Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (124 page)

But first, they needed money. A lot of money. Money that was not magically appearing as Hailey seemed to have expected it to.

So Adrianne was
assisting
in efforts to find funding. It was right up her alley. She had a marketing and finance degree and had spent five years in sales and marketing for her family’s candy company. Her father had always said she could sell sand to a sheik.

Finding investors had been her idea. So had asking people from Sapphire Falls who had gone on to bigger, more lucrative things, but who had a soft spot for their hometown.

Hailey had been in charge of making the list.

“Don’t forget that Mason’s got the land too,” Hailey said.

“The land?” Adrianne frowned at her. “The farmland you want to build on is Mason Riley’s?”

Hailey nodded. “Kind of. He inherited it from the guy who lived on it for years. But he’s obviously not using it.”

“That doesn’t mean he wants you to pave over it,” Adrianne pointed out. She’d been out to the build site a number of times and it was beautiful. Peaceful, rolling fields, lots of trees and a gorgeous big old farmhouse complete with a wraparound porch and a swing. She remembered being tempted to sit on that old swing and watch the sun set over the fields.

She’d kind of hated the idea of building a shopping center and parking lot there. Sure their plans were for a collection of quaint shops with their own porch-type fronts with flower planters, wind chimes and wicker furniture. But there was something about that house and the porch that got to her.

But Hailey insisted it was the perfect place to build. What did Adrianne know?

“Did you choose the site because you thought Mason would donate it?” she asked.

“That makes sense doesn’t it?” Hailey asked. “If we can get it for free from a guy who isn’t here and doesn’t intend to ever be here, isn’t that better than having to negotiate with Ken Stevens for that lot down by the highway? And then putting up with Ken afterward?” Hailey rolled her eyes. “That’s the only other place that’s big enough. And Ken’s a dick. And he’s asking way too much. Everyone says so.”

Everyone
meant Hailey’s dad and Drew Thurman, a high school classmate of Hailey’s who’d appointed himself one of her advisors because he had an opinion on everything, and Betty Newman, a life-long Sapphire Falls resident with slightly more money than pieces of gossip—which meant she was quite wealthy. In fact, Betty had agreed to match whatever they could raise for the building project. But that also, apparently, gave her a vote in everything from where they were building to the color of the shingles.

“And you know he wants to have one of the shops for his loser son to open a taxidermy business.”

Adrianne stared at Hailey. “What?”

“Ken Stevens,” Hailey said impatiently. “He said he’ll only sell the land if we promise to give one of the shops to his son, Eddie. Eddie’s going to do taxidermy.”

“Which is stuffing dead animals,” Adrianne said to clarify.

“Yes. That’s exactly what it is. Which should go nicely with the specialty coffees and gourmet
candy
that we want to sell there, don’t you think?” Hailey asked. “The advisory board feels very strongly that Mason’s land is a better choice for several reasons.”

Ah, the advisory board had evidently given itself a title since she’d last seen them.

The four of them were a force to be reckoned with though. They loved to argue with one another—and anyone else who dared open their mouths—loudly and for long stretches of time while having coffee and donuts. It was exhausting, and Adrianne had long ago given up trying to give any insight or opinions. Now when they had meetings she found something else to do. Far from the office.

She’d left Chicago to escape that kind of ridiculous fighting, stress and wasted time. Sapphire Falls was supposed to be quiet and calm and simple. Dammit.

Of course, with all their meetings and donuts, she’d assumed the issue of where they were building the damned thing had been finalized a long time ago.

The whole thing drove her crazy, but Adrianne was committed to the Sapphire Hills project for reasons that went beyond being Hailey’s assistant or believing it was a good move for the town. It would give Adrianne a place to start her own shop. Something she’d been thinking about more and more over the past year.

Working for Hailey had been exactly what she needed when she’d come to Sapphire Falls. She’d escaped Chicago and the pressures of her family’s business just before it killed her. Literally. Her mild heart attack at age twenty-seven was a medical anomaly, but it had scared the shit out of her. She’d checked out of the hospital, given up smoking, quit her job and started yoga all on the same day.

A week later, she was in Sapphire Falls working as the assistant to the mayor—a cushy job in a sleepy little town with lots of fresh air and nice people.

She was healthy now, happy, converted to small-town life. It was time to buy a house and some land. And open a shop. She wanted to be secure without stress, and thanks to Sapphire Falls, she knew that was possible.

It could happen.

It was why she was here. And why Sapphire Hills had to happen.

“Tell me about Mason,” Adrianne heard herself say.

What? Why did she want to know more about Mason? From Hailey or anyone?

She had the basic information they needed to include him on the list of invitations—he was from Sapphire Falls and had money to donate. That was all she needed. Period.

But she wanted more details.

It was ridiculous.

He was some guy whose name showed up on the list Hailey had written on the back of her grocery receipt.

Adrianne had wanted to know about all five men Hailey had decided to approach about investing. So she’d begun her research on the Internet but quickly discovered the most comprehensive information on the guys could be found at the diner downtown. All the local men aged seventy and older congregated at the diner every morning for coffee and gossip. They had all lived in Sapphire Falls forever and kept track of everyone and everything.

They were able to report where each of the men were now, what they were doing, how much they were worth and the probability they would invest.

Except for Mason Riley.

They knew where he was and that he made a lot of money. Beyond that, they were no help.

Mason’s family had moved to Sapphire Falls from “some big city” when he started kindergarten. His parents doted on him but socialized very little with the rest of the town. When Mason graduated from high school, they’d moved away, back to “some big city.”

Neither he, nor his parents, had been back to Sapphire Falls since.

What she had found out from the Internet—which no one in Sapphire Falls seemed to know—was that he had two master’s degrees and a PhD. He was a world-renowned agricultural engineer. His company had done a number of projects for various government and private groups. And they had made him a lot of money. They had also gotten him selected to head a task force for the White House. They had gotten him published in six different scientific journals.

But she didn’t
need
to know anything about him beyond the fact that he was from here and had enough money to make a sizeable donation to their project.

It didn’t matter that he was—

“A dork.”

Adrianne blinked at Hailey. “I’m sorry?”

“Mason Riley was a dork. A nerd.” Hailey shrugged and took a long drink of her iced tea.

“Because he was so smart?”

“I suppose. And because he was…different. He was nice. Sweet.”

Hailey smiled softly at the picture of Mason. It was from high school and he did look a little nerdy. The pictures Adrianne had seen online were of a very handsome, sophisticated man with dark hair and dark eyes. If she looked closely, she could see the resemblance between the successful man and the geeky boy, but she had to look very closely.

Adrianne was grateful for the Internet. All the other men had responded to their invitations to attend the town’s annual festival and alumni reunion along with some special events for investors only. With their RSVPs, they had been asked to provide a current bio and photo. They’d heard nothing from Mason.

But Hailey definitely had an affectionate look on her face for the Mason in the photo.

“He was weird?”

“Yeah. Typical nerd, for sure,” Hailey said. “He was so…beyond all of the rest of us. More mature. Interested in politics and world events and science and machines. He knew nothing about football or baseball. So around here, he didn’t fit in well with the guys. He also didn’t care too much about girls, really. I mean, he never flirted, never looked at a girl’s butt, never went out. Of course, people thought he was gay for a while.”

Adrianne rolled her eyes and sipped again. Of course.

“But the weird thing was…” Hailey trailed off, looking at the picture, and sighed.

“The weird thing was…” Adrianne knew she had to hear this.

“He was a great kisser.”

Adrianne knew it was stupid, but she felt her heart drop at those words.

“You kissed him?”

“Yeah. Once. On a whim.”

“At a dance?” Damn Sapphire Falls and their dances. What was in the punch they were serving these kids anyway?

Hailey sighed again and Adrianne had to resist the urge to sigh in frustration.

“No. Not a dance,” Hailey said.

That made Adrianne feel better.

“And?” Adrianne asked.

“He was
great
.”

“You mentioned that.”

“I mean, he didn’t date, flirt, make out.” Hailey lifted her gaze from the photo to Adrianne. “How’d he get so good?”

How indeed? The fact certainly didn’t make him
less
interesting to Adrianne. Or, apparently, to Hailey.

THE MINUTE MASON walked through the doors to the Come Again, the only bar in Sapphire Falls, he knew he’d made a mistake.

He could have bought a plane ticket from Chicago to
anywhere
and been, well, anywhere else by now. Instead, he stood inside the social mecca for a town he had hoped to never visit again. Not only was he back in Sapphire Falls, but he’d seemingly found the bulk of the town’s population all at once.

He was hungry. The Come Again was the only place that made food at this time of night. Unfortunately, it was also the only place that had a dance floor, and that was apparently a big draw tonight.

It only took him thirty seconds to notice Hailey Conner.

She was being escorted around the surprisingly large dance floor by Kevin Marshall in a traditional two-step. She looked gorgeous. Her hair hung to the middle of her back and was held away from her face by a gold clip, the lights above the dance floor making the blond highlights glow. She was smiling, but her eyes were unfocused and directed over Kevin’s shoulder as if she was only pretending to pay attention.

“Mason? Is that you?”

And so it began.

Mason turned to find Drew Thurman standing toward the back of the crowd gathered around the dancing. Drew had been their class president and Mason knew, from the alumni newsletter that surprisingly found him no matter where he moved, that Drew had taken over his father’s plumbing business. As far as Mason knew, Drew had never been more than one hundred miles from Sapphire Falls.

“Hey, Drew.”

“Holy shit! It is you.” Drew came forward, took Mason’s hand and pumped it up and down enthusiastically. “I wouldn’t have even guessed it was you if I didn’t know you were invited. They said they hadn’t heard from you though so I didn’t think you were coming.”

“I didn’t know I was coming until the last minute,” Mason admitted, pulling his hand from the other man’s firm grasp.

“Well, damn, man, it’s good to see you.”

Sure it was. The only conversation Drew and Mason had ever had was the daily ritual when they passed each other in the hallway on the way to their fourth period classes. Drew would ask, “What’s up?” to which Mason would answer, “Same stuff.”

They’d done that routine for two years.

Mason assumed Drew knew his name only because he had apparently been a topic of conversation over the past few days because of the investment opportunity.

“I thought I should come and see about this big plan,” Mason said. He could admit, to himself only, that he was curious. Not curious enough to truly entertain the idea of giving money, and definitely not curious enough to make the trip without Lauren’s pushing, but curious.

“Oh, it’s big all right,” Drew replied with a large grin. “Gonna be great for the whole town. They’re promising to buy local. That means I get to do the plumbing and stuff.”

Sure, that sounded cost effective. Exactly what a potential investor was looking for.

“Come on, I’ll buy you a drink. Hailey and Adrianne are officially the people in charge, but they’re busy.” He gestured toward the dance floor. “So I’ll be the one to first welcome you back to town.”

The song ended as Mason followed Drew, weaving through the crowd on the way to the bar. The dance floor was surrounded on all sides with spectators and they all turned to the podium set up on the far side of the room.

“Okay, boys,” Jack Morgan, the local banker and city council member for nearly thirty years, said. “Get ready to cough up some more cash.”

Everyone cheered and Mason found himself interested in spite of himself.

“Come here, girls,” Jack said.

Hailey and nine other women of varying ages, sizes and attire lined up in front of the podium, posing, smiling and blowing kisses, winking and waving at the audience. All except one. A curvy blond stood next to Hailey, barely smiling and not flirting or strutting at all. She was the only one Mason didn’t know.

Mason found himself studying her as Drew handed him a beer. He didn’t like beer outside of one microbrew he’d found in Chicago. He preferred martinis and scotch. He gave his attention to the woman in hopes of avoiding further conversation with Drew. Since he and the man had absolutely nothing in common, avoidance seemed the best way to prevent an awkward situation.