Riverbend (20 page)

Both Bella and Drake turned to look at her, their angry faces turning crestfallen at the sight of her. “Jesus, we're scaring her,” said
Drake. “Annie, it's all right. We'll stop.”

She nodded, still holding onto the counter. “It's fine. I just have to go to bed.”

Bella put her arm around her shoulders. “Come on. I'll help you.”

“No,” said Drake. “I'll do it.”

“I can't walk by myself,” Annie mumbled.

“It's all right. I'll carry you,” he said, gently.

Carry her? That would require touching.

“Put your arms around my neck.”

She did so as he scooped her into his arms. Her head, so heavy, plopped onto his chest. How good he smelled. Yes, she could still smell him, despite her drunkenness. Still want him. He carried her down the hall and to her room, setting her on the bed. She rolled to her side, trying to focus on a spot on the wall so the spinning would stop. Drake was beside her now, asking her to sit up and drink from the glass of water in his hand. “And take these,” he said, handing her two pink pills. “Advil.”

After she swallowed them, she lay on her back and closed her eyes. “Everything's spinning.”

“How much did you drink before I came home?”

“Two glasses.”

“And then another of the Betz. Three glasses total. Sweetheart, you cannot hold your liquor.”

“Never have been able to.”

“You feel sick?”

“No. Just when you were fighting. I hate fighting.”

“We scared you?”

“Yeah. Marco turned purple and then he would hit me, over and over.”

“I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry. Bella and I fight hard like that. We get over it though.”

“You carried me,” she whispered.

“You needed me.”

Her eyes fluttered open. There were his blue eyes watching her. “I do. All the time now.”

“Close your eyes. Go to sleep.”

“Stay with me?”

“Of course.”

And then she was out cold.

Chapter Seventeen

A WEEK LATER,
Drake was on the phone when Annie walked through the front room. As she passed through she heard him say, “Come down next week. We can scope it out together, but I'm telling you it can work.”

Annie was sipping her coffee when he came into the kitchen, his face lit up like he was excited about something.

“Something amazing just happened,” he said. “My buddy in Seattle just called me. He's a VP at Hylink, in charge of customer care all over the world. And they're looking for a location for their new call center. Someplace cheap where there are lots of folks needing work.”

“Like here?” she asked, feeling excited.

“Yes. Like here.” He rubbed his hands together. There was a glint in his eyes she hadn't seen before.

“And they could train people to do this work easily?”

“Yes. All they do is manage the support functions and route their field engineers to where they're needed. Anyone could do it.”

“What's Hylink?”

“They make chips. Custom programmable chips.”

She smiled, shrugging. “Okay. Well, that sounds good. I guess.”

He chuckled. “Bella never understands any of it either. Says it's all mumbo jumbo. I'll just say this. They make products that help run a lot of things.”

“Do you know what this could mean for us here?”

“I do, as a matter of fact. You must have put something in my food at Riversong because I'm starting to feel the bug. The minute
Ben called I thought it was meant to be or something. He's going to come out next week and take a look, but I know he'll think River Valley is perfect.”

“I cannot wait for you to tell Mike. He's going to be beside himself.”

A week later, Annie watched from the deck as Benjamin Fleck arrived at Drake's home, driving a red Porsche. Ben, as he told Annie to call him when Drake introduced them, was in his mid-thirties, of medium height and lean, with dark blond hair cut short and light green eyes, dressed casually in jeans and a polo shirt. When he shook her hand, he looked directly in her eyes, smiling broadly. His eyes twinkled, like something was about to make him laugh. “Good to meet you, Annie. Drake told me I can look forward to some good meals while I'm here. I like nothing better than food.”

She smiled back at him. “Then we're going to get along very well.”

“Come inside,” Drake said. “Annie, I invited your gang over for dinner. I know it's Monday and your day off so if you'd rather order pizza we certainly can.”

“What?” she asked, startled.

He shrugged and opened the door for them. “Figured it would be good to have them all out to meet Ben in person. And I promised Sharon I'd have her out.”

For a recluse, he was acting very social.

“No pizza. I'll cook,” she said.

“You sure?”

Knowing how hard it must have been for him to invite the entire gaggle out, it was the least she could do for him. “Yes. I'd love nothing better.”

That evening, Annie was setting the table in the dining room when Bella came in, wearing nothing but her pink bikini, flip-flops, and a straw hat. “Hey, girlie,” she said to Annie. “What's going on? Wait a minute.” She indicated the table with a surprised expression on her face. “Are we having people for dinner?”

“We are. Your brother's buddy's here, remember?”

“Oh, right. The high tech drone.”

“Drone? You haven't met him, obviously,” said Annie, chuckling. “He's the opposite of a drone.”

“I don't need to. They're all the same, these tech types. Will bore us all to tears by the end of the night.”

Annie smiled, straightening a knife. “No, he's very nice. Charming and handsome, as a matter of fact.”

“What's the product again?” asked Bella. “Not that I really care.”

“Some kind of chip that you can program to do things. He wants to put in a call center out here.”

“Why the hell would they put it here?”

“Because it's inexpensive to build here and there are a lot of people out of work.” She felt a rising irritation. “You'd know that if you bothered to look around. There are real people in this town with real problems.” She set a plate down on the table a little too hard. “And it wouldn't hurt you to show a little respect.”

“Jeez, sorry. You sound like my brother.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.” She looked up at Bella, shaking her head and smiling, despite her irritation. There was something so harmless about this thoughtless girl you couldn't help but like her. “And you might want to get cleaned up and put some clothes on. The whole gang's coming out for dinner.”

“Oh, hell no. I'm not sitting through some boring ass dinner where everyone talks business the entire night.”

She sighed, slipping a napkin into a ring and placing it on top of one of the plates. “It would be nice for Drake, Bella, to have you here. Anyway, you might change your mind when you meet Ben. He's seriously dreamy.”

“Dreamy? Where do you get this stuff?” Bella laughed.

Just then, Annie turned and saw Drake and Ben standing in the doorway. Had they heard them talking? She knew the answer was
yes, given the way Drake was glaring at his sister. Ben, however, looked amused. Annie glanced over at Bella. The girl didn't have the decency to look even the least chagrined.

“Annie, so kind of you to refer to me as dreamy,” said Ben. “And you're not so bad yourself.”

Annie felt herself go red. Did she have to call him dreamy? Really? Why couldn't she learn to keep her mouth shut?

Ben walked over to Bella and held out his hand. She shook it, staring at him with a defiant look on her sassy little face. “No one told me it was pool attire this afternoon,” he said to her, his eyes running down the length of her body. “Let me guess. Cost you two hundred dollars for about twelve inches of fabric?”

“It's Tory Burch,” Bella said, with a haughty lift of her chin.

“I have no idea what that means,” said Ben, his face serious now. “But us drones are kind of out of the loop on the superficial.”

Bella raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her trim hips. “Superficial? I thought you were a businessman? Surely you understand about the billion dollar industry called high fashion?”

“I surely do,” he said. “Doesn't mean I care.”

Annie caught Drake's eye. She couldn't read his expression but if she were to guess, she figured it was somewhere between annoyed and appalled.

Annie tugged on the strap of her sundress. “So dinner's in an hour. Would anyone like a cocktail?”

Bella smiled, turning towards her. “That's the first sensible thing I've heard all day.” She turned back to Ben. “I think I'll take mine on the deck so I can catch a few more rays.” She stopped, her body inches from him. “Care to join me? I'm sure Drake has an extra pair of shorts for you.”

Oh, she is such a brat
, thought Annie, hiding a smile behind her hand. But a funny brat. She stole a glance at Drake. The vein on his forehead was bulging.

Drake followed Bella outside, slamming the door behind him. Annie pulled the shade down, knowing that it was probably best if Ben didn't witness them arguing. Ben looked over at her, grinning. “I think I'm in love.”

Annie laughed. “Please, no. Whatever you do, do not fall in love
with Bella Webber.”

“Maybe I'll just give her a spanking instead.”

“Not that she doesn't deserve one, but she'd probably like that.” Annie laughed again.

“Perfect. Will you cater our wedding?”

She shook her head, still laughing. This Benjamin Fleck was funny.

“Come on,” she said to him. “How do you like your martini?”

“I don't. Got any beer?”

“You bet. Come into the kitchen and tell me everything while I finish dinner. Knowing those two, it could be a while before they come in.”

She settled Ben at the counter with a beer and then cut a beef tenderloin in half and placed it in a pan with olive oil. Earlier she'd made a panko bread and prosciutto crust for the meat. The room smelled of sage and butter and shallots.

“I'm afraid to ask how it went today,” she said, turning the meat in the skillet.

“Don't be. Drake's right. This town's perfect for a call center. I couldn't be more sure of it.”

“Did you meet Mike?”

“Yeah, he took me around town and then out to some property he owns.”

“Will it work for the building?” She thought of the land he was referring to. It was on the outskirts of town and flat. A building and a road could easily be put in there.

“Don't see why not.” He took a sip of his beer. “And Mike's willing to lease the land to us cheap. He said it's an investment but I get the feeling this project is about his heart, not his pocket book.”

Annie smiled. “He's our town zealot. And Tommy. Did you meet him?”

“Oh yeah. He came by Mike's house. What's up with that guy anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“So nice. And everywhere we went, all the women were staring at him.”

Annie laughed. “Oh, yeah, all the women in town are in love
with him. Funny thing is he's oblivious. Only has eyes for his wife.”

“Must be nice.”

“What's that?”

“You know, to love someone that much.”

“How come you're not married?” She turned off the burner on the stove. “Sorry. That's really none of my business.”

“No, not at all. I love to talk about myself.” His eyes twinkled again in that way that made it seem like he was about to burst into laughter. “Would love to be. Just haven't met the right girl. I had a fiancée but we broke up before the wedding and now she's getting married at the end of the summer. It's bothering me more than I thought it would. Things surprise you like that, you know.” He leaned back in his chair, his face suddenly somber. “Drake told me about your ex. That's rough.”

“I'm just so grateful Drake was willing to take us in.”

“I can imagine.” He surveyed her. “There anything going on between you two?”

She felt herself flush. “Oh my gosh, no. I've only known him a month. And, well, he's not really open to that kind of thing. I think. I mean, not that he'd be interested in me even if he was.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I'm not exactly a great catch.” She made her voice light. “Crazy ex trying to kill me. Single mom. A bit of a mess, you know?”

“He spoke very highly of you today, actually.”