her rental in front of Mr. Evans’s front door, patted his dog, and went to knock on the door, only to have it open to reveal a young woman about her own age.
“I do remember you!” the woman exclaimed. “We were on opposing softball teams in high school!”
“Jennifer, correct?” Julia held out her hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you, too. Come on in. I bet you’re going to that fancy party at Morgan Ranch tomorrow night, aren’t you?”
“Dad and I have been invited.” Julia followed Jennifer through to the kitchen where she was offered her choice of coffee or lemonade.
“Well, don’t forget to give Kaiden Miller a big kiss on the cheek from me.” Jennifer winked. “I guess he’s all grown up now.”
“Kaiden Miller?” Julia wondered whether she looked as guilty as she felt.
“We dated once. He was such a goofball.” Jennifer grinned. “Dad said he’d grown up real nice, and was nothing like his father.”
Julia considered Kaiden’s abs and nodded. “He sure did.”
“Betty, my mom, is sitting with Grandad, so if you just come through to the parlor, we can talk this out, okay?”
“Thank you,” Julia said, and followed Jennifer into the sunny parlor where she was introduced to Betty and received a grudging hello from Mr. Evans. She offered him a smile and opened her file.
“Okay, I know you probably don’t want to hear about any of these options, Mr. Evans, but I want to give you the full picture.” She glanced at the two women. “I talked to the town clerk this morning so I have his opinion as well. I also promise that whatever decision you make, I will report it back faithfully to my potential client and not try to change your minds.”
Mr. Evans nodded. He looked way more drawn than he had four weeks ago. “All right then, missy. Show me what you’ve got.”
* * *
“Kaiden?”
“Who else?” Kaiden said into his phone. “What’s up, Silver?”
“Can you come over?”
“To your house? Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for some kind of wedding party?” Kaiden folded up the last of his dustsheets and stowed it along with his tools in his truck. He’d finished the Garcia kitchen just in time for Julia to show up, and he wanted to get out of there before she arrived home.
“Yes, we are, but I really wanted to talk to you about something first.”
“That urgent, eh?”
“Yes.”
Silver sounded uncharacteristically earnest.
“Is everything okay between you and Ben?” Kaiden asked cautiously as he shut the door of his truck.
“Yes! This is just something between you and me, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll come over right now. I was just at the Garcias’ finishing up so I won’t be long.”
Beth had taken Juan down to Morgantown so that Kaiden could clean up the kitchen and finish off all the little details so that it looked as good as he could make it. He wanted it to be a surprise for Juan, and for Julia, if he was honest. He’d poured his heart into it over the past few weeks. But, as he wasn’t one to stand around waiting to be praised, he’d prefer to get his feedback later.
He drove over to Silver’s place and parked beside the barn. There was no sign of Ben or his truck, which wasn’t surprising in the middle of the day. He walked around to the side door and let himself in calling out to Silver.
“I’m in the kitchen!” she shouted back.
He took off his boots and went down the hallway. She was sitting at the table, her elbows on the top and her phone in front of her. Her blond hair was in braids and she didn’t look like someone full of party spirit.
“Are you okay?” Kaiden asked.
“Yeah, I’m just . . .” Silver pulled a face. “Not sure what to make of what Julia just told me. I might be misinterpreting what she said, and making everything worse, but I felt like the least I could do was make sure you had all the facts before you saw her.”
Kaiden took the seat opposite her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m sure you’ll get to the point in a while.”
“Okay.” Silver blew out a breath. “You know the Evans Ranch in Bridgeport?”
“Yeah, I took Julia out there a few weeks ago.”
“Well, Julia texted me to say she was back out there today.”
“And?”
“And she sent me some stuff from a housing development company called Brooksmiths who currently specialize in building . . .” She checked her phone. “Environmentally sympathetic and sustainable resort accommodation and restoration of rural locations.”
Kaiden let that mouthful sink in. “Okay.”
“She said it’s one of the options she put forward to Mr. Evans and his family, and that she thought I might like to know about it too.” She looked at him hopefully. “Doesn’t that worry you?”
“I’m not sure why it should.” Kaiden frowned. “Am I missing something?”
“Last time you were here we talked about why Julia might have changed her mind about selling the Garcia Ranch?” Silver tapped the screen of her phone. “Maybe this is why. Maybe she thinks this really would be the best option for her father, and that she’d still be saving the place even if her father wasn’t running it.”
“Why would she tell you that?” Kaiden asked slowly. “I know you’re friends, but—”
“She didn’t.”
He rubbed his temples. “I’m getting really confused here, Silver.”
“Julia knows that Ben and I are setting up our Morgan Valley Heritage Foundation. She probably thought we’d just like to know about Brooksmiths as a potential collaborator for renovation and renewal projects in our valley.”
“Which makes sense.” Kaiden nodded.
“The rest of it—the part about her maybe seeing it as a way to justify selling off the Garcia Ranch—is just me making assumptions.” Silver held up her finger. “I could be totally wrong, but considering what we talked about, and what Miguel said, I just wanted you to be fully aware of what you might be dealing with.”
She sat back and looked at him expectantly.
“You think Julia’s getting some cutback from this company to find ranches to build on?” Kaiden asked slowly.
“She might be.” Silver shrugged. “It might be tied to her work and she automatically gets a bonus or something if she recommends them.”
“I hear what you’re saying, Silver, but I just can’t see Julia doing any of this.”
“I can’t either, but there just seemed to be a lot of coincidences, and I thought you should know all the facts before you see her.” Silver made a face. “You probably think I’m nuts, and that I’ve gotten you all worried about nothing now.”
“No, I get it,” Kaiden reassured her, aware that he wasn’t quite as confident as he might appear on the outside. His argument with Julia over the Evans Ranch remained clear in his mind. “It’s always better to be prepared for anything.”
He got up from the table as did Silver.
“I suppose I’d better go and get ready.” Silver came around to give him a hug. “Ben wouldn’t let me fly in my makeup artist and hairdresser so I’m doing everything by myself.”
“I’m sure you’ll look beautiful,” Kaiden reassured her even as he hid a grin. “When is your family arriving?”
“Oh, they’re already here. Ben’s taken them out to see the improvements we’ve made on the ranch. They should be back any time now.”
Kaiden made his way home, mulling over Silver’s words. Would Julia really be prepared to ignore her father’s wishes and side with Miguel just to get her hands on some money? It didn’t seem likely. She already earned a huge salary—enough to keep Juan at the ranch for the remainder of his life.
He reminded himself that Silver loved a good conspiracy theory and sometimes reacted to things like she was living in a soap opera—which to be fair her life did sometimes resemble. The only thing he could do was ask Julia what was going on—which meant he’d have to talk to her—which meant he’d have to pretend she meant nothing to him all over again.
He parked outside the barn and stared at the wooden slats. He couldn’t let Miguel manipulate his father and his sister out of their home. If Julia didn’t know that Blaine was working with her brother . . .
“How could she not know? She’s the only link between them,” Kaiden spoke the words out loud. “None of this makes sense.”
He should call her right now. He knew it in his soul, but what if she said it was all true and acted surprised that he was bothered about it? Wasn’t it better to wait and ask her to her face? She couldn’t hide from him then, and at least he’d have his answer. He checked the time. She might be traveling back. He didn’t want to call her if she was driving.
“Coward,” Kaiden said as he got out of the truck. “You’re just too chicken shit to call her.”
He went into the kitchen where his mother, knowing their healthy appetites, had laid out some kind of buffet for them to graze on before they got to the big party later. He helped himself to a plateful of food and some coffee, answered all her questions without really listening, and skedaddled to his room to get ready.
Adam had gone to pick up Lizzie and Roman. Danny and Evan were going with Leanne and Jeff, Daisy was with Jackson, which left Kaiden by himself. These days he preferred it that way because the moment he got in a vehicle with one of his siblings, they started nagging him about his behavior. The only person who wasn’t making much of an effort to talk to him was his father, and that suited Kaiden just fine.
He paused as he unbuttoned his shirt. But that wasn’t true either, was it? He kind of missed his dad shouting at him. Jeff Miller being quiet and polite for the first time in his life was not as much fun as Kaiden had expected. But deliberately making his dad mad right now was not what Jeff needed to help him recuperate.
Kaiden spent a while ironing his new shirt, brushing his best white Stetson, and polishing his one and only rodeo buckle and belt. As no one else was depending on him for a ride, he could take his own sweet time turning up at the party. As he shaved, he practiced what he was going to say when he saw Julia, but everything sounded false. She knew him well enough not to fall for any of his bullshit.
He studied his face in the mirror. She did know him, probably better than anyone even his own family. Why did he even doubt her? There was no way in hell she’d sell out her own father. How could he be stupid enough to not even try and make things work? If he never asked, he’d never know, and she’d find someone way better.
Decision made, Kaiden got dressed, put on his best pair of boots, and went to confront his future at the party.
* * *
Julia walked over to the large picture window in the Morgan Ranch Guest Center and admired the outline of the Sierra Nevadas and the foothills sloping down toward the ranch itself. She hadn’t been up to the ranch since Chase and the rest of the family had finally come home and started making changes. After talking to Ruth Morgan she had begun to see why so many new houses were needed in the valley.
The guests of honor, Ben and Silver, hadn’t arrived yet. Julia had established Juan in a group of ranchers and left him chatting away in fine form. By the time she’d finished at the Evans place, she’d barely had time to say hi to him before rushing off to get changed. She turned back to survey the room. If she wasn’t mistaken, the happy couple had invited everyone in Morgan Valley.
She smoothed down the skirt of her red-and-white-patterned dress and considered how long she would be able to stand upright in her spiked heels before she broke out the flats in her purse. She’d put her hair up and secured it with a large flowered clip on one side of her head. Her father had clapped and said she reminded him of her mother when he’d first met her.
Despite her newly restored confidence in her future career, she couldn’t believe how nervous she was about seeing Kaiden again. She had a sense that this time she’d reach him—that togethe
r they could make things right between them again.
“Hey.”
She’d been so focused on the door, that she jumped when she heard his voice behind her.
“Kaiden!” She spun around like some dizzy rom-com heroine. “I didn’t see you come in.”
He smiled, but there was a definite hint of watchfulness in his eyes.
“I got here a while ago. I was talking to Blue Morgan about some work he needs doing at his place.” His gaze swept down to her feet and back up again. “You look . . . well.”
“Thanks, so do you. Is that a new shirt?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded, aware that the ease between them had disappeared and frantically wondered how to get it back.
“Was your dad able to come?”
Kaiden jerked a thumb back toward the door. “He’s coming with Mom, Evan, and Danny. They should be here any minute now.”
“I heard that you weren’t working on the ranch anymore.”
“Yeah.” He shoved a hand in his pocket and looked out of the window.
Julia repressed a sigh. “Are you okay about that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She waited to see if he was going to say anything else and then slowly nodded, her stupid hopes dying like the wind. “Okay, then. It was nice talking to you, Kaiden. Have a great evening.”
She was just about to turn away when he cleared his throat.
“If you can spare me some time after Ben and Silver get here, I’d be grateful.”
“Really?” She raised her chin. “Because right now, you look like you can’t wait to get away from me.”
He shrugged and offered her a faint smile. “Actually, I’m kind of nervous right now, and I don’t know how to handle it.”
“Nervous about what?”
“Talking to you.”
“Right, because I’m so terrifying,” Julia said.
“You can be, especially when you’re glaring at me like I’m dog meat.”
“I am not—” She looked him in the eye. “Fine. I’ll talk to you later.”
She spent the next hour silently worrying while attempting to be pleasant to her neighbors and making sure her father was happy. So much for Kaiden Miller being her soul mate; he was the most exasperating man she’d ever met. If he was planning on asking her to date him, she’d make him beg real hard before she capitulated. She ate food, toasted the happy couple with champagne, and, if asked, would not have been able to name a thing she’d eaten, or even who had made each toast.