Chapter Eleven

“So, what’s on your mind?” Caleb asked Jasper as they pulled out of the gas station in Lusk, just over the Wyoming border.

Jasper was driving now, having taken a quick nap like the two women in the back seat. “I’m thinking marriage.”

“Seriously?” Caleb couldn’t believe it. He knew Jasper had it bad, but he’d only known Phyllis a short time.

“Yeah. She’s a good woman. You said she’s a hell of a cook. She makes me feel good—in bed and out.” Jasper shrugged and flipped on the high beams. “You know how it is out here, Caleb. I wander around in that big house all by myself. I envy you, really. You have Con to keep you company. Stella was good for you too, kept you in line. But me, well, I’ve been alone for too long. Sure would be good to have a woman instead of Sebastian to keep my feet warm during the winter. Maybe even pop out a kid or two. Got to have someone to give the place to.” He shrugged. “I got nothing to lose.”

Caleb stared ahead, not knowing what to say. He very well understood the dilemma his friend was in. They lived the same life, just at different addresses. They farmed and ranched in the middle of God’s country. The only break in the monotony was a trip to town to visit friends and family. Caleb wanted someone, too, but was Laura it?

“Your Laura’s a looker.”

“Yeah,” Caleb agreed and took a sip of the coffee he’d bought at the gas station.

“What happened with you and Jenny? Did you take her home that night?”

“Think I’d be bringing Laura tonight if I had?” Caleb shouldn’t feel offended. Jasper was one of his closest friends, and he could speak frankly with him. “I followed her home. I saw her to her door and said good night. Not even a kiss. I wasn’t even in the mood.”

“Hell, no, I bet you weren’t.” Jasper chuckled. “Not when you had her—” he motioned with a bob of his head toward Laura in the backseat— “waiting for you at home.”

“I went to town to get Laura out of my mind. She’s my employee, for Christ’s sake. I’m still not sure I’m doing the right thing by bringing her along.”

“Doesn’t look like she’s kicking and screaming.”

“Not at all. She’s along for the ride. I just don’t know how far that ride’s going to go.”

“I reserved three rooms. The two I had for months when they sent out the registration stuff and you told me to save you one. I called last night, and luckily they had a few cancellations, so I booked another room. Figured they could share it, or if Phyllis wanted to bunk with me, Laura could have it.”

“I appreciate it, Jasper. I wasn’t sure how to bring up the topic with her. This way, she’s got a choice.” Caleb sighed and closed his eyes.

“Glad to do it. Go on and catch some shuteye. We’ll be there before you know it.”

 

* * *

 

Laura rolled onto her stomach, absorbing the last few minutes of sleep in the plush, king-sized hotel bed. Even that expensive, magic number bed she had in her apartment in Chicago wasn’t this comfortable. She opened her eyes a crack and caught sight of the clock, surprised it was just after six. She’d slept all of five hours.

Not long after midnight, they’d finally made it to the hotel. She’d slept part of the way, but once they’d stopped for gas and she heard the discussion between Caleb and Jasper, she’d stayed awake, thinking. Caleb had commented to Jasper that he and she were at the point where she’d be comfortable sharing a room with him, and he’d been right. But did he want to share one with her?

She rolled onto her back, stretched her arms above her head, and pointed her toes to the opposite wall. Caleb had told her he’d be over to get her for breakfast at seven-thirty, then registration began at eight. That gave her time to check out the hotel gym, run for a bit on a treadmill, and maybe even sit in the sauna.

She urged herself downstairs and followed through with her plan. She was glad to see a few other women, ladies in much better shape than she was, working out. The cable news station was on, and she felt like she was back home in Chicago working out at the gym. She adjusted the treadmill and started jogging. What had happened to her gym membership? Were they still trying to deduct money from her old, now-empty bank account?

She had literally fallen off the face of the Earth. Was anyone even missing her? Her employees at Bella Vita, no doubt. Anyone else? The miles ticked away, calories burning step-by-step.

When she finished a solid thirty minutes of jogging, she left the exercise room and trailed into the locker room, hoping the sauna would be empty. As she lay on the wood bench, waiting for the steam to clear her pores, she felt her muscles begin to relax.

Caleb was going to drop her off to shop today. She’d get her hair done at one of the salons at the mall, find a pretty dress, and hopefully convince Caleb she was worth more than a few days’ worth of his attention.

It sounded like Jasper had some permanent plans for Phyllis, which included moving into his house to be caretaker and cook. Laura would be left as the last cook standing, the winner of the competition. She wanted to laugh. If she won by default, at least she would have a job and be on a safe ranch no matter what happened on a personal level between her and Caleb.

Sex and work had never mixed in her world before. Caleb was her boss, and if she slept with him and took care of his son and his house, what would that make her? Would they also start sharing a bed at the ranch? She couldn’t, not with Connor; that wouldn’t be fair to him. She ran her hands over her face, swiping away the sweat. Nothing like putting the cart before the horse, Laura.

More steam drifted in the room, and she was sure she looked like a red beet, but she didn’t care. It felt like heaven, and for a few more minutes, she would lounge. When her towel was so heavy that it clung to her body, she decided it was time to get moving.

She put her running gear back on and went to her room. The hallways were empty. Surely some of the other guests and conference people should be up and milling about?

She showered and dressed in her favorite black dress pants and paisley-patterned, wrap-style blouse. She wasn’t large in the chest, but the shirt made what she did have look even better. She didn’t bother too much with her hair, knowing she would be getting it done, but she did add extra makeup. She was here for Caleb. Her actions would reflect on his reputation, and she didn’t want to disappoint him.

With five minutes to spare, she sat on her bed, waiting for Caleb’s knock at her door. Surfing the TV channels, she landed back on the news station and groaned at the continued discussion of war and death. Had nothing happy happened overnight?

The knock surprised her, even though she had been expecting it. She shut the television off, grabbed her bag, and opened the door wide. Caleb stood in the hallway, smiling, wearing a nice dress shirt, a tie, and dress pants.

“Wow,” she said. “You look great.”

“I clean up pretty good, huh?” Caleb turned in a circle for her perusal.

“You sure do.” She whistled and took the hand he held out for her, following him into the hallway.

“Are you hungry?” Caleb asked, walking down the hallway with her.

“I worked up an appetite downstairs.”

“You worked out today?” he asked. “Even after so few hours of sleep?”

“Don’t need much.” Laura smiled. “Did you sleep well? It was a longer drive than I thought.”

“I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.” He opened the breakfast room door for her.

A buffet contained all the expected items, and she quickly filled her plate. They sat at a table for four, expecting Jasper and Phyllis to join them.

“I meant what I said last night.” He took a sip of orange juice and swallowed. “Thank you for coming along. It’ll be nice to have a dinner date instead of looking at Jasper all night.”

“I’m glad to be spending time with you too.” She bit into a blueberry muffin.

He reached across the table and took her hand. “I’d like to see how far we can go with this, Laura.” His thumb caressed circles on the back of her hand. “I really like you. I thought it was just a passing thing, but my feelings are just getting stronger.” He smiled at her. “You’re so damn pretty, and I think we can make something from this. What do you think?”

 

* * *

 

“You look gorgeous,” Phyllis said.

Laura modeled her dress in front of the dressing room mirror. They already had their hair done and were trying to decide what to wear for the dinner and dance that evening.

“That’s the one, Laura.”

Phyllis had chosen her outfit already. It was a bit sedate for Laura’s taste, done in a heavy boucle, but Phyllis loved it and decided to go with it. Selective and particular by nature, Laura tried on seven dresses before finally finding one she thought would work. The look on Phyllis’s face confirmed Laura’s choice.

It was stunning, really. A variation on the simple, black slip dress, this one had layers. The underlay was in a cream-colored satin, covered by small, burned-out velvet circles in an interesting, all-over geometric pattern. It had slim spaghetti straps, a square neckline, and a narrow satin belt that tied lightly at the waist. With a black faux fur wrap and black snakeskin heels to finish the outfit, she knew it was perfect.

“It works.” She smiled at her reflection in the mirror.

She really liked the up-do the stylist had fixed. At the salon, they had run into a couple of wives who were here at the conference with their husbands. Both were from Montana, both high maintenance. Laura recognized the wealth, having grown up in such an environment and then later catering to it at the restaurant.

“Okay, set for tonight. Now I need a nice outfit for tomorrow’s luncheon, and we can be out of here. Caleb said he’d be back at four, so we have time.”

She took off the dress and heels, slipped back into her comfortable blouse and pants, and went to pay for the outfit. The other clothes weren’t nearly as difficult to find, and soon, she had another shopping bag full. She found some jewelry to accent the evening dress and felt confident she would shine that evening.

Phyllis charged along, complaining about the shopping. She didn’t mind grocery shopping, but the clothing business, well, that was boring to her. Laura, on the other hand, loved to touch the fabrics, play with different looks. Just because she dressed in black more often than not didn’t mean she didn’t like colors. On the way out, they passed a toy store, and Laura bought Connor two tractors and a small train set.

Jasper was waiting in the pickup, parked in front of the mall. “Did you buy out the stores?” he asked.

They laughed, loading their goods into the back seat. He kissed Phyllis on the lips as she crawled in the front seat next to him, scooting toward the divider. Laura looked away, wanting to give them privacy. They did look like they were in love.

How would it feel to have Caleb look at her like that?

“Caleb wanted to go to another seminar, but he asked that you be ready by five. They’re giving us a cocktail hour. Caleb needs to get some more financial backers, Laura. He may not have shared that with you yet, so it might be better that you don’t say anything. But he needs to schmooze tonight.” Jasper pulled out onto the road, headed back to the hotel.

“Did you find a pretty dress, honey?” He kissed Phyllis’s hand and then turned his attention back to the road. “I like your hair. Very nice. I bet you’ll be a knockout tonight.”

Laura swallowed, feeling like a voyeur.

“Laura helped.” Phyllis blushed. “She’s got such good taste.”

“Well, I think she’ll help Caleb’s cause tonight. Men like to be around pretty women, and the more men with deep pockets Caleb can visit with, the better off he will be.”

Was Jasper telling her indirectly that Caleb was using her as arm candy? Made sense, really. He knew she wouldn’t embarrass him, was intelligent enough to carry on a conversation, and could smile prettily. Had she been taken in?

“I thought he had a wealthy backer? Don?”

“He paid Don off with harvest proceeds this year. I think he’s looking to move on. Caleb was hoping to have extra to buy some expensive Angus breeding stock. That’s the only way his herd will continue to be among the best in the West.”

Laura thought about that for a bit. Just how much did a cow cost?

“He’s got to line up the money before the end of the year. He and I go to a big stock sale in Denver every January.”

“Can’t the two of you work together to improve both your herds?” Laura didn’t even know enough about cattle to know what she didn’t know.

“We do. But it’s important to introduce new bloodlines now and again. It strengthens the health of the herd. It’s all about the genes.”

Laura leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. She was worth millions. Literally, in a plural sense. Because she hadn’t gone into the protection program, the FBI had let her keep it too, which amazed her, but that was part of her tradeoff with the feds. If she did what they wanted, she would get what she wanted. Besides, she’d earned the money honestly, through her hard work and thriftiness.

She sighed. Why the hell was she cleaning toilets when she could be lying on a beach every day for the rest of her life, doing nothing but sipping margaritas from a glass with the paper umbrella hanging out of it, a cabana boy massaging her feet? She laughed. She’d been so used to hard work her whole life, it had never even occurred to her to slack off and take the easy way out.

“What?” Jasper asked, glancing in the rearview mirror at her.

“Nothing.” She laughed even harder. “I just had a life-altering thought.”

She could leave Nebraska and go to Jamaica and disappear. She had a fake passport ready to go if needed. If Caleb was using her to get financial backing, he wouldn’t be overly hurt if she left. Her heart wasn’t too involved yet. She glanced at the toy store package resting on the seat next to her and swallowed. Not too involved…yet.