Hard Hat Man (4 page)

Jan bit her cheek to keep from asking him how well he did know Louise.

The waitress interrupted with their food and they turned their attention to eating.

A few minutes later a slim, middle-aged man strode up to their table.
Anger radiated from
his sunburned face
.
Kyle frowned.

“
Is she the woman selling Horace
’
s farm to you?
”
t
he
man
demanded
in a harsh tone
, nodding at
Laura
.

Kyle nodded.
“
Hello, Alex.
Yes.
This is
Laura
Johnson and her daughter, Janita Kerry.
Ladies, Alex Porter, who lives on the farm next to Horace
’s
.
”

“
Hello,
”
he acknowledged
,
barely softening his tone.
“
As Horace
’
s
former
neighbor
and fellow Christian
, I want to object to your selling
Horace’s farm
to
Kyle, here.
”

Jan raised an eyebrow and
gaz
ed at her mother, who lifted a shoulder, as though to deny any knowledge of
what he meant
.

“
May I ask why you object?
”
Laura
asked casually, glancing sideways at him.
She raised her china cup and sipped her tea.

Jan hid a smile, recognizing her mother
’
s stance as an act covering her anger.
Laura
didn
’
t like this man.

“
His
project will cause water runoff that will do lots of damage to my property,
”
Alex said
in a harsh tone.

Kyle interrupted,
“
Alex, we
’
ve been over this a dozen times.
So has the county engineer.
He told us both he found no basis for your claims.
”

“
Well, I say he
’
s wrong.
And I want to ask you ladies not to sell to Kyle, here.
You could sell to me or someone else who
’
ll keep it as farmland.
”

Laura
set down her teacup and shook her head.
“
I
’
m sorry, Mr. Porter, but we
’
ve already struck a deal with Hart Construction.
The land is worth much less as farmland, as I believe you said in your offer.
You can hardly blame me for taking the highest offer.
”

“
Humph.
Well, I
’
ve got a new lawyer working on this.
I
’
ll stop you, yet!
”
He sent them all a nasty look and strode off, his back ramrod stiff.

Kyle stared after him, then turned back to
Laura
and Jan with a long sigh.
“
I
’
m sorry, ladies.
I picked this restaurant because it
’
s new and I thought we
’
d have a little privacy here.
Guess I was wrong.
”

Jan had barely lifted her fork again when a tall, willowy blonde stopped beside him, chiding,
“
Why, Kyle, you
’
re never wrong about anything, are you?
”

He jumped and turned to her, a frown once more creasing his brow.
“
Hello, Sylvia.
I
’
m always wrong where you
’
re concerned, aren
’
t I?
”

She dropped a red-tipped hand on his shoulder in a very familiar gesture and smiled at Jan as though to warn her off.
“
Kyle and I are only kidding, of course.
We play these little games all the time, don
’
t we, dear?
”

Kyle said dryly,
“
Oh, all the time.
Jan,
Laura
, this is another member of
Lakeview
’
s
Chamber of Commerce, Sylvia Netters.
She runs a decorating shop here.
”

“
Pleased to meet you.
And I
’
m always
happy
to give free estimates if you
’
re redoing anything.
”

“
Hardly,
”
Jan said with a little smile.
The woman
’
s possessive gesture irritated her.
And why should it?
Why should she care if Kyle and this woman were more than friendly?
It was none of her business!

“
They
’
re only closing out the sale of Horace
’
s farm so I can get my project underway, Sylvia,
”
Kyle told her, irritation thick in his voice.

“
Oh.
”
Sylvia looked back at
Laura
and Jan.
“
Then you aren
’
t going to live there?
”

Laura
laughed.
“
Hardly.
”

Jan raised an eyebrow.
“
Live there?
Why would you think that?
”

Sylvia shrugged.
“
I guess I assumed...I mean, if it
’
s a family inheritance, people often do want to keep it.
Memories and all that.
”

“
No, we won
’
t be living there.
”

Sylvia turned back to Kyle.
“
Surely you aren
’
t going to tear it down?
”

“
Why should you care what I do with it?
”

She flushed and shrugged.
“
I don
’
t.
I only thought -- well, never mind.
Will I see you at the Chamber luncheon meeting tomorrow?
”

“
No.
I won
’
t have time for that.
”

“
Oh.
Well, nice meeting you ladies.
”
With a flutter of fingers, she undulated back to her table.

Jan watched her go, then returned to her meal, taking a strange satisfaction in Kyle
’
s less than polite treatment of the lady.

Their waitress brought a fresh pot of tea and refilled their cups.

“
Again, sorry about the interruptions,
”
Kyle said.
“
Would you like some dessert?
”

“
No thanks,
”
Laura
said to the hovering waitress.

Jan shook her head and the waitress hurried off.

Kyle picked up the check and stopped at the cash register to pay it on the way out.
He helped them into his car, once more putting Jan in front with him.
But she was no more friendly now than she had been earlier.

Back at their motel, he said,
“
I
’
ll call you when I get the closing set up.
Goodnight.
”

“Goodnight,” Jan replied and closed and locked the door after him.

“
Nice young man,
”
Laura
said.
She kicked off her high heeled pumps and turned on the TV.

“
Mother--
”
Jan warned.
“
Don
’
t start.
”

“
Why not?
It
’
s well past time for you to settle down.
”

“
Signing a teaching contract and living in one place for years isn
’
t settled?
”