Taming the Moguls (9 page)

“I’m sorry I hit you. That was wrong. I’ve
asked the Lord to forgive me, and I’d like to ask you as well.”

“I’d say I deserved it and maybe a few more
after everything was said and done.”

“I won’t ever raise my hand to you again. I’m
ashamed of that.”

“I hope never to give you reason. You had
reason. I was an ass.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “That’s
between you and God.”

“No, honey, that’s between you and me. I hurt
you, and I’m sorry. You called when you needed help, and I didn’t
answer.”

“I knew you were in a meeting, but I was
scared.”

He’d thought of her alone on the side of a
busy highway. He’d beat his own ass if he could for not being there
when she called. “Course you were. I’m glad that neighbor came by
when he did.”

“I didn’t recognize him at first, but he did
look familiar. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You shouldn’t have had to rely on a stranger
for help.” He stepped forward but stopped when he saw the wary look
in her eyes. “I’ll go to my grave regretting what happened that
night.”

She cleared her throat. “That wasn’t the only
thing that happened.”

Kevin scratched the back of his neck and
nodded. “No, it’s not.”

“Do you really think I’d cheat on you?”

“You’ve been trying to get my attention for a
while now. When I saw you get out of another man’s car, I jumped to
the wrong conclusion.”

“You
do
think I’d
cheat.”

“No, not really.”

Shiloh’s mouth fell open. “What does that
mean?”

“It means we’ve been in a bad place for
months.”

“Since we bought the house.”

“Since before we bought the house,” he
admitted. “I agreed to buy the house because I knew you weren’t
happy. I thought the house would make you happy.”

“You thought the house would get me off your
back.”

Kevin sucked in a breath and let it out
slowly. If he wanted a fresh start, he needed to be honest. “Yes. I
did.”

“Great.” She sank onto the couch, pulling her
knees to her chest and burying her head between them.

Weeks ago, Kevin would have rubbed her back
and told her anything she wanted to hear. That routine was getting
them nowhere. “We’ve got a long-standing pattern of me buying you
things to make you happy. This time, I bought you something too
expensive, and making you happy made us broke. And broken.”

Her head came up. “Are we broke?”

Here came the hard part and the real reason
it had taken him days to confront her. “Pretty close, especially
since I lost my job.”

“What?”

“That’s what the meeting was about. I didn’t
answer your call because I didn’t know how to tell you. It’s not an
excuse, just the God’s honest truth. I didn’t want you to know I’d
failed.”

She dropped her knees but didn’t stand. “You
didn’t fail. They were laying people off.”

“I can’t provide for you right now.” He
lifted his hands. “I’ve got nothing.”

“We’ve
got nothing,
just like when we started.”

“I put the house on the market.”

She swallowed, but when she met his stare,
she nodded. “Okay.”

“I’m working for Dodge over the winter. When
spring comes, I’ll run the crop duster if Manny retires like Skip
expects him to. If not, I’m not sure what I’ll do.”

Her eyes looked huge. “We’re not going back
to Denver?”

“Family’s here and enough work to get us
through until…until.”

“Where are we going to live?”

“I’m bunking with Lyle. He fixed up the cabin
along the river.”

“You want us to live with Lyle?”

Here came the tricky part. “No. I want you to
stay here with your mama and daddy. I’m going to stay with Lyle
until we sell the house and I can find us a place of our own.”

She let out a strangled laugh. “Are you…are
you suggesting we live apart?”

“For now. I screwed up, Shi. I don’t deserve
to have you, and you don’t deserve to sleep on a blow-up mattress
on my brother’s floor.”

“Kevin, I—”

“We’re starting over. Breaking bad habits. I
don’t want to go back to the way things were. We weren’t happy, and
it was more than my job and your overspending. Those were just
symptoms. The problem was you and me and the way we were with each
another. We’re trying to live as adults the same way we lived as
children. That approach doesn’t work. If we’re going to do this,
and there’s nothing I want more than to be with you, we have to fix
what’s wrong. I’m going to start by getting back on my feet and
being the man you deserve. It’s time I grew up. It’s time we both
did.”

“You’re leaving me.” Tears welled in her
eyes.

“No, I’m not. Let me fix what’s broken so we
can start on firm ground.”

“I don’t want to live with my parents.” Her
voice hiccupped, and she swallowed it down. “I want to live with
you. You’re my husband.”

“I’m trying to be the man you married. The
one I promised you I’d be. Even if I had a million dollars, I’d
want us to take this time apart to get back to what’s
important.”

“You are the man I married. Don’t leave
me.”

“Never.” He held out his hand, and she took
it, sliding to her feet and into his arms. She felt like home. Like
coming home. He kissed the top of her head and she lifted her lips
to his. The simple sweetness of mouth touching mouth never failed
to arouse him. Shi had always given herself without hesitation or
guile. Even in the worst of times, on that one elemental level,
they’d been in synch. When her hands snaked under his jacket and
tried to burrow beneath his shirt, he pulled back and held her
wrists.

“What are you doing?” she asked. Her eyes
were sleepy with desire, and he clenched his jaw in
frustration.

“We’re not doing this. Not yet.”

She yanked her hands free. “What do you mean?
You don’t want me?”

“You know better than that, Shi, but if we
end up in bed, nothing changes. I want more for us. I want more for
you.”

“I don’t understand. You’re not leaving me,
but you don’t want us to live together and you don’t want to have
sex?”

“We’re going to try something we’ve never
tried before: we’re going to wait. Wait to get our own place and
wait to be together.”

“Why? Why do you get to make all the
decisions?”

“Because we tried it your way, and it didn’t
make us happy. I’m asking you to trust me.”

“Sounds like you’re not giving me much of a
choice.”

“I love you, and I want to share my life with
you. Hell, baby, you are my life. Give me a chance to get this
right. Let’s start fresh and make new habits.”

Chapter 18

The hotel had a pathetic gym, but Gretchen
made due. She pounded out five miles on the treadmill before using
free weights until she could barely lift her arms. Exhausted,
drenched, and starving, she went back to her room with two things
on her mind: showering and contacting Robert.

She had no reason to stay. She’d met with
Tommy and A.J. Dodge. They’d both aired their concerns, and they
were all waiting for the environmental impact statement to be
released from the forest service. She could just as easily wait at
home with Alex.

Everything in her life felt off-kilter since
coming to the valley. She’d driven around, gotten a flavor of each
town, and met with the STS. What more could she do, especially
since the man in charge of the opposition had hated her for the
last ten years?

Her phone rang as she stepped out of the
elevator with a cup of coffee from the hotel’s buffet. Robert had
saved her the trouble of calling. “Hello?”

“How did the meeting go?” he asked.

“As you’d expect,” she hedged. “They felt
strongly the development would ruin the valley no matter what I
showed them or attempted to discuss.”

“They?”

“The president of STS and a local rancher.
They share the same views, all negative.”

“Sounds like a good first meeting,” Robert
said.

Gretchen paused in her attempt to slide the
key card into the door. “How do you figure?”

“All negotiations begin with two sides
meeting and showing their cards. Simply putting a face with a name
helps humanize the project.”

“I put a face with a name, all right.” She
slid the key in the lock and let the door slam closed behind her.
“Robert, the president of STS, Tommy Golden…He and I share a past.
I should have told you before the meeting, but I’m afraid the face
I put forth for Holcomb wasn’t a good one.”

“I’m well aware of your past, my dear. I also
know the role Tommy Golden played.”

Gretchen tightened her grip on the cup when
it began to slip through her fingers. “What do you mean you know
about Tommy?”

“You work for me. When I decided to make you
the face of Holcomb at Bear Stream, I did my homework.”

“You had me investigated?”

“As I do with all my employees who handle
major deals. It helps protect us both.”

She sank onto the unmade bed. “I get how it
protects you, but how does looking into my past protect me?” And
how thorough was the investigation?

“It keeps us both honest. I know Tommy Golden
is your stepbrother. I also know you haven’t spoken for over ten
years. I thought you could use an excuse to reconnect with someone
who could be a positive influence in Alex’s life, and I never
discount personal connections in business.”

“So this was personal? Robert, how could you?
Why
would you?”

“I care about you. I care about Alex. The
past can only hurt you if you won’t deal with it.”

“Tommy doesn’t want any part of me or my
life. I think my representing Holcomb here is a mistake. I
appreciate your faith in me, and the responsibility you’ve let me
take on, but I’m a detriment to the project. If you did your
research, you’d know that.”

“Nonsense. You’re an asset and a
professional. I want you to handle this deal.”

“There’s nothing left to handle. We’re on
opposite sides.”

“I’m open to a compromise, which is why the
original plans ask for so many units and an exorbitant amount of
commercial space. Dig in, let them know you’re not going anywhere,
and make the best deal you can. I’ve invested too much time and
money to give up.”

Gretchen took a deep breath and tried another
tactic. “I’m not comfortable being away from Alex this long. It’s
already been almost a week.”

“These negotiations take time. Alex is fine.
You know how he loves to stay with us.”

And another. “Ryan keeps calling. He wants to
know where I am and when I’ll be home.”

“Do something different for a change,” Robert
suggested. “Don’t ask how high when he says jump.”

Gretchen flung herself onto the bed. Easy for
Robert to say.

***

Tommy saw Patrick Garrity’s car in the Tap’s
parking lot and stayed tucked away in his office at Golden Mountain
Sports. His back was killing him, so Tommy popped another muscle
relaxer with his third cup of coffee. He helped a customer pick out
a pair of ski gloves and glanced up when the door chimed. Garrity
waltzed inside holding a file and a take-out box from the Tap.

He nodded at Tommy and waited until the
customer had left before setting the box on the counter. “Got a
minute?”

Tommy made a note to order more hand warmers.
“What’s up?”

“I got it.”

“Got what?”

“Dirt, and I’ve only scratched the
surface.”

Tommy stared at the scar on Patrick’s chin.
“Are you going to make me pry this out of you? What dirt?”

“Gretchen Lowry, Holcomb’s rep.”

At the sound of her name, Tommy sucked in a
breath. “I thought we talked about this. We agreed to keep things
above board.”

“You talked about keeping things above board.
I decided there’s no harm in looking. I think you’ll be glad I
did.”

Tommy doubted that. “I don’t want any part of
this.”

Patrick leaned on the counter and looked at
Tommy as if he were his sixteen-year-old son and not the
thirty-one-year-old head of STS. “She’s got a past. We’d be fools
not to look into it and use it to our advantage. Don’t you think
Holcomb has a file a mile long on each of us?”

“I don’t give a damn what Holcomb has.”

Patrick jerked up in surprise. “Since
when?”

“Since forever. He’s a businessman and so are
we. His business plans affect ours. Depending on the EIS, we may
have enough of a leg to stand on to negotiate.”

Patrick drove a finger into the file on the
counter. “This gives us two legs. She’s got a celebrity ex she
quietly divorced. Quiet divorces, especially when there’s a kid
involved, indicate there’s something there.”

“A kid?” Tommy’s hands fisted at the thought
of Gretchen and Ryan having a child. She could still hurt him.
After all those years, the pain felt so ripe.

“Yep. I’ve been through a divorce with kids.
Even when you both want out, it gets nasty. What if Holcomb had
something to do with the divorce?”

“How old is the kid?”

“It’s in the file.” When Patrick started to
lift the cover, Tommy slammed his fist over the manila folder.

“No.”

Patrick startled at Tommy’s outburst. “What
the hell?”

“If you’re hell-bent on using some innocent
woman, you can find somebody else to run STS. I don’t work that
way.”

“Jesus, Tommy, I’m not doing anything
unethical.”

“Snooping into her private life isn’t
unethical? Using her kid? Come on. That’s not what STS is
about.”

“STS is about stopping the development.
Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to make a difference. If
you’re not willing to do that,”—Patrick shrugged—“maybe you’re not
cut out for the job.”

Tommy slid his hands into the front pockets
of his jeans. “Maybe I’m not.”