CHAPTER THREE
Cordelia’s knees ached from kneeling, her hands were sore from digging into a patch of hard soil with a shovel and trowel, and she was covered with smears of dirt. She’d gotten up with the sun and had taken only a short break to eat a quick bowl of granola. And she’d never been more pleased by the hard work she had to put in every single day to build her garden and her business.
Without all that work, she would have been left alone with too many thoughts, too many questions.
For the second night in a row, she’d barely slept, doubly plagued now by confusion about her birth father and why he’d done what he’d done—and by thoughts of Alec Sullivan.
He was a billionaire businessman. Her birth father’s corporate partner.
And hands down the best-looking man she’d ever set eyes on.
Even now, just thinking of Alec made her hot in ways that had nothing to do with the sun shining down on her. He wasn’t her type—she’d never gone for that king-of-the-world vibe. And yet, she’d reacted to him in a very feminine way.
Most of all, though, she’d been stunned by the empathy he’d shown her.
She’d expected him to make excuses for her birth father. But when Alec found out that she’d been kept in the dark about Gordon until yesterday, he hadn’t made any excuses at all. And she appreciated that more than he’d ever know.
What she didn’t appreciate, however, was the fact that he hadn’t made her a buyout offer yesterday. S&W Aviation felt like a noose tightening around her neck. The longer it was there, the harder it got to breathe.
She definitely didn’t want the business, and though she knew pretty much everyone would think she was nuts, she had extremely mixed feelings about the money as well. If she’d earned it herself, that would be one thing. But to inherit a shockingly huge sum from someone who hadn’t even wanted her in his life? She couldn’t shake the fact that it felt like dirty money.
Like an apology that had come twenty-five years too late.
Like a bid to buy her forgiveness.
She sighed as she took off her thick gloves to push back the hair that had sprung loose from her ponytail. Again and again, she’d reminded herself that there was nothing to forgive. Plenty of babies were given up for adoption by their birth parents. Her story—an overwhelmed man giving up his baby after his wife died in childbirth—wasn’t even particularly special. And Cordelia would never complain about her adoptive mom and dad, who were amazing.
All of which meant that there was no point in being angry, no point in being hurt that Gordon Whitley hadn’t been able to find the time—or the desire—to drive thirty miles from his fancy office building to meet her.
Today, she promised herself, she’d sell her half of the company to Alec Sullivan, and then she’d promptly get over herself and her hurt feelings.
The antique clock she’d bought at a farmer’s market chimed a quarter to noon. Standing, she tried to brush some dirt off her jeans, which only made a bigger mess. She was more tempted than she should be to run back to her cottage and take a quick shower, maybe put on a sundress while she was at it.
But she wasn’t trying to impress Alec. Not that she could manage that in the best of circumstances, of course, given that men like him didn’t so much as glance at women like her—for which she was profoundly grateful. She liked her quiet, simple life. Loved selling petunias and lavender plants to retirees and then spending her evenings weeding and watering her own cottage garden.
Still, that didn’t mean she needed to be a sweaty, filthy mess when he got here. A new T-shirt wouldn’t be too big a concession. Fortunately, she had a clean stack of LANGLEY GARDEN CENTER shirts in a storage room for when her part-time employees forgot to bring theirs to work.
She was just heading toward the main building, which held the registers and the gift items that couldn’t be left out in the sun, when Brian came jogging up. He worked three half days a week and was working toward his own degree in botany.
“Cordelia, I just got a text from my professor. He said I can make up my test today, but only if I’m there in the next fifteen minutes. You know I hate to bail on you like this.”
“It’s been a slow morning at the register,” she said with a smile. “Go ace your test and I’ll see you on Thursday.”
He grinned. “Just like I always say, you’re the best boss a guy could have.”
As she watched Brian lope off on legs that seemed too long for the rest of him, Cordelia felt far more than five years older. Funny how much could change in forty-eight hours. She didn’t understand why Alec hadn’t felt ready to make her a buyout offer yesterday, but surely after she’d made it clear to him in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want half of his company, he’d seen the light.
She’d nearly reached the storeroom when her attention was suddenly caught by a bright flash of sunlight reflecting off something in the barn. She shielded her eyes against the shimmer of light, only to realize that Alec Sullivan was standing mere feet away.
“Hello, Cordelia.”
Seriously, she should not have just gotten goose bumps from nothing more than hearing him say her name. And also, what kind of billionaire showed up early to meet with a garden shop owner? Early enough to catch her looking as sweaty and gross as she hadn’t wanted to be in front of him. Didn’t he have diamonds to buy or companies to take over? What’s more, she’d expected him in a suit, not a pair of well-worn jeans and a T-shirt that did far too good a job of showing off the muscles in his arms and shoulders, along with abs that she could easily guess were rock hard too. He was even wearing scuffed work boots, as though he knew his way around hands-on work. Did he? And why did she even care when the plan was to simply resolve their temporary partnership and then go their separate ways, ASAP?
“Hi, Alec.” Her mind blanked after that. She wasn’t the chattiest person in the world—unless she was talking about her beloved plants—but this was extreme even for her. Then again, what did they have to say to each other apart from agreeing on a few really big financial figures? “I’m sure you’re really busy,” she finally got out, “and since I don’t have any customers who need help right now, why don’t we just get down to—”
“Cordelia, darling,” an elegant gray-haired woman burst in. “I’m finally ready to redo my entire front yard. Lawn out, flowers in. I do so hope you have some time to sit down with me to discuss it.”
Belinda Billingsworth was one of Cordelia’s best, and most demanding, customers. She was constantly changing out garden beds, which was usually a very good thing.
“Belinda, that’s great news,” Cordelia said with a smile. “I’ll be in a meeting for about the next hour, but as soon as that’s done, I’m all you—”
“Excuse me, could someone help me put ten of the big bags of soil onto my cart?” An older woman Cordelia didn’t recognize was waving at them from across the brick path.
“I’d be happy to help,” Alec said.
Before Cordelia could tell Alec his offer was very nice, but not at all necessary because she could take care of it all, he was heading off toward the woman and her bags of soil, looking as comfortable in the garden center as he had in his swanky office, surrounded by his zillion-dollar planes.
“Where did you find your new help?” Belinda purred.
“He doesn’t work for me,” Cordelia said before she could think better of all the questions she’d just opened herself up to.
“A new boyfriend, then?” Belinda’s eyebrows waggled up and down. “Much better-looking than your last one, that’s for sure. And with big, strong hands that I’ll bet he knows how to use, if you know what I mean.”
Cordelia could feel her cheeks flaming and was struggling to find a way to explain Alec’s presence…when she suddenly realized that Alec had come back into the barn from behind them and had surely caught the end of Belinda’s sentence.
“Mrs. Angelo had a question about the best soil to use in a semi-shaded, wet area.” His question was a simple one, but his eyes were sparking with what could only be described as wickedness.
Cordelia’s heart was racing far too fast as she said, “The loam-sand mix.”
“Great, thanks.” Judging by his low drawl, he clearly hadn’t missed her flaming cheeks or pounding pulse. “I’ll let her know.”
“Alec.” She put her hand on his arm to stop him, then pulled it away as if scalded. Which she had been. Because he was so warm. And his muscles were so hard. And everything about him was yummy in ways she shouldn’t be noticing. “It’s really nice of you to help, but if you’ll just give me a few minutes to take care of things here, we can talk.”
“I have a cousin in the retail business, so I know my way around a cash register. I’ll take care of things with Mrs. Angelo and anyone else who needs help while you meet with—” He reached out a hand to Belinda. “I’m Alec.”
“Belinda Billingsworth.” She wasn’t shy with her appreciation. “And aren’t you just a dream to pitch in with your girl like this?”
“We aren’t together!” Cordelia’s protestation came out too loud, too strident, borderline desperate even. “Alec and I just have some business to resolve, that’s all.” Trying to pull herself together, she turned back to him and said, “That would be great if you could pitch in for a little while, thank you. I’ll come find you as soon as I can.”
With a nod, and another smile for Belinda, he headed back toward the customer he was helping. Belinda didn’t look away from his denim-covered backside, and honestly, Cordelia barely managed it herself.
“He’s perfect for you, you know,” the other woman said as they headed into Cordelia’s small office.
Cordelia didn’t normally like to argue with her customers, but she had to say, “I only met Alec yesterday. And the circumstances are strange enough that I can promise you we’re not going to start dating. Now or ever.”
“All I know,” Belinda said as she sat on one of the soft rose-colored seats in Cordelia’s office, “is that the last time a man looked at me like that, I ended up married to him.”