Starting Over (Nugget Romance 4) (21 page)

“Absolutely,” Sam said. “Are you planning to walk around the expo for a while? I could call you as soon as Tracy gets back and she can set up an appointment.”

“Couldn’t I just deal with you?”

“I wish, but my hotel is four hours away from here. She’s really your best person.”

The woman reluctantly agreed and gave Sam her cell number. By the time Sam and Lisa broke away for coffee, Tracy still hadn’t returned.

“I don’t know what to do about that poor woman,” Sam told Lisa.

“I would’ve helped, but I’m barely up to speed on the Belvedere. Plus, Tracy can be territorial and I don’t want get on her bad side.”

“But Nate likes you,” Sam said.

“Uh, Nate likes Tracy more. According to the scuttlebutt, they’re practically engaged. The woman has him wrapped around her little finger.”

Sam’s heart stopped. Nate had told her that there was nothing going on between him and Tracy. But then again men were liars. Just look at Royce. Whatever. It wasn’t like she and Nate had a thing. He’d all but told her that they weren’t going anywhere.

What I don’t like is how much I like you
.

As they headed to the elevator in search of caffeine, Lisa nudged her in the ribs. “Look over there.”

Tracy had one hip cocked against the counter of the Simpson Hotel Group’s booth, her head tilted back, laughing. A tall, arresting, gray-haired man was laughing too.

“I’m glad she’s hard at work,” Lisa said.

From the looks of their little tête-à-tête, Tracy was working all right. She was working the gray-haired man.

B
y the time Nate got to Nugget Monday night he was wiped. He’d worked through the weekend, trying to catch up. He hadn’t even had time to pop in on the expo, not that he normally would’ve, but he wanted to check on Sam. Make sure she knew the ropes.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that
.

Okay, he’d desperately wanted to see and impress her.
Why
was the million dollar question, since he’d never felt the need to wow a woman before. Especially one who worked for him.

When he pulled into his garage, he didn’t even bother to get his briefcase from the back of the car. He just wanted to get inside and collapse.

He walked into the mudroom, flicked on the light, and blinked. Whoa! He was in the wrong house. There was a bench where he usually piled random crap, a coat-tree that hadn’t been there before, and cool-looking locker cages where someone had organized his sports equipment. He wandered the rooms, noting that this house had furniture. Nice furniture. Nate tested one of the recliners, tilting it back as far it would go. Comfortable.

The walls had pictures hanging on them—a gallery of all the people he cared about and lots of Lilly. Sam must’ve gotten the photographs from Maddy, because there were ones of his parents and his sister Claire and her family. A Colin farm table anchored the dining room with a big basket of fruit on it and matching chairs. There was a coffeemaker in the kitchen. Cupboards full of dishes and glasses. Even pots and pans. He found more of Colin’s furniture—a few rockers and a swing—on the deck.

Damn! In the time he’d been gone, Sam had worked miracles. He never thought in a million years she’d come through like this, figuring she’d buy a few big-ticket items and get bored. But the house was done. Really done. Rugs, lamps, flat-screen TV, the whole nine yards.

Inside his bedroom he found new bedding and another flat-screen. The woman was a genius. He flicked it on to see if he even got cable. And hallelujah, he did. Apparently it was one of those smart TVs that worked off the Wi-Fi, like he had at the Theodore. Nice.

He tugged off his shirt, kicked off his shoes, pulled off his belt, and played with the remote control, cruising through the channels. On his way to the shower, he dropped his jeans and shorts and found a hamper in his closet, which hadn’t been there before. He used to just use a canvas shopping bag for his dirty clothes. In the bathroom sat a stack of neatly folded towels and a brand-new mat, that looked thicker than anything he’d ever seen.

After his shower, he stepped into a pair of shorts, lay flat on his back in the bed, and propped the second pillow behind his head to check out his view of the TV from this angle. It was fantastic. He put the sound on mute, picked up his phone, and started to call Sam. Then he caught the time on his bedside alarm clock. Damn, it was ten o’clock. He called her anyway.

After the sixth ring she picked up. “Hello.”

He couldn’t tell if she’d been asleep. But her voice sounded good. Husky and sexy. “The place is insane,” he said.

“Good insane or bad insane?”

“Are you kidding? Great insane. I love it.”

“Good,” she said, and giggled a little wickedly. “Because it cost you a fortune. Wait until you see my overtime bill.”

“I don’t care,” he said. “It was worth it. I mean it, Samantha, the place is off the hook. You outdid yourself. How did the expo go?”

“Good. I got a ton of interest in the Lumber Baron. It appears that country weddings are all the rage. All we need is a barn.”

“Huh?” he said. Honestly, he didn’t really care about the expo. He just liked listening to her—too much, from the way the lower half of his body was responding.

“I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.”

He thought about asking her to come over, looked down at his shorts and exercised a great deal of willpower by not. “How’d your dinner go with the friend from Connecticut?”
Ah, why’d I have to go asking that
?

“It was nice. The restaurant Emily recommended was fabulous.”

“Sorry I wasn’t able to show you around more. But Randall took you on a tour of the other properties, right?”

“Yes. He’s a sweetheart and so is Lisa. The three of us went to dinner Sunday, before I caught my plane home.”

“That’s great,” Nate said. He liked his employees to get along; it made for good team camaraderie. “Tracy didn’t go?”

He heard Sam hesitate. “Uh, no, she had other plans.”

Nate knew Tracy held herself above the other event planners and liked to be the queen bee. He tolerated it because she was incredibly good at her job. Although lately her incessant whining had begun to irritate him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” she asked, and he could hear her stifling a yawn.

“Yep,” he said, reluctant to hang up. Couldn’t they just have phone sex? “And, Sam, thanks for the house. Seriously, you went above and beyond.”

 

Nate found Sam in her office the next morning. So Andy hadn’t burned the place down in their absence.

“What are you doing here so early?” he asked her.

“Working on a spreadsheet,” she said, distracted. The woman had forced him to go to bed with a raging hard-on; the least she could do is look up from her computer when he talked to her. “I hate this Excel thing.”

“Want help?”

“No. I’ll figure it out.”

“Why are you making a spreadsheet?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, lost in concentration.

“Earth to Samantha, I’m talking to you.”

“I’ll show you when I finish,” she said, and proceeded to ignore him.

He dumped his crud in his office and headed to the kitchen. Starved, Nate hadn’t felt like eating alone at the Ponderosa. Later, he’d go over to Sophie and Mariah’s house to see Lilly. Instead of Emily, he found Brady at the stove, a bandana wrapped around his head, wearing baggy chef pants and an apron.

“I thought you didn’t start until next week?”

“I don’t,” Brady said, pushing cookie sheets into the oven. “But Emily had wedding stuff to do.”

“You taking the duplex on Donner Road?”

“Yeah. I think it’ll work out real good. Thanks for hooking me up.”

“No problem. You okay on the deposit?”

“I’ve got it covered.”

“Hey, is there any truth to the rumor that you were on
Top Chef
?”

Brady laughed. “No truth at all. Where’d you hear that?”

“People in town.” Nate shook his head. “Get used to it. They make shit up for the pure joy of it.”

“You sound disappointed.”

“Nah, but it could’ve stirred up a little chatter for the Lumber Baron on Twitter and Facebook.”

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that,” Brady said. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t publicize my name or put up any pictures of me in cyberspace. I know it sounds weird, but it’s a personal thing.”

“You’re not wanted by the law, the IRS, or an ex-wife wanting child support? Because if so, that becomes a personal thing for me and my business.”

“Nothing like that,” Brady said. “Hell, I let your police chief run a credit check on me for the apartment. You would’ve found out real quick if I had something to hide. It’s just . . . I’m pretty private.”

“All right,” Nate said. It’s not like the guy was Gordon Ramsay and his name would drum up all kinds of business. “Just keep making that coffee cake and we’ll do fine. Speaking of, what’s on the menu this morning? I haven’t had breakfast yet.”

Brady poured Nate a cup of coffee and fixed him a crepe filled with some sort of hash deal. The thing melted in his mouth and Nate truly hoped Brady wasn’t a serial killer, because damn the man could cook.

“What’s in the oven?”

“Mini lobster potpies for this afternoon,” Brady said. “Hang on, they’re coming out in a few seconds.”

Nate waited, sipping the rest of his coffee and scraping his plate.

Sam rushed in. “Here you are.”

“What’s up?” Today she had on pants. He liked it better when she wore skirts or dresses. Sam had killer legs. But the frilly sleeveless top wasn’t bad. It showed off her arms and her cute freckles.

“I’m ready to show you my spreadsheet.”

“Well, you’ll have to wait until the lobster potpies come out.”

She sat at the island with him and Brady brought her a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” she said, and smiled at the cook way too brightly for Nate’s taste. “How’s it going so far?”

“It’s all good,” Brady said, removing the sheets from the oven and putting them on cooling racks. “The kitchen’s got a good vibe. Perfect layout.”

That had been Maddy’s doing. Nate’s sister couldn’t cook to save her life, but after they’d gutted the decrepit kitchen, she’d redesigned it. Nate craned his neck to check out the pies. They looked and smelled fantastic.

Brady saw him ogling them. “Give ’em a couple of minutes to cool.”

“You going to Emily and Clay’s wedding?” Sam asked Nate.

“Yeah. What do you think I should get them? Maddy and Rhys are giving them a weekend getaway package at the Theodore. They’ve both been married before, aren’t registered, and seem to have everything.”

“What about a great bottle of wine?” Sam suggested.

“Something from Châteauneuf-du-Pape,” Brady interjected, surprising Nate. The chef seemed to be coming out of his shell.

“That sounds good.” Nate had a corporate wine buyer who could get him something special. “What are you getting them?” he asked Sam.

“I made a donation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in their name.” Years ago, Emily’s daughter had been kidnapped from her backyard in the Bay Area and was still missing. It was so tragic that even the folks in Nugget didn’t gossip about it.

“That was nice.” Nate would give it to Sam. She was not only classy, but incredibly considerate. “So what’s this spreadsheet?”

“I noticed a trend emerging at the expo,” she said. “Maybe it’s an old trend and new to me. But I think if we play our cards right we could take advantage of it.”

“Yeah? What’s the trend?”

“People want country weddings. They want barns. They want horses. They want bluegrass bands.”

“It’s true,” Brady said. “I catered like twenty of them last summer. Where I come from in South Carolina that’s just the way people get married. But in LA they go nuts for this kind of stuff.”

“So what do you want me to do, build a barn and buy some horses?”

“No. But Lucky’s place is perfect. He has an industrial kitchen, even bigger than this one. A giant lodge that could accommodate at least three hundred people. And plenty of barns and horses.”

“How does that help us?”

“We partner with him. But to a guy like Lucky Rodriguez this might be a hard sell.”

“Uh, ya think? The guy won’t even call his venture a dude ranch, afraid it’ll make him sound like a wuss,” Nate said.

“Hey, money talks.” Brady held his hand up and rubbed his fingers together. Nate was really starting to like the guy.

“Perhaps we just rent the venue from him for weddings,” Sam said. “That way he doesn’t have any part in it. But one thing I found at the expo is that these brides not only want a country wedding, they want a full weekend of activities. How great would it be to team up with Lucky and put on amateur rodeos that the guests could either participate in or just watch? Barn dances and trail rides. The possibilities are endless.”

Her enthusiasm gave Nate flashbacks of Kayla. Right now she was gung ho, but how long until she petered out on the idea, leaving him to make good on all the country weekend weddings she booked? He didn’t have the time.

“I’ll think about it, Sam.”

Her disappointment was palpable, and he was tempted to give in just to see her revved up again. Because watching Sam run high made him hot. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes dancing with possibilities, her body vibrating with excitement. The woman had a great business head on her. Nate would give her that. But being a success meant seeing an idea through to the bitter end.

“It’s got major possibilities, Sam. It really does. I just don’t like relying on other people outside my organization.” Or inside for that matter, especially when he didn’t know how soon until Sam would run. More and more that was starting to matter for more than work reasons. And Nate didn’t like it.

“Lucky is big on this partnership, Nate. He wants more than anything to be a success. I don’t see how it could hurt us.”

“I said I’ll think about it.” He got up without having any lobster potpie. Somehow he’d lost his appetite.

On his way out, he heard Brady say, “It’s a great idea, Sam. Nate’ll come around. You’ll see.”

Great. He had the whole staff ganging up on him. Back in his office, he found a message from Tracy to call her. He didn’t want to deal with her now, so he phoned Maddy.

“You up for taking a look at that place on Gold Mountain?”

“Thank God. I need to get out of this house and have some adult conversation. Give me thirty minutes. I can bring Emma, right?”

“Of course. We’re just checking it out. You haven’t told anyone, Maddy?”

“Nope. Well, just Rhys.”

“Maddy, if this gets out, it leaves us no negotiating power.”

She laughed as if he was being ridiculous. “He’s my husband, Nate.”

At least Rhys was the least likely person to blab. In a town of gossipers, Nate’s brother-in-law knew how to keep other people’s secrets. Nate suspected Rhys knew where all the bodies were buried in town, but to keep the peace he never said a word.

“Hurry up and meet me at the inn,” Nate said. “I’ll drive.”

“It’s easier for me. I’ve got the car seat for Emma.”

“She can use Lilly’s. It’s already in the Jag.”

Maddy showed up an hour later. “Sorry. Do you know how long it takes to get out of the house with a baby in tow?”