Kinkade, Lea - I Got a Feelin' [The Chisholms of Texas 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

“Wow, man. Xander said she was pretty, but he didn’t do her justice. She’s real pretty and very feminine. Did you see the frilly little skirt she was wearing? How did she catch Dillon’s attention? She’s not his usual type. He normally goes for biker babes. This one is not going to be able to handle Dillon,” said Ryder. Dillon was a little rough around the edges. Came from working around horses and cows so closely, in Ryan’s opinion.

“I’m just glad that she wasn’t the blonde. Oh, by the way. My two weeks doesn’t start with the lovely Samantha until Sunday. I’ve got the late shift tomorrow night.”

“All right, already. Two weeks from Sunday but not a day longer,” Ryder said with conviction.

Approaching the pool table where his brothers were still playing pool, Ryan noticed their friend and the head of Ranch security, Rio Andrade, was there as well. Once again, big brother was running the table.

* * * *

Samantha tried not to show the visceral effect that Ryan Chisholm had on her when he introduced himself. She couldn’t believe the reaction that she had to the man. She wanted to believe that it was just his good looks that caused her panties to dampen and her nipples to pebble, but she hadn’t had the same reaction to his brother, his identical twin, Ryder. Nor had she felt that tug when Emily, one of the girls at the table tonight, had counted down the Chisholm brothers’ entrances into the club earlier that evening. Sure, they were all good-looking men. After all, Ryan and Ryder were identical twins, but the rest of the brothers looked enough like the twins to think they were multiples, which Jordan had assured her they were not. No, Samantha’s uncommon reaction had been solely toward Ryan. Each of the brothers was tall, about six feet three inches, and had a strong, lean, muscular body. They all sported raven-black hair, piercing green eyes, and lashes a woman would kill for. And, judging by what she had seen when the twins introduced themselves, they were rich playboys.

She had seen it immediately, of course. She knew the signs to look for. Both of the twins were used to getting any woman they wanted, and they probably changed women as often as they changed their shirts. She knew the type. Hell, she’d dated the type. She knew they were part of the premiere family in the area, the Chisholms. The family was rich and powerful in this part of Texas. Add to that their disgusting good looks, and she was sure neither of these men had to put much effort into getting a woman to go to bed with them. What woman wouldn’t be flattered to be the object of either one’s attention? She knew better, and yet, here she was, thinking naughty thoughts about a love-’em-and-leave-’em kind of man, Ryan Chisholm. Ryan with the neatly trimmed goatee and moustache. She loved a man with a goatee.

Shaking off her carnal thoughts of the off-the-menu hunk of a man, she tried to reimmerse herself in the conversation going on around her. Emily, who was Jessie and Jordan’s friend from town and a regular at Friday-night girls’ time, was telling a story about her brothers and an incident that had occurred at the used furniture store that they owned. Emily worked part-time for them, running the store, and they seemed to take great pride in scaring off any eligible men that came sniffing around her. Emily was sick of it and was planning to quit working for her brothers and find another job. From the looks Jessie, Jordan, and Taylor were giving her, this wasn’t the first time Emily had threatened to quit and get another job.

Samantha was reminded how lucky she was to have been able to move to this town owning the majority share of a thriving florist business and having money in the bank. It hadn’t always been like that for her. For years, Samantha had lived hand to mouth. If it hadn’t been for Sandy Carmichael, she might still be living that way.

Sandy had been the owner of The Flower Shoppe in downtown Corpus Christi and had given Samantha her big break. Hired on as a cashier and nighttime cleaning help, Samantha and Sandy had grown close. Sandy had been the one to see Samantha’s innate skill for arranging flowers and had nurtured the budding artist in Samantha.

Sandy had been a wonderful lady. She had started the little flower shop with the settlement she had gotten from the rich, young man that, while driving drunk one evening, had mowed down her husband while he was out jogging. Proof once again that the rich could get away with nearly anything when they had deep enough pockets. The man hadn’t even done any jail time.

Sandy had purchased a little building on a busy corner in town and turned it into The Flower Shoppe. From the day her doors opened, Sandy had run in the black. She ran a brisk business and was able to keep two florists, besides herself, busy full-time while another worked part-time on the weekends.

The woman had been a godsend to Samantha, who had been drifting in her life and had given up hope of ever getting out of her present hand-to-mouth existence. Samantha had aged out of the Texas foster-care system and had no support to go on to college or to help her after she turned eighteen. Sandy had taken Samantha under her wing and taught her everything there was to know about running a florist business. She had even seen Samantha through her breakups with Brandon and J.T.

In six years, Samantha had become Sandy’s premiere florist and was putting in as many hours at the Shoppe as Sandy. Sandy started paying Samantha a percentage of the business profits rather than giving her raises. She had even talked about giving Samantha a percentage of ownership of the business instead of earning a salary. Things were going so well, Samantha was even able to put some money in the bank for the first time in her life.

The only downside was Sandy’s health. Sandy was an insulin-dependent diabetic. She had several medical conditions that were exacerbated by the diabetes. As Samantha assumed more and more of the day-to-day operations of the shop, Sandy got sicker and sicker. Within two years, Sandy’s health got to the point that she was home sick more often than she was in the shop.

One day, the older woman collapsed at the shop and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Her heart was giving out on her, and there was nothing to be done. Even though she was only fifty years old, the rest of her body had been ravaged by the diabetes, and she wasn’t a candidate for a heart transplant. Samantha spent every moment she could get away from the shop at Sandy’s bedside. As far as Samantha knew, Sandy’s brother, Michael, had visited only once. After three days in the hospital, Sandy slipped into a coma. Two days later, her heart stopped beating, and she was gone. Sandy had requested no heroic measures be taken to save her life.

The day after his sister died, Michael came to the shop with Sandy’s set of keys and demanded to be let into the office. Knowing that he was probably Sandy’s only heir, Samantha couldn’t prevent him from going through the books. When Michael found out she was receiving a percentage of the profits from the business as a salary, he hit the roof and claimed that Samantha had taken advantage of his ailing sister. He demanded she go back to a fixed salary and fixed it at the last amount she had been receiving before Sandy had changed her salary to a percentage of the business nearly two years before.

A few days later, Sandy’s lawyer had come to the shop and told Samantha that her friend had written a new will while in the hospital, giving her entire estate to Samantha. Samantha had been in shock. She had spent every available minute with Sandy at the hospital but had no idea that Sandy had changed her will, giving her everything. Sandy hadn’t said a word.

Before she even had a chance to think about what this could mean for her future, Michael claimed that Samantha had exerted undue influence on Sandy to make the new will. He knew how close Samantha and Sandy had grown, and he knew how much time Samantha had spent with Sandy at the hospital before she died. Michael claimed Samantha had used that time, and her relationship with Sandy, to unduly influence the older woman into giving Samantha her estate. Under her previous will, Michael had been the sole beneficiary of his sister’s estate.

Michael continued to make a nuisance of himself. He hired a lawyer and started the process for declaring Sandy’s new will invalid. Although Sandy’s attorney assured Samantha that he would fight on behalf of the estate to have the will declared valid, he advised her to hire an attorney to represent her individual interests. Samantha couldn’t afford to hire an attorney of her own.

Finally, when it looked like the only solution to the whole mess was to litigate the matter, Michael had offered a settlement of his lawsuit. In exchange for having the new will declared invalid, Michael would give Samantha a cash settlement. After several days of negotiation, they reached an agreement. In exchange for Samantha not fighting to uphold the new will, Michael agreed to give Samantha a cash settlement equal to one half of the fair market value of the business.

In exchange, Samantha would no longer be employed by The Flower Shoppe, and there was a non-compete clause prohibiting her from working within fifty miles of the shop for two years. Knowing if the matter was litigated she could end up with nothing, Samantha accepted the offer. Since Deseo was a little more than seventy miles from Corpus Christi, the non-compete clause never came into the picture. The paperwork and exchange of money happened in record time. Samantha was left to start over. Again.

Samantha came back to the conversation going on around her with a start. She realized that Jordan and Taylor were getting ready to leave the club with their husbands. Jessie seemed upset about something and was going to leave as well. Samantha wished the women a good night and thanked them again for the invitation to join them.

“I’m so glad you finally took us up on our invitation, Samantha. We’ve only been asking you for weeks. Same time next week, okay?” Jordan didn’t look like she was going to take any answer but yes.

“I’d like that a lot, Jordan. I haven’t gotten out very much since I moved to town. Celia is the only person I really know very well. It’s nice to have some friends my own age. Thanks for the invitation. I’ll be here.” Samantha had enjoyed her time out with the other women. She had never really had girlfriends before. Growing up the way she had wasn’t conducive to forming long-lasting relationships. She had learned that the hard way. Now, though, she was starting over. She was part owner of a thriving florist business in this town, and she was unencumbered by a man. She was finally putting down roots.

Samantha stayed for another hour talking with the other women at the table and getting to know them better. Several men asked her to dance, but she just wasn’t in the mood tonight. When she got up to leave and told the table she was going home, Emily asked her if she needed a ride.

“That’s okay, Emily. I walked over. It’s just a couple of blocks.”

“I’m ready to leave, anyway, and I don’t think you should walk home alone at this time of night.”

“Okay. I’d really appreciate the ride.”

“Let’s go,” Emily said with a smile as she led her to her truck. Emily stayed until Samantha had unlocked the door to the apartment and shut the door behind her.

Samantha decided to forego a shower tonight and wait until morning. Since Deseo had passed a city ordinance this past summer prohibiting smoking in public places, her hair wasn’t reeking of smoke. Stripping off her jeans and tank top, she put them in the hamper and crawled naked into bed. She had to work tomorrow and wanted to be at her best. Still proving herself to the employees of Bach Florists, she wasn’t going to give anything but her best.

The sun was just starting to feel its way around the window blinds when Samantha’s alarm clock blared loudly, playing a rocking country tune, “Shake It For Me” by Luke Bryan. After a quick breakfast of a protein smoothie made from Greek yogurt and fruit, along with her ever-present mug of coffee, Samantha turned on the television and watched a little local news. Along with the controlling interest in Bach Florists, Samantha had negotiated for the use of the two-bedroom apartment located above the shop. Samantha could either rent it out and keep the profits or live in it herself.

Since Samantha was moving from a tiny studio apartment in Corpus Christi, she had decided to live in the apartment herself and save money on rent. The apartment came furnished with a bed, a dresser, and side tables in the largest bedroom as well as a couch and love seat with coffee table and end tables in the family room. All were in pretty good condition, so she wouldn’t have to replace anything any time soon.

Making a lunch for herself to take with her to work, Samantha decided to get herself an iced cappuccino before going to the shop. She headed over to Mancini’s Bakery, which was just a few stores down from Bach Florists. As far as she knew, this was the only place in town to get cappuccinos and the like.

When Samantha got to the shop, things were already busy and stayed busy throughout the day. However, she took the time, as she did every day, to take her lunch down to the park in the middle of town and eat beneath the shade of an old oak tree. She had been doing this since her first week working at the shop and enjoyed the relative peace and quiet that she couldn’t get at one of the local diners. She often took the opportunity to read on her Kindle while she was eating her lunch.

At five o’clock in the afternoon, Samantha closed up the shop and headed to the grocery store to pick up something for dinner. After getting a few staples at the grocery store, she headed for The Market to get some barbecue beef brisket. She loved Texas barbecue, and The Market had some of the best in town. She got enough for lunch tomorrow as well and headed back to her empty apartment. It was going to be a quiet night at home. She wondered what Ryan Chisholm was doing right now and figured it was probably better that she didn’t know.