Payoff Pitch (Philadelphia Patriots) (34 page)

Then again, her willingness to go to Cooperstown might have been just a gracious gesture in response to his agreement to take it on the chin from her people, or maybe even another opportunity to bend his ear about why he should be opposed to fracking. Noah knew how strongly she felt about the issue, and the chances of her suddenly being fine with everything and leaping into bed with him up there still felt less than solid. Though her body had sent out some strong signals, she hadn’t wasted any time getting out the door after they’d agreed on the details of the trip.

It was a safe bet that she was as conflicted as he was. That’s why he’d suggested she go away with him. Spending some time alone together in a new setting might help them sort out what was really important, and help find a way past the disagreements that had driven them apart.

Because every moment Noah spent in Teddy’s company drove home how much he wanted her. She was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time. It wasn’t just her generous nature and sweetly eager sexuality. It was also her bone deep kindness and decency. Teddy Quinn was a woman that a man could depend on, one who had principles and beliefs and was willing to stand up for them. Though those principles were getting between them, he had to respect them, nonetheless. She didn’t give a crap about his celebrity status or his money. She cared about the kind of man he was and cared about what he believed in. Noah had learned over the years how rare those qualities could be.

Whatever else might be screwed up in his life or in a state of limbo, he knew he wanted a chance with Teddy. Maybe they would make it and maybe they wouldn’t, but he sensed he would always regret it if he didn’t try.

Beer in hand, he retreated to his office and grabbed the phone as he sat down in his high-backed chair. And damned if his heart rate didn’t tick up a notch as he dialed his father’s cell number.

“Hey, son,” Noah Cade drawled. “What’s up?”

“I just thought I’d give you an update on what’s been happening.” Noah could hear some traffic sounds in the background, including a siren. “Are you on your way home?”

“I wish,” his father said with a snort. “I’ve got to put in an appearance at a goddamn cocktail party fundraiser for one of Samantha’s charities. Like I don’t have anything better to do, right? Jesus, I hate that shit.”

Adam Cade hated pretty much everything but work, his ranch, and all the Dallas sports teams. Unlike his father, Noah enjoyed donating his time and money to good causes, especially the local hospitals. He’d started his charity work as another way to set himself apart from the old man, but now it made his life feel bigger than just baseball.

“So, the MRI on my shoulder came back inconclusive,” Noah said, getting right into it. “That’s making it harder to decide whether it makes sense to let them operate or not.”

“What happens if you decide not to?” his father asked in a clipped voice. “You’ll be done with baseball?”

“That’s what I have to think about, obviously. I need to talk to some people, too.”

“Of course. It’s a big decision whether or not to call a career quits. One of the biggest a man has to make in life.”

Well, at least his father seemed to get that. A little relieved, he took a quick swallow of beer before continuing. “The thing is, Dad, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to give you a final answer about the campaign when you want it. There might not be enough time.”

When a heavy silence hung on the line, Noah gamely forged ahead. “So, maybe the best thing would be for you to go with your original plan and find another spokesman.”

Even before he made the point, Noah knew how unlikely it was that his dad would give up that easily. He never did. Not about anything.

“Try hard, Noah,” his father growled, sounding like a pissed off old bear. “That one’s not exactly a life-changing decision. You just have to do a few TV spots and a photo shoot or two, for Christ’s sake.”

Noah understood, even if his dad didn’t, that if he agreed to do the campaign he’d be making an all but irrevocable step toward joining Baron Energy. And he wasn’t prepared to do that yet. “I hear you, but I can’t make my decisions based on somebody else’s timetable.”

“Ah, hell.” His father sighed deeply. “Well, then, just come to the kick-off reception on Monday, anyway. All the industry partners will be there, and some political folks, too. If you’ve decided by then to be our spokesman, we’ll make the announcement right there, as a surprise. Everybody will be thrilled to know you’re on board.”

Noah saw right through that tactic. “And if I haven’t made up my mind, you’ll have a couple of dozen people lobby the hell out of me, right?”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” his father said, adopting a tone of wounded innocence.

Noah had to give the guy all kinds of credit for being a world-class manipulator.

“Showing up at the reception and meeting all the players would be good for you long term, Noah, and good for the company, too,” his father added. “Folks don’t get a chance to see us in the same room much, do they?”

“Not much,” Noah admitted.
Like just about never.

“Then be there, son. I really want you there, decision or no decision.”

Noah rested the phone against his forehead for a few seconds. His father wasn’t asking for much. Glad-handing at some dumb reception for an hour or two might be a pain in the ass, but if it made Dad and Levi happy, he could handle it. And if the old man’s pals tried to cajole or steamroller him, he’d just stand firm.

“Fine, then. I’ll be there.” The Patriots would be on the road in St. Louis on Monday, so he probably had nothing better to do that evening.

“Good. Maybe we can grab dinner after the reception. Just the three of us.”

“Maybe. See you next week.” Noah hung up.

His father really seemed to be reaching out to him these days. How much was sincere, though, and how much was manipulation remained to be seen.

Teddy scanned the group of neighbors and friends crammed around her father’s long, farm-style kitchen table. She’d known many of these folks since birth. The main exception was Noah, of course. But the fact that she felt far closer to him than any of the neighbors and friends she’d grown up with hit her with startling force as she watched him chatting easily with stolid Kerwin Fell on one side and the perpetual and well-named flirt Chrissie Peacock on the other.

Noah looked fantastic tonight in black chinos and a crisp, white long-sleeved shirt rolled up to the elbows. She couldn’t help feeling a strange kind of possessive pride.

When he turned away from the entranced Chrissie and caught Teddy’s eye, he actually winked at her and none too subtly either. Teddy had to stifle her surprise while her brother—who had obviously caught the gesture—chuckled beside her.

“Man, when Noah Cade looks at you that way, sis,” Dalton said, “you really ought to do something about it. If you haven’t already, that is.”

She refused to meet her brother’s eye, but that didn’t stop her from sending a sharp elbow into his ribs.

Ignoring Dalton’s
oof
, she looked back at Noah, but he was again in animated conversation with Kerwin. Despite his protestations about being accosted by irate farmers with pitchforks, Noah had so far shown absolutely no signs of nervousness. She’d deliberately chosen to place him in the middle of the table, directly across from her. That way, she could watch his expression and hopefully gauge his ongoing reactions. Depending on what she saw, she intended to intervene in the meeting to make sure nothing went off the rails.

That was supposed to be her father’s job tonight, but he made a far better farmer than a meeting chairman.

While Noah seemed to be doing fine, Teddy’s stomach was twisted into a hard, growling knot. Knowing the meeting would start almost as soon as dinner was over, she’d barely picked at the fried chicken dinner her father had prepared for their arrival. Noah, on the other hand, had eaten with gusto as he and the Quinn men talked about everything under the sun except the issues at hand. Predictably, much of the talk had been about baseball, leaving Teddy to silently stew about what might or might not happen tonight after everybody arrived.

The ten invited neighbors had gradually assembled around the table, ambling in after dinner and evening chores. Some of the men were clearly star-struck by Noah—shoving pens and paper and farmer hats into his hands for autographs—and a couple of the women were just as eager to talk to him. Only three people remained standoffish, all of whom bore the deepest antipathy to the drilling companies. That was precisely why she and her father had invited them, even knowing that those three would surely raise the temperature of the meeting.

Teddy needed it to be a genuine reflection of the community for this discussion to have any value for Noah. Of the local people, four were advocates for more drilling—her brother, their neighbor Joe Henderson, restaurant owner Katie James, and town councilor Aubrey Whissell. Teddy had insisted that Dalton sit next to her, and she had every intention of poking him in the side or stepping on his foot if he started to hijack the meeting with his all too predictable volatility.

After a few minutes of amiable chitchat, her dad, sitting at the head of the table, kicked off the meeting by welcoming Noah. After brief introductions and an explanation of how the meeting had come about—with an added plea for everyone to be forthright
and
considerate—Teddy’s father tried to throw the floor open.

Noah, however, raised a hand to intervene.

“I just wanted to thank all you folks for coming tonight,” he said with evident sincerity. “Though I’m not directly involved in Baron Energy or any other drilling company, I guarantee you that what I hear tonight will get passed on to the people at the top of Baron.” He paused to scan around the table. “I truly want to hear what you have to say. I want to know about everything that’s happening up here in the Marcellus and how you feel about the future. And don’t assume I know much of anything, because I probably don’t,” he added with a self-deprecating smile.

With the exception of the three implacable hostiles, everyone in the room laughed or smiled, which didn’t surprise Teddy one bit. Noah’s charm factor was off the scale.

“Thanks, Noah. Cynthia, why don’t you start?” Teddy’s father said to the woman seated at the opposite end of the table.

Cynthia Parrish, one of the implacables, had been glaring at just about everyone since she’d arrived. A widow in her mid-fifties, she ran a dairy farm with her son about five miles to the west of the Quinn farm. A truly formidable hardass, Cynthia headed up the anti-fracking coalition in the county.

She cleared her throat and directed her gaze at Noah. “I commend you for wanting to learn, Mr. Cade. God knows there aren’t many people outside the Marcellus who seem to give a sweet damn about what’s going on up here, and that certainly includes the oil and gas companies. We’re just little people fighting big, destructive corporations, and the state government doesn’t seem to want to do a whole lot to help us.”

Teddy bit back a sigh. Nothing like starting off the meeting on a soapbox.

“That’s because the government’s in bed with the damn companies,” Gerry Samson, another of the hostiles added, flushing bright red. “The politicians give them everything they want and yet they have the nerve to say they’re closely regulating the industry. It’s a sick joke, that’s what it is.”

Cynthia gave his emotional outburst an approving nod. “I could talk for hours about why we oppose fracking, Mr. Cade, but I don’t want to dominate the conversation. Everybody here needs to say his or her piece. But if there’s one thing I want to leave you with tonight, it’s this. It may even be too late now to save these valleys, but one thing’s for damn sure. Unless people like us can put a stop to more drilling and fracking on this precious land, life as we know it here—life as generations have known it—is going to be over. What was once beautiful and productive farmland will become nothing more than a giant gas field, with rigs and pits and frac tanks and impoundment sites stretching from horizon to horizon.”

She reached down and pulled up a three-foot square map of their county and the other counties bordering Susquehanna. Teddy had seen an earlier version of it before but was startled by the changes over the past year. Red dots indicated the current rig sites. Dark blue dots indicated leases that had been signed but not yet exploited. Teddy’s heart sank, as it did every time she looked at the map. Parts of the county were so red it almost looked like there were big drops of blood spattered on the map. Several other parts were dense with blue dots.

Cynthia explained the map the map to Noah, who listened politely and without comment.

“Would any sane person want this kind of transformation on his land, Mr. Cade?” Cynthia asked. “Would your neighbors in Philadelphia, for example, want to have a gas fracking rig in every one of their city parks? Containment sites a block or two away from their homes? Massive trucks full of fracking fluid or water rumbling down their residential streets at all hours? Well, sir, that’s exactly what’s happening in our neck of the woods, and if the corporations get their way, it’s going to get worse and worse and worse.”

“Oh, give it a rest, Cynthia,” Dalton snapped, leaning forward into the table. “All you people do is toss out wild exaggerations. Sure, there are a lot of rigs these days, but this is a damn big state. It’s stupid to be talking about drilling rigs in city parks. That’s just bullshit.”

Cynthia stared at him with undisguised revulsion.

Teddy had been watching Noah carefully. His eyes had zeroed in on Cynthia’s map with laser focus, and he’d frowned after Dalton spoke.

“Could you pass that map down this way, Cynthia?” Noah asked. “I’d like to take a closer look.”

Everyone remained silent as Noah studied the map. “It would be good to see some aerial shots,” he finally said.

“That could be arranged,” Cynthia replied. “Perhaps Baron could foot the bill?”

While Teddy cringed at her snarky tone, Noah just smiled and said nothing.