Gold Fire (34 page)

She shot a look at him, a little rebellious spark he was glad to see, then gave in with a distasteful curl of her mouth. “I got a call from a friend who works at the Greystone Lodge. I guess it took the shine off my day.”

It was as good a description as any for how she looked. He set two glasses on the table and pulled up a chair. “Why?”

“Because she told me her boss had lunch with my boss. My former boss. Matt’s spreading rumors about me, implying that I was fired for mishandling the offer
to buy your land. He’s blaming me for the things that happened at the Rusty Wire.”

“That son of a bitch!” He jumped to his feet, ready to take Matt down on the spot, then paced the kitchen in frustration. He couldn’t shake the bastard out of his life, and now it seemed Zoe couldn’t, either. He wondered how she could be so calm. “He’s gone too far, Zoe. At the very least it’s illegal for him to say things like that about an ex-employee.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’d deny it. And Jerry, the manager at the Greystone, would back him up. But Matt knew exactly who to talk to. He’s good at that, reading people and knowing just how far they’ll go. Jerry will see that word gets around. Resort managers are an incestuous group—employees often advance by bouncing from one resort to the next, wherever there’s an opening at the time. It’ll be off the record, but true or not, rumors that I was fired will spread fast. No one in this town will hire me. Probably not in Juniper, either.”

“Shit!” Impotent rage ripped through him, leaving every muscle taut and ready for action. He needed to punch something, preferably Matt’s face. He damned the little prick to hell several times before realizing that Zoe wasn’t equally agitated. She sat there, withdrawn and thoughtful, making wet rings on the table with the condensation from her glass.

“Zoe, I won’t let him get away with this. I can refute everything he says about you hurting the Rusty Wire.”

“But you’re sleeping with me and supposedly trying to scam your insurance company, according to Matt. Who’d believe you? Besides, people like to believe the worst about someone, especially the Larkin
girls. They say they don’t, but they’ll always hold on to that doubt:
She seems nice, but I heard she sets fires and sells out her employer. Probably eats puppies for breakfast
.” Her mouth pulled into something less than a smile. “I know how it goes, Jase. I can’t win this one.”

“You aren’t even going to try?”

“Oh, I’ll deny it.” She pressed another watery circle onto the table. “But it won’t make a difference. I just don’t know if I care anymore.”

Concern halted his pacing and pulled at his brow. This was not the Zoe he knew. “I don’t believe you. Your reputation is important to you, more important than your job. Christ, Zoe, everything you do, your whole plan for how to live your life, is about presenting a perfect image to the world. Now suddenly you don’t care?”

Her gaze flicked up to his, then away again. “I’ve fought this battle before, Jase, and I lost. It doesn’t matter how conservatively I live and how rigidly I stick to the rules. People want to remember me as that wild Larkin girl, and nothing I do will make them forget. They’ll ignore years of good behavior and embrace one juicy morsel of gossip that confirms their previous opinion. I can’t fight human nature. So I’ll deny the rumors to anyone who asks, but I won’t ever again change who I am just to be accepted.” She lifted an eyebrow. “I thought you’d be happy to hear that. You’re the one who told me I need to be myself.”

“Yes, so that no one else defines who you are. That’s what Matt’s trying to do to you. You can’t let him.”

“I can’t stop him. All I can do is not let it change
me.” She showed a tiny smile. “I also need to make a new plan, because the old one’s shot to hell.”

He frowned, unsure how to counter his own argument, but certain that he should. Zoe being herself was fine. But this emotionally beaten woman wasn’t her. If she made any choices in this depressed state they would most likely be the wrong ones.

It must be shock. When it wore off a couple of days from now, she’d remember how much her hopes and plans depended on repairing her image in Barringer’s Pass. Her fighting spirit would come back. Until then, he’d do whatever he could to protect her reputation, and to reveal Matt Flemming as the scum he was.

“Don’t decide anything yet, Zoe. Give it some time.”

Her smile was strangely wistful. “I intend to. As much time as I can.”

Chapter
Nineteen

J
ase tipped his chair back and tried unsuccessfully to peer over Gloria’s shoulder. Watching her take notes for her next article in the
Echo
made him nervous.

He walked around the empty bar and filled a whiskey tumbler with water, knocking it back in one gulp. “You sure I can’t get you something to drink?” he asked.

She didn’t raise her gray head from the notepad. “No thank you.”

He walked back to sit at the table. She was writing her “impressions,” she said. That had to be good. She’d followed the inspector, seen everything he’d seen, and heard him approve their reopening before he left. But Jase wanted to make sure her impressions included speculating on the reason the violations had happened in the first place. The public should know the Rusty Wire had been unfairly accused.

More than accused; they’d been targeted. He couldn’t prove it, but hinting at that angle might swing some support his way. He’d need it if he was going to
influence future zoning and development in B-Pass, which was rapidly becoming a new priority.

Seeing her pen stop, he jumped in. “My concern is that what happened here could happen to anyone in this town. Closing down a business like mine is easy; getting it reopened is far more difficult, and expensive.”

He paused while she scribbled. Why didn’t the woman use a recorder, for God’s sake? When she looked up, he continued.

“I can’t say for sure who targeted the Rusty Wire, whether it was a prank or a serious attempt to ruin me.” Couldn’t say it for the record. Off the record, he’d be glad to instill some fear about the big resorts throwing their weight around, trying to shape the future of Barringer’s Pass. “But you have to wonder who will be next.”

Too ominous? He considered toning it down it as Gloria scribbled away, then rejected the idea. He’d stand by that statement. If the resorts ever decided they didn’t like their shops or restaurants having to compete with the independent ones in Barringer’s Pass, the same thing could happen to any small business owner in town.

Gloria looked up. “So you attribute these incidents to the Alpine’s Sky’s attempt to buy the Rusty Wire?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, you didn’t.” She smiled.

“I just noted the coincidence in timing. I understand if the paper is afraid to stir up controversy.”

One eyebrow disappeared under an artful swoop of gray hair. “Are you at all familiar with the
Echo,
Mr. Garrett?”

He smiled. The
Echo
loved a good scandal or, barring that, a messy, controversial issue. Life in small towns could get boring without a little social drama now and then.

“There’s talk of your situation around town, you know. People have noticed those coincidences you spoke of, how problems began at the Rusty Wire after you rejected a buy-out offer.”

Take that, Flemming! He rocked his chair onto its back legs, getting comfortable but keeping his expression sober. “Small businessmen
should
be concerned.”

“Mr. Garrett, you aren’t accusing the Alpine Sky of any wrongdoing, but you’ve made it obvious that they are the ones who stand to gain. Are you worried that bringing this up will anger the owners?”

“Not at all. If they aren’t involved, then I’m sure they’re just as upset about it as I am.” Better practice those sympathetic expressions, Matt.

“One particular connection to the Alpine Sky has been noted by several people I talked to. Is it true Zoe Larkin is a close friend of yours?”

“What?”

“She was recently fired from her job at the Alpine Sky.”

Hell. The chair legs hit the floor. Goddamnit. “She wasn’t fired. She quit.”

“Really? That’s not what the owner says.”

He set his teeth, holding on to his temper. “Talk to some other employees. Just promise to quote them anonymously, since they might want to keep their jobs.”

“So you got the story of how she left the resort directly from Miss Larkin?”

“Yes, I did.”

She poised her pen over the tablet. “I understand you’re good friends.” Gloria emphasized
good
, smiling to let him know she didn’t mean a fishing buddy.

He opened his mouth to assure her that they were indeed very close, that this information was correct. Then stopped.

Caution buzzed in his brain. Zoe was already depressed about what Matt had done to her reputation. Or more precisely, what he’d undone. With one well-placed rumor, he’d trashed her carefully reconstructed image. How much grief would it add if Jase confirmed they were close, that she had literally been sleeping with the enemy? It would be as good as saying she had betrayed her employer.

And there was that little matter of appearing socially correct. He didn’t fit the bill. Despite what she said, he knew how important image was to her. No way in hell would he say anything to imply she had a close relationship with a lazy saloon owner who had no life and no apparent ambitions.

He put on a surprised look for Gloria and chuckled. “We’re supposed to be good friends, huh? Well now, I guess that’s flattering, since she’s a pretty woman and all, but Zoe’s hardly my type. A bit stiff and overachieving for my taste. We met when the Alpine Sky sent her to make an offer for my land, so naturally when she left her job she told me because I wouldn’t be dealing with her anymore.” He shrugged. “That’s hardly good friends. I’d say we’re more like acquaintances.”

“I see.”

Gloria looked disappointed, so he assumed he’d done a good job of separating Zoe’s reputation from
his. If he got nothing but that from Gloria’s article, he’d still be happy.

Correction, he’d be satisfied. Not happy.

He couldn’t feel good about putting a barrier between them when his impulse was to keep Zoe close. The way she made him feel, the way she meshed with his life amazed him more every time he was with her. He’d thought her ambitious, type-A personality would drive him up the wall, but he had to admit she hadn’t once tried to tell him what to do with his life. And making love with a woman who believed in bringing her full attention to everything she did . . . well, the benefits could not be overstated.

He wanted to keep her in his life, and he didn’t intend to hide it from the world. But with Matt trying to make her look bad, she didn’t need to worry about a low-class boyfriend dragging her down. They could keep their relationship quiet for now.

If Gloria clarified their connection in the
Echo,
he couldn’t possibly hurt Zoe. The town would believe they were acquaintances, no more.

•  •  •

Zoe pulled up beneath the Alpine Sky’s big portico, right at the front doors. She waved at the surprised doorman as she strode in. “I’ll only be a minute, Joe.”

She’d just find Janice in Payroll, get her final check, and be out before David or Matt saw her. No disdainful looks from Matt, no juvenile sneers from David.

Unfortunately, David was walking from his office toward the front desk as she slipped past it.

“What are you doing here?”

“Are you the watchdog now?” She tried to pass him, but he blocked her way.

“You don’t work here, you can’t just walk in like you own the place.”

“Fine. I was going to see Janice, but if you want to play errand boy, then you do it. Tell her I came for my paycheck.”

He gave her his best condescending look. “Look in your bank account. It’s direct deposit, like always.”

“I did. It’s not there. Checks get deposited every Friday, and today’s Monday, and still no check. They must be holding it.”

The smug sneer made an appearance. “Maybe because you were fired.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, I wasn’t fired, and that would have nothing to do with me getting paid if I was. Would you just check with Janice? Or let me do it myself.”

He sighed, as if she’d just caused him a pile of work he didn’t have time for. Turning, he walked back to his office. She followed, standing impatiently as he placed the call.

“Janice, do you have a check there for Zoe Larkin?”

He had it on speaker, and Zoe heard a hesitant “No.”

David added a frown to his expression of weary tolerance. “Was it mailed to her?”

“No,” Janice said, her voice getting more timid. Nervous?

David rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Well, did you submit her name with Payroll or didn’t you?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then where did the check go?”

A long pause followed. “There isn’t a check. There aren’t
any
checks.”

“What do you mean, no checks?” David dropped
into his chair and began typing on his desk computer. Zoe looked over his shoulder and caught the bright blue and white logo of a local bank as he put in his password. “Are you saying no one got paid?”

“No. I mean yes, that’s what I’m saying.” Her desperation verged on tears.

David peered at the screen, scanning up and down his recent activity, with pending credits and debits. “What the fuck? Janice, why didn’t you tell me the checks were delayed?”

“I thought they’d get here today. I don’t understand what’s wrong,” she whined. “I tried to ask Mr. Flemming, but I couldn’t reach him.”

Zoe felt cold prickles dance across the back of her neck. “Call him,” she told David.

David hung up on Janice without saying good-bye and hit Matt’s extension. The call bounced directly to voice mail. “Goddamnit,” he muttered, and dialed another number, which she assumed was the line for Matt’s private secretary at the small corporate office of Alpine Resorts, Inc.

A harried woman’s voice demanded, “Yes?”

“Alice, this is David Brand. I’m trying to reach Matt. Do you know where he is?”

“No. But if you find him, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell him to call his office immediately.”