Chapter Twenty-Eight
Summer
After an uneventful dinner, Tom dropped me off at the café with a quick kiss and a promise to be out front, waiting for me as soon as I was finished with my shift. I hurried in and got ready for my shift. The place was already buzzing with ranch hand chatter and a smattering of families.
I was no longer a nervous wreck and I was getting better at the waitressing thing. If Sharon hadn’t saved my ass on a daily basis that first week, I would have been totally screwed by this point. It was good to have made a friend outside the ranch. Not that I was sure if I really had any friends at the ranch. Rue was helpful but she was more of a mother-figure than a friend, and Brady was just stubborn and fiery. Marlene and the kids were nice, but they’d be gone in a day or two.
I thought about Tom… was he my friend? If not, what was he to me? I didn’t know. I mean, I knew I could trust him with details about me and my life, even though I hadn’t really told him much up until now. But there was also so much more to our strange relationship than just trust. I wanted him—more than I’d ever wanted another man before. I thought about him constantly and when I did, I felt hot all over. Something that felt a lot like… love. Or maybe this was just lust?
“Hey, Bug,” Sharon said—shortening the nickname she’d given me. She was standing at the counter, waiting on a cheeseburger.
I said hello as I grabbed an apron from the hook just inside the kitchen. Then, I slid my order pad into the front pocket and walked onto the floor to start my shift. We were jam-packed for the rest of the night and I barely got a chance to catch my breath. I’d say one thing about the café, it was baptism by fire. I’d either make it or die trying. Sharon didn’t have time to help me but I managed to keep my mistakes to a minimum. Everyone was in a good mood and the beer and tips were flying.
Things finally settled after an hour or so and I was able to excuse myself to the restroom for the first time that evening, then through the backroom for a fifteen-minute breather. When I walked back in, there were only one or two customers left and I caught a glimpse of Tom’s truck as he pulled into the parking lot. I waved at him and motioned for him to come inside so we could have a piece of pie before we went home. Chocolate mousse pie was Sharon’s specialty and in high demand so I’d had to tuck two pieces beneath the counter during the rush. I’d almost thought Sharon wasn’t going to let me, but she just winked and teased me about spoiling my cowboy.
The front door bell chimed as someone walked in. I glanced over to see Sharon seating the guy in my section. He’d be my last customer and then I’d be off for the night. I didn’t get a good look at him—just saw him from behind, but there was something familiar about him. The way he walked—or should I say strutted—to the booth. His stride was purposeful and confident.
He turned around to face me and once I saw his face, the past collided with my present and my stomach sank.
It couldn’t be.
I looked him over again and tried to figure out if my mind was playing tricks on me. Was it possible?
He was tall, broad with salt and pepper hair and dark brown eyes, dressed in slacks and a button down just like…
But it wasn’t possible! I was thousands of miles from Connecticut!
The man turned around again so that his back was facing me. As I approached the booth, the front door opened and Tom came in. I turned to look at him and he took off his hat and smiled that irresistible smile of his which usually sent butterflies streaming through my stomach. This time, though, there weren’t any butterflies because my stomach was currently in knots.
Tom seated himself in the booth in front of the stranger whose back was still facing me.
“Good even...” I started as I turned and faced the booth. The words didn’t completely make it out of my mouth.
“Good evening, Summer. I’d heard I might be able to find you here.”
It really was him. My throat constricted and I forced myself to swallow and play it cool. “Bill. What, uh, what brings you here?” I didn’t know what to say to the man whom my father had done business with for over a decade. A man who was twenty years older than me and yet that had never stopped him from coming onto me every chance he had.
“You are what brings me here,” he answered in that deep voice as he scanned me from head to toe, his gaze settling on my bust.
“I don’t understand.” I felt like I was going to throw up.
“Let’s discuss it over drinks, shall we?” he asked but then seemed to notice my uniform. “Or do you work in this… establishment?” he finished, distaste written all over his face.
“I work here,” I answered with a frown. “And I’m just about to get off.”
“Well, let’s make this quick then,” he responded as he stood up and took a few steps toward me so as to ensure we didn’t have any eavesdroppers. “Your father owes me a lot of money.”
“My father is dead, as you know, Bill.”
He smiled at me curtly. “Yes, I’m well aware.”
“So why are you bothering me with this information?” I felt like I wanted to throw up. Not only did I feel like I wanted to throw up, but there was also red hot anger building deep inside of me. How dare he bring the stain of my past here, somewhere I’d gone to escape!
I could feel Tom’s eyes on me. I steadied myself and said in as even a voice as I could muster.
“I’m bothering you with this information in order to get back the money he stole from me.”
“I can’t help you with that.”
“I think you can.”
Tom slid out of his booth and came toward us. I was suddenly scared to death that he would overhear something he shouldn’t.
“No. I can’t. I have nothing to my name,” I whispered, my jaw and lips tight.
“And whatever my father did, that was on him. I had nothing to do with it.” I had nothing, less than nothing! Daddy Dearest hadn’t left me a dime to my name. I’d lost everything and this bastard had the gall to come here and demand I make good on my father’s mistakes? I crossed my arms over my stomach.
“Is this man bothering you, Summer?” Tom asked as he frowned at Bill who stood eye level with him.
I looked down at my cheap tennis shoes and shook my head. I didn’t know what to do.
“This doesn’t concern you, whoever you are,” Bill said.
“If it concerns Summer, it concerns me,” Tom answered, his eyes narrow.
“Okay, then if you must know,” Bill started as he cleared his throat. “Miss Sellers’ father owes me money and seeing as how he’s dead and can’t answer for it, she can.”
“No, I can’t,” I insisted.
Bill turned his narrowed gaze on me. “Do you or do you not have a horse that’s worth a pretty penny? A quarter of what your father owed me, to be exact.”
My body completely tensed. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t take Aria away from me. Not after I’d lost everything else. “Y-You can’t have my horse. Aria’s mine.”
Tom placed a hand on my shoulder as he faced Bill. “You get the hell out of here; you’re not welcome here.”
Bill’s neck and face turned bright red as he glared at me. “Your father owed me money and the way I see it, that responsibility is passed down to you,” he announced. “And because I’m a good man, I’m willing to negotiate taking whatever you have that’s still worth something.”
“I don’t think you heard me right,” Tom said, stepping in front of me. “Get the fuck out of here. If I see or hear you bothering her again, I won’t be so polite.”
Bill gave Tom the once over and started for the door. Just as he was about to leave, he turned around and said, “Good thing your old man killed himself. At this rate, if he were alive, he’d probably wind up murdered, if not by me— by someone else.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look at Tom. I felt the tears as they exploded from my eyes and I ran to the bathroom. Once I was inside, I just made it into the stall before I vomited.