“EITHER TALK TO him or I’m calling the police,” Wynn said as she checked a printed wedding invitation against the approved proof.
“He’s not breaking the law.” Silver did her best to look out the window without being seen by anyone outside the building—namely a tall, possibly good-looking guy sitting in an Airstream.
“Drew’s not the one I’m going to have arrested,” her friend murmured without looking up. She held her long, dark curly hair out of her way as she turned her head to study the invitation from every angle.
“You wouldn’t!”
Wynn looked up from the proof. “I wouldn’t,” she agreed, “but you are starting to get on my nerves. Come on, Silver. This isn’t like you. Grow a pair and deal with Drew or take a baseball bat to his head, but don’t dither. It’s freaking me out.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Silver admitted.
“You know exactly what to do. The problem is much more that you don’t want to do it.” Wynn nodded at her assistant. “They’re perfect. Print them. The bride wants two hundred. Let’s do a run of two-fifty, just in case.”
“You got it, boss.”
Wynn returned her attention to Silver. “You need trailers—he has trailers. Yes, he’s going to want something in exchange. So go find out what it is.” She shrugged. “I doubt it’s sex. No sex is worth two of those.” She pointed toward the trailers. “Not even sex with you.”
“Maybe I’m amazing.”
“No one is that amazing.”
Silver had to agree with her. The trailers were so wonderful. She was desperate to go explore them, to touch every surface and imagine the possibilities, only she couldn’t give in. Whatever Drew had planned, it was going to be bad for her.
“He’s trying to lure me,” Silver said, looking out the window again.
“And it’s working. Now get on out there and find out what he wants. I think Hunter left some sports equipment in the back room. You can go see if there’s a baseball bat for you to borrow if that makes you feel better.”
“I don’t need a baseball bat.”
Maybe a little courage and some backbone, she thought as she straightened her shoulders. Dammit, why did this always happen? In every other situation in life she was strong and powerful, but when it came to Drew she was little more than a whimpering mess.
“Okay, I’m going out there to confront him.”
“Good luck.”
Silver nodded. She could do this, she told herself. She’d handled much-tougher situations when it came to Drew. For ninety-one magical days the summer she’d turned eighteen, she’d loved him with every fiber of her being. She’d given herself to him, heart and soul, and then she’d pretended she was totally fine when he went off to college. She’d even had the smarts to break up with him so that he could go live his life without her. She’d told him that they were never meant to be and that he should simply move on.
She’d done the right thing and she could always be proud of herself for that. But it had been so incredibly hard. She’d loved him more than she’d thought it was possible to love anyone. She’d loved him knowing that loving a man turned a woman into a fool. She’d been a willing fool and she’d gotten her heart ripped out and chopped with a meat cleaver.
“All in the past,” she whispered to herself as she crossed the sidewalk. “All in the past.”
The door to the largest trailer was open, as if in invitation. She felt herself starting to hunch again, then forced herself to stand tall. Lured or not, she would walk in proud and strong. Whatever was going on, she could handle it. She’d been through a whole lot worse with Drew.
She stepped into the trailer. Drew sat at the long sofa, an e-reader in his hands. He glanced up and smiled.
“Hi. How’s it going?”
She ignored his questions and asked one of her own. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you. I have lunch, if you’re hungry.”
He motioned to the built-in table and benches, as if expecting her to sit down. What was with him having lunch ready for the two of them? This wasn’t a social visit. Ack, she should have taken Wynn up on her offer of a baseball bat.
Silver sank onto the padded bench. She put her hands on the table, then shoved them onto her lap only to put them back on the table. Everything about this felt weird and awkward and just plain uncomfortable. She wanted to run and scream, only before she could do either, she couldn’t help noticing the perfect lines of the trailer. The size was just right and with a little refurbishing, there could be so much storage. She would have room for a long bar and beer on tap and—
“Turkey okay?” he asked, holding out two sandwiches. “Or ham?”
“Turkey.”
He passed it over, then grabbed them each a can of diet soda along with a pile of napkins before sitting across from her. He nodded at the interior of the trailer.
“Needs a lot of work, but I see the potential.”
“You see it?” She rolled her eyes. “You have no idea what this could be. To you it’s just some old trailer, but to me, it’s the next phase of my business. I’ve put thought into what I’m doing, Drew. I didn’t just write a check.”
“Contempt for the very money you wanted to borrow for yourself.” His tone was mild, his expression more amused than offended. He took a bite of his sandwich. “Without the check you’re so willing to deride, there would be no trailers. At least not now.”
He had a point, which really annoyed her.
“Fine,” she grumbled as she unwrapped her sandwich. “Why are you here?”
“I’m living the dream. Why are you here?”
She wondered if it would be wrong to kick him right in the shin. So much violence, she thought with a sigh. Her visceral reaction to Drew was because she knew he had all the power and she had none. Not a situation she enjoyed, ever.
Instead of answering, she started eating her sandwich. He continued with his and they had lunch in complete silence. He finished first. He opened a bag of chips, offered it to her, then spoke.
“So here’s the thing,” he began. “My grandfather is thinking of retiring.”
“Okay.” Hardly news. Grandpa Frank wasn’t a young man. He was charming and vibrant but well past the age of retirement.
“There are complications,” he continued. “Namely who is going to be chairman of the board when that happens.”
“Why is there a question? You’re the heir apparent, aren’t you?” Drew had been the firstborn of the firstborn. With great power and all that. He had been destined to run the bank since before he’d started kindergarten. Back when they’d been dating, he’d talked about his future with excitement and anticipation. Drew had actually liked the idea of being in banking. Crazy, but that was Drew.
“Libby wants to throw her hat in the ring.”
“I wish you’d told me that before I ate my sandwich,” she said, pushing away the second half. “Why is she even in contention?”
“Technically anyone can throw his or her hat in the ring. I’m the obvious choice, but that doesn’t mean the bank is my only interest.”
“I thought that was all you’d been trained to do. Isn’t that the point of your entire existence? You love the bank. Don’t tell me you don’t want to be the bank king right here in town. As if.”
He smiled at her. “Silver, we all grow and change. I have. Every now and then I like to do something unexpected, just to see who’s paying attention.”
“I have no idea what that means.”
“Me either but it sounds good.” He leaned back against the bench. “So here’s the thing. I have these two trailers.”
She’d just started to relax, she thought as her entire body stiffened. She had no idea what was going on, but she had a bad feeling this might be a game to him. A cruel game with her as the target.
She remembered when they’d played different types of games, when their sport had been about pleasing each other. They’d been so desperately in love—or at least she had been. She was less sure about him. Despite his protestations at the time, in the end, he’d left her without a backward glance.
Not anything she needed to deal with right now, she told herself. She had to focus on the problem at hand—namely what did he want in return for the two Airstreams?
He put his large hands on the table and leaned toward her. “I’d appreciate it if you’d just listen to what I have to say, and then we’ll discuss it.”
She had no idea what “it” was, nor did she want to promise to not interrupt, or scream or hit him with something. But if she did anything but nod, he would suspect she was more upset than she should be.
“Fine,” she said. “Talk.”
“I want to buy into your business as a minority partner.”
“What? Are you insane? Did you fall and hit your head? A minority partner? A partner? Of my business? The one I conceived of and saved for and started and have made successful all on my own?” She glared at him. “By. My. Self. There’s only been me, Drew. Just me. A partner. Are you on crack?”
He smiled. “As long as you’re willing to listen.”
She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Go ahead.”
“I want to start building my personal portfolio. I’ve been thinking of buying into several businesses around town. If that works out, I’ll expand my empire, so to speak, and look for opportunities in Palm Springs, maybe Riverside or San Diego. When Libby turned down your loan I realized that I had a chance to act.” One shoulder rose. “I’ll admit I was impulsive, buying the trailers, but I could see what you wanted to do. I like your business plan. You’ve thought it all through.”
She told herself the compliment didn’t matter. She didn’t need or want his approval. He was giving her an opportunity to expand—that was what was important.
“How do you see this working?” she asked, relaxing only slightly.
“I would want to be a real partner. I’d want to help with future planning and really be involved. Obviously I have a full-time job, but I could help out when you’re shorthanded. Your work is mostly on the weekends, when I’m off.”
She snorted. “You’d work parties?”
“Why not?”
“Gee, I don’t know. Have you ever been a professional bartender? Or even an amateur one? Do you have the slightest idea what it’s like to serve drinks to two or three hundred people in a very short period of time? Do you have a bartender’s license? Do you know the difference between a mojito and a margarita?”
“Tequila.” He chuckled. “Okay, I’d have to learn to be a bartender. I’m saying I’m willing to do that. I want to do that. I want to be more than the guy with a check. I want to be invested.”
Her stomach clenched. Nerves, she told herself. Just nerves and a dose of apprehension. “Are you going to bartending school?”
“I was hoping I could learn some online and you’d teach me the rest. Silver, I’m a hard worker, I’m available nights and weekends and I’m not going to run off with the tip money.”
“You couldn’t just loan me the money to buy the trailers?” she asked before she could stop herself. While she never thought she would even think the question, let alone say it, the truth was owing him money would be way better than giving up part of her business.
“I could, but I’d rather do this.”
Typical. Men wanted what they wanted and the rest of the world didn’t matter at all. “Maybe the hardware store in town would like a buy-in.”
“Maybe they would, but your business is more fun.”
“Oh, I don’t know. All those power tools, the lumber section. It’s a man’s playhouse.” She pressed her lips together. “How minority of a partner would you want to be?” Ninety-ten would be great, she thought. Wishful thinking but still great.
“Fifty-two–forty-eight.”
She tried not to wince. That was nearly as close to fifty-fifty as they could get.
“I’m buying in with two trailers,” he pointed out, as if he could read her mind. “I’ll also invest twenty grand to cover refurbishing them. Hopefully there will be a few dollars left to put toward the trucks to tow them.”
“I have savings,” she said, trying to do the math in her head. “Enough to cover the trucks.” Especially if she didn’t have to buy the trailers or pay for refurbishing them. In fact there would be enough left over for her to explore some other ideas she had.
Agreeing to his deal meant she could move forward with her plans. AlcoHaul could grow and she could stop turning down business every week. But that came at a hefty price—working closely with Drew. Could she do that?
“I just don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m not sure we can work together.”
“We always did fine together before.”
“We were dating, and then we broke up.”
“But we got along. Besides, I’m more mature now.”
“Oh please.”
“I’m saying I think we’d be good together.”
In business, she reminded herself. He was talking business and only business. If she wanted anything else, she was a complete fool. And she wasn’t ever going to be a fool for a man again—certainly not for Drew.
“I need to think about this,” she told him. “Give me a few days to consider the offer, and then we’ll talk.”
“Sure.” He looked at the print shop. “Is Wynn going to be okay with the trailers parked out here?”
He was manipulating her, she told herself. Trying to get her to offer to store them in the lot with her other trailer, knowing full well if she took that much ownership it would be harder to walk away.
“I’ll talk to her,” she said instead. “Wynn’s pretty easygoing and if these are parked on a side street, I doubt she’ll care.” She flashed him a smile. “I think your bigger concern is the police. I’m fairly sure there are zoning laws and you’re violating them.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Why wouldn’t he? Given his family connections, he would likely get special consideration from most city officials, including the police.
She stood and picked up the rest of her sandwich. “Thanks for lunch. I’ll be in touch.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
He stood, as well. In the small trailer, that put them far too close together. She could see the flecks of gold in his dark irises and the faint scar by the corner of his mouth. He wasn’t the only one invading her space—the past was there as well, threatening to overwhelm her.
“Silver, I hope you’ll agree to this. You’ve done really well with your business. With a little help, I think you can take things to the next level.”
She wanted to ask if he ever had regrets about how things had ended. She wanted to know how long it had taken him to forget her and move on to the next woman and the next. She was desperate to find out if he ever thought of the child they’d made, then had given away.
What she said instead was, “Let me think about it.”
“You know where to find me.”
“I always have.”
* * *
DREW WATCHED CAREFULLY as Jasper stepped close. His friend moved as fast as a snake, striking out when Drew least expected it. He’d learned the hard way not to relax when Jasper spun away. More times than not, he came back harder, faster and ready to win.
The workout room was silent except for the sound of their breathing and the crack of the sticks connecting. Usually music pounded but not when they worked with fighting sticks. Concentration was required.
A couple of years ago, Jasper had wanted to use fighting sticks in one of his novels. He’d hired a trainer to spend a week in Happily Inc, teaching him. His friends had been invited to the intense classes, as had a few of the local fitness trainers. As far as Drew knew, the book was finished and sent off to the publisher, but Jasper continued to train with sticks because he liked it.
Drew’s cousin Cade sat on the mat, out of range of their combat, calling out advice, praise and slurs.
“Duck, Drew. Watch that left arm of his. Jasper, my mama hits harder than that. Oh, good one. Get ’em.”
Jasper advanced, forcing Drew to retreat. Drew sidestepped, faked a slash, then came in hard. Jasper slipped on the mat and went down on one knee just as the timer dinged.
“Well done,” Cade called as he scrambled to his feet. “We got off lucky today. Only a handful of bruises and no broken bones.”
The sticks were solid wood and struck hard. Getting hurt came with the territory. None of them had more than bruises, but they were often impressive and took a while to heal.
Jasper tossed Drew a towel, then took one for himself. They all walked to the stools in the corner. On the way, they grabbed water from the refrigerator against the wall.
Jasper’s house was high enough in the mountains to be surrounded by trees. In the summer, the temperature was a good twenty or thirty degrees cooler than in town, and every now and then there was winter snow.
His place had started as a two-room cabin maybe eighty years ago. It had been added onto at least a dozen times. The house was a hodgepodge of styles and materials. Some of the rooms were large and stately and others were oddly shaped and poorly constructed.
When Jasper had bought the house, he’d built an office and the workout room. The latter had the traditional array of equipment found in a home gym, along with a big open area and a wall of mirrors. From what Drew could tell, Jasper was a “method” writer. He liked to physically work through any action scenes. He often had friends over to block out fight scenes and a couple of summers ago, he’d spent six weeks getting familiar with a hunting bow.
When they were seated, Cade unscrewed the top on his water. “So, Drew. Buying trailers?”
Jasper raised his eyebrows. “You bought trailers?”
“They’re not for me.”
“He’s trying to bribe Silver into sleeping with him,” Cade said with a chuckle. “I’m not sure that’s the best way to get her attention, but if you don’t have the goods personally then hey, whatever works.”
“Shut up.” Drew’s tone was mild. He was used to his cousin’s teasing. They’d been tight since birth.
“Why trailers?” Jasper asked. “And you did use the plural version of the word so there’s more than one?”
“I want to buy into her business.” He thought about mentioning the trouble with the bank loan but not only was the information personal, Libby was Cade’s mother. The two weren’t close but he doubted Cade would appreciate him dissing his mom.
He also wasn’t going tell them that he’d flat-out lied to Silver. Yes, he wanted to be involved in her business, but not because he was “building his personal portfolio” or whatever other crap he’d told her. He was a bank guy, through and through. He had no more interest in buying into other businesses than sprouting wings, but the fib had been necessary to get her to agree.
As to the why—as in why was he working so hard?—that was harder to define. He just couldn’t get her out of his head. Given their past, simply asking her out seemed fraught with peril. But this way, he could get to know her again while doing something interesting. Should things work out, then great. Should they not, he would loan her the money to buy him out—no harm done.
“The trailers were for sale, so I bought them. I’m hoping Silver lets me be a minority partner.”
“She strikes me as the kind of person who prefers to be in charge.” Jasper chugged more water. “Why that business?”
“Silver and I go way back. I’m helping an old friend.”
Cade snorted. “Is that what we’re calling it?” He turned to Jasper. “Drew and Silver have a past. The summer before Drew here took off for college, he and Silver had a thing. It was a hell of a summer. I still remember that party before Labor Day.”
“Silver and I threw a big party by the falls,” Drew explained to Jasper. “Underage teens, a lot of drinking.”
Cade touched his water bottle to Drew’s. “My first time getting drunk. I paid for it the next day, but the party was killer.” He chuckled.
Jasper studied Drew. “So you and Silver were an item? Then what?”
“I went off to college.” He hesitated. “Silver insisted we break up before I left. I didn’t want to, but she was determined.”
“She can be stubborn that way,” Cade told him.
“She can. Then I left.” There was more. So much more. Before he could decide what he should and shouldn’t say, he found himself blurting, “She was pregnant.”
Both Cade and Jasper stared at him.
“Seriously?” Cade asked. “What happened?”
“She came to visit me at college. I was well into my freshman year and had moved on. I didn’t want to believe her, but I knew what we’d been doing. I proposed, she said no. We agreed to give up the baby for adoption.”
Jasper and Cade exchanged a look.
“So you have a kid out there,” Jasper said. “How old is he? Or she?”
“Nearly twelve. I never asked what she had. I assumed a boy.” He’d always pictured a son, one who looked just like him. Ego, he supposed. And a lack of any other input. Of course, if they’d had a girl, he would have assumed she looked exactly like Silver.
“A kid,” Cade said quietly. “Bethany and I want kids. The sooner the better, but you beat us all.”
“We were young and foolish.” They’d been passionately in love, he thought. That part had been about as real as it got.
“Is the baby why you want to go into business with her?” Jasper asked. “Out of guilt?”
“I don’t feel guilty.” Drew paused. “We were kids ourselves. We couldn’t have been decent parents. I want to invest in Silver’s company because I think it’s the smart thing to do. I’ve run the numbers. She works hard, makes a good profit and is turning business away every week. It’s a sound business decision.”
“Uh-huh.” Jasper didn’t look convinced. “What did she say?”
“I think the real question is what did she hit you with when you told her what you’d done?” Cade chuckled.
“She’s thinking about it.” Drew grinned. “She was fine with it.”
“Liar.”
“Okay, but she really did listen.”
Jasper finished his water and tossed the bottle into the recycling bin in the corner. “So you’re going to invest in Silver’s company, and then what? Are you going to help her manage the other trailers?”
“We’re still discussing the details.”
“The bank getting to you?” Cade sounded sympathetic. “I don’t know how you stand it, being there all day. It’s like a big, brick trap.”
Drew knew the bank wasn’t a trap—it was a living, breathing creature tied to the community. The bank was possibilities and he had a million ideas about how he was going to make it better.
“The bank is the least of it,” he said, avoiding the question.
Cade shook his head. “Your folks still on you?” He turned to Jasper. “Drew’s parents are...unusual. Happily Inc was never big enough for them. They always wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else. Howard, Drew’s dad, got involved politically and got an ambassadorship when Drew was still in school. Where was it again?”
“Andorra,” Drew said, remembering the thrill of having his parents leave town while he was in high school. He’d moved in with Grandpa Frank and life had gotten a whole lot easier. “It’s near Spain.”
“Never heard of it,” Jasper said. “Maybe I should do some research and set a book there.”
Cade grinned. “You should. Anyway, Howard had a couple more ambassadorships after that, then left the diplomatic corps to join a lobbying firm.”
“They’re still there,” Drew admitted grimly. “Growing the company and making room for their firstborn.”
Their only born, he added silently. Nothing would make his parents—mostly his mother—happier than having him take over the family bank for a couple of years, and then join his parents’ lobbying firm. While he was all over the first half, he had no interest in being a lobbyist.
“Not your dream job?” Jasper asked.
“Not even close.”
Jasper grinned at Cade. “Too bad they’re not your parents. Imagine how happy they’d be to know their son was marrying a genuine princess.”
“I don’t know where to start with that,” Cade admitted, then looked at Drew. “Have you told your mom about the engagement?”
“No, and I don’t plan to. The last thing any of us want is my mother camping out in town so she can go to your wedding or whatever it turns out to be.”
Cade had bought a stallion from the king of El Bahar. The “stable girl” who had delivered the stallion had turned out to be a royal princess in disguise. Cade and Bethany had fallen in love and were getting married. While the details hadn’t been worked out, there would be some kind of event or celebration locally, complete with the royal family attending.
“Your mom is going to find out.”
“Not from me.” Drew wouldn’t do that to someone he didn’t like, let alone a cousin.
“Have you two decided on your wedding plans?” Jasper asked. “You could always elope.”
Cade grimaced. “We’ve talked about it, but Bethany doesn’t want to disappoint her parents. We’re definitely holding the ceremony in El Bahar, but we’re going to do something here, too. The details are being worked out.”
Drew supposed that the logistics of marrying into a royal family put his life questions in perspective.
“Let me know if there’s going to be a party,” Jasper told him. “I’m heading to New York in a couple of weeks. I can rearrange things if it means hanging out with royals.”
Cade didn’t look convinced. “You’re like Drew. You don’t care anything about someone being royal or important.”
Jasper grinned. “That is true, but I’m always looking for ideas for the next book. Plus, you’re a friend. Someone has to be around to keep the crazies off your back.”
Drew nodded. “Jasper will handle them and I’ll run interference with my mother if she shows up.”
Cade winced. “Thanks, Drew. You’re a good friend.”
“You know it.”