Convincing the Rancher (16 page)

Tyler had to be about five years younger than her, but to his credit, after she’d told him there was no way she’d ever go home with him, he’d stuck around to chat anyway. And he seemed to be the only local who was feeling chatty. Although she’d met many of the guests here tonight at the harvest festival and they’d seemed friendly enough then, tonight they drifted away as soon as they could without seeming rude. Maybe they’d been recruited by Slaid and his solar-panel plan. Whatever the reason, she’d been a social pariah in the bar until Tyler had shown up.

She wondered just how many people Slaid had contacted so far and how many had gotten on board with his idea. Well, in a few days she’d be showing the CEO’s video and answering questions at the community center, and she was offering a full three-course catered meal to everyone who attended. The RSVP had been coming back at a brisk pace and most had been marked yes.

At the thought of the mayor, her eyes scanned the room again. And if her heart gave a little jump when she saw that Slaid had arrived and was talking with Jack, well, that was her bad luck. It was one more of life’s little ironies that the man she wanted so badly that it was keeping her up at night turned out to be the one guy who didn’t want to sleep with her.

And in that moment, he caught her staring. She flushed as he lifted his glass to her in acknowledgment. She looked away trying to focus on Tyler, wondering if it was too early to leave this party. She didn’t want to hurt Jack’s and Samantha’s feelings, or cut short any time she might get with her girlfriends, but she had work to do, and she was pretty sure that her buddy Tyler would be moving on soon to find a more willing partner.

“Tyler.” Slaid was standing next to her, and his voice was low and a little less good-humored than usual. Was he still upset about their ride the other day?

“Mayor Jacobs.” Tyler’s moved just a little closer to Tess as if asserting his prior claim.

“Mind if I have a word with Tess for a moment?”

Tyler looked as though he wanted to say no, but Slaid had age, size and the office of mayor on his side. Tyler reluctantly pushed off the bar and raised his bottle slightly to Tess. “It was great talking to you, Tess. I’ll catch up with you later tonight.”

She had to give him credit. The mayor might have succeeded in chasing him off, but young Tyler had scored the final blow.

“What the hell did he mean by that?” With Tyler gone, Slaid’s voice was low and furious.

Tess was just a little gratified that he was jealous. After all, he should be made aware that not everyone would pass on what she offered. “Nothing you need to know about,” she purred over her drink.

Slaid took a deep breath, glancing around the bar as if reminding himself of where he was. “I think I already know. Tess, you can’t go sleeping around in this town.”

Anger curdled her tone sour. “First of all, I’m tired of you accusing me of
sleeping around
. It’s about a half step up from calling me a slut, and if that’s what you think of me, fine, but I don’t need to hear it. And second, I didn’t realize that being mayor gave you jurisdiction over other people’s personal lives.”

“I meant no disrespect,” he said stiffly. “Look, I’m not the only one in this town who has a more traditional outlook on things. If you want to be successful here, you can’t act the way you might at home or on another business trip. People will find out, they’ll gossip, and your credibility will be damaged.”

Tess took a deep breath and reminded herself that slapping the mayor would damage her credibility. “So let me get the twisted moral code of Benson straight. If I chat with Tyler at a party, I’ll be accused of sleeping around. But it was okay for
you
to spend a night with me?” She paused, feigning surprise, sarcasm snapping her words out. “Oh, wait, of course! You’re a man, so that makes it okay. Or your morals just exist within the narrow-minded borders of your small town—they don’t cross state lines.”

The more she thought about his hypocrisy, the angrier she got. She set her drink down on the bar and grabbed her purse. “You know, I think I’m done standing here while you judge me, and tell me how I should behave.”

“Tess...”

She started walking, tears stinging her eyes. No way would she let them fall. She rushed into the coat check and found her parka, shoving her arms through the sleeves as she pushed out the door.

“Tess, wait!” Slaid was right behind her, jogging down the front steps. “Hang on.”

She stopped abruptly. “Why?”

“Because I’m an ass. I didn’t mean to say those things.”

“You mean you have some strange affliction where you can’t control the words that come out of your mouth? I’m not buying it.”

“No. Yes. I mean, only when I’m with you. I want to get it right and instead I say all the wrong things.”

“There. That is one thing we can agree on.” Tess was cold and she wanted to go back to her cottage. She walked up Main Street. Slaid’s long strides made it easy for him to keep up.

“I don’t regret that night together. Not at all. And I don’t judge you for it.”

“Well, that’s very reassuring,” she said. “Except it’s obvious that you
do
judge me.”

“Maybe I’m judging myself. I don’t do things like that. But I did and it was amazing, so I’m conflicted.”

“You need to work out your inner conflicts on your own. It’s not fair to blame me for them.”

“You’re right. It’s not.” He turned, walking backward so he could see her face. She refused to look at him. “Please accept my apology.”

“Slaid—” She was weary now. “Maybe later I can accept it. Right now I just want to be alone.” Another tear threatened to escape. Why was she so upset? Why did his criticism hurt? Normally she’d just laugh and write him off as a judgmental prude.

And then she realized. At the party she’d been an outsider with her coupled-up friends
and
with the residents of Benson. Slaid’s lecture on her behavior had driven that point home. Driven it right into the sore spot deep down inside.

Growing up in foster homes, transferred from school to school, she’d always felt as if she was on the outside of normal life. Other people had families and friends—she didn’t. Other people knew how to behave and what to say—she’d never been taught any of that. Tonight had given her that same feeling and she hated it.

With profound relief she unlatched the gate on her picket fence. “Good night, Slaid.” Her hand was shaking as she tried to get her house key into the lock. Suddenly he was behind her, gently taking it out of her hand and opening the door for her.

“Good night,” he said softly, handing back her keys. “I am truly sorry.”

She pushed through her door and into the warmth of her cottage, sliding the bolt behind her. Dropping her coat and kicking off her shoes, she went straight into the bedroom, where she flopped down on the bed and pulled the blankets over her. Tears made hot trails down her cheeks, but she fought the urge to break down entirely. If she’d learned anything from her rough past it was that crying got you nowhere. It only made you weak in a world where you needed to be so very tough and strong.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“
I
CAN’T BELIEVE
you’ve never done this.” Samantha jabbed at the eyeball of her jack-o’-lantern. “How is it that you’ve never carved a pumpkin?”

Tess cursed herself for letting that information slip out. “I don’t know. We had all kinds of other Halloween traditions. Just not this one.”

“What kinds of traditions?” Jack asked. His brow was furrowed in concentration. He was determined to make his pumpkin look like a horse, but right now it just looked slightly maniacal.

Years ago, Tess had told Samantha that she’d grown up in New England. She’d invented the perfect family in the perfect location, simply because she hadn’t wanted to talk about the childhood she’d really had. Frantically scanning her memory for what kinds of Halloween traditions her fictional New England family might have had, Tess remembered something from a book she’d read once. “Bobbing for apples!” she exclaimed.

Her friends looked at her, probably surprised at the triumphant tone of her voice.

“They were really, really into bobbing for apples,” she added lamely. “And decorations. They hung up a lot of stuff. You know, fake spiders, all that.”

“Where in New England did you grow up?” Jack asked.

“Connecticut,” Tess answered, and quickly changed the subject before she had to come up with more lies. “Okay, so I’ve got all this gook scraped out. What do you guys think? Happy face or mean face?”

Despite the web of falsehood she’d just been spinning, it was fun sitting out here on her back patio with Samantha and Jack. They’d lit a fire in the fire pit, and the warmth of it compensated somewhat for the chill the setting sun had left behind. The smoke from the pine logs mingled with the scent of the sagebrush around the patio and created a smell in the crisp air that was pure fall. Perfect for Tess’s first real Halloween.

She’d celebrated the holiday before, of course. There’d been the school parades, and a few years where the parents at a foster home had taken her and the other kids trick-or-treating. But mostly it had been a stressful holiday. She’d worried that she wouldn’t have a costume, or that some kid from school would tease her about whatever battered, hand-me-down outfit a teacher or foster parent could come up with.

But something about being in this tiny town, experiencing real fall weather, had her excited about Halloween for the first time. Jack had helped her put spiderwebs and orange lights around the front door of the cottage earlier today. She’d bought enough treats for every kid in Benson ten times over and had even made hot apple cider from a recipe off a website. As she went inside to get the candles for their jack-o’-lanterns, Tess realized she was happy and content, moods she wasn’t very familiar with. It was nice to let go of her worries and frustrations about work and just focus on a silly holiday.

She rummaged in the paper bag on the kitchen counter and pulled out the candles. A knock at the door surprised her. It wasn’t even five o’clock yet—a little early for trick-or-treaters. She grabbed the bowl of candy off the counter anyway.

“Coming!” she called, and ran to answer it, jumping back in surprise when she saw Slaid on her doorstep, smiling tentatively at her from beneath the felt brim of his tan cowboy hat. He had a pumpkin in one hand and a bottle of Scotch in the other.

“Trick or treat.”

“Why are you here?”

“Ouch. I guess I deserved that. Well, I’ve been hoping to talk with you, to make things right, but it seems as though you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you!” Tess protested. What was another lie in an evening of so many?

“Tess, I saw you duck down in the aisle when you noticed me at the market on Tuesday night. And on Wednesday as you were coming out of the library I called your name from across the street and you ran.”

“I was late for something. And I didn’t hear you call.”

He raised an eyebrow and her face flushed.

“Should I even mention Thursday?”

She’d been out running in the early morning and unfortunately, so had he. In the dim dawn light she hadn’t realized the approaching runner was Slaid until he was about five yards away. She’d darted across the street, and when he’d shouted her name, she’d just run faster. “No, you don’t need to mention Thursday.”

“So when Jack said you were carving pumpkins this evening and invited me to stop by, I figured I’d better take him up on it. It might be my only chance to make up for the way I behaved at the party.”

Tess mentally kicked herself for telling Jack to invite any friends he wanted to. It should have occurred to her that he might choose Slaid. She wanted to take Jack’s spooky horse pumpkin and plop it right on his head for not warning her.

“I saw you order a Scotch at the party. I hope this is good enough to at least get me in the door.” He put the bottle in her hands and what she read on the label had her gasping.

“An eighteen-year-old Talisker?”

“It’s good, right?”

“It’s way more than good. It’s rare, expensive and divine.” Just staring at the label and anticipating the smoky, sweet flavor had some of her anger fading. “But you’re still only getting in the door if you agree to refrain from all sermons, lectures, barbs and judgments.”

“I swear I will do my level best to stop acting like an idiot.”

“Well, come on in, then.” She sighed. The spookiest thing about this Halloween so far was that she was actually happy to see him, which made absolutely no sense. She stepped back, opening the door wider.

“Hang on,” he said. He reached forward and pulled a pumpkin seed with some orange goo on it out of her hair. “One of the many Halloween hazards,” he said, giving her a smile that melted another layer of her anger.

She led him through the cottage, conscious of him walking behind her, knowing that if she was walking behind him, she’d be checking out his ass, so she put a little swing in hers, just in case.

“Slaid!” Samantha said in surprise, then looked at Tess with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me,” she murmured, and pointed to Jack while he and Slaid were busy shaking hands and smacking each other on the shoulder, man-style.

Samantha looked at her husband, shaking her head. “No wonder you haven’t wanted to hang out with us. I’m pregnant and boring and my husband is turning into a meddling matchmaker.” She picked up her finished pumpkin and waddled off with it toward the front yard.

Tess turned back to her own jack-o’-lantern to finish carving it, hoping the project would calm her inexplicable turmoil at seeing Slaid again. Samantha returned, flopping down in one of the Adirondack chairs and putting her feet up on the rim of the fire pit. She stared at the flames dreamily while Jack sat on the flagstones nearby, chipping away at his pumpkin again. Slaid sat down across the patio from them to start working on his own creation.

They all looked so peaceful, and Tess wondered if they were really that content inside. Or was everyone like her...housing a dormant volcano of emotion with only a smile plastered on top to hide the chaos?