Summer Days (9 page)

“Not exactly.”

“How did you buy the ranch in the first place?”

Heidi shrugged. “I won a small lottery jackpot. It was enough for the down payment, closing costs and the goats. We had a few dollars in savings. I’ve started playing again, but I don’t hold out hope I’ll win a second time.”

“Any rich relatives ready to die?”

“No.”

“Too bad.” She turned the computer around and closed the top. “You need to come up with a way to pay back a significant percentage of what Glen stole. The judge isn’t going to want to hear about a plan that takes a decade. I’m serious, Heidi. You could lose the ranch, and Glen could go to prison. For real.”

“I’ll come up with something,” Heidi promised, although she wasn’t sure what or how.

* * *

R
AFE
SURVEYED
THE
FENCE
.
Most of the posts were leaning or missing, and the material between had either disappeared or was hanging by a single staple. The job would go faster if there were no fence at all. As it was, he would have to check each of the posts, pull the ones that weren’t sturdy enough, get rid of all the old wire fencing and then start with new material.

“That’s a lot of work.”

Rafe turned and saw Glen walking toward him. The old man pulled a pair of gloves out of his jeans’ back pocket.

“So we should probably get started.”

“You planning on helping me?” Rafe asked. He would guess Glen had been eligible for social security for close to a decade. Sure, he looked wiry, but what about his heart? Rafe wasn’t interested in putting the old man at risk.

“I put in my years as a roadie. Besides, it’s not like you’re digging holes the old-fashioned way.” He pointed to the engine-powered auger Rafe had rented. “Hell, boy, I’ve been handling machines like that longer than you’ve been alive.”

Boy? Rafe hid a grin. If Glen was trying to intimidate him, he was going to have to work a lot harder.

“You want to drill the postholes, you go ahead,” Rafe told him, thinking it would be the easiest work of the day. The equipment would provide most of the muscle, and Rafe would handle the heavy lifting.

Rafe had barely pulled out the first of the leaning posts when two trucks drove onto the ranch. They headed right for the fence line and came to a stop only a few feet away. There was one guy in the first truck, and two in the second.

The first man climbed out and walked toward Rafe. He was tall, with dark hair, and there was something about him that seemed familiar. Almost as if Rafe had met him before.

The man laughed as he approached. “I wouldn’t have recognized you, either,” he said. “Not if I hadn’t heard you were back in town.”

Rafe studied the stranger. “Ethan? Ethan Hendrix?”

“That’s me.”

The two men shook hands.

“Welcome home,” Ethan said. “I remember you hating Fool’s Gold. I can’t believe you’re back.”

“I’m not back or home. This is temporary.”

Ethan glanced at the stacks of fence posts and rolls of fencing. “Looks pretty permanent to me.”

“My mother is planning to stay in town. I’m helping her out.”

“You always did take care of her.” Ethan motioned for the other two men to join them. “I’m going to let you have two of my best. Got a call from the lumber supply about what you were planning to do.” Ethan grinned, his dark eyes bright with amusement. “Last I heard, you were some finance guy. If you’ve gone soft, there’s no way you can do this yourself.”

“I haven’t gone soft,” Rafe told him, then introduced Glen, who waved away the words.

“I know Ethan,” the old man said. “And these two. Come on, boys. We’ll get started and show them how it’s done.”

Rafe and Ethan walked toward the larger truck.

“You never left?” Rafe asked. “I remember something about you wanting to get away, too.”

Ethan shrugged. “That was the plan. Life intervened. Turned out staying here was the best thing that ever happened to me.” He pulled out his wallet and removed a couple of pictures.

Rafe studied the pretty redhead and the three children. “You’ve been busy.”

“I’ve been happy,” Ethan said.

Rafe handed back the picture. “Good for you.” While he didn’t feel any regrets about his marriage having failed, he was sorry not to have children of his own.

“Where are you living?” Ethan asked.

“San Francisco. You still in construction?”

“Some. The company pretty much runs itself. Most of my time is spent building turbines.” His smile flashed again. “Windmills, to you laypeople. Wind energy.”

They talked about Ethan’s business for a few minutes.

“We should get together,” Ethan said. “I’ll talk to Liz about having you over for dinner. Remember Josh Golden?”

“Sure.”

“He’s still in town. Married, with a kid. Fiona is a year now. Time flies. We’ll have them over.”

They discussed the other mutual friends they’d had in school—who was still around and who had moved on. After a few minutes, Ethan glanced at his watch.

“I need to get back. Keep my guys as long as you want. They know what they’re doing.”

“I appreciate the help. You’ll send me a bill for their time?”

“Count on it,” Ethan told him. “From what I’ve heard, you can afford it.”

Rafe shrugged. “I get by.”

“I’ll be in touch to set up that dinner. It’s good to have you back.”

“I’m not back.”

Ethan opened the driver’s-side door of his truck. “People say that a lot around here, and yet they never seem to leave. You might be more ‘back’ than you think, Rafe.”

* * *

A
T
SEVEN
-
THIRTY
THAT
NIGHT
,
the sun had yet to drift fully below the horizon. Rafe sat on the front-porch steps of the old house, a bottle of beer between his feet.

It had been a good day, he thought, shifting slightly. His muscles protested the movements, reminding him that building a fence was hard work, even with a motorized fence-post digger and plenty of help. His shoulders ached. Despite the gloves he’d worn, he had a few cuts on his hands, along with several blisters. He should probably be pissed, but he felt a sense of pride when he studied the straight, strong fence line. They’d made a good start. With the help of the guys Ethan had sent, it would only take a couple of weeks to get the fence line finished. Then they would move on to the barn.

He checked in with his office regularly. Ms. Jennings kept him informed on the most important projects. His days usually consisted of meetings and negotiations, contracts and travel. At the end of twelve or fourteen hours, he’d done plenty but couldn’t point to any one thing that had been finished. When a deal finally closed, he was already so deep into the next one, he rarely stopped to notice, let alone celebrate.

He’d thought being stuck in Fool’s Gold would be like serving time in hell. Maybe it would come to that, but today it hadn’t been too bad.

His cell phone rang. He pulled it from his shirt pocket. “Stryker.”

“Miss me?”

He grinned at his friend’s words. “No.”

Dante chuckled. “How wrong you are, and you’ll know it, too, when I tell you what happened today.”

Dante explained how he’d filed court documents, charmed a judge and done his best to once again make sure the company didn’t just win, but also crushed the opposition.

“Impressive,” Rafe said, then took a swallow of his beer.

Instead of paying attention to the details that would gain him millions, he found himself listening to the sounds from inside. The low rumble of conversation and the familiar intro music to his mother’s favorite game show. Heidi had gone upstairs after dinner. Would she come down again later?

Except for raving about his mother’s lasagna, Heidi had been silent at the table. She hadn’t looked at him once and had resisted any attempts at conversation. May had fussed over her, wondering if she didn’t feel well. Rafe suspected Heidi’s actions were more about what she’d said yesterday than any health issues.

When had she started thinking about them sleeping together? And, while it was all fine and good that she’d decided she wouldn’t sleep with him, her announcement had had the opposite effect on him. He’d been unable to think about much else.

“You’re not listening to me,” Dante said.

“Sorry. Distractions.”

“Goats?”

“Not exactly.”

“A woman?”

“Any other business?” Rafe asked.

“That’s a yes. Goat girl? She’s not your type.”

“What does that mean?”

“Since your divorce, you’ve preferred a different kind of woman. Beautiful, sure, but the kind who wouldn’t know a real emotion if it bit her on the ass. Heidi’s different.”

“When did you become an expert?”

“I’m just saying.”

“I’m hanging up now.”

Rafe pushed the button to end the call, then slipped the phone back into his shirt pocket. He took another swallow of his beer, knowing Dante was right. Heidi wasn’t like the other women who drifted in and out of his life. She was more down-to-earth. Besides, his plans for the ranch included making sure his mother owned it and Heidi didn’t. All the more reason to avoid her.

The screen door opened, and the woman on his mind stepped out, into the rapidly cooling evening air. She walked onto the porch, then came to a stop when she saw him.

“Oh, sorry.” She started to turn around.

“Wait.” He moved to the side on the step, making room for her. “Join me.”

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

Her gaze darted around the porch, as if searching for an excuse to say no, then she sighed, and moved toward him.

She sat down, holding herself stiffly. The scent of vanilla drifted to him. For once, her blond hair was loose rather than in the braids she favored. She wore a long-sleeved T-shirt over jeans and boots. Nothing sexy or enticing. Nothing that should have appealed to him. Yet he was aware of her, of how it would be to close the distance and have her lean against him.

“The fence looks good,” she said.

“Uh-huh.”

“Glen said you worked hard.”

“You sound surprised.”

She glanced at him, then faced front again. “You seem like more of a manager.”

“Better at giving orders than taking them?”

Her mouth turned up in a smile. “We both know that’s true.”

“Fair enough, but I can put in a fence if I have to. Until now, I’ve done my best to make sure I don’t have to.”

She wasn’t wearing any makeup, he realized as he stared at her. Her skin looked soft, as did her mouth. He lowered his gaze to her hands. Short nails and a few calluses. She worked hard with her hands.

“May said you’ve found someone to take the cows,” she said.

He picked up the bottle and took a drink. “The price is fair. He’ll be by in a couple of days to get them.”

“They’re going to end up on someone’s dinner table, aren’t they?”

“Is that concern I hear in your voice?”

She sighed. “I don’t want them hurt. I just don’t want them here. Maybe a zoo would take them.”

He swallowed just then and started to choke. She watched him anxiously until he’d recovered.

“You okay?”

He nodded and cleared his throat. “You want to offer your wild cows to a zoo?”

“I can’t think of them being killed and eaten.”

“Where do you think your steaks come from?”

“That’s different. I don’t know those cows.”

“You don’t know these, either. You’re scared of them. Heidi, it’s a lot of money.” He told himself not to remind her of that again. After all, every cent she made would go toward paying off his mother. If she got enough together, she might be able to sway the judge.

“Let me think about it. If he would promise not to kill them, then I would be okay with it.”

“What’s he supposed to do with your herd?”

“You’re being logical. I just want to have my goats and not deal with other animals. At least not the kind you eat.”

“People eat goats.”

“Not mine.”

“Your goats do have a good life here.”

Heidi told herself that her awareness of the evening came from the natural beauty of the surroundings and the quiet of the night. The goats had already settled down, the birds had nested and the crickets were out. She was one with nature. She was calm.

Then Rafe shifted on the step and she jumped. Her heart thudded so loudly, she was surprised the crickets didn’t all scream in terror, assuming crickets made any sound other than the chirpy one.

So much for being calm.

It wasn’t her fault, she told herself. It was what she’d said before. About not sleeping with him. Now he knew she’d been thinking about it. The man had an ego the size of the Grand Canyon. He probably thought she was desperate to have him in her bed, when the truth was she’d only been thinking about sex as a way to convince him to not take her ranch. A really dumb idea, especially considering she was reasonably sure she wasn’t good enough—bed-wise—to convince him of anything.

“Heidi?”

“Hmm?”

“You okay? You look like maybe you’re in pain.”

“I’m fine.” Or she would be. Eventually. “Dinner was great.”

“That’s what you were thinking about?”

“No, but that’s the conversational gambit I’m putting forth.”

He angled toward her, his leg now millimeters from her thigh. “You can do better than talking about my mom’s lasagna.”

“Fine. Do you miss San Francisco?”

“Yes.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re in my hometown. You could at least pretend to have to think about your answer.”

“Why? I like living in the city.”

“The shopping and access to the ballet?”

One corner of his sexy, well-shaped, come-kiss-me mouth turned up. She found her attention very much settled on his mouth, and wondered what it would feel like against her own. If he, you know, wanted to—

She mentally slammed the door on those thoughts and stared out at the barn. The silhouette was very meaningful, she told herself. Or at least safer than Rafe.

“I like fine dining and easy access to work.”